JESUS SPEAKING

                “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell” (Mathew 5: 30) 

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                Sin is a very serious; it is defined as any act of disobedience against God.  Sin causes a person to be separated from God, which leads to death.  God is an eternal being, for whom there is no death.  All living things are born, and eventually die; this was not always the case.  In the beginning of creation, Adam and Eve existed in the garden in complete fellowship with God; they were able to share God’s eternal nature as their own.  They knew neither death, nor disobedience.  God gave them a simple command saying, “Of every tree in the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.”  They disobeyed the command of God and ate the fruit; for the first time, they experienced separation from Him; in an instant they knew shame, guilt, embarrassment, dirtiness, and pain.  Adam and Eve began to grow old, and they eventually experienced death.  Sin is serious, because it separates us from eternal life and fellowship with the Almighty God.  He desires that we let go of sinful practices that keep us from truly living.  If there is any portion of dead flesh that has imprisoned you and kept you from fully knowing the Lord, you must be prepared to severe it; or risk facing the eternal consequences of your unwillingness.

                In april 2003, an experienced mountain climber named Aaron Ralston was hiking alone in a remote mountain pass in Utah.  While maneuvering through one of the crevices a giant boulder dislodged and pinned his arm against the canyon wall; for days he attempted to free his arm until he was extremely dehydrated and nearly out of water.  He had not told anyone where he was going, so he knew that no one would be looking for him.  Aaron was faced with a choice […] He could severe his arm with an ill-equipped pocket knife; or he could lie down and die.  The only thing standing between Aaron and the rest of his life were two bones, several muscles, and some tendons in his forearm.  Aaron chose to cut off his own arm and live, rather than keep his arm and die.  [Note:  Aaron made the right choice.  He broke both of the bones in his arm, and slowly and painfully cut through his muscles and tendons with his dull knife.  Nearly 127 hours after becoming trapped, he left his severed arm behind and climbled his way out of the canyon and lived to tell about it.  Until that day, Aaron had lived selfishly.  He had been ‘a loner’ who pushed others away.  Shortly after his experience he came to believe that the boulder had been waiting for him his entire life (it was destined to transform him.)  He said, “I left my hand behind in that canyon, but I gained my life back.”  His experience allowed him to see what was truly important.  He began to put the emphasis on his personal relationships, and went on to get married and have children.  He now travels the world telling other people about his inspiring story.]

                Like Aaron, there are boulders in our lives; giant rocks that pin us down and keep us from having a wonderful relationship with a loving God.  Grave sin keeps us from knowing the fullness of an eternal life with Jesus Christ.  If we have been washed clean and have accepted salvation, but have slipped in to adultery and fornication our future is in jeopardy.  If the Friday and Saturday night drunkenness and promiscuity that once defined our weekends before our conversion has again become our practice, we have some cutting to do?  If love is absent from our actions and compassion has no place in our hearts, we must examine where we have lost fellowship with a loving and compassionate God?  Ask God to reveal to you, any sin that has crept in to your life, and He will.  What you do with what you find, will determine your eternal destination; you have a choice to make; make the right choice.

                “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You and we honor You.  You are an awesome and mighty God.  We recognize that sin can separate us from You.  We know that we have received forgiveness through Your Son, but if we have any grievous sin in our lives that has caused us to be distant from You, we ask that You bring that sin to our attention; and then give us the means, and the strength to put that sin to death, that we might live for you.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.

JESUS SPEAKING

                When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?”  He said, “Yes.”  And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon?  From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?”

                Peter said to him, “From strangers.”  Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.  Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first.  And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for me and you” (Mathew 17: 24-27.)

 INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                Every Jewish man recognized that their lives were not their own; rather they belonged to God.  As a part of this recognition, every man over the age of 20 was commanded to pay an annual duty to God to redeem their lives for themselves for one year.  The season had arrived for the religious leaders to collect the yearly tax.  Simon (Peter) thought it proper to pay the tax, but Jesus questioned its correctness.  He asked Peter to examine the way that the world levied taxes.  During this time, the Roman Empire had conquered most of the known world.  The nations they conquered were taxed heavily, while their own citizens (or sons) were free from most forms of taxation.  Peter was asked to examine why God would require a tax from his own people, when the worldly leaders of the earth, who were evil, did not tax their own subjects.  Peter realized the tax was man-made, and not God-made.  In order to keep the peace, Jesus agreed to pay the tax.  The miraculous way he paid the tax showed Peter that despite bowing to human authority, he commanded all of the power and authority of The Living God.  Under that authority, Peter was able to see that God’s desire was not to take from his Son’s, but to give to them.

