Matthew Chapter 10

WOMEN"S BIBLE STUDY CHAPTER 10
As we sat together on Thursday night, we discussed what we would use to remember this chapter. I admit, I was a little stumped. We decided to use 10 SENDS OUT THE 12. 
In this Chapter Jesus gives His disciples authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and the ability to cleanse and heal all manner of illness and sickness . He tells them to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons. He says " freely you received, freely give" 10:8. He told them not to gather money for their journey. Not to take a backpack or even a change of clothes. He tells them to go only to the cities of the children of Israel. No gentile cities, no Samaritan cities. He says to shake off the dust from their feet of any cities that do not receive them. Then He says that It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for those cities that do not receive them. The story of what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah is in Genesis 19:1-29. Read those verses if you are not familiar with that passage.

He goes on in verses 16-42 to say some of the most important verses of our faith while speaking also of things that were to happen to the disciples in the future.
If I had been one of them, I would have been afraid. They were told of persecution and rejection and even told that they were not to fear death. (10:28). Some day we may be called to face death rather than denounce our savior. Many people around the world are. But, I think that most of us face fear of rejection, fear of embarrassment, fear of our lives changing if we share Christ as we should. A lot of times we are "paralyzed by fear" but not in the way we see it portrayed in the scary movies. I mean that our Christian lives become stagnant, shallow, cut off from a fresh water source like a stagnant pond. Jesus in our lives is meant to flow from us like "rivers of living water" (John 7:28)  

Martin Luther Said:
Let goods and kindred go
This mortal life also
The body they may kill
God's truth abideth still
His kingdom is forever

 They were also told that they were worth much more to God than any of the little sparrows that crowd in my barn for warmth in the winter. I'm not sure that that would have been a comfort to me in their situation. He also told them that the hairs on their heads were all numbered (10:30) Not counted, numbered. There is a hair #240, on your head. I find this idea positively amazing.                                                                              

I don't want to go on and on but there are a few more things I want to mention. This was a group of 12 men listening to Him. I'm sure some had probably zoned out by now and missed some of what He was saying. They were people just like us remember . This group included Judas, who betrayed Jesus. I have wondered about the miracles they performed and if any were performed by Judas. But I digress. The  verse I actually want to point out is 10:38. We are so familiar with this verse that we don't give it a second thought. But, think about this verse from the perspective of the 12 men that were standing there listening to Jesus tell them how to get ready for their journey. He says " And he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me". This verse means a lot to us, but it didn't mean anything to them. Jesus had not taken up any cross at that point. I am sure that they did not know what He meant by those words. I consider it a miracle that Matthew remembered Him saying those words and wrote it down for us. By the time Matthew recorded those words , it meant a lot to the disciples too. 

One  last thing about this chapter, I believe that verse 10:39 is a promise. Nothing better than losing your life,as you know it, and being right where God wants you. The day we got the call from the state of Vermont asking us to become parents for our daughter Hannah, was the day that this verse became real to me. As I spoke on the phone with the placement coordinator for Child protective services I could hear the Lord saying to me "lose your life","lose your life" over and over again . Well we lost our lives as we knew it that day. The next day we were the scared parents of a very sick infant. Our lives have never been the same. We have seen and continue to see miracles on behalf of this little "fatherless child". The Lord has taken very tender care of her and we have been privileged to watch Him work.

So, for this chapter we will remember 10 SENDS OUT THE 12. If you want to, you can also remember that if you DOUBLE THE 12 , YOU GET 24. In chapter 24, Jesus is again speaking to the disciples and He says many things that are similar to some of the things He says in this chapter. But you don't have to remember that because we will eventually get to chapter 24.

Chapter 9 we are remembering VERSE 9:9  JESUS CALLS MATTHEW, DOUBLE THE 9 AND YOU GET18, in verse 9:18 we start the story of Jesus healing the woman with the issue of blood and Jesus bringing the little girl back to life.

Chapter 8 verse 8:8 I AM NOT WORTHY FOR YOU TO COME UNDER MY ROOF, BUT JUST SAY THE WORD AND MY SERVANT WILL BE HEALED. Story of the faithful centurion, also remember, LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR OWN DEAD AND PIGS OVER A CLIFF.

Chapter 7, JUDGING , plank in the eye and Prophet, fruit inspection.

Chapter 6, PRAYER, Lord's prayer is here and Worry,Jesus says not to worry.

