Applying the Bible

著者： Krystal Craven Christian Music
無料で聴く

  • サマリー

  • A weekly devotional designed to help you grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, through practical application of spiritual truths from God's word.
    © 2020-2024 Krystal Craven
    続きを読む 一部表示
activate_samplebutton_t1
エピソード
  • They Understood None of These Things

    They Understood None of These Things
    2024/10/24
    And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. (Luke 18:31-34) Jesus prophetically spoke of the future He would face in fulfilling His mission as He brought up what the prophets had wrote about Him hundreds of years prior. There are over 300 prophesies about Messiah in Scripture, and 33 prophesies were fulfilled on the day of Jesus’ death alone. Of the few prophesies He mentioned to His disciples in these verses, these were prophesied by king David and Isaiah: I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6)He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:3-5)Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. (Psalm 16:10)But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. (Psalm 49:15) Yet we read that when the disciples heard Jesus, they didn’t understand any of it. My initial thought is, “How unfortunate that they didn’t understand what Jesus was telling them”, but it’s really not unfortunate, because it was divine. It was hidden from them, and they were kept from grasping any of it for a purpose. What Jesus told them wasn’t for them in that specific moment, it was meant to be recalled later and recorded for future followers of Jesus, like you and me. Now, I don’t know about you, but I am a naturally curious person, and I like to understand the why in things: Why is the sky blue? Why does hair grow at different rates? Why did my [friend/coworker/family member] react to a situation a certain way? Why did God allow bad things to happen to me? Why hasn’t God healed my health issues? The list of why questions could go on and on, and while some why questions can be answered or found out, some are hidden from our understanding. But does the why actually matter? Do we have to understand everything? Well, no. Because if we’re walking by faith, pressing on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, and simply doing what we’re called to as a servant and follower of Jesus, then the why doesn’t actually matter. What matters is that God knows all the answers to those questions, and because if we love God and are called according to His purpose, He is working all things for our spiritual good; even to the point of using evil for good. If our sights get stuck on the why, then we miss the best part of the circumstance – that we’re not alone, forsaken, nor abandoned because God is with us, continuing to author each one of our stories in which He will one day bring to completion. We may not always understand what God is saying to us at every moment He speaks or what He allows to happen in our life, but if we continue to press into Him, if those things do come into clarity the Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance the things He has said to us, just as Jesus promised when He said, “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:25-27) I encourage you to set your sights above life’s circumstances and firmly fixed on Jesus, not getting hung up if you don’t initially understand what God is speaking or what is happening in your life but continuing to follow Him as you trust His plan for your life. Life is definitely hard; but God is good, and so are His plans for you, so let not your heart be troubled!
    続きを読む 一部表示
    15 分
  • What Must I Do To Inherit ...

    What Must I Do To Inherit ...
    2024/10/17
    And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Luke 18:18-30) First off, we have to take note of something really awesome…Jesus accepted the title of Good Teacher. We know from what Paul wrote to the Romans that no one is righteous nor does good, and Jesus clearly stated that, No one is good except God alone. Jesus didn’t rebuke Him though, just clarified the truth about who He is. While also fully human, Jesus is God. The Commandments Jesus listed 5 of the 10 commandments. But what do we notice about which commandments He listed? The ones He listed are commandments that people tend to feel justified in themselves based on outward observation of them – not murdering, committing adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, and honoring parents. But as we know from Jesus’ teaching on the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, simply lusting after someone in your heart is committing adultery and being angry with someone is likened to murder. This ruler claimed to have kept all those 5 commandments Jesus had listed from his youth which showed that he had already skipped right over the heart check. The Lack A couple short sentences later, Jesus made the heart issue glaringly obvious to the ruler: “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” The young man had come to the conclusion that he had somehow arrived and was like the male version of Mary Poppins – practically perfect in every way – but Jesus wasn’t concerned with how the man acted outwardly since youth, He was concerned with this man’s heart and what he was lacking. Telling the man to sell everything and give it to the poor wasn’t Jesus being an activist or hating on rich people; it was pointing out commandments that the man hadn’t been following because he had made his riches and material things his god and they were idols to him. The whole law was summed up in two commandments to love God and love others. To obey Jesus’ command would have been a hurdle that once the man was over, he could have moved past worshipping material things and onto truly worshipping God as he went and followed Jesus, leaving everything else behind and counting it all as loss in pursuit of God. Our Heart Check We don’t know what ever happened to this man because the last thing we read about him is that he went away sad because he was very rich. All we know was that in that moment of time, he heard from Jesus directly and because his wealth had such a stronghold on him, he grieved over that being the path to inherit eternal life instead of being grieved with the godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Let me ask you this: Does money or riches have a hold in your life? Does the thought of giving up anything in your life make you sad? This is a good heart check moment, and these are really good questions to regularly check in on and take some time to self-reflect on where our hearts are currently. If we’re not willing to give up quite literally anything and everything in following God, then we have a heart issue to deal with. I’ll leave you with the words of Jesus here because it’s encouraging to both one who is doing well on this heart issue as well as to the one who is struggling with it. If you’re doing well in this area – be encouraged by the Lord’s pleasure and promise. If you’re struggling in this area – be encouraged and stirred to a change of heart with the promise the Lord has given to those who are willing to give up everything for His sake: And [Jesus] said to them “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    8 分
  • Receive the Kingdom of God Like a Child

