Matthew 5:20 – Exceeding Thankfulness

Matthew 5:20
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

-This is an important teaching to remember for Thanksgiving.  In this season, everyone is looking for a reason to be thankful and expressing that appreciation in feasting and celebration.  While it is true that the whole world has cause to be thankful (for God is good to the just and the unjust- Matthew 5:45), those of us who are saved have extra cause to be thankful.  It follows that just as Jesus taught that our righteousness should exceed the righteousness of the world, so too should our thankfulness exceed the thankfulness of the world.  The Lord has given and forgiven much; we should love and praise much in return. (Luke 7:47) By the way, if you haven’t trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior- hurry up so you can celebrate with the rest of us!

Luke 17:12-19 – Where are the Nine!

Luke 17:12-19

12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

 

-Notice Jesus’ reaction when the 1 (former) leper returns to give thanks to God. Before recognizing the gratitude of the one, Jesus first calls attention to the ingratitude of the other nine. The Lord does so much for us: He provides continual mercy that keeps us from destruction (Lamentations 3:22-23), He gives sunshine and rain for everyone (Matthew 5:45), He gave His only Son for the sins of mankind (John 3:16). In all of this, God expects us to give Him thanks (Psalm 100:4), He commands us to give Him thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18), and as we learn here, He watches as so many turn away without giving Him thanks. “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:31)

Proverbs 22:6 – Training Wise Children

Proverbs 22:6
6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 23:24
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

-Raising a child is a big responsibility, much bigger than it is often given credit for it today’s society.  The word “begetteth“ used here is the Hebrew word “yalad” and means to “bring forth” or “bring up”.  We don’t get wise children by simply giving birth to them; their goodness and wisdom must be brought forth from them during the process of training them up.  Also, it’s not the kind of thing that you can do well once or even part of the time.  It is an ongoing commitment every day until that child is ready and able to take responsibility for their own self.  Taking care of children for 15-20 years may seem hard, managing to steward those kids the right way may seem impossible; “but with God all things are possible”.  (Matthew 19:26)

Philippians 2:5-8 – A Sure Foundation

Philippians 2:5-8
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

-In Isaiah 28:16, Jesus Christ is called a “Sure Foundation.”  A foundation by definition is the lowest load-bearing part of a structure.  Think about this; in order for Jesus to be our foundation, He had to get lower than all of us. He became human, but that wasn’t low enough.  He lived a life of humble service, but that wasn’t low enough.  He ultimately endured the sin of man combined with the wrath of God when He died on the cross- it doesn’t get any lower than that.  That means no matter who you are or how low you are, you are still not so low that the Lord cannot lift you up.  “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deuteronomy 33:27)

Matthew 13:45-46 – The One Pearl

Matthew 13:45-46 
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 
46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

-The world calls us single-minded and bigoted because we take such a firm stance on issues. They call us crazy and disillusioned because we lose sight of this world while waiting for the next one. But we don’t take a stand against sin because we hate sinners. We don’t forego the pleasures of this world because we aren’t satisfied by them. We aren’t zealous because we want to bring attention to ourselves. Like the merchant man in Jesus’ parable, we have found that “one pearl of great price” and have come to realize that we will do anything, go anywhere, and give up everything to have that Pearl. That Pearl is Jesus Christ, and if you ever really find Him, you’ll go just as “crazy” and “single-minded” as everyone else who has ever found Him.

Psalm 23:6 – Goodness and Mercy

Psalm 23:6
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

-David paints for us a beautiful picture in Psalm 23 of how the Lord gently leads us through life just as a shepherd caring for a flock of sheep.  He closes with this statement in verse 6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”.  David’s life of service to God began when he was very young, giving him a wealth of experience to draw from when writing such words.  He felt the Lord’s power on him as he defeated a lion and a bear and watched the Lord deliver Goliath and the Philistines into his young hands.  David marveled as the Lord protected him time and again from King Saul before finally giving the kingship to him.  My point, Psalm 23:6 is not David’s idea of a naive boast; rather, it was confidence built from God having proven Himself time and again in David’s life.  In looking back, David realized that goodness and mercy had been with him every day of his life.  It wasn’t much of a stretch for David to realize that surely, that same goodness and mercy would stay with him all the days of his life.

Mark 12:17 – Render Unto God

Mark 12:17
17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

-The Lord is nothing if not fair. In Mark 12, we see Him asking for things that belong to Him anyway; that seems reasonable enough to me. What are the most important things that we should be rendering unto God? According to 1 Corinthians 6, it is our body and our spirit. To those who have been redeemed, we are purchased from damnation and brought into the ownership of the Lord. Even if you have not accepted this truth, you still belong to God since He created all of us anyway. We should think, do, and say things that are profitable to God (Colossians 3:17), and we should live our lives not concerned with how things impact us, but how they impact the Lord.

Psalm 19:9 – The Fear of the Lord is Clean

Psalm 19:9
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

-Think about all of the things we get into or up to leave us feeling dirty.  Not dirty clothes or dirty skin; I mean dirty on the inside.  Things we’ve said that we wish we could take back or things we’ve thought that should make our skin crawl.  To complicate matters, what makes your skin crawl might be different than what makes my skin crawl so how do we know what’s okay or not?  The Bible teaches that there is something that is always clean; it’s the fear of the Lord.  The fear of the Lord will never leave you feeling dirty.  Moreover, the fear of the Lord can even clean away the stains from all that other dirty stuff in your life.

Genesis 16:6-11 – The Lord Hears

Genesis 16:6-11
6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
7 And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
9 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
10 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
11 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

-The name Ishmael means “The Lord Hears” and is the defining aspect of Hagar and her son’s whole life.  Hagar was used by Abram and Sarai to suit their needs only to be despised and driven away by their cruelty.  Hagar could have died an ignoble death in the wilderness, and no one would have noticed, but “The Lord heard”.  Hagar’s story is my story and your story.  The Lord could have left us to die in the wilderness and eternity would never have even noticed.  But God heard the cries of a people who were no people; He gave attention to a people who were beneath His attention.  Then He did something even more wondrous; He provided His mercy, protection, and blessing while promising a happy ending.

Hebrews 12:1-2 – Every Weight

Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

-Paul tells us to lay aside weights and sins, that we might be able to run properly.  That instruction sets a high standard, but Jesus has already given us a much higher standard.  “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”  (Matthew 16:24) There is no way we can follow Jesus’ instruction and pick up our cross if we haven’t first laid aside every weight, every sin, every care, and everything else about us that is not of God.  We cannot expect to hold those things in one hand and the cross in the other, for we would surely collapse under the weight.  How can we hope to let go of all these?  Paul tells us how in verse 2, “looking unto Jesus“, who laid aside everything, including His divine glory, that he might carry His cross all the way to victory.