Chapter 5, BLESS YOUR HEART, The beatitudes are here and the "adultery in your heart" verse is here.

Chapter 4, THINK FAST, Jesus fasts for 40 days and 40 nights, He appoints 4 APOSTLES, Peter Andrew, James and John.

Chapter 3, H2O, John the Baptist baptizes Jesus and we see the TRINITY as Jesus comes from the water.

Chapter 2, JESUS TURNS 2, THE WISE MEN COME AND HEROD SLAUGHTERS THE 2 YEAR OLDS.
Chapter 1, first 17 verses are genealogy and TURN THE 18 ON IT'S SIDE AND IT LOOKS LIKE A SWADDLED BABY. It's the Christmas story.

So, keep reading! Move on to Chapter 11. Remember to read it as many times as you can and practice the memory tools we are using. Pray for remembrance, and start sharing what you remember with your family. Your kids are bound to be impressed. !!!God bless you.
Love
nancy   

Matthew Chapter 9

We are going to use  9:9 as the first thing to remind of what is in this chapter. In that verse, Jesus calls Matthew the tax collector ( and author of this book) to follow Him. After this, Jesus heads off to dinner with Matthew and his friends, who were very unacceptable people to the Pharisees.
 In the first 17 verses of this chapter, Jesus is making a very important statement to all of the people he came in contact with. He was teaching them that He had come to bring something different to their relationship with God. It was not going to be the same old burden filled religion that they had lived under for so long. We also see that he reacted differently to each group of people depending on who they were and what they needed. Matthew had rejected his Jewish background so he was probably surprised and pleased to have Jesus ask him to be a follower. The fact that Jesus wanted to have dinner with him and  his "sinner" friends was down right shocking. Especially to the Pharisees who were just waiting for Jesus to mess up and break the rules about who a pious Jew could eat with.
Both the Pharisees and John the baptist followers had questions for Him about His behavior. The Pharisees wanted to know why He was eating with those people, and John's followers wanted to know why He was eating at all. 
He told the Pharisees that he was there for the sinners, the needy, the sick. He wasn't there for the holy people who had it altogether and didn't need Him.
He told John's followers,(who by the way included Peter and Andrew according to John chapter 1) that right now, He was what was important. He was going to be His disciples main focus until He was gone.
Then He goes on to tell both groups that what He was doing was not going to be able to be put into the old Jewish religion. Just like grape juice before it ferments, the new relationship with God was going to need new boundaries, new room to expand, new ideas, new thinking. 

From verse 18-26, he goes on to prove what He was saying in an amazing way. A ruler of the Jews comes and bows down before Jesus because his little daughter had died and He wanted Jesus to come and touch her so that she would live. He was asking something of Jesus that he knew none of the leaders, or priests from the temple would do. Touch a dead person. ( Num.19:11-22)     That job would have been reserved for a close family relative or a paid undertaker. Any person who touched a dead body would be unclean for a week and was required to go through a process of ceremonial cleansing.
The second astonishing thing was that a woman with an issue of blood came right up and touched Jesus, which also made Him unclean according to the law. (Lev. 15:19-33). 
I think that it is very significant that Jesus touched or was touched by both of these people after using the analogy of unshrunk cloth and new wine. There had to be people in the crowd who considered Jesus unclean after the woman with an issue of blood for 12 years, had touched Him. And yet we don't have any mention that Jesus was now considered unclean and that He would have been considered  to be unclean for a week.
In normal circumstances, the ruler from the temple would have never invited an unclean Jesus to touch his little daughter, but he was desperate. The concerns of the world always pass away from us when we are desperate. Jesus could have raised the little girl without touching her but He had to touch her. He had to show them that their rules and traditions did not pertain to Him. He was the fulfillment of all of their rules and traditions. He was the healer and the cleanser. 
He goes on from there to touch,  and heal, 2 blind men.  The blind men did not care at all that Jesus had just touched a woman with an issue of blood and a dead person. All concerns paled in the light of them receiving their sight.

I believe that a lot of people received their "sight" that day. 

Jesus was so different from anything they had ever seen or heard of. He was compassionate, wise and unaffected by the heavy rules and burdens that the religious leaders had heaped on the people. (Luke 11:46). 
The Talmud contains a lot of these rules and regulations and is fascinating reading. You really get a sense of the impossible life these people were living in the days that Jesus walked the earth. 

she is a carousel fanatic!

