During this time of Rapid Change, We Need to Connect to Christ and the Message He Has for Us in the Bible.
I wanted easier access for you to get the whole book to read for free.
This
book is dedicated to God who inspires me on a daily basis through Bible passages that touch and influence my life.
He has provided me with wonderful family, friends and co-workers. These wonderful people have supported me,
listened to me or have given me feedback throughout the writing process. They did this regardless of whether my
interpretations were similar to theirs, or not.
I feel truly blessed!
D. S.
Special Thanks go to Bev,
who spent many long hours helping to edit this.
Foreword
In much the same way that Reality shows allow the
observer to take a glimpse into another person’s life, thoughts and decisions,
this book allows you a very candid, enlightening glimpse into my personal and
spiritual life. The Reality show doesn’t
just portray the strengths of the person observed. It also portrays the weaknesses, as does this
book. Reading the Bible on a daily basis
has positively enriched my life in ways that go far beyond literal
interpretation.
Although this book has the potential of being
controversial, it is not my intent to offend any person, group or religious
belief. I feel obliged to honestly
express how the selected Bible passages have influenced my life and would be
negligent, as an author and a Christian, to do anything less.
It’s my desire for readers of all ages and religious
backgrounds to find that reading the Bible never becomes outdated and continues
to hold personal significance for all types of readers of the new millennium.
D.S.
Bible Passages That Can Influence Your Life
Would you believe that a fable got me started
reading the Bible? In 1980, someone said
something to me about, “god helps him who helps himself,” and referred to it
being in the Bible. I had heard this
saying over the years, but realized it contradicted some other things I had
read in the Bible. I looked through the
Concordance at the back of my Bible but couldn’t find this passage
anywhere. Perplexed, I decided the only
way I would know if it was in the Bible was for me to read it from cover to
cover for myself. Now, this decision
wasn’t based solely on my frustration about this quote. I had a neighbor who quoted different
contradictory things from the Bible, as well.
I figured that I needed to read the Bible to see what God really said
about the topics the neighbor kept referring to. I get concerned when people quote passages
from the Bible out of context, making them sound the way they want.
Well, it’s twenty-three years later and I have
completely read the Bible from cover to cover sixteen plus times. “God helps him who helps himself,” is not in
it anywhere! Actually, the Bible says
that we are supposed to turn to God for our every need, trusting that He will
provide for us (paraphrased.)
I was frustrated as I continued to hear people quote
this, because I couldn’t figure out where people got it. Most of the people who used this quote, said
it as if they thought it came from the Bible.
Well, I finally have closure on this…after all this time!
I was reading some Aesop’s Fables to my
students. They have to be able to
identify the moral of a story for a test they have in the spring. I decided that I could help them be more
successful on the test if I had them identify the morals from Aesop’s
Fables. Well, after reading “Hercules and the Wagoner,” I finally
realized where “god helps him who helps himself” came from. It’s from this fable! The moral written for this fable is “Self
help is the best help” and “Heaven helps those who help themselves.”
When they are talking about god, they aren’t talking
about God. They are talking about the
mythological character, Hercules. I bet
most people haven’t the slightest idea that they are quoting a fable instead of
the Bible.
This may seem like a trivial thing, but it has been
a confusing issue to me for twenty-three years and now it’s resolved! I feel so relieved and wanted to share this
with others. Actually, this has really
worked out well in the long run. If it
hadn’t been for my inability to find this quote in the Bible, I might not have
been motivated to read the Bible from cover to cover. I enjoy reading it so much that I continue to
read it from cover to cover again and again.
Every time I read it, I get something new out of it.
Particular passages in the Bible have really
influenced my life and have molded my relationship with God. I felt led to share these with you, since
they may have a similar impact on your life, as well.
Whenever someone quotes Bible passages, it’s really
good to read them for yourself. You should
read a portion before and after the passage.
This helps you know if people are pulling these passages from the Bible
out of context, distorting the meaning by making it sound the way they want.
I use the King James Bible for my quotes which tends
to spell things somewhat differently than we do (example: labour for
labor). In order to keep the passages
just as they are in the Bible, I use the exact spellings, punctuation,
capitalizations or lack thereof in order to not alter the passage. I do attempt to explain what these passages
mean to me, or I describe how they have influenced my life.
I’m not a minister and don’t profess to be one, but
I feel that reading the Bible can influence your life, as well. Will it impact your life in exactly the same
way? Probably not, the Bible is a very
personal thing. If 1,000 different
people read the Bible, there would be 1,000 different interpretations. Every time I read the Bible, passages I have
read before often mean something totally different to me, depending on what is
going on in my life at the time. God
uses the Bible as a means of communicating His personal message for each and
every one of us.
Reading the Bible may seem like a major undertaking
for some of you. Actually, after you get
through the “thee’s” and “thou’s,” it’s not as difficult to understand as you
might think. A chapter in the Bible isn’t like a chapter in a novel. A Bible chapter is generally about one to two
columns long. It’s hardly ever longer
than a page or two, at most. I read at
least one to two chapters a day for about 10-15 minutes. It takes me an anywhere from one year to two
years to read the Bible from cover to cover, depending on how many chapters I
read each day. It’s so rewarding that
you might consider reading it yourself!
The quiet time I have with God each day as I read the Bible, sets a
positive tone for my day and my life.
I was just beginning to read the New Testament when
I started writing this book. That’s why
the New Testament is written first and the Old Testament is written
afterward. After I finished writing the
book, I had thought about cutting and pasting the Old Testament first but
realized it wouldn’t work. As I wrote
the book, I made comments about passages and referred back to them at other
times. If I put the Old Testament in the
beginning, some of the comments I share with you would be out of sequence. I am hoping that leaving the book in this
order doesn’t cause a problem for anyone.
