Gary Gleans

This passage tells us of John's ministry as well as the beginning of Christ's ministry. There are several things that stood out to me about the way John went about his job as well as the genealogy of Christ. JOHN WAS FAITHFUL: He knew what he was called to do and he did it with faithfulness and excellence. His job was not an easy one, but it was his and he did it with all of his heart. Nothing less is expected of us. Any task that the Lord would entrust to us is an honor. All He expects of us is that we be faithful with that which He has given. The place John ministered was not very comfortable, the people to whom he ministered were not very pleasant and the perks of his job were virtually not existent. Still he was faithful. JOHN WAS HUMBLE: There were those who mistook John for Messiah. He would have none of it. He knew who he was and he had no intentions of allowing others to think of him in a way that was not true. John's job was to prepare the way for Christ

From the very beginning, the life of Christ was unique in every way. I find myself wondering how Joseph and Mary took all of this in as they experienced this amazing plan of God all along the way. This chapter gives us new details about the first twelve years in the life of Jesus. There are three things that stood out to me as I read these verses again. HIS BIRTH WAS ACCOMPANIED BY EXALTATION: The place of Christ's birth, in a stable with a manger for a crib, is one of those scenes that we have all grown used to from countless Christmas pageants. I am sure that it was not as big a stretch in that time and culture as it is in ours, but I still think that Mary was not comfortable as she had hoped for the birth of her first child. The actual birth of Christ was in the most humble circumstances imaginable, but heaven could not remain silent for this event. The unsuspecting shepherds were treated to an angelic concert as heavens blazed with light and the notes echoed off the side

There are few things that any of us enjoy more than praise. As children we loved to be praised by our parents and teachers. Employee's love to receive praise from their employer especially if it involves a raise. Spouses like to be praised by their spouses. Being praised by men is a dangerous thing because God has told us that we must not do our deeds to be seen by men but I think that in some ways, our desire for praise reflect the fact that we are made in the image of God. God too desires our praise and that is what this chapter is all about. MARY'S SONG: Mary sings a song of praise beginning with the personal blessings that she had received from God. I think that it is vital for us to take note of and praise God for the multitude of blessings with which He showers us. We have a tendency to always want more and set our sights on the things that we don't have, but God calls us to rejoice in Him and all that He has done for us. Mary praises the Lord for His mercy and power.

Well, we have made it through to Luke and the first thing I notice is that Luke has some really long chapters. Luke gives us a new perspective on the life of Christ and I am looking forward to going over it again from a fresh point of view. Luke gives us more background information than either Matthew or Mark. I would like look at the announcements made to Zechariah and Mary. It is interesting to see how much they both have in common. WHEN THE MESSAGE WAS GIVEN: Both messages were delivered by Gabriel at a time when neither of them were expecting anything and were just going about their daily business. In a short moment the direction of their lives were radically transformed. I think it is important that we realize that amazing things often take place in our lives during times that we least expect it. It makes me think of the rapture and how at any moment God could step in and just change everything. We must always be ready for God to bring something new into our lives or take

One of the things that stand out to me as I reflect on this chapter is the contrast between the disciples prior to the resurrection and after they see Jesus. This will become even more evident once we dive into the book of Acts in a couple of months. But this is what stood out to me. BEFORE: They had been told that Christ would rise again, but they did not believe it. Mary went to the tomb and found it empty and Jesus appeared to her, but they would not believe her. Other disciples met Jesus on the road and reported to the others, but they could not believe them either. They are overcome with grief, fear and doubt and when they finally do meet Christ they are reproved for their unbelief. It is always very dangerous when we take our eyes off Christ and His promises. When our faith is small our fear become large. When our doubts are many our delights become few. We too await the return of a resurrected Saviour whom none of us have seen. We must hold strong to our faith without

All of us are motivated, either by our own desires or some other outside influence. Our hearts move us to perform certain actions or cultivate attitudes that shape both who we are and what we do. As we look again at the crucifixion of Christ I would like to consider what were the motivating factors behind the actions and attitudes displayed at and around the cross. PILATE WAS MANIPULATED BY MEN: It is a dangerous thing when powerful men have no personal conviction or commitment to the truth. Pilate knew that Christ was innocent but since he was a "man pleaser," it was easy for the priests to manipulate him into doing what they wanted. He was in love with his own power and position and would do whatever it took to keep it. Ironically, by giving into the whims of the crowd he only proved his lack of power. When we seek our own glory we will always become people pleasers. Once that fact is established, those men we try so hard to please will be able to easily manipulate u