The end of this chapter is hard for me to read. The demon possessed man who could not speak is referred to as the "dumb" man. Anytime this term is used it is hard for me. My precious daughter Hannah did not learn to speak until she was seven. She still struggles and her speech is hard to understand. We are always praying for a complete healing for our beautiful daughter. God is good.


Ok, so we are now a third of the way through the book of Matthew.
Once again, here is the list we are using to remember what is in our chapters.


Chapter 9  We are using verse 9:9 JESUS CALLS MATTHEW THE TAX GATHERER. Double the 9 and you get verse 18 this is where the story begins about the woman with the issue of blood and the mans little daughter being raised from the dead.

Chapter 8. We use 8:8 LORD I AM NOT WORTHY FOR YOU TO COME UNDER MY ROOF BUT JUST SAY THE WORD AND MY SERVANT WILL BE HEALED. It is the story of the centurion with the great faith . We are also remembering, LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR OWN DEAD AND PIGS OVER A CLIFF. Chapter 8 is the hardest one to remember but with practice we can do it.

Chapter 7 is JUDGING, plank in the eye and PROPHET, fruit inspection.

Chapter 6 is PRAYER , Lord's prayer is here and WORRY, Jesus talks about worry.

Chapter 5 is BLESS your HEART,  the beatitudes are here (sermon on the mount) and Jesus talks about committing adultery in your heart.

Chapter 4 is THINK FAST, Jesus fasts for forty day and forty nights. He also calls 4 APOSTLES, Peter and Andrew, James and John .

Chapter 3 is H2O, (the chemical symbol for water) John the baptist baptizes Jesus, and we see the TRINITY (3) as Jesus comes out of the water.

Chapter 2 is JESUS TURNS 2, WISE MEN COME, HEROD SLAUGHTERS THE 2 YEAR OLDS

Chapter 1 is the first 17 verses are genealogy and then is you turn  the 18 on it's side it looks like a SWADDLED BABY. It's the Christmas story.

Time to move to Chapter 10! Remember to read it as many times as you can. Practice these remembering hints as you fall asleep at night. Practice them as you sit at stop lights if the noise from the back seat is not deafening. Pray that the Almighty, Glorious Lord, will give you remembrance and diligence .

God Bless you sisters!
Love
Nancy 

Matthew Chapter 8

This is another amazing chapter in the Book of Matthew. The chapter starts with a recounting of a leper being healed. In verse 8: 4 Jesus tells the leper not to tell anyone about his healing, but to go show himself to the priest and to take the offering that Moses commanded for a testimony to them.

So, picture this. This man  had been pronounced unclean through a series of examinations done by the very priests he was now going to  visit. Using Lev. 13 as a guide, it could have taken them anywhere from 1 day to 3 weeks to decide if he had leprosy before he was put out of the temple and society as he knew it. He was now going back to those priests with 2 male lambs, a 1 year old ewe, a bushel of fine flour and about a pint of oil. On his first visit to the priests, they would have been required to ... well, in the interest of not making this to wordy... go to Lev. 14 and read what the priests now had to do for him according to the Law written by Moses. This was going to be a long drawn out process for the priests. They were going to have to confront the fact that Jesus had healed this man of leprosy, over and over again. It was going to require a lot of work on their part. It is possible, that Nicodemus (from John 3 and 7), came to faith because of this man showing up in the temple. And, from this man's point of view, he was just 1 short week away from being back in the house with his family. (how amazing for him)

In the next  8 verses we get the story of the centurion coming to ask Jesus to heal his servant.  In verse 8:8, he says "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof but just say the word and my servant will be healed" In verse  8:10, it says Jesus marvels at the statements of this Roman soldier and tells the crowd that He has not encountered such great faith in all Israel. Just a few verses later He calls His disciples, "men of little faith".
I have looked at this verse many times. This is the kind of faith I pray the Lord will give me. We will use this verse as one of the ways to remember this chapter. Verse 8:8 is; Lord I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. This will help us to remember that the story of the centurion, is here.
In verse 8 ;14 we see that Jesus heals Peter's mother in law. Before I saw this verse, I heard pastors say that Peter was married. I used to think, how do they know that? Well here is how they know it. If you can remember  where this verse is, you too can sound very impressive.
The next thing I want to point out is verse  8:22. In verse 21 a disciple asks if he can wait to follow Jesus until after he had buried his father.
What makes this interesting is that his father wasn't dead yet. He was asking if he could wait until his dad was dead and gone to follow Jesus. Jesus says to him, "follow me and let the dead bury their own dead". I want to remember this statement by Jesus in this chapter because I want us to remember how Jesus thinks of the unsaved.  He considers them dead. Our unsaved loved ones are dead. We need to see the urgency of bringing them to life in Christ. "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead".

