Read the Bible in a Year (11OCT19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, October 11’s Bible reading is Matthew 22-23.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, October 12’s Bible reading is Matthew 24-25. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

MATTHEW MOMENT – (11OCT19) “’Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments’” (Matthew 22:36-40).  The religious leaders had once again attempted to trap Jesus by posing a question to find some fault with His answer. So, when they asked Jesus about His view of the greatest commandment, it was not a genuine interest in knowing, but it was to have an allegation to bring against Him. Jesus, however, did not fall into their trap. Jesus said that loving the Lord God and to also love one another actually sums up all Ten Commandments. Let’s take a look into what Jesus meant.

Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17)

I.      Thou shall have no other gods before me. (Love God)

II.     Thou shall not make any graven image or bow down to   

          them. (Love God)

III.    Thou shall not take the name of the Lord in vain. (Love God)

IV.    Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. (Love God)

V.     Honor thou father and mother. (Love one another)

VI.    Thou shall not kill. (Love one another)

VII.   Thou shall not commit adultery. (Love one another).

VIII. Thou shall not steal. (Love one another)

IX.    Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (Love 

          one another)

X.     Thou shall not covet they neighbor’s house…. (Love one 

          another)

As you can see, when we follow the Ten Commandments, we are actually obeying the two as Jesus summed them up. Therefore, when we Love God, we obey His commandments by also loving each other and not doing anything that would bring the other pain or harm.

So many people want to eliminate God out of society, but when a society does not have God, they become lawless. That society begins to crumble and every commandment we see that deals with loving one another becomes null and void because we have also ignored the first four. Where there is no God, there is no order, and where there is no order, there is no society. The Bible says: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance” (Psalm 33:12). Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (11OCT19) “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach” (Matthew 23:2-3). Jesus often rebuked the religious leaders because of their pretense. He taught the people to obey their teachings of the law but not to practice their hypocrisy. They loved to be seen by others and carry titles to make themselves feel important. Jesus, nevertheless, told the people that the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven would have to become a servant. This was quite opposite of how the religious leaders of His day operated. Jesus had seven woes for the Pharisees and teachers of the law because of their making the kingdom of God difficult for others to enter, while they themselves were blind, hypocritical, whitewashed leaders that He likened to vipers. Jesus wanted them to practice justice, mercy, and faithfulness. They were legalists who obeyed the letter of the law but had no love for their fellow man. What they failed to realize was when they broke the commands to love, they had broken all of God’s ordinances.

There are many modern-day Pharisees who love to act as if they are righteous as they put their fellow brothers and sisters down. They believe that they are on their way to Heaven, but they do not show grace, mercy, love, nor justice. They honor God with their lips but do not honor Him with their hearts. They are the ones who have run pastors out of pulpits needlessly, scared people away from the church, and caused others to stumble in their world of self-righteousness. How many “believers” have aided non-believers in NOT coming to Christ because of their coldness, arrogance, and lack of concern? The Bible says: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Do we really want to be the cause for someone missing out on Heaven because of our lack of love? Everyone will have to give an answer for their own actions, but we as Christians will also give an account when we failed to represent Christ in the best light. Something to ponder….

MATTHEW MOMENT – (11OCT19) “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town” (Matthew 23:33-34). Jesus, once again, was rebuking the religious leaders, for even though they claimed that they would not have been like their ancestors in killing the prophets, they were indeed blinded by their desire for ultimate power. Jesus reminded them of how their ancestors killed the prophet Zechariah between the altar and the temple. Their ancestors had been guilty of shedding innocent blood, and soon, they too would be guilty of the same as they plotted against Jesus. John the Baptist had spoken against them; and now, Jesus was declaring judgment against them as well, for the Son of God was in their midst, but they were too blind to see and too deaf to hear.

Jesus is still sending His servants to preach the gospel and warn of His soon return. There are many servants who have forsaken all to give this message to the masses, and there are others who will one day, as so many who have gone before them, pay the ultimate price with their lives. Nevertheless, Jesus is giving everyone a chance to have eternal life. Not one person will be able to say that they were not given a fair chance to enter the kingdom of God. One day, the door to the ark will shut, and those who have not made it in will be eternally lost. That is why it is so important for us to man our posts and keep preaching/teaching the truth regardless of the rejections. At the end, Jesus will say, “Well done!” Something to ponder….