Every miracle starts with a need. It would not be a miracle if we could do it on our own. God has manna in store for us. But we must trust Him daily for our provision. God’s desire is that we would walk each day dependent on His provision and His resources. Tammy Hotsenpiller
Scripture
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.”
Observation
Jesus begins to tell His disciples that he is going to Jerusalem to be crucified, but on the third day he will rise again. Peter rebukes Jesus, but Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind me satan!”
Jesus tells His disciples that following Him means to turn away from our sins and to take up our cross. If we try to hold onto our life, we will lose it, but if we give it up for his sake, we will save it.
Jesus is coming to judge all people according to their deeds. Some standing there will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom.
Application
To be a follower of Jesus means that we must die to ourselves.
Firstly, we have to turn away from our selfish ways. We can’t be a follower of Jesus on our own terms. We must be prepared to change our way of life to conform to Him.
Secondly, we have to take up our cross. That means literally dying. The only people who took up crosses in Jesus’ day were condemned criminals on their way to a nasty death.
To take up our cross means that we let go of every form of ownership, every ambition, every plan. Jesus owns it all. This is very liberating.
Finally, we are to follow Jesus. This is the positive aspect of repentance.. We exchange self-serving for Jesus-serving, selfishness for love, and so on. We learn to live as Jesus lived, applying every action and word of Jesus in the gospels to our own life.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, there is no way I can do this by myself. Thank you for the Holy Spirit, who makes it possible to live for you. Amen.
There are times when we need clear direction and divine encounters to get through a difficult situation. Fasting can bring clarity and insight from God. Tammy Hotsenpiller
Last Sunday, I was hit hard by a massive, full on attack of evil.
While the musicians were doing their music practice ad other people were getting things ready for church, I found a big stream of negative thoughts going through my head. I was making judgements against other people, being resentful of the least important things. Everywhere I looked, I found a reason to be frustrated. It was like this volcano of violence was stirring in my head, and it was about to erupt.
Not a nice scenario for just before church!
I closed myself in my office and began to repent of my wrong thinking. Then I rebuked satan and told him to get out of my head and out of our building. I claimed it all for Jesus and everything calmed down. The peace of God began to reign.
When we are walking with the Lord, satan is always working to trip us up. He puts thoughts into our minds that sound like our thoughts but really are not. Satan knows our weaknesses, so he will always press the buttons that get the maximum effect. It might be lust, jealousy, accusations, greed… the list is endless.
The key to overcoming these things is to keep our attention on Jesus.
In our daily activities, our busy-ness or stresses, we can find our eyes diverted from Jesus and onto other things. That is when satan will slip in the wrong thoughts, the destructive mind space.
The cure is simple.
First;y recognise that these thoughts are not yours but from the enemy.
Secondly repent of letting satan get into your thinking.
Thirdly, dedicate yourself again to the Lord.
After that, it is just a matter of staying vigilant. When those thoughts start to come into your head, quickly turn to prayer and worship.
The funny thing is that when we do that, the devil finds his tactics are not working any more, and he will leave us alone, until another source of temptation can be found.
Stay close to the Lord!
I recently came across the strange phrase “Ethical Porn” in the context of a parent wanting to find “good” pornography for their sons to look at.
The idea of ethical porn is that we can clean up the pornography industry by removing the nasty bits of the industry.
Porn has long been associated with people trafficking, slavery, non-consensual activities and a string of other nasty practices.
Many performers have to resort to drugs to cope with the dehumanising effects of the industry. Like any film productions, porn movies require multiple takes of specific actions in what is usually a more violent activity than most of us would consider to be normal sex. Often a day’s shooting leaves the actors in pain and looking for chemical relief.
Ethical porn involves people not being coerced into performing and removing the trafficking element. They supposedly give consent before and during the filming to demonstrate that everything is consensual.
This is just pure fantasy, as is everything around the consumption of porn.
