Tag Archives: Annoyed

The Good Samaritan

207 – Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-42

There was a man who was an expert of the law of Moses. He asked Jesus, “How can a person earn the right to go to heaven?”

Jesus said, “Tell me what is written in the law.”

He said, “Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.”

“Ah,” said Jesus. “Go and do that, and you’ll live.”

The man realized how impossible that was. “Uh, well, exactly who is my neighbor?”

Jesus said…

“A man was traveling down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers grabbed him and beat him until he was almost dead. They then took his money and clothes, and left him on the side of the road.

“The man desperately needed help, and soon a priest came along. He saw the man, but moved to the other side of the road and hurried on his way. After that, a Levite passed by, but he also avoided the situation and ignored the man.

“A third man traveled down the road, but unfortunately he was a Samaritan, a group of people hated by the Jews. Still, he had pity on the Jewish man. He stopped and treated his wounds. He placed him on his donkey and took him to an inn. There he made him comfortable and treated his wounds again.

“The next day, the Samaritan gave the innkeeper money and told him to take care of the wounded man. He said, ‘If it costs more, I’ll pay you when I come back.’

“So,” said Jesus, “three people saw the man lying on the side of the road. Which one was a neighbor to him?”

The answer was simple, “The one who showed mercy.”

“Yes,” said Jesus, “go and follow his example.”

After this, Jesus went to a village. He had friends that lived there, and they invited him and his disciples into their home for a meal.

While they were talking, one of the sisters named Mary sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to everything he said. Martha, her sister, was busy preparing the meal for their guest. In her frustration, she went to Jesus. “Lord, have you noticed that my sister has left all the work for me to do? Please, tell her to come help me.”

The Lord said, “Oh Martha, Martha. You have too many worries. You have forgotten there is only one thing that is absolutely necessary. Mary has chosen that one thing, and it won’t be taken away from her.”

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Leaving Laban

25 – Leaving Laban

Genesis 31:4–55

Jacob wanted to have a private conversation with his two wives, so they met out in the field. He said to them, “I worked hard for your father, even though he changed our deal ten times. The Lord protected me, and every time Laban changed our agreement, God changed how the lambs were born. Now your father is angry with me. So the Angel of God has told me to return to the land of my fathers.” 
Both women agreed with him. They said, “Do what God has told you to do. Our father sold us to you and then spent the money. You haven’t gotten anything from him that doesn’t already belong to us and our children.”  

So without telling Laban, Jacob took all that he had, and started driving his herds toward Canaan. Before they left, Rachel stole her father’s family idol. 

Three days later, Laban heard that Jacob had left. He immediately took a group of men and chased after Jacob. It took seven days to catch up with him. The night before, God appeared to Laban and said, “Watch out! Don’t do anything to Jacob, good or bad.” 

The next day, Laban met Jacob and said, “Why did you do this to me? You left like a thief in the night, and took my daughters and grandchildren like they were prisoners. If you had told me, I would’ve put on a grand party and sent you off with a air.” 

“Now you’ve disgraced me, and if I wanted to, I could destroy you right here. But last night, the God of your fathers told me not to do anything to you. 

“I suppose I can understand your being homesick and wanting to go home. But why did you steal my family idol?” 

Jacob said, “I didn’t steal your idol. Look for yourself. Go ahead. Search our tents. If you find it, I’ll kill the person who took it.” He didn’t know that Rachel had taken it. 

Laban searched the tents belonging to Jacob, Leah, and the two maidservants. He then went into Rachel’s tent. She was sitting on her camel seat, where she had put the idol. She said, “Father, please forgive me for not standing. I am having my monthly period.” Laban looked throughout her tent and didn’t find his idol. 

At this point, Jacob became angry. He said, “You’ve chased me here like I was a criminal. You’ve searched everything I have. Have you found anything that belongs to you? Bring it out and put it in front of your men. 

“No, you haven’t found anything! I worked for you for twenty years. I endured the extreme heat in the day, and the frost at night. I worked without much sleep, so you could prosper. I endured these hardships, and you still mistreated me through it all. 

“Then you made me bear all the loss for anything that went wrong. I had to pay you if someone stole a sheep. If an animal killed a lamb, suddenly it was my lamb.” 

“You changed our agreement ten times. I would be standing here penniless if God hadn’t made things right. Now he’s protecting me from you.” 

Laban said, “Everything you have belongs to me. Those are my daughters! Those are my grandsons! Those are my flocks! But what can I do now? Let’s make a firm agreement that can’t be changed. Everyone here will be a witness to it.” 

So all the men took stones and piled them in a mound. Jacob and Laban agreed that neither man would ever go to the other side of the mound. Laban said, “These rocks are an agreement between us. You’re not to mistreat my daughters and take any other wives.” 

Jacob then made a sacrifice to God and afterwards everyone sat down to a meal. The next morning, Laban kissed his daughters and grandchildren, and blessed them. He then returned to his home.

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Feeding 4,000

200 – Feeding 4,000

Matthew 15:29-16:16 Mark 8:1-21 8:27-30

Jesus left the region of Tyre and Sidon and went to the Gentile side of the Sea of Galilee. As he taught the people, a great crowd brought those with various physical problems. They brought the lame, the blind, the crippled, and those with many diseases. Jesus healed them all, and the crowd was amazed.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I’m concerned for the crowd. They’ve been with us for three days, and their food has run out. I don’t want to send them away without feeding them because they’ll collapse with hunger as they go.” 

The disciples said, “Lord, we don’t have enough food to feed this large crowd.”

“How much do you have?”

“We have seven loaves of bread and a few small fish.”

“Tell the crowd to sit down.”

He took the bread and fish and blessed it. He then broke it into pieces and gave it to his disciples. They turned and gave it to the crowd. 4,000 people were there. Everyone ate until they were full. The disciples then collected the leftovers and found they had seven baskets full.

Afterwards, they sent the crowd home. Jesus and his disciples got in the boat and went to the Jewish side of the lake.

The Jewish leaders were there, and started arguing with him. They wanted him to give them signs from heaven. He refused and got back into the boat.

As they were going back to the Gentile side of the lake, the disciples realized they forgot to bring enough food for the trip. They only had one small loaf of bread.

Jesus said to them, “Watch out for the yeast of the religious leaders.” The disciples assumed he was scolding them for forgetting the bread.

He said, “Your faith is still so small! Why would you think I’m concerned about the bread situation? You were there. You saw how 5,000 people were fed with just five loaves of bread and two fish. How many baskets did we collect afterwards?”

“Twelve.”

You saw how 4,000 people were fed with just seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. How many baskets did we collect afterwards?”

“Seven.”

“So listen carefully and understand what I’m saying. Watch out for the yeast of religious leaders.” Finally the men understood what he was talking about.

Once they got to the other side, Jesus took them to Caesarea Philippi. There, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

“Some say you’re John the Baptist. Others say you’re Elijah or Jeremiah.”

“Who do you say I am?”

Peter said, “You’re the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus said, “Peter, you’re blessed! You didn’t learn this from human sources, but the Father has revealed it to you.”

He then told all of his disciples “For now, don’t tell anyone I am the Messiah.”

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Pool of Bethesda

196 – Pool of Bethesda

John 5:1-47

There was a pool in Jerusalem called Bethesda. It was near the Sheep Gate. Local people believed that occasionally an angel would stir the waters of the pool. They felt a sick person would be healed if he or she were the first to get into the water after it was stirred. Therefore, a large group stayed near the pool, waiting for the angel.

Jesus went to that pool when he was in Jerusalem for a Jewish festival. He saw a man who had been sick for 38 years. The Lord said, “Do you want to be healed?”

The man said, “Yes, but when I see the stirring of the waters, someone always gets into the pool before me.”

Jesus said, “Stand up! Pick up your bedroll and walk.” Immediately the man was healed and got up. Jesus slipped away into the crowd as the man was picking up his bedroll.

Some of the Jewish leaders saw the man carrying his bedroll. They said, “How dare you! This is the Sabbath. It’s not legal to carry bedrolls on the Sabbath.”

The man said, “But… but… a man healed me and then told me to pick up my bedroll and go home.”

“Who told you to do this work on a Sabbath?”

