“Don’t you have any thoughts of your own?!” Well of course I had, but I had taken these thoughts captive to obey Christ.
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The words of the Lord are to be desired more than anything else…
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We must come close to someone to hear them properly. Especially when they are quiet, and quite often, God speaks to us in a quiet voice.
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His plans are not our plans and His timing is not our timing.
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What do we do with our 'not enough'? I don't think it would be easy to thank God for 'not enough'. To thank him for what appears to be a very obvious lack seems illogical.
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Will God ever reject us? Check out the logic of God's word to Jeremiah.
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There seems to be an emphasis on repeating too much, and the words being empty or meaningless. And it’s how people pray who don’t know God…
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Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?
Whatever it is you might be 'running from', the story of Jonah in the boat tells us that when he came to realise he was trying to run from God, and when he finally stopped running, the storms - the raging... stopped.
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I guess I find this sort of encouraging. Even when I feel like a failure, it's ok. God is still there. It happens to us all and God knows and understands…
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A critical verse, verse 15 says: “But what about you”, he asked. “Who do you say that I am?” Then verse 16 says: Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
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The seven loaves and seven baskets left over may be a sign about the “completeness” of Jesus' ministry or a reference to the historic seven surrounding Gentile nations.
Jesus taught that our hearts are naturally drawn to evil and spiritual uncleanliness. He made clear that it is not how well we observe outward codes that draws us closer to God.
The disciples had just seen Jesus miraculously feed thousands of people, something only God had done in Moses' time. They had then seen Jesus walking on water. Again this was something the Jews believed only God could do (Job 38:16, Habakkuk 3:15).
We noted that Jesus had just suffered rejection in his home town of Nazareth (13:53-58) and now mourns the death of his rejected great messenger John the Baptist. Yet he continues his vital work for the care of souls.
It does not matter whether one is an expert in seeking this treasure or merely stumble across it! All that matters is recognizing its great value and grasping it with both hands. Jesus is the great treasure and nothing more can be important than following him.
Again the kingdom of heaven grows quietly, inconspicuously, not as an observable military subjection, but unseen, permeating inside, winning the hearts of people.
Indeed, the quote from Isaiah was used by Paul to explain that the Jews would ultimately be restored.
This generation had experienced in their midst, the cleansing power of Jesus, the Son of God. Yet they chose not to be filled with Christ, but rather to remain empty of his all powerful work of redemption.
The Pharisees continue to make false accusations of Jesus but now of the very worst kind. Here however, Jesus goes on the offensive. He declares their arguments not only do not make sense, but show their hearts to be evil and their souls headed for destruction.