of trees and treasures

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.

Matthew 12:33

Jesus spoke these words about the Pharisees immediately after they accused Him of having power over demons only because Satan had empowered Him. This was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. And it was a great evil… one that Jesus said put them at extreme peril on judgment day for their calloused hearts.

Jesus goes on to say that such words could only proceed from corrupt hearts (Matthew 12:34-35). He began His discourse on human motivation with this picture of two trees. A good tree is known as good because from it comes good fruit. Likewise a bad tree is deemed worthless and fit for destruction when it produces fruit that is bad. He then gives an even deeper picture of the treasure chest of the inner person (Matthew 12:35-36). A good person brings good treasure from the righteousness in his heart that he treasures. And an evil person’s dark treasure chest can only bring out evil. A life filled with evil will be miserable, hateful, and never satisfied. Only a heart transformed by Christ can bring out good.

Lord,

Help me understand and evaluate my heart by life fruit and the treasures that come out of my heart. I want to make the tree good as You transform me. I want my treasures to be Your treasures, truth and life that lasts for eternity. Teach me, lead me, heal me, and bless me thus, Lord!

Amen

defended

But you, O GOD my Lord,

deal on my behalf for your name's sake;

because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!

Psalm 109:21

David wrote these words of confident trust as he processed horrible mistreatment by people who should have cared about him. The psalm is heavy on lament and calls God to justice. It does not necessarily suggest a specific occasion for its composition, but I could see David having these thoughts during Absalom’s revolt, when civil war drove David from the throne and many people turned against him. Look at how David describes his mistreatment and see if you can’t identify with it:

• People spread lies about him (Psalm 109:2).
• He is attacked without mercy (Psalm 109:3).
• People that he loves accuse him (perhaps this is his own son?) (Psalm 109:4-5).
• Actions toward David are unkind (Psalm 109:16).
• There is no mercy or empathy for David’s broken heart (Psalm 109:16).
• Curses are called down upon David (Psalm 109:17-18).

David is affected by all this accusation and hatred directed at him. Look at how he feels:

• He is the poor and needy one in the psalm (Psalm 109:22).
• He feels wasted and weak (Psalm 109:23-24).
• He is scorned socially, feeling alone and rejected by people in general (Psalm 109:25).

But David trusts God beyond the intensity and immensity of the hate directed at him. He clings to God’s steadfast love, trusts that God will in the end show His power, believes God can turn their curses into His blessings, and trusts God to put sinful accusers to shame (Psalm 109:26-28).

In the end, even if others hate us, ridicule us, reject us, or cancel us, those who trust Christ will be vindicated… for He Who is at the Father’s right hand defends the right hand of those who need Him (Psalm 109:31)!

fear uncovered

So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

Matthew 10:26

My soul fears much more than I care to admit and much of my fear is around what other people do. I am at my heart a fearer of people. This shows up in the way I want everyone around me to like me, to be happy, to agree, and treat me the way I think I should be treated. I never want anyone to think bad of me. It is a perverse kind of selfishness that centers my happiness on pleasing others and judging what they think, not about Jesus so much, but what they think about me. This is fear. It is not good for me to do this.

Often a good day quickly goes bad when I do not get the response I think I should from people. I turn sad or sullen or angry or judgmental or often just a mix of all sorts of dark negativity. It is what fear does to me when I choose it. And it will keep me up at night, ruin my days, steal my joy, and pull my heart from the love and worship of my Lord.

This is why I need Jesus to confront and calm my fears as directly as He does in Matthew 10. I am most afraid when I cannot understand why people act the way they do toward me. But God knows hearts, not me. He will, in His time, as promised here, take care of every selfish or hateful motive from others against me. AND He also uncovers my own selfish fears, making them known by His Spirit’s use of His Word so that in His revealing light I can confront my sinful fear and my own judgmentalism of others, acknowledge my faithlessness, and then properly broken by my sinful failure… I repent!

Lord,

This light upon my fear is exactly what I needed as a reminder for today. Thanks for Your timely wisdom. Uncover my fear and expose my heart by Your Spirit and Your Word. Make me uncomfortable about my sin, and stop me from the idolatry of pleasing others! Uncover my conflicted soul! Make Your power known!

Amen

self trapped

Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

while I pass by safely.