“I don’t know. He healed me and then disappeared into the crowd.”

Later, Jesus saw this man in the Temple. The Lord said, “You’ve been healed, but you must stop sinning. If you don’t, something worse will happen to you.” The man then knew who had healed him. So he rushed to the Jewish leaders and told them that it was Jesus.

Hearing this made them more determined to end the influence Jesus had with the people. They felt his actions on the Sabbath were totally unacceptable.

Jesus said to them, “My Father works on the Sabbath, so I will too.”

Hearing this, the leaders started talking about killing him. They said, “He breaks the rules about the Sabbath. Now he calls God his father. He thinks he’s equal with God!

Jesus said, “The Son only does what the Father tells him to do. The Father loves the Son, and gives him power so he can give life to anyone he wants. The Father has made the Son the judge of people. If you don’t honor the Son, you’re not honoring the Father who sent him.

“I’ll give eternal life to those who hear me and believe on Him who sent me. Those who believe will not be judged, but have passed from death into life.

“How do you know if I’m telling you the truth? I’ve told you but that’s not good enough because I’m talking about myself. You heard John the Baptist talk about me, but you didn’t believe him. The Father spoke about me, but you closed your ears to him. My miracles show that I’m telling the truth, but you don’t accept them as proof.

“You study the Scriptures constantly. They talk about me, but you turn your eyes away from those Scriptures. The truth is, you’re just not willing to come to me and have life.”

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Twelve Years Old

180 – Twelve Years Old

Luke 2:40-52

When Jesus was twelve years old, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. When it was time to return home, Jesus stayed behind at the temple, without his parents knowing. They traveled a whole day, thinking he was among the crowd.. 

That evening they realized he was missing. They went back to Jerusalem and searched for him for three days. Finally they found him in the court of the temple, sitting among the teachers. He was listening to them and asking questions.

Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his ability to answer questions.

His mother ran up and said, “Son, how could you do this to us? We’ve been searching for you.”

He said, “Surely you knew I’d be here in my Father’s house—doing his business.” They didn’t understand what he was talking about.

Jesus went back to Nazareth, and lived in submission to his parents. He grew, and matured, and was respected by all that knew him. God’s blessing was on his life.

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Burning the Book

160 – Burning the Book

Jeremiah 26:1-24 36:1-32 II Chronicles 36:1-23 2 Kings 23:31 – 25:30

Stories 159 – 164 happened during the life and ministry of Jeremiah, the prophet.

Jeremiah had been prophesying for 23 years when Jehoiakim became king. Judah was under the control of Egypt and the king paid them high taxes year after year.

God told Jeremiah to go to the Temple and tell the people to repent or the Temple would become ruins. After he was done preaching, the priest and prophets grabbed him saying, “We’re going to kill you. How dare you come and speak these things in the name of the Lord!” 

The officials of Judah defended Jeremiah saying, “He has a right to speak in the name of the Lord. Set him free.” They let him go, but told him he couldn’t come back to the Temple.

The Lord told Jeremiah, “Write a book of all the things I’ve told you about the coming judgment on Judah and Jerusalem.”

Jeremiah sent for Baruch, his scribe, and dictated to him everything the Lord had said. When they were done, the prophet said, “I’m not allowed to go to the Temple, so go there and read this book to the people.”

Baruch went and read the book in the Temple. Officials of the king heard about the book and asked him to read it to them. When he was done, the officials were afraid. They said, “The king needs to hear this.”

They told the scribe, “We’re taking this book to the king. You and Jeremiah hide, and don’t tell anyone where you’ve gone.”

They took the book to King Jehoiakim, and he allowed it to be read to him. Because it was winter, he was sitting in front of a fire. Every time a portion of the book was read, he cut that part out and threw it into the fire. His officials asked him not to do this, but he kept doing it anyway until the entire book was gone.

Everyone in the room heard the book, but no one ripped his clothes or was afraid. Jehoiakim then gave the order to imprison Jeremiah and his scribe, but God protected them.

