Scripture
Matthew 15:34-36
"How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked.
"Seven," they replied, "and a few small fish." ³⁵He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶Then he took the seven loaves and the fish.

Observation
In reading this, ONE thing occurs to me.....the disciples had 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish.
What did Jesus take from them? All of it.

Application
What is Jesus asking of me? Let's think about tithing. God has asked for us to return just 10% of the 100% He has given us, that's small compared to ALL. The question must be asked....What would I do if Jesus came to the door and asked how much money and food I had, and I told him, and he said "Great" and came in and took it ALL. How would I react? Would I be grateful that I am able to contribute to the Kingdom of God, or freaked out about what I was going to do about money and food? And there in lies the key....who am I relying on? Or how about this? Why don't I just give my ALL to Jesus instead of Him having to come and take it!!! My abilities alone or trust the Father to supply what I need because I have given all? Psalms 121:1 tells me that my Help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. The last question that has to be answered is...Have I given it ALL?

Prayer
Father, You gave me your ALL, your Son; you opened up heaven for me. I ask that you take away all the selfish compartments I have in my life, so that I will willingly give you my all. I don't want to be like the disciples who didn't offer their ALL first, I want you to have my ALL, for it is in You that I trust. Amen.

Who's In My House?

Scripture
Matthew 12:43-44
⁴³"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. ⁴⁴Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. ⁴⁵Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."

Observation
This portion of scripture really spoke to me and prompted me to review my own house. There are many rooms in a house and each needs to be occupied, or it gets taken over. Have you ever noticed a closet that doesn't get used to much, and then you open it and there are spider webs in the corners, dead bugs laying around? A look at this scripture and it is clear that if my house(my life, my heart, my soul, my being) are not occupied by God, then drastic take over of my house will happen.

Application
So the question today is "What or Who is Occupying my Entire House?" When I accepted Christ I was made clean, my "house"(life) was cleared of all the garbage, but have I let Christ into all the rooms of my life, or am I still trying to keep one of them as my man cave, one where I still control the "type of carpet, the decor, the furniture", or is it unoccupied because I will get to that room some day. In this scripture, Christ is telling me that He needs to occupy all the rooms of my house, or my final condition may be worse then when I started. That's a warning I need to heed to and get straight.

Prayer
Father, I give you all the rooms of my life, come occupy them all and have your way in each of them. Amen.

Back To School

Scripture
Matthew 11:28-30

²⁸"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Observation
A very familiar piece of scripture. I have heard it preached and taught on about casting my burdens on the Lord, that I will find rest and that following Christ will not be like a huge yoke around my neck, like that on an oxen. But there is something else that Jesus says right in the middle that I have never seen or heard talked about........"LEARN FROM ME".

Application
So I have to ask the question straight up! What have I learned from Christ? Have I learned how to love more compassionately, how to forgive quicker, how to pray for people, how to give Glory to the Father, or have I not been the type of student I need to be to Learn from the Creator of the Universe? Am I too busy to study( what types of grades do students who don't study get?), do I think that I am doing pretty well myself....don't need much help-been doing this for a while so no need for me to learn anything new?

Where am I in Learning From Christ? Where are you? Upon examination I know this, I want to stay in the classroom and Learn From Christ every day of my life and if I do that, Christ tells me that "I will find rest for my soul".

Prayer
Father, Thank you that you are constantly looking out for me. You don't want me to be burdened by that cares of this world, you want my life to be full and abundant. But you have not just given that to me on a silver platter. Christ told me to learn from Him. Help me Father to be the student who is attentive, talkative, asking questions and a Big, Big listener as I learn all things from You. Amen.

The Christian Attitude..Be Shrewd Like a Snake

Scripture

Matthew 10:16 Therefore be as shrewd as snakes, and as innocent as doves.
Matthew 10:34 Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Matthew 10:19 Do not worry.......

Observation
Christians. We are supposed to be nice and forgiving, passionate, loving, sincere, etc. I am reminded by Christ that there would be times where I will need to be shrewd like a snake, because I am living among wolves. The World and the Kingdom of God are in a battle. God is the Victor, but there is a battle raging. In Peter, he is inspired to write that as Christ came to this earth, it was an "invasion" into this world. Jesus came to fight for us, to invade enemy territory and Jesus tells me that in verse 34. He did not come to bring peace, but he came to fight for my life.

Application
Where does that leave me, What am I supposed to do today....be rude to people and treat them with a sharp, piercing attitude? No. The Bible is alerting me that the World is not peaches and cream. There are going to be battles and tussles along the way. How do I over come those? From what Christ is saying I can apply this:

1. Jesus came with a sword and God has armed me with His armor, you don't need armor is you are not going into battle.
2. Be shrewd in the battle, but act in love (as innocent as doves)
3. Don't worry about "what is going to happen", Christ commanded me not to worry...WHY..Because The Holy Spirit will speak through me.

So I can battle my way through life and "probably" be perceived as rude, angry, unloving because I am just fighting things my way, or I can walk today knowing there is a fight but that God has given me the armor( Ephesians 6) and the attitude(Matthew 10:16) to take on whatever is coming. I'm ready.

Prayer
Father, You have not left me unprepared. You have instructed me that there was going to be a fight, how you want me to approach the fight and given me all the tools needed to take the fight. Thank You for giving me all I need. Amen.

What Am or Was I Thinking?

Scripture

Matthew 9:1-4 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. ²Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

³At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"

⁴Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?

Observation
Jesus has been healing people on both sides of the lake. The Religious men of the day did not like what Jesus said to the paralytic....that his sins were forgiven. Jesus did not hear them say this, but he knew their thoughts. Then he asked some rather direct questions of "these religious men". Why their hearts are evil, but on the outside they are "very religious, maybe what we would call today "Do Gooders".

