Riches, Camels, and the Kingdom of God

Scripture Reading: Matthew 19:16-30

Focus Verses: Matthew 19:23-24  "Then Jesus said to his disciples, I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  I’ll say it again it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

Have you ever wished you had more money than you could spend?  And you thought this would make you happy?  I was reading an article that there are now nine people in the world who have more than $100 billion dollars each.  For those of you in Kenya, that would be the same as having 10 trillion Kenya shillings.  I did some more reading about these nine men. Seven of the nine have been divorced or separated from their wife.  One has been married and divorced four times. One man  married and divorced the same woman twice.  After reading about these nine men it did not seem like any of them ever trusted Christ for Salvation.  The world will tell you that if you have a lot of money you will be happy.  It doesn’t appear that is true.

Jesus tells us that it’s very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. Why is that? Does money send someone to hell?  Maybe it does if your money is more important to you than God.  I don’t believe it is a sin to have lots of money.  Notice Jesus didn’t say that it’s impossible for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.  I think what Jesus was referring to, is that when someone has lots of money there is more of a temptation to trust that money rather than God. Jesus talked a lot about money in the Bible.  He knew the heart of the rich man in our scripture reading.  He knew that the man wanted to keep his riches more than he wanted eternal life. Whether you have few riches or lots of riches let’s keep our focus on Jesus and the Kingdom of God.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

God is Never Late

Scripture Reading: John 11:1-44

Focus Verse: John 11:6  “So, when He heard that he [Lazerus] was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.”

Did you ever give God some advice, or tell God what He should do?  I have.  I think God in heaven must laugh a us sometimes or maybe he groans.  Who are we to tell the One who created the whole universe what He should do?  Did you ever pray a prayer asking God to do something? Then as time passed you can see wow, I’m glad God didn’t answer my pray by doing what I was asking.  Don’t get me wrong, God wants us to come to Him in prayer.  But we should pray in light of requesting that God’s will be done.  We like for our children to come to us with requests, even if we know what they are asking is not the best for them.  God is the same way, He wants to hear our request.

Our Bible story in John 11 is a story of Jesus being given some advice because the people didn't realize that Jesus already knew God's plan.  Verse 21 says, “Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”  In other words Martha was saying, “Jesus because you delayed two days in coming Lazarus died, you were late, you should have been on time."  Sometimes we forget that Jesus knows everything.  There’s nothing that He doesn’t know.  When Jesus was informed that Lazarus was sick, He already knew that.  Even before Lazarus got sick Jesus knew God's plan was to raise Lazarus from the dead, and not just heal his sickness.  God always has a plan.  It’s a plan that will give Him the most glory.  God has a reason for everything that is going on in your life and my life.  God is never early, and He’s never late.  He’s always right on time for everything He does in your life.  So when we pray we let our request be made known to God, but we also pray that His will would be done. 

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Little Things Make a Big Difference

Scripture Reading:  James 3:4    1 Samuel 17:40   Matthew 13:31-32

Focus Verses:  Matthew 13:31-32  He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

My father has a piece of property that consists of a few acres of land.  Many years ago he was generous and gave me an acre to build my house.  We purchased a farm tractor to help maintain the property.  Today I was doing some maintenance  work on that tractor.  I changed the engine oil, and changed the fuel filter.  These are important things to do if I want the tractor to work properly.  What if I thought to myself “I don’t have time to change the oil, I’ll just keep using the same old oil.  And the fuel filter, I don’t think I need to change that because the tractor is running fine.”  If I continued to think like that one day I would go to use the tractor and it wouldn’t want to run anymore.  It would be broken down.  The fuel filter is a very small part and only costs a few dollars, but it is a very important part of the tractor.  It helps the fuel to be clean without dirt in it.  

Our lives can be the same way physically and spiritually.  Physically, if you eat the right kinds of food you can be strong and healthy.  Spiritually, if we read God’s Word that can keep us strong to stand against the devil.  We might think that regular Bible reading is a small thing and not very important, but it can make a big difference in our lives.  Just think about how the tractor is turned on with a very small key.  Even if you have a very large tractor if you lose the key the tractor isn’t going anywhere.   A mustard seed is so small you can hardly see it, but it grows into a large tree.  How much will your faith grow if it starts small? You might think your life is not very important to God.  Let’s not forget the story in the Bible of the little boy who had one lunch that he gave to Jesus.  Then Jesus fed over 5000 people from that one small lunch!  The little things in your life can make a big difference when you let God use them.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Don’t Be Late, Be Ready!

Scripture Reading:  Matthew 25:1-13

Focus Verse:  Matthew 25:10  “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked.”

On June 19th, 2021 my daughter Tamara was married.  She was a beautiful bride and it was a great honor for me to walk her to meet her bridegroom.  As we were at the back of the church preparing to walk we watched as the guests came in through the door.  They were all dressed in their nice clothes for this wonderful event.  But then the time came at 11am.  This was the time I would walk my daughter to the front of the church.  But before we walked I noticed something. The lady that was directing the wedding shut and locked the door to the church.  If you were late to the wedding you could not get in.  The opportunity to attend the wedding had passed.  

