Resolution

I began to write this post hoping to write about resolutions, but I didn't find anything scriptural that fit with what I was thinking. God had a different idea for me to write about. Resolutions are ways we decide we are going to change for the better. We want to get slimmed down by summer, sculpt ripped abs, grow intellectually by reading the latest best sellers, secure our finances by feeding our piggy banks, or run that little extra to train for the marathon we have always said we would run. The list of things we could come up with for New Year's resolutions would be never ending. No matter what we decide to resolve for ourselves it involves change, a change which will hopefully make us a better person. I searched the word resolution on a online Bible website I use (Biblegateway.com). I didn't find anything, but I tried the word "change" and came across a verse that was better than I was hoping to find. It's a verse where Jesus tells us we need to change ourselves to get to heaven.

Matthew 18:3

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus tells us to be like little children, but why? Why would Jesus want mature adults to be like little children? Kids are as Jesus calls us to be. They are trusting, loving, and obeying. It seems so simple to be as little kids, but our adult pride, hate, and thinking we don't really need to obey God lead us from the kingdom of heaven. This upcoming new year make a change to think about how a child would react in the situations you face daily. Would your reaction be child-like enough to get you to heaven? What is there to gain by acting against what God wants to give us? We all want each new year to bring change for ourselves to be better and Jesus wants us to do the same!

Immanuel, God with Us!

Christmas time is here. Trees, presents, ugly sweaters, ornaments, Santa Claus, Reeses' Peanut Butter Trees, and ginormous yard displays are some of the great things about Christmas. By the first or second week in January though all of this will have passed. The tree and lawn displays will be put back in boxes, ornaments gently rewrapped for next year, the Reeses' trees eaten, and hopefully the sweaters destroyed by giant moths. All of these come and go each year, some are traditions in our families, some are passing fads, but there is one part that is always with us; Jesus.

Matthew 1:23 tells us they called Jesus Immanuel, which means God with us. We celebrate Christmas and Jesus' birthday for the month of December, but Jesus as the name they called him is always with us. Everyday in every way he is with us. He is God with us during the happy moments, the sad tragedies, the times when we are confused and aren't sure what to do. He is there for us! I would like to say as we celebrate Christmas and head towards New Years this upcoming week that we can all remember Jesus is with us. He is with us at home, at work, while we skate, update our status on Facebook, watch a movie, chow on enchiladas, sleep. You name it, he's there!

How Do You Read This Thing: A Reading Plan

It dawned on me the other day that I had been writing "How do you read this thing" posts for the blog and I haven't shared a good way to read Bible.

You would think start with page 1, and you can, but it may not give you the best perspective of why I and so many other people love Jesus. You would have to read through all of the Old Testament to finally get where Jesus comes in the flesh. He is in the Old Testament, but not as God who came to Earth as a man to die for our sinful scumbag selves. You will find Jesus as man in the New Testament starting with the book of Matthew. We are gonna start in John, which gives us a shorter, yet detailed importance of why Jesus died for us.

Ok, so flip around the book till you find the Book of John. If you find Mark or Luke keep flipping towards the back a little bit. If you find Acts or Romans flip towards the front a little bit, and voila; the Book of John. John is the book you want to start in. It gives a really great story of Jesus without having to know a lot of the back story or Jewish history. It gives you a clear idea of how much Jesus loves us!

Take a few weeks reading through John, then Matthew, then Mark and Luke. You will now have read the four gospels. Continue on with the book of Acts, and then return to the front of the book and start with the first page. Read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers. You will now have a full picture of who God is and what he did for us through the death of His son Jesus! OK so it breaks down in this order: John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers. Read it, study it, enjoy it. If you do not have a Bible and want one please contact me by sending me a message on Facebook or email. Zigger78@gmail.com

Quick Craft Project! Go get one of your favorite magazines and find a picture you like that can be trimmed done to size. Take a roll of clear packing tape and tape both sides of the picture and cut off the excess. You now have a bookmark to help you find the Book of John.

How do you read this thing? Take a seat.

John 6:10-11

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

These two verses are from when Jesus feeds the 5,000. I randomly picked these verses out from John 6. They give us a lot of information, but as I have said before, you have to catch the details. In verse 10, do you wonder why would Jesus tell the people to sit down? It was a way of telling them they were going to be there for a little while and to rest. Remember: Jesus, the disciples, and the crowd had been walking for a while. It was a nice spot with lots of cushiony grass to sit on and there were a lot of people there.

Verse 10 continues on to say "about 5,000 men." In the culture of the time women and children were not considered worthy enough to be counted or considered. They had no privilege. 5,000 men plus numerous woman and children and the crowd could have counted to nearly 10,000 people.

