Getting to the heart of the Matter.

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What is in your heart?  I mean, what's really in there, deep down inside of your heart?
I'd like to call your attention to two verses that talk about this important matter.
First is Proverbs 27:19
     "As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man."
and the second is Luke 6:45
     "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."


 The qualities and attributes that the Proverb writer and Jesus are teaching about are necessarily products of a good or evil heart.  Often the mouth is the primary vehicle for the evidence of either.  Many times we are judged by others, not by what we believe or what we think, but by what we say and do.  Our hearts are reflected in what we do, how we spend our time, how we talk and relate to others, what we say, what we condone and what we condemn.
My question to you is-What how is your heart being reflected?

Let me know,

Patrick

Signs

Luke 11:29 "And as the crowds were increasing, He began to say,, "This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah."" (NASB)

Signs, signs, we all want signs!  Something to prove to us that Jesus is real, that God exists, that we are, in fact, saved.

Jesus dealt with this subject quite bluntly here.  The problem he was facing was not that people didn't have enough information about Him, but that they had evil hearts and refused to believe and were blaming it on a lack of "signs." (Remember Jesus was actually there in person, what more would you need?)  Jonah on the other hand was preaching God's message back in Old Testament times to a nation (Nineveh) that was full of wickedness, yet they heard his message and believed it and repented! (No signs except his message.) 
We have God's word with us today, we have His message to us.  Why do we sometimes have such a hard time believing it?!?  Jesus wants us to be like the people of Nineveh.  He wants us to simply hear His words (the Bible) and believe...

Thoughts???

Let me know,

Patrick Antonucci

Jesus contradicts Himself???

I would like to consider two seemingly contradictory statements by Jesus found in the book of Luke
~Luke 9:50 "...for he who is not against you is for you." (Context Luke 9:46-50)
~Luke 11:23 "He who is not with Me is against Me..." (Context Luke 11:14-23)

     It seems as though we have a contradiction here!  However, we can't just cut out little snippets of scripture, compare them and draw a conclusion.  We must consider the context!
     In the first passage the disciples were complaining to Jesus because they saw a man casting out demons in the name of Christ who was not a part of their group.  They wanted to stop him, but Christ says no.  This man is obviously a believer (he's casting out in the name of Jesus).  Jesus is not stating a general truism here.  Remember He's talking to a specific group of people (his disciples) and trying to get His point across.  His point is that we must guard against pride in our group and position (as the disciples were guilty of here).  We should not stand in the way of those who are doing kingdom work.  I would like to note, though, that this is not an invitation to accept denominationalism and divisions.  We must be unified in Christ.
     In the second passage we have Jesus himself casting out demons, yet people are refusing to believe in Him (many were actually attributing His power to Satan).  Jesus is making the point that people have to make a choice...  Are you going to follow Christ or not?  If you choose to follow Christ then you're "with Him," but if you choose not to follow Christ then, by process of elimination, you're "against Him."  There is no middle, luke-warm ground. 
     So while on the surface we seem to have two passages that contradict one another, they are actually  consistent with Jesus' teachings, upon further investigation, .
     My question to you is, where do you fall in relation tothese passages?
    ~Do you find yourself being prideful in your group or associations?
    ~Do you find yourself being prideful in your position or responsibilities?
    ~Do you find yourself looking down on others who have a "lower" rank?
    ~Who are you going to choose?

Thoughts????

Patrick Antonucci

The Good Part

Luke 10:41-42 "But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." (NASB) To keep this short, I only quoted Jesus' point, to read the entire passage, click on this Luke 10:38-42.

The good part which Jesus is referring to here is devotion to Jesus and His teaching.
     How often in life do we let our worries in life distract us from Christ?
     How often in life do we let our concerns in life distract us from Christ?  
     How often do we get caught up in preparations, but never actually get to the doing of the thing we're preparing for?
     What are we doing that is keeping us fron the good part?
     What are we worrying about that is stealing our devotion to Christ?
     What is it in your life that is choking out your devotion to Christ?
     What little thing can you surrender to God today that will release some of the worries and concern and help you get the good part?

May you have a blessed day!

Thought???

Patrick Antonucci

The Disciples Prayer

The prayer found in Luke chapter 11:1-4 is most commonly refered to as the "model prayer" (a more common place to read of this prayer is in the Gospel of Matthew), but I would like you to think of it as the "Disciples Prayer" for the next few minutes.
Heres the text:
1It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples."
2And He said to them, "When you pray, say:
'Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
3'Give us each day our daily bread.
4'And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.'"

Notice that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. I don't want to get into whether or not to memorize this prayer or if just saying these exact words is some kind of magic formula (but recall that Jesus likely spoke in Aramaic and the original gospel was probably written in Greek).  I want, instead, to point out a few things that will hopefully prove helpful in your prayer life
1) "When you pray"  Implies that you ARE praying
2) Addressed to the Father and immediately gives Him praise and prays for Gods will to be accomplished
3) Petitions God for necessities (God has promised to give us good things, just maybe not what we always expect)
4) Prays for forgiveness, and admits that they too need to forgive others
5) Prays for protection against sin, not that God would lead us to sin, but that given the sinful world we live in that we may resist with His help
 
Hope you had your prayer time today!!!
God bless you...
 
Thoughts???
 
Patrick Antonucci