If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right had causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. Matthew 5:29-30

Do a thought experiment with me for a moment. How much would you sell your right eye for? $1000, $10,000, A million dollars? What about your right hand? If I gave you $10 million for your right hand, right now, would you take it?

Jesus teaches here is that your soul is of more value than any of your members. What do you gain if you have the whole world and lose your own soul? And on paper we all nod our head and agree. But do our actions show this belief. Sin leads to death. Do you believe this? Or do you believe you can continue in your sin, at least one more time, and it will be ok. You’ll be able to repent before you die. 

If your hand causes you to sin, it is better that you cut it off right now, than continue in sin.  

But what is the cause of your sin? James teaches that each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death. James 1:14-15

It is your sinful heart. 

And if it would be better to lose a hand then continue to sin, then how much more would it be better to get rid of that thing in your life that you love, that tempts your heart away from Christ. What holds your heart? Is it your pride? Is it some level of control? Is it a pleasure? Your hand is a very good thing, but it would be better to be without hands and headed for glory. Your job, coffee, wine, football, a soft bed, hot showers, TV, movies, your computer, your phone, that app on your phone, going to the park, eating out, running for mayor. All good things, but if they cause you to sin, cut them off today. 

But even so we can never cut deep enough, for it is our heart itself that needs to be cut out. And there is only One who can take away a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Zach Browning – January 21, 2024

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The typical modern individual is haunted by two conflicting notions: there’s something deeply wrong with me, and it must be the fault of everyone and everything other than me. This being the case, we have ordained a priesthood of therapists who offer us soothing words of insanity: speak your truth, triggered by your trauma, validate your feelings, be true to yourself, follow your heart.

The hope is that by vocalizing our feelings of hurt and trauma to a therapist, and hearing them validate our feelings, we might enjoy robust life, soundness of mind, and tranquility of emotions. But the Word of God comes to us as rock, as foundation, as immovable glory. It doesn’t budge, no matter how frenzied our feelings might be. Our therapeutic age denies the sufficiency of Scripture. It insists on viewing self in a psychologized light, instead of letting the light of God’s Word reveal the truth about the inner man. 

The therapized soul will soon be deluded with a notion that self is sovereign. But here is where the Gospel’s call resounds. When we submit to God’s Word we learn two things about ourselves. First, we aren’t God for He made us and not we ourselves. Second, we aren’t holy, for we are sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. 

You are not the sum of your traumas, feelings, and perceptions of reality. You are who God says you are. This means you are either a rebel against God & reality, or you are owned as a beloved child of a loving Father, who through Christ has adopted you into the warmth of His Heavenly Household. This therapeutic age has left mankind swimming in the instability of his own feelings. What godly counselors do is point the way to the immovable foundation of truth in God’s Word.

Our culture has been coddled into thinking that our feelings need perpetual validation, whereas the Word reveals to us that our feelings are tainted by sin, immature, and in need of the discipline of repentance. We need to go to God for forgiveness for being swept up in the cultural immorality of exalting our feelings above God’s Word. May God grant us humility to bend before the mandates of Scripture, and receive it all by faith, that we might be restored and renewed by the living and abiding Word. May God root up any notions that we’ve adopted from the worldliness around us, that we may think God’s thoughts after Him. God’s Word is sufficient for every trial and temptation you might face. In confessing your sins, you are confessing the supremacy of Christ and His Word, and putting the word of man in its proper place.

Ben Zornes – January 21, 2024

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After David killed Goliath on behalf of the Israelites he rightfully began to gain notoriety and respect in the eyes of Israel. This was good because as we know, and as David knew, he was anointed to be king over Israel one day. 

But King Saul didn’t take kindly to this development. He first shows this by chucking a javelin at David. Not once but twice. David somehow escapes and then Saul decides to put him in harms way by putting him in the battlefield, hoping he would get killed. Finally, he sends David on what he thought was a suicide mission to go and kill 100 Phillistines in order to marry one of his daughters. All of this was happening to the one who was anointed to be king over Israel.

Now as David is being hunted, envied and preyed upon it would’ve been tempting for him to doubt the promise of God. David could’ve easily given into thoughts like “How can God’s promise that I’ll be king come true when Saul is trying to kill me?! You know maybe God didn’t mean it, maybe I misunderstood, or maybe God failed..” But David does none of that, instead he clings to the Lord and stays faithful.

And it’s only after all these things happen that we can see how all of Saul’s attacks backfired. Every single plot he threw at David only resulted in David gaining more respect and favor from the Lord. It ended with the Israelites singing that “Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands,”

See this is how God works. What we might see as failures and dead-end problems are really being used by God to accomplish what He wants to do. We may not see how or why but we know, by faith, that that’s the case. The trials and tribulations that plague us in no way invalidate what God has said He will do. That includes; political corruption, slanderous hit-pieces, trouble at work or with your business, & and struggling with infertility. God wants to bring reform. reconciliation, and fruitfulness. So take heart and refuse to sulk. For our God is a loving Father and He rewards faithfulness.

Jeremiah Jasso – January 21, 2024

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“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

We often think of meekness as synonymous with mousy or shy. Sometimes we even associate the word with passivity or effeminacy. And in the face of such thinking, the common phrase “Meekness is not weakness” is certainly true. Scripture names men such as Moses, David, and the LORD Jesus as examples of meekness. Moses, who boldly stood before Pharaoh. David, who tore lions apart with his bare hands and slaughtered giants. And Jesus, who whipped money-changers out of the temple. Surely, such men were anything but mousy or effeminate. 

Meekness is better understood as being temperate or self-controlled. Meekness towards men, Thomas Watson says, “is a grace whereby we are enabled by the Spirit of God to moderate our angry passions.” Meekness toward God is marked by a cheerful submission to His word and a willingness to forgo one’s own will or desires for the sake of His glory. 

Meekness is strength surrendered to God’s will. It is self-control fueled by submission to God’s control over all things. It is the resolve, the conviction to direct and order your passions toward a God-glorifying end rather than a self-gratifying one. It is a non-anxious state of being that takes to heart in every circumstance the truth that God is the final judge of all and vengeance belongs to him alone. And because of this, meekness knows the wisdom of taming the tongue, of tempering rage, of letting go of bitterness and resentment, of withholding immediate gratification for the sake of far greater pleasures. 

And thus we can begin to see why the promised inheritance offered to the meek would be so enticing. As comfort appeals to the mourners and a kingdom appeals to the poor, what might the meek find attractive about inheriting the earth? As the meek continue to put off the immediate gratification of seeking revenge, of withholding from themselves the twisted pleasures of rage and wrath, as they tame their tongues and choose not to speak the spiteful word at the wrong time, what greater promise, what greater hope, could they have than that God would avenge them, that he would put their accusers to flight, and cause them to possess the land of their enemies? Surely, meekness is a great blessing, for by it we come to inherit the earth.

Zach Wilke – January 21, 2024

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