    Receive the Kingdom of God Like a Child
    2024/10/10

    Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:15-17)

    The first thing we see in this section is that people were bringing their infants to Jesus. This was a tradition of the time, in which people would bring their babies to be blessed by an esteemed Rabbi. Jesus wasn’t claiming the title of Rabbi and certainly wasn’t following the manner of many Rabbi of that day, yet His authority in teaching and love for the people caused them to highly esteem Him. It is amazing that people were bringing their children to Jesus at such a young age, and what a beautiful example to parents to also bring their children to Jesus starting at a young age.

    Two Rebukes

    There are two rebukes here, but only one we should heed.

    The first rebuke was done by the disciples directed at the parents bringing their children to Jesus. The disciples seemed to get too focused on the overall work of ministry that they were blinded to the specific purpose of it – the people. They ended up rebuking the very people whom Jesus wanted to minister to.

    How often we might get so busy with aspects in ministry that WE deem the most important that we miss ministering to the people whom JESUS wants to reach; and even possibly miss out on blessings God desires to bestow.

    The second rebuke was done by Jesus directed at the disciples. Notice though that Jesus didn’t start yelling a rebuke at them; He called them to Himself and gently rebuked them and taught them. What a beautiful learning moment there. Right in the midst of the crowd of people bringing their children, Jesus sees the disciples doing the wrong thing and He ushers them over to correct them in the moment. But here’s the thing…what if the disciples wouldn’t have been listening for Jesus’ voice? They would have missed that rebuke and continued doing the wrong thing. We must be listening throughout our day for the voice of God guiding and directing us or we very well might negatively impact the lives of other people and misrepresent the heart of God.

    Do Not Hinder Them

    Jesus made it very clear that he wanted the children to come to Him and didn’t want anyone hindering them. This rings true of all His children, big and small.

    We should never be hindering anyone from coming to Jesus in any way. Yes, there may be instances such as church events in which we have made a plan of how things will run, but if those plans ever hinder people from coming to Jesus, they’re not only ineffective plans but they’re actively going against what Jesus has said here. Not only should we never block anyone from Jesus, but we should also actively be helping provide a way.

    Like A Child

    Jesus ended with saying, Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. This is a very important truth here!

    When we think about children, they are so quick to receive from Jesus and they don’t try to bolster themselves as worthy of it (like we saw of the Pharisee in the parable from last week) and kids don’t try to act like they don’t need God’s blessing. Children simply come to Him and receive what He gives, and that is the example Jesus is telling us to follow.

    I like the way C. Marvin Pate put it when he said, “Not only did Jesus welcome these little human beings as members of the kingdom of God; He also extolled them as model citizens of the same, because of their capacity to trust and love.”

    As we seek to enable a way for others to come to Jesus, let’s also be mindful of our own approach to ensure we’re receiving the kingdom of God like a child ourselves.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    7 分

あらすじ・解説

A weekly devotional designed to help you grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, through practical application of spiritual truths from God's word.
© 2020-2024 Krystal Craven
スピリチュアリティ 聖職・福音主義
続きを読む 一部表示

Applying the Bibleに寄せられたリスナーの声

カスタマーレビュー：以下のタブを選択することで、他のサイトのレビューをご覧になれます。

Audible.co.jp

Amazon.co.jp
レビューはまだありません。