Matthew 13:53-58 reveals to us how Jesus was rejected in Nazareth despite people observing that He had great wisdom and power to do miracles. The scoffed at Him and dismissed Him… some were deeply offended by Him.

⁵³When Jesus had finished telling these stories and illustrations, he left that part of the country. ⁵⁴He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” ⁵⁵Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph,^[f] Simon, and Judas. ⁵⁶All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” ⁵⁷And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” ⁵⁸And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.

It is common for us to tend to dismiss those we know as having special wisdom or relationship with God and instead look to strangers. Similarly human nature sometimes leads us to trust those that are like us and reject those that are different from us based on appearance or language or home country. We should always challenge ourselves to test what a person teaches against scripture itself, not against our biases or opinions of where they were from or what they look like or whether or not we know them.

There is also much encouragement for those who follow God’s instruction to share the gospel with others. Do not be discouraged by those who come against you or dismiss your efforts telling you “Who are you to teach people?” Look and see that Jesus received the same treatment. He did not let it discourage Him. Study the word, as Jesus did, to learn greater depth and understanding. Continue to proclaim God’s word boldly and share the gospel with others.

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Consequences of Sin, False Prophets / Teachers, Heaven and Hell, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Parables, Wickedness / Evil

Parable of the Fishing Net

October 27, 2015 John (HFJ Director)

Jesus continues to teach about the Kingdom of Heaven through parables in Matthew 13:47-52 using a comparison to a fishing net.

⁴⁷“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. ⁴⁸When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. ⁴⁹That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, ⁵⁰throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁵¹Do you understand all these things?”

“Yes,” they said, “we do.”

⁵²Then he added, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.”

It is important to recognize once again that not all of us will go into heaven to spend eternity with God. We must choose the offer of grace through Jesus which also leads to repenting from our sin and changing our behavior and thoughts. We can not just keep sinning and ignoring God or outright rejecting Him and then expect Him to accept us into heaven.

We must not claim to be His followers and wear the label Christian, but then not submit to His leadership and follow Him. God calls us to change our behaviors to be righteous, not to change the interpretation of scripture or laws of man to accept our sins.

The good news is that we do not have to be perfect! We can put our faith and hope in Jesus Christ and genuinely repent of our sins (yes, imperfectly) and seek to follow Him wholeheartedly. We can proclaim His message loudly and try to bring others with us to Jesus.

One final observation… Jesus calls out the teachers of religious law that become disciples of Kingdom of Heaven… these are two separate things. Many who are or just seem knowledgeable as religious leaders are not disciples in the Kingdom of Heaven. Even Satan knows the word of God very well. The difference is a matter of the heart and the desire to serve God or serve themselves.

Praise God for those teachers and church leaders who are disciples of Jesus! They are messengers bringing joy to the world. Please look for opportunities to thank and encourage those who teach God’s whole word according to the Bible. Many will reject them for it, but the encouragement is great when receiving it genuinely from their flock.

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Obeying God, Parables, Righteousness / Serving God

The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like A Treasure

October 26, 2015 John (HFJ Director)

Jesus continues teaching about the kingdom of God in parables. In Matthew 13:44-46, Jesus focuses on the value of knowing and serving God.

⁴⁴“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

⁴⁵“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. ⁴⁶When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

These two parables are short, quick to read, and amongst multiple parables. Be careful not to read over them too quickly. Think on them for awhile.

It is clear that Jesus is telling us that the Kingdom of Heaven is more valuable than anything else we may think is important in this world. He calls us to be willing to put everything else as a lower priority behind the Kingdom of Heaven. The wonderful thing is that when we put God first, all the other things we should value such as spouse, children, other people, etc. get prioritized and structured as part of pursuing God’s instruction. They are not excluded. Many sinful things that we may think are “fun” or “harmless” will in fact need to be left behind.

Reflect on whether or not the Kingdom of God is first in your life. Are you living the way Jesus instructs in these two parables? What are you unwilling to submit to God?

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Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Obeying God, Parables, Righteousness / Serving God

The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like A Mustard Seed

October 25, 2015 John (HFJ Director)

Jesus continues teaching in parables in Matthew 13:31-35.

³¹Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. ³²It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”

Jesus is not providing a lesson on plants, so do not get distracted by the fact that there are smaller seeds and larger plants. He is using memorable word pictures to help people understand and remember His message. This parable applies to the church, those who submit to and follow Jesus. From something small and seemingly unimportant… a few disciples… comes forth a body of believers that is large and significant and impacts many in a positive way.

Jesus continues with a separate, similar parable to continue driving the point home.

³³Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

Once again the parable of the yeast reminds us that something small and seemingly insignificant, a small body of followers of Jesus, can affect the whole loaf… or known world.

Both of these parables convey the rapid growth of the church from seemingly irrelevant to wonderfully significant. They may also be thought of in terms of our individual faith and service to God. When we each as individuals accept Jesus and begin on our journey toward living for the kingdom of God, we start with but a little part of us reflecting Jesus but given time and effort we can grow our faith to guide our entire l lives.

³⁴Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables. ³⁵This fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet:

“I will speak to you in parables.
I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world.^[c]”

Jesus speaks in parables to reveal truth about the kingdom of God for those who will hear it and accept it. Others will dismiss it as stories and miss the point.

Ask yourself… “Am I allowing God’s instruction to affect all aspects of my life? Why not? What area(s) am I holding back and not submitting to God?”

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Creation, Heaven and Hell, Parables, Satan, Share the Good News, Sin, Suffering / Adversity

Sifting the Wheat From The Weeds

October 24, 2015 John (HFJ Director)

Jesus uses many parables to help explain the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus compares it to a farmer who plans wheat in his field.

²⁴Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. ²⁵But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. ²⁶When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.

²⁷“The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’

²⁸“‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.

“‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.

²⁹“‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”

A few verses later, in Matthew 13:36-43 Jesus explains the parable.

³⁶Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.”

³⁷Jesus replied, “The Son of Man^[d] is the farmer who plants the good seed. ³⁸The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. ³⁹The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world,^[e] and the harvesters are the angels.

⁴⁰“Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴²And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

When God created the world, He allowed free will – the ability for us as people to choose to follow Him or reject Him and do things our own way. He made us like His children, not a set of robots who are pre-programmed to accept Him.

God allowed Satan to have much influence in this world, but Satan ultimately can only do what God allows. He has been defeated and will again be defeated by God. However, Satan preys on our sin nature and selfish view of the world. His actions to deceive us and lead us away from God are like the enemy who planted weeds in amongst the wheat. It makes life difficult for the wheat (the righteous).

God has a plan though. He is not confused or surprised by Satan. He will separate the wheat from the weeds when harvest comes. Those who follow God will get what they chose… an eternity with God in heaven. Those who serve their own sin nature and reject God will get what they chose… eternity in hell, separated from God.

Of course we, as followers of Christ, want to bring as many people as we can with us to follow God in this world and enter heaven after they die. We are to seek God wholeheartedly and proclaim Him loudly and publicly.

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Creation, Heaven and Hell, Parables, Satan, Share the Good News, Sin, Suffering / Adversity

Sifting The Wheat From The Weeds

October 24, 2015 John (HFJ Director)

Jesus uses many parables to help explain the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus compares it to a farmer who plans wheat in his field.

²⁷“The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’

²⁸“‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.

“‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.

A few verses later, in Matthew 13:36-43 Jesus explains the parable.

³⁶Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.”

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Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Parables, Satan, Share the Good News, Suffering / Adversity

Sharing God’s Word – Parable of Farmer Planting Seeds

October 23, 2015 John (HFJ Director)

Jesus prepares us for sharing God’s word through the parable of the farmer planting seeds in Matthew 13:1-23. Jesus Himself even provides the explanation at the end to describe what the parable means.

13 Later that same day Jesus left the house and sat beside the lake. ²A large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat there and taught as the people stood on the shore. ³He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:

“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. ⁴As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. ⁵Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. ⁶But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. ⁷Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. ⁸Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! ⁹Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

¹⁰His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”

¹¹He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets^[a] of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. ¹²To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. ¹³That is why I use these parables,

For they look, but they don’t really see.
They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.

¹⁴This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,

‘When you hear what I say,
    you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
    you will not comprehend.
¹⁵For the hearts of these people are hardened,
    and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
    so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
    and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
    and let me heal them.’^[b]

¹⁶“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.

¹⁸“Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: ¹⁹The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. ²⁰The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. ²¹But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. ²²The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. ²³The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

I find great encouragement in this parable. I am reminded that my role is to be the farmer planting seeds and I have the opportunity in some cases to help the plant grow by watering or fertilizing with more discussion about the gospel and prayer or sharing personal testimony. I am not responsible for the plant to grow… I can not accept Jesus on someone else’s behalf.

I should not expect that every encounter where I share the good news of Jesus Christ will result in transformed lives, but I keep on planting seeds for those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.”

Praise God for giving us His written word! Praise God for coming to walk among us as man in the person of Jesus Christ and showing us how to live for God and how to relate to Him! Praise God for dying for our sins! Let us help as many as we can to come to know Him.

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Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Salvation, Share the Good News

Salvation In Jesus Through Grace Alone

October 22, 2015 John (HFJ Director)

We gain important insight into salvation in Romans 10:1-15.

