Willamette Students

Jesus walked into His Father’s house (the Temple in Jerusalem) and saw the corruption, injustice and all sorts of things being done in the name of God. In other words, He saw a lot of activity, and little worship. He was more than a little upset.

Our passage for this Sunday is John 2:13-22. Let’s read it:

12After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. Read the rest of this entry »

Some say all we have to do is believe in Jesus and we get to go to Heaven when we die.

Others emphasize what it means to follow Him.

Jesus emphasizes both. In fact, He points to Himself and enjoyment of God more than heaven as the end goal. God is the end goal. In Jesus, we get God Himself!

We are to never stop believing, for the finished work of the Suffering Savior is our only basis of acceptance before God. God treated Jesus like He was us, so He could treat us like we are His Son (2 Cor. 5:21). He died in our place. Read the rest of this entry »

Our passage for this weekend is Mark 10:46-52. Let’s read it:

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight
46Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Read the rest of this entry »

Our reading for today is Psalm 19:12-13:

¹² Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.

¹³ Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.

Another scripture that comes to mind here is I Corinthians 4:4 – “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” If I feel good about myself, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m right with God. I may think I’m all set but still have gaping flaws. Only God really knows what’s wrong with us and how to fix it. The fact is none of us would know where to start without God. He can see our errors much more clearly than we can!

Verse 13: “Keep your servant also from willful sins.” Have you ever known flat-out that something is wrong and still went right ahead and done it? I have. That’s scary, man – when a sin has that much power over you; when it indeed “rule(s) over you.” That’s when I’m a “slave to sin,” as Paul puts it. What a terrible state to be in! Sin promises happiness and in return makes us its slave. Pretty terrible deal. David knew he was capable of falling for the temporary pleasures of sin over and over again, so he said “God! Help!” That’s my prayer, too. I know I need it, every single day.

Our Scripture passage for this Sunday will be Mark 2:1-12. Here it is, so we can be thinking about it. What stands out to you? What’s difficult to understand? What does it show us about Jesus?

Jesus Heals a Paralytic
1A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7″Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s reading focuses on God as the Great Provider, and us as His children. The point: because God cares for us, we can respond by trusting Him.

Let’s read Luke 12:22-28:

22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

27 “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!”

Jesus argues from the lesser-to-the-greater: if God takes care of birds (even ravens, which are really scavengers), He will take care of us. Beceause we generally live far above the level of “need” in our country, and more than often what call “needs” are really just “wants.” We say, “I need an iPhone,” or “I need to get _____” — but in reality those are not needs at all.

These words from the mouth of Jesus assure us that while God will not cater to meet our every little desire, He does take care of us as only the one great Father can. He cares. Do we trust Him?