After three years of walking with Christ, eating with Him, watching Him do countless miracles and listening to all of His teaching; when in came down to the end the disciples ran. Their fear of the consequences of being associated with Christ outweighed their loyalty to Him and their love of Him. My question is why? What led to this downfall in their lives? More importantly, what can we learn from their mistakes when we face similar circumstances. There are three attitudes that stick out to me that I believe we would all do well to avoid as we strive to walk with Christ. THE DISCIPLES WERE CRITICAL: The woman who anointed Christ's head with the costly perfume, did so as an act of love and worship. Christ praised her actions and promised that she would be remembered wherever the Gospel was preached (like we are remembering her now). The disciples were not so kind. They criticized her act of worship as wasteful and frivolous. They could not imagine pouring out such a costly

People spend countless hours and huge sums of money in hopes of discovering the future. They do crazy things like look at the stars, cards and crystal balls in hopes that they can figure out what might happen in the days ahead. Investors try to predict the future of financial markets, meteorologists try to predict the weather with limited success. Christ knows the future and in this chapter tell His disciples and us what we can expect as we await His return. His return can cause a lot of different reactions, but this is Christ's advice. DON'T BE DISTRESSED BY SIGNS: Christ told His disciples that there would be wars and natural disasters but that these should not fool us into thinking that this is the end. It seems that any time that there is an earth quake or a war, many Christians become anxious and start making predictions about Christ's return. As long as we live under the curse of sin we will experience wars and disasters. We must not let this distress us or c

God's desire for our lives is that we be faithful. There are many areas that faithfulness is required and this chapter covers seven (yes seven) of them. I promise I won't spend much time on them, but I think that this list is a good checklist that we would be wise to review from time to time. BE FAITHFUL TO USE GOD'S GIFTS: The vine dresser was given all of the necessary items for producing great grapes for the master. He might have grown grapes but he was not faithful with them and used them for his own purposes. He was also not faithful to heed the messengers that were sent to correct him. Faithfulness requires us to use God's gifts for His glory and not our own and to respond to those He sends to teach us. BE FAITHFUL TO SUBMIT TO GOD'S AUTHORITIES: The Pharisees were trying to trap Christ into appearing like a revolutionary. Jesus did not fall for the trick but taught a principle of faithfulness to the government in the form of paying taxes. This act of

As Christ nears then end of His ministry on earth, he enters the city of Jerusalem. He is met with cheers and praise, then He proceeds to do a "house cleaning" in the temple. He also has an encounter with a fig tree that He uses to teach the disciples some valuable lessons on prayer and then the chapter ends with a confrontation with the Pharisees. As I meditated on the chapter I was struck with four dangers that are represented in these four events. THE DANGER OF PUBLIC PRAISE: There is nothing wrong with public praise, but it is dangerous to measure ones spiritual maturity or commitment to Christ based on public performance. The crowd gets caught up with the emotion of the moment as Christ comes into the city. Today they cry "Hosanna" tomorrow they will cry "crucify Him." It is dangerous to judge others or ourselves by the proclamations we make in public. Our true spirituality and maturity in Christ is judged by who we are alone on our knees befo

There are three basic truths that jump out at me as I read this passage. They are not entirely related and, in reality, all deserve a post of their own, but time is fleeting and I think that there is value in summary, so we will fly through this chapter and hopefully a few of these truths will stick in our minds. There are things we need to keep doing, stop doing and others that we must start doing. I think that these are key principles that we must keep in mind if we are going to be effective followers of Christ. STAY COMMITTED TO MARRIAGE: Divorce is a terrible tragedy that God never intended to be a part of marriage. It was permitted because of sin and it's consequences but was never intended to be so. God has planned marriage to be between one man and one woman for life. Due to hard heartedness, the door of divorce was cracked open by Moses. Well, the Pharisees shoved that door open took a mile from the inch that they had been given. Marriage, divorce and remarriage ha

Christ is turning a corner with His disciples as He begins to prepare them His crucifixion and the suffering that they will face. They are slow to understand His numerous warnings of His impending death. They keep trying to decide what he means by His death and resurrection because they cannot believe that Jesus will die. Christ knows the future and uses the verses before us to prepare them for that reality. THE PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST: I think the the point of the transfiguration experience was to fix in the disciples minds the fact that Christ is superior to everyone and everything on this planet. Moses and Elijah were great men but they were only men. We might look with admiration at men like Paul and Peter or a favorite pastor or author of our day. God uses many men and women in each generation to further His purposes, but they are simply people like us. Men have a great impact on us and their investments in us can help us in many ways, but only Christ can be an anchor in the