10 Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. ²I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. ³For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. ⁴For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.^[b] As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

⁵For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.^[c] ⁶But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). ⁷And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” ⁸In fact, it says,

“The message is very close at hand;
it is on your lips and in your heart.”^[d]

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: ⁹If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. ¹¹As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”^[e] ¹²Jew and Gentile^[f] are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. ¹³For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”^[g]

¹⁴But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? ¹⁵And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”^[h]

A few key comments that strike me from this passage:

As followers of Jesus, we want God’s people to be saved. We want them to do more than claim the label Christian, but to understand God’s word and change their lives and hearts to seek Jesus wholeheartedly.
Often even people with zeal for God end up on the wrong path, seeking to do things their way instead of God’s way. This is true of the Jewish people who rejected Jesus when this scripture was written and is true today of people who accept their sin or the sins of others and ignore the Bible because they do not want to change or cannot see the need to change.
None of us can meet God’s holy standard for salvation by ourselves, our sin comes between us and God.
God loved us enough to make a way to reconcile and forgive that sin through grace alone. We are to openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.
We are all called to be messengers of the good news of the gospel, the news of forgiveness and grace through Jesus Christ with the world.

We must ask ourselves… Do we really believe? Are we sharing the good news? Are we proclaiming Jesus Christ as our lord and savior? Does our life… our behaviors and thoughts … reflect our submission to Jesus and His teaching? Are we in fact living differently from the world of non-Christians and people who claim the label of Christian but live the lifestyle of the world?

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Archaeology

Assyrian Archaeology Validates Biblical Records – Sennacherib’s Prism

October 21, 2015 John (HFJ Director)

Many try to discredit the Bible by claiming it is historically inaccurate and thus cannot be trusted. On the other hand, I have found it very encouraging as a Christian to read about and study example after example of archaeological evidence that continues to prove the Bible is an historically accurate document that can be trusted with great confidence.

I encourage you to click through to read a bit about the example listed here or browse others from the site.

Read about Sennacherib’s Prism Revealing King Hezekiah on Bible-History.com.

The Account Recorded on the Prism

“On the six inscribed sides of this clay prism, King Sennacherib recorded eight military campaigns undertaken against various peoples who refused to submit to Assyrian domination. In all instances, he claims to have been victorious. As part of the third campaign, he beseiged Jerusalem and imposed heavy tribute on Hezekiah, King of Judah-a story also related in the Bible, where Sennacherib is said to have been defeated by “the angel of the Lord,” who slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers (II Kings 18-19).” – Oriental Institute

The Biblical Comparison

The best way to see the accuracy of the Biblical account with this record on Sennacherib’s Prism is to compare 2 Kings 18:13-19:37 and Isaiah 36:1-37:38 with the last paragraph on the above account.

It can be very powerful to understand how much physical evidence exists to support the accuracy of the Bible as God’s word. Too often Christians are taught to dismiss the Bible or just accept is on faith. God provided much evidence to support that faith. The better we know it the more effectively we will build confidence within ourselves and in witnessing to others.

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Children, Faith / Trusting God, Family, Obeying God

Abraham’s Test – Putting God First

October 19, 2015 John (HFJ Director)

Genesis 22 brings us through likely the biggest test of faith that Abraham experienced with God. Abraham submitted to God and held nothing back from Him. Abraham had strong faith indeed.

22 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.

“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”

²“Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

³The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”

⁶So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, ⁷Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”

⁸“God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.

⁹When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. ¹⁰And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. ¹¹At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”

¹²“Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”

¹³Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. ¹⁴Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

¹⁵Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. ¹⁶“This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that ¹⁷I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants^[a] beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. ¹⁸And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”

¹⁹Then they returned to the servants and traveled back to Beersheba, where Abraham continued to live.

²⁰Soon after this, Abraham heard that Milcah, his brother Nahor’s wife, had borne Nahor eight sons. ²¹The oldest was named Uz, the next oldest was Buz, followed by Kemuel (the ancestor of the Arameans), ²²Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. ²³(Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) In addition to these eight sons from Milcah, ²⁴Nahor had four other children from his concubine Reumah. Their names were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

We could have a good debate about our opinions on God choosing this particular test for Abraham, but God indeed chose it. We are called to accept it and trust Him that in the context of the ancient near east culture of the time this was an appropriate test for Him to put before Abraham. It would seem very unlikely that God would use that same test for us in the context of the culture of our world today, but He can just as easily test us in other ways.

Are we putting our children before God as priority? our spouse? Anything? We are to put God first. We are to not only read His word but seek to have relationship with Him such that we can hear and understand His specific will for our lives and then obey it.

Abraham put nothing before God and was willing to trust God with everything. He could have rationalized that he should not sacrifice Isaac because God previously promised many children through Isaac. However, Abraham had a close enough relationship with God to know when he was hearing from God… and he obeyed.

Each of us should ask ourselves what areas of our lives we hold back from God… what areas might we be putting above God… saying “Let me keep this [job, hobby, bad habit, sin, etc.] and I will submit to you in other areas?” God wants to be first in all aspects of our lives. We are called to honor Him as such and we can trust Him.

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Sharing God's word through devotionals and other resources. Helping you study the Bible and apply it to your life. Helping young children to enjoy the Bible at our Kid Zone.

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Sharing God's word through devotionals and other resources. Helping you study the Bible and apply it to your life. Helping young children to enjoy the Bible at our Kid Zone.