                When I was in College, my dad would come to visit me frequently.  He really enjoyed sitting down and talking with me over a nice meal.  He and I would meet at various restaurants in the area.  My Dad was well aware that I was a ‘broke college student’ who could not afford to eat out.  He was never privy to the notion that when the meal concluded, I would head up to the register to take care of the bill.  Quite to the contrary; my Dad, who had great resources, was aware that he would need to ‘pay-the-check.’  Over the years, traveling home for the holidays, my dad and I still go out to eat, and he still pays for the meals (despite my abilities and sometimes fervent requests to pay or ‘pitch in.’)  My dad has always given to me because I am his Son, and he loves me.

                If you call Jesus Lord, you call God ‘Father.’  If you are a Son or a Daughter of God, be aware that He desires to give good things to you.  (The world is always asking for something from you; even when they give, their giving is selfishly motivated and extremely conditional.  God however is in need of nothing, and gives liberally and lovingly to all His children.)  Ask Him for whatever you need, and He will provide it for you; because He’s not just the Almighty God, but He is also, a Loving Father.

                “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You now and lift You up.  You are an awesome and mighty God.  We know You are also a loving Father.  We love you too.  We know that You are seeking to give us good things; please provide for all of our needs today.  We love You, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things, in Jesus Christ’s name, Amen.”  God bless all of you!

JESUS SPEAKING

                He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office.  And he said to him, “Follow Me.”  So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  Then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house.  And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.  And their scribes and Pharisees complained against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”  Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have come to call sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5: 27-32.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

                Tax collectors in Israel were Jewish citizens who had ‘sold-out’ to the Roman Empire, and turned against their own people.  The Roman taxes were severe, and tax collectors earned their wages by overtaxing the people; in turn, they were passionately despised.  The religious leaders were enraged because Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners.   Jewish meals were extremely intimate affairs; those who dined together dipped in to the same bowls and drank from the same cups.  Most Jews were very careful who they ate with, because they falsely believed that sin could be transferred from person to person through the sharing of food.  The Son of God however, was not concerned with being contaminated by the sins of those he dined with.  Instead, his purity was contaminating and cleansing the dirty hearts of those who ate with him.  The messiah, the chosen one, sent of God had a distinct purpose; he came to seek the lost; he came to bring light in to the darkest of hearts; he came to cleanse the dirty, and to reach those the world had set aside and rejected.

                In 1464 a block of Marble weighing nearly 9 tons was shipped to the workshop of the Cathedral of the Santa Maria Del Fiore in Italy.  An artist was commissioned to carve a massive sculpture of a young King David.  It is said the artist abandoned the project because the piece of marble contained too many flaws (or veins—veins in marble are weaker than the surrounding stone, which can cause it to crack and break.)  So the flawed block sat in the yard for nearly a decade; until another artist was commissioned to continue the work; apparently he also foresaw problems with the veining in the marble and walked away.  Again, the scarcely carved stone block was pushed to the back of the yard where the sun, wind, and rain beat down on it for nearly 25 years.  Then in 1501 a 29 year old sculptor named Michelangelo looked at the stone optimistically.  He didn’t see an old dirty block of marble taking up space; he didn’t reject it as a defective throw away, fit for the trash heap.  Unlike the other sculptors, Michelangelo saw the giant slab, not as it was, but as it could be.  Michael Angelo accepted the commission to complete the work because he believed that he could create a masterpiece from a worn down, dirty block of marble.  In 1504, after nearly 3 years of work, the Statue of David was completed; immediately it was marveled over; its beauty and elegance were heralded by even the harshest of critics.  Today, the statue of David is on display in Florence Italy, and is unquestionably one of the most beautiful marble sculptures ever created.

                Like Michelangelo, Jesus Christ is a master craftsman whose purpose is not to attempt to improve perfect people, but to take the worst people and transform them in to divine works of art.  As followers of Jesus Christ, our duty is to reach out to those who are outcasts.  Rather than turning our backs on sinners, we are to embrace them in love.  We shouldn’t just see sinners for who they are, but instead, as who might become (with the assistance, love, and attention of an all powerful divine creator.)  Reach out to the lost; make friends with the weak; dive in to the trash heap and pull out the people the world has discarded.  He has sent us in to the world to reach those who have gone astray and to bring hope to the hopeless.  Are you willing to be an instrument God can use to accomplish a masterpiece?

                “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You today and we ask that You use us to reach those who are sick.  Give us a heart for everyone the world has rejected.  We yearn to be instruments that You can use to transform the lives of sinners.  Therefore we lay ourselves at Your feet and place our lives in your capable hands; make use of us as You see fit.  Father, we love You, we thank You, and we praise You, and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.