If it does, I apologize in advance, but still feel this book has many
redeeming qualities, more significant than whether the Old Testament is listed
first or second.
The passages in italics are from the
Bible. Otherwise, they are my personal
comments on how these passages have influenced my life. I also try to capitalize any reference to
God/Jesus out of respect, which makes it easier for you to follow who is
speaking or being spoken to. I may group
similar passages from the Bible together so that you have an approximate idea
of how many times God stresses a particular topic. The sheer number of times that God has had
something mentioned in the Bible has led me to make changes in my life. Although you may not relate to these passages
in the same ways I have, the reader can be influenced by the Bible in a way
that is personally significant to them.
………………………………………………………………………………
Then was Jesus
led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty
nights, He was afterward an hungered.
And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be the Son of God,
command that these stones be made bread.
But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God. Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 1-4.
When I was a child, I saw a big bowl of my mother’s
home-made butterscotch pudding sitting on the kitchen cupboard. I looked around and couldn’t see anyone, so I
sneaked over to the bowl and ran my finger around the side of the bowl. I ever so carefully got a small amount of
pudding on my pudgy finger and licked it off.
I thought I was going to get off “Scott free” but I
didn’t realize there were spies about and a bounty on pudding thieves. After being told the pudding had to be thrown
out because I had gotten germs all over it, my consequence was to be sent to my
room. Instead of being remorseful for
what I did, my thoughts were, “If I had known the pudding would be thrown out,
I would have eaten a whole bunch instead of a little bit. That would have made my consequence much more
worthwhile.”
I gave in to these temptations and lost my
perspective of right and wrong and I hadn’t even been fasting for forty days
like Jesus. In fact, I had eaten a
filling lunch but still was vulnerable to the lure dangled in front of me. Now some might think that this isn’t a major
sin but don’t realize that Satan works in very subtle ways to get us to
rationalize our actions. He is able to
lead us astray without our ever realizing it.
Fortunately for me, Jesus didn’t give in to the temptations for food,
status or power that we often fall prey to.
Here are some related passages:
*Then the
devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the
temple, And saith unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down: for
it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee; and in their
hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a
stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written
again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 5-7.
*Again, the
devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the
kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them: And saith unto Him, all these
things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence,
Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only
shalt thou serve. Matthew, Chapter 4, verses
8-10.
………………………………………………………………………………
And Jesus,
walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew
his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And He saith unto them, Follow Me and I will
make you fishers of men. And they
straightway left their nets, and followed Him.
Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 18-20.
I remember getting a round hot pad called a “Round
Tuit.” It’s a gag gift you give to
people who always answer that they will do things when they get “around to
it.” I realize that the disciples didn’t
even know Jesus, but when He asked them to be fishers of men, the disciples
dropped everything, no questions asked.
In contrast, here I am asking for a “Round Tuit” saying by my actions,
“Well, I’m busy right now, God, but I might talk to others about the impact
You’ve left on my life when I get around to it.”
Here are some related passages:
*And going on
from thence, He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his
brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called
them. And they immediately left the ship
and their father and followed Him.
Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 21-22.
*And another
of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my
father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow
Me; and let the dead bury their dead.
Matthew, Chapter 8, verses 21-22.
*And as Jesus
passed forth from thence, He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt
of custom: and He saith unto him, Follow Me, And he arose, and followed
Him. Matthew, Chapter 9, verse 9.
*So when they
had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more
than these? He saith unto Him, Yea,
Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee. He
saith unto him, Feed My lambs. He saith
unto him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord: Thou knowest
that I love Thee. He saith unto him,
Feed My sheep. He saith unto him the
third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest Thou Me? Peter was grieved because He said unto him
the third time, Lovest thou Me? And he
said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love
Thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed My
sheep. John, Chapter 21, verses 15-17.
………………………………………………………………………………
And He opened
His Mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall
see God. Blessed are the peacemakers:
for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of
evil against you falsely, for My sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for
so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matthew, Chapter 5, verses 2-12.
I picture this as a pep talk with Jesus as the coach
of a team of Christians. He might say
something like, “Of course there are teams that get ahead because they do
unethical things, and the ones focused on playing a good honest game on earth
don’t get ahead. I know the team takes a
hit for playing the game ethically and sometimes gets laughed at. I know you definitely don’t rake in the big
bucks and status the way other players do.
I promise that you will have your compensation in heaven for all your
hard work and sacrifice on My behalf.
Your efforts never go unnoticed and will be repaid. Keep up the good work and don’t let the world
get you down!”
Here is a related passage:
*And every one
that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or
wife, or children, or lands, for My Name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold,
and shall inherit everlasting life.
Matthew, Chapter 19, verse 29.
………………………………………………………………………………
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be
hid. Neither do men light a candle, and
put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick: and it giveth light unto all that
are in the house. Let your light so
shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father
which is in heaven. Matthew, Chapter 5,
verses 14-16.
I’ve kept my relationship with God hidden under a
bushel for most of my life. I’m not much
for walking door to door to talk to strangers about God. I haven’t done much to try to actively
convert people. I guess writing this
book isn’t any big-time “shining” when you think about it. I’m sharing this information in a low risk
fashion. I need to make more of an
attempt to take the risks that God needs me to on His behalf. I guess I have to start somewhere and this is
it. I will see where God leads me from
here.
