Matthew 9:9-13 ESV
[9] As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. [10] And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
Our traveler was shocked and stood in sadness at what he had been told. The Messiah he was looking for, the one he had just considered following once he found Him, He was acting like one who was not pure. Our traveler was angry with himself for all the years he had spent. For the true Messiah was to be Holy, yet this man sat with the sinner.
The two men accounting what they had heard and seen of the calling of the deciples spoke calmy to our traveler.
“Just wait. We are not yet finished in our tellings. Sit, please.”
Though still upset, our traveler sat down again and listened as his companions began speaking again.
[11] And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [12] But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [13] Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Our traveler’s eyes felt warm as he held back his tears. He realized in those simple words, that he too would be welcome at the table of Jesus. He was a righteous man, one who sacrificed to God and honored Him. Yet he knew that he was broken and full of sin. There were days when he felt no amount of sacrifice could pay for his guilt. Yet the King he sought after was seeking out the lost and those broken by sin and was offering them a chance to change, He was offering love and hope. He was not impure, He was not making Himself unclean and sinning with those who had chosen to not serve God. He was offering to those who were ready to let go and come to Him a way out from their pain.
“I too am a sinner. I have worried about when I meet Him because of this. Yet now I know that I be with Him and He will help me change.” Our Traveler stated through a mix of joy and tears.
The other two men smiled and nodded their heads, they had been where he was and had gone from anger to peace at the realization of what Jesus had meant.
There have been so many who want to claim the tax collector’s table. They say, “Jesus will welcome me there just as I am.” But then they go no further. They remain at the table of the sinners. Yes, Jesus is sitting there, but He will not remain there. Jesus is sitting at that table because it is the place the broken are willing to come, but He has planned a better table with a great banquet, yet to be seated at this table you must be willing to change.
Here Jesus calls Himself the physician there to heal the sick. You do not seek out a health care professional so they can say, “ya you’re fine, go on the way you are.” You seek them out so they can tell you your illness and help cure you from it. If I go to a doctor and he says, “I can’t see anything wrong with you.” I not only feel like I have wasted my time but I also question his qualifications.
Jesus was not saying, “I like sinners and their sinning and I want to sin with them.” He was not saying, “I see you and don’t judge you.” He was definitely not saying, “you be you bo.” He was saying, “yes these people are sinners, but I love them and have come to heal them.”
The calling of Matthew was a radical move. But look closely. Jesus calls Matthew and Matthew gives up his tax booth and leaves all of that behind and follows Jesus. Matthew is exactly who we are supposed to be. We are all sinners. All of us. The fact that Jesus will forgive us and let us come to Him, that’s what’s amazing.
Imagine being Matthew. Everyone hates you. Your people hate you because you cheat from them and work for the Roman’s. The Roman’s hate you because you’re not Roman. Then one day someone looks you in the eye and says. I love you. Follow me.
Amazing.
Guess what? He loves you. Follow Him.
Category: True Joy
Following the fourth Wiseman- the fig tree
Our traveler is anxious to hear more! His Messiah is calling people. When the two men with him had first began telling what they knew of Jesus’s calling of the first deciples our traveler had been confused by the “band of un-schooled ruffians and old fishermen,” but now as he listened a new thought came to him, and it filled him with such excitement and joy that he could hardly contain it. If Jesus was calling others, people of low standing and no formal training in the law, perhaps he could join and follow Jesus too?
The two men with our traveler continue speaking. They relate the way the next deciple came to follow Jesus.
John 1:45-51 ESV
[45] Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” [46] Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” [47] Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” [48] Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” [49] Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” [50] Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” [51] And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Here in this verse we can assume that Jesus said ‘I saw you while you were under the fig tree,’ because Nathaniel was sitting under a fig tree when Philip found him. However, I like the way The Chosen series portrays this scene, Nathaniel has just lost everything, he literally sets fire to his ambitions and dreams and then in tears gathers the ashes and pours them over his head, all while under a fig tree. Do you know why I like this? It’d because it gives so much more meaning to the moment when Jesus says, “I saw you under the fig tree.”
When we are in desperation, and our dreams have gone up in flame, and we sit alone and crying, we can feel no one in the world sees us, nor cares. Yet in the moments we are closer to Jesus than any other time. Why? Because we have nothing else, so we draw nearest to the only one who has stayed beside us, the only true thing that has not disappeared with all the rest. Jesus says He draws near to the brokenhearted because it’s in those moments that we feel no one sees us, yet the King of the world is saying, “I see you when you think you are all alone and no one cares, I care.”
I do not know the true path that lead to Nathaniel’s door, but I know that anytime I am having a fig tree moment, my Jesus is with me.
Following the fourth Wiseman- when Jesus says follow me, will you stop what you are doing and go?
