Sunday, June 30, 2013
Saturday, June 29, 2013
James 1:22-24
22 Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! 23 Those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, 24 walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Heb 4:1-3
For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God's goal for us, we need to be careful that we're not disqualified. 2 We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises with faith. 3 If we believe, though, we'll experience that state of resting. But not if we don't have faith.
And remember that faith is way more than just casual belief-it’s LIVING it too!
Heb 3:15-19
Today, please listen; don't turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising.
16 For who were the people who turned a deaf ear? Weren't they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And who was God provoked with for forty years? Wasn't it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness? 18 And when he swore that they'd never get where they were going, wasn't he talking to the ones who turned a deaf ear? 19 They never got there because they never listened, never believed
2 Tim 3:15-4:1
There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another — showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. 17 Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.
1 Tim 6:5-8
They think religion is a way to make a fast buck.
6 A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. 7 Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, 8 if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough!
This is how I live!
Phil 4:11-13
I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. 12 I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. 13 Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.
Human beings have changed salvation from something that God gives based on faith to something that they can earn by behavior! This is no different than the original Israelites who didn’t inherit the promised land so unless we want the same sentence we had better quit trusting ourselves and start trusting God!
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Phil 2:5-8
5 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. 6 He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. 7 Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! 8 Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death — and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.
Eph 2:7-10
7 Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. 8 Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! 9 We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! 10 No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Most people are not going to like this!
God’s Church (Christ’s body) is not a human organization! Many organizations that call themselves “Churches” are formed simply to make money on the Earth. However, the Bible makes it clear that this Earth will be recreated and when that happens, these Churches of today will be gone but people will live eternally. So with that being stated in the Bible the attachment to a local Church is greatly lessened.
Jesus said to a human: my Church will come from you, so the Church didn’t begin as a human organization and eternally it will not be a human organization but right now it is what humans have made it to be-an organization.
This is not my opinion and it can be verified if you read the Bible.
1 Cor 13:1-11
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2 If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.
3 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
4 Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
5 Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
6 Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
7 Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
8 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. 9 We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. 10 But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11 When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
1 Cor 3:6-9
God made you grow. 7 It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. 8 Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. 9 What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God's field in which I am working
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Rom 12:1-2
here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2 Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Acts 14:8-10
There was a man in Lystra who couldn't walk. He sat there, crippled since the day of his birth. 9 He heard Paul talking, and Paul, looking him in the eye, saw that he was ripe for God's work, ready to believe. 10 So he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Up on your feet!" The man was up in a flash — jumped up and walked around as if he'd been walking all his life.
This kind of thing is all through the scriptures!
Monday, June 24, 2013
John 13:14-17
So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other's feet. 15 I've laid e a pattern for you. What I've done, you do. 16 I'm only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn't give orders to the employer. 17 If you understand what I'm telling you, act like it — and live a blessed life.
Jesus was here because He cared for others and He told us to do the same thing!
Sunday, June 23, 2013
John 2:23-25
23 During the time he was in Jerusalem, those days of the Passover Feast, many people noticed the signs he was displaying and, seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to him. 24 But Jesus didn't entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. 25 He didn't need any help in seeing right through them.
God knows us inside and out
Luke 20:34-36
34 Jesus said, "Marriage is a major preoccupation here, 35 but not there. Those who are included in the resurrection of the dead will no longer be concerned with marriage 36 nor, of course, with death. They will have better things to think about, if you can believe it. All ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God
Jesus told a story:
Luke 19:12-27
12 "There was once a man descended from a royal house who needed to make a long trip back to headquarters to get authorization for his rule and then return. 13 But first he called ten servants together, gave them each a sum of money, and instructed them, 'Operate with this until I return.'
14 "But the citizens there hated him. So they sent a commission with a signed petition to oppose his rule: 'We don't want this man to rule us.'
15 "When he came back bringing the authorization of his rule, he called those ten servants to whom he had given the money to find out how they had done.
16 "The first said, 'Master, I doubled your money.'
17 "He said, 'Good servant! Great work! Because you've been trustworthy in this small job, I'm making you governor of ten towns.'
18 "The second said, 'Master, I made a fifty percent profit on your money.'
19 "He said, 'I'm putting you in charge of five towns.'
20 "The next servant said, 'Master, here's your money safe and sound. I kept it hidden in the cellar. 21 To tell you the truth, I was a little afraid. I know you have high standards and hate sloppiness, and don't suffer fools gladly.'
