tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81532697315839249232024-03-08T15:18:23.912-03:00The 3-Minute GospelReaching people in a hurry with the urgent message.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-30275537151037218442014-08-12T13:29:00.000-03:002014-08-12T13:29:00.108-03:00#015 Prayer<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/7" target="_blank">Matthew 7:7-12</a><br />
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"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened". Do you believe that?<br />
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Of course not, at least with your natural, logical and rational mind, the one you were born with. It makes no sense because your mind was made to work in this three dimensions environment and within the limits of space and time. To a mind like this the things that make sense are those that fit these conditions.<br />
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Now imagine if you had God's perspective; that you could see and evaluate things without the constraints of time and space; imagine if you could evaluate things using the eternal perspective. If something happened today or a thousand years from now, it would make no difference.<br />
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That's where prayer comes in. Prayer is to talk with God, to discuss, to argue, to plead; it is to invade the infinite. If you read the Bible you will see that these things were part of the prayers of men and women of God throughout the centuries.<br />
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Therefore, to pray is to ask and be sure of the answer, but an answer from God's perspective, not from our narrow minds. I'll give you an example.<br />
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Moses led the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years toward the promised land. But God did not allow Moses to enter the promised land. He was only allowed to see the land from afar before he died, and that for reasons that do not matter now.<br />
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Then you come and say, "So what's the point about asking and receiving, seeking and finding, knocking and opening? Wasn't Moses desire to enter the promised land?" Yes, he wanted it and God answered his desire almost fifteen hundred years later. In the Gospel passage known as "The Transfiguration" you will find Moses, Elijah and Jesus talking on the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem, right in the promised land.<br />
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Got it? God answered Moses' prayer God's way, in God's timing and from God's perspective. A father does not give his child a stone when he or she asks for bread, but may give it later or even give something better. Sometimes young children ask for absurd things, and it is not always wise to give them what they ask. Now, how tall you think you are before God?<br />
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So before you pray, before you ask, you must have God's perspective, and that perspective you receive thanks to a famous unanswered prayer: "Father, let this cup pass from me." If God had answered Jesus' prayer nobody would have been saved. He would not have died on the cross, would not have taken your sins away and could not forgive and save you. What would be your fate? Death and eternal condemnation.<br />
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But Jesus died, and now you can be saved by trusting him. And you can have your renewed mind to see things from the standpoint of eternity. Curious as it may seem, this large and comprehensive mind you can only get passing through the narrow gate and walking the narrow path, which is the subject of the next 3 minutes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-2804990993616938102014-08-05T11:23:00.001-03:002014-08-05T11:24:05.700-03:00#014 Bad Judgment<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/7" target="_blank">Matthew 7:1-6</a><br />
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"Do not judge, or you too will be judged", said Jesus. What does it mean? That judges should consider all criminals innocent? Or that in the next soccer game there will no longer be a referee running on the field? Not so.<br />
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By other passages of the Bible you will find that here Jesus condemns judging the motives and intentions of people; to draw conclusions by their appearance and things like that.<br />
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Of course there are things that we should rather judge, as the things people say or do, especially when concerning God. For doing this we have one measure: the Bible, the Word of God.<br />
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So the problem is not in judgment itself, but in the plank we have in our eyes; in inability to see what is right or wrong when we want to take the sawdust of other people eyes.<br />
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No one should want to judge anything without a perfect measure or standard. If you do not recur to God as the standard and measure for your discernment of things and people, you'll end adopting the most convenient reference: yourself.<br />
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And that's when you start judging others even as a therapy. You will always feel good when you find someone worse. You know... "I drink, but do not steal," or "I steal, but do not kill," and so on.<br />
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Considering the world is a great fair of vanity and malice, there will always be plenty of people worse than you to compare. But what happens if you compare yourself to God? What happens if you compare yourself to Jesus? It will be bad for your ego; you will be before the perfection and the perfect man.<br />
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That is why God in the Bible makes it very clear that all people are sinners, all are far from the standard, including you and me. What to do? Improve? Well, if you are able to wash coal and dry ice, you can go on trying. God says you will not achieve anything unless you start from scratch — unless you be reborn, born again. But that also does not come from you.<br />
