As we read more about the life of Jesus, remember that He came to us to teach, to lead by example and to take our sins upon himself. Step one of this is leading by example. You wouldn't follow a teacher who didn't practice the message, and if Jesus had faltered only once, the sins he would have died for would have been only His own. It is because He led a perfect life that He was able to instruct us effectively and then was able to take all of our sins with him to leave them in Hell.

It is God's wish that all of these sins stay there, but free will is given to us to make that final choice. That is part of the reason why He hates sin so much. These sins are already paid for, but many of them are never sent to Hell to separate us from them. So many people across the world have chosen to reject the simple plan and take the hard road through life. Could the fact that His plan for us is so simple be the reason why so many reject it? If specific prayers were needed at particular times and certain acts needed to be performed, would more people respond to Christ? Or is it just a matter of control?

Yours in Christ,

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I'm not sure what to say about these Pharisees. With their position came power, and they say power corrupts. I'm not so sure about that phrase. I'm more of the mind that power attracts the easily corruptible. This sort of a person is trying to accomplish one thing. They want to retain this power for as long as possible.

Jesus came on the scene and threatened this power, and they started to look for ways to discredit him. Naturally, they turned to what they knew first, the Law of Moses. When Jesus defended his actions to them, He wasn't just speaking to them. He was speaking to all of us, otherwise his words wouldn't have been added to the Bible. His message was to confirm that the Sabbath wasn't created to install rules for people, but for people to have a needed day of rest. He also chastised them for working all their lives for the praise of each other, rather than the praise of God.

Kinda puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

Day 2

We discussed the Fruits of the Spirit earlier this year and how allowing God to work in your life will produce visible results in your demeanor. Next up: the Beatitudes. I won't be going into them with the intensity I did with the fruits, but I will touch on the overall message. These Beatitudes are blessings that are made available to anyone who follows Him.

The first Beatitude refers to those who are poor, but this has nothing to do with their economic status. A closer definition is given as "poor in spirit" which can also be described as humble or gentle. The blessed person is willing to remain humbled, no matter their status or condition for God's sake.

The others are fairly straight-forward in their presentation. I just wanted to point out that being either poor or rich often has nothing to do with money. I know some morally bankrupt people who would be considered rich and I know people who struggle to put food on the table who are the richest people I have ever met. I guess it all comes down to priorities.

Due to the misguided priorities of Israel to this point, Jesus also clarified some points here. For example: it's not enough to not kill someone when you're angry. We're expected to be better than that and set the example by using forgiveness and prayer.

Day 3

How do others see you? If you answered something along the lines of "That's their concern" then you passed the test. This day's reading is all about perception. There were people that would pray loud and long, using as many catch-words as they could. They're still around, and when I hear all of the "Thees" and "Thous" I wonder if there isn't any posturing going on. I'm not saying that people who use these words are praying in a wrong way, I'm just saying that it seems a little uppity to me. But you're not praying to me, are you?

Next comes a passage that I have clung to desperately for the last year or two. I'm not a wealthy man in financial measures. Sometimes the bills stretch our resources to the point where we wonder how we'll pay for things. Sometimes, the stress gets so great, and Ben needs a new pair of shoes, and the cupboard is getting bare, that I just go to the one room in the house that I can be alone in and read Matthew 6. That puts things back into perspective for me. How much does God love a bird, to see that it has all it needs to live? How much are you loved?

There's truly so much to say about this day's reading! I suggest reading it more than once and maybe reading it in sections, rather than as a whole. There's some great stuff in here that needs to sink in.

Day 4

In this reading we have a story about the faith of a centurion. A centurion was an army commander with about 100 men under his control, and such a profession would seem to make this man a poor candidate for a believer of Jesus, but his faith was evident. This man was also very humble, which is not a trait I'd think of in a military commander. These two traits actually modified the manner that Jesus was going to use in this miracle! Think about that. Faith and humility shaped a miracle. That's bigger than I can even say!

The sinful woman in Luke 7 is another good illustration that is valid for today's world. This woman had done some bad things and she knew it. She entered the Pharisee's house where Jesus was eating and wept at his feet. All the Pharisee thought of was how bad the woman had sinned, but Jesus didn't some to look down on those who need him the most. He forgave her sins and used this as an object lesson for the Pharisee. The woman loved him more than one who had only sinned a little because her faith had set her free from a terrible burden.

Day 5

Much of Jesus' teachings were done by parable. A story would be told with an object lesson behind it. Some of these stories were familiar in the sense that the listener could easily identify with the parable. The parable we heard of the man who would rescue his lamb on the Sabbath was one example. This is one where only a few people could actively identify with it, but anyone could understand it.

Farming was a more labor-intensive practice in that time. The field would be plowed and a man would walk among the furrows, throwing seed. People could see examples of birds eating the seed that landed on the path near a field. Rocky ground was obviously not a good place to plant, even those who stayed in the city instinctively knew that. Thorns and weeds are the most natural enemies of any crop. None of this was a secret. A parable is a way to take something of common knowledge and use it as an object lesson. The lesson here is that much of the effort of the church would be for naught, but when it works, it really can take off! The word of God is falling around you. You can choose to give it an environment that will allow it to grow or you can let prejudice or fear stifle it. What's it gonna be?

Day 6

Pesticides were unknown in the fields 2000 years ago. So when weeds were planted along with a crop, there was little to do. Sure, you could let them grow to a height that they could be pulled, but as the reading suggests, you may damage your crop in the process. The way to handle the problem was to let them both grow until the time for harvest came and separate the plants at that time.

Day 7

My first thought when seeing a powerful man possessed with multiple demons would be how to escape, but not our Lord. You may not have been to happy with me last week, saying Jesus is the Lord of demons, but here's just another such example. And he (the demons) begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. If Jesus didn't have power over evil spirits, they wouldn't have been begging Him for anything. Likewise, if He wasn't over them, how could He have commanded them to leave the people they were torturing? Jesus is NOT an evil one, but He does claim the title of Lord over All.

We also see here that He is lord over sickness and death. This is His domain and He is powerful enough to manage it as He sees fit. If you have a problem, no matter how great or small, take it to Him. God answers prayer in His time and in His ways. There is no greater power you can wield than the power of Christ. Thus, the position you can take with the best authority is on your knees.

Weekly Link Etched in Time I remember playing with my Etch-a-Sketch. I was pretty good at creating staircases and... that's about it, really. Today's site is about someone who took this toy and made it into a whole new art medium. Since 1989, George has been creating works of art with his Etch-a-Sketch. He takes up to 70 hours to complete a picture and has many to his credit. He has met politicians and celebrities. He's been on numerous television shows and in magazine articles. I've seen him on TV before, and he's really a neat guy. Check out the artwork! http://www.gvetchedintime.com/set.html

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Thanks for sharing my goal of reading the Bible in its entirety this year!