Application
The question today is am I the same as the religious men? Do I look good on the outside but think evil thoughts in my heart? Evil seems like a strong word so what does that word mean. A few definitions are anger, irritability, immoral, harmful, mischief, misfortune, bad. Yep, I've thought that way. Angry about something that seems unfair to me, thinking about how I could speed up and cut that person off like they just did to me, irritable because of.....life and stuff. That is NOT the way Jesus wants me to live. Romans 12:1-2 tells me to offer my body as a living sacrifice to God, to have mind renewed by transforming the way I think and act. How is that going to happen? Exactly the way it says. I have to offer myself up to the the Father and His ways and live a pleasing life to God. Doing that will transform the way I think. Is this being a "Do-Gooder"? No, far from it. A Do-Gooder is doing things because he thinks he is supposed to be good, ie.."I just want to be a good person". But rather if I transform my mind so I think more in line with God and His Ways, then I will "do things" (whatever they are) so there is Glory given to the Father. Jesus healed to give glory to His Father, not to heap praise on himself, that is why he told people not to go around telling everyone what had just happened, BUT rather to go to the temple and give praise to God for the miracle.

So what will I be thinking about today? Because Jesus knows my thoughts, so will my thoughts bring glory to his name and kingdom, or will they be evil in nature?

Prayer
Father, You have told me that if I offer myself to you as a walking, working, living sacrifice to you wanting to please you, that that would transform and renew my mind. You know my thoughts, and I want them to display your good, pleasing and perfect will through me, instead of any evil, worthless thoughts which only shows my sin. Thank you that you care enough for me to walk with me and change me. Amen.

What Do I Believe In Today?

Scripture
Matthew 8:13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would". And his servant was healed at that very hour.

Observation
Jesus has just been approached by a centurion leader who had a sick servant, and Jesus said he would "go and heal him". But the centurion told Jesus that he knew the power of Jesus's words as he was a man of authority and that his men HAD to do what he said, and that he believed that if Jesus would just say the healing word, that the servant would be healed. Jesus recognized he strong belief, agreed with him and it was done. Jesus also used this moment as a teaching moment to demonstrate that many people will come to the table of Abraham, Issac and Jacob but in the end be thrown out into darkness because they did not really believe.

Application
So what does this mean for me? It means that through the FAITH that GOD gave me, I am capable of believing for things and Jesus honoring that belief. God is the same yesterday, today and forever so the things demonstrated in the Bible are for me today. So what should I believe for today, like the centurion? Should it be a bigger this or that, will it be something that helps me, or do I follow what the Bible says and NOT be BUILD more barns to hold "my own stuff". So today the application is for me to believe for God to work in me, through me to display HIS Glory to a hard-hearted, stuff necked generation. So today I believe that God is watching out for me, for my good, to walk in his plan so there will be glory given to him. How will that work out? It's going to be GREAT! ( As Tony the Tiger would say about Frosted Flakes)

Prayer
Father, You have given me the faith to believe for things. Thank you for such a wonderful gift. I pray that my belief's would display your ways. That the things I believe in and for, would not bring any recognition to me, but to show how greatly you care for me. Amen.

GIVE A GOAT for CHRISTMAS

GIVE A GOAT for CHRISTMAS

As many of you may recall, last year I contributed and gathered funds from all of you, to buy Goats for the Needy around the world, through World Vision. Reading in James this morning, James 2:22 "You see that his(Abraham) faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did".

So with that in mind, I would like to be the store house for anyone who would like to exercise their faith with actions and care for the needy. These are very challenging, earthly, economic times. But I believe we live in a different economy-Gods economy. There are Godly principles that will take us past the 10.2 unemployment and concern about tomorrow. I'm unemployed for more than a year along with millions of others, but I consider myself RICH compared to the rest of the world, so I need to take action and be an advocate for those who have little. Each goat is only $75.00. Goats are given to families in twos. Goats are such a blessing for the needy, as they can breed them-sell them for more money for the family, milk, fertilizer for their gardens, etc. I understand that many people may find $75.00 a real stretch. AND that is completely understood. But here is the power in coming together as a large group. If you can not buy a whole goat, then maybe you can do a little and contribute 1/2 or 1/4. That's what we did last year. With lots of people contributing a little, we raised enough money to buy 32 goats. Way to go! I will do the same as last year, as all the contributions will be made in your name so you get the tax deduction. I am just submitting them all together so we can maximize our buying by coming together.

My address is:
Warren Watson
10716 Sierra Dr. E.
Puyallup, WA 98374

So whatever you can send....THANK YOU. We can change a person, a family and maybe even a community, by blessing a family with a goat.

God Bless,
Warren

Here is some information from the World Vision Website.... about giving a Goat.

Goat

Give a goat. Goats nourish hungry children and families with healthy milk, cheese, and yogurt. Goats also give a much-needed income boost by providing offspring and extra dairy products for sale at the market.

A healthy dairy goat can give up to 16 cups of milk a day. Goat milk is easier to digest than cow’s milk and is an excellent source of calcium, protein, and other essential nutrients that growing children need. Goats are practical animals — flourishing in harsh climates while producing valuable manure to fertilize crops and vegetable gardens.

Teopista, an AIDS orphan and World Vision-sponsored child in Uganda, is proud of her first gift ever — two donated goats that will help provide her with a brighter future. “I was very happy when I got the goats,” says the 10-year-old. “They will be of use to us. We will get money from them. I thank World Vision for thinking about me, too.”

Her aunt Restetuta feels the same way. “When the goats give birth again, we will sell off some of the younger [goats],” says Restetuta. “We will use the money to buy Teopista a school uniform, books, and beddings. We can also buy food with some of the money. I thank World Vision so much for all the help they have given us … we know that those goats will be of benefit to us in future.”

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