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Have you ever seen a newborn bragging about the effort he made to be born? You won't. Anyone who is born has no part in labor. The work, pain, blood, everything is the mother's. Someone had to suffer putting her life in risk for you to be born.<br />
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To be born again is no different. Jesus suffered, died and shed blood so that you may live. Not a mere natural life but eternal life.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-752505304290424472012-07-09T15:14:00.000-03:002012-07-09T15:14:00.210-03:00#013 More than birds and lilies<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/6">Matthew 6:25-34</a><br />
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"Look at the birds of the air," said Jesus. "Consider the lilies of the field." Have you ever seen a bird worried about the stock market, or a lily wondering what clothes to wear? God takes care of them, despite the fact that they were not created in the image and likeness of God, like you and I are.<br />
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Do I mean we can live free of commitments like the birds and lilies? No. The comparisons stop there. Lilies and birds live only to eat, drink and multiply. And you, what do you live for?<br />
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Eating, drinking and having sex? You are worth more than that, more than sparrows and lilies, and I really do not think Jesus came to this world to die for birds and flowers, though they are God’s creatures. Jesus came to die for me and you.<br />
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Of course, you and I need to work to get enough to eat, drink and wear. Since the fall of Adam the whole earth and the creation became a pitiful ruin, and until God sets it right, we will have to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow.<br />
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Oh! Now you will say that I finally hit the nail on the head, that it is thanks to your own effort you can have what you have, meet your family’s needs and pay the phone bill. Really?<br />
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If God had made you to be born in the Namib Desert, you would not be what you are today, nor would you have everything you have. Therefore, you'd better begin to recognize that, although God is not always seen at center stage of your life, he works behind the scenes. After all, he owns the theater, he is the show's director and he also has the power to lower the curtain when it pleases him.<br />
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"This is unfair!" you say. "I want to direct my life, to decide who I am and what I will be, and it is me who should say when I have to leave the scene." All right, you want all this, but the job of “God” has already been filled. What's more, you're not an island, and your life ends up influencing the lives of many among the billion people on the planet.<br />
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Want an example? If that technician you don't even know did something stupid when assembling your cell phone, it may fail when you most need it. So get used to the idea that -- yes! -- we need a General Manager! Yes, we need God.<br />
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But the subject here is the concern for basic needs. If you have not yet trusted in Jesus to have yours guaranteed, begin with this: There is no more basic need than ensuring your eternal destiny, your future. And what a future!<br />
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Jesus tells you to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things you need will be added. What place does Jesus occupy on your priority list? Not number one? Well, in that case you'd better worry.<br />
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In the next 3 minutes you will learn what is important to judge.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-79921287028770006592012-07-02T15:11:00.000-03:002012-07-02T15:11:00.119-03:00#012 Treasures<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/6">Matthew 6:19-24</a><br />
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"No one can serve two masters," said Jesus. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Where is your treasure?<br />
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A treasure is something we value more than anything else; it is our priority and reason for living. Everyone has, or is seeking for, a treasure. It can be money, family or relationships. How do you know if it's a treasure? If you feel you cannot live without something, or if you feel you will only be really happy if you achieve it, then that is your treasure.<br />
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It can be anything as banal as weight loss and appearance. Haven’t you heard of people who died trying to look good? Some people would do anything for an aesthetic treasure. Have you ever heard of someone who killed or died for a lover? That relationship was his or her treasure, and reason to live.<br />
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Evaluate your treasures in terms of what they will be worth long-term and you'll understand what Jesus meant. One hundred years from now, you and every person you know will be dead. At best, if you have been someone important, your statue will stand in a plaza and your head will become a pigeon's toilet.<br />
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When Jesus used the expression "serve two masters" he was talking about the slave-master relationship, and there is no need to explain how easy it is to become a slave to money, career and success. All these things may be legitimate, but God does not want them to become the center and reason for your life. God claims that place for himself.<br />
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The difference is that when God occupies that place, you are no longer a slave but God's child. Anything else is achieved with effort, but the status of being God's child is only attained when you rest, when you give up, when you put up over your life one of those banners that says: "Under New Management."<br />