………………………………………………………………………………
Ye have heard
that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say
unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart.
Matthew, Chapter 5, verses 27-28.
This makes me think of when I am attracted to
particular male movie stars and have thought inappropriate things that only God
knows about. He also knows all the times
that I think mean, hateful things about other people. Of course, no one else knows these things
except for God and me, but I just stuff them under my spiritual rug like
someone who can’t find a dustpan. God
sees what I think and what’s under my rug, so I need to start “cleaning house”
soon!
………………………………………………………………………………
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an
eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other side
also. Matthew, Chapter 5, verses 38-39.
When frustrated with someone who has been rude or
insensitive to me, it’s really easy for me to say something back, displaying
less than Christian behavior. I may not
say something rude, but if I pull an attitude, harboring hatred or resentment
toward that person, I haven’t genuinely turned the other cheek. It’s important for me to remember to turn my
feelings over to God when these occasions arise.
………………………………………………………………………………
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt
love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you: That ye may be the
children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on
the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For
if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? Matthew, Chapter 5, verses 43-46.
God isn’t asking me to ignore hurtful and spiteful
things that people do because I am a Christian.
He is asking me to go further than that. He wants me to be nice to them in return,
despite their actions and to pray for them.
I think we are much better examples of our beliefs when we don’t stoop
to the same level as others, but it’s difficult at times. God can take care of my pride if I ask Him
to, making me a better example of how He works in my life.
………………………………………………………………………………
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be
seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in
heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine
alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their
reward. But when thou doest alms, let
not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in
secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee
openly. Matthew, Chapter 6, verses 1-4.
This passage makes me very aware that I need to be
discreet about giving to the church and other charities. I remember that there was a time in my life
that I routinely did favors and nice things for others. What I really was waiting for was a “thank
you” or what I call a “Good Debbie.” I
was waiting for someone else to tell me what a wonderful person I was as if to
validate my existence here on earth.
I realize my goal as a Christian is to do nice
things discreetly. So now I do them for
God and not the “Good Debbie’s”. The
good works we do for others shouldn’t be to show off or to prove to others what
good Christians we are. They should be
out of our love for Jesus.
………………………………………………………………………………
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as
hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the
corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matthew, Chapter 6, verses 5-6.
God wants me to be discreet when I pray, as
well. I shouldn’t do it in a way that
attracts other people’s attention, especially when to do so might put me in the
position to gain the respect or admiration of others. My prayers aren’t for personal gain but are
my personal communication with God.
………………………………………………………………………………
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the
heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much
speaking. Matthew, Chapter 6, verse 7.
I get caught up in thinking that I’m saying these
wonderful prayers, but I recognize that they don’t mean anything if I’m
daydreaming about situations at work or what I need to get at the store. I realize that when I say the same prayers
over and over without thinking about what I’m saying to God, they ARE vain
repetitions! God doesn’t want me just
going through the motions when I pray.
He wants any communication I have with Him to be meaningful enough to
focus on it.
Here is a related passage:
*This people
draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their lips; but
their heart is far from Me. But in vain
they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew, Chapter 15, verses 8-9.
………………………………………………………………………………
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew, Chapter 6, verses 14-15.
Every time I pray, I ask God to forgive all of my
sins, but do I do the same? I find
myself harboring resentment towards others instead of letting it go. I find that if I hold onto hatred, anger or
resentment, which eats at me, I’m not the example that God wants me to be in my
everyday life. I can set a better
Christian example by forgiving others, letting God take the resentment away
when I ask Him. One of the best ways I
have to let my “light shine” for God is by being an example of how He works in
my life.
………………………………………………………………………………
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of
a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto
men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine
head, and wash thy face, That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy
Father which is in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward
thee openly. Matthew, Chapter 6, verses
16-18.
I remember when I was little, the neighbor kids and
I would gloat in front of others by saying things like, “Ha, ha, ha. I have a new bike and you don’t!” These statements were to bring about the envy
of some and the admiration of others.
Well, as Christians, we are tempted to “show off” for the very same
reasons.
I realized through this passage that God doesn’t
want me to be a martyr, getting the attention of others when I fast or do
things for Him. That draws too much
attention to me. There’s the possibility
that I might get caught up in trying to be a “Show off Christian” so others
will see how pious I am.
I fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, because it’s
my way of trying to focus on all the suffering Jesus went through for us. When I fast, I need to make sure not to draw
undue attention to myself. That’s
exactly what would happen if I sat with others at work and made it very
apparent that I wasn’t eating anything.
Now I develop a plan to do it in a manner that doesn’t let anyone else
know what I’m doing.
The feeling I get when we read the Bible is that
anything we do for God should be done privately. Drawing attention to ourselves and what we
are doing for Him is counterproductive.
It takes away from our gesture for God and should be done out of pure
love and not for the attention we can milk out of it!
………………………………………………………………………………
Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break
through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew, Chapter 6, verses 19-21.
I think my faith in Jesus is like a savings account,
but the bank isn’t here on earth, it’s in heaven. My belief in Jesus is the minimum investment
a Christian has to make to get this special savings account. This investment can lie there dormant, with
no additional deposits made and eventually be put in the inactive file. Or I can make deposits by the things I do as
an example of how Jesus works in my life.
Now, thieves can steal the money from banks on
earth, but the only one who will take away the “money” from my heavenly account
is me, by leading a worldly life that leads me astray. If I’m planning on having a good “nest egg”
built up in my Salvation account, then I should be more focused on leading a
Christian life, reflecting this goal.
