Encounters With the Pharisees Matthew 12:1-13; 22-45

"God show me what you want me to know;
Let me be the wise man and not the foolish man.
Allow me not to just read these words,
But give me a chance to put them into practice. Amen"

Whoa! Jesus is the boss. He in this passage he is giving the Pharisees a good talking to. I would imagine that they did not like it too much that Jesus was questioning everything they stood for. For instance, the held the Sabbath in the highest regard. When Jesus was "doing work" on the Sabbath, Jesus simply said, "Wouldn't you if your sheep got stuck? Well this man's hand is stuck." This is why it is important for us to not get caught up in Religion and instead get caught up in God. When we get bogged down in tradition we miss the point of church all together.

Another point I want to draw from day nine is Matthew 12:34-36. The first part of this section is not as nearly scary as the second part. But nonetheless, it is still important. What goes in must come out. Jesus is saying that when your heart is overflowed with something your mouth is going to talk about that. What is your heart filled with? What have you invested in so much that it has overflowed your heart? Then comes verse 36. For every careless word I have ever spoken I am going to have to give an account for on the day of judgment. Ah!!!!!!

God I want to be consumed with you. I want the overflow of my heart to be a mirror reflection of You. I want to be obsessed with you. Help me have the courage to make a stand for you in difficult situations.

RB

Day Nine