Tag: Talon Paul

Because I Received Mercy

Matthew 18

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There are some things that are not optional for the followers of Jesus, and forgiveness is one of them. Jesus talked many times about forgiveness to his disciples, but he couldn’t be more clear than in Matthew 18:21-35. We not only learn that we must forgive others, but also learn that there are consequences if we refuse, and the reason why we are expected to forgive.

 

Jesus gives his disciples a parable about a guy who owed his master 10,000 talents of money. Now, one talent was equal to about 15 years worth of labor, so this guy owed his master 150,000 years worth of labor. By today’s standards, the average person makes about $50,000/year in the United States; that would be equal to $7.5 billion dollars!!

 

Needless to say, there was absolutely no way that this guy is going to pay his master back. However, he begged his master to be patient with him and give him more time. His master showed mercy on him and forgave everything!! You would think that this guy would be the most grateful man ever and forgive everyone else that he came across, right?

 

Unfortunately, after all of this, he found a slave of his who owed him money (not nearly as much as he owed his master), and refused to forgive his debt as he had been forgiven. Because of his actions, the guy’s master punished him by putting him in prison until he paid back all he owed, which would never happen…

 

This is a stern warning from Jesus for us today. Our debt for sin has been completely removed from us because of Jesus’ sacrifice! Because of that fact, we should be the most forgiving people on earth! Whatever someone has done to you cannot compare with the debt that has been paid for us; we need to forgive freely to all those who ask for it. We cannot bear grudges or hatred for anybody; it is time to let it go.

 

-Talon Paul

Jesus is Greater than . . .

Matthew 17

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In Matthew 17:1-9, Jesus takes his closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, up to a mountain privately. During this time, God was about to do something that they would never forget. As they stood talking to each other and to Jesus, all of a sudden Jesus’ appearance changed and started shining like the sun! If that wasn’t enough, the disciples saw Moses and Elijah standing there talking with Jesus! What in the world is going on, they must have been saying.

 

This vision that the disciples saw has many truths within it that are significant for us to know. The first is that they got to see a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God is going to be like. In Daniel 12:2-3, we learn that after the resurrection, the righteous are going to “shine” like the sun and the stars. That is exactly why Jesus appeared to be shining before them; they were seeing a little bit further into the future to what it will be like after the resurrection.

 

Moses and Elijah are significant because they represent the whole Old Covenant; Moses represented the Torah (or Law) and Elijah represented the prophets. Although these were incredible figures in Judaism, when God spoke during this vision, he didn’t address them; he only spoke in favor of Jesus by saying “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” (Matt. 17:5 NLT) This vision was making a point: Jesus is greater than both Moses and Elijah, and therefore, greater than the entire Old Covenant!

 

Why should this matter to you? Well, if Jesus is greater than even Moses and Elijah, he is greater than whatever you are facing in your life. Any struggle that you may suffer from, whether it’s at school, work, home, or even within yourself, Jesus is greater. The best part is that he is willing to step into your life and help you, if you are willing to call on him. So, no matter what difficulties you are facing, Jesus is there and is greater; I encourage you today to call for his help. He loves you and wants the best for you; allow him to change your life.

 

-Talon Paul

“Who Do You Say I Am?”

Matthew 16

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During Jesus’ ministry, he caused a lot of controversy and caused many to question who exactly he was. In Matthew 16:13-20, this is exactly the issue that Jesus raised with his disciples. However, he not only asks what everyone else thinks of him, but asks the disciples specifically who they think he is. This is important for us to pay attention to, since Jesus says that Peter’s answer was revealed to him by the Father.

 

Jesus’ first question for his disciples is, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Apparently, there had been many ideas floating around during Jesus’ time; some said that he was John the Baptist, others said he was Elijah, and still more said that he was one of the prophets. We may think this is strange to hear, but the same thing is going on in our time today. If you were to ask people at your school or work, “Who is Jesus?”, you are likely to get many different answers. Atheists who accept that he existed would say that he was a good teacher. Muslims would say that he was a faithful prophet. Some Christians today say that he was an angel, that he was God Almighty, or that he was a spirit; many Christians today just simply don’t know what to make of Jesus.

 

Luckily for us, Jesus asks his disciples a second question that will answer all of the confusion for us. He asks them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replies by stating, “You are the Messiah (Christ), the son of the living God.” Jesus praises Peter for his answer, stating that this was revealed to him by the Father! This is the correct answer! Later on, Jesus says that this statement, or profession of faith, is going to be the rock that he will build his Church upon. If someone wants to be a part of Jesus’ Church, they need to accept that he is the Messiah and, according to Paul, that he was risen from the dead (Romans 10:9-10).