When we follow Christ, there are things that we must strive to remember and forget. Our problem is that the things we ought to remember, we tend to forget and the things we should forget, we tend to allow to remain in our minds. If we are going to be mature in our walk with Christ, we must discipline our thoughts as well as our desires so we remember and forget in accordance with God's Word. IT IS EASY TO FORGET WORK OF CHRIST BECAUSE OF OUR HARD HEARTS: The chapter starts with the feeding of four thousand people with seven loves of bread and some fish with seven baskets of food left over. This miraculous event is followed by the Pharisees asking Jesus for a sign. What more do they want? How many signs do they require? Have they so quickly forgotten the multitude of miracles that Christ has performed over and over? Unfortunately, the disciples demonstrate that they too suffer from a hard heart. When Christ warns them not to imitate the sinful attitudes of the Pharisees by

I think that the teachings of this chapter are some of the most important and convicting in the gospels. The chapter presents two dangers from which each of us must guard our hearts. It also presents two blessings that give us the opportunity to not only observe Christ in action but learn from the attitudes of those who came to Him for help. TWO DANGERS: Traditionalism is the first danger. The Pharisees were consumed by it and Jesus wanted to make sure that His disciples were not overtaken by it. The religious leaders passed traditions down from generation to generation. Each passing year the ruts of traditionalism eroded deeper and deeper with the passage of time. Unfortunately, these traditions strayed further and further from the principles of God's Word that they thought they were defending. Traditions are so dangerous because they can easily blind us to the truth. Those who are tied to tradition tend to be dogmatic in defending their position and are quick condemn tho

It must have been an incredible experience to walk with Christ while He was on earth. The disciples were in the Christ School of Ministry being prepared for taking the Gospel to the nations of the world. They had a unique privilege to learn from Christ in a variety of settings and situations. THEY LEARNED FROM EXPLANATION: As they faced the different circumstances along the way, they could benefit from the instructions and insight that Christ gave them along the way. When the people from Nazareth did not respond to Christ the disciples benefited from Christ's explanation. Christ explained how they should go out on their own. He explained what to do at the feeding of the 5,000. He brought them insight that helped to prepare them for what they would face in the future. THEY LEARNED FROM EXPERIENCE: Christ made sure that they were participating with Him in the ministry. He sent them out, gave them power and allowed them to experience the task of preaching, healing and casting out demo

Christ is confronted with three people who face "life consuming" challenges in this passage. Hopelessness is their constant companion. Each of them face very different difficulties but each of them find their solution in the same person, Jesus. It is a comfort to know that no matter what we face or how unique we believe our problems to be, Christ has the power to resolve them according to His will. CHRIST CONQUERED DEMONS: This poor man was relegated to a life of wondering through the tombs tormented by a legion of demons. The people lived in fear of him and tried in vain to constrain him. He broke the shackles and chains with which they sought to tie him. He was viewed as a lunatic and had no hope of being able to lead a normal life. Then Jesus came on the scene and the demons immediately (Mark seems to like that word) know that He is the Son of God and implore that He not condemn them before the date determined by God. Isn't that amazing that the demons clearly

In this chapter we will be looking at soils, seeds and seas. There are valuable lessons to be learned from each of them. Matthew 13 had most of these same teachings but we will look at them from a little different perspective. THE SEPARATION OF SOILS: The seed is the Word of God and it is sown on a wide variety of soils. The seed is the same, but the results are very different depending on the soils. Three of the soils are productive while three of them are not. Each of the three unproductive soils has a different enemy: birds, the sun and thorns. Jesus uses these illustrations to demonstrate the enemies to the teaching of God's Word. The first enemy is a lack of attention. They hear the Word but they do not understand it and Satan comes and snatches it from their heart. How common is it for us to half heartedly listen to or read the Word of God? The second enemy is affliction. There are those who hear the Word and have a positive emotional response to it but when the d

Very few people like confrontation. We don't like to be confronted and we don't like to confront. Most of the time most of us would just like to "get along." As I read this chapter, I am reminded how much the ministry of Christ was surrounded by confrontation. I don't imagine that it was His favorite thing either, but it certainly followed Him wherever He went no matter what He did. HE WAS CONFRONTED BY PHARISEES: This was His constant companion. It seems that they were always around Him and they were always looking for something to complain about. How He healed, when He healed, with whom He ate, how He ate, these were constantly being scrutinized. Jesus kept on doing what He had come to do and when necessary He confronted and usually confounded them. HE WAS CONFRONTED BY CROWDS: No matter where He went the crowds were sure to follow. He could heal people who were sick and they wanted to be healed. Were we alive in that day we would have gone out to see

