Monsterlizard - Born Again

5And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him,  
6and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” 
7Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 

8But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9“For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

10Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 
11“I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;
12but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.  (Matthew 8:5-13)

Two huge things happen here.  First, Jesus is showing that he has come to save everyone who believes in Him.  It is not longer the Jews against the world, but man with Jesus against sin.  And second, that to be saved requires no more than absolute faith in Christ.  The centurion knew that Jesus could heal his servant with having to be there and do some magic.  Because of that faith, his servant was healed.

1When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. 4Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Matthew 8:1-4)

Having leprosy in the times of Jesus was a big deal. You were outcast and forced to live outside of society. You couldn’t be around others, let alone be touched by them. But, Jesus was not only willing to heal this man, He touched him. This had to be a huge shock to those that were watching. After he heals the man, he tells him to go to the priests and make the offering from Leviticus 14:1-32. He doesn’t stop there though, I think it is significant that Jesus says “… as a testimony to them.” He is showing the priests that He has performed a miracle by healing someone, and made him accountable to the laws of Moses.

 24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”  28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. (Matthew 7:24-29)

There have been those that have said, “if all your sins are forgiven, why not enjoy life and ask for forgiveness at the end?”  This passage is the reason.

13“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.  (Matthew 7:13-14)

This is really eye opening to me.  If we see the masses doing something, it is probably the wrong thing to do.

 15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.  (Matthew 7:15-20)

When ever I hear the word fruit used in the Bible, I think of the Garden of Eden.  I am not sure if I am supposed to or not, but that is the image that pops into my mind.  This passage really brought me there because it also talks about thornbushes and thistles: in Genesis 3 it says

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’
       “Cursed is the ground because of you;
       through painful toil you will eat of it
       all the days of your life.

 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
       and you will eat the plants of the field.  (Genesis 3:17-18)

I think Jesus wanted us to think about Genesis here.  The serpent (Satan) offered bad fruit to Eve, just as he offers to us today.  The people he works through may sound godly, but if what they are asking goes against the teachings of God, then they are evil.

 21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’  (Matthew 7:21-23)

This for me throws a wrench into many teachings of Christians today.  We are told that faith in Jesus will give us ever lasting life.  However, I think Jesus is telling us that there is another step we have to take.  Having and spreading faith in Jesus is not enough, we must obey the will of God.  If we are called to do something, and we ignore that calling, then we are heading toward that broad gate.

 7“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

 9“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  (Matthew 7:7-12)

 This is an assurance from Jesus that God is listening.  He is explaining that God will grant us mercy when asked, even when we are evil.  He also commands that as God will grant us mercy, we must grant mercy to others.  He goes as far as saying that the laws of Moses and the prophecies were commanding the same thing.

It is strange to me that the most simple of laws are the most difficult.  When things are well defined as eat this, wear that, sacrifice these you can rate your progress and know when you have failed.  But, giving grace to everyone always is hard to accomplish.  It requires complete priority change that I pray to obtain.

1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  3“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

 6“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:1-6)

We all have sin.  We have all done and continue to do bad things, and what Jesus is saying is that we cannot judge others while we are not perfect. 

5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (1 Corinthians  4:5)

10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11It is written:
   ” ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
   ’every knee will bow before me;
      every tongue will confess to God.’ “^[a] 12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. 
 13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. (Romans 14:10-13)

This is not a small charge, it is repeated in the New Testament.  This is not saying that sin is ok, it is just that we are not worthy to be judges.  In John 8:1 - 11, Jesus shows the men attempting to stone the adulterating woman that since they are not without sin, that they cannot kill her.  However, he does admit that what the woman has been doing is wrong, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

We should attempt to help each other get away from sin, not judge each other for that sin.

 25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25-34)

As Christians, we proclaim that we have faith.  However, I think we want to have faith.  Very few of us have real faith.  If we did, I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this, and you wouldn’t be sitting there reading this.  I wouldn’t sit in front of a computer every day saying, “I wish I could do more to serve God, but I have to work to support my family.”  We need to let go of our lives and give total control to God.  However terrifying that may seem.

Prayer:
“Father, help me to have complete faith in you. Help me to allow myself to be under your control and not my own.  Give me the strength to go on the misson you are calling me to.  Amen”

16“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18)

I have been thinking about this lately, and while I don’t think that Jesus was commanding us to fast, I think I might do it. I have never fasted before, but I think it is an opportunity to really talk to God. Anyway, I think what Jesus is getting at is to not do things for God and hope people will see you. We need to do things for God, not man because we serve one Master.

19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (Matthew 6:19-24)

I think storing up earthly treasures is something mankind has been doing since being cast out of the Garden. However, I find our present day to be pushing it to the extremes. The gluttony of today is mind boggling. I am constantly thinking about the next “thing” I will buy. Oh and don’t get me started on the cellphone commercials talking about the parents working 2 jobs to pay for their child’s cellphone bill: “forget the rod, parent the child.”

Verses 22 and 23 seemed strange to me, but I have found that the “evil eye” in the time of Jesus had to do with envy of money. Knowing this makes it fit nicely. If you don’t envy money your body will be good. You will do good things. But, if you do envy money, your life will be consumed by it.

The last verses some it all up. You can’t serve yourself and God. You can’t serve money/possessions and server God. If you try you will love one more. (Love and hate in the language of the time meant love and less love).

Prayer:
“LORD, please help me to not seek earthly things, but to use that desire to serve you. When I see others that have things, help me to not be envious. These things do not last forever, but your love is eternal. Amen”

I have been reading and posting in bibleforums.org for a few weeks now.  It is a great message board, and if you have time I recommend giving it a look.  Today I was looking around, and went to the testimonies section (which I hadn’t been to before).  There at the top was a post called Is God Real to You?  I clicked it an saw it was really long, and I immediatly hit back on my browser.  Something smacked me in the back of the head and said “get back to it”.  So I did, and I read the most powerful thing ever.  I almost broke into tears twice, and I am sitting here at work….  Anyway give it a look

http://www.bibleforums.org/forum/showpost.php?p=1232649&postcount=1

5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  9“This, then, is how you should pray:
   ” ‘Our Father in heaven,
   hallowed be your name,
 10your kingdom come,
   your will be done
      on earth as it is in heaven.
 11Give us today our daily bread.
 12Forgive us our debts,
      as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 13And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.’ 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:5-15)

I have a hard time praying out loud with others.  The evening that members from our church (Steve and Randy) came to our house to talk about becoming members, we talked about how I have to accept Jesus Christ as my LORD and savior.  I had done that in my own mind, but I had not professed it to others.  I was asked to do it, and I froze.  The words were on my tongue, but would not come out.  Steve saw that I was stuck and said, “just repeat this after me…”.  He started talking and I was repeating.  However, half way through, he stopped and said, “I’m sorry Aaron, let me just pray for you.”

I was planing on joining this church just on a statement of faith.  I was raised Catholic, and from what I understood I had been baptized.  I never gave thought to being baptized again.  However, the next day I was overtaken by the Holly Spirit and decided that I wanted/needed to be baptized.

This passage has given me much comfort when I am unable to pray out loud with others.  It is not the words that matter, it is desire.

“LORD, thank you for bringing Steve and Randy to me, for with their guidance, I was able to hear you.  Amen”