Nikke's thoughts
There was so much in these two chapters however, one verse really stood out to me over all the rest.
12:36-37 "But I tell you that men will have to give account for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
There was a sermon once that I heard that talked about how the tongue is the hardest to tame. There is a passage on it somewhere and I just cannot for the life of me remember where it is. The passage talks about how our body is the ship and our tongue is the rudder steering our bodies every which way.
I guess what I am getting at is it is important for us to speak highly of one another, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
If we fail we will be forgiven with exception of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Jesus states, "anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, in this age or the next."
Myself I am constantly asking for forgiveness.
Lord, teach me, guide me, mold me. I know you have already begun. I know you won't give up! Thank you!
Amen
12:36-37 "But I tell you that men will have to give account for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
There was a sermon once that I heard that talked about how the tongue is the hardest to tame. There is a passage on it somewhere and I just cannot for the life of me remember where it is. The passage talks about how our body is the ship and our tongue is the rudder steering our bodies every which way.
I guess what I am getting at is it is important for us to speak highly of one another, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
If we fail we will be forgiven with exception of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Jesus states, "anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, in this age or the next."
Myself I am constantly asking for forgiveness.
Lord, teach me, guide me, mold me. I know you have already begun. I know you won't give up! Thank you!
Amen
Angie's Thoughts
When I go back and read all the glorious miracles that Jesus performed.. people are just instantly astonished and without a doubt know with their eyes that they have seen a miracle.. and almost all repent at once.
But then I think.. if only people were that easily swayed by miracles present day. The technology that we have today definitely sets disadvantages. Because people see things and they do not believe their eyes because there's a million things we can do in order the create that illusion. Magicians do it all the time! Technology is a blessing and a burden.. with it we can advance the Kingdom of God but it also hinders us in many ways.
But then, I think of the people who still did not repent back then. I wonder if they truly believed that he was doing the Devil's work.. or if they were just looking for an excuse not to believe that He was the Christ. And I wonder why they would do that? Did they fear Him? Well, I'm almost positive they did.. But what for? The fact that they were so powerless compared to Jesus? Perhaps the threat He posed? Could anyone really be in Jesus's presence and have any doubt that He is anything but pure and good? I have so many questions.
But then..
"Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
He is very well aware that we have a million and one reasons not to believe our eyes. To decieve ourselves.. to not believe in Him. The Lord COULD give us absolute tangible proof of His existence if He wanted to.. but He wants us to be faithful. With our actions this includes, too. What we, do what we say.. which goes along with what Nikke was saying.
So..
Lord, I give you my words. I give you the gifts you have blessed me with. I give you my thoughts, actions, and emotions. Hold them as your own, make them yours, and make me to be more like you. Let me be angry with you.. and rejoice with you, too. Let me live my life to tell YOUR story, not mine. Because none of this is about me, this is so much bigger than I could ever dream to be. Let me be humble. Let me lose myself in glorifying You. Never let me be the same person as I was a month prior, for I never want to stop growing in you. Thank you for Your patience, and forgiveness.
Amen.
3 comments:
Hmmm. The Bible always refers to the final judgment as the great and terrible day of the Lord. And in this verse, we start to see some of the terrible (ie frightening) part of the Judgment.
We are hoping that we are going to be fine at the Judgment if we go to church on Christmas and Easter; be a generally nice person; and most of all - don't kill anybody.
But Jesus paints a much more frightening picture of Judgment. Jesus says, forget the big things, you will be called to account for the tiniest things.
You don't even get any free F-Bombs at softball games (an inside joke).
Or imagine that Jesus decides to call witnesses for and against you, (which is really what he's saying when he says, "the Queen of the South will rise up in judgment against this generation"), and now you really have a scary picture.
If Jesus called demons, angels, our friends, our family, our co-workers, and our neighbor to the stand, what would they say about us? Could we possibly convicted as servants of the Most High?
But I don't think Jesus says all this to scare us, but rather to encourage us to live lives worthy of him.
John Wheeler
John, thanks for your comment!
I think Jesus is encouraging us to live lives worthy of Him also.
I love what you wrote!
The F-bomb thing was pretty funny even though it was an inside joke too!!
Nikke
Yes, I think they were scared of Jesus. Maybe what they were afraid of was that if Jesus really was the Messiah, who had come to fulfill the old laws, they would lose their control. They already had a system in place. It was working, so why change it? Then they'd have to figure it out all over again. I don't know, I think that's how I would feel if I were them. Especially those who had worked their whole lives to obey the law, they probably were thinking, "So is he saying I did all this work for nothing?" I think when you don't want to believe something, it's really easy to rationalize that belief away. And I think, like you said, that happens all the time today.
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