22 "He said, 'You're right that I don't suffer fools gladly — and you've acted the fool! 23 Why didn't you at least invest the money in securities so I would have gotten a little interest on it?'
24 "Then he said to those standing there, 'Take the money from him and give it to the servant who doubled my stake.'
25 "They said, 'But Master, he already has double . . .'
26 "He said, 'That's what I mean: Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.
27 "'As for these enemies of mine who petitioned against my rule, clear them out of here. I don't want to see their faces around here again.'"
This world doesn’t want God to be their king and we, his creations, are the servants to whom he has given an investment of His and what we do with that investment He will evaluate what we have done with it and we will be rewarded based on what we have done
Jesus said:
Luke 18:9-14
He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: 10 "Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. 11 The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: 'Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people — robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. 12 I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.'
13 "Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, 'God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.'"
14 Jesus commented, "This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself."
Luke 17:11-19
11 It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance 13 but raised their voices, calling out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"
14 Taking a good look at them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."
They went, and while still on their way, became clean. 15 One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. 16 He kneeled at Jesus' feet, so grateful. He couldn't thank him enough — and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus said, "Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? 18 Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?" 19 Then he said to him, "Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you."
In this example regardless of their faith, all were physically headed but the one glorifying God was saved
Jesus said:
Luke 13:24-27
"Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life — to God! — is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you'll sit down to God's salvation banquet just because you've been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. 25 Well, one day you're going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you'll find the door locked and the Master saying, 'Sorry, you're not on my guest list.'
26 "You'll protest, 'But we've known you all our lives!' 27 only to be interrupted with his abrupt, 'Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don't know the first thing about me.'
Luke 13:6-9
6 Then Jesus told them a story: "A man had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it expecting to find apples, but there weren't any. 7 He said to his gardener, 'What's going on here? For three years now I've come to this tree expecting apples and not one apple have I found. Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?'
8 "The gardener said, 'Let's give it another year. I'll dig around it and fertilize, 9 and maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn't, then chop it down.'"
God is waiting for you to be productive
Jesus said:
Luke 13:1-3
About that time some people came up and told him about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar. 2 Jesus responded, "Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you too will die
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Luke 10:29-37
he asked, "And just how would you define 'neighbor'?" 30 Jesus answered by telling a story. "There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. 31 Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. 32 Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
33 "A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. 34 He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. 35 In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill — I'll pay you on my way back.'
36 "What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?"
37 "The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, "Go and do the same."
Luke 8:53-56
They knew she was dead.
54 Then Jesus, gripping her hand, called, "My dear child, get up." 55 She was up in an instant, up and breathing again! He told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were ecstatic, but Jesus warned them to keep quiet. "Don't tell a soul what happened in this room."
The message of God is not about what you can see which makes sense because God can’t be seen!
Luke 7:40-43
40 Jesus said to him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Oh? Tell me."
41 "Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. 42 Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?"
43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one who was forgiven the most."
"That's right," said Jesus
I owed the most
Luke 7:28-30
No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer, but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him. 29 The ordinary and disreputable people who heard John, by being baptized by him into the kingdom, are the clearest evidence; 30 the Pharisees and religious officials would have nothing to do with such a baptism, wouldn't think of giving up their place in line to their inferiors.
God's version of history and yours may be different!
Luke 7:6-7
6 Jesus went with them. When he was still quite far from the house, the captain sent friends to tell him, "Master, you don't have to go to all this trouble. I'm not that good a person, you know. I'd be embarrassed for you to come to my house, 7 even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well
Jesus can heal you EVEN if He’s not there in person!
Luke 6:47-49
47 These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.
48 "If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. 49 But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss."
So which carpenter are you?
Luke 6:47-49
47 These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.
48 "If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. 49 But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss."
Jesus said: Luke 6:47 47 These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.
Jesus said:
Luke 6:47
47 These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.
Luke 6:26
26 There's trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests — look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.
Your purpose in being here to be true not popular…
Luke 6:20-22
You're blessed when you've lost it all.
God's kingdom is there for the finding.
21 You're blessed when you're ravenously hungry.
Then you're ready for the Messianic meal.
You're blessed when the tears flow freely.
Joy comes with the morning.
22 "Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable.”
In short: You’re blessed when you quit depending on yourself and only depend on God!
Luke 5:14
14 Jesus instructed him, "Don't talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed self to the priest, along with the offering ordered by Moses. Your cleansed and obedient life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done."
Your cleansed and obedient life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done; not that he had been physically healed but how he lived, which is no different for me!