John 1:43-44 ESV
[43] The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” [44] Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
It has been said that Philip was most likely a follower of John the Baptist. We could then produce the hypothesis that Philip might have previously met Jesus through John before, though there is no evidence to that thought. In my mind I see Jesus walking through Galilee and seeing Philip and going up to him and asking him to follow. Jesus was never demanding people to follow Him, they could have said ‘no,’ but each one of them knew in their hearts that this man was different, and each one of them followed Him willingly. We do not know much of Philip, all we know is that Jesus said ‘follow,’ and he did.
Following the fourth Wiseman- The calling of the first deciples
The calling of the deciples.
Our traveler walks in disappointed silence. He was sure that he would the Messiah in the nearest city to where the man in the camel skins had been proclaiming about him. Yet, when our Wiseman reached the city he found no one. He searched for days and was left with nothing to shore for his effort. He had then made his way to back to the oasis he had seen the man. From a fair distance he could make him out and someone was with him. A thrill went up the spine of our traveler as he felt in his spirit that this was the man, this was who had been searching for.
All weariness left our traveler as he pulled on his camel and began running toward the people in the distance. A clap of thunder sounded and in terror the camel turned and bolted. Our traveler’s hand was bound in the animal’s tethers and he was dragged behind him away from his Messiah. He screamed and cried in desperation, trying to peel the leather from his hand and return to his King, but it was no use. All he could do was try his best to calm the charging animal and pray that it would not harm him in its panic.
After several hours he returned to only find two men walking past the spot he had seen his Messiah. He asked them where they were going and if they had seen the man in camel hair and the other who was with him.
The two men laughed, “seen them? Of course we’ve seen them, did you not hear what happened?”
Our traveler shook his head and the men sat him down, offered him water and food, and began to tell their story.
They too had seen Jesus baptized.
John 1:35-39 ESV
[35] The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, [36] and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” [37] The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. [38] Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” [39] He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
The men exchanged excited looks, “but that’s not all. We were curious and chose to follow behind a ways. You will not believe what happened next!”
Luke 5:3-11 ESV
[3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” [5] And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. [8] But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” [9] For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, [10] and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” [11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
Our traveler sat in rapture at the tales the two men shared. So the man he was seeking was gathering an army? To overthrow Rome perhaps? But, why these men? Two followers of a man who liked to live in the wilderness and a set of common fishermen. These were not the men he thought a King would use to begin his army. He shook his head. Who was he to judge who would be a good soldier and who would not. What was important was that the Messiah was there. He was closer now than he had ever been to finally meeting him.
We can never tell why God will permit us to draw close to something we long for only to make us wait. How often have we been our traveler? Longing to reach out and touch our vision only to be pulled away by something else?
When our traveler sees Jesus from a distance and all his weariness fades away and he begins to run to Him, that is how I see heaven. We finally reach the finish line. We are weary from the fight to survive this world. Then we see Jesus. All the pain, sadness and fear leaves our bodies and we run, we run with everything we have in us and He lifts us up, spins us around and holds us tight as we laugh together. The road is simply what we walk until we reach Jesus face to face. It can be hard and it can hurt, but in the end, paradise.
Standing in the storm?
Sometimes, you have to go through the rain to see the blessings. Sometimes, you have to fish all night before Jesus tells you to throw your nets on the other side. Then after He has been in the tomb for three days and you are out on the water all night once again, with your faith wounded and your hearts broken and a man on the shore tells you to throw your nets one more time, and you know it’s Jesus, so you fling yourself over the side of the boat, knowing that you can walk on the water of He is with you. You grab Him and cry.
Sometimes, God will remind you of your first act of faith when you are in your hardest moments, so you remember how He answered you.
John 21:4-7 ESV
[4] Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. [5] Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” [6] He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. [7] That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
Luke 5:3-7 ESV
[3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” [5] And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
Sometimes we go through the pains of a suffering we do not understand and we never truly see the reason. Sometimes we suffer and then see what God created through it. Sometimes our blessings cause our suffering. Sometimes our struggles do. But no matter what causes the pain, God has a purpose and will save you. No matter how you feel in the moment, don’t forget, ever, that God is good. He will never cause anything to happen to you that He does not plan to bring you out of, and many times He will bring something great of you.
Perhaps you will not become the deciple upon which God builds His church, like Peter.
Perhaps you will not be upright and righteous beyond any other in the Land, like Job.
But God, will bring you out and bring something great out of you!
Trust Him! He is always on your side.
Blessing too heavy
We often refer to Jesus as being in the boat and not letting the boat sink. In reference to the time when Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat during the big storm.
However, there is another painting involving Jesus and a boat.
When Jesus caused the nets of the disciples to fill to overflowing. In that instance, Jesus being in the boat (or at least close by) kept the boat from sinking from the blessings, not the storm. My mom often says do not allow your blessings to become your burdens. The fact is, our blessings are sometimes more than we can handle, and we feel like we are going to sink. When Jesus is in our boat, he will never permit us to sink. Even if we feel we are sinking from blessings, Jesus knows what our blessings entail. He knows the effort that has to go into them. When Jesus filled the nets of the disciples, he knew that there was help close by to help Peter and Andrew pull the fish in because they were afraid that the fish we’re going to capsize the boat. It is easy for your blessings to become burdens due to the simple fact that blessings don’t come without effort. There’s always something you have to put into them. But Jesus is there in the boat with you and he will help guide you. He will not let the boat roll over. He will get you through, and once you can finally haul your blessings in, you will rejoice at what God has done.