Hannah and her precious little friends at the school talent show

After this, we have the account of Jesus calming the sea for the very afraid disciples. Am I wrong, or does just about everyone in the U.S. know this story? I'm including unbelievers in that question. The assumption that everyone knows this story, has made me think that we should know where it is. So it will also be included in our "remembering" of this chapter .

Lastly, in this chapter, we have the story of Jesus healing the demoniacs and sending the herd of swine  into the sea that He had just calmed. This was the region of the Gadarenes. The 7th son of Jacob was Gad. We read about the Gadites getting this land in the book of Numbers. These people should not have been anywhere near swine. I am sure that is why the whole town came out to ask Jesus to leave their region in verse 34.

So in Chapter 8 we will remember verse 8:8 LORD I AM NOT WORTHY TO HAVE YOU COME UNDER MY ROOF BUT JUST SAY THE WORD AND MY SERVANT WILL BE HEALED
 Peter was married.
FOLLOW ME AND LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR OWN DEAD.
CALMS SEA AND PIGS OVER A CLIFF 
I know that this is a lot for one chapter, but I'm sure we can do it.

Chapter 7 is JUDGING and PROPHET , both 7 letter words
Chapter 6 is PRAYER and WORRY, The Lords prayer is here and Jesus talks about worrying.
Chapter 5 is BLESS your HEART,  The beatitudes are here and this is where Jesus talks about adultery (and other sins) being a condition of the heart.
Chapter 4 is THINK FAST, Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 night, he appointed 4 disciples, Peter , Andrew, James and John
Chapter 3 is H2O, John the baptist, baptizes Jesus and we see the TRINITY  as Jesus come out of the H2O (water)
Chapter 2 is, JESUS TURNS 2, THE WISE MEN COME AND HEROD SLAUGHTERS THE 2 YEAR OLDS
Chapter 1 is, the first 17 verses are genealogy then TURN THE 18 ON IT'S SIDE AND IT LOOKS LIKE A SWADDLED BABY, IT'S THE CHRISTMAS STORY.

Ok, ladies, if you have been practicing,  you already know what is in the first 8 chapters of the Book of Matthew. Keep reading and keep practicing. We are fast approaching Chapter 9. At that point we will be almost a 1/3 of the way through this book. There are only 28 chapters in the book of Matthew. I'm very excited about this. I encourage you to make a list of the things and topics that you can now easily find in the bible when having discussions with other people.
SHORT LIST:
The Christmas Story
The beatitudes (sermon on the mount)
Jesus fasting and the devils temptations
Where you can find the Trinity portrayed in scripture
The plank in the eye verse
and there are more, make your own list. You will be surprised at what you can remember. Start showing your husbands and your kids.  
CAN YOU TELL HOW EXCITED I AM ABOUT THIS?*******
GOD WILL USE IT IN YOUR LIFE TO GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE IN HIS WORD, and  keep you meditating on Him. 
It's all good girls. Keep reading and keep practicing. Start reading Chapter 9 if you haven't already!
God is good.
Love
Nancy  

Matthew Chapter 7

In this chapter Jesus talks about judging our brother and discerning a false prophet. I think, over time these two ideas have some how gotten mixed up so that we are  judging our brothers fruit by looking at his life and not really holding our teachers and persons claiming to be speaking from God, accountable for their fruit.
He starts Chapter 7 forcefully saying "do not judge lest you be judged" He actually says there is a consequence for judging your brother. We will be judged by the same measure that we use to judge. Matt.7:2 (yikes)
I know that in my life,  I was guilty of judging fellow believers without even realizing what I was doing. I literally thought that my first two children were quiet , compliant and obedient because I was such a good mother. If there was a mom whose child was "out of control", busy, or naughty in the grocery store, I thought she was not a competent parent. I judged her and pitied her all at the same time. Of course, I never said anything to her unless she asked but in my heart, I was the worst of "judging offenders".
I never knew what Jesus meant by the log, plank or 4x4 post in your own eye, until recently.   If we look at Chapters 5 and 6, we see that Jesus spent these two chapters talking almost exclusively about how much more important it is to consider our hearts motives and our thoughts than what is going on on the outside of us. He likens whatever is going on in someone elses life, that we might judge them for, to a speck compared with the large, impaling object in our own lives. What is important is our heart, our motives, and our deepest thoughts . If we judge, we judge wrongly. Only Jesus knows what is really going on in a person's life. I'm not talking about blatant sin. I'm talking about an out of control kid, a dirty house, a weight problem or maybe, always having a financial crisis going on. These are the kinds of things that we judge other people for. Jesus says don't do it. The Lord used  our third child, Aaron, to show me my heart.
Aaron  was absolutely amazing. He did everything that I would have judged another mother for and then some. He was 9 months old when he reached over the side of a cart at the grocery store and pulled a dozen eggs out of the case and on to the floor. He was big and strong from the moment he was born and never stopped to take a breath. I had a friend who had a daycare, who one day said to me that she loved me and considered me her best friend but that she would never babysit Aaron so not to ask. As his uniqueness became apparent to our church family and circle of friends , we were consistently uninvited to small indoor gatherings and get togethers. He was totally and completely uncivilized until he got to be around 8 years old. It was a very necessary, humbling experience for me. Same mom, same family, different child. I saw my heart and I learned a lesson.

When my husband Kirk and I have someone come and complain about another person or family in the church, we always evaluate the complaint against the word of God. Is it sin? Or would addressing the issue hurt or discourage the person being complained about. Our method is to always err on the side of grace and we encourage the complainer to pray and do the same.

Ok, so back to the mix up.  I have heard many people say, and I'm sure I've said it myself, " I just don't see any fruit in her life. " Here in Matthew 7:15 the fruit inspecting is directed at false prophets and teachers. People who would speak as from the Lord and teach God's word. Not our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to judge the fruit of people who would set themselves up as authority figures in the church. When their fruit is inspected, do their thorns (7:16) come out? This is the kind of fruit inspection we must do.
I recently spoke to a dear sister who dared to speak ill of the book the "Shack" She pointed out some of the flaws in the fictional book. The woman with whom she shared her opinion was so upset that she got her pastor involved. The "pastor" went on the offensive to defend this piece of fiction. He wrote very upsetting and hurtful things to my friend. In my opinion, his thorns were showing.

One last thing I want to mention, from Matt. 7:21-27 an amazing thing happens. Try to put yourself in the place of one of the, potentially, 200,000 people listening to Jesus that day. Read the passage as if you are one of those people hearing it for the first time from Jesus in the flesh. In my humble ability to paraphrase, Jesus says to them; I will be making the decision of who does and who doesn't get into heaven. I will require that I know you personally. You cannot get away with saying that you know me and have done many good things in my name. I will send away anyone who I do not know. They will not get into heaven. If you are wise you will heed My words.
It can't get much clearer than this. Jesus says He is the way to heaven. I have had people say to me that Jesus never said that He was the only way to heaven. Of course, I disagree.

 This picture was taken by the Hubble telescope. The scientists name it "the eye of God"



Ok, so we will use JUDGING and PROPHET to remember Chapter 7.

Chapter 6 is PRAYER and WORRY. The Lords prayer is there  and we should remember where all scriptures for worry and anxiety are.

Chapter 5 is BLESS your HEART, the beatitudes are here and Jesus speaks of sins being a matter of the heart.

Chapter 4 THINK FAST, Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and He called 4 apostles, Peter, Andrew, James and John

Chapter 3 H2O, John baptizes Jesus with water and we see the TRINITY when Jesus comes out of the water

Chapter 2, JESUS TURNS 2, THE WISE MEN COME AND HEROD SLAUGHTERS THE 2 YEAR OLDS

Chapter 1, the first 17 verses are genealogy then if you turn  the 18 on it's side it looks like a SWADDLED BABY, it's the Christmas story.

Start reading Chapter 8 if you haven't already! Remember to read it as many times as you can. Practice your remembrance cues as you go to sleep at night. Or if you are awake in the night, force yourself to practice. It will keep your mind from running away with your sleep.
Also, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY that the Lord will give you remembrance. 

One last thing I want to share with you. Gloria sent this to me.

Fear came knocking, Faith answered the door and there was no one there.

Love Nancy
 
 

Matthew Chapter 6

Oh my goodness, this is such an important chapter! We have the God of all creation, and all time, talking about prayer. Jesus tells us in chapter 6 to get alone with Him when it's time to pray. 
Of course 1st Thess. 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing, but I believe that Jesus is talking about intimate time with God. Our special time with only Him. When we need to be alone. When we need to shut the door. I heard Ann Graham Lot talk about what a struggle setting her prayer time aside is. She talks about fighting through and persevering. I love it! I feel that way many times as I'm trying to get to my room, and my knees to pray. Her words really encouraged me. If someone like her feels like she has to fight and struggle to get to her pray time then there is nothing wrong with me or you having to struggle too.
 Sometimes I think; Why is this so hard? The school calls, the dog throws up, the neighbor bangs on the door for the first time in 3 months. I remember the clothes in the washer that are going to mildew if I don't save them , or the dentist visit that has to be scheduled right then or I'll forget it. Ephes. 6:12 explains it. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. I started taking my phone off the hook and taking a paper and pen with me to write down the things that I seem to remember only when I go to pray. Every prayer time I'm presented with different circumstances that threaten my time. I am trying to view each distraction with an eternal perspective. This does seem to help but the struggle for that precious time goes on. Anyway, I want to use the word PRAYER because it has 6 letters and the "Lords Prayer" is here. Although, it's not really the Lord's prayer. It's a guide to our prayer time.

Something else I want to mention is that some people teach and believe that you are not truly able to pray and experience a rich full prayer life unless you pray in tongues. They truly believe that some how your faith or belief is lacking if you don't have this spiritual gift. In response to this, I think we have to look to the scripture  for our answer. There is never an instance in the bible when Jesus speaks in tongues, never a time when He says we should eagerly seek this gift. Here in Matthew 6, Jesus is teaching the disciples about prayer. There is no mention of tongues in this passage. In Luke 11, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. There is no mention of tongues in this passage either. In 1st Corinthians 12, Paul teaches about spiritual gifts. In that chapter he says " to each one is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good" . This is an excellent chapter to read  and learn about the gifts of the spirit if you have ever had questions.
I had a discussion at a yard sale with a woman that held the view on tongues that I mentioned earlier. When I asked her about 1st Corinth. 12, she told me that she wasn't a bible scholar. (?huh?)

Anyway, The other thing I want to use to remember this chapter is WORRY. I know it's only 5 letters but I think having a reference to where all the times the Lord mentions being anxious and worrying is a good thing. I won't list them here because we want to remember that Chapter 6 of Matthew addresses worrying in verses 25-34 . Many of you have heard me say that living under the burdens of the "What Ifs" is a very heavy burden to live under. Verse 34 of  chapter 6 is amazing, "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for it self. Each day has enough trouble of it's own" Amazing, "each day has enough trouble of it's own"
This statement is so "now"  isn't it?

So we will use PRAYER and WORRY to remember CHAPTER 6


CHAPTER 5 we are using BLESS your HEART

CHAPTER 4 think FAST, Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights and He called 4 DISCIPLES, Peter, Andrew, James and John.

CHAPTER 3, h2O  John the Baptist, baptizes Jesus and we see the TRINITY when Jesus comes out of the water.

CHAPTER 2,  JESUS TURNS 2, THE WISE MEN COME, HEROD SLAUGHTERS THE 2 YEAR OLDS

CHAPTER 1, first 17 verses are genealogy and then if you turn 18 on it's side it looks like a SWADDLED BABY, we have the story of the (one) only begotten son. It's the Christmas story.

    
Sorry it took me a little while longer than normal to get to this. It's time to go on to Chapter 7, if you haven't already. Remember to keep reading and keep practicing. Soon you will start feeling very confident about the book of Matthew.
God Bless
Love
Nancy

Matthew Chapter 5

This picture is , supposedly, not Photo Shopped. It was taken in Louisiana somewhere. I think. Anyway, I want to use the words BLESS and HEART to remember this chapter.  We are going to use the word BLESS because this chapter starts with what everyone calls the beatitudes. It has 5 letters and this is chapter 5 .
 I don't want this to be too long, but I want to talk about this list of "Blessed are the".  Most people, even people outside of church circles, are familiar with this list passage in scripture. What most people don't realize is that it is a description of  the process that a person goes through when they become a follower of the Messiah, Jesus .
 Verse 3 says "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". When a person realizes they have nothing to bring spiritually to earn their way to heaven, then they are ready for salvation.
Verse 4 , Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. As we confront our own sin and short comings , we mourn. As we grow in the faith, we mourn for our loved ones and a lost world.