Many movies already feature the performers discussing the scene before and their experience afterwards. In fact, it is part of their contract. Actors who refuse to do this, or do so in an honest way that suggests that they did not enjoy the session, don’t get paid. They run the risk of not being employed by the same production company or other companies in the industry.
Many actors claim that the actual contents of a movie might be entirely different to that which was discussed before. More men might be brought into the studio so that a straight sex scene becomes gang rape, or a “rough sex” video turns into bondage and sadism.
There can never be any such thing as “ethical porn” because pornography overturns God’s plan for human flourishing.
Sex was designed for intimacy within a marriage- one man and one woman voluntarily bound to one another for life.
Sex was designed for the production of babies and, within marriage, is a part of an ecosystem of healthy relationships providing nurture and love for children.
Sex was never meant to be a performance. When it is turned into entertainment for the pleasure of viewers, it strips the performers of all human dignity. It can never be anything but exploitative, because the audience is not seeing human beings, just body parts.
All porn is unethical.
We live in an age where people call good things bad and bad things good. We love things that appeal to our fleshly nature. When it is clear that there are potential dark sides to the things we enjoy, we tell ourselves we can clean it up and salve our consciences.
God has told us what He wants from us to promote human flourishing. Vicarious adultery is not part of that plan, even when we dress it in mice clothes like “ethical porn.”
Scripture
“Upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”
Observation
Jesus and his disciples come to the region of Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus asks them, “Who do people say I am?” They reply that some say John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the other prophets.
Then Jesus asks them, “Who do you say I am?” Simon answers, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus goes on to say that on the rock of this confession, He will build His church, and the powers of hell will never overcome it.
Application
Ever since Jesus was born, satan has been trying to destroy the church. He tried to kill Jesus as a baby, then at the cross. He tried to kill the disciples. All through the centuries, and all around the world, the church is under constant attack.
Yet all of the power of evil cannot overcome it.
Although the church is struggling in the West, miracles are happening all around the world. Much of sub-Saharan Africa is now dominated by Christianity. the Islamic Republic of Iran is experiencing mass salvations. In China, where persecution has been happening since 1947, it is estimated that 30% of the population is christian.
Although the New Living Translation has it that that hell will not conquer the church, the original wording is that the gates of hell cannot overcome the church. In other words, hell is on the defensive and cannot withstand the power of the gospel.
Many people despise the church and sneer at the gospel. But many, many more people are being saved everyday.
We need to pray daily for our neighbours, friends, and family members to be saved.
Prayer
Lord, I thank you that victory is yours. The gates of hell will never withstand the power of your people under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Being in the presence of God is life changing. The more time you spend with God, the more you will radiate His glory. Tammy Hotsenpiller
Scripture
“Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Observation
The Pharisees and Sadducees come to Jesus and demand a sign. Jesus condemns them for this, and says the only sign they will get is the sign of Jonah.
When Jesus is alone with the disciples, He warns them to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They think He is talking about physical bread, but Jesus reminds them of the two miracles where he fed 5000 and then 4000 men.
Finally, the disciples understand that He is talking about the deceptive teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Application
The yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees refers to the teachings of these groups that are still in the church.
The Pharisees are well known for their insistence on obedience to the letter of the law. They had rules and interpretations that covered every aspect of life. They were legalists who taught that salvation comes from following the rule.
The Sadducees were the more worldly-wise “don’t rock the boat” types. They co-operated with the ruling authorities to maintain their position of privilege. They are like the people and churches who are “affirming” of of the LGBT ideology to avoid offending anyone.
The yeast reminds us that it only takes a small quantity of these teachings to corrupt the whole loaf.
The correct response is not to get carried away with heresy hunting. No, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus alone. He is our salvation, our strength, our wisdom.
Prayer
Lord, please remove from me all forms of legalism and compromise. Help me to keep my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith. Amen.
Miracles often come in strange packages. It may be a prompting in your spirit or a confirmation through prayer, but God always finds a way to get our attention. Tammy Hotsenpiller
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