In Jesus’ time, people were looking for that “one thing” that would get them by and relieve their fears and people are still looking for that same thing today and unfortunately they tend to turn to the things of this world instead of to God but God is very patient and is letting them do it but He uses people like me to try to turn them to Him
Friday, June 21, 2013
Mark 14:35-36
35 Jesus fell to the ground and prayed for a way out: 36 "Papa, Father, you can — can't you? — get me out of this. Take this cup away from me. But please, not what I want — what do you want?"
Even Jesus (God’s son) knew that He was not in the driver’s seat and as His body-we have to know that too!
Mark 12:41-42
41 Sitting across from the offering box, he was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. 42 One poor widow came up and put in two small coins — a measly two cents.
She couldn’t “see” any benefit to what she was doing-she just did it!
Mark 12:1-9
Jesus started telling them stories. "A man planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, erected a watchtower, turned it over to the farmhands, and went off on a trip. 2 At the time for harvest, he sent a servant back to the farmhands to collect his profits.
3 "They grabbed him, beat him up, and sent him off empty-handed. 4 So he sent another servant. That one they tarred and feathered. 5 He sent another and that one they killed. And on and on, many others. Some they beat up, some they killed.
6 "Finally there was only one left: a beloved son. In a last-ditch effort, he sent him, thinking, 'Surely they will respect my son.'
7 "But those farmhands saw their chance. They rubbed their hands together in greed and said, 'This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' 8 They grabbed him, killed him, and threw him over the fence.
9 "What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? Right. He'll come and clean house. Then he'll assign the care of the vineyard to others.
This story is about God sending His son to the earth-and I don’t want to be included in the house cleaning!
Mark 7:32-35
32 Some people brought a man who could neither hear nor speak and asked Jesus to lay a healing hand on him. 33 He took the man off by himself, put his fingers in the man's ears and some spit on the man's tongue. 34 Then Jesus looked up in prayer, groaned mightily, and commanded, "Ephphatha! — Open up!" 35 And it happened
It wasn’t WHAT HE DID, it was His prayer that did it!
Mark 4:26-29
Then Jesus said, "God's kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man 27 who then goes to bed and forgets about it. The seed sprouts and grows — he has no idea how it happens. 28 The earth does it all without his help: first a green stem of grass, then a bud, then the ripened grain. 29 When the grain is fully formed, he reaps — harvest time!
He can’t see what happens but he does get the end result!
Jesus said:
Mark 4:14-20
The farmer plants the Word. 15 Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.
16 "And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm. 17 But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.
18 "The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news 19 but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.
20 "But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams.
Based on what I can see things seem VERY NORMAL , however based on the word of God, reality is not based on what I can see it’s based on what I can’t see! No one has ever seen God but He is real therefore reality is based on Him who can’t be seen therefore reality is based on what can’t be seen and my eternity is based on that
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Mark 2:3-12
3 They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. 4 When they weren't able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. 5 Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, "Son, I forgive your sins."
6 Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves, 7 "He can't talk that way! That's blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins."
8 Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, "Why are you so skeptical? 9 Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, 'I forgive your sins,' or say, 'Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking'? 10 Well, just so it's clear that I'm the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both . . ." (he looked now at the paraplegic), 11 "Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home." 12 And the man did it — got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him.
It can happen!
Churches don’t teach this: baptism is a human’s physical way of reenacting the death, burial & resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s much more than following the rules and getting wet! When you go into the water it is like the crucifixion, then when you go under the water it is like the burial in the ground and when you come up from the water it is like Jesus’ resurrection from the dead AND to top it off-it is ALL done by someone else-hence you are not in the driver’s seat at all!
Matt 26:40-41
40 When Jesus came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, "Can't you stick it out with me a single hour? 41 Stay alert; be in prayer so you don't wander into temptation without even knowing you're in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there's another part that's as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire."
This is an example that we are to never give up
Matt 22:1-14
Jesus responded by telling still more stories. 2 "God's kingdom," he said, "is like a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests. And they wouldn't come!
4 "He sent out another round of servants, instructing them to tell the guests, 'Look, everything is on the table, the prime rib is ready for carving. Come to the feast!'
5 "They only shrugged their shoulders and went off, one to weed his garden, another to work in his shop. 6 The rest, with nothing better to do, beat up on the messengers and then killed them. 7 The king was outraged and sent his soldiers to destroy those thugs and level their city.
8 "Then he told his servants, 'We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren't up to it. 9 Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.' 10 The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on — every place filled.