Here is a related passage:
*Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man
hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath,
and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom
of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had
found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought
it. Matthew, Chapter 13, verses 44-46.
………………………………………………………………………………
No man can
serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else
he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and mammon [wealth, riches and possessions]. Matthew, Chapter 6, verse 24.
I have tried to be a “Have My Cake and Eat It Too
Christian,” but it just doesn’t work that way.
I thought I could balance my faith like a teeter totter, with Jesus on
one side and getting ahead in my job, having nice things and a decent bank
account on the other side. Well, what I
have found is that when my focus is on getting ahead in my job, possessions and
wealth; the worldly end of the teeter totter goes up.
I was pleased by the growth I saw in these worldly
areas, but when I looked back on the other side of the teeter totter, I saw
Jesus sitting there at the bottom of my priorities. Although I’ve tried various ways to maintain
a balance to have my cake and eat it too, it just doesn’t work. I need to make the necessary changes to have
Jesus on top as my primary goal. When I
do this, the job, possessions and wealth are at the bottom of my priorities
which doesn’t really seem to matter much, because Jesus provides for my every
need.
Here is a related passage:
*No servant can serve two masters: for either he
will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God
and mammon. Luke, Chapter 16, verse 13.
………………………………………………………………………………
These are some of my most favorite Bible
verses. In fact, I love this passage so
much that I asked the minister to say this at my wedding. It is long but it’s wonderful!
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your
life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye
shall put on. Is not the life more than
meat, and the body than raiment? Behold
the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the
field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much
more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we
drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be
clothed? (For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly
Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God
This passage has been instrumental in a major change
in my relationship with God. Most people
have some type of vice. Various people
drink, some have affairs, others use drugs, but mine is my need to be in
control. It’s really difficult for me to
not be in total control of all aspects of my life, as well as, other situations
that arise. I remember how I used to
plan, calculate and budget every single cent.
I would do this a month in advance, fretting over my finances the rest
of the month. Although, this might be
good for someone who spends too much money, it wasn’t good for me because I
wasn’t letting God be in control of my life.
I think people with control issues are probably
great people to have on committees, because they make sure all the details are
taken care of. It’s not always a
blessing to be that much in control of things.
When I’m in total control of everything in my life, I’m not trusting God
to take care of me because I’m too busy trying to plan everything. It’s kind of like I’m saying, “Wait in the
wings, God. Let me see what I can do
first and if I can’t figure it out, then I’ll turn to You for help.” Everything I read in the Bible states
repeatedly that God wants me to turn to Him for everything. That’s why I’m writing this book. It’s to show people that God doesn’t say,
“God helps him who helps himself.” God wants us to turn to Him in all things
(paraphrased).
Control also played a part in my eating
problem. I used to be around 70-80
pounds heavier. I always figured that I
could lose the weight if I went on my “good diet” and stuck with it. I joined about every weight loss group around
and several times, at that! I went on my
“good diet” and found it wasn’t productive either. Then I sat down in my bedroom one day and
said, “I give up, God. I’m always going
to be heavy. God, if you want me to ever
be thin, You’ll have to take care of it because I can’t,”…and you know what, He
did!
From that moment on, the desire for sweets and great
quantities of food were taken away from me.
I didn’t do anything, in and of myself.
God did it all! This all happened
because I asked God to take care of it.
I guess this was probably one of the first times I had really given up
my control. The reason I said this
prayer wasn’t because I was expecting God to take all my weight away. I was just giving up and was turning it all
over to God because I didn’t want to worry about being heavy anymore. He used this miracle to turn my life around
and to show me that He needs to be the One in control of my life, not me.
If God takes care of things in nature, He will
surely take care of me and all my needs.
I find that when I’m not spending so much time trying to be in control
of situations and people, I have much more time to spend focusing on God and my
family. That’s because I’m trusting God
to take care of situations that arise.
Now, this isn’t to say I don’t slip into that control mode, at
times. It’s my vice. I think Satan knows that anytime I’m in my
control mode, I’m using the “I’s” and “Me’s” to make things happen. In other words, I’m controlling situations,
which means I’m not focusing on God. I’m
glad God takes the time to keep reminding me that I need to turn to Him in all
things.
There is a similar passage to this that will be
included elsewhere in the book.
Sometimes I include those passages separately because there is something
significant that I would like to share at that time. Other times, I include additional or related
Bible verses below the passage. I find
it interesting to compare other passages with similar topics.
Here is a related passage:
*And when they had sent away the multitude, they took
Him even as He was in the ship. And
there were also with Him other little ships.
And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship,
so that it was now full. And He was in
the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say
unto Him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And He arose, and rebuked the
wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful?
how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to
another, What manner of Man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey
Him? Mark, Chapter 4, verses 36-41.
………………………………………………………………………………
Give not that
which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest
they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Matthew, Chapter 7, verse 6.
When I was in high school there were lots of
different groups of kids. Well, they
called one of these groups the “dopers” mainly because their lives revolved
around recreational drugs, losing sight of all else. As a Christian, I value my faith in Jesus
above all else (my pearls.) I could have
walked into the crowd of “dopers” and told them that Jesus has positively influenced
my life in ways that I would like to share with them. Do you think I would get a warm
response? You’re right; they would tell
me to get out of there and give me a hard time, not being open to any of the
things that I wanted to share with them.
My faith in Jesus is better shared with those who
might possibly be open to listening to me.
Now that doesn’t mean that I am not to share my faith with those who use
recreational drugs or have worldly lifestyles.
