For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. James 3:2-12

So true! Thank You Lord Jesus for filling me again today with You!

On this day, God wants you to know…

… that you can only give away what you already have inside yourself.

True giving happens when you are overflowing from the inside, and cannot help but share. When there is so much love within you that it has to flow to others or you would burst open. There is no thinking involved, no willpower in such sharing. It just flows out. If you have to force yourself to be kind, to love, to feel compassion, you’ve missed the first step of filling in your own Self with these emotions.

If being a slave to sin has left you broken and bruised, and you find your life is in pieces… my Master loves you and if you let Him, He’ll take the pieces of your life and turn them into a beautiful mosaic. My Master invites all who are weary and heavy burdened to come to Him and find rest, because His yoke is easy and His burden is light. And when you become a slave to my Master, He makes you His son (daughter). Pastor Kyle Idleman – notafan.com

A simple turn of the page and you leave behind the Old Testament and enter into the New Testament. If you are reading the Bible chronologically, like a story, you find that the first chapter of Matthew re-acquaints you with the characters you’ve already come to know and admire” Abraham, Issac, Jacob, David, and more. Yet,  a new character indeed a person who will claim to be the main charter of the entire Bible is now introduces—-Jesus Christ.

You will also notice that the world in which Jesus travels bears little resemblance to the one left behind by Malachi. The Eastern Empires of the Israelites captivity-Babylon,Assyria,and Persia- no loner dominate the region. Instead a new power has risen in the West: the empire of Rome. Its boundaries extend from the Mediterranean to North America and even Europe. It’s ruler in Palestine a cruel and self serving king named Herod, sits enthroned over the Jews.

You will recall the northern kingdom of Israel had been taken into captivity by Assyria, and then the southern kingdom of Judah later went into captivity in Babylon. All of this occurred because the people had sinned and refused to remain faithful to God! The prophets had warned the people over and over, but they refused to believe. In Malachi, the Israelities had recently returned to Judah and their capital city, from captivity in Babylon and rebuild the temple, their center of worship. Under the guidance of the priests and the prophets, the community’s leaders since ancient times, they sought to repopulate the land, drive out there enemies, and learn again how to worship God in a  way he desired.

In Matthew,  however, the Jews are settled and secure under the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome. The no longer worship in the temple alone but in dozen of synagogues scattered throughout the country’s towns and villages. Priests continue to provide leadership but the people now look to a new array of religious law(also know as the scribes). Over all these authorities sits a governing body called the high council (or Sanhedrin), which functions like something of a religious  Supreme Court.

Most noticeable, perhaps, is the lack of prophets. Where as Malachi had followed a succession of prophets going back hundreds of years, not a single divine spokes-person appeared before the nation during the years between ths Old and New Testaments. Anyone who claimed to be a prophet was proven to be an imposter. For more than 400 years, the heaven seemed closed to the nation of Israel. They heard nothing from God. Nothing but silence.

Then, one ordinary night in the tiny village of Bethleham, Jesus was born. With his first cries God’s voice once again graced the land. For Jews with ears to hear and eyes to see, it became clear that through-out Jesus life that he was the Son of  God, the Savor for whom they had long been waiting. God used the years of silence to prepare the perfect time and place for Jesus arrival. During the years between the Testaments-years of war and upheaval, flawed heroes, and unfilled hopes- God set the stage for the final era of salvation history, an era of Good News for the Jews and gentiles alike.