Psalm 141:10

Fallen in a pit

dug to trap another

hanging from a rope

meant to catch a brother

what the wicked plan

in the ways of man

we can understand

God will bring their end

using their own traps against them

Consequences follow

every evil scheme

God can turn against

the wicked what they originally mean

to hurt, wound, or kill

will never thwart God’s will

God will overrule

using their very evil tool

in irony to destroy them

Trapped in their own net

they don’t trust God and yet

God in mercy shows them

how to repent and turn to Him

they can still turn away

from self and no longer stray

He would always take them back

and deliver them from their trap

if by faith they would trust in Him

intense ministry

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

Matthew 9:35

Jesus really had an intense ministry. It is like nothing else we read of in the Bible. Matthew’s summary description of it here shows a four-fold work taking place:

1.  Jesus traveled to cities and villages. He was always on the move, taking His ministry and message to new places. He was sent to a people (Israel) and connected with them by going to where they were.

2.  Jesus taught in the synagogues. He worshiped with those to whom He was called. And as a rabbi, Jesus was allowed to teach at their gatherings. He operated within the means of worship and instruction that everyone expected.

3.  Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom. He had a new message of hope. He proclaimed salvation to Israel. He pointed the people to Himself and a new way of God transforming hearts that only His work would bring.

4.  Jesus healed diseases and afflictions. People were physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually afflicted. Jesus had mercy and authority over sickness and demonic possession. He healed in order to show that power and authority. And it was no doubt His miracles that brought the crowds to Him as He did what only God could do.

All of this intense ministry was fueled by an authentic and unique love for the crowds… something the religious leaders of Jesus’ day did not display. He saw the crowds as harassed and helpless, in need of a gentle shepherd (Matthew 9:36). And Jesus would call all His disciples to love and to serve with kingdom intensity like He did (Matthew 9:37). May His church today carry on with authentic intensity as Jesus continues to empower and enable us to travel, teach, preach, and see Him heal lives!

singing praises in the pressure

…for you have been my help,

and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

Psalm 63:7

One biblical strategy for not being overwhelmed by stress and anxiety is to truly worship God. Psalm 63 was written in a stressful time for David as he fled from Saul in the wilderness of Judah. There was an entire army bent upon following Saul’s orders. They wanted to “destroy” David’s life (Psalm 63:9). David had reason to fear but chose to fight fear in faithful worship of God.

David acknowledged that his circumstances INCREASED his thirst for God (Psalm 63:1). So an immediate action when given to fear is to see how the painful circumstances call out for desperate faith. Crave God when you feel like caving in to fear!

That thirsty craving led to expressive worship engaging David spiritually and physically. His eyes looked upon God to behold His power and glory. His lips praised God for His steadfast love. His hands were lifted up in praise (Psalm 63:2-4). Choose to fight fear with your whole person — soul and body!

David directed his soul to remember God… even in nights when it was hard to sleep (Psalm 63:5-8). He remembered God as he turned in his bed. He made those nights time to worship and to meditate upon the God Who satisfied him, sheltered him, and held him up in the stress-filled story. He chose to make sleeplessness worshipful.

The last word for David in response to anxious stress was this: “,,,the king shall rejoice in God.” Worship in the hard times can have its own unique joys… if we will only discipline our souls to see them and choose to embrace the gift of songs in such stresses.

Jesus the Healer

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

Matthew 8:17

Mark 8 emphasizes Jesus as the Healer. A simple survey of the chapter yields these insights about how He heals:

• Jesus heals a leper - Emphasis: Jesus wills it so (Mark 8:1-4).
• Jesus heals a centurion’s servant - Emphasis: Jesus has authority at a distance (Mark 8:5-13).
• Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law - Emphasis: Jesus meets needs before we even ask (Mark 8:14-15).
• Jesus casts demons from many - Emphasis: Jesus fulfills scripture (Mark 8:16-17).
• Jesus calms a storm - Emphasis: Jesus commands the physical world (Mark 8:23-27).
• Jesus heals two demon-possessed men - Emphasis: Jesus commands the spiritual world (Mark 8:28-34)

Lord Jesus, 

You are the Great Healer. You have borne all our hurts, our sorrows, our pains, and our illnesses. You have the will to restore us and make us whole. You have all the authority so that nothing… not time, distance, our emotional responses, our fears, or any opposition can change what You will to do for us or what You will for us to be. You see the need we have before we even come to You. You fulfill all that has spoken in scripture concerning You. You command the forces of nature. You command even demons to flee from us.

There is nothing broken that you cannot fix. There is no distance You cannot by grace and power bridge. There is no evil stronger than Your power to command it to cease. My life then is Yours to heal. My broken relationships are Yours to renew. My anxious and weary heart is Yours to calm and mend. My oppressive circumstances are Yours to break. My storms are Yours to still. You are always my Healer!

Amen