Tag: Matthew

Matthew 27:24 (KJV)
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

I suppose it oughtn’t to be, but it is shocking how twisted the blinded eye can be.

The Pharisees paid a man to betray Jesus. When that man regretted his decision and returned with the money, their response was, “What is that to us?” When he threw the money down and went out and hanged himself, they were puzzled about what to do with the money because “It was not lawful for them to put it in the treasury.”

When the Jews refused to release Jesus, choosing instead to free a convicted felon, Pilate washed his hands and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person.” He was not. Knowing that Christ was just and had done nothing worthy of death, he agreed to His execution because it was the easy thing to do.

Jesus was mocked, spit upon, beaten, and driven to the cross. A man who had done nothing but good, one they would have forced to be their king, but now they claim, “We have no king but Caesar.“

The serpent offered Eve the likeness of gods, “knowing good and evil.” But what humankind received instead was a delusion.

Only a relationship with Jesus Christ can clear the mind and bring it closer to its rational state.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5900 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

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The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 27:24 How Twisted the Blinded Eye

Matthew 26:37 (KJV)
And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted, hungered, thirsty, sorrowful, and heavy. But I can only find one time when Jesus rejoiced and that was in His spirit, and not outwardly.

In our modern Christianity, we make a great deal of something Jesus barely experienced. The point of Christianity is not to be happy, look blessed, and always play the part of the victor. Jesus began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

I notice He took only two of His apostles with Him. Perhaps it is wise to let only our closest brethren see when we are so sorrowful and heavy, given our fleshly weaknesses.

Even then, they were unable to perform the thing Jesus requested of them.

I suspect it will always be this way with men. However, the lesson I believe is that, when our brethren go into such heaviness, they need us to watch and pray.

• We will fail them
• We will sleep when we should be watching

But, as best as the Lord will enable us, we want to pray for them earnestly.  

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5900 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 26:37 When Jesus Sorrowed

Matthew 25:9 (KJV)
But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

I recently engaged in a conversation with a man who was antagonistic but at least willing to speak with me. At this point in my life, I am not as concerned with finding those whose direction I can change as I am with finding those who need to be warned about the direction they are currently on. Of course, I pray they will be converted, but if not, I want to have at least warned them.

This guy believes himself to be educated. He described himself as having “too many degrees.” In a statement I consider quite judgmental of him, he said, ” If you take a step back and examine the authentic message of Christianity, that which is compelling, it draws people in to crave a closer relationship to God. All you and people like you do is drive people away with your self-righteous judgmentalism.”

He believes Christianity should be all about going “out in the streets with the marginalized and the despised having fellowship and spreading his love and forgiveness.”

I want to contrast that view with the Word of God. The very words of Jesus issue multiple points of judgment.

• Not so (vs. 9)
• I know you not (vs. 12)
• Thou wicked and slothful servant (vs. 26)
• Divide the sheep from the goats (vs. 32)
• Into everlasting punishment (vs. 45)

I understand that these are unpleasant thoughts and that those who reject the Lord and His Word would consider them harsh. But to dismiss them because we don’t care for them is foolishness.

And to avoid telling others about them because we don’t want to drive them from us is the greatest of all cruelties.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5900 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 25:9 An Unpleasant Truth

Matthew 21:29 (KJV)
He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

The full context is, Matthew 21:28-31 (KJV)
But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

Here is a young man whose first reaction to his father’s command was to refuse. The second son was more complaint. In the end, however, the first son did what was commanded of him, while the second did not. Jesus obviously preferred the first to the latter.

I suggest that the difference between the two is repentance versus compliance.

I’ve met many children who have grown up in a Christian home and learned the secret of getting along. They observe. They see what makes for peace and what makes for suffering. They learn what will keep them in their parents’ and their church’s good graces. And they comply. Anxious to fit in and be happy, they do what they are expected to do. The trouble is that compliance with Christian lifestyle is not the same as saving faith in Christ.

I surely do like being around a compliant child. I am not advocating for raising “rebels for the cause.” But salvation requires repentance, and repentance involves struggle. A crisis of faith has got to happen, or else we continue trusting the flesh, often believing ourselves to be walking by faith.

The call of Christianity is not compliance with a worldview, conservative lifestyle, or even a doctrinal statement. The call of Christianity is a repentance of the flesh that turns us to the Lord.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5900 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 21:29 Repentance Vs Compliance

Matthew 19:21 (KJV)
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

What an example of the difference between religion and a genuine walk with the Lord.

This young man had a desire for eternal life
That’s why he had come to Jesus with the question. He knew Jesus had the answer.

This young man had zealously practiced religion
He had kept the Ten Commandments from his youth.

This young man knew that neither desire nor religion had satisfied his soul
“What lack I yet?” He knew something was lacking.

This young man would not make the transition from religion to relationship
He was unwilling to follow Jesus. The Bible says it was because he had great possessions. 

We must be careful not to divorce ourselves from the application because we think we are somehow less fortunate than he. Anything that prevents us from following Jesus is as great a possession as his.

This is what faith is. 

It is following Jesus above all else. 

• It is not being a good person. 
• It is not doing all the right things. 
• It is not even having a heart for the things of God. 