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You can only find rest in God, because Jesus did all the work. Only in God you can find fulfillment, because ... well, because he is God! What God am I talking about? The only one, your Creator, the one who does not expect you to do something to save yourself, but provided everything so you can call him Father. The same God who sent his Son to die for your salvation and rise for your justification.<br />
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Remember hearing that someone can even die for a treasure? What treasure do you think Jesus left heaven for to come to this world to die? You! And what about you -- what is your treasure?<br />
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In the next 3 minutes you will find out who cares for you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-38766154134368095482012-06-27T14:05:00.001-03:002012-06-27T14:05:57.287-03:00#011 Our Father<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/6">Matthew 6:9-15</a><br />
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To pray is to recognize that you’re weak, helpless and dependent on God. This goes against your natural inclinations, because since your childhood you have been taught to be independent and, as an adult, you read self-improvement literature. Praying goes against that natural trend; it is denial of self-sufficiency.<br />
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Jesus teaches that praying is not repeating words like pagans do. Praying is not hypnotic chanting like a Tibetan mantra, nor using magic words or secret formulas for releasing some kind of cosmic energy. Prayer is not the Christian's Shazam or Abracadabra. Praying is to communicating our needs unto God, sitting beside him and talking about them.<br />
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But why pray if God knows beforehand what we need or will ask? Because he wants to see dependence in us, and because he likes when we talk with him. God is a good listener. To pray is to do the opposite Adam and Eve did in Eden. They wanted to be independent from God, self-sufficient and masters of their own fate. Prayer puts us back in our original track.<br />
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Before teaching the prayer known as "Our Father" Jesus condemned the mere repetition of words, so the "Our Father" prayer is not to be repeated. It is a model of how to pray. It is not the "what" but the "how."<br />
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The first step is recognizing the position God occupies in heaven -- above us -- and of his holiness, a word that means separation from evil. It is the equivalent of acknowledging that our interests may not be the same as God's, who sees the whole picture from above and knows better than we do what is best for us.<br />
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This is the reason for the expression "your kingdom come" and nothing else. Heaven's interests should prevail over Earth's. First, we recognize what God is and that he has the first place. Then, we ask for the supply of our physical needs and protection, and between these two things there comes a plea for forgiveness.<br />
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This forgiveness is not the judicial forgiveness of our sins, which we receive by grace through faith in Jesus. Here it is a kind of parental forgiveness. It is the momentary condition upon which we receive what we are asking for. It's as if your father said, "My son, I won't give you the bike until you make peace with your little sister."<br />
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But how to forgive? With the forgiveness of someone who has already been forgiven themselves with the judicial and absolute forgiveness. To understand this better, see how the apostle Paul puts forgiveness in his letter to the Colossians: "as Christ forgave you, so you also must do." From the justice standpoint, I can only forgive because I have been forgiven.<br />
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Have you been forgiven of all your sins? This full and absolute pardon is only possible because Jesus died in your place and rose again for your justification. The first thing God wants to give you is forgiveness, so this is the first thing you should ask him for, if you are not sure you have been completely forgiven.<br />
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In the next 3 minutes you will hear about the treasure map.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-92159700367365249252011-10-30T07:09:00.000-02:002012-06-27T14:06:15.759-03:00#010 Son or Hypocrite?<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/6">Matthew 6:1-8</a><br />
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The sixth chapter of Matthew starts off talking about two things: the sublime relationship that God desires to have with his creatures, and the shameful hypocrisy of religion.<br />
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The first thing that stands out is the word "Father." It appears 10 times in the 18 first verses of the chapter. Never before had a Jewish person called God "Father". You can check it out. Throughout the Old Testament no one would dare have such familiarity and intimacy with God.<br />
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This intimate relationship was inaugurated by Jesus, who in his human condition was the only begotten son of God. He was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and had Joseph as his legal, not biological father.<br />
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There is more: in the New Testament God is not just called “Father”. Shortly before his death, when Jesus prayed in agony, the gospel of Mark says that he talked to God using the word "Abba", which in Aramaic means something like "Daddy." And in the letters of the apostles you learn that everyone who trusts Jesus can now call God "Father".<br />
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God extends this relationship of intimacy and kinship to all who receive Jesus, and only to such. Listen carefully to what the first chapter of John's gospel says about Jesus:<br />
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"He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."<br />
