Tuesday... He rewards persistence.

Matthew 20:31 (AMP), "The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried all the more, 'Lord, Son of David (Messiah) have mercy on us!'"

Tuesday... He rewards persistence.

Over in Matthew 20 there is a great story in verses 29-34. It seems there were these two blind guys who were sitting beside the road and a large crowd was following Jesus and when they heard that Jesus was passing by they wanted his attention.

We have this dog whose name is Turner and he can cause problems when he wants something. Now we can take the fact that it is in the middle of a TV show when he starts barking as an annoyance. And we can look at him and say that he is just doing that to get attention and correct him. Maybe even put him in time out. But if we go through all his needs we can usually come to what he is asking for and one of us gets up and takes care of the problem. Of course we can be so self-focused that we just correct him and not strive to find the problem. But many times his persistence is rewarded.

Now, here these two guys, these two blind guys were an annoyance to the crowd. But this story shows us what Jesus is like and what matters to him. Yes, the crowd was annoyed. Verse 3a says, "The crowd sternly told them to be quiet." And we do that all the time. We say to our kids, "Be quiet, don't you see that we are watching this show on TV? or we are busy." It is so easy for us to correct instead of trying to find a solution.

Yes, I know that kids can be so self-focused. They just want what they want no matter what we are doing but they learned that from us. Yes, if they keep at it there will be some response from us. Maybe not the right one.

Verse 30, "And two blind men were sitting by the road, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, 'Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David (Messiah)!'" Yes, to those who had their own needs or desires that was an annoyance but not Jesus.

Verse 31, "The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried all the more, 'Lord, Son of David (Messiah) have mercy on us!'" And then verse 32, "Jesus stopped and called them, and asked, 'What do you want Me to do for you.'" And they knew what they wanted from him. Verse 33 says, "They answered Him, 'Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.'" They were specific

There is so much in there for us to take hold of. One is that our persistence is not an annoyance to God. It just shows him that we are serious and he rewards that. "Lord, we want our eyes to be opened." The NLT says, "'Lord,' they said, 'we want to see.'" And he wanted that too for them.

There is so much that God wants to do for us but we need to just ask and there may be some persistence in there from us that shows him that we are really serious and that we really do believe in him.

Verse 34 (AMP)) says, "Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him [as His disciples]." The NLT says, "Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed him."

There is power in persistence and being specific. I don't know what it is you need from God today but he will not be annoyed if you are persistent and specific. But he also has something he wants from us. It says "Then they followed him." And that is so very important! Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...

Thursday... Yet, now this is true.

Colossians 1:22a (NLT), "Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body." Thursday... Yet, now this is true. Now Paul a prisoner in Rome is writing a letter to a church in Colossae. And in Colossians 1:21 (MSG) he says, "Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds" The NLT says "This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated by your evil thoughts and actions." And that is where so many in this world live today. They are blowing it and they don't know what to do. Yes, they are hostile in their minds and they are engaging in evil deeds but there is Good News. Now Paul in verses 19-20 sets the stage for an answer to those who don't want to live that way. He says, "For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth b...

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