Keep Marching!
Joshua 6:2-5 ESV
[2] And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. [3] You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. [4] Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. [5] And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.”
https://bible.com/bible/59/jos.6.2-5.ESV
God gave us music for when the battles come. When the storms reach high and when darkness seems to encroach, God gave us a song. We have been given music that reminds us of gods holy power, his goodness, his grace, and the fact that he will never leave us.
Who would have thought that Jericho would be destroyed by music and a shout? God did. He knew it work, but it didn’t work the first time. It didn’t even work the second or the third time.I’m quite certain that by the time jerichos walls actually felt the people were starting to wonder at God’s plan. We all have a jericho, and we all have a weapon, and sometimes we wonder at God’s plan. But then we pick ourselves up, grab our instruments and march one more time, and that is the time when the walls fall. Turn your music up and keep marching.God will make a way.
I’ve got my own giants
I’ve got my own giants.
We had a pastor who used to say that you need to get out of only praying for yourself. But that’s hard. We pray for other people’s problems, but we become distracted by our own problems. Our giants are big too.
We worry over ourselves because we are on the frontline of our own lives. We don’t feel what others feel, but we definitely feel what we feel. Then, one day, a person goes through what you have been through, and you pray harder for that person than for any of the others because you understand. You have met their giants, and you know how awful they are. Sometimes, God let’s us go through things so we are prepared from the battle to help others with their battle. Perhaps God knows that we have the strength to endure with only Him, and the person we will meet will need a physical hand to hold. It’s what is grown in the battle that makes us who we are. But we get to choose if anything grows. Do we turn to binge watching TV? I know I do more than I should. Do we turn to friends? What is your escape plan for when the fight comes?
It is when we turn to Jesus that we grow. When we say, “I’m fighting through this because God is on my side!”
We say that you can do anything you put your mind to, but the fact is no, you can’t. There are things you can not do on your own. But there is nothing that God can not do. It’s when you give the battle to Him and follow behind His sword and shield that you see victory. We have our own giants. But don’t go saying that your sling and stone won the fight because you were a great shot. Or because you had better technology than the dead champion who had won countless battles and most likely met fighters as good as you and sling shots as fast and powerful. When you walk away from the fight, know it’s because God walked with you into the fight. Your giants are big. But your God is bigger.
How many times
How many times has God heard me say, “I can’t go on! I am so scared.”? More times than most who know me would imagine. Fear is such a constant thing in this life. Recently, my dog started stress chewing his feet. They are raw, and I have to stop him when I see him doing this. Why does he do this? Because we have had anxiety in our household, and he reacts with a stress release. The thing is, if we don’t turn to God when fear or anxiety hits, we will turn to something else. It might be harmless like chocolate or something dangerous to our health or spiritual health. To turn to Jesus means to face the fear head on, and none of us want to do that. To give it to God means to talk about it with Him, it means letting Him know how we feel and that involves acknowledging those feelings. If we don’t turn to Jesus, we will fall into a dark place. Turning to Jesus is turning toward the light. So many things stress us out and scare us. Exams, a scary boss, a health problem, financial issues. Go ahead, Add to that list, I’m sure there are plenty are more that could be brought up. There was an old song, I believe Andrea Crouche wrote it, it said ‘give them all to Jesus. Shattered dreams, ruined hearts, broken toys. Give them all to Jesus and He will turn your sorrow into joy.’ It hurts and scares us sometimes, just going through this life, but the answer is not to find a paw to chew, we need to turn to Jesus and let Him show us the answers that He has planned.
I feel…. but.. it’s Christmas
Dear friends. Christmas is a time when we feel all the feels, and I mean ALL! We feel happy and sad and stressed and at peace because Christmas reminds us of what we love and who we have lost over the years. Just now, I almost cried because an image of a dog came onto my phone, and it was one of my Nana’s favorite breeds, and suddenly, I missed her. Why am I saying this? Because it’s okay to feel. Feel all of it and then let it go. The thing that makes that tangible and important is making sure that you don’t feel alone. Feel those feelings with Jesus. Rest in His embrace and let Him heal you. Panic comes, but Jesus calms the storms. Pain happens, but our Lord is healer. We have lost… sometimes more than we can bear, but God has prepared a home in Heaven. We feel peace at Christmas because the light of the world came. His angel said, “Fear not.” Jesus said, “peace I leave with you.” Why? Because He knew who we are. It hurts sometimes. We see no light at the end of the tunnel. But God. It will always be Jesus who shows us the way. We may think we cannot do it. But all things are possible through Him. Don’t feel guilty about having all the Feelings at Christmas. Just make sure you leave those feelings in the hands of the Messiah.
Carried in the cross 