This is snow dog. She loves Christmas. Below is my niece, Shyana. She loves Christmas too. But you can't tell because she hates pictures. Jesus’ disciples must have thought that fasting was important because each of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) record his threefold teaching on the subject. Jesus did not want his followers to fast while he was with them, and wanted them to realize that he was bringing in the new age. The church today should remember and act upon his teaching, since he explains that the ones who should fast are the ones who are alive during his absence, just as the church is today.
In Jesus’ day, the common thing to do while you were fasting was to let your hair and beard get tangly and to smear ashes on your face. But Jesus taught a different way to fast (Matthew 6:16-24). He said that fasting is something that is between you and God, not something you do to show what a great Christian you are. When you are fasting, he said, just do what you normally do. A person’s motivation for fasting shows where his priorities are. In this passage, Jesus uses three examples to explain the same point; that our eyes need to be fixed on Jesus.
In Matthew 9:14-17 Jesus again paints three pictures to illustrate what he is teaching. When John’s disciples ask him why his disciples do not fast he uses a wedding example to explain that now is not the proper time to fast. His disciples (groomsmen) should not be gloomy when it is time to rejoice. But the time will come when they should fast. He talks about new and old wineskins and new and old fabric to illustrate that now a new era has come, and that the new era and the old era should not be combined.
This teaching is recorded again in Mark 2:18-22. The same point is driven home: the old ways of Judaism are obsolete. If the new and the old are combined, both will be ruined! This is similar to his teaching on fasting in Matthew 6 where Jesus concludes by saying that that you cannot serve both God and money. You cannot serve the old ways of Judaism and the new way of God’s kingdom. He is declaring that he has come to bring in the new, and that his new way is God’s way.
Jesus’ teaching on fasting must be very important, for we see that it is recorded again in Luke’s gospel (5:27-39). We are reminded that for the people in Jesus’ day, fasting represented mourning, in this case waiting for God’s kingdom to come. Jesus is saying that that new kingdom has come, and there is therefore (at the moment) no need to mourn. When Jesus declared that he is bringing in the new age and new ways of doing things, he is not saying that the old ways were bad or wrong. He is saying that a better thing has come. This new age is one of power and of hope. There is a new potential for his followers. But we can’t forget that Jesus mentions that there will be a day when they will fast again, when the bridegroom goes away. That day is today.
The church is living in the time between the bridegroom’s temporary presence on earth and his eternal presence with his bride. Jesus wants us to mourn for his presence by fasting. We should not do it to show how holy we are or to gain man’s approval. We should do it secretly, as a sort of secret handshake between us and God. We should continue to do the same things that we would normally do, not acting gloomy or drawing attention to the fact that we are not eating.
“Grandpa Isaac, was Father Abraham really a friend of God?”
“Sit down, Joseph, and I will tell you a story.” Isaac led Joseph up to the tamarisk tree and they sat down in the little shade that it provided.
“This story happened in the time before our family lived in this land. We were sojourners and the ground that you see was but a promise in our hearts. One morning my father woke me up very early. He told me to get dressed for a six day journey.
When I came out of the tent, two of the servant boys were loading up the last few pieces of the wood that my father was cutting. They had saddled the donkey, and I was beginning to wonder where we were going. We had seen a caravan pass through a few days earlier, and I thought that we might be going to help them in their distress. Father always taught us to love our neighbors as we love our own selves. But that did not explain the wood, and besides, we only had one donkey with us. I asked my father where we were going and he said, ‘The Lord will show us.’ Sheesh. I did not like when he said that.”
“Why not?” Joseph asked.
Isaac replied, “Often times, my father would hear the voice of the Lord, but the Lord would not tell him all of the details. The Lord would say, ‘go’ but He would not tell Abraham where to go. I did not like it at the time, because I did not understand faith.”
Joseph interrupted, “Tell me about faith.”
“That will come later, child, let’s hear the rest of the story.
We walked through the desert for three days. He didn’t speak much, but every now and again father would take a deep breath and tell me how much I meant to him. As we stopped to rest each night, he would tell me the story of when God promised to make him into a great nation and how the Lord said that it was through me that his offspring would be named.
On the third day we saw a hill in the distance. Father told the servant boys to stay there with the donkey, and that we would both be back in a little while, after we had worshipped. He put the wood on my back as we walked up the hill together. Father had the fire and the knife, but he forgot the animal!
‘Dad, where is the lamb?’ I asked.
He replied, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’ He always had such a confidence that God would act. It was amazing to me some of the things my father did. Most of the time the things that he did would have failed if God had not stepped in.
