Emmanuel330: WEEK 3 - New Heart : If You Really Behaved Differently (請按此處收聼廣東話Cantonese podcast click here)

Today's Reading: Matthew 3:7-12

**For a simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please click this link: Subject Shifting Devotion.pdf.

Please click this link to Matthew 3:7-12

English(NIV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew 3&version=NIV
Chinese: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew 3&version=CUV

Bible Study

Matthew shows us about the lifestyle of John the Baptist in yesterday's passage. Today, Matthew uses the lifestyle of the Pharisees and Sadducees to show us why we need to change. It's all about lifestyle.

Bishop N.T. Wright says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._T._Wright):

John's message wasn't all comfort. Far from it. He spoke of a fire that would blaze, an axe that would chop down the tree. When he saw some of the Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees, coming for baptism, he scoffed at them. They were like snakes slithering away from the bonfire where they'd been hiding, as soon as it started to burn. The only thing that would make John change his mind about them would be if they really behaved differently. Going through the motions of baptism wasn't enough. Real repentance meant a complete and lasting change of heart and life. That was the only way to get the road ready for the coming king.

N.T. Wright. Matthew for Everyone, Part 1. Louisville,KY:Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p.18.

Have you heard what Matthew and bishop Wright says? If you want to be sure that you are a real Christian, a true disciple of Jesus, you have to behave differently. It's all about your lifestyle. You can't escape from that!

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

Spiritual Journal

The topic I received from Jesus today is :

New Heart : If You Really Behaved Differently

What I received from Jesus today is a passage from Ezekiel:

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:26-28

We can't change our lifestyle because we have a heart of stone and not a heart of flesh. Because of that we have been worshiping many other gods. I don't want to name those gods now because you would be mad at me and stop reading and listening to this blog.

I have tried my best to change, will you?

Dear Lord Jesus,

Lead us to admit that we have a heart of stone and that we have a long way to go changing our lifestyle to be more like you and John the Baptist. Help us to know this is the right way, the way that you can come into our lives to be our Lord and King. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Questions for group leaders

1. Do you have some Christian relatives and friends giving you bad examples like those Pharisees and Sadducees? Can you describe what kind of stone hearts and lifestyles they have to give you bad influence?

2. Do you have a stone heart or a heart of flesh? Why do you think so?

3. Do you think Jesus wants to scare you so that he can force you to change? What does Jesus really wants to tell you today?

4. Do you think you have been worshiping other gods as your lord and not only "Jesus is Lord"? Can you name those gods? How are you going to stop worshiping them but to worship Jesus as Lord only?

5. What have you got from Jesus in today's session?