Why did Jesus come to earth? That seems to be the theme of this chapter. The Jew's of Christ's day were awaiting the Messiah, one who would be anointed as king, one who would establish a political reign. The Jews longed to be free from the oppressive Roman authority. The religious leaders aspired to have real power over the people and not have to answer to anyone. These were their hopes and dreams and the image that they had of who Messiah ought to be. Jesus simply didn't fit the image. His priorities did not line up with their agenda. So what did He come to do? What were His priorities ? This passage points to three priorities that outline the purpose of His coming. CHRIST CAME TO FORGIVE SIN: He healed many men and women as He went about teaching from place to place and house to house. It is interesting to note that when He healed the paralytic, He did so by forgiving his sin. The Pharisees did not like His wording one little bit, because only God had

Okay, new book, new author, new style; I feel like Mark is telling the same story as Matthew, but "on steroids." I think Mark covers in one chapter what took Matthew ten. That, and the fact that he uses the word "immediately" ten times in this one chapter gives me the feeling that Mark is in a hurry to get this stuff out. Lets observe a few things about the ministry of Christ in this "fly by" that Mark has provided for us. PREPARATION FOR MINISTRY John Taught of the Way. John was sent to prepare the way for the ministry of Christ. He had great success and a large following, but it was his job to open the way for Christ's coming and point others to Him. It is easy for ministers to allow the ministry to become focused on themselves. We must always remember that we are pointing others towards Christ. God Testified in the Water. The Father helped prepare the ministry of Christ by making a public declaration of His identity. Jesus knew who He was and John k

Well, after today, we will have gleaned our way through the first book of the New Testament. I hope that you have enjoyed this first leg of our journey half as much as I have. This last chapter of Mathew starts with great news, goes on to more mind boggling moves by the religious leaders and then ends with a great responsibility that ought to be he focus of each of our lives until the return of Christ. HE LIVES: This is another one of those moments that I hope we get to see when we get to heaven. The earth shaking, the angel descending like a flash of lightning, the stone rolling away to reveal an empty tomb, the guards shaking and looking like dead men and the look on the Mary's faces when they see Jesus; are all sights that I would love to see. Can you imagine the joy that filled the hears of these dear ladies? Suddenly, the memories of wiping His wounds from only a few days earlier are wiped from their minds as they see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears that

Today we read about the price that Jesus had to pay for the forgiveness of our sin. It is an excruciating passage that gives us details of all that was taking place surrounding the crucifixion. I have decided to look at this sequentially and observe some of the events that happened before, during, and after Christ's death as well as some of the results or responses to this, the darkest day in history. BEFORE: The passage starts out by giving us insight into the CONSCIENCE of Judas. He knew that His betrayal of Christ was a hideous act. The money that he so greedily desired was now tormenting him. In desperation, he returns it hoping that this will silence the condemnation that echos in the chambers of his mind. It does not work. His guilt is driving him mad so he takes his own life because he cannot live with his shame. He would have done anything to be able to go back in time and never have taken the money and betrayed Jesus. Sin is like that, it looks so tantalizing &q

There is so much in this passage that it is hard to know where to begin. This narrative feels like one of those movies that keeps jumping back and forth from one story line and group of characters to another until they all converge at the end. I have decided to look at this chapter by thinking about what was going in the lives of each of these "cast of characters." For the most part, I am afraid that we will be learning from the mistakes of others, but I guess that is to be preferred above learning from our own failures. THE PLOTTING OF THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS: These are the clear villains of our story. They are plotting with one another as to how they can destroy Christ. What stands out to me is how they do everything in secret. They are gathering in the corners of rooms, whispering to one another, bribing Judas in a back room, going out to capture Jesus at night and then holding a "shotgun trial" under the cover of darkness. Another interesting thing to note

This chapter continues Christ's considerations on what to do in light of His coming. This seems like vital information that all of us would do well to consider and then compare how we are doing at being conformed to these teachings. We know that when Christ comes there will be an examination. Christ, in this passage, has given us a "cheat sheet" in order to help us prepare for that final exam. PREPARE WITH PATIENCE IN FAITH: I think that the parable of the ten virgins waiting for the wedding is all about being properly prepared as we patiently wait. The only way to be properly prepared for the the coming of Christ is by placing our faith in the death of Christ on the cross. But, it is very hard to be patient. We live in a society of instant results, so waiting is not a concept with which we are very comfortable. The fact that the return of Christ has delayed for some two-thousand years has caused many men to question if He will return. It is hard to keep preparing