We continued walking together. When we reached the top of the hill we built the altar by laying the wood out in order. It was time to worship, but we did not have a sacrifice. Before I could speak, father walked around behind me and started to wrap my wrists in twine. As he tied my arms up behind me, I was so scared. As he wrapped the rope around my feet, I knew exactly what was happening. I couldn’t control the thoughts that were streaming through my head. Wasn’t our God different than the Canaanite gods who required human sacrifice? Didn’t our God love us? Wasn’t I the heir of God’s promise? Hadn’t my father just told me how much he loved me? But when he picked me up to lay me on the altar, I saw the tears streaming silently down his face, and I knew that he loved me. He had showed me a thousand times how special I was to him, but he was devoted to YHWH. He knew that faithfulness to God was more important than making sense out of what was going on.
As he raised his knife, I saw no hesitation in his loving eyes. But before his hand came down, a voice called out from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay a hand on the young man, for now I know that you fear God, for you have not withheld your son from me.’
At that, we heard the bleating of a ram. My father helped me off of the altar, unbound me, and together we bound the ram that the Lord had provided. We worshipped God, and then walked down the hill together. As we walked down that hill, I remembered the things that he had told me about the promise. He had told me so many times before, but this time it really cut to the liver. My father believed God so much that he was willing to do something absurd because he understood that the word of the Lord will never fail. Surely God saw the sins of my father. Abraham acted out of his own understanding at times- that is how he got Ishmael- yet his faith was completed by his works.
That is what faith is, Joseph.
Joseph responded, “I think I understand. Faith is being obedient to God, and knowing that He will come through to accomplish what He said he would accomplish. And when we are faithful, we become a friend of God.”
Isaac smiled and said, “Child, you have understood these things.”
There was a wealthy business man who had two sons. The younger son said to his father, “You know dad, I wish you were dead so that I could go ahead and have what is coming to me. Better yet, give me my inheritance now.” Without hesitation, the father gave a third of his company and a third all he owned to his son. A few days later, the son sold his share of everything that the father had given to him, booked a ticket to Thailand, and got as far away from his father as he could.
He lived it up in Thailand, indulging in the exotic culture and throwing elaborate parties. But soon his fortune ran out, along with his friends. About the time that he ran out of money and lost his so-called friends, a pretty intense drought hit the land. Food was scarce, and people were desperate.
The son was so desperate that he begged for a job cleaning the rooms of a brothel in return for a corner to sleep in at night. Realizing that the prostitutes were living in better conditions than he was, he came to his senses, and decided to return to his father.
The next morning he went down to the ship dock and stowed away in the cargo hold of a merchant ship headed for America. During the long trip, he practiced over and over in his head what he was going to say when he saw his father. “Dad! I am so sorry! I have messed up big time. Not only have I sinned against you, but I have sinned against God. Please, let me work in the mail-room at your company.”
When the ship arrived in America, the father was in a CEO meeting, but when he heard of the son’s return, he left the meeting without a word and drove to the boat dock. As soon as the father had a glimpse of the boy, he ran onto the ship and embraced his son.
The son began to speak, saying, “Father, I am so sorry. I am not worthy of your love.”
But the father cut him off, and with tears streaming down his cheeks he said, “Son, come home.”
The father called his secretary and had her go through his phonebook and invite all of his friends and family to a party that night. The party was to celebrate the return of his son, and to announce the new name of the company, “Johnson and Son.”
When the older son came home from the office that night, the valet parkers were a sure sign that there was a party that he did not know about. He asked one of them what was going on and the worker said, “Your brother has returned, and out of his joy your father has re-named the company. The older brother stayed outside, refusing to celebrate the immaturity of his father’s youngest son.
His father went out to him and begged the older son to join the party, but he answered his father, “ I have been the example of the perfect son. All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a small promotion so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you re-name the company for him!”
“Son,” the father said, “you have not been the perfect son. You have been the perfect employee. Start acting like my son and start enjoying the blessings that are already yours. Now, we must go celebrate, for this son of mine was not my son for a time, but now he is part of the family again.”
10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” 12 And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God.
13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. 14 When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” 17 Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. 19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, 20 and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. 21 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.
As my roommate Karrah said, "It's the body in the making!" This story of Moses taking on too much is so characteristic of many Christians today. But it is not good. Just because something is easy does not mean that it is sin.
Be encouraged! Trust God. Allow the other members of the body to bear some of the load. They are able. And you will all go on your way in peace.
You sit enthroned in Heaven
High above the earth.
From the mouths of infants
All of creation sings your worth.
You created with your fingers.
And set it all in place.
You care for us your creatures.
Lord, we want to see your face!
