Matthew 11:5 - No Direct Answer

Matthew 11:5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosytare cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor


Jesus gives the disciples of John a list of the things He is doing. Ever notice that Jesus hardly ever just gives a straight answer.  "Are you the one...?"  the straight answer would be "YES"  but instead He is always helping us by giving just enough information so that we can learn and figure things out from the inside.  When we are told something we have resistance of many sorts, but when we discover things from the inside, by way of the Holy Spirit we will have the tendency to learn in a deeper way and retain that information in a more meaningful and useful manner.
APPLICATION
I need to learn to ask more questions and help others to figure out stuff instead of just telling them what to do. Today I will not answer any question directly to see what transpires.

Matthew 11:3 - Cast Down the Doubt

^{Matt. 11:3} to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Wait a minute, here we have documented proof of John the baptist having a crisis of faith. Isn't this the person who leapt in his mother's womb at the mention of Christ's announcement.  Is this not the cousin of Jesus himself, who watched in awe at what an amazing and perfect person Jesus was. Indeed this is the man who heard the audible thunderous voice of God proclaim that this Jesus was the very son of God and that in Him the Father is well pleased. Did not John announce to his own disciples that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Did not John recognize that he himself would have to decrease as Jesus would increase? 
So WWhaaaaat? 
Why is John all of a sudden unsure of who Jesus is. Now with this mountain of physical evidence, knowing Jesus personally better than any other, watching his life, having an aunt called the blessed mother, come on Hearing God Himself... even this, all of this and still doubt. It makes me realize the fullness of the verse that says that we who do not see yet still believe are even more blessed. So take heart dear ones, we will all have bouts with doubt. The question is what do we do with our doubt when it arrives, and indeed it is guaranteed to arrive some day. 

APPLICATION

I commit to doubt my doubt and not the Word of my Savior. When the doubt comes I will examine that doubt in light of the faithfulness of God. I will trace the origin of that doubt to old sulphur breath himself and denounce, cast down every speculation that dares exalt itself over the Word of God. And replace the lie with the truth, for which I stand, by Grace.

Matthew 11:2 Trying Times Call for Dominion Over the Flesh

^{Matt. 11:2} When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples.
What were the deeds of the Messiah? The lame were walking the blind were seeing, He even healed the servant of a Roman centurion. Here John sits in his prison cell and is bewildered, Jesus is helping everyone else and yet here he sits in the dark and dank prison cell. He is even helping outsiders, a centurion's servant, yet I am His cousin and am in trouble for standing up for righteousness sake and yet no help from the Messiah??? Whaaaat?? 


It is very easy from our personal perspective (which is always self centered) to conclude that we are suffering an injustice. It is only from the big picture perspective that we can understand the fulness of God's Plan.  

Psalm 46:10

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

Isaiah 55:9

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Of course when we couple these verses with the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 that God's plan is to bless us and not to harm us we are confronted with the crossroads of faith. Do I believe God at His Word or do I act according to the circumstances that I see.  Sometimes the things I see are so compelling and overwhelming that I cannot look past them.  That is the time to call for a fast. Because when the flesh is vexed and pressed in on all sides then the spirit is weak. When the circumstances call for Spiritual strength I need to feed my spirit by starving the flesh.

APPLICATION

I will fast this week on Wednesday in order to increase my faith, regarding the issues that circumstantially seem vexing.

Galatians 6:4 - Your Personal Best

Gal. 6:4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else.

This is the proof text of looking into the mirror instead of looking out the window. We are so inclined to compare ourselves to others, why? If we see that we are better than the next guy then we feel good about ourselves but that can lead to mediocrity for the obvious reasons. Mediocrity is average. Average is not special, in fact it is boring and mundane so if you are satisfied with boring and mundane then just keep on comparing your self to others around you and you will remain plain and mundane. Average is playing not to lose, But if you believe that God has great things in store for you and that you are destined to achieve great things for Him then you will need to play all out, at full volume. In order to do that we need to keep our eyes on the prize and compare ourselves only to the perfect one, Jesus who is our only example of how to live.

I need to remind myself every time I compare myself to someone else that it only relegates me to being average, and average is unacceptable.