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You are a child of God? Have you born again? Do you trust Jesus?<br />
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Now comes the contrast: Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of the religious man who prays and gives alms in order to be seen and praised by men. According to Jesus, that person has already received his reward. What? Come on, he wanted to be seen and praised by men. What he is saying is that a guy like that should be satisfied to receive what he wanted. Nothing else.<br />
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Alms and prayers are things as good as the many fruit trees that God planted in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve to eat. What happened? They ate from the one tree God commanded not to eat. It was the origin of sin, the rebellion of man against the Creator.<br />
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When Adam and Eve saw the mistake they had made, they tried to hide from God among the trees of the orchard. The religious man is like this: he tries to hide from God among the very things that God approves, like alms and prayers. He attempts to dissemble and pretend, to cover his sin. What’s this called? Hypocrisy.<br />
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Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and this is what God is looking for -- sinners! If you keep hiding behind your religion, your good deeds and prayers to appear that you are not a sinner, how do you expect to be found and saved by the one who searches for sinners to save?<br />
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Come on out, show yourself, come into open air, swing open your heart’s door to God, confess to him who you really are, and trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior. This is the only thing you have to do to be called a son of God and be able look to God and say, "Father". This is what Jesus will teach you to do in the next 3 minutes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-79957265407636478472011-10-09T08:41:00.000-03:002012-06-27T14:06:30.870-03:00#009 You Don't Know the Half of Me<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/5">Matthew 5:17-26</a><br />
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Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. What law am I talking about? God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and more than six hundred precepts that make up the law of God. You find them mostly in the first five books of the Bible.<br />
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The people were required to fulfill all the commandments, but soon they realized that some are not possible. Even if you do not kill, steal or commit adultery, there is a commandment that says: "You shalt not covet."<br />
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We all know that greed happens in the mind, in the heart, even before you do it. And that's what Jesus is talking about here. The law said "You shalt not kill," but Jesus says that being angry with someone is enough to be considered to God as a homicide. The law said "Do not commit adultery," but Jesus says that lusting after a woman is enough for you to be guilty of adultery.<br />
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Well, if you are one of those who read the Sermon on the Mount and think everything is beautiful there, you probably did not understand what it says. You are reading your death sentence. Unless you think you never felt angry at someone, never had an adulterous fantasy, never manipulated the truth....<br />
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So everyone is lost? Yes, exactly. And that is what the apostle Paul explains in his letter to the Romans. God gave the law to silence every excuse, as a way to show that all are sinners, all are offenders, all are guilty defendants waiting to be sentenced, waiting for the penalty.<br />
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But there's a problem. The penalty for sin is death. No lawyer can save you from this, but Jesus can. Follow my reasoning.<br />
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In the Old Testament, when an Israeli transgressed the law, when he sinned, he had to sacrifice an innocent animal in his place, for example, a lamb. Detail: the lamb had to be without blemish.<br />
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Jesus, being sinless, was the only one able to satisfy the law, the only one who did not have impure thoughts as we have. Though human, he didn't inherit the sinful nature we inherited from Adam.<br />
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Why do you think Jesus was called the "Lamb of God" by John the Baptist? He was called that exactly because he came to be sacrificed in place of the sinner, to fulfill the law. When you see a thief being tried and convicted, you say that the law was fulfilled. The reasoning is the same.<br />
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Do you remember Adam? Well, by the disobedience of one person many were made sinners. God wanted to do the opposite. By the obedience of one man, Jesus, and by his death, many can be saved.<br />
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Believing in Jesus as your substitute the only way you can be saved. Or do you think you will get there by accomplishing the law? Impossible. In God's eyes you are an adulterer, a thief and a liar. And, since you probably are already hating me for saying this, add murderer to the list.<br />
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But if you really recognize yourself a sinner completely dependant upon the grace of God to be saved, after listening to me putting you down, you will probably say, "Mario, you don't know the half of me."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-3011135776543143302011-09-30T05:43:00.000-03:002012-06-27T14:06:45.889-03:00#008 Losers<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/5">Matthew 5:1-16</a><br />
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The Sermon on the Mount is one of the best known passages in the gospel, but not one of the best understood. First, its targets are the disciples who come to Jesus, not the crowd.<br />