The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Write another book, just like the one that was burned. Also, give this message to King Jehoiakim. ‘You burned the book because you didn’t want anyone talking about how Babylon will destroy Jerusalem. Here’s what will happen to you. Your dead body won’t be buried, but will rot in the open sun. Also, the throne of David will be taken away from your descendants.’ ”

Jeremiah dictated the book once more and Baruch wrote it down. As time went by, he added more to it.

Jeremiah told the people of Judah, “Babylon will come and destroy this city and take you into captivity. You’ll be there for seventy years. After that, God will bring your children back to this land.”

God sent a special message to Baruch. “You’re concerned about what will happen to you. You bear the burden of being a scribe for God’s prophet. Don’t worry. I’ll spare your life when I destroy this city. I’ll be with you wherever you go.”

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Uzziah

149 – Uzziah

2 Chronicles 26:1-27:9 & 2 Kings 15:1-7 15:32-38

When Amaziah died, the people made his son, Uzziah, king. He was 16 years old and served as king for 52 years. God gave him great success because he followed the Lord and wanted to please him.

Uzziah did many wonderful works. He defeated the enemies of Judah and was known far and wide as a powerful king. He restored Jerusalem and strengthened the other cities of Judah. He loved the soil, so he excelled in farm activities. He provided for his army so that every man was well equipped for battle. He invented the catapult, so he could throw large stones from the walls of Jerusalem.

One day, King Uzziah was feeling proud of his accomplishments and his dedication to God. He decided to go into the Temple and burn the incense himself, instead of letting the priest do it. The high priest suddenly realized what he was about to do. He got 80 other priests and went in the Temple so they could stop the king from doing this.

He said, “Uzziah, this is wrong! God made it clear that only a descendant of Aaron is allowed to offer incense to the Lord. Please, leave right now! You’re not honoring God in this.”

Uzziah became angry as he stood next to the altar with the censer in his hand. He couldn’t believe all the priests were so bold as to confront him on this. Suddenly leprosy appeared on his forehead. All of the priests saw it and rushed him out of the Temple. He willingly went with them because he knew the Lord was punishing him.

Uzziah had leprosy for the rest of his life. He had to stay away from other people, so he lived in isolation. Because of the leprosy, he wasn’t allowed to go into the Temple. He couldn’t even go into his own palace. His son Jotham lived there and ruled the people in the king’s stead.

Jotham became king after his father died. He followed the example of his father’s early years. He continued to build up the kingdom of Judah. He did what was right and became a powerful king.

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Thistle & The Cedar

148 – The Thistle and The Cedar

II Chronicles 25:1-28 II Kings 14:1-22

After Joash died, Amaziah became king of Judah. He started off as a good king, and followed the Lord for many years.

Eventually, he decided to attack Edom and bring them under his control. He organized an army of 300,000 soldiers. He then hired another 100,000 soldiers from Israel and paid them four tons of silver.

A man of God came with a message. “Don’t use soldiers from Israel. If you do, God will make sure you lose the battle.” 

The king said, “But what about the money I already paid them?”

The prophet said, “Don’t worry about that money. God is able to give you much more than that.”

So the king told the soldiers of Israel to go home. They became angry. Along the way they raided several cities of Judah and killed over 3,000 people.

While this was going on, the army of Judah marched south toward Edom. They won the battle and regained control over them. Unfortunately, Amaziah brought the gods of Edom back to Judah. He set them up and started worshiping them.

The Lord became angry and sent a prophet to speak to the king. “Why would you worship gods that weren’t able to protect their own people from your army?”

Before he could say any more, Amaziah said, “Stop talking! You’re not one of my counselors. Leave or I’ll have you killed.”

The prophet said, “Because you won’t listen to God’s message, he is going to punish you.”

So the Lord put in Amaziah’s heart the desire to go to war against Israel. The king sent a message to king Jehoash saying, “Come out and face me in battle.”

Jehoash sent a story back to Amaziah. He said, “A thistle sent a message to the cedar tree. He said, ‘I want to arrange a marriage between my son and your daughter.’ Suddenly an animal accidentally stepped on the thistle and crushed it.”

“Don’t be like the thistle. You had a good victory with Edom. Enjoy it, but don’t let pride lift you up. Stay home, because if you come after me, Judah will fall.”

