Test Week - Commitment

Greetings:

Since we have been Testing the students at our school this week, we have considered the tests that God gives us. The tests of obedience, trust, reliance, and belief. Today, we will end with the test of commitment.

Mark 2: 14 (NIV) - "As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow me,' Jesus told him...."

Matthew was in a very lucrative profession. He was a very rich man. When Jesus calls to him, He is asking Matthew to leave it all. Will he do it?

That verse ends - "14As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "...and Levi got up and followed him." He committed to Jesus - and never turned back. God calls us to commit to Him. Will we do it? Can it be said of us - "...and (put your name here) got up and followed Him."

The choice is yours. Will you pass the test? Will you pass the five tests we considered this week?

For Kingdom Education,
Doc

Test Week - Belief

Greetings:

Matthew 16:15 (NIV) - "Who do you say I am?"

This great question that Jesus poses to His disciples that evening is the same one that He poses to each and every person. What do we believe about Him. Is He a good man, a great teacher, a prophet, or the Son of God?

I have always loved C.S. Lewis statement that Jesus never left us with a choice. If we say He is anything other than God, we must totally dismiss Him completely. If He told us He is God, and is lying - we can't trust anything He says. If He thought He was God and He isn't - He is deluded or a lunatic. He only leaves us with the truth that He is Lord.

Lord, Liar, or Lunatic. Who do you say that He is?

For Kingdom Education,
Doc

Test Week - Reliance

Greetings:

Jesus has been teaching and performing miracles. A great crowd of people are following Him (most for the wrong reasons). "When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?' He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. " (John 6:5,6 NIV).

Notice the phrase, "...He asked this only to test him...." Jesus often asks us questions to test us. He knows the answer before we give it ("...he already had in mind what he was going to do. ") He wants to see if we know what the correct answer is. As a teacher, I ask my students questions, not because I don't know the answer, but to ascertain if they know the answer.

In this case, Jesus was seeing if the disciples (particularly Philip) would rely on Him. We have seen that God tests our obedience and our trust, He also tests our reliance upon Him. Philip's first response is in the material world. Jesus would show Him the full effect of relying upon God.

Today, step up your reliance upon God. Walk with obedience and trust - because you can rely on Him.

For Kingdom Education,
Doc

Test Week - Trust

Greetings:

Naaman was a leper. He was a commander of the Aramean army. He was a very important person. when he heard that there was a prophet who could heal him, he went to see him. Elisha gave him God's message. Go and dip seven times in the Jordan reiver.

He was totally upset. Bathe in the filthy Jordan? No way. His officers chided him,“Sir,if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” (2 Kings 5:13, NLT). He did and he was.

But, it took trust in a God he was not familiar with. It meant that to recieve the blessing, he would have to pass the test of trusting God. He did.

How about you? Is God testing you to trust Him in some area? Are you? Will you?

For Kingdom Education,
Doc