Every day pray that everyone you know will either become a Christian or influence others to become a Christian, and please share this online book with others - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com                   

 

Worship music - Please click the links and sing along if you know the words (You can also click skip ad to go straight to the songs) -

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNeQ7Tj40aU           

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er2wDN4gBuQ&index=63&list=PL6DADD3408E1B6092

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BDHLPn72JM&list=PL6DADD3408E1B6092&index=88

 

For Wednesday evening services, the Lord has lead me to do a Bible study for practical Bible verses in Matthew. Please come back to these Bible lessons in order to review them and learn them. Whenever we have learned the meaning of Bible verses and think about them throughout each day, we will be in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). Not only that, but when we are in a situation in our daily lives and are tempted to sin, we can think back to what we have learned from the Bible and say to ourselves, "The Bible says to not do what I am tempted to say, think, do, and/or desire right now, so I am going to refuse to give in to this temptation." This is what Romans 12:2 means, and it says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." This is also the pattern that Jesus used when the devil tempted Him to sin in Matthew 4:1-11.

 

Chapter 15

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

 

Matthew 15:21-28

21Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Jesus was teaching that the Jews were to be the first people to have the opportunity to accept Him as the Messiah because God wanted them to give the message of salvation to the rest of the world (Genesis 12:3).). 25Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

 

After reading verses 23-26, it seems that Jesus was disrespectful to the woman, but He was testing her faith and humility, and she passed the test! Her example of being humble (When someone is humble, they don't think and act like they are better than anyone. Instead, they act as though other people are important and they are unimportant.  For example, a rich person doesn't act as though they don't have time to associate with and/or help someone who is poor. Jesus' disciples in verse 23 weren't being humble toward the woman. If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you haven't been humble, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/makingsure) is one of the greatest examples in the Bible. The term 'dog' (which is used in verses 26-27) was used by the Jews to mean that non-Jews were no more likely to recieve God's blessing than dogs. To test her faith, humility, and determination even more, Jesus was saying in verse 26 that it wasn't good to take God's blessing from the Jews and give it to non-Jews. In keeping with this theme, the woman agreed and considered herself to be a dog compared to the Jews and wasn't worth Jesus' time, but she begged that Jesus would have mercy on her daughter by casting the demon out of her.

 

As a result of her great humility and faith, Jesus healed her daughter in verse 28. These verses also prove that this woman had already accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. 

 

If you have never prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven

 

If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you are not sure you are really a Christian (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 21:18-22, 1 John 5:14, and Hebrews 11:1), please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven