Faith vs. Sight

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” — Psalm 119:105

Tag: faith

  • Jesus Tested in the Wilderness

    It was The Spirit that led Jesus directly to this test in the wilderness. It was not random chance. The Spirit led him to these tests and trials.

    Matthew 4:1-11

    4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

    4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”

    5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

    “‘He will command his angels concerning you,
        and they will lift you up in their hands,
        so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”

    7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”

    8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

    10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”

    11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

    Jesus knew exactly how to answer the temptations with the Word of God. The same word that is available to us. God never fails and he never will. We are with him and he is with us.

    Amen

    DK

  • John the Baptist Prepares the Way

    What a great image this passage gives us of a man who knew exactly what his calling was. No pride or ego. Just a man on a mission, and he spoke strongly of what is coming.


    Matthew 3:1-12

    3 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

    “A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
    ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
        make straight paths for him.’”[a]

    4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

    7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

    11 “I baptize you with[b]water for repentance.But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spiritand fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

    John the Baptist was cousin to Jesus. He knew he was coming and what that would mean for us. His message, packaged in garments that were not royal. As a matter of fact, the detail that he ate “locusts and honey” is something very revealing of his humility. He openly professed of the coming of Jesus and knew his job was to prepare the way. God was lining things up for his sone Jesus to come with the gift of the Holy Spirit and salvation for us all.

    Amen

    DK

  • Joseph Accepts Jesus As His Son

    Matthew 1:18-25

    Empathy is certainly a super power. Imagine yourself in Joseph’s position when he found out about his bride to be is with child. The confusion. The hurt he must’ve felt. Anger I imagine would have entered in as well.

    18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorceher quietly.

    20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c]because he will save his people from their sins.”

    22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d](which means “God with us”).

    24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

    Jesus is on Earth now. He is in Mary’s womb. Joseph is understandably confused and does what 100% of men would do. Save her and himself from public ridicule.
    But God sends an angel in a dream and Joseph is now aware of just what is happening. The Messiah is now his son. What an amazing blessing.

    Thank you God for being so loving and understanding of what we need. You have never failed and you never will.

    Shalom

    DK

  • The Genealogy of Jesus The Messiah

    Matthew 1:1-17

    As I begin the study of the Book of Matthew, I am reminded of the first time I read it. Chapter 1:1-17 was one that made me wonder why the lineage. I encourage you to read and to pray for understanding.

    1 This is the genealogy[a] of Jesus the Messiah[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:

    2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,

    Isaac the father of Jacob,

    Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

    3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

    Perez the father of Hezron,

    Hezron the father of Ram,

    4 Ram the father of Amminadab,

    Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

    Nahshon the father of Salmon,

    5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

    Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

    Obed the father of Jesse,

    6 and Jesse the father of King David.

    David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

    7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

    Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

    Abijah the father of Asa,

    8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

    Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

    Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

    9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,

    Jotham the father of Ahaz,

    Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

    10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

    Manasseh the father of Amon,

    Amon the father of Josiah,

    11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

    12 After the exile to Babylon:

    Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

    Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

    13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

    Abihud the father of Eliakim,

    Eliakim the father of Azor,

    14 Azor the father of Zadok,

    Zadok the father of Akim,

    Akim the father of Elihud,

    15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,

    Eleazar the father of Matthan,

    Matthan the father of Jacob,

    16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

    17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

    The Jews were very rule driven and lineage would help many to truly recognize by sight and recorded knowledge who Jesus was as a man. This will happen many times as Jesus fulfills prophecy throughout the upcoming studies.

    I hope you are blessed today. I pray that you are seeing God’s blessings, both big and small, daily. Have a Blessed day!

    Shalom

    DK