The Welfare of Your City

I was super encouraged by Jeremiah 29:7 this morning which says this:

"But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."

Celebrity Jesus

As I read through the beginning of Matthew 21 this morning, I couldn't help but laugh at the odd position that Jesus had found himself in. The obscure, homeless, Galilean peasant was now the center of attention in Jerusalem, the cultural hub of the day. The people are bowing at his feet and telling others "Jesus is here! Yes, THE Jesus!" In only a few years time Jesus has gone from marginalized to celebrity status. Everyone knows about who he is and what he's done.

Choosing the Cross

Continuing in Matthew 16 (first section here), finishing the chapter with verses 24-28. I found that it flows remarkably with the theme of the previous verses (13-23) that I discussed in my last post (here). Our last thoughts there left us with the question of what to do now. How do we remedy our misuse of authority?

After continuing on, I believe Jesus gives us the answer. We used our authority, which was given by God, to argue for our sinful desires. We choose to value our impurities over the thoughts of God. How do we overcome this? Only by laying down our own agenda and picking up a heavenly one. Many of us have heard this snippet from Scripture several times, but it came to life when I saw this connection to the rest of what Jesus says [Quick aside: Context Is Everything]. Denying ourselves shifts our purpose from our selfish desires to God's plans. Our thoughts are replaced by Kingdom thoughts.