Paul Email -30June2013- Matthew 20

How you doin? Whatta great worship service today. As usual we felt our normal resistance this morning. Praise God that we pushed through and went to church. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stacey and I feeling extraordinarily uncomfortable in the ways of the world. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! God's got something stirring in us. I love it when He does this. We read Matthew 20 this morning.

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matt. 20:16) The parable of the workers in the vineyards is sad. It's sad because I can relate to the dudes that started working in the morning. I can see their reasoning. Sometimes I feel a little thick. I think Jesus is explaining the paradox of heaven. The things that make sense in the natural don't necessarily make sense in heaven and vice versa. This parable is loaded. I just wanted to touch on it.

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:25-28) Talk about getting it backwards. I've heard something about this during a, "God in Business conference". Jesus ruled with/in servant-hood. As the leader of my kitchen, I tend to rule or lead with authority over people. I'm trying to learn how Jesus conducted Himself. By ruling from below and uplifting people, there's a Kingdom result. Everyone benefits. By ruling from above no one benefits. Hard to wrap my mind around this. I'm so conditioned to the way of the world. Help me Jesus.

As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. (Matt 20:29-34) This is my favorite. I love patterns in the Bible. Very often before Jesus heals people, the scripture reads, "He/Jesus had compassion on them". I also love the boldness of the blind men. They pushed through the crowds rebuke and "shouted all the louder". Their faith and believe is AWESOME!!!!!! Jesus noticed it and stopped. I love Jesus' response, "what do you want me to do for you?" When I hear this I think of Luke 11:9, John 16:23, Matthew 7:7, and especially John 15:7, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! The blind men wanted sight (a lot), Jesus noticed them, had compassion on them, touched them, and they were healed and followed Him. COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This story never gets old. I believe healing comes in all shapes and sizes. I believe it comes physically, mentally, emotionally, and most importantly spiritually. I can see in the natural, but I can't always see in the supernatural. I'm going to start, "shouting all the louder". I believe if we ask... we will receive. COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shout louder today!