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Second, it is not a list of things you have to do to be saved or become disciple of Jesus. He's talking about the characteristics of those who, at all times, subject to Jesus.<br />
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"Kingdom of Heaven" means a kingdom not of the earth, but heavenly; whose king was here, was rejected and is now in heaven. When Jesus says "blessed are these or those," it is like if he were saying "happy are these or those" who are like this. Like what? Losers like this.<br />
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Yeah, because if Jesus, the king of the kingdom of heaven himself, was a loser in this world, how do you expect his followers be? <br />
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But then someone comes and says: "Hey, but I thought it was just the opposite, because I saw someone on TV say that if you go to Jesus your problems disappear, you improve your business, pay your debts, solve marital problems, get healed of all diseases, and even buy a brand new car!"<br />
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Well, whoever goes to Jesus thinking that way is like someone who gets married out of some interest other than love-- you know, like to marry into money. If you are looking for Jesus to receive something else than the forgiveness of sins and salvation, think better. Or do you think God is naïve and does not see your intentions?<br />
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Look who the blessed ones are here: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those wronged or tired of injustices, the soft-hearted who feel sorry for others, the peacemakers, those persecuted for righteousness or for their faith in Jesus....<br />
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Get it? This is the opposite of the beatitudes of the world where the blessed are the self-sufficient, those who laugh, the powerful, those who thrive on injustice, trample on others, promote and pursue war, aggressively go after what they want, and those who obviously want to be far from the one who was the greatest loser in this world: Jesus.<br />
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But God is calling losers, not champions, for his kingdom. Prostitutes, thieves, blind, crippled -- what kind of person do you think Jesus came to call? And once saved from their sins because of what Jesus did on the cross, and not by his own works, in what do you think they were made into? In these blessed ones according to God's concept, not men's.<br />
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Want to be among them? Want to be blessed forever, not just for a few years? Then place your faith in Jesus -- not in a successful glossy magazine-cover Jesus, but in the crucified one. Then you will know yourself , as in the next 3 minutes you will see the ruin you really are.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-8963847542024092802011-09-22T07:59:00.000-03:002011-09-22T07:59:12.652-03:00#007 Fishers of Men<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/4">Matthew 4:18-25</a><br />
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In Galilee Jesus again finds the brothers Simon and Andrew. The first time they met in Judea, these two disciples of John the Baptist heard John say that Jesus was the Lamb of God. At that time they followed him and Simon got a new name - Peter. This is in the first chapter of the Gospel of John<br />
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That time they were invited to where Jesus lived. It was a call to salvation, the same invitation Jesus extends to every person when they first get in touch with him. "You want to know where I live? So come with me," is more or less what he says to every heart. It is an invitation to heaven.<br />
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At the reunion in Galilee, described by Matthew, the two are called to service. The order is always this: first you are invited to be saved, then to serve. First faith, then works; first forgiveness of sins, then the fruit of faith; first heaven, then earth.<br />
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Simon and Andrew were fishermen and Jesus calls them to be fishers of men. All they have to do is to follow Jesus.<br />
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The training and the power to turn them into fishers of men will come from God, not from a theological college or anything like that. They will no longer fish using nets. The nets are left behind. It is not to go out and arrest people, but rather free them. Walking with Jesus will make them live baits. They are called to bring out the flavor and fragrance of Jesus wherever they go.<br />
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The fisherman goes where the fish are, takes risks and makes no noise so as not to draw attention to himself. The fisher of men goes where the people are, and speaks of Jesus, forgiveness and salvation, not religion, morals or prosperity. The theme of the fisher of men is Jesus, the closest God ever has come to his creatures. And the good news is not a task list, but just the news that Jesus died and rose again to save and justify the sinner.<br />
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In this fourth chapter of Matthew's gospel two fishermen, James and John, are called to become fishers of men. They immediately leave the boat and their father, Zebedee, and go follow Jesus. Immediately! Jesus has priority.<br />
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Many entrepreneurs, politicians and artists of that time had their names erased by the dust of centuries. The names of the fishermen Peter, Andrew, James and John remain only because they had an encounter with Jesus, and were called to proclaim the good news of salvation. That is what the word "gospel" means. An encounter like this has eternal consequences.<br />
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Have you been caught? Have you been called? If so, welcome to the losers' club. In the next 3 minutes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-88186721200470390162011-09-03T15:47:00.002-03:002011-09-03T15:47:00.137-03:00#006 Person or Religion?<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/4">Matthew 4:12-17</a><br />