I can choose my timing wisely and approach those people one-on-one, at a
time where I think they might be more receptive. If I really want to share my relationship
with Jesus, I will try to maximize my potential of successfully doing this.
Here is a related passage:
*And whosoever
shall not receive you, nor hear your Words, when ye depart out of that house or
city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
………………………………………………………………………………
For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath
day. And when He was departed thence, He
went into their synagogue: And, behold, there was a man which had his hand
withered. And they asked Him, saying, Is
it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days? that they might accuse Him. And He said unto them, What man shall there
be among you, that shall have one sheep, and it fall into a pit on the Sabbath
day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep?
Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days. Matthew, Chapter 12, verses 8-12.
This was of special interest to me. I had read in several different sections in
the Bible that we aren’t to do work on the Sabbath. This isn’t something my particular church
promotes, but it’s written in the Bible in so many places that I figured God
wants people to pay attention to it. I
don’t really think it matters to God whether people choose Saturday or Sunday
to worship Him, as long as we choose one of the days to abstain from work while
focusing on Him and relaxing. My
impression is that God realized some people are workaholics and need some down
time. If people worked on the Sabbath
and didn’t have a family day to relax and worship together, each family member
might be likely to go off in a different direction.
I had a dilemma a few years ago that relates to this
passage. When I went to visit my elderly
grandparents after church, I wanted to do household jobs that they couldn’t do
but didn’t want to go against the Bible by working on the Sabbath. This passage solved that dilemma, because
Jesus said that it was alright to help someone on the Sabbath. After realizing this, I was able to help my
grandparents and not feel like I was compromising my beliefs.
Sometimes the related passages that I list below the
main entry refer to the same general topic.
Other times the related passages that are below the main entry sound
almost identical. I feel it’s important
for the reader to see these even though they may sound redundant. Many of the disciples were with Jesus and got
an opportunity to see and experience some of the same things. They shared these observations from their
perspective as God led them to write portions of the Bible. Although these accounts may differ somewhat
in wording, they are especially significant because they show that Jesus really
did exist and is not a figment of someone’s imagination.
Here are some related passages:
*And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that
He entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand
was withered. And the scribes and
Pharisees watched Him, whether He would heal on the Sabbath day; that they
might find an accusation against Him.
But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered
hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst.
And he arose and stood forth.
Then said Jesus unto them. I will
ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do
evil? to save life, or to destroy
it? And looking round about upon them
all, He said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored
whole as the other. And they were filled
with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. And it came to pass in those days, that He
went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to
God. And when it was day, He called Him
His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles. Luke, Chapter 6, verses 6-13.
*And the ruler of the synagogue answered with
indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto
the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore
come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou
hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from
the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a
daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed
from this bond on the Sabbath day? And when He had said these things, all His
adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious
things that were done by Him. Luke, Chapter
13, verses 14-17.
*And behold, there was a certain man before him
which had the dropsy. And Jesus
answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on
the Sabbath day? And they held their
peace. And He took him, and healed him,
and let him go; And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an
ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath
day? And they could not answer Him again
to these things. Luke, Chapter 14,
verses 2-6.
*If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from
doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of
the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own pleasure, nor
speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I
will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with
the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the Mouth of the LORD hath spoken
it. Isaiah, Chapter 58, verses 13-14.
………………………………………………………………………………
Then was
brought unto Him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and He healed
him, insomuch that the blind and the dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is
not this the Son of David? But when the
Pharisees heard it, they said, This Fellow doth not cast out devils, but by
Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And
Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against
itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself
shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself;
how shall then his kingdom stand? And if
I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of
God, then the kingdom
of God
I found that my students had their limits. They may have tolerated someone calling them
names and teasing them, but once someone said something hateful about their
Mother, it put the situation in a whole other ballpark. Well, I think Jesus is responding in a
similar fashion. I think He’s saying
something like, “O.K. I may have put up with you saying stupid things like I
must be Satan, because I am able to heal the deaf and dumb. It really doesn’t make any sense to start
with. A house divided against itself
will fall, so Satan couldn’t cast himself out.
“You’re just looking for things to confuse people
and discredit the miracles that I do to prove that I’m your Savior. Well, I may have tolerated you belittling Me,
but I sure won’t tolerate you belittling the Holy Ghost. I’m warning you now; if you continue to do
that, you will live to regret it because it’s intolerable! Although you don’t know it yet, I’m here to
save you from your sins, but people who say hateful things against the Holy
Ghost won’t even get a second chance.
They will lose any hope for Salvation.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
………………………………………………………………………………
Therefore
speak I to them in parables; because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear
not, neither do they understand. And in
them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall
hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not
perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of
hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart,
and should be converted, and I should heal them. But
blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets
and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not
seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard
them. Matthew, Chapter 13, verses 13-17.
I’ve walked up to a child who was upset. I had planned to distract them from their
anger by telling them the class was going to do something fun like cook or do a
craft, but they were so angry that they couldn’t hear what I was going to tell
them. When they saw me approaching, they
covered their ears and started making sounds to block out anything I might
say. I usually walk away thinking that
it’s their loss, because they miss out on the fun activity that I was going to
tell them about.
It’s a shame that there are still some who aren’t
open to hearing that Jesus is our Savior.
They are the ones who will miss out on the opportunity for Salvation,
which is sad. It’s difficult to get
through to people when they have deliberately closed their minds, eyes and ears
to what we have to share.