 

What is wonderful about this section of Scripture is that this question is still being asked of us today: “Who do you say that I am?” As Christians, we oftentimes worry too much about what everybody else’s answer to that question is. We desperately want people to accept Jesus so much that we forget that we need to answer that question as well. So, who is Jesus to you? If he is the Messiah, or king, of your life, are you fully devoted to him, or is there something else that has your allegiance divided? Do you dedicate your life to him, or is he simply someone you only see on the weekends?

 

The challenge for you today is to take time to examine your own life and walk with Christ, and stop worrying about everybody else. After Jesus’ resurrection in the Gospel of John, Peter is deeply concerned about what is going to happen to John. Jesus replies in verse 22, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.” Jesus will be willing to work with the people you are so concerned about, but you need to make sure you are following him fully. You cannot possibly help someone if you aren’t giving it your all as well.

 

-Talon Paul

Cleansing Your Heart

Matthew 15

 

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In Matthew 15, Jesus is very critical of the religious leaders during his time, which were among the group called the Pharisees. In verses 1-14, the Pharisees had criticized Jesus and his disciples for not following their traditions about “washing their hands” before they ate, as if it was a salvation issue for them. Now, it is definitely a good idea to wash your hands before you eat; in fact, I definitely recommend doing so. However, when we make such small matters an issue for the salvation of others, it becomes a problem.

 

Jesus goes on to tell them that it is the things that come out of our hearts that affect our salvation, not merely the things that we put into our bodies in verse 15-20. You see, God is more concerned about our hearts than he is with our religious duties. Praying and worshiping before God is good, but if it isn’t done with the right motives, it does not profit you at all. We need to develop a heart within ourselves that is truly committed to our God. 1 Samuel 16:7 says that “man looks at the outward appearance, but YHWH (God) looks at the heart.”

 

Jesus tells us that we can know whether our hearts are good or corrupt by what they are producing in our life. If you are producing evil thoughts, hatred, sexual immoralities, lies, and more, then you need to have a change of heart. However, if you have a good heart that is led by the Holy Spirit, you will produce these things: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

 

A good biblical example for us to follow would be that of King David. If you know the story of King David from 1 and 2 Samuel, God calls him a “man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). What a compliment from the Creator of the universe! Wouldn’t you like to be described by God in this way? You see, David was concerned with the things of God and longed to worship Him. His whole heart was devoted to making his God pleased.

 

I encourage you today to look at your life and ask yourself, “What am I producing?” If you are lacking in some area in your life, repent and start making a change. Although King David was a highly spiritual man, he also fell deep into sin, just like we all do. If that is your situation today, I encourage you to pray to God the same words that David prayed in Psalm 51:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.”

 

-Talon Paul

Bearing Fruit

Matt 21 43

Matthew 21

After Jesus radically cleansed the Jerusalem Temple by driving out the thieves that were there, he came to a fig tree because he was hungry. Unfortunately, the fig tree was not producing any figs at this point in time. In a bizarre twist in the story, Jesus condemns the barren tree and it begins to wither. What is even more confusing about this story is that Jesus never explains it.

This is what most people today believe happened with this tree: Jesus was condemning the current Jerusalem for producing the fruit of righteousness that God desired. The story has basically nothing to do with the tree itself; it was a prophetic condemnation on Israel for not doing what God wanted them to do. They were simply going through the motions of their religious practice, and lacked what they truly needed: a love for their God, and a love for the people around them.

We do not want to be condemned by Jesus for not “bearing fruit”. We need to make sure that we are producing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) in our lives, and “being Jesus” to the rest of the world. We need to act as faithful stewards of the grace that has been given to us. We need to be “good trees”, producing fruit that God would be proud of.

-Talon Paul

It’s Not Fair! But It’s a Great Gift!

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Matthew 20

In Matthew 20, Jesus gives a parable about a man who went to hire servants to work in his vineyard. He hired one worker at 9:00am, another around noon, a third at about 3:00pm, and a final servant around 5:00pm. At the end of the day, he gave them all the wages that he had promised to them. However, the first worker was very upset that the last worker got the same amount of money that he had gotten (I’m sure we would react the same way).

The point that Jesus is trying to make in this parable is that, no matter how long you have been following Christ, you will all get the same reward in the end. Now, that may be troubling for some, but it is important to remember that none of us deserve the gift of immortal life (Romans 6:23). We need to be appreciative of the fact that we will inherit immortal life because of Christ, and not be mad that somebody else didn’t “put as much work into it” as we have. Anyone at any time can accept Christ before he comes back, and have the same reward.