Faith, a relationship with Christ, is removing anything that stands in the way of following Christ.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5900 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 19:21 Above All Else

Matthew 17:5 (KJV)
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Peter gets dished a lot of grief for speaking out of turn. Generally, I am of the opinion we are too hard on him. We are, perhaps, speaking out of turn to speak so poorly of him.

That said, there is here a good lesson in listening. Truth is Peter needed to hear Jesus.

None of us listen enough to the Lord. Our minds are busy, occupied with affairs of this life, cares of the world, ambitions, opinions, and the philosophies of men. We listen so seldom. We’ve come to believe we know what the Lord has said without genuinely trying to hear Him.

• We’ve read books
• We’ve gone to classes
• We’ve heard sermons
• We’ve had discussion groups

We know what Jesus said. Why listen?

If indeed we are what we listen to, we are in a world of hurt.

It’s time to slow down, stop talking and stop thinking about other things, and hear Jesus.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5900 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 17:5 Hearing Jesus

Matthew 16:11 (KJV)
How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

This verse is introduced by,
Matthew 16:7-10 (KJV)
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?
Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

In other words, they had been given this lesson several times. Jesus had taught the lesson, reinforced it with a miracle, and then reinforced it again with a second, similar lesson.

How is it they did not understand?

Rather than seeing this as a rebuke, it would be better to view it as a lesson in human nature. We are full of hearing and slow in learning. It takes repeated exposure to the truth before we get hold of it. Even then, we may not keep hold of it long the first or second time.

This life is a series of lessons in spiritual growth. It’s a classroom. Some, of course, try to skip class or pay no attention while in the classroom.

The wisest of us keep in mind how much we don’t know. We keep our eyes and ears open, trying to pick up some grain of truth that we take to carry farther down the road, to the next lesson.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5900 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 16:11 How Is That?

Matthew 15:27 (KJV)
And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.

A woman of Canaan. If the Jews had obeyed the Lord from the beginning, she would not have existed. But she did exist. And even she, who had been born with this “sentence of death” upon her, found grace in the sight of the Lord.

In so many respects, we might view ourselves as unworthy of God’s grace, blessing, and help. Let not these things hinder us from approaching the Lord with our needs.

All she sought was a crumb from the table. She did not ask for what God had come to give Israel. She only asked for a little thing.

Lord, we come this morning fully aware of our faults, failures, and those things that ought to have prevented us from your presence. But we are here,^[1] and we only ask for grace. Even a crumb from your table will be sufficient.

---

^[1] Note: I write these Daily Visits with God for my personal benefit as I spend time with God. I merely share them with those who wish to join in my visits. This is an example of the very personal nature these visits can have. As I wrote this, I was preparing to take my wife to see a surgeon and find the extent of cancer they have recently found she has. We did not know what we would hear. We only asked the Lord to give us some crumb of hope this morning. The appointment is now finished, and we do have that glimmer of hope. Though more tests are required, and then surgery and radiation, if all goes as the doctor expects she told us my sweet wife will not die of this cancer.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5900 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 15:27 We Only Ask for the Crumbs

Matthew 13:25 (KJV)
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

It was while men slept that the enemy came. It would not be too difficult to place the blame of this on sleeping.

Enemies exist
It’s a fact of life on this corrupt planet that we have enemies. Some enemies have evil intent. Some of our enemies exist simply as a matter of the nature of things. Age is an enemy. The weather might serve as an enemy. Insects, rodents, and other pests are enemies. We know this to be true. Shame on us if we are not vigilant to stand against them.

Sleep is essential
So, while we might blame the coming of the enemy on the sleep, it’s the nature of enemies to catch you when you do what you have to do.

The answer of the Lord
I see here that the Lord did not blame the sleepers. Neither did He require them to correct the situation. God assured them that He would correct it in His time.

I do not want to excuse slothfulness. But I do want to urge the child of God to trust Him. We are not expected to do what we cannot do. 

• Sow your seed. 
• Keep your crops. 
• Do your business. 

But leave the care of it all in the hands of the Lord.

Psalms 127:2 (KJV)
… for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5900 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 13:25 You Can Rest. Trust the Lord

Matthew 12:7 (KJV)
But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

The context clearly demonstrates the disannulling of the Sabbath day in favor of the Lord’s Day.

The disciples were going through the fields, plucking corn and eating. This was a breach of the Sabbath similar to gathering the manna on the Sabbath. Though the manna had ceased millennia before this, the principle was to prepare enough the day before so that the necessary meal for the Sabbath day had been provided. The plucking and preparing of the corn were in violation, and the Pharisees who saw them do it knew it.

Interestingly Jesus did not explain away what they did. Instead, He immediately judged them guiltless and rested His judgment upon a different law.

He had come to possess the day and to replace the day.

Jesus demonstrated this truth throughout His ministry inasmuch as He openly, publicly, and repeatedly did miracles and healings on the Sabbath and in the sight of the Pharisees. It was as if it was a key to His message. 

He is Lord of the Sabbath. He possesses it. And, when He came, He changed the rules regarding it.

“Disturbing Traditional Ideas: How Jesus Challenged the Sabbath.”

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5900 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 12:7 How Jesus Challenged the Sabbath