………………………………………………………………………………
Another
parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a
man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and
sowed tares [weeds] among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought
forth fruit, then appeared tares also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst
not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done
this. The servants said unto him, Wilt
thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares ye root up also the
wheat with them. Let both grow together
until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather
ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather
the wheat into my barn. Matthew, Chapter
13, verses 24-30.
Then Jesus
sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and His disciples came unto
Him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that
soweth the good seed is the Son of Man; The field is the world; the good seed
are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked
one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the
world; and the reapers are the angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it
be in the end of this world. The Son of
Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all
things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a
furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the
sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who
hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew, Chapter 13, verses 36-43.
This is also like when you make popcorn. Pretend all the fully popped kernels are
those who believe Jesus is their Savior and try to lead their lives
accordingly. The unpopped kernels or “Old
Maids” are those who have fallen prey to Satan’s enticements to live a worldly
life. After you pop the popcorn, you
debate whether to pick out all the “Old Maids,” since there are quite a few, or
to leave them in.
Some of the popcorn kernels are partially popped,
but you decide to count them as “Old Maids,” because they really aren’t the
same as fully popped popcorn. This is
similar to people who know Jesus is our Savior, but don’t put any effort into
praying or leading a life that reflects their love for Him. You think about it and decide to dump all the
popcorn into a paper bag to eat rather than pulling the “Old Maids” out. That symbolizes both Christians and
non-Christians living together on earth.
The fully popped popcorn is chosen and is removed
from the bag, representing the Christians who will be chosen and will have Salvation
in heaven. All the “Old Maids” and
partial “Old Maids” will be discarded when you throw the paper bag into the
garbage can. This represents those with
a worldly focus who will be going to hell.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want be discarded like an “Old Maid
Christian,” so I need to live my life accordingly.
Here is a related passage:
*Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered
of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and
gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the
angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall
cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth. Matthew, Chapter 13, verses
47-50.
………………………………………………………………………………
Another
parable spake He unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a
woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was
leavened. Matthew, Chapter 13, verse 33.
I’m not really sure what this means but will explain
what it makes me think of. It reminds me
of an office that I worked in for the government, some years ago. When I first started working there, the group
of ladies I had break with, spent a lot of time complaining and harping about
unproductive issues. After I felt more
comfortable and mentioned my faith in Jesus, I found that some of those ladies
opened up about their faith, as well, and the tone of our breaks seemed to
change. They seemed kinder to each other
and our discussions weren’t focused around unproductive issues and griping.
I think Christians have the ability to be a positive
influence through their example, even though it may seem insignificant at the
time. This may set the foundation for
spiritual growth in someone, similar to how the flour grew from a little bit of
yeast.
………………………………………………………………………………
This Bible passage is when Jesus walked on the water
to meet the boat with the disciples on it.
But straight way Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be
of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto
Thee on the water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship,
he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to
sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said
unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the
wind ceased. Then they that were in the
ship came and worshipped Him, saying Of a Truth Thou art the Son of God. Matthew, Chapter 14, verses 27-33.
After God allowed me to experience the miracle of
losing 75 pounds of excess weight, my church was having a garage sale. I looked at my big clothes and thought I
probably should keep them in case I gained all the weight back. The thought was in my head that I didn’t
trust God to take care of me. I was
virtually saying, “God I’m going to keep these big clothes just in case you
don’t continue to take care of my weight problem.” This realization made a major difference in
my life. I decided to get rid of the big
clothes immediately. I definitely don’t
want to start sinking like Peter did when He wasn’t trusting Jesus to take care
of him.
Here is a related passage:
*And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief:
for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye
shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall
remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you.
Matthew, Chapter 17, verse 20.
………………………………………………………………………………
While He yet
spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a Voice out of the
cloud, which said, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased: hear ye
Him. And when the disciples heard it,
they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
Matthew, Chapter 17, verses 5-6.
You know how famous football players and movie stars
are on commercials endorsing particular products they like, so others will come
to know how good they are? Well, this is
an endorsement from God so the disciples of Jesus would know how good He is. His is an endorsement that defies all
explanation.
It makes me wonder what God’s endorsement of me
would be. “This is one of my supposed
followers, Debbie. She is a ‘Back Seat
Driver Christian,’ telling others how they should live their lives as
Christians, unwilling to do the same. It
would have been nice to count her as one of My flock, but she backed away from
opportunities that I have given her to share her faith-so sad!”
………………………………………………………………………………
And Jesus
called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them. And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be
converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same
is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoso shall receive one such little child in My Name receiveth
Me. But whoso shall offend one of these
little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but
woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
Matthew, Chapter 18, verses 2-7.
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little
ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face
of My Father which is in heaven.
Matthew, Chapter 18, verse 10.
Usually, I interpret this passage to mean that we
should have the faith of a little child in order to go to heaven. This time, this passage was saying to me that
the people who abuse children physically, sexually and emotionally better
beware because God doesn’t want anyone hurting children under any
circumstances. I noticed that there are
exclamation marks used in this passage a couple of times and I don’t see them
used much in the Bible. I take it to
mean that Jesus is emphatically telling people to beware not to harm children.
It’s so sad.
The court systems are full of children who have been neglected and
abused in one form or another. What’s
even worse is that some of these children have been abused by their own family
members who are supposed to love them and protect them from harm.
What can we do as Christians? We can make an effort to not become so
desensitized to the needs of abused children because we see it so frequently in
the news. We can support legislators to
enact laws to make it more difficult for the court system to let out
pedophiles, rapists and aggressive criminals.
We can mentor a child who appears to need a little extra attention. Going to read or play games with children in
the Women’s Shelters can be beneficial, because these children need someone in
their corner.
