Wednesday... So what really bothers us?

There is a word that I found in Matthew 19. It seemed in verse 13 (NLT) that some parents came with their children to see Jesus. They wanted Jesus to lay his hands on them and pray. "But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him." And there is the word, bothering.

Now this is what Jesus said in verse 14, "But Jesus said, 'Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like children.' And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left."

The disciples had not arrived yet in their patience, their understanding. They thought they were taking care of Jesus by scolding those parents to not bother him. Now we would stop and think that he may have been bothered by the disciples, by us in our times that we act like children. But if he had been bothered by them he wouldn't have taken the time to explain what was important just like His Spirit strives to do when it seems our actions would bother him.

People are important to Jesus. Jesus in love has to rebuke us sometimes and strive to help us in our immaturity but he also is very patient with us.

So how do we handle being bothered? Look at this. Proverbs 17:5 says, "Those who mock the poor insult their Maker; those who rejoice at the misfortunes of other will be punished."

Maybe we need to be bothered by our attitude and actions toward the poor, toward children.

Here is another one. Verse 9 says, "Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends." We can be so bothered at what someone else does and we love to dwell on it. Does the imperfections of those around us bother us. Then we are always bothered.

Verse 14, "Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so stop before a dispute breaks out."

Now our reactions toward others and our ignoring needs of those around us needs to bother us. If Jesus wasn't interested in those children and their parents, didn't have compassion for them, if he wasn't interested in his disciples impatience and immaturity then that would bother us.

There are actions that do bother us. People matter to God. He is bothered by our actions and our lack of love for him and others but he is not bothered by our reaching out to him and our need of him. That is why he came to this earth. He loves us and he wants us to have all that a relationship with God will give us.

People matter to God, children matter to God, the poor matter to God, the troubles and the difficulties that we are going through matter to God, the lost matter to God, and his followers matter to God. So what matters to God needs to matter to us. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Comments

Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT), "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?" Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do. No, not the fact that I can go out my front door and look out at night at the marvels of the sky. I can do that and it is amazing and it takes my breath away each time I see it. Yes, that is a fact but the reality of who did that and the wisdom and the faith that I have to believe that and to marvel that the one who did that cares about me makes such a difference in how I live my life. Yes, God really does. That is so wonderful for us to believe. And that is why faith and wisdom are so important. Now whatever belief you have at how that marvel happened must also be believed through faith. And the sad thing to me is that more and more people have been taught that there is no God and therefore he did not have a h...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but... We each one have our own way of explaining what we are going through, don't we? Some of us are maximisers, other are minimizers and neither one is better. We each one are different and we see what we are facing differently but no matter what it is and how you see it and describe it, God can handle it! Now the writer of Psalm 46 shows the extremes. In verse 1 he states the basic reality and then he moves on into our fears and he maximizes them to make sure we really understand. Here is what Psalm 46:1-3 (NLT) says, "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!" So what do you fear? The Amplified Bible says verse 1 this way, "God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], a very presen...

Wednesday... It didn't just happen.

Psalm 16;10 (NLT), "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." Wednesday... It didn't just happen. We are headed into a weekend of deep emotion. One that we really really love was killed and it didn't just happen. David in Psalm 16:10 (NLT) writes of this happening. He says about God, "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." We read over in the Gospels at the beginning of the New Testament in the Bible of the life of God's Son who came to earth to be our sacrifice so that our soul would not be left among the dead. Jesus came so that we wouldn't have to be buried at death and just left there. But he also shares that Jesus who was going to be killed as a sacrifice for our sins would not have to rot in a grave. David many generations before foretold this and that is what happened. Now that had to be a God thing. We can guess a lot about our future and we d...

Todays Beginning

Search This Blog