The challenge today for you is to offer this gift to somebody else that has not accepted Christ as their Savior. Don’t allow them to say, “It’s too late for me”; it does not matter when you believe the gospel. The most important thing is that you just believe. Offer the gift of salvation to someone today; you just may save their life.

-Talon Paul

Followers Rewarded

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Matthew 19

We often wonder about what sort of rewards are waiting for us when we start a task. If we offer to mow the lawn for our parents, we usually expect some form of reward for that, or if we want to start a job, our first thought is, “How much money will I get from this?” In Matthew 19:27, Peter asks this very question of Jesus. He says, “Behold, we have left everything and followed you; what then will there be for us?”

Don’t you often wonder what will be your reward for following Jesus? This is simply in our human nature to want some form of reward for taking on any task, especially one as demanding as following Jesus. Jesus tells Peter this: “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for my name’s sake, will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life.” Isn’t that a glorious promise from our Savior? Not only will we have to wait for him to come back to inherit immortal life; we can receive some reward now while we wait. This does not mean that we will get rich by any means, but it does mean that you will be given something great in this life for your service to Christ.

What has God given you through Christ? Have you ever had to leave something behind in order to follow him? Today’s challenge is to focus on the good things that God has given you, instead of the negatives that come with following His Son. And remember to always look forward to Christ’s return, where we will inherit immortal life in a perfect world, without sin, sorrow, or pain.

-Talon Paul

Forgiven to Forgive

Matt 18 33

Matthew 18

In Matthew 18:21-35, Jesus gives his disciples a parable that is related to forgiveness. In the parable, a man is presented before a king to pay back the debt that he owes. Unfortunately for the man, the debt that he owes is extremely high and impossible to pay back. The king is shown to be compassionate, and forgives the man for the debt. The story then takes a turn for the worst; the man does not forgive a slave for the debt that he owes, even though the debt owed to him was absurdly smaller than the debt he owed to the king. He faced great punishment when the king found out.

The principle of this parable is this; forgiveness is crucial to being accepted by God. We have been forgiven our debt of sin before God, thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice, which is a debt that can never be repaid. We need to have an attitude of forgiveness because of this fact. Nothing that anyone else has done to us can even compare to what Jesus had to go through for us, so we need to be ready to forgive, just as we were forgiven.

Have you forgiven others this week for wronging you? Is there something that you need to let go of? Do you have an attitude of forgiveness today?

-Talon Paul

The Driving Force of Faith

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Matthew 17

After Jesus’ disciples failed to drive out a demon in Matthew 17, Jesus comes along and takes care of it for them. The obvious question they have is, “Why could we not drive it out?” Then Jesus tells them something very powerful: “Because of the littleness of your faith…” We see here that faith is supposed to be the driving force behind everything that we do as Christians; unfortunately, if Jesus were here today, he would probably say the same thing to the majority of us.

What exactly is faith? Hebrews 11:1 says that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” There are a lot of things that we cannot currently see: God, Jesus, the kingdom of God, the dead rising, sin being wiped out, etc. However, if we have faith that those things are real, or will be made real in the future, then we can accomplish almost anything for the sake of Christ. We need to have unwavering faith that Jesus died for our sins and is coming back again to establish the kingdom of God. Without this hope, what is keeping us going in this life?

How is your faith today? Are you able to believe that the impossible is possible today in the name of Jesus, or are you skeptical of what can happen? “If you have faith as a mustard seed… nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matthew 17:20

-Talon Paul

Who Makes the Rules?

Matt 16 13

Matthew 16

In Matthew 16:13-16, Jesus asks his disciples a very important question: “Who do you say that I am?” While others had been calling Jesus by different titles, Peter comes up with the correct answer. He says, “You are the Messiah (Christ), the Son of the living God.” This is a powerful statement that Peter makes here. He is declaring that Jesus is the King and the Savior of the whole world!

Now the same question needs to be asked of us each day; “Who do you say that I am?” Many people claim that Jesus was just a very good moral teacher. Others claim that he was a prophet of God, but not God’s Son. Who is Jesus to you? And how does that impact your spiritual life?

If Jesus truly is the promised ruler of God’s kingdom from 2 Samuel chapter 7 and Daniel chapter 7, then that means that Jesus “makes the rules” for our lives, not the other way around. Accepting Jesus as the Messiah does not simply mean we are forgiven of our sins; it means we have agreed to walk the path that he has set before us. Are you willing to follow Jesus? Even if it is difficult? Who is Jesus to you?

-Talon Paul