Verse 5. Blessed are the humble and meek for they shall inherit the earth.  This word meek, in our culture, makes us think of a mouse. But, in the Greek, this word was used for a horse that was broken. It implies power under control. This is Tango, my horse. He is very large even by horse standards. It is hard to tell how large he is by this little picture but if you look at the gate he is standing near you can kind of tell how tall he is compared to other horses because that gate is designed to allow a person to mount the horse and ride through the gate. I think we could do it but we would both have to duck. Obviously, I haven't tried it yet. Many times I have looked at him and thought that he could kill me if he wanted to and yet, he is the most gentlemanly of horses. His manners are impeccable. Tango is definitely power under control. Jesus, our humble and meek savior,will inherit the earth. He is the ultimate example of power under control.

Verse 8, Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. It is impossible to have a pure heart without being cleansed by the blood of the lamb.

Verse 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Isa. 9:6 says Jesus is the Prince of Peace. In John 14:27 Jesus says " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you." If you are sowing Jesus in people's lives, you are sowing peace. 

Then, He goes on to talk about being persecuted for His sake.
After that He tells them that they are the salt of the earth. I googled the history of salt. I learned that salt meant much more to them than it does to us. Salt was as valuable as silver. Part of every Roman guards salary was paid in salt(worth his salt). They would carry it with them to cleanse wounds (rubbing salt in a wound), They used to preserve meat and yes, pay for things. It was called their "solarium" This is where the word salary came from. They used to rub newborn babies down with salt. When He told them they were the salt of the earth, he was telling them that they were a healer, a preserver and were more needed than money in people's lives. 
He then tells them that they are the light of the world. Again, this meant something different to them than it does to us. Their light was usually a pottery lamp that had a large hole in the top to add oil. They looked kind of like Aladdin's genie lamp only not as fancy. The wick was a thick piece of cord that had one end coming out of a spout, and the other, soaking in the oil in the belly of the lamp. Theses lamps were very smokey and not very efficient. Every thing about them smelled like their light. The smokey smell of their light permeated their hair, their clothes, everything and  when they lit them they literally pierced the darkness. There were no street lights . When it was dark, it was dark. Where we live in Vermont, it is dark at night. We have no street lights or anything to light the night if our lights are out.  We can not even see our house from the road. All you see is total darkness. In short, He was telling them that just like their lights, they should be permeated with their new faith and pierce the darkness of this world.

He goes on in verses 17-20 to address the religious system they have been living under. Verses 21-48 He is taking on what they had been taught about certain sins and living a godly life. He makes the point that sin is a condition of the heart. All sin starts there, so He wants them to understand that their actions are not as important as their attitudes and what's really going on inside of their hearts and minds.This was so foreign to them. Everything had been about actions before, especially what was done in front of other people. In our lives, a good spiritual exercise for us is to examine our motives in front of the Lord for every prayer we pray. The Lord sees our true motives anyway even if we don't see them at first. He will reveal our true hearts motives  to us. This is sooooo good. I remember when I started doing this . It feels great. I feel so much closer to God in my prayer life now. So in short, BLESS and HEART both have 5 letters and we will use the phrase "Bless your heart" to remember this chapter. If you can work salt and light in there somehow too that would be good. Let me know if you come up with something. 

TO RECAP:
Chapter 1. the first 17 verses are genealogy, with verse 18 if you turn it on it's side, it looks kind of like a SWADDLED BABY, it is the story of the only(one) begotten son. It's the Christmas story.
Chapter 2. JESUS WOULD HAVE TURNED 2, THE WISE MEN CAME AND HEROD SLAUGHTERED THE 2 YEAR OLDS.
Chapter 3. H2O, John the baptist baptizes Jesus, and we see the TRINITY as He comes from the water .
Chapter 4. THINK FAST, Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, and He called 4 APOSTLES in chapter 4. James, John , Peter and Andrew.
Chapter 5. BLESS your HEART,  first part of the chapter is the beatitudes and the last part deals with issues of the heart. (work salt and light in there too if you can).

