“For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me.” (Matthew 26:11)

Nothing has done more for the impoverished and disenfranchised than the religion of Jesus Christ.  Jesus put more emphasis upon helping the less fortunate, the downtrodden, and the voiceless than any other man who walked the earth before or since.  The record is clear – Jesus cared deeply for the poor.

So why say what He did about the poor always being with us? What it CANNOT mean is that He has no concern for the poor.  So it must mean that His presence and His mission to seek and save the lost is οf superior importance to caring for the poor.  If you remove a man’s poverty, you feed him for a season.  If you remove a man’s sin, you have redeemed him for eternity.

Keep your eyes on the prize.  Do good to all men, but don’t forget to tell them about Jesus.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“…enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21b)

Hebrews tells us Jesus endured all the atrocities against Him for the “joy set before Him”.  What kind of joy is worth enduring mental anguish that causes you to sweat like blood?  What type of joy is worthy of being spit upon, slapped, and ripped with thorns? What type of joy is worth having your mother see you bleed out upon a cross? What kind of joy awaits that is worth being abandoned by all your friends and having your reputation destroyed by lies and hate?

I can’t imagine a joy worth all that… but I want to.  Whatever that joy is – I’m anchoring my hope to it.  I want to enter into the joy of my Master.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” (Matthew 24:12-13)

Nothing destroys religious fervor faster than religious corruption.  Atheism is not the greatest enemy to Christianity – false Christianity is the greatest enemy to the path of the gospel.  Lawless false prophets have led so many astray, and the hypocrisy of manmade religions turns the hearts of the next generation cold.

It is easy to see why the next generation struggles with worldliness when the religion they see is full of fakeness, corruption, or scandal.  People will let you down, and the shortcomings of others can lead to cold hearts.  So, what’s the solution?

Remember you follow Christ, not Christians.  Don’t let your faith rest in people – endure to the end so that you may stand before Jesus.  Place your trust in Him, and your heart will burn inside you.  Shift your gaze from the body to the head.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have…” (Matthew 23:30a)

We all make great armchair quarterbacks.  It is far easier to sit in the stands and assume that we could make a better call than the players and coaches on the field, but the reality is typically the exact opposite.

The people of Jesus’ day assumed they were better people than those who had gone before.  They wouldn’t have grumbled in the wilderness, persecuted the prophets, or turned to idols… or would they?  The sins of the fathers were just as alluring to them and they fell into the same traps.  They complained about the timing of Jesus’ miracles, plotted against the greatest Prophet ever, and turned to the idols of covetousness and pride.

We cannot learn from the Bible until we recognize our similarities to the sinners of the past.  We are no better than our fathers.  Our only hope is to have the humility to see our similarities and turn to Christ for healing from them.  It is only the broken and contrite heart that changes the family tree.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)

It is your calling to be a child of God.

It is your calling to live like an eternal being with heaven as your hope.

It is your calling to proclaim the excellencies of Him who created you.

It is your calling to be forgiven and washed in the blood of Christ, free from guilt and regret.

It is your calling to do His work and fulfill your purpose in Him.

… but will you choose it?

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“but afterward he regretted it and went.” (Matthew 21:29)

When I was young, I hated broccoli.  It was green, the texture was strange, and they looked like tiny trees – also my parents wanted me to eat it.  I was not interested.  Over time, I’ve grown to love broccoli.  It took a while, but I came around.

There is a gift hidden within the parable of the two sons.  Jesus shows us that there is room for repentance.  The second son initially rejects the command of his father, but after time and thought, he realizes the error of his rebellion and goes to work.

God recognizes that some of us are a little slow on the uptake.  Repentance, by definition, means you can change your mind.  God is patient and merciful.  If today, you regret things you’ve done or left undone – it isn’t too late to go to work.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” (Matthew 20:28a)

No one considers the waiter to be the greatest person at the table, but the meal doesn’t happen without him.  Whisking plates to and from tables, filling glasses, and meeting requests before they are made, a good waitress makes the event happen.  Good table service makes you feel that you are the center of their attention – no matter how busy the restaurant may be.

Jesus is the ultimate servant.  He died for the whole world, yet lived in a way that made everyone around Him feel they were individually loved.  His service was sacrificial and personal all at the same time.

In what ways can we emulate Him?  Make your service personal.  You don’t have to make a difference with everyone – just start with someone.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female?” (Matthew 19:4)

This is Jesus quoting from the Old Testament.  This is the Son of God ratifying the truth that gender exists because God made it so.  We must speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where it is silent.

Man has decided to take things like homosexuality, alcoholism, lust, etc. and cry, “We have no choice – it’s how we are made!” and inversely declare, “Gender is a choice!”  This is blasphemous and against the Word.  God gives us choice in sin but not in gender.  You are born that way.  God made us male and female.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.” (Matthew 18:15)

I like winning.  I like it a lot.  A spirit of competition has a way of enhancing an experience. Even skipping stones is improved by saying, “Who can skip the furthest?”  Gamification changes the tone so that I start thinking about achievement instead of frustration.  It flips the script.

What if we started to think about the faults of others that way, too?  What if we thought about people’s problems as a chance to win them over to Christ?  When someone injures me, I need to play the game.  Win them, redeem the relationship, and glorify Jesus.

Compete for each other, not with each other.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:21)

It is interesting to me how science often stumbles upon the earthly benefits of spiritual things.  Prayer under the guise of meditation and “sending good vibes into the universe” has been touted as a wonderful tool to improve your health and quality of life, reducing blood pressure and helping to reorient your mental disposition.

Likewise, fasting is now all the rage in health circles: from intermittent fasting to fasting retreats where patients are monitored during long durations (as much as 40 days!) as they detox their bodies, reduce stress, and lose weight.

We should not be surprised that there are earthly benefits to God’s injunctions, but I fear that we have watered down the spiritual to hijack the earthly benefits without submitting ourselves to the Creator of heaven and earth.  The earthly benefits should be the happy side-effect, not the goal.

Consider your spiritual health.  Prayer and fasting are excellent tools of the well-equipped servant of God.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites