Bible

It’s all a question of motives

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It’s all a question of motives

In Matthew 6:1-6, Jesus shows that it is possible to do the right thing even with the wrong motives.

The point is that we do not act and believe because of expectations or threats, but because we are fascinated by God’s love and mercy (cf. 1 John 4:18-19).

There is extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The question is: Do I want to do something, or do I HAVE to do something?

With an intrinsic desire, I am fascinated by something, I want to deepen something, have new experiences, create something. I do things without somebody needs to motivate me to do them. I also do them without being seen. For example: I talk to God because I want to spend time with him.

Jesus says: ‘Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.’

Therefore, we don’t act in order to be loved, but we act because we have experienced God’s love. That is why the right does not need to know what the left is doing (6:3). We don’t have to count up.

More of sermon on the mount

 

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Israel war since October 2024

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19.11.24

In Bnei Brak (near Tel Aviv)  a direct hit to the building.

Spokesman for the US State Department: “We will make it clear to the Turkish government that “business as usual” with Hamas is no longer possible”.

A Iranian-made long range rocket fired by Hezbollah hit near Tel Aviv. Hezbollah has officially admitted the use of the Iranian-made Fateh-110 short-range ballistic missile towards Tel Aviv.

Rockets fell in northern and central Israel. One woman was killed in the northern Arab town of Shfa’am and injuries only were reported elsewhere.

Netanyahu Reveals Israel’s Strike on Iran’s Missile Defenses: Four S300 destroyed. PM Netanyahu: “In April, we took out one of the four S-300 batteries near Tehran.” “In October, we eliminated the remaining three, along with additional batteries, significantly crippling their missile production capabilities.”

About 60-70% of all the weapons and means of warfare that the IDF seized in the first days of the fighting in South Lebanon were made in Russia – some of them are old, from the days of the Soviet Union, and some are very modern and were produced in 2020. The IDF does not know for sure whether Russia transferred the weapons directly to Hezbollah, or it was transferred to the Syrian army warehouses and from there “leaked” to Hezbollah. The weapon with which Hezbollah hit the most IDF soldiers in the war is the Russian “Cornet” anti-tank missile that is found in southern Lebanon in large quantities and with modern models.

Continue reading Israel war since October 2024 →

Bible, Jesus

Love of enemies – God’s trademark

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Jesus describes love for those who are hostile towards me as the hallmark of the heavenly Father (Matthew 5:43-48). We should allow ourselves to be motivated by this love of God.

Someone is an enemy to me, not because I have something against them, but because they are against me for some reason.

Treat all people equally and give even those who are hostile to you a chance to repent.

The heavenly Father, who lets the sun shine on all people and also gives everyone the rain, is a role model.

God wants to reconcile all people with Himself. That is why no hatred should emanate from people who live with God. We wish all people peace with God. And that is why we treat all people equally.

Loving our enemies means treating them with respect and not closing the door to reconciliation. David exemplified this very impressively in his relationship with Saul.

Bible

It’s worth investing in gratitude

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‘We harvested a 38 kg pumpkin. Do you have any idea how we could share the 30 kg we don’t need with others?’ someone asked us by email. We had already distributed 20 kg of grapes from a single vine. Autumn is the time for harvesting and giving thanks. We can enjoy and share what has been produced in the months before.

In giving thanks, we open our eyes to the wonders of everyday life. In giving thanks, we share the fascination of life with each other.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in July 1940 in reference to Psalm 50:23: ‘God shows the way to the thankful’. He had previously said: ‘Ingratitude begins with forgetfulness, forgetfulness leads to indifference, indifference leads to discontent, discontent leads to despair, despair leads to curse’. ‘Ingratitude stifles faith, blocks access to God’ (Gesammelte Schriften, Vol. III).

Zwingli from Toggenburg translated Psalm 50:23 as follows: ‘He who offers thanks honours me and chooses the way in which I let him see God’s help.’

Giving thanks is not always easy for us. But when we get involved, we discover more and more fascinating things. Giving thanks frees us to rediscover God’s help and presence.

In the parable of the merciful father in Luke 15, Jesus has painted a new picture for us of how God waits for us to come to him like the younger son. He encourages the ungrateful older son to become like him.

The more we consciously practise gratitude, the more we will realise it. What we nurture grows and we reap what we sow.

Professor Robert A. Emmons has been researching the topic of gratitude for 20 years. He summarises: People who regularly cultivate gratitude experience a range of measurable and lasting benefits of a psychological, physical, interpersonal and spiritual nature: health, a sense of wholeness and well-being and greater satisfaction in relationships. This confirms that it is worth investing in gratitude.

Hanspeter Obrist, Sunday Thought, Toggenburger Tagblatt, 5 October 2024

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Tabita – The disciple of Jesus

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Only once in the New Testament, in Act 9:36, is a woman literally referred to as a disciple.

When Tabita died, two men went to Lydda and asked Peter to come.