Ok girls, keep reading! On to chapter 6 if you haven't started it already. Read it as many times as you can. It will help you to remember what's there along with your word association helps. Remember to practice as you fall asleep at night. If you fall asleep too fast, then start practicing when you stand in line somewhere or when you are at a stop light. Pray for remembrance. I'm praying for all of you. Even if I don't know who all of you are, God does.
LOve
nancy 

Matthew Chapter 4

 I used this picture because I want you to use the word FAST to remember the 4th chapter of Matthew. This picture does not reflect the right usage of the word FAST but still I think it's effective. 
There are 4 letters in the word fast. That is why we will use it to remember this chapter. (Chapter 4)
In verse 2, we read that Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and then became hungry. From my limited study of starvation from the internet, I learned that people who are starving are hungry in the beginning, then the sensation of hunger, and thirst, goes away until the person is actually about to starve to death . A human adult can starve to death in between 8 to 12 weeks. If Jesus had become hungry again , He was on the verge of starving to death. This is when the devil came to tempt Him . He came to tempt Him  at His weakest point of physical, and mental need. The reading I did suggested that people who are starving to death are irritable, weak,and lethargic. There is also re-feeding syndrome, a condition that occurs in people who go without food starting in as little as 5 days. This condition keeps people from eating food normally when starvation is progressing. They have to be carefully reintroduced to eating solid food or there intestines will simply reject the food  and they will die from the trauma of eating. They use milk to start the process of re-feeding people. That is why powered milk , which is largely rejected as a food source in our country, is such an important staple when we are trying to help other countries with large scale famines. They can safely give powered milk even to the most underfed of children.

Ok, so the point I'm trying to make here is that Jesus was at the point of starving. His physical body was just like ours. The devil tempted Him with more than just breaking His fast. The devil was tempting Jesus to eat when he knew that eating food or "bread" could kill Jesus's physical body. He goes on to tempt Jesus to throw Himself down which would also have killed His physical body. If there is any doubt where suicidal thoughts come from you only have to look to this chapter for the answer. These suggestions come wrapped in deception but the end result would be the same.

One of the most important things to remember about this chapter is (and I've heard a number of pastors say this) that Jesus used only the word of God and His faith in His almighty Father to defeat Satan and his temptations. It is an examplefor us. We have all that we need today to live victorious lives.

Verse  4:11, then the angels came and began to minister to Him. (probably brought Him some milk) .
 Sorry, that's a cupcake. Oh well.
In Matthew 4:12, Jesus left town. He left John sitting in prison when He heard of John's troubles, but by doing so He fulfilled a prophecy in Isaiah and began walking by the sea of Galilee.

We learn in verse 18 that he saw Peter and Andrew fishing. They had been disciples of John but probably went back to work when John became a prisoner. We read in John 1:35-42 that Peter and Andrew had met Jesus before but were not following Him full time. Now in verse 4:19 of Matthew, He calls them to become" fishers of men" He also call James and John in verses 4:21-22. This is another fact I use to remember this chapter. Jesus calls 4 disciples in this chapter. James and John, and Andrew and Peter. 2 sets of brothers.
So, we are using the word FAST that has 4 letters to remember chapter 4, and the fact that Jesus appointed 4 disciples in this chapter. And if 40 days and 40 nights will help you, you can remember that too.

To Recap all of the memory helpers we are using:

CHAPTER 1, first 17 verses are genealogy, at verse 18 if you turn the 18 on it's side it kind of looks like a SWADDLED BABY, the rest of the chapter is the story of the 1 (only) begotten son, the Christmas Story

CHAPTER 2, JESUS TURNS 2, THE WISE MEN COME AND HEROD KILLS THE 2 YEAR OLDS

CHAPTER 3, H2O (WATER) John the baptist baptizes Jesus, and we see the TRINITY  as Jesus leaves the water.
CHAPTER 4, The word FAST has 4 letters, Jesus fasts for 40 days and 40 nights, and Jesus appoints 4 DISCIPLES , Andrew, Peter, and James,John.

So, on to chapter 5, read it as many times as you can, but even once is awesome. Then practice your memory helpers and cues as you go to bed at night or if you can't sleep. Make your self  a cheat sheet if you have to til your brain gets ready to remember. 
 God Bless
Love
Nancy