Photo by JESHOOTS.com from PexelsOur digestive system begins with the mouth, where we chew food, processing it with saliva. Then it enters the esophagus in portions – a hollow tubular organ that connects to the upper part of the stomach. The walls of the esophagus are muscular, this is necessary so that food is rhythmically pushed down, from…
Heartburn after eating — For Health
This is our twenty-first study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.
Matthew 27:62-64
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
Observations
The Pharisees called Jesus “that deceiver”. They regarded Him as an evil deceiver—like the antichrist will be. They had it all backwards. They were calling what is good evil and what is evil good. And they asked Pilot to place guards around the tomb. I wonder if they really thought that He would not be raised and that Jesus’ followers would steal him away. Or if they were trying to prevent Jesus from escaping in case He was resurrected. Either way, they were trying to protect themselves, to keep their right standing intact. They didn’t want to be thought of as liars or false teachers.
Application
Beware of false teachers like the Pharisees. They will be whatever it takes to keep their reputation intact.
Our desire for God is the fruit of a renewed heart; it is a dynamic of the Spirit. I like what Tozer has said:
You and I are in little (our sins excepted) what God is in large. Being made in His image we have within us the capacity to know Him. In our sins we lack only the power. The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition.
Let me bring it to you in this way: we being in Christ, desire of God what Jesus desires of Him—His love, His fellowship, and His righteousness, etc.
With this desire, if indeed it is desire from God, we must pursue Him. That is, we must take our desire and put it into action. As Tozer has indicated in…
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I’ll start telling you about my writing. My life these days is mostly about my writing. It seems like as soon as I finish one book, I am raring to go start another one. I’m writing now a book about the Tribulation. I’m liking it so far. It is blessing me to see how everything is fitting together. And it is true that those who read and study the book of Revelation will be blessed! I think that when I get about half way through I will start blogging the book—a little at a time, to let everyone see it. I’m getting to the point in my writing that not much editing, or rewriting is needed. So, I just keep moving on. I like it better that way. No need to keep trying to perfect it.
I’ve changed churches. It’s a bigger church and it is much more according to the way I believe. But I haven’t gotten too plugged in yet. I need to do that. I may want to get into a small group if I can find one. Fellowship is so important, but for some reason I find it hard connecting with people. I’m sort of an introvert. But when I make friends, I like being with them. I find that I am energized by good friends.
Well, I should go. I’m getting new tires for my truck today! And an oil change. The Lord is good.
It turns out that I’ll be waiting two hours for my truck tires. So, I’ll write a little more as I wait. It’s so beautiful to see the leaves changing color. I think God has designed it that way—that we will have some variety in what we see and experience from season to season. This time of year is especially nice in Minnesota. It will stay in the 50’s for a while—jacket weather. I actually like it better than warm weather. It’s more refreshing.
I’m running out of books to read. I usually have a few on my shelf waiting for me—so this is uncommon. I’m thinking that I will concentrate on more bible reading while I wait for Bill O’Reilly’s next book to come out. And that—bible reading—I’m sure is a good thing and will bring new blessings and rewards.
This is our twentieth study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.
Matthew 23:29-31
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
Observations
By decorating the graves of the prophets, that indicates to me that they were trying to put on a show of self-righteousness, and even trying to cover up their own sins. And when they said, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets,’ they were not being honest. John MacArthur has stated, “[This was] a ridiculous claim to self-righteousness when they were already plotting the murder of the Messiah (cf. Jn. 11:47-53).”
Application
It is better to face up to the sins of your descendance and not try to say that you would have lived better. I think we should instead be like Daniel who confessed before God the sins of his people (Dan 9:5-6)—even though he himself was innocent.
According to Tozer, “… Before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man.” God’s work of enlightenment within us, therefore, is the secret cause of all our desiring and seeking and praying. Tozer says, “We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit.”2
From the beginning of time God has been seeking men and women who have a heart like His so that they would desire Him and do his will (1 Sam. 13:14, Acts 13:22, Isa. 65:2). There is, however, only one way that anyone can truly desire Him with a pure heart: it is by accepting God’s Son and resting in Him, thus by allowing Him to transform them and renew their heart and mind (Romans 12:2).
Now the way it works, the way God makes us desire Him is through…
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This is our nineteenth study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.
Matthew 23:27-28
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Observations
The explanation of Jesus is quite clear. The Pharisees worked to make themselves look good and righteous, but inside their heart they were spiritually dead, and therefore all their attempts to make themselves look righteous were wicked and hypocritical. They were phonies, people in masks. People who could not be trusted, unreliable.
Application
We ought always to watch out for these types of people. We should do what we can to test them. And if we are thinking about going to a church, always ask questions about the pastor and teachers. As for professors of a college, it may be harder to get around those who you think are as Pharisees, but in most cases you can do what they say, but you don’t have to do what they do.
No wind on this day, making it perfect for reflections.
Stephen Nielsen 