This reminded me of a story that Jesus told.  As you have read our scripture reading.  There were 10 bridesmaids who wanted to go to a wedding.  Five were prepared and went in and enjoyed the wedding, and five were unprepared and were locked out and missed the wedding. Today the door to salvation is open, but one day that door will be shut and locked and we don’t know which day that will be.  Five of the bridesmaids were prepared for the wedding because they had extra oil for their lamps and were allowed into the wedding.  This is a symbol of someone prepared to meet God in heaven.  The other five bridesmaids were foolish because while they went to buy more oil for their lamps the wedding began, the door was locked and they could not get in.  

 

This is a parable of someone who has delayed in preparing for the day of salvation. If this is you do not delay any longer.  We do not know the day of His return.  Prepare to meet God while there is still time.  Repent and follow Christ. This is one wedding for which you do not want to be late and locked out.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Don't Separate What God Has Joined

Bible Reading:  Matthew 19:1-12
Focus Verse: Hebrews 3:8  "Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness."

Jesus had just finished teaching about how to handle a brother’s sin against you and how much we should forgive.  I don’t think it’s an accident that that is covered just before marriage.  Forgiveness is needed regularly in any marriage based on our nature to sin.  The Pharisees came to test him and asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”  Jesus replied that from the beginning, God created them male and female to be united as one.  God joins them together and man should not separate.  There was a concession given by Moses for marital unfaithfulness, but only because of the hardness of their hearts.  He said it wasn’t that way in the beginning.  Jesus went so far as to call it adultery if someone divorces and remarries for any reason other than that. 

There is a beautiful trinity in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  At the end of each day of creation, God said it was good.  After He created Man and Woman, he said it was “Very good!”  Why this difference.  We are not like the animals.  Marriage is a reflection of the unity found in the trinity.  Jesus many times said that the “Father and I are one”.  Now he says that man and wife will become one.  We are to honor that commitment. 

After saying this, it stands to reason that you should be careful and prayerful as you choose the person you will marry.  I remember when I was in High School that I made a list of the qualities that I was looking for in a husband.  I then rated them in priority.  Sure, we can get swept up in emotional love, but the lasting marriage takes commitment.  Remember how I started this devotion?  It was about forgiveness.  It really works.  Be sure that when you marry, you both are committed for life!  Begin now by praying about the person that you will marry.  Pray for that person as they walk with Christ.

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Love One Another

 Bible Reading: 1 John 3: 11-24
Focus verse : 1 John 3:11 "This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. "

God is loving and caring. He has called us to love and care for others as well. The old man (Marcus Ochieng) and his family today have a reason to thank God. For many years the family has had a poor shelter, small in size to accommodate the family and has had a leaking roof. His attempts to get a better shelter had not worked due to their merger income. Together with the wife they live by pulling nets for fish despite their old age. The man is about 80 years today.
God placed in my heart the burden to pray for them and help them get a better structure. Thanks to God for provision for their new semi permanent shelter of three rooms and with enough space for the whole family. Work has also been made easy through the church community of Makira Baptist Church who have volunteered to offer the needed man power to help raise the structure. Congratulations to the church for partnering to see this area come true through physical support and any donation added.
As we celebrate the miracle for this family, many other destitute families with poor shelters are praying for their miracles as well. God has placed in my heart the burden to pray and help meet shelter needs for the less fortunate more so old age, widows and orphans. Your prayers and donation can help do a miracle to another family. The church community is ready to labor together in this endeavour.   After a few days, we today celebrate a house almost to full completion. Words can't tell this big joy to the family but the smile in Marcus face crowns it.

Eliazar Wambo
Bethesda Faith Ministries

My Hope Is In The Lord

Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1-11

Focus Verses:  Romans 5:3-5  "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.   And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

There is a generation living in the world today who were born between 1995 to 2015.  Many in this generation live with hopelessness.  We know this because it has been observed that the rate of suicide is higher in this generation than any other generation.  I think this is because they are looking for hope and happiness in the things of the world.  This is lost thinking.  

 

Psalm 38:15 says, “For in You, O Lord, I hope, You will hear, O Lord my God."  David also tells us in another Psalm, “In the Word of the Lord I do hope.”  The world will never give you a lasting satisfaction.  You may find a temporary happiness in the world, but in the end you will be left empty.  Only Jesus can give you a lasting hope, and peace, and happiness.  Many of us are now coming out of one of the hardest years of our lives.  Covid-19 has ruined many peoples hopes and dreams for this life.  That’s because they have placed all their hopes in this world, in their money, and in their possessions.  Everything in this world is only temporary and will not last.  Gladly, when your hope is in Jesus, we know as believers in Him, He will walk with us now and carry us safely into eternity one day.   I have heard that Christians are like tea bags.  When you add hot water then you know if the flavor is good or bad.  We say someone is in "hot water" when they are having troubles.  Therefore, when Christians go through adversity and trials you find out what their faith is made of.  As we face this world let us say, “my hope is in the Lord, and in Him I will put my trust."  He will never let us down, because He loves us that much.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries