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Hope you are doing well. I continue battling the enemy of busyness. God is moving in some incredible ways in our church, in my office, in our NASCAR small group, and in our group of Tae Kwon Doe friends. It's so easy to keep doing things and letting go of time with God and with His Word. Please keep praying that I would have the strength and discipline to keep Him my first priority.
Love in Jesus,
- dr joe
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Luke 20:20-26 NIV
Luke
20:20-26 NIV Keeping a close watch on
him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in
something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority
of the governor.
The Jewish Religious leaders were threatened by the teachings of
Jesus - the Pharisees because they were strict adherents to the Law and Jesus
was saying that wasn't enough to be saved, and the Saduccees (the priests and
others) because his teachings threatened their power and ability to enjoy the
privileges of culture the Romans brought with their occupation. Both groups of Jews wanted Jesus gone. If they could convince the Roman governor
that the Jesus movement was a threat to Roman rule, he would be put to
death. The Roman governor at the time
was Pontius Pilate. So they tried to
trick Jesus into saying something against Rome that would be considered
treason.
(21) So the spies questioned him: "Teacher,
we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show
partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. (You can almost
hear the sarcasm.) (22) Is it
right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" (23)
He saw through their duplicity and said to them, (24)
"Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on
it?" (25) "Caesar's,"
they replied. He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and
to God what is God's." (26) They
were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by
his answer, they became silent.
What a great message for tax season! I love the cleverness of Jesus. The Jews hated paying taxes to Rome and felt
they should only pay tribute to God, though for the Jewish religious leaders
that meant paying them. So if Jesus said
that paying taxes to Caesar was cool, His Jewish followers would be
furious. If He said the Jews should not
pay taxes, He was speaking against Rome.
But you can't trip up our God.
Much of the message of Jesus was the idea that His Kingdom was not an
earthly but a spiritual Kingdom. The
Kingdom of God consists of the connected lives of all those who follow Jesus
the King of Kings. He rules with love,
mercy, grace, justice, and forgiveness.
It is a Kingdom unrestricted by geography, ethnicity, culture, time, or
any human law or government. So Jesus
was saying basically that paying taxes was really irrelevant to His teaching
about the true Kingdom. If you live
where it's the law to pay taxes, then pay them, then get on with serving God
and your neighbor. That service is the
true work of God's Kingdom. |
Questions?
Please e-mail me with any questions about today's scripture message or anything related to the Bible or Christianity.
I might not know the answer but I'll try real hard to find it. | |
 Announcements
Lighthouse Wesleyan Church will have
Sunday services at the Springwater
American Legion at 10 am until further
notice.
I'd love to see you there!
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Prayer Requests
Please pray that Eileen's niece, Cheryl, is healed of her Breast Cancer and that the Lord gives her peace and eases her suffering. Please pray for Phyllis Greene who has surgery on her neck on April 20th. Pray for her family to have peace about the surgery. Please pray for Pastor Rob and Cheryl and all of us at Lighthouse Wesleyan Church as we seek God's wisdom in how best to serve Jesus.
Pray for Bill and Kay. Bill is having radiation and chemo for lung cancer. Please pray for healing and peace for him and his wife.
Please pray that a special friend and patient who has terrible Panic Attacks would know the peace of Jesus in a powerful way.
Please pray for fast recovery for my brother - in - law, Elias, who had valve replacement surgery.
"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:6 NIV) Please e-mail your prayer requests to me and I will post them here. |
Praises and Answers
I praise God for the accountability group of Vaughn, Doug, and myself that He arranged for us. Men need vital relationships with other Christian men. This is so cool when it happens.
James 4:10 NIV Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. |
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