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When Jesus learns that John, the Baptist, is in jail, he comes into Galilee, the region where he had been raised. He adopts Capernaum as the headquarters for his ministry, and it is there that he does most of his signs and miracles.<br />
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Capernaum is by the Sea of Galilee, a freshwater lake about 12 miles long by 6 miles wide. When the Gospels speak of boats and sea, this lake is what they are referring to, and when they speak of fish, it probably is the tilapia species.<br />
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The prophet Isaiah foretold that the Messiah would dwell in this region and that in the Galilee of the Gentiles the people who lived in darkness would see a great light. After John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Light that came into the world, is rejected and arrested by the Jews, Jesus goes to a region inhabited mainly by non-Jews or Gentiles. By that time it is the most globalized region of Palestine, where the international trade route from Egypt to Babylon passes through.<br />
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Although his direct mission was to the Jews, the fame of the rejected King of Israel spreads throughout Syria. That is the embryo of the most international of all faiths, the Christian faith. People try to add a lot of regional and cultural bells and whistles to the Christian faith, but the fact is, in essence, it is concentrated in one person, Jesus, and not in a religion, culture or custom.<br />
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Much of what you see out there, clergy, temples, sculptures, clothes and utensils, are no more than rubbish that has nothing to do with Jesus. Those are things that Christendom borrowed from Judaism and pagan religions in an attempt to make the Christian faith identified by visible things.<br />
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But, when something is visible, there is no need for faith! If you believe in Jesus, you believe in one person, God himself, who is not subject to countries, times and cultures because he is eternal. The Christian faith is based on a fact: the Son of God came to earth, died for our sins and rose again in the third day. It is faith in a living Jesus in heaven.<br />
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The only visible part of the Christian faith on earth is the body of Christ, the church. I'm not talking about a building made of bricks or stones, but about what the Bible says the church is, the body composed of all who believe in Jesus, who were born again and saved by him.<br />
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If your faith is in a religion or in a religious organization, or anything other than the person of Jesus, you're wasting your time. Religion is the idea of doing something to reconnect ourselves to God. But what could you possibly do, if Jesus already did all that needs to be done?<br />
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Buddha's last words were "Work hard to gain your own salvation". Jesus' last words were "It is finished."<br />
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So, what do you believe in - a living Person or a dead religion?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-88865309158870915622011-08-27T06:58:00.000-03:002011-08-27T06:58:04.446-03:00#005 The Answers<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/4">Matthew 4:1-11</a><br />
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Before starting his ministry Jesus must pass a test. So, the Holy Spirit leads him into the wilderness to be tested. And while God <i>tests </i>him, Satan <i>tempts </i>him.<br />
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Although it’s impossible for him to fail, he needs to be proven to be above suspicion and morally fit for his mission. The first Adam, the natural man, the man of the land, did not pass the test. Jesus is the last Adam, the man from heaven, the forerunner of a new spiritual lineage. Will he pass the test?<br />
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The first Adam succumbed to the forbidden fruit, even without having fasted for 40 days, as Jesus did. Fruit satisfies a physical hunger. Jesus is not facing the temptation of a fruit, but a challenge from the Devil who taunts:<br />
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"If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."<br />
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Jesus' answer comes from the Word of God: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."<br />
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Then the devil takes him up to Jerusalem, to the top of the temple: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give his angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"<br />
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The Devil uses the very word of God, Psalm 91. This could be Jesus' chance to make a spectacular jump and at the same time prove that the angels are at his disposal. At least sixty thousand, or twelve legions, of angels could fly immediately to hold him. But he will not.<br />
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The first temptation was intended to meet the needs of the body, like the fruit offered to Adam. Now the devil tries to create a sense of pride. The fruit of Eden was good to give understanding to Adam and evoke a feeling which, in another part of the Bible, is called "the pride of life."<br />
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Again Jesus' answer comes from the Word of God: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." Though he is God, in his human condition Jesus has to learn obedience as a son. He again passes this test.<br />
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The fruit of Eden was pleasant to the sight; it filled the eyes. In this new version of Satan's temptation, Jesus is carried to a high mountain, so his eyes can be filled with all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. They are all in the hands of Satan, the usurper. Jesus can have it all, as long as he worships Satan. For the third time the answer comes from the Word of God: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve."<br />
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All of Jesus’ answers come from the Word of God. Where do your answers come from?<br />
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In the next 3 minutes you will learn why the faith of a Christian is <i>not </i>in a religion.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-15156290637036822172011-08-12T10:52:00.001-03:002011-08-27T06:58:40.807-03:00#004 In Good Company<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/3">Matthew 3:13-17</a><br />
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Jesus walks sixty miles from Galilee to Jordan, just to be baptized by John the Baptist. He must think baptism is something pretty important!<br />
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But John has a problem to solve. Till now he has been telling people to repent of their sins and be baptized. Now what to do with Jesus? How can John, a sinner, baptize the sinless Son of God? What can Jesus possibly repent of?<br />
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Nothing. Jesus had nothing to repent of, but he wants to go in side by side with those who had much to repent of. Have you ever had a major situation in your life when someone decided to go along with you, to stay on your side? Then you know what I am talking about.<br />
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Jesus is willing to go along with the sinner into something that is a symbol of death. Three years later, he faces alone the deep sea of God´s judgment with its waves of terror, dying on a cross. But he does not stay in the grave. God raises him, so you do not have to be judged... if you trust.<br />
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When Jesus clues John in to the fact that in doing so he is fulfilling all righteousness, John agrees to baptize him.<br />
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This is where we have one of the most sublime scenes of the entire Bible. Emerging from the water, the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove. Then the Father's voice echoes in the skies:<br />
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"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."<br />
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Here is where the skeptics engage in lengthy discussions to try to deny the one God in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They argue that the Trinity makes no sense. Of course it does not make sense! If the essence of God - the very nature of the infinite God - made sense to the finite human mind, he would not be God!<br />
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The voice is God's, the Father; the dove is an assumed form of God, the Holy Spirit; and God, the Son, is the one being baptized. Do you understand now why in the book of Genesis you find God saying "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness"? That's why.<br />
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But the most important issue here is this: Can God say that he is pleased in me or in you? He is well pleased in his Son, Jesus, the only perfect Man who walked this world. What about in you and me?<br />
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Well, we must be “in Jesus” if we are to please God. There are places where you can not enter if you are not in the company of the right person. Heaven is like that.<br />
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In the next 3 minutes you will learn where to find the right answers.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-18111193765120994182011-08-08T10:10:00.000-03:002011-08-08T10:10:31.417-03:00#003 The King's Forerunner<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/3">Matthew 3:1-12</a><br />
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Would you bother to go into a desert to hear a man dressed in a camel-hair cloak? And if you knew that he ate locusts and honey, would you be interested in visiting him?<br />
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John the Baptist is neither attractive nor diplomatic, but he is exactly whom God chooses to announce the arrival of a kingdom that is not from earth but from heaven, as well as his king, Jesus.<br />
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Not fairy-tale soldiers in uniforms blowing golden trumpets, but a crazy-looking John is God's candidate to announce an unpopular message:<br />
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"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"<br />
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Whoever listens to John and repents gets baptized in the Jordan River. Whoever doesn't listen ....<br />
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Well, some people are there just out of curiosity and end up hearing something they didn't want to hear. John calls those distinguished citizens of the Jewish society a "race of vipers." They are the Pharisees and Sadducees.<br />
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The Pharisees profess great devotion to the law of Moses and are self-righteous. Of course there are those who are sincere, who struggle to live a righteous life, but sincerity does not save anyone from their sins. If you know someone who thinks his righteous life will save him, then you know how a Pharisee thinks.<br />
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Other targets for John's rebukes are the Sadducees, who don't believe in resurrection, in the existence of angels, in the immortality of the soul, or eternal punishment. Who are they today? The rationalists, skeptics, those who put their trust only in science, logic and reason.<br />
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Pharisees and Sadducees believe that because they are descendants of Abraham they have an advantage over other people. But for God, responsibility and repentance are individual matters.<br />
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John warns that the proof of a genuine conversion is in the fruit -- whoever really believes in the Word of God is born again and this becomes evident in that person’s life. John warns that those who do not produce fruit will be cut off, as is done to dead branches of a tree, and cast into the fire. John doesn't mince words.<br />
