Matthew 11:19 (KJV) They Called Jesus a Winebibber—

Matthew 11:19 (KJV)

The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

Though other explanations have been offered, I am of a mind to believe that the wisdom referred to in this passage is Jesus Christ Himself. The book of Proverbs does a fine job of describing wisdom in such a fashion that it could be none other than Jesus Christ. We have heard of the wisdom of Solomon, but his wisdom pales in comparison to Christ's and is meant to be only a type of it.

Jesus Christ, the very Wisdom of God, was, in His day, followed and worshiped by some, but hated, hunted, and eventually crucified by others. Even Pilate, who attempted to take no position concerning Christ, was forced to lean one way or the other.

In the end, "Wisdom" was justified when, on the third day, He arose.

Gill writes this conclusion from the text: "We may learn from hence, that no sort of preachers and preaching will please some men; that the best of Gospel ministers may be reproached as libertines, or madmen; and that they will be sooner, or later, justified and cleared from all such aspersions."

#Matthew1119 #ChristTheWisdomOfGod #WisdomJustified #FriendOfSinners #KJVBibleStudy

They Called Jesus a Winebibber—But the Resurrection Told the Real Story

What do you believe Jesus meant when He said, "Wisdom is justified of her children"? I'd enjoy reading your thoughts, so leave a comment below and join the conversation.

If this study encouraged you, please like, share, and follow for more daily Bible lessons. For hundreds of free Bible studies, books, videos, and ministry resources, visit marvinmckenzie.org.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7100 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

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Matthew 11:19 (KJV) They Called Jesus a Winebibber—

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxMRymUjG6EkIw24YmRLHMWJLRnqr2f0kP?si=vE1Cs5WJKPdX0e1g

Matthew 10:14 (KJV) Rejected?

Matthew 10:14 (KJV)

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

As far as I can tell, the concept of shaking the dust off the feet would have originated in the Jewish animosity toward heathen peoples. It is said that whenever a Jew would re-enter the Promised Land from some foreign field, he would wipe the pagan dust from his feet before crossing its border. It was a sign of disgust toward the pagan culture.

What makes Jesus' instruction so remarkable is that He treats unbelieving Jewish cities (and homes) as though they were pagan territory. The disciples were to leave them as ceremonially and spiritually unclean because they had rejected Jesus Christ and His message.

I went to Bible college in Colorado, where I was told the story—I believe it was about Pastor Ed Nelson (now deceased). In those days, Pastor Nelson pastored a very large Independent Baptist church in Denver, but if I remember the account correctly, he had originally attempted to plant a church in Durango. The attempt was unsuccessful, and the story I was told is that when he moved his family out of Durango, he shook the dust off his feet as he left. If I remember correctly, the town of Durango was later forced to move uphill when the construction of a dam placed part of the city under the newly formed lake.

I've known soul winners and evangelists to have symbolically shaken the dust off their shoes when leaving the home of someone who had rejected Christ and perhaps treated them unkindly. While I've never literally done it, I've considered it a number of times and even contemplated it during the most difficult days of pastoring in Astoria.

I'm not sure, however, that the Lord's intent was to pronounce judgment on those cities and homes as much as to teach the disciples to "let it go." Servants of the Lord will inevitably encounter those who reject them and their witness. If we are to be consistent, Christ-like, and joyful in serving our Saviour, we're going to have to learn to brush off negative encounters and move on until we find more positive ones.

There are certainly many negative things in this world. It is no friend to the Christian, and we all long for the day when God's will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. But we can't hold grudges, retain bitterness, or allow ourselves to be flooded with animosity and disgust.

Much better to shake it off, pray for those who despitefully use you, and be thankful instead for those who are a blessing to you.

#PreachAndMoveOn #RejectedButFaithful #DustOffYourFeet #WitnessWithoutBitterness #ServeWithoutResentment

Rejected? Here's What Jesus Says to Do

Have you ever had to "shake the dust off your feet" and move on after rejection? I'd love to hear your experience. Share your thoughts in the comments below!

If this Bible lesson encouraged you, please like, share, and follow for more verse-by-verse studies from God's Word. For hundreds of additional Bible studies, articles, videos, and free resources, visit marvinmckenzie.org.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7100 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 9:5 (KJV) Anyone Can Say It

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/Ugkx5-wwNbNKksZKku7yItk876BoMspXs2kT?si=D1YlxtRz5PaYSDUL

Matthew 9:5 (KJV) Anyone Can Say It

Matthew 9:5 (KJV)

For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?

That these are the words of our Lord is intriguing. Gill says that neither of these is easy for a mere creature, but that "both are easy to God." But I’m thinking of what I have witnessed in my lifetime. Religionists have claimed both.

The priests of Roman Catholicism profess that they are able to absolve sin in the confessional. It is easy for them to say it. They have been taught that they can do it. Their church theology convinces them of it, and years of practice, I suppose, steel them to believe they have done it. It is easy to say, "Thy sins be forgiven thee.”

I say, "Prove it.”