11 "When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn't properly dressed. 12 He said to him, 'Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!' The man was speechless. 13 Then the king told his servants, 'Get him out of here — fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn't get back in.'
14 "That's what I mean when I say, 'Many get invited; only a few make it.'"
Matt 21:33-42
"Here's another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. 34 When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits.
35 "The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. 36 The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. 37 The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. 'Surely,' he thought, 'they will respect my son.'
38 "But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. 'This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' 39 They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him.
40 "Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?"
41 "He'll kill them — a rotten bunch, and good riddance," they answered. "Then he'll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it's time."
42 Jesus said, "Right — and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles
This story is about God sending Jesus to the Earth
Matt 21:28-31
"Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, 'Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.'
29 "The son answered, 'I don't want to.' Later on he thought better of it and went.
30 "The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, 'Sure, glad to.' But he never went.
31 "Which of the two sons did what the father asked?"
They said, "The first."
Jesus said, "Yes, and I tell you that crooks and whores are going to precede you into God's kingdom.
Matt 21:18-20
Early the next morning Jesus was returning to the city. He was hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree alongside the road, he approached it anticipating a breakfast of figs. When he got to the tree, there was nothing but fig leaves. He said, "No more figs from this tree — ever!" The fig tree withered on the spot, a dry stick. 20 The disciples saw it happen. They rubbed their eyes, saying, "Did we really see this? A leafy tree one minute, a dry stick the next?"
If Jesus could do this then can you imagine what He will do at judgment?
Matt 21:12-13
Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants. 13 He quoted this text:
My house was designated a house of prayer;
You have made it a hangout for thieves.
Does your Church sell things?
Matt 20:1-16
"God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work.
3 "Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. 4 He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. 5 They went.
"He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. 6 At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?' 7 "They said, 'Because no one hired us.'
"He told them to go to work in his vineyard.
8 "When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.'
9 "Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. 10 When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. 11 Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 12'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.'
13 "He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? 14 So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. 15 Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?'
16 "Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."
Matt 18:15-17
15 "If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him — work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. 16 If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. 17 If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.
The Church of Christ uses this as their reason for withdrawal from people but they don’t use the part about God’s forgiving love. If you cut people off then you can’t how them God’s forgiving love!
Matt 18:1-4
At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, "Who gets the highest rank in God's kingdom?"
2 For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, 3 and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. 4 Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom.
Do children go to college and get degrees? NO!
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Matt 16:24-26
Jesus went to work on his disciples. "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. 25 Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. 26 What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?
You're NOT in the driver's seat
Jesus said:
Matt 11:28-30
28 "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. 29 Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. 30 Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
So religion is not the answer…
Jesus said:
Matt 10:34-39
34 "Don't think I've come to make life cozy. I've come to cut — 35 make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law — cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. 36 Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. 37 If you prefer father or mother over me, you don't deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don't deserve me.
38 "If you don't go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don't deserve me. 39 If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me.
Jesus said:
Matt 10:26-27
26 "Don't be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. 27 So don't hesitate to go public now.
So…reality is not yet reality! Someday it will be and our task is just to show that there’s more that will come later
Jesus said:
Matt 10:21
When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family
Another way of saying it is: When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not eye candy to make them feel good they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family
Matt 8:5-12
5 As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, 6 "Master, my servant is sick. He can't walk. He's in terrible pain."
7 Jesus said, "I'll come and heal him."
8 "Oh, no," said the captain. "I don't want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. 9 I'm a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
10 Taken aback, Jesus said, "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works. 11 This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions — streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God's kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 12 Then those who grew up 'in the faith' but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened."
That is the kind of faith that we need!
Jesus said:
Matt 7:24-27
These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. 25 Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit — but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
26 "But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. 27 When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
Jesus said:
Matt 7:22-23
22 I can see it now — at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' 23 And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
Jesus said:
Matt 5:14-16
You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. 15 If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. 16 Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand — shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
So “success” is VERY DIFFERENT from what we are taught…
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
The Bible begins with God creating the Earth and the human race so the Earth is God’s land and human beings are His creations. So some day God will judge us and if we pass then we will live eternally with Him but if not, we will live eternally without Him; so it pays eternally to read & follow the Bible because it is His word and His letter to us
Hos 13:4-6
I'm still your GOD, the God who saved you out of Egypt. I'm the only real God you've ever known. I'm the one and only God who delivers. 5 I took care of you during the wilderness hard times, those years when you had nothing. 6 I took care of you, took care of all your needs, gave you everything you needed.
Remember: God never changes
Dan 10:7-8
I, Daniel, was the only one to see this. The men who were with me, although they didn't see it, were overcome with fear and ran off and hid, fearing the worst. 8 Left alone after the appearance, abandoned by my friends
Other people won’t GET what you say so you’ll feel alone but you’re not alone because God is there
Dan 3:23-26
the fire raged around Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
24 Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm and said, "Didn't we throw three men, bound hand and foot, into the fire?"
"That's right, O king," they said.
25 "But look!" he said. "I see four men, walking around freely in the fire, completely unharmed! And the fourth man looks like a son of the gods!"
26 Nebuchadnezzar went to the door of the roaring furnace and called in, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the High God, come out here!"
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked out of the fire.
What we “think” doesn’t apply to real reality because nothing is impossible with God
Dan 3:16-18
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, "Your threat means nothing to us. 17 If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. 18 But even if he doesn't, it wouldn't make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn't serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up."
This is HUGE! People will threaten us, but we won’t give in to them because of our faith in God! NOT because our belief will save us but because we believe! It’s not about what we WILL personally get—it’s about who God IS and our faith in that!
Dan 2:26-28
26 The king asked Daniel (renamed in Babylonian, Belteshazzar), "Are you sure you can do this — tell me the dream I had and interpret it for me?"
27 Daniel answered the king, "No mere human can solve the king's mystery, I don't care who it is — no wise man, enchanter, magician, diviner. 28 But there is a God in heaven who solves mysteries, and he has solved this one
Daniel didn’t say: of course I can! I have a degree! NO! He said: …there is a God in heaven who can…
Dan 1:17
7 God gave these four young men knowledge and skill in both books and life. In addition, Daniel was gifted in understanding all sorts of visions and dreams
IT DOESN’T SAY THAT DANIEL WAS SMART BECAUSE HE HAD A DEGREE…NO-IT SAYS THAT GOD GAVE IT TO THEM! They didn’t have to go into financial debt for it! God gave it to them!
Sunday, June 16, 2013
It’s extremely important not to assume that success with God is the same as success with the world! Think about it-the world is managed by Satan who was thrown out of Heaven to Earth and he (from the beginning) is anti-God and he WILL get people to follow him which is no surprise because he loses in eternity and God is anti-Satan, so who to follow is pretty clear!
As a person you CAN achieve a lot on Earth by following the rules but it takes more than following the rules to get a good eternity. If following the rules was sufficient then the law would’ve worked but it didn’t and Jesus was needed so don’t waste your time trying to follow the rules instead read your Bible!
Having a real life on-going relationship with God is not an education where you have to get things right or wrong because if you focus on salvation as a test then you won’t be saved. Salvation isn’t a business deal OR a law that you will pass or fail; it is based on the real you aka your heart and it will last eternally
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
This is about Jesus:
Isa 53:2-10
2 The servant grew up before God — a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. 3 He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. 4 But the fact is, it was our pains he carried — our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. 5 But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him — our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. 6 We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost. We've all done our own thing, gone our own way. And GOD has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong, on him, on him. 7 He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn't say a word. Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in silence. 8 Justice miscarried, and he was led off — and did anyone really know what was happening? He died without a thought for his own welfare, beaten bloody for the sins of my people. 9 They buried him with the wicked, threw him in a grave with a rich man, Even though he'd never hurt a soul or said one word that wasn't true.
10 Still, it's what GOD had in mind all along, to crush him with pain. The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin so that he'd see life come from it — life, life, and more life.
After reading this and knowing that you are His body, do you have anything to complain about?
Isa 30:15
GOD, the Master, The Holy of Israel, has this solemn counsel: "Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves. Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me — The very thing you've been unwilling to do.
…your salvation requires…
Isa 26:1-4
We have a strong city, Salvation City, built and fortified with salvation. 2 Throw wide the gates so good and true people can enter. 3 People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole, Steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don't quit. 4 Depend on GOD and keep at it
Isa 9:6-7
a child has been born — for us!
the gift of a son — for us!
He'll take over
the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
7 His ruling authority will grow,
and there'll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He'll rule from the historic David throne
over that promised kingdom.
He'll put that kingdom on a firm footing
and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies
will do all this.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
The BIG difference between God’s kingdom (where you want to spend eternity) and this world (the Earth) is the way you as a person are evaluated. On Earth people evaluate each other based on abilities but in God’s kingdom He evaluates you based on your faith. On Earth if you pass the evaluation then you succeed which lasts only for your life on Earth whereas in God’s kingdom if you pass then you are granted access to that for an eternity.
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