We can encourage our children to include others who
appear to be loners. This helps not only
the isolated child, but it teaches our children to be sensitive to the needs of
others instead of being “I”, “Me” focused.
The list of things we could do is endless.
Here is a related passage:
*Then said He unto the disciples, It is
impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they
come! It were better for him that a
millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he
should offend one of these little ones.
Luke, Chapter 17, verses 1-2.
………………………………………………………………………………
Moreover if
thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee
and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with
thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word
may be established. And if he shall
neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the
church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven. Matthew,
Chapter 18, verses 15-18.
God doesn’t want us to give up on people easily, but
we are to follow a progression from approaching them privately to publicly, if
necessary. First, we are to have a confidential talk
with the person who is going down the wrong path. If that doesn’t work, we are to get others to
help. It reminds me of something that
I’ve seen on TV where loved ones gather together for an “Intervention” to tell
a drug user that they need to go through drug rehab for their sake and all
those who care about them. If that
doesn’t work, we are to turn to the church for support to confront this
person. If nothing works, we have to cut
our losses, disassociating ourselves from that person so that we don’t
inadvertently get caught up in their lifestyle.
………………………………………………………………………………
Again I say
unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that
they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together
in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.
Matthew, Chapter 18, verses 19-20.
This reminds me of the saying: Two heads are better
than one. Well, in this passage two
people praying are better than one and it’s a situation of: the more the
merrier. So when I’m concerned about
someone’s health, I call my church’s prayer chain and raise my hand during the
Joys and Concerns portion of the church service.
Of course, God answers prayers in whatever way He determines
is best. Sometimes it isn’t always the
way we had hoped things would turn out.
Although it may be difficult to understand, I ultimately need to have
faith in God’s decisions and timing for everything.
………………………………………………………………………………
Then came Peter to Him, and said, Lord how oft shall
my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?
till seven times? Jesus saith
unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times
seven. Therefore is the Kingdom of
heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his
servants. And when he had begun to
reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord
commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and
payment to be made. The servant
therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me,
and I will pay thee all. Then the lord
of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him and forgave him the
debt. But the same servant went out, and
found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid
hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at this feet,
and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into
prison, till he should pay the debt. So
when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and
told unto their lord all that was done.
Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou
wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desirest me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion
on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to
the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also
unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother his
trespasses. Matthew, Chapter 18, verses
21-35.
God forgave us all our sins by sending His son,
Jesus, to die for us and to arise again.
Just think of all the humiliation Jesus had to go through for us. After all of that torment, Jesus asked God to
forgive everyone involved in His crucifixion.
I have a lot of nerve holding onto petty grudges against other
people. It makes me feel like I am the
first servant who is forgiven his large debt (all my sins) and I’m not showing
the same forgiveness to others who have done so much less. This reminds me that I need to be more
forgiving and tolerant of others because I don’t want to be delivered unto the
tormentors on The Last Day.
Here is a related passage:
*But I say
unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in
danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca [worthless], shall be in danger of the council: but
whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the
altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee: Leave
there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy
brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Matthew, Chapter 5, verses 22-24.
………………………………………………………………………………
And, behold,
one came and said unto Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may
have eternal life? and He said unto
him. Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but One, that is, God: but
if thou wilt enter into life, keep the Commandments. He saith unto Him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou
shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false
witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself. The young man saith unto
Him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect,
go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven: and come and follow Me. But
when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great
possessions. Then said Jesus unto His
disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the
kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto
you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a
rich man to enter into the kingdom
of God
Now, it can be easy to ignore this passage and think
that this just doesn’t pertain to me because I’m not rich. Being rich is a relative thing. (I wanted to say some corny thing about all
your relatives coming around if you were rich.
Forgive me, but I couldn’t resist!)
Don’t you think those from a Third World Country would think that
American’s on welfare are rich? We have
so much, but don’t realize it when we compare ourselves to others who seem to
have so much more.
I think it’s about how all our stuff and the desire
for more stuff, money or wealth interfere with our total focus on God. Everything we couldn’t bear to put in a
Salvation Army, Goodwill or other charitable bin has some control on us. Its importance has worked a very subtle wedge
in our relationship with God.
I was trying to think about which things might be
excluded from this. First, I thought
about my toothbrush, because it seems like an essential item. Then I thought that the disciples didn’t have
toothbrushes when they followed Jesus.
If Jesus told me I needed to follow Him and be willing to give up my
toothbrush I would need to, no questions asked.
Next, I thought about my shoes, because I thought
they were essential. I realize having
27-35 pairs of shoes in my closet right now for casual, work or dress wear
throughout the year is highly questionable.
Well, I looked in the Bible and found this passage:
And the people asked Him, saying, What shall we do
then? He answereth and saith unto them,
He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath
meat, let him do likewise. Luke, Chapter
3, verses 10-11.
I think this is a good rule of thumb. I don’t know much about the philosophy of
those who write books about simplifying your life by giving up things, but it
seems this passage would support the general principal of how things become too
important to us. There is no way I want
the extra pairs of shoes I own to become a wedge in my relationship with God.
I was just thinking that if I could get my shoes
down to one pair of tennis shoes instead of five different types, a pair of
dress shoes, etc. and give the rest to a charitable organization, I would be
more in-tune with what God wants for me.
Here are some related passages:
*And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me
good? none is good, save One, that is, God. Thou knowest the Commandments, Do not commit
adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy
father and thy mother. And he said, All
these have I kept from my youth up. Now
when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing:
sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me.