On the other hand, we have the charismatic religionists who hold faith-healing services. They literally tell people, "Rise up and walk." It is easy for them to say it. People want to believe it. Their church doctrine assures them that they can do it. These days, they record themselves on television and other media doing it.

I still say, "Prove it.”

For a conscience hardened and a corrupt mind convinced, it can be easy to say just about anything.

• People can say they are saved.
  People can say their conscience is clear.
  People can say they are convinced a thing is true.

I have heard people say, after committing acts of sin absolutely condemned in the Bible, that they have never felt closer to God.

I say, "Prove it.”

But here is the thing: no one needs to prove anything to me. It is before God that we will all one day stand and give account. It is to God that we will all one day give an account.

You do not need to prove it.

God already knows it.

#Matthew95 #OnlyGodForgivesSin #ProveItBeforeGod #JesusHasAuthority #GodAlreadyKnows

Anyone Can Say It—Can They Prove It?

What do you think? Can faith, forgiveness, or spiritual claims be proven, or does only God truly know the heart? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

For more Bible studies, devotionals, books, and teaching resources, visit marvinmckenzie.org and join me as we study God's Word together.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7100 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 9:5 (KJV) Anyone Can Say It

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxUcSXu5SbF46TB0Zl79ZcA3-iOPZt3-zK?si=wUbjdVIQDSZaxhwW

Matthew 8:16-17 (KJV) The Healing Jesus Promised

Matthew 8:16-17 (KJV)

When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

The reference of this passage is Isaiah 53:4 (KJV):

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But when one reads the whole of Isaiah 53, and especially connects it with Acts 8:26-35 (KJV):

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

We come to realize that, by taking our infirmities and bearing our sicknesses, it is not meant that He came to heal us of disease, but to cleanse us from the guilt of our sin.

When Jesus went to the cross, He took upon Himself our sins, iniquities, and transgressions. He bore them on the cross and died in our place. He was buried, cold and dead in the grave for our sakes.

But when, three days and three nights later, He arose from that grave, He did so victorious over our sin and promised us the ultimate healing—eternal life with Him.

#Matthew81617 #Isaiah53Fulfilled #JesusBoreOurSin #TheHealingOfTheCross #PreachUntoThemJesus

The Healing Jesus Promised: Our Bodies or Our Souls?

Did Christ come primarily to heal our bodies, or did He come to bear our sins? Matthew 8, Isaiah 53, and Acts 8 point us to a greater healing—the forgiveness of sin and eternal life through Jesus Christ.

What do you believe Isaiah 53 means when it says, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows”? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

For more Bible studies, devotionals, and resources, visit marvinmckenzie.org.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7100 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 8:16-17 (KJV) The Healing Jesus Promised

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxomrVPaXkURWsexFCF3fGHAdErCeVlgax?si=oG9YoXi_Dx0fl4uw

Matthew 7:5 (KJV) Are Christians Hypocrites?

Matthew 7:5 (KJV)

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

The final chapter of the Sermon on the Mount contains a number of familiar sayings that people sometimes forget come from the Bible. Some of them are used so far out of context that they have been given meanings the Lord never intended.

• “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
• “Casting pearls before swine.”
• “The Golden Rule” (Matthew 7:12)

Here is another one we hear often:

“Thou hypocrite.”

Those of the world seem convinced that most Christians are hypocrites.

Wait!

Let's not be too quick to dismiss this. According to Thayer's Dictionary, the word means:

1. One who answers; an interpreter.
2. An actor; a stage player.
3. A dissembler; a pretender.

The Bible makes it clear that there will be false prophets, false teachers, and false professors of faith—pretenders. Jesus says later in this very chapter that there will be wolves in sheep's clothing. Actors.

I am especially interested in the first definition: "one who answers; an interpreter."

I'm afraid there is a great deal of private interpretation going on in the name of Christianity these days. People interpret the Bible in a manner that allows almost anything to go. Just about the only thing many will not tolerate is someone else's pet peeve.

"He gets us."

Even unbelievers have an interpretation of Jesus. They view the One they do not know as being too loving to hate anything. As a result, these unbelievers often hate those who love the Christ of the Bible.

Thou hypocrite.

"I wouldn't go to that church. It's filled with hypocrites."

If you ever find a perfect church, please don't go there.

You'll ruin it.

#JudgeRighteousJudgment #RemoveTheBeam #ThouHypocrite #TruthNotPretense #MatthewSevenFive

Are Christians Hypocrites? What Jesus Really Said

Have you ever avoided a church because of hypocrites—or have you discovered hypocrisy in your own heart? Leave a comment below and tell us your thoughts on Matthew 7:5. 

If this Bible lesson challenged or encouraged you, visit marvinmckenzie.org for more daily devotions, Bible studies, books, and practical teaching from God's Word.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7100 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Matthew 7:5 (KJV) Are Christians Hypocrites?

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/Ugkx5wJKXNrjyYXl-xkZeQvDz6SyYfY9FbdB?si=g-WOP30Hsa0Ev3e9