Well I have made it 6 whole days without Facebook! Yes! Although I accidentally posted a picture earlier using Instagram... oops. I didn't actually get on Facebook though. All in all, I have gotten a lot more homework done over the past few days and have felt more rested and less stressed. It is a good feeling. I actually have a few moments to rest before bed, my homework for the past week and tomorrow is done. I could actually go to bed semi early (for a college student anyway) for once! I almost don't know what to do with myself, of course tomorrow starts the workload again but hey it is worth it. Now onto the next part.
I only have a few thoughts for today, in my devotions I read Matthew 21:23-32. Jesus has just cursed the fig tree ( I am still slightly confused why he did that, I will look into it and when I find out more I will let you know) and had walked into the temple. Now the Chief Priests and elders as soon as they saw him coming were all up on him. These guy were part of the religious big dogs and they didn't like Jesus and what he taught. So they were always trying to find new ways too trip Jesus up and make him sound bad. They kind of fought like girls. They wouldn't come out straight and tell Jesus they hated him, instead they were underhanded and tried to make him look bad and make themselves look smart... never happened.
They asked Jesus who gave him the authority to do what he did. Jesus could have told them but he was wise in areas I am not. He instead he said, you tell me who gave John the Baptist authority I will tell you who gave me authority. The big religious men were stumped... they couldn't say John didn't have God's authority or they would look bad in the eyes of the people but they couldn't admit too it either cause they knew Jesus would come back and say he has the same authority so the best answer they could give was I don't know. Some of the most knowledgeable men of that day and all they could say was I don't know.
Jesus then told them a story and this where Jesus gets down and dirty with honesty. In the story he tells about a father who tells both of this sons to go work in the family vineyard. The oldest boy says no, then later regrets his decision and does what his father asked him to do. The youngest boy told his father yes but then turned around and completely ignored his promise and did nothing. Then Jesus asked them which obeyed? Obviously the older brother. Then Jesus straight up tells the most religious men, the men who lived "perfect" lives, never broke a law and prided themselves on that fact; Jesus tells them this in Matt 21:31-32" 31Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him." Jesus tells the most "spiritual", the most "God fearing", the most "righteous", the "Men of God" that two hated people groups of that time, tax collectors and prostitutes would get into heaven before they would because they believed even though they lived lives that went against God, they turned away from those things, believed what John said and they were able to get into the Kingdom of God. But these intelligent men who devoted their entire lives to studying the word of God, would not because they had all the knowledge before them, spelled out, they heard what John said about Jesus coming, turned their backs and ignored it because Jesus was not what they wanted.
Wow. It does not matter how "spiritual" you are, if you don't follow God and believe in Jesus, if you don't give your life to him, believe who he is, you won't get to heaven. God does not care about how much knowledge you have, all the good things you have done, he doesn't care that every single thing you do is perfect. If you are too prideful to give him everything then you are out. Jesus didn't sugar coat his words, he was honest and outright, he wanted people to know how to get into the Kingdom of God. It isn't easy, it takes the hardest thing of all, surrender. But once you do, it is worth it. I am still surrendering. I know I am going to be with Jesus in the Kingdom of God one day, but I am not perfect by any means, God is still teaching me how to surrender and make me a better person. Like I said before becoming a Christian isn't a get out of jail free card, it is a ticket to get on a train that has a final destination, but a lot of different stops on the way. Sometimes you are riding in the dining car, sometimes you are the one shoveling the coal in. It is hard work but being able to pick up people on the way and join you in the journey is the best part, second only to the destination itself. And guess what we have the best engineer and conductor (Jesus and the Holy Spirit if there was any confusion) anyone could dream of.
Jesus then told them a story and this where Jesus gets down and dirty with honesty. In the story he tells about a father who tells both of this sons to go work in the family vineyard. The oldest boy says no, then later regrets his decision and does what his father asked him to do. The youngest boy told his father yes but then turned around and completely ignored his promise and did nothing. Then Jesus asked them which obeyed? Obviously the older brother. Then Jesus straight up tells the most religious men, the men who lived "perfect" lives, never broke a law and prided themselves on that fact; Jesus tells them this in Matt 21:31-32" 31Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him." Jesus tells the most "spiritual", the most "God fearing", the most "righteous", the "Men of God" that two hated people groups of that time, tax collectors and prostitutes would get into heaven before they would because they believed even though they lived lives that went against God, they turned away from those things, believed what John said and they were able to get into the Kingdom of God. But these intelligent men who devoted their entire lives to studying the word of God, would not because they had all the knowledge before them, spelled out, they heard what John said about Jesus coming, turned their backs and ignored it because Jesus was not what they wanted.
Wow. It does not matter how "spiritual" you are, if you don't follow God and believe in Jesus, if you don't give your life to him, believe who he is, you won't get to heaven. God does not care about how much knowledge you have, all the good things you have done, he doesn't care that every single thing you do is perfect. If you are too prideful to give him everything then you are out. Jesus didn't sugar coat his words, he was honest and outright, he wanted people to know how to get into the Kingdom of God. It isn't easy, it takes the hardest thing of all, surrender. But once you do, it is worth it. I am still surrendering. I know I am going to be with Jesus in the Kingdom of God one day, but I am not perfect by any means, God is still teaching me how to surrender and make me a better person. Like I said before becoming a Christian isn't a get out of jail free card, it is a ticket to get on a train that has a final destination, but a lot of different stops on the way. Sometimes you are riding in the dining car, sometimes you are the one shoveling the coal in. It is hard work but being able to pick up people on the way and join you in the journey is the best part, second only to the destination itself. And guess what we have the best engineer and conductor (Jesus and the Holy Spirit if there was any confusion) anyone could dream of.
P.S. I guess I shouldn't have said I only had a few thoughts :P. Turned out to be a little longer then I expected.
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