Christina – Page 1291 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Monday, October 19, 2020
Chapters: Matthew 15, Mark 7
Message: Living By Tradition or Faith

Hello My Friend,

It occurred to me just how much God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit play a part of my life individually, even though they are one in the same. Oh, I am by far the model Christian, I mess up daily, yet my God is always there with me, listening, waiting for me to talk to Him no matter how many times. Jesus is every bit of my strength in me, as the Holy Spirit directs me, even teaches me how to answer people through Scripture without even saying one Bible verse. Now, that is a powerful living God living inside of us, who, by the way, I am ashamed to admit that I do not always use to His full potential. And we are all guilty of this, we struggle more than we really need to because we do not utilize the amazing and powerful Holy Spirit who lives inside of us, [Galatians 5:16-18 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.]

[ye are not under the law.] Remember, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour we are not saved through any works of our own, it is solely by grace through our faith in the Gospel of Christ. We must be careful that we do not get caught up in works, thinking that these are the things that are most acceptable to God. You see, most religions are not based on what the Bible says are acceptable, rather what man says is. The Pharisees and scribes praised themselves for all their good works, all believing that the way they were living was acceptable to God. As they watch the disciples sit to eat, but did not wash their hands, they got offended.

[Mark 7:1-4 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.]

[holding the tradition of the elders.] Most religions are no where close to the doctrine of the Bible, they are in fact, based on traditions taught by man. Jesus knows every one who worships Him in truth, and He will call them out if they are not. The Pharisees ask Jesus why the disciples did not wash their hands or follow the traditions of the elders, Jesus straight calls them out for who they were, hypocrites.

[Matthew 15:2-3,7-9 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.]

[But in vain they do worship me,] First of all, notice that Jesus admits He is God right there, and second, millions of people sit in church services worshiping God, but it is all in vain. They sing the songs, give the praises, give the tithes and offerings, and say the elaborate prayers, and it is all worthless because they are not worshiping God in truth, they are worshiping Him through their traditions. Let me tell you the ones who are worshiping God in vain will be the first to tell you how offended they are when you point that out. The disciples go up to Jesus and told Him how offended the Pharisees were at the way He was talking to them.

[Matthew 15:12-14 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.]

[Let them alone:] This is why God steps back and lets these fools lead their followers however they want, if their followers are going to follow the lies over the truth, then it is all on them. Jesus goes on to explain what it is that actually defiles a person, and no amount of washing hands and of cleaning cups and plates will cleanse them, [Mark 7:18-23 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? 20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.]

[All these evil things come from within,] We all have a little bit of evil in us, and if we are not walking in the Spirit we are going to mess up from time to time. And remember, sin is sin, there are no grades to sin, it is all the same to God, evil. It is the Law that teaches us how God wants us to live after we are saved, it is grace that keeps us looking to Jesus, and it is the Spirit that lives inside of us that reminds us that we were once guilty of at least one of these things, but we have been washed, cleansed from them all through our faith in Christ alone, [I Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.]

[and by the Spirit of our God.] Remember, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one in the same, but work in us individually so that we can worship God, the Father, in truth and able to use Him to His full potential. Just because we are saved by faith, that does not mean Jesus does not want us to trust Him with everything else, sometimes He is going to test our heart. Jesus wanted to show the Jews that their religious traditions were not going to save them, whoever comes to Him believing in Him will be the ones who will be saved. A Greek woman (in Matthew she is known as a Canaanite), came to Jesus seeking healing for her daughter.

[Mark 7:24-29 And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. 25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. 28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. 29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.]

[For this saying go thy way;] Do you know the difference between the religious and saved? The saved are willing to cry out to Jesus. The religious have no relationship with God whatsoever, all they are doing is following the traditions that they were taught. There is no deep one on one connection with God, and let me tell you, they will be the first to tell you that they have no idea that whether or not what they are doing will get them into heaven. The Jews, while they boasted of being the children of God, gave the name of dogs to the heathen, and this is why Jesus mentions dogs. The woman’s faith was so strong that she, recognizing herself as a heathen, unworthy of His help, was willing to take whatever He could give to heal her daughter. The only way that Jesus responds to us is humble faith, [James 4:5-6 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.]

Just because people believed that Jesus can heal them, and that He is the Son of God that does not mean they believe Him to be God in the flesh. A man was brought to Jesus, he was deaf and stuttered when he spoke. Through this rather odd illustration, Jesus heals the man completely, fully knowing where his faith was.

[Mark 7:31-35 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. 35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.]

[he sighed,] Did Jesus see their faith? No. That was the problem. They begged Jesus to touch him, not as having faith in the Son of God, rather in some sort of medicine man who can heal someone with the touch of their hand. And this is the reason why Jesus did what He did. This reminds me of my three year old nephew, he puts his forehead against mine to look straight into my eyes, then puts his arms around my neck to hug me. It is as if he is looking into my eyes to see if it is me. Did you know that kids can tell when we are not ourselves? Well, so can Jesus, He sees right through us, and knows where our faith really lies, [I John 5:10-12 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.]

Today’s Prayer: God, I am asking You to forgive me for not utilizing Your Spirit that lives inside of me to His full potential. Thank You for Your mercies and grace, and for Your Word so that we know not to follow the traditions of man, rather follow Your Son. We are not only a saved soul when we come to You through Your Son, we are one of Your children, and therefore, we are no longer under the Law, but of grace. Lord, lead us and guide us, teach us, and prepare us so that nothing in this world enters our heart and draws us away from You. Let us not get caught up in tradition, rather in Your Word so that we may be able to withstand the evils of the day. Let us humble ourselves in that when we come to You You are willing to work in us to Your full potential. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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