Mud

When Jesus walked, He did many amazing works of healing. Yet He rarely did the same thing twice. Sometimes He spoke (Matthew 8:13). Sometimes He did nothing (Luke 8:47). Sometimes He did the touching (Luke 22:51). Sometimes He spit and made mud.


Joh 9:6-7
(6) When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed his eyes with the clay,
(7) and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by interpretation, Sent). He went away therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

What would have happened to Galilee and Jerusalem had Jesus only healed by spitting in the dirt? I dare say that part of the world would have been bought by tourists desiring the healing dirt of Israel sitting on their shelves at home. But Jesus was not 'figured out' that easily. He mixed things up.

The Lord knew what we would do. We would forsake the relationship and just buy the dirt. We had done it before. The people of Israel were being bitten by serpents. They were dying in droves. God told Moses to make a brass serpent and put it on a pole so that the people could look upon it and be saved. The people were more than happy to oblige. Consequently, they did not see the serpent as God's mercy upon them. By the time King Hezekiah was in power, the people had enshrined the brass snake and were burning incense to it. This is what we do. We worship the mud.

Are there jars of mud, or brass serpents, or pastors, or denominations in our lives today that have become our God-replacements?

Extend The Olive Branch

Pro 16:7
(7) When a man's ways please Jehovah, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

I don't have a lot to say about this that it doesn't say for itself. This precept is profoundly apparent in my life today. Most of us have enemies. Some are people we have done wrong. Some are people who make everyone their enemies. Whether justified or not, God works this miracle of peace into our existence.

Make an effort to show God's love to someone whom you love, but don't like, today. Blessed are the peacemakers.

It Is Written

Mat 4:1-2
(1) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit up into the wilderness, to be tempted by the Devil.
(2) And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterwards hungry.

After reading this passage, it is very easy to surmise that Jesus was weak and hungry after fasting in the wilderness for forty days. What a time to meet the most devious of all beings - the devil. Jesus 'entertained' the devil for a while. When the devil would tempt Him, He always replied with 'It has been written'.

Mat 4:4
(4) But answering, He said, It has been written: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every Word going out of the mouth of God."

for it has been written: "He shall give His angels charge concerning You, and they shall bear You on their hands, lest You strike Your foot against a stone."

For it has been written: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve Him only."

Still, few of us take much stock in learning what has been written. Our reasoning is that we no longer need to memorize the text because it's legalistic to do such. Or, it's not applicable to our walk today. Or, we might even say that Jesus had it easy, seeing as He was the living Word it was natural for Him to quote it.

It is also easy to skim quickly over the fact that Jesus fasted - often. It could be said that this was what made Him strong - not weak. Perhaps the devil sees things from a fleshly nature - how ironic. The worst possible time to tempt the Son of God, hungry or not, was at the conclusion of forty days with His Father. Do we utilize this weapon of fasting against the enemy? Fasting... committing the Word to our hearts...

For those of us who like excuses, it really doesn't matter which one we choose. It's possible we just aren't ready for an encounter with the enemy.

Signs Will Follow

Mat 2:1-3
(1) And when Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men arrived from the east to Jerusalem,
(2) saying, Where is He born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.
(3) But Herod the king having heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him.

After Jesus was born, He upset things right away. Scripture says 'all Jerusalem' was troubled. Wow! And He hadn't even learned to walk! This is significant because it reiterates a truth about who He is, and about who WE are. Jesus was the one the enemy had warred over and worried about ever since the Genesis 3:15 prophecy.

Joh 11:47
(47) Then the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled a sanhedrin, and said, What are we doing, for this man does many signs?

Certainly things did not improve for the enemies of Jesus. Everywhere He went He stirred things up. For the religious, the biggest problem seemed to be the signs. Miracles. It isn't difficult to get past any message that lacks power, but it's incredibly difficult to write off anyone whose message is accompanied by signs of great power. Religion in itself has no power, so it is offended by such a display.

Mar 16:17
(17) And miraculous signs will follow to those believing these things: they will cast out demons in My name; they will speak new languages;

Jesus said that the same signs (even greater) would follow those who believed and abode in Him. He did not say the signs would have to be sought after. He did not say the signs might happen to a few. He said signs would follow. Miraculous signs will follow - if.

All This Begatting

These are some observations about the text in Matthew Chapter 1. In this lineage of Jesus through Joseph, I found some things I had not noticed before.

Mat 1:5-6
(5) and Salmon fathered Boaz out of Rahab, and Boaz fathered Obed out of Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse,
(6) and Jesse fathered David the king. And David the king fathered Solomon out of her who had been the wife of Uriah,

Boaz fathered Obed out of Rahab, and David fathered Solomon out of Bathsheba. However, Bathsheba was not named. Admitting my ignorance, I would assume this has something to do with the sin that was committed.

