My Daily Pause

Author: Butch Adams

  • Being Known By Our Fruit

    They shall be know by their fruit
    They shall be know by their fruit

    The world (and many that claim to be Christians) will use Matthew 7:1 as a way to avoid being told they are living wrong. To make that verse an instruction against judging good and evil causes a conflict with nearly everything else Jesus taught.

    Take for instance Matthew 12:33-37. Jesus gives us a benchmark on how to tell the difference between good and evil. We can use a person’s actions and their speech to determine what kind of people they are because:

    • We can easily know the kind of tree by the fruit hanging on it.
    • Good speech comes from good people
    • Good things come from good treasure

    In this passage, Jesus tells us we simply cannot be expected to consider sinful people good.

    To prove my point, I challenge the reader to a little mental exercise. What goodness is demonstrated by a few of these “harmless” activities?

    • Gambling (The lottery, gas station slots, boy’s night poker games)
    • Social Drinking
    • Showing cleavage (Or dressing immodestly in other ways)
    • Crude language

    Through Jesus’ point we can understand our lifestyle is a very accurate indicator of what is inside our heart. It will definitely be used in the final judgment!

  • Wearing His Yoke

    Wearing His Yoke

    When most people think of a yoke, they think of it as a tool of burden. Yokes help animals push plows and carriages. There are hot summer days and boiling sun associated with working around yokes.

    Yokes actually make life easier. There are various ways yokes have been rigged for humans so they can carry enormous loads. Without a well-designed yoke, it would be impossible to carry enough provisions in a backpack to hike very many days at a time. Farmers can carry gallons and gallons of water for their livestock on a yoke.

    When Jesus said to take his yoke from him and learn, (Matthew 11:29) he knew he was asking a lot of us. Being a Christian is not always an easy lifestyle. Like the yoke of a hiker’s backpack, or like the yoke of a farmer moving large buckets of water, the yoke that Jesus asked us to take helps us deal with so much more.

    Jesus’ yoke makes us better at love. Better at kindness. Gentleness.

    Jesus’ yoke makes us strong enough to deal with life’s pain. Stronger to defend God’s word. Courageous.

    We weren’t promised an easy life – but he gives us the tools to cope with anything.

  • Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit

    Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit

    As I read through Matthew, (and listening again via audio book) I can’t help but wonder how I would have reacted when Jesus walked up to me and told me to follow him. The disciples had successful businesses and they were in good standing in their community – The kind of lives you don’t just walk away from.

    To top it off, they were asked to keep making these adjustments in their lives. Jesus sent them out to teach with literally nothing but the clothes on their back. (Matthew 10:5-15)

    They were warned there would be persecution. (Matthew 10:16-17)

    They had to go and say things that would not be popular among those they taught.

    I found this about the disciples in Burton Coffman’s commentaries:

    These men were not princes of the blood, but fishermen, a tax collector, and followers of other ordinary occupations. They were industrious, more than ordinarily successful in business, keen of mind, sensitive of soul, honest, perceptive, and courageous. They were ambitious, hard-working men, an excellent lot indeed; but apparently they possessed no skills or talents of an extraordinary nature. They were men most remarkably like the best men of any stable community anywhere on earth, peculiarly fitted to be the chosen representatives of all mankind, and eminently qualified for the possession of that power and dignity to which the Master called and elevated them.

    These look like qualities of the kind of people that are easy to follow. When Paul told us there is no law against bearing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), when he told the Philippians to act the way they saw him act, (Philippians 4:9) I have no doubt that he meant for us to work toward becoming people like this.

    Yes, it’s a lot to ask.

    It’s not very easy.

    But the payoff is outstanding!

    So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 10:32-33

    Daily Bible reading for July 1

    Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
    Deuteronomy 32:48-33:29
    Nahum 2:1-3:4
    Matthew 10

  • Praying for Our Labors

    Praying for Our Labors

    Previously, I outlined my suggestions for daily Bible study. A key ingredient to an effective study is prayer. When we invite God into our efforts he will provide us with the wisdom we lack (James 1:5)

    When Jesus was about to send the disciples out to teach, he asked them to pray for the harvest. (Matthew 9:35-38) As his followers, one of our biggest opportunities is to go out and teach and make others aware of him. (Matthew 28:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:2) This is a big responsibility! Whether it is for Bible studies, door knocking, vacation Bible schools or even our routine worship service we need to follow Jesus example and pray for the laborers.

    Daily Bible Reading for June 30

    Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
    Deuteronomy 31:30-32:47
    Nahum 1
    Matthew 9

  • Nothing New Here

    Nothing New Here

    Congratulations USA!

    Not only do you have the hard fought right to kill your unborn babies, you now protect a group of people that choose to sodomize each other. You’re even going to pay the “healthcare” costs for those that do it!

    The desire to tear out the moral fabric of a nation is nothing new. Since the beginning of time, man has forgotten the darkness that debauchery brings to his life and community. Here are a few to refresh our memory:

    • Noah was the 10th generation from Adam. By then God had already decided the world needed a fresh start (Genesis 6)
    • Abram had to rescue Lot from Sodom (Genesis 14) and then God had to (Genesis 19)
    • Jonah fled from Nineveh. They were so bad he didn’t want God to forgive them when he convinced them to repent. (Jonah 4)
    • Jeremiah said that Israel had gotten so bad that couldn’t even blush anymore (Jeremiah 6:15)
    • Paul reprimanded the Corinthian church for embracing incest (1 Corinthians 5)

    Here’s how it happened over and over from the beginning:

    1. God made himself well-known and easy to find (Romans 1:19-20)
    2. People chose to ignore that and their hearts went dark (Romans 1:21)
    3. They thought they were smarter than God and embraced foolishness (Romans 1:22)
    4. God gave up on them (Romans 1:24)
    5. With God gone, their heart filled with debasement (Romans 1:26-32)

    When Solomon said “there is nothing new under the sun”, He meant it! (Ecclesiastes 1:4-11)

    So America, as you celebrate your “victory”, don’t be surprised when you get what you paid for.

    Daily Bible reading for June 29

    Ecclesiastes 1:4-11
    Deuteronomy 31:1-29
    Micah 7:14-20
    Matthew 8

  • Falling for Anything

    Falling for Anything

    Jesus wraps up the Sermon on the Mount with a pair of similes comparing his words to structural foundation choices. (Matthew 7:24-27)

    Since that time and most especially now, Jesus’ words are not given the credit they deserve. The value of the lives of our unborn and our aged, the strength of a family as designed by God or being recognized by the fruit we bear are no longer the focus of the world. Those with worldly influence would have us build our houses on the sand. (Matthew 7:26)

    The good news is that those of us who are building on the rock, those that are trying to follow Jesus’ teachings, have the promise of the strength to withstand the world. Those who follow the worldly attitudes – the shifting sands of fun and fashion – have given themselves to be pushed around by the tides of whatever is new or what’s “cool.”

    As the cliché goes, they will fall for anything because they stand for nothing.

    Take an extra few minutes today and read the Sermon on the Mount straight through – even if you have already. These basic building blocks are the key to making the rest of the gospel work for us.

    Daily Bible reading for June 28

    Ecclesiastes 1:1-3
    Deuteronomy 30:11-20
    Micah 7:1-13
    Matthew 7:13-29