Peter has experienced something similar before. Back then in Capernaum, in the house of the synagogue ruler Jairus. At first it looked as if they had arrived too late. Jesus behaved in exactly the same way as Peter did now and first of all made sure there was calm. Jesus said to the dead woman: ‘Talita kum’ (get up girl) (Mark 5:40-41).

Peter must first talk to God. He does not simply pray for a miracle, but the miracle arises from the prayer. Then he will have said: ‘Tabita kum’.

We are always in danger of praying for something obvious instead of listening in prayer to what is on God’s heart at that moment.

This is how the first raising of the dead occurs among the followers of Jesus.

Peter stays in Joppa with Simon, a tanner. Tanners belonged to the unclean professions. Peter stays with just such a person. It is a clear statement: no one is excluded from the people of Jesus.

more from Acts: https://jesus-news-israel.net/tag/acts/

Bible

A yes is a yes

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In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows how he deals with the law. Now Jesus continues and shows with the swearing that our words are a sticking point.

Matthew 5:37: Let your word Yes be Yes, and No be No!

Jesus opposes coded speech.

How can you trust and believe someone if the truth does not always come out of the same mouth?

A wise man knows what he says, an another says what he knows.

Silence in the right place and speaking at the right time is real gold.

The ‘yes is a yes’ is a cornerstone that reminds us to treat each other with love and not let others go nowhere.

Bible

Jesus grants healing

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Peter is allowed to say to Aeneas: ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you.’ It says nothing about Aeneas asking him to do this. It is also not Peter who heals and not Peter who asks Jesus, but Jesus who grants healing through Peter. So it is not Peter who takes centre stage, but Jesus who heals. Jesus gives the impulse. That is why it is important to know from God what has to happen.

People are turning to Jesus – not just in Lydda, but in the entire Sharon Plain. This is the coastal strip north of the river Jarkon (Tel Aviv) as far as Haifa. The man with the Roman name must therefore have been very well known. In Roman mythology, Aeneas (Aineias) is the progenitor of the Romans. The Jewish family must have been very cosmopolitan.

How long must Aeneas have prayed before God answered his prayer? It is clear that he was paralysed for eight years and that his healing served the glory of God and Jesus.

more from Acts: https://jesus-news-israel.net/tag/acts/

Bible

A saint according to the Bible

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Peter visits the saints in Lydda (today Lod). The city lies on the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem. It has been an important transport hub since ancient times.

In Acts 9:32, the believers in Jesus are referred to as saints for the second time.

Hananias had previously referred to the believers in Jerusalem as such in the same chapter (Acts 9:13).

Whoever invites Jesus into their life, the Father and the Son come to them through the Holy Spirit (John 14:23). The person is thereby sanctified and, according to biblical usage, is a saint.

In 1 Corinthians 1:2, Paul writes: ‘To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.’

According to Paul, anyone who prays to Jesus is a saint. Holy means destined for God or belonging to him.

more from Acts: https://jesus-news-israel.net/tag/acts/

Bible

From persecutor to persecuted

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Saul was let over the city wall of Damascus in a basket. This allowed him to escape (Acts 9:25).

Verse 23 says ‘after many days’ they decided to kill Saul. Galatians 1:17 says that Saul was in Arabia and returned to Damascus.

Paul probably spent some time in Petra. For in 2 Corinthians 11:32-33, Paul writes that King Aretas had the city gates in Damascus guarded. King Aretas IV ruled over Nabataea from 9 BC to 40 AD.

It is most likely that Paul had spread the gospel in Arabia-Petrea, outside the Jewish-Roman power. The king wanted to arrest him, but Saul went back to Damascus, where he was known and recognised.

Jesus’ message causes offence. Saul now faces this himself.

He was not trusted in Jerusalem (Acts 9:26). Barnabas, the ‘son of consolation’, stands up for Saul. In Damascus, Saul argued with the Jews on the basis of the Holy Scriptures. He behaved differently with the Greek Jews in Jerusalem. They were used to philosophical thinking. Everything had to sound ‘logical’ to them. So it is said that Saul ‘argued’ with the Greek Jews. Philosophy has open back doors in the way of thinking and speaking and philosophising leads to no end.

But Greek and Hebrew Jews agree on one thing: this man could become a global danger. He must die. Saul has to flee again. He goes to Tarsus, his home town.

more from Acts: https://jesus-news-israel.net/tag/acts/

Bible

Jesus acts through us

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Turning to Jesus is not the happy ending of a story, but the start of a new life as a learner of Jesus.

Saul is immediately ready to do what Jesus tells him. Hananias, on the other hand, someone who already knows Jesus as Lord, initially has a big ‘but’ (Acts 9:13).

Firstly, Saul needs the ministry to himself. The unknown Hananias allows to be sent and goes in the name of Jesus to the man everyone is afraid of.

Then Saul begins to witness that Jesus was not a failed prophet, but the Son of God (Acts 9:20 / a title for the Jewish Messiah cf. John 11:27) and the promised Saviour (Acts 9:22).

more from Acts: https://jesus-news-israel.net/tag/acts/

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