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Post by cspain03 on Apr 2, 2014 11:52:14 GMT
First let me say that I was truly blessed by the ladies prayer call last night, thank y'all for setting aside that time and thank you Rickey for you AWESOME prayer!
Ok, so from today's reading this spoke to me:
V.10 Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
We must ALWAYS be vigilant in what we are doing. We say we are God's children and we want to reap the blessings that come with that but we can't go around acting any old kind of way - we are called to produce GOOD fruit, not sometimes but ALL the time. We can't wait until The Lord cracks the sky again to act right, we can't just act right on Sundays or at Bible study and choir rehearsal - we must produce good fruit at all times because we will be cut down if we don't. It's not about waiting until judgement day or til we get older or til we get through the rough patch than I'll get my life together - no produce good fruit NOW ! The word doesn't say we need to produce a lot of fruit or a variety but we are to produce GOOD fruit
We have to show God's love and be forgiving and be patient. We need to encourage each other and prayer for and with one another. The Bible tells us how to produce good fruit and what good fruit looks like - we gotta read the Word for those instructions and keep them in our hearts so as not to forget when we face temptation to produce bad fruit.
This journey is a process, a growth process but we should have our hearts and minds set on producing good fruit throughout the process - dont settle, keep pushing, keep growing !
Love y'all
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Post by natalie on Apr 2, 2014 14:08:34 GMT
Good morning brothers and sisters:
I will admit that I read this chapter several times to try and truly grasp what it was saying to me. Out of the versions that I read, I landed on the New King James Version as being the easiest to understand for this specific chapter.
Verse 2 - John the Baptist is spreading the word that people need to "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand".
This verse speaks volumes.
First off, it tells us to repent. Repentance is a requirement, not an option. Repent being to ask for forgiveness and TURN AWAY from our sin. Does that mean we will never sin again? Of course not, but it is our duty to do everything that we can to walk righteously before the Lord. If we only relied on ourselves to walk upright we would surely fail. That's why the word tells us that Paul had to crucify his flesh daily. We have to learn to walk in the spirit of God. When I read this verse, I thought about how this is for US, for NOW. We need to be spreading this same word to the people of our generation today. So many times we can get away from the fullness of the gospel and stick to "feel good messages". That is not our calling. God didn't die on the cross so that we could live in sin, but so we could be set free from sin.
Verses -7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Again, John the Baptist is pointing out that there is indeed a wrath to come and thankfully the Pharisees and Sadducees in this text had a warning. We as the body have to be that warning. I don't mean to bashing people over the head with fire and brimstone, but there is a God who is coming for his people and if we are not ready we will be left behind. John the Baptist instructs them to "bear fruits worthy of forgiveness". Verse 9 - is telling us that grand mammy and pop pop ain't gettin us to heaven. People who grew up in church can relate to this. It doesn't matter how spiritual your parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles are that is not your key to the pearly gate.
Verses -13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
Verses 13-5 - give the account of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. Danielle I instanlty thought of you when I read this. When you shared how God has was leading you to pray for a mentor and you felt unworthy. I couldn't imagine just how unworthy John the Baptist must have felt. We are worthy because God makes us worthy. None of us are anything without Christ. We are merely a vessell and we have to be willing to say "yes Lord, choose me." I can completely relate to feeling that way myself and have been more than guilty of ignoring the leading of the holy spirit due to fear. Thanks be to God that his word tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7 - that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and a sound mind.
All of you are such a blessing to my life!
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Post by rickeyd on Apr 2, 2014 14:28:34 GMT
Hey guys! This morning I read the message bible version of Matthew 3 and the part in bold is what stood out to me...
7-10 When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.
This reminds me of my dad and how he use to always tell me that he couldn't get me into heaven. He was simply implying that it was crucial for me to have my own relationship with God. I could not depend on his relationship with God to be enough for me to make it to heaven just because of my relation to him. This is exactly what John was telling the Pharisees and Sadducees. It is about more than just being connected to someone who is or was connected to God (i.e. Abraham). Your own life has to change! This is why being baptised signifies more than just going under the water. It's about your life being changed and you coming out of sin and beginning to walk in the things of God. Being baptised is the outward symbol of our committment to walk with God but the true change really happens with the heart and the mind. Our love for God and our understanding of his word are what really facilitate true change in our lives.
Love Ya'll
Rickey Danielle
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donp
New Member
Posts: 44 
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Post by donp on Apr 2, 2014 14:40:31 GMT
WOW everyone is making awesome points … and they're all bringing out different elements in the reading!
One of the things that really stood out to me in Matthew 3 was verses 13-16. So we have this scenario where it's Jesus that is coming to be baptized. Even John is like, "i'm the one that needs to be baptized!" I can only imagine what he was thinking … Doesn't this seem a little backwards? You are the Savior, God's son and you are coming to me to be baptized!?
This is the most paramount instance where Jesus led by example! He showed us that baptism is important to fulfill the righteousness of God. He simply told John - don't worry … this needs to happen because it's part of His plan. Isn't that awesome?
As we relate it back to ourselves as his children/followers … not only did He lead by example and show us the way but He tells us that He is the way .. He confirms that this is part of God's ultimate plan for YOU - to be redeemed and baptized with of Christ! John even aforementioned this in verse 11. It is once you've been baptized that you gain the Holy Spirit! This is wonderful, because just as someone mentioned before, - except with the aid and guidance of the Holy Spirit … we would often fall short in our efforts to produce GOOD fruit!
It all ties together so nicely, Jesus set the example for us to follow and then on top of that gave us a resource (the Holy Spirit) to help us strive for His likeness .. what an awesome Lord we serve ..
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Post by natalie on Apr 2, 2014 15:09:32 GMT
Don - I love the point you brought out about Jesus leading by example. Jesus didn't just talk the talk, he walked the walk. We as christ followers should do the same!
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Post by Quia on Apr 2, 2014 17:02:55 GMT
Hey guys,
Hope you are having a great day! And yep, I agree with you Court we were truly blessed by the prayer last night shoutout to my shawty Rickey Danielle! :)So speaking of Rickey, I found the same verses to be so powerful. Like Rickey I went to the message bible to get a more clarified interpretation and I LOVE it!
The Message
7-10 "When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire."
11-12 “I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”
NIV
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 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 Spirit and 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.”
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
These versions emphasize a couple of different things: APPEARANCE---the pharisees are referred to as snakes...and no matter what they DO outwardly, their inward appearance is what matters...God looks at your heart, not your actions...he checks your MOTIVATIONS. A lot of times, we think that we are fooling other people and have everything under control, but its all about the fruit we are producing like Court said. If our heart isn't right...our fruit isn't good.
DECENCY AND ORDER-We know that our God is a God of order and correction. These verses show us there is proper protocol and process for everything that we do. Even though Jesus is sovereign, he still had to do things that we would assume are 'beneath' Him. Like Donovan said, it is necessary for us to lead by example and to follow the ultimate example. So for every situation that we face, whether its at work, our relationships, at church there are rules that we must finally.
KINGDOM LIVING-If we want to be representatives of the kingdom, we need to CRUCIFY ourselves DAILY. To crucify means to kill...kill our flesh, our worldly desires, our anger, all of the things that we do that are not of God must be evaluated and cast far from us. It is a conscious effort to rid ourselves of these things that hinder us of our growth and our witness.
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Post by R .Parker on Apr 2, 2014 20:57:17 GMT
I must say so myself...everyone is making valuable points...Amen!!!This chapter,an couple if things stood out to me.John said The ax is now ready to cut the roots of the trees. Any tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire (3:10) and I baptize you with water so that you will change the way you think and act.But the one who comes after me is more powerful than I.I am not not worthy to remove his sandals.He will baptize you with the Holy spirit and fire(3:11)
Correct me if am wrong...those who do not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into fire...We must repent from our failures,and baptize with Holy Spirit,and those who have produce good fruit are saved.
God Bless Y'all!!!
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