From here, my thoughts went directly to what God Fathered... His church. The seed was Jesus (Matthew 13:37), and the mother, it could be said, would be the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). Interestingly enough, the Holy Spirit (Ruach ha Kodesh) is 'feminine' in the Hebrew, while God the Father is a masculine, and obviously Jesus the Son was a male. Why, then, might Jesus have to go away before Pentecost? (John 16:7) Because the seed is never visible at conception.

This analogy is offensive to some... but I do not think anyone would argue that the church was birthed on Pentecost. To the offended parties, I would ask, from whom was the church birthed?

Remember this, too. God IS a god of patterns. He created male and female and instructed them to be fruitful and multiply. Dwell on this.

The Vineyard of the Kingdom

Mat 21:33-44 HNV (33) "Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. (34) When the season for the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit. (35) The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. (36) Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they treated them the same way. (37) But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, 'They will respect my son.' (38) But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and seize his inheritance.' (39) So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. (40) When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?" (41) They told him, "He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season." (42) Yeshua said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes?' (43) "Therefore I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation bringing forth its fruit. (44) He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whoever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust."


Jesus spoke constantly about the Kingdom. In Matthew alone, kingdom is mentioned in 53 different verses, and multiple times in some of those verses. Many of those times, Jesus likened the Kingdom to a vineyard. Why a vineyard?



A vineyard is a place of FRUIT PRODUCTION. Other than that single point of fact, there doesn't seem to be a common rule about vineyards. The rules are up to the Master - or Owner. Lets take a look at what Jesus said about this particular vineyard - the Kingdom.

• God is the Master of a household. It was He who planted the vineyard. Eden was this way - a garden. The Kingdom is this way.
• He set a hedge around it. This was a protected vineyard. Eden was this way. The Kingdom is this way.
• There was a wine press in it. That means that within the vineyard - and the Kingdom - are all the tools needed to produce the final product.
• There is a tower within it. There is always a method for seeing what the enemy is up to. What would that be in the Kingdom?
• It was leased to farmers. It wasn't sold - it was leased. God set Adam and Eve to work. He said, "Be fruitful and multiply." What did he ask for in return? All the fruit, or a small portion? How does the Kingdom work?
• The Master went away to let the workers do their work. Why? Conceivably, He had work to do of His own.
• When was He to return? When it was time for harvest.

From this point, the problems were not the enemy outside the vineyard. The corruption came from within the vineyard - the servants themselves. If you'll recall, the serpent was 'in' Eden.

This Kingdom is BIG, and it is DEFINED by fruit production. It's a kingdom where the laborers are expected to be fruitful, and to give the master his due. I believe it's interesting that the evil servants were producing fruit (or at least trying to), but desired to keep it all for themselves.

Settling Too Soon

(Num 32:1 HNV) Now the children of Re'uven and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock: and when they saw the land of Ya`zer, and the land of Gil`ad, that behold, the place was a place for livestock;

When I was in high school, I had plans to go to the Naval Academy. I was into the military thing - loved ships and jets and the thought of driving either... for money... quite a bit of money. Then I discovered guitars and rock and roll and how intricately woven with females that scene was. When it came down to decision time, I decided that Gilead was a place for guitars, and I had a multitude of guitars. Silly, looking back. I don't spend my life in regret because God allowed me to choose and He was with me, just as He was with Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh.

But God's intent for Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh was not based on what they had in the desert (cows). It was based on what He had for them in the Promised Land (unknown). They chose door number one and inherited a place for cows, sheep, and goats. A fine inheritance, if you are a bovine.

Incidentally, the desert 'was' prime pasture land. If it was green, it wasn't given to the goats - it was farmed. These folks settled in the desert. Was there water near by? Yes... but it was still desert. Do we settle before we reach the Promise Land?

Vanity "Fail"

Jer 2:5 HNV
(5) thus says the LORD, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

Somewhere along the line, everyone who has ever breathed oxygen will stand before God in spirit. I say this somewhat flippantly, because it is simply impossible for us to imagine what this experience might be like. We know that John did it - in the spirit - and "fell at His feet like a dead man".

John knew Jesus, personally. No man was closer to the King of Kings while He walked the earth than John. John fell - like a dead man. Meditate on that for just a minute.

For some, this experience will be even more terrifying. Exponentially so. You might say that every horror conceived by man could not be condensed into such a horrific moment as the one in which an estranged man stands before Holy God. When that happens, the question might be asked, "What unrighteousness have you found in Me, that you have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and have become vain?" There will be no one dare answer that question.

