What Shall I Render

What tax collector expects a rabbi, much less the Messiah, to call him to "follow Me"? Which of the disciples wants to be seen with a known tax collector as a part of their group? If a tax collector gets a personal invitation to follow Jesus, and receives a purposed designation as a apostle of the Christ, what hope will that afford tax collectors and sinners, even today?!

As Fathers, we face the God-given responsibility to protect and provide for our families. This pressure serves well to point us to the Faithful Father, who will provide for us as we seek to imitate Him.

The LORD, YHWH, had proven His authority and His enduring love to save, deliver, and rescue. Jesus is the fulfillment of God's power to keep His promises (Psalms 107; Matt 8).

The Holy Spirit brings the message, the truth about salvation in Him, and as a result of God's promise in His Son, we have God's love within us, by His promised Holy Spirit (Jn 14, 15, 16, 1 Cor 2:9-10; Acts 2:38, 39; Rom 5:5; 1 Cor 13).

Jesus shows Himself to be the fulfillment of God's salvation to those who cry out for His help (Psalm 107:23-32; Matt 8:23-27).

Jews of Jesus' day were icons of privilege turning to entitlement! As a result, most of them missed the opportunity of participating in the spiritual feast of the kingdom (Matt 8:1-22)

Christ, the Messiah, was a fulfillment of God's promises both to David and Abraham, as the Son of David and the Son of Abraham. The coming of the Christ is a main part of God's purpose in ancient Israel. This was their privilege, as God's covenant people.

The Apostles were eyewitnesses of the death, burial, and resurrected Christ, but their testimony does not merely rely on their understanding or interpretation of these events. The Holy Spirit promised to them by Christ brought them the testimony, all truth regarding the Son and God's work in Him. (Jn 14-16, 17; Acts 1, 2).

A place of fellowship, life, and freedom, has been prepared by the Son, in the Son.

God's purpose in Christ is to restore fellowship with sinful man. The Apostles were eye witnesses of the fellowship the Father had with His Son as He lived among them. The message given these apostles by the Holy Spirit now brings us into fellowship with them, with the Son, and so, with the Father (1Jn 1:1-10).

The thing we believe is sure and certain, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God's purpose in Christ was a mystery, it was a hidden secret, until the Holy Spirit revealed it to the Apostles (Jn 17:20; Eph 3:1-5; 1 Cor 1:18; 2:9-16).

The Holy Spirit's work in bringing the message to the apostles (1 Cor 1:18-2:16; Eph 3:1-5).

Always living by the power of an indestructible life, Christ, our High Priest is able to save completely those who come to God through Him!

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). He is the immutable foundation we are to dig deeply, find, and build upon (Matt 7:24-27).

There are plenty of actions commanded in the kingdom, but it always calls us to value the spiritual reality of Christ's reign within and for us.

God's Spirit within us grows our expectation and desire, our hope. The hope He brings us gives us victory over our sufferings and the love He brings us binds us together (Rom 5:1-5; 12:3-8).

Living Hope holds power in our present trials to fill us with an inexpressible and glorious joy regarding our future (1Pet 1:3-9).

Hypocrites cling to condemning others, while claiming to enjoy the forgiveness of the King. The kingdom transforms only those willing to be directed by the King's treatment of them.

The Spirit helps us in our weakness (Rom 8:26; Eph 3:16).

God has done the humanly impossible with sending His Son and placing Him on the throne at the Father's right hand. No part of that kingdom is according to human desires or purposes.

The desires of our flesh and the ways of the world bring sin, which results in death. They do not bring the kingdom to us, nor grow it within us.

God has always been after the heart, and His covenants and commands have never been merely outward and physical.

An intro into life by the Spirit (Rom 8).

The kingdom is a result of Jesus' being on His throne for the purpose of the Father. An important result of His reign is forgiveness. We receive it and we practice it! It is part of our transformation into the likeness of our King (Matt 6:12).

God created mothers so that we could see someone love us first and teach us wisdom to bless our lives.