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While baptizing the repentant ones in the Jordan, John warns that the Jesus he announces will baptize some of them with the Holy Spirit, but others with fire. The first he will bring into God's garner like precious wheat; the others he will burn as worthless straw.<br />
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Who are you? The religious Pharisee or the skeptical Sadducee? I hope you are the repentant sinner. If you are, in the next 3 minutes you will find company. Good company.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-20362352504950370572011-07-30T05:58:00.001-03:002011-07-31T16:53:59.622-03:00#002 From bad to worse<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/2">Matthew 2:1-22</a><br />
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When Jesus was born, some wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem asking for the King of Israel that was born. After hearing this, King Herod and the inhabitants of Jerusalem were worried. You would too, if you were in risk of having to pass the government to another.<br />
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What about the government of your life, would you let Jesus do it? Or do you try hard to prevent it? Herod decided he wanted to eliminate Jesus.<br />
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Those wise men arrived in Bethlehem with gifts for the baby: gold, frankincense and myrrh, a bitter herb taken from a tree full of thorns. Despite his golden perfection and divine fragrance, Jesus was destined to endure a shameful death. Nailed to a tree like a common criminal.<br />
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After they found Jesus, the wise men went back home by another way. No one goes back in the same way after a meeting like this. And no one has a meeting like this unless he listen to the voice of Him who said: "I am the way."<br />
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After learning that Herod intended to kill the boy, Joseph fled to Egypt taking Jesus and Mary, and only returned after the death of Herod. In the meanwhile they went to live in Nazareth.<br />
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This is why Jesus became known as Jesus of Nazareth, in a time when people used to say that from Nazareth never came anything of value.<br />
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Can you understand that? God comes into the world in a corral, spends His first night in a trough for feeding cattle, lives as a refugee in exile and ends up living in a village of people considered as fifth category.<br />
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You know what? Only One who went through it all can understand someone who is going through all this. Sadness, contempt, persecution - you know these things, don't you? You can be sure that Jesus did not come here on vacation. It started badly for Him, and ended worse.<br />
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Now try to guess the reason why he did all that and for whom. You know the answer.<br />
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In the next 3 minutes you will meet a man who eats locusts and honey, and dresses in a very strange way.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8153269731583924923.post-90485884504240610632011-07-28T17:49:00.002-03:002011-07-31T16:53:38.680-03:00#001 It can only be true<a href="http://www.bibliaonline.com.br/kjv/mt/1">Matthew 1:1-25</a><br />
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What Jew in good conscience would include two prostitutes in the genealogy of Jesus? Matthew does that in the first chapter of his gospel. Rahab was a prostitute and Tamar acted as one to conceive from her father-in-law.<br />
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And there’s Jeconiah, the king cursed by the prophet Jeremiah. There’s Ruth, a Moabitess, people that were enemies of Israel. And there’s King Solomon, who had a thousand women, most from hostile nations, and steeped in those nations’ idolatry. Solomon was the son of Bathsheba, the woman with whom David committed adultery and whose husband he sent to die. Interestingly, her name is not in the genealogy, but her betrayed husband’s is!<br />
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And if you scrutinize the lives of everyone on this list of Jesus' ancestors, you will notice that they were not perfect. Or you may realize that God wanted to send us a message: He wanted to show us that those were exactly the kind of sinners Jesus came to save.<br />
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The key to understanding this is what the angel said to Joseph in a dream, after he discovered that his fiancée, Mary, was pregnant and the child was not his. The angel said: "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Matt. 1:21<br />
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That Being the virgin carried in her womb had been engendered by the Holy Spirit and would be called "God with us." God was about to experience what it was to be born, live, and die like a man. God was about to experience firsthand what you and I feel. Want more empathy than that?<br />
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Oh, I almost forgot: Matthew, the author of this gospel, was not a Jew of whom his countrymen could be proud. He collected taxes for Caesar, the Roman invader, and many saw tax collectors as traitors. Imagine a Jew collecting taxes for Hitler during the Second World War and you'll understand what I mean.<br />
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Do you want to know what I think? This story about Jesus that is told in the Gospels is so incredible that it has to be true. I believe it and I believe in Him, in Jesus the Savior. I must believe, because I am a sinner as much as Matthew and all those other folks. What about you?<br />
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If you are wise enough to answer that question in the affirmative, I invite you to meet some other wise men... in the next 3 minutes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com