It is a good question, though. At some point, love was not enough for someone. Kindness was met with suspicion. It happens every day. Someone turns their face away from God because they simply cannot believe they owe Him anything - much less everything. When self preservation is the only thing - it fails. It is vanity.

Mat 10:39 HNV
(39) He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.

Devouring the Holy

These are perilous times. Most nations are not doing well - few are thriving, if any. We have seen prosperous times in the last couple of decades, but those seem very distant. What gives?

There is a precept in scripture that basically says that how well you deal with Israel determines how well you live, thrive, and prosper. Most of us are familiar with the passage in Genesis 12:3 which says God will bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel. Jeremiah gives us another reason blessings and curses fall:

Jer 2:3 HNV
(3) Yisra'el [was] holiness to the LORD, the first fruits of his increase: all who devour him shall be held guilty; evil shall come on them, says the LORD.

Israel was God's First Fruits! All First Fruits given to God are Holy, and if you devour that which is Holy, you had better be a priest - also Holy. If not, then evil comes, according to the word of God.

David stumbled into the tabernacle - starving - and ate the shew bread that was reserved for the priests. It was holy to God - set apart. But David's life was spared because He, too, had set himself apart for God. He danced into Jerusalem wearing a linen ephod (priestly garment), an early picture of Jesus - both king and priest. We were also made kings and priests by God, a HOLY nation. We must bless Israel, God's First Fruits, because we are growing upon them. They are the stump which sprouted that we were grafted into.

The nations act in ignorance. They are like children in a lion's den - captivated by something deadly. We, as Christians, are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the salvation of Israel. Lets be diligent in doing that! Be blessed!

God Is Moving

Act 1:4 MKJV
(4) And having met with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father which you heard from Me.

We hear this expression from time to time: "God is really moving there." Maybe you're speaking to someone at work or at the game, and the conversation turns to church. One person is a churchgoer, the other is looking... and one says to the other, "You should really come visit my church. God is really doing a huge work there."

That sounds a bit pretentious. Oh really? God is doing something at your church and not at the church on the next corner?

Believe it or not... that might be the truth.

Jesus told His disciples to not leave Jerusalem because something amazing was going to happen in their midst - there. Had any one of them decided to leave - even for a good cause - they would have missed what God would do. It's not that God couldn't have poured His spirit out at the synagogue in Capernaum... it's that He didn't. Not then, and probably never.

The point is this. If God isn't doing a tremendous work at your church, why don't you go to where He IS doing a tremendous work? Are you waiting for Him to come around again? What if He doesn't? When you overhear someone say that God is 'doing a wonderful thing there', inquire. Find out where and go there!

God Is Never Worried

Worry is like hunger. It comes, and it goes. And it occurs just about as often.

How will I get through this meeting?
What if this is more than just a cold?
What if that's not heartburn?
Did I leave the iron on?
Did I leave the faucet dripping?
Do we have enough gasoline to make it?

This is about 20 minutes worth of worry for me. I don't even consider myself a worrier. Mostly, I tend to keep an even keel. But still, some of these things are important. Even if I'm not worried about 'me', I do have a family and I worry about 'them'. There is no end. Really.

Except that I have this huge desire to be like Jesus, and Jesus never worried. Isn't that something to think about?

Jesus never worried. Not about Lazarus. Not about Judas. Not about the cross. Not about if his precious mom would survive the entire experience. This is unbelievable. But true.

Worry is a sin, and Jesus had no sin. So what IN THE WORLD is the key?

1Jn 4:18 HNV
(18) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.

This verse reads in this way: If I really loved - perfectly - I wouldn't fear, and therefore wouldn't worry. I think this is an improper translation.

How about this: if we knew Him as we should - because He IS perfect love - then we would have no fear. In your worst time, imagine that Jesus Himself was sitting right next to you. He could answer all questions in your mind, and you could read His expressions. During the diagnosis when most people would crumple in terror, you could look over at Jesus and He could shrug as if to say, "That's nothing. They think they know, but I have the final say." No fear.

Yeah, that would be nice, but....
But, I haven't read my bible in 2 years. I haven't been to church since Easter. I haven't prayed since I was a kid. Understandable.
Okay, well how about this: I pray every night and every morning, but 'this' morning... I missed because I got up late. Or, I've read the bible through 15 times but I'm taking a little break this week because I've been sick. Understandable.

In both cases, we deprive ourselves from our source of strength. Our lifeline. If I haven't sat in silent meditation and prayer enough to hear His voice, then I may not have enough Love to cast out all my fears. That's just the way it is.