God made sure Amaziah didn’t listen to this. The two armies went into battle and Judah was totally defeated. Their army ran from the battlefield.

Jehoash captured Amaziah and then took Jerusalem. Israel broke down 600 feet of the wall of Jerusalem. They took all the gold and silver from the Temple and the king’s palace.

Jehoash left Amaziah in Jerusalem and went back to Samaria. A group of men tried to kill Amaziah, but he escaped to another city. They hunted him down, and killed him there.

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Jonah & the Vine

147 – Jonah & the Vine

Jonah 3:1-4:11

Once again, God said to Jonah, “Leave right now and go to Nineveh. You’re to tell them I’m going to judge them because of their wickedness.” This time, Jonah immediately got up and went to Nineveh.

The city of Nineveh was extremely large. It took three days to walk from one side to the other. So Jonah started his walk across the city. He shouted, “God is going to destroy this city in 40 days!” 

The people of the city heard him preach and believed that what he said was true. They passed a law that said everyone was to fast—no exceptions. Everyone was to go without food, and they were to wear burlap sacks. They prayed and asked God to be merciful to them.

The king stepped down from his throne and laid aside his royal robes. He put on burlap sacks and sat on a pile of ashes. He sent out another law that said, “No one is to taste any food or water. That includes animals as well. Everyone is to wear burlap sacks, and stop any evil they are doing. Maybe God will change his mind and allow us to live.”

The Lord saw all they were doing. He knew they had turned away from their wickedness, so he stopped the judgment that was about to kill them and destroy their city.

Jonah was furious when he heard about this. He said, “I told you this would happen! I knew you were a merciful God. I knew you were quick to forgive. That’s exactly why I didn’t want to come here. That’s why I ran away. Kill me right now. I don’t want to live.”

The Lord said, “Do you think it’s right to be so angry about this?”

Jonah didn’t answer, but went to the east side of the city. He made a small shelter so he could sit and see exactly what God was going to do with the city.

While he was sitting there, God caused a vine to grow up next to him. The vine had large leaves, which provided shade from the hot sun. Jonah was pleased with the plant, and enjoyed the shade it provided.

The next morning, God caused a worm to attack the vine and kill it. As the sun got hot, the plant withered. Then God caused a hot east wind to blow on Jonah. As the day went by, the sun and the wind got hotter and hotter, and there was no vine to protect him. Jonah cried, “I don’t want to live anymore. I want to die!”

God said to him, “Is it right to be angry about the vine?”

“Yes, it’s right for me to be angry. I’m so mad I want to die.”

The Lord said, “You’re angry about a simple vine. You didn’t plant it. You didn’t water it. It came up one day and died the next.

“Shouldn’t I also care for the people of this city? If for no other reason, there are over 120,000 children living here, not to mention all the animals.”

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Death of Elisha

145 – Death of Elisha

2 Kings 13:1-25

After Jehu died, his son became king of Israel. Unfortunately he wasn’t a good king. Still, there was one time he desperately needed God’s help, and the Lord helped him.

After he died, his son Jehoash became king. During his reign, Elisha became sick and was about to die. The king knelt down beside the prophet’s bed and cried. He said, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” 

Elisha said to him, “Go get your bow and some arrows.”

The king went and got them. When he came back, the prophet said, “Grab the bow.” So the king grabbed the bow. The man of God then put his hand on top of Jehoash’s hand and said, “Now, open the window.”

The king opened the window. Elisha said, “Shoot an arrow out the window.” So Jehoash shot an arrow out the window.

Elisha said, “That was the Lord’s arrow of victory. You’ll have victory over Syria. Now grab a handful of arrows and hit them on the ground.”

Jehoash grabbed some arrows and hit the ground three times and stopped. The prophet yelled at him. “Why did you only hit the ground three times? You should’ve hit it five or six times. Then you would have totally defeated Syria and brought an end to them. Now you’ll only defeat them three times.”

Elisha died and was buried in a tomb. The following spring, some Israelites were conducting a funeral. Suddenly they saw some men coming, and realized they were Moabite raiders. The men from Israel threw the body into Elisha’s tomb and ran away. As soon as the body touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man came to life and stood up.

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