Verse 11 tells how Jesus started the meal with a simple prayer of thanks for the food. It doesn't say he prayed for every concern of the day; he simply thanked God for the food. I know I am guilty of dragging out a prayer at meal time and praying for things that should be lifted up later in personal prayer time or when my family prays together. God knows the food is warm and if you keep rambling on it won't be for much longer. So give a short and to-the-point thanks for the food you have been blessed with.

Verse 11 also mentions "as much as they wanted"!?! There were only a few small pickled fish and some bagel sized loaves of bread, and Jesus lets them chow down all they want. Not as much as they needed, but as much as they wanted! If you finish reading in the scriptures there are a whole lotta leftovers too.

These two verses show you Jesus wants to give you your fill, he wants you to be satisfied with all there is to give you!

Off with His Head Pt. 6

Matthew 14:1-14

14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. 6 But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, 7 so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

This part is gonna get scandalous! There will be people who read this who are not going to like it or agree with it, and that's fine! This is where we get into the section of scripture of why this series is called Off with His Head!

We start off with Herod hearing about the fame of Jesus, but Herod couldn't believe there was another guy running doing the things John the Baptist was doing and drawing even bigger crowds. Jesus was doing more than John had done and went to even more places then John did. Everybody was hearing about Jesus, even the jealous ruler Herod. If you look at the beginning of the 14th verse, it says "at that time" which means a bit of time has passed and now we are going to continue here. You read that a lot in the four gospels. It is a fast way of telling you some time has passed. Oh,real quick, a tetrarch means there were four rulers of a Roman province, so that means there was Herod and three other guys ruling in Judea.

In verse 2 Herod thinks Jesus is the raised John the Baptist from the dead. To be honest, I can't explain why Herod thinks this, but it is an interesting thought. Did Romans believe in being raised from the dead? Had the stories of Jesus raising people from the dead gotten to Herod and he thought Jesus was John the Baptist since he was doing all the miracles? Up until John the Baptist there hadn't been a prophet in Judea in over 400 years. The people were just as astounded as Herod had been about John the Baptist and the signs and teachings he brought the people.

John the Baptist was outspoken as all prophets were, and John's outspokenness got him into a lot of trouble and put into jail. John told Herod it was wrong that he took his brother's wife, which is pretty gross. (I'll let you think about that for a second.) So Herod gets a year older and has a total raging kegger and had his niece dance for him. (Note: There is no actual clarification of whether the girl was his niece or his daughter. Since it lists the girl as Herodias' daughter, then it is presumed she was Herod's niece from when Herodias as married to Philip.) It was not uncommon for young girls to dance for the entertainment of royalty. It would be of Roman tradition she danced either naked or at least topless for Herod. Her seductive dancing pleased Herod greatly, giving her a nod by him for whatever she wanted. This was most likely a preset ploy by her mother to kill John at the girl's asking for his head on a platter. If John was out of the way, they could revel in whatever they chose and had no one publicly making an opposition about it. I would think Herodias did not appreciate her name being publicly shamed by John, since she had been passed between brothers in marriage and not that Philip had died first.

Herod made his oath to the stripper who had pleased him greatly. There would have been other girls dancing, but she danced her way into Herod's favor and he made a oath to her before his party-goers. An oath in those times was a sincere binding agreement. If someone made an oath it was set as a decree to that person. A good firm handshake went a long way back then! Herod had set himself into a dilemma at the request of having John's head on a platter. What would be the reaction of the people at the killing of the first prophet in over 400 years? Herod couldn't disappoint his guests by denying the reward the girl requested and he was bound by an oath. Herod made the command to have the deed done and John's head on a silver platter was brought to court for the viewing of the girl and his guests. The girl took the head to her mother. Imagine having someone hand you a platter with a man's head on it. Blood pooled on the platter, the hair tussled from where the wielder of the blade held John down to decapitate him, the whites of the eyes showing cold as a Roman statue, the sweat almost dried on the brow. It would have been a sight and a grand entrance would have been made at the completion of Herod's request for the girl. John lost his head at the request of a stripper and her husband-swapping mother.

Then John's disciples came to get the body and buried it. They also had to tell Jesus his cousin was killed by Herod. I have always wondered at what the reaction Jesus would have had at the news about John. We know that he wept at the time he heard Lazarus was dead, now his cousin who he had probably grown up with had been executed. Nonetheless, Jesus had to still go on with his ministry and message of repent and salvation.

Off with His Head Pt. 5

John 1: 29-36

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

Luke 7:18-23

18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

John 1:29-36 is John the Baptist's summary of Jesus and how he knows he is the Son of God. If you read the beginning of John Chapter 1 you read that the Word was God and the Word was with God in the beginning. It is proving the point when John says "After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me." Jesus was way before John was even a thought to his parents. John the Baptist says he didn't know it would be Jesus. Here is something that blows my mind. They were cousins, they probably hung out at the same spots and maybe had an Algebra class together. John didn't know he was going to be the Chosen One. Jesus is our Neo from the Matrix. Nobody knew it was gonna be Jesus.

John goes on to say "Look I have seen this with my own eyes, it's him, he is really the Messiah you guys are looking for." In verse 35 John calls Jesus the Lamb of God. The Jewish people know what a lamb is: it's a sacrificial animal before it is anything else. It is like me saying Vans. You think skate shoes, not a soccer mom's vehicle of choice. For the Jews it was like that. Sure a lamb would be great as a veal cutlet, but their first thought was a perfect animal given to a priest for the redemption from sin. Shortly after this time John would be imprisoned by Herod Antipas.

Read the verse from Luke again really quick. Okay, this is where we find out that John was a good guy and stuck to his guns about bringing Jesus onto the scene as the Lamb of God, the Savior, the Messiah, but he is still a questioning lowlife who isn't sure if Jesus is the real deal. John looks like those who thought the Messiah was going to be a political force and bring about the Kingdom of Heaven by wondering the same about Jesus. John wondered if Jesus was going to destroy those who opposed God and bring heaven on Earth. John sends some of his disciples to Jesus to question him. "Are you the dude we need to be following or is there another guy we should look for?" Jesus replies "Tell him this, yeah it's me. I'm the right guy. Look at all the stuff I'm doing for those who need it, for those who believe, for those are not offended by what I am doing." John doubted if what he had done was the right thing. He sat in a prison not knowing of his fate. Was Jesus going to help him out, what would happen to him sitting there in the dank prison cell he was in?

Off with His Head Pt 4.

Luke 3:15-22

15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

This is actually a continuation of Pt. 3, maybe we can call this Part 3, Part 2? Confusing? Yeah, maybe not. Anyway, it is following up with the verses of where we left off with Pt. 3 which was Luke 3:7-14. Getting into these verses it jumps around a slight bit since verse 19 and 20 seem to come out of left field.

The people were wondering if the crowds were following John because of the spiritual strength John possessed, if he was the Messiah, the one to save them. Messiah in the New Testament means Great Deliver when translated from the Greek. The Jews believed the Messiah would be a political force as well as a spiritual leader and would lead the people to salvation. John had these qualities, so it would make sense that he would be the Messiah. John answers them humbly, saying he only baptizes with water and is unworthy of untying the sandals of the one to come. John had spoken about not being able to untie the Messiah's sandals before. John wanted them to make sure they understood he was just the one to usher the Messiah into his ministry. John talks to the people and lifts them up and to be aware of what will happen soon and proclaimed the good news to them. He tells them the gospel of the one to come.It's like hearing a lot about a person through what you think is valid information and come to find out its nothing like you had heard. John created this huge stir among the Jews, which they thought was gonna change a lot of things for there future. Which in fact it did, but just not the way they were expecting.

Verse 19 and 20 seem a bit out of order, but they give us vital information to why John was thought to be the Messiah. John had enough cahones to tell Herod how messed up it was to marry his brother's wife, but more so the evil things he had done. I am not sure through my research what the evil things he did were, but I can tell you he built his capital city of Tiberias on part of a graveyard. This may have been an intentional move since more pious Jews would not go to a place they would ritually be considered impure. Herod would have gotten word that John may be the Messiah of the Jews and had John locked up out of fear just as much as for defamation. It was wrong of what Herod did with divorcing his wife and marrying his brother's wife and John wanted it to be known among the people that it was.

Jesus was baptized by John with everyone else. Jesus did as everyone else did. He was a God-made man and lived as we do. It is interesting to note whether Jesus was being baptized, and in the water, at the time the Holy Spirit came up to him or whether it was later as he was praying. Matthew's account was after he was out of the water. In either instance, how wild would it be to have a heaven open up and the Holy Spirit coming down on Jesus as he was praying, then a voice speaking to him. It would be a great witness to the thousands of people who were there to get baptized. It would be a moment that would fortify everything John had said in an instant. Those who were there would not be able to deny what they saw and heard. John the Baptist testifies to Jesus being the Chosen One (John 1:34). John also calls Jesus the Lamb of God (John 1:36). Jesus is very close to starting his ministry, since John has set up everything he needed to do.