The Authority of Jesus Questioned

"They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you authority to do this?"
 
Jesus replied, "I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism—was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!"
 
They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' But if we say, 'From men'...." (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)
 
So they answered Jesus, "We don't know."
      Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.""

Mark 11:27-32

The chief priests had no answer. Did they really not believe John the Baptist while others did? This makes me wonder: what else didn't they believe in but came from God?

This only leads me to myself and how I don't believe. I am constantly skeptical of things. So called miracles or divine happenings. I wonder how much of it comes from God and how much may be demonic. To be wary and always test the truth is a a wise thing to do, but how much skepticism is too much?

The solution is to constantly check my motive. Am I having a humble attitude towards the situation? Do I see my own motives creeping in with my unbelief or am I truly seeking truth? Are we putting our own limits on what we believe God can or will do?

Thus concludes the 21 Days of consecutive prayer and I must say that it has been very educational and spiritually rewarding to soak in the scriptures each day. I am more focussed and more at peace. I'm not perfect and I can definitely use more of God's words and prayer to Him. I hope you have been able to gain something from my learnings and I hope you go pray everyday as well. Peace out.

Jesus at the Temple

 "Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'"
 
The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant.

 "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him.
      "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read,
   " 'From the lips of children and infants
      you have ordained praise'?"
 
And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night."

Matthew 21:12-17

Jesus was filled with righteous anger because a sin was being committed directly against God and his temple. The reason his anger was justified is because his motive was completely pure. Can we judge whether our motives are completely pure when we get angry? I dare say that a lot of the time it is selfish anger that we experience rather than anger from something done purely to God.

The people in the temple had wrong motives for being in the house of prayer. They were there for selfish reasons and were not being respectful to God. They ruined that which was good and made it wrong. What things do I make wrong with my motives? Honestly, I like to think my motives are pure but if I really search my heart maybe I can find a tiny something that I am just justifying. I challenge you to do the same.

By selling in God's temple, they were missing the point of the place of prayer. It wasn't wrong to sell animals near the temple, but they must have had the wrong reasons to be in the temple area. Do I sometimes do something good but miss the point?

Instead of passing by this question lightly, I encourage you to take time to be still and really think about this. God is our judge and if He doesn't judge us for not knowing, what if He judged us because we didn't take enough time to analyze ourselves enough?

The Triumphal Entry

"As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' "
 
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
?   "Hosanna!" ?   "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"? "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" ?   "Hosanna in the highest!"

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve."

Mark 11:1-11 (NIV)

I wonder how many people knew exactly who Jesus was and what exactly they were doing. How many knew that Jesus was God? And if there weren't that many, I wonder how Jesus accepted their praises. He knew he was worthy of glory and honor but he took it from the doubters and the believers.

I wonder how he felt knowing that those that welcomed him would be the same to crucify him. Again applying it to myself I see that I am that praising crowd. I praise Him on Sunday and then I betray Him the next day. My God is so good to me. I need to love Him back as He deserves.

I must die to myself every moment.

Hope

"My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins."

James 5:19, 20

It is our job to take care of each other.  Only God can change the heart, but never lose hope for others.

Miraculous Prayer

"Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."

James 5:17-18

That is crazy.

Three points:

- Elijah was a normal guy
- He prayed earnestly for something miraculous
- It happened

He was normal in a sense that he was just like us in all of our humanness. But he was not just any ordinary guy because he was a righteous man. If that's the sort of righteousness that can be attained then that is what I want to aim for.

But he did not pray for something that he could gain. It was for God's good. If I had that type of power in your prayers to God, what would I be praying for?

Healing

"Is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anybody happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

Therefore confess your sins to each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

James 5:13-16

Confess your sins to each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. I want to be a righteous man. What makes righteousness? Faith in God makes you righteous. Good deeds make faith real. You must have both.

Do we confess our sins to each other? To whom are we being held accountable for our actions to our Christ following brothers or sisters? This is one of the important things about confessing sins: healing.

"Above all, my brothers, do not swear-not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your 'Yes' be yes, and your 'No,' no, or you will be condemned."

James 5:12

Do not swear-not by heaven or by earth or by anything else.

What does my word mean? Can someone trust my "yes" as a yes? Do I negate my own word?

These are important things to remember. One day we shall all be judged. Do I fear the Lord as I should?

Learning Patience through Suffering

"Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy."

James 5:10, 11

Sometimes I would think that suffering is not supposed to last very long for us Christians. It's kind of like, "Aren't we supposed to be happy because Jesus died for us and we're no longer separated from God and we have eternal life?"

But sometimes God makes us suffer long and that's okay. Why? Because He is teaching us perseverance and patience. The value of patience was illuminated right here in this verse.

"You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about."

Job is one of our ultimate examples of the purpose of patience and perseverance. Job regained everything he had lost and it was multiplied. God has a plan for you, better than anything you can imagine, yet He needs you to let go of your expectations and just persevere through suffering in order for Him to give you what is really good.

We have hope. Why? "The Lord is full of compassion and mercy." God is just and righteous and therefore we deserve nothing. However, He is also compassionate and merciful, making our patience and perseverance all worth it.

"Remember: God made you special and He loves you very much. Bye, everybody!"

Boasting About Tomorrow

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."

James 4:13-17

Does this happen to us? Do I boast about my tomorrow?

Another question is: what does that last sentence have to do with this whole paragraph?

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

So it's the sin of omission. Not doing what you know you should be doing. This applies to your life's path. Perhaps you have a vision of how your life should be going and therefore every action you take is to secure your plans. But who determines our footsteps? Where are our priorities?

- Am I not doing what I know I should be doing?
- Am I keeping my regular time with God to grow in Him and learn from Him each and every day?
- Am I giving Him the best parts of my life, time, treasure and talent?
- Am I building up my fellow believers?
- Am I witnessing to those who do not know Jesus by my life's actions?

Judging Others

"Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?"

James 4:11-12

We judge a lot. It is part of our sinful nature. This passage talks about speaking our judgments and how it applies to the law of God.

In what ways do we judge?