foundations

The weather Jesus describes here sounds like the weird weather we're having these days of climate change.

Matthew 7 

24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, 

like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 

25 Though the rain comes in torrents 

and the floodwaters rise 

and the winds beat against that house, 

it won’t collapse 

because it is built on bedrock. 

26 But anyone who hears my teaching 

and doesn’t obey 

it is foolish, 

like a person who builds a house on sand. 

27 When the rains and floods come 

and the winds beat against that house, 

it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

what's real

 This is Jesus talking here, in what is call the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 7 

15 “Beware of false prophets 

who come disguised as harmless sheep 

but are really vicious wolves. 

16 You can identify them by their fruit, 

that is, by the way they act. 

Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, 

or figs from thistles? 

17 A good tree produces good fruit, 

and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 

18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, 

and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 

19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit 

is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 

20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, 

so you can identify people by their actions.

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 

22 On judgment day many will say to me, 

‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 

23 But I will reply, 

‘I never knew you. 

Get away from me, 

you who break God’s laws.’

don't worry

Thsi is Jesus talking here, in what is known as The Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6 

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

God blesses who?

 Matthew 5

3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4 God blesses those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 God blesses those who are humble,
    for they will inherit the whole earth.
6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
    for they will be satisfied.
7 God blesses those who are merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
    for they will see God.
9 God blesses those who work for peace,
    for they will be called the children of God.
10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

infinitely more

Ephesians 3 

14 When I think of all this, 

I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 

15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 

16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources 

he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 

17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts 

as you trust in him. 

Your roots will grow down into God’s love 

and keep you strong. 

18 And may you have the power to understand, 

as all God’s people should, 

how wide, 

how long, 

how high, 

and how deep his love is. 

19 May you experience the love of Christ, 

though it is too great to understand fully. 

Then you will be made complete 

with all the fullness of life 

and power that comes from God.

20 Now all glory to God, 

who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, 

to accomplish 

infinitely more 

than we might ask or think.

who may

This is a real "hmmmm..." psalm... 

Psalm 15

1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
    Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
    speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
3 Those who refuse to gossip
    or harm their neighbors
    or speak evil of their friends.
4 Those who despise flagrant sinners,
    and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
    and keep their promises even when it hurts.
5 Those who lend money without charging interest,
    and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.

vines & branches

John 15 

1 “I am the true grapevine, 

and my Father is the gardener. 

2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, 

and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit 

so they will produce even more. 

3 You have already been pruned 

and purified 

by the message I have given you. 

4 Remain in me, 

and I will remain in you. 

For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, 

and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

5 “Yes, I am the vine; 

you are the branches. 

Those who remain in me, 

and I in them, 

will produce much fruit. 

For apart from me you can do nothing. 

6 Anyone who does not remain in me 

is thrown away like a useless branch 

and withers. 

Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 

7 But if you remain in me 

and my words remain in you, 

you may ask for anything you want, 

and it will be granted! 

8 When you produce much fruit, 

you are my true disciples. 

This brings great glory to my Father.

9 “I have loved you 

even as the Father has loved me. 

Remain in my love. 

10 When you obey my commandments, 

you remain in my love, 

just as I obey my Father’s commandments 

and remain in his love. 

11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. 

Yes, your joy will overflow! 

12 This is my commandment: 

Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 

13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 

15 I no longer call you slaves, 

because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. 

Now you are my friends, 

since I have told you everything the Father told me. 

16 You didn’t choose me. 

I chose you. 

I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, 

so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, 

using my name. 

17 This is my command: 

Love each other.

14

John 14 

1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”

5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?”

23 Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. 24 Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. 25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. 28 Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am. 29 I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.

fruit

Galatians 5 

22 When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, 

He will produce this kind of fruit in our lives: 

love, 

joy, 

peace, 

patience, 

kindness, 

goodness, 

faithfulness, 

23 gentleness, 

and self-control. 

There is no law against these things!

(dan note: Most days, I wonder if I'm showing any of these fruits to people.)

His child

Galatians 4 

4 But when the right time came, 

God sent his Son, 

born of a woman, 

subject to the law. 

5 God sent him to buy freedom for us 

who were slaves to the law, 

so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 

6 And because we are his children, 

God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, 

prompting us to call out, 

“Abba, Father.” 

7 Now you are no longer a slave 

but God’s own child. 

And since you are his child, 

God has made you his heir.

children

Galatians 3 

26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 

27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, 

like putting on new clothes. 

28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, 

slave or free, 

male and female. 

For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 

29 And now that you belong to Christ, 

you are the true children of Abraham. 

You are his heirs, 

and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

sheep & shepherds

 I grew up on a small farm in southern Ohio during the 1950's & 1960's.

We raised sheep.

All of Jesus' illustrations about sheep & shepherds is spot on.

John 10 

1 “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

jobs

 It took me a LONG time to understand this...

God the Father's job is to judge.

God the Son's job is to redeem.

God the Holy Spirit's job is to convict & empower.

Our job?

I think Jesus mentioned it quite a few times.

Our job is to "love God & love others" (LGLO).

I believe we've forgotten this these days in all the chaos that surrounds us...

3 verses

Jesus is talking here in these 3 separate verses that pack a lot of punch...

John 8

 31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you obey my teachings.

36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

51 I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!”

thorn

2 Corinthians 12 

1b I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. 

2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. 

Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. 

3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. 

But I do know 4 that I was caught up to paradise 

and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, 

things no human is allowed to tell.

5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. 6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 

9 Each time he said, 

“My grace is all you need. 

My power works best in weakness.” 

So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, 

so that the power of Christ can work through me. 

10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, 

and in the insults, 

hardships, 

persecutions, 

and troubles that I suffer for Christ. 

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

persecution

 We hear a lot these days in the US from hard right evangelicals how "persecuted" they are.

We are so ever-lovin' prissy & precious.

Paul shares with us in this passage what REAL persecution is...

2 Corinthians 11

23c I have worked harder, 

been put in prison more often, 

been whipped times without number, 

and faced death again and again. 

24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 

25 Three times I was beaten with rods. 

Once I was stoned. 

Three times I was shipwrecked. 

Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 

26 I have traveled on many long journeys. 

I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. 

I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles.

I have faced danger in the cities, 

in the deserts, 

and on the seas. 

And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 

27 I have worked hard and long, 

enduring many sleepless nights. 

I have been hungry 

and thirsty 

and have often gone without food. 

I have shivered in the cold, 

without enough clothing to keep me warm.

28 Then, besides all this, 

I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 

29 Who is weak 

without my feeling that weakness? 

Who is led astray, 

and I do not burn with anger?

30 If I must boast, 

I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. 

31 God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, 

knows I am not lying. 

32 When I was in Damascus, 

the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me. 

33 I had to be lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall 

to escape from him.

lame

There's more than one person in this passage that's lame, but only one gets healed...

John 5 

1 Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

12 “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.

13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.

This incident once again highlights how religious leaders so often don't "see the forest for the tree."

Sometime religious leaders are so set in their rigid thinking & practices that they lose sight of what's really going on. They hold on to unbending morays & concepts that they lose sight of what is the most merciful thing to be & do.

Hmmmm... does that remind you of anybody alive today? How do you spell "hard-right evangelicals"?

A few verses later, Jesus pretty much spoke truth to power when he said this to the same religious leaders...

John 5:41 “Your approval means nothing to me, 42 because I know you don’t have God’s love within you.

Hmmmm... I wonder what would happen if someone actually posited such a thing to today's hard-right evangelicals?