Your Name is great in all the earth,
Let us go and make it known!
Your Name is great in all the earth,
Send us to reap what you have sown!
Someday all nations will gather
And bow before your throne.
Your name is forever majestic
And on that day it will be known.
Your Name is great in all the earth,
Let us go and make it known!
Your name is great in all the earth,
Send us to reap what you have sown!
For my theology class we had to meditate on a psalm and respond to it. This is my response. It is a prayer to God to send out laborers into the harvest field to reap what He has sown in the hearts of people all over the world. When people see nature, they naturally know that there is a god, but they do not know His name. They cannot come to a saving knowledge of Him unless someone is sent to go and tell those lost people about Him.
Hello Family!
I am so excited to tell you more of what God is doing in my neck of the woods. I have the wonderful opportunity, along with some other leaders at my church (Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, CA www.cornerstonesimi.com ), to take a group of high school students to Mexico on a mission trip. We are leaving today and we will return on Friday. We are driving down to Tijuana, Mexico for two reasons:
Reason number one: We are going to be God’s hands to his children in Tijuana who are in need of a better living situation. We will build one living structure each day. We are going to put up four walls and a roof, trusting that God will turn those shelters into homes.
Reason number two: To mobilize the hearts of the students that we are bringing down there. More than 40% of the world has no access to the Gospel. They do not have anybody or any literature in their language that will lead them to the knowledge of the one true God. While the people of Tijuana have plenty of access to God and his Word, we will be using the change of culture and the third-world environment to teach the students about the need for the Gospel all over the world.
In Matthew 9:37, Jesus says that there are many people who are ready to hear about Him, but there are very few people who will go and share His love with them. Please pray that the students who are going this week will understand God’s heart for the world and give their lives to spreading the love of God to the unreached.
Thank you for your prayers!
Bethany Reinbolt
Check my blog a few days after we get back because I will post a report about how the trip went. www.stubborngrace.blogspot.com
You can also find out more about the status of the Gospel around the world on www.joshuaproject.net
This is a picture of me, Lavenya, and Emily (Left to right) at Lavenya's baby shower. She is going to have a new baby boy soon! We are all kind-of making wierd faces in this picture.
All of the women at the baby shower. Men and kids came too, but they are not in this picture. See if you can pick out the two americans!
This is us all laughing at our lack of knowledge about the Indian culture. 
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we were sinners, we were enemies of God. But Jesus fought the war on our behalf through his life, death, and resurrection. God is the Holy King, and we who were once enemies are now on peaceful terms with God because of what Jesus has done. But it is not just like we signed a peace treaty and went back to our homeland. No, our God is greater than that. “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand,” WOW! Through Jesus we have also obtained access (some translations say "introduction") to God. (Think Esther here). It is dangerous to approach a King without introduction, like, people have been killed for going before a King without proper introduction. But through Jesus, we have gained access to God, our King. We do not have to fear going before his throne because the one at his right hand is interceding for us! (but that is later in Romans).
But wait, there is more. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. WHAT? Ok, so lets back up a bit...First we were enemies of God, but Jesus faught the war on our behalf. Then he justified us by faith so that we would have peace with God, and not only peace, but access to God! Ok, so now we can go into the throne room of God and bow before Him and worship his majesty. But Paul says that we have access into this grace in which we stand. When we enter the throne room of God and kneel before HIm, He looks down at us and lifts up our chin and says, “Stand up. You are my child. I sacrificed everything so that you could stand justified before me.”
The first time I heard that, I cried. I had been imagining a God so big and so Holy and now the Bible is telling me that I am standing in His grace? That blows my mind.
and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. More on that when I understand it fully.
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings,
You are saying that we rejoice in sufferings more than we rejoice in hope? Is Paul crazy? Not at all. Paul realizes that we rejoice in our sufferings because that is what produces endurance, which produces character. The greek word for character here is dokime. A more specific translation would be “proven character” (the same word that is used in James 1). It is describing someone who has been tested and his faith is proven true. You might have heard the gold analogy: When gold is tested in the fire it comes out as more pure gold. But here’s the thing: it comes out of the fire, and everyone knows that it really is gold. It does not just look like gold. It does not just say that it is gold. It is proven to be gold. That is what sufferings produce in Christians. When a Christian suffers and comes out confessing Christ, everyone will know that he truly is a follower of Jesus, and not just in talk.
That is how character produces hope. If our dokime (proven character) shows that we really are a Christian, then we have confidence (hope) that we will inherit the Kingdom of God.
knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
This last part I am still not grasping, but I think that it is saying that one of the ways that God pours His love out on us is that He has given us the Holy Spirit.