And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very
rich. And when Jesus saw that he was
very sorrowful, He said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God
*Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in
robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them. Psalm, Chapter 62, verse 10.
………………………………………………………………………………
This is the reply of
Jesus to the chief priests who were asking Him questions, trying to trick Him.
But what think ye?
A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son go
work today in my vineyard. He answered
and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went
not. Whether of them twain did the will
of his father? They say unto Him, the
first, Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the
harlots go into the kingdom
of God
Jesus makes a pretty bold
statement here, saying that the commonly despised tax collectors (publicans)
and the prostitutes will go to heaven, because they believed in Jesus when John
the Baptist told them. I’m glad God is
no respecter of status, but I’m concerned about the second brother who is a
“Dragging Your Feet Christian.”
When his father asks him,
he spouts off (paraphrased), “Sure, I’ll help you, Dad,” but he never did what
he promised to do. Actually, that seems
worse than being honest and saying, “I’m sorry, I can’t do it right now,”
because at least people can plan accordingly and not depend on that person to
accomplish the task. I do this when I
read how we’re supposed to share our love for Jesus with those who might not
know Him. I say, “Sure I will, God. I really love You and I want to do whatever
it is that You want.” Do I do it? Nope.
I just plan to share my faith with others, but I’m still dragging my
feet.
Well, the father in this
parable forgave the son who said he wouldn’t do it but changed his mind and did
it after all, but that wasn’t the case for the other son. I don’t want God saying, “Debbie said she’d
share her faith, but did she? Yeah, she
wrote this book, but she never went out of her comfort zone and really took any
risks. What would have happened if Jesus
never took the risks to be humiliated, crucified and rise from the grave? He went through all of that for her and she
thinks she can fool Me. She says that
she’s only too glad to help out, but doesn’t do a single thing. I’ve got her number!”
………………………………………………………………………………
And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables,
and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a
marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden
to the wedding: and they would not come.
Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden,
Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all
things are ready: come unto the marriage.
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another
to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them
spitefully, and slew them. But when the
king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed
those murderers, and burned up their city.
Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were
bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore
into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways,
and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the
wedding was furnished with guests. And
when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a
wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not
having a wedding garment? And he was
speechless. Then said the king to the
servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into the
outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew, Chapter 22, verses 1-14.
I guess I’m on a party
theme. This passage is about a wedding,
but when I went to explain this, the thought in my mind is to compare it to a
surprise birthday party for your boss.
This is a black tie
affair and you’ve sent out invitations to all your co-workers, asking them to
R.S.V.P. It’s several days before the
party, but only a few people have called to say they are coming. You have reserved this big banquet hall and
have paid for the caterers. Getting nervous,
you call the people who haven’t responded.
Well, you get one lame excuse after another. You overhear a couple of co-workers in the
restroom saying that they are going to a golf tournament that day, but they
told you they had a sick family member.
You decide very quickly that you can do without friends like that, but
your boss will be embarrassed if the banquet hall is almost empty. You don’t want him to be humiliated, so you
think of a plan, fast!
You decide to go invite
the people who work in the stock room and the mail room. They hardly ever interact with your boss, but
it’s better than having an empty banquet hall.
You give them the invitations, with directions to the banquet hall and
busy yourself with all the last minute preparations. Now you can relax, because
you know the banquet hall will be full of people. You start to realize that these lower status
people are more dependable and more deserving than your so-called friends who
gave you lame excuses.
On the day of the
surprise party you welcome all the loyal stock room and mail room workers. You thank them for coming and tell them where
to hide to surprise the boss. Just then,
some guy comes in dressed in khaki shorts and a Polo shirt. You ask him what he could have been thinking
about when he decided to come dressed like that. You tell him to leave, because he’s not
welcome at this black tie affair. Those
who put some effort in and did what they were supposed to were welcome
regardless of their financial or social standing. You don’t want a freeloader who doesn’t even
put the effort into properly getting ready for the party.
Well, sometimes I’m a
“Freeloader Christian,” too. Jesus asks
all of us to put some effort into being one of His chosen few. He even gave His own life for us, so we could
be invited to His party in heaven on the Last Day. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have qualified for an
invitation of that magnitude. Some of us
will do our part, although we can never truly earn admission to such a swanky
affair. Jesus did that for us. We have a free ride on His coat tails,
provided we aren’t being an ungrateful freeloader.
Well, Jesus calls each and every one of us, but how
many of us come up with reasons why we can’t go to church, why we are too busy
to pray or too embarrassed to let others know that we are Christian? Well, if we don’t respond when He calls us,
He will invite others to take our place in Heaven with Him. That’s not what I want!
Here is a related
passage:
*Then said He unto him, A certain man made a great
supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that
were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make
excuse. The first said unto him, I have
bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me
excused. And another said, I have bought
five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and
therefore I cannot come. So that servant
came, and showed his lord these things.
Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out
quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor,
and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you hast commanded, and yet
there is room. And the lord said unto
the servant, Go out unto the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in,
that my house may be filled. For I say
unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my
supper. Luke, Chapter 14, verses 16-24.
………………………………………………………………………………
But be not ye called Rabbi: for One is your Master,
even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
And call no man your father upon the earth: for One is your Father,
which is in heaven. Neither be ye called
masters: for One is your Master, even Christ.
Matthew, Chapter 23, verses 8-10.
God wants us to hold Him in highest regard and no
other.
………………………………………………………………………………
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for
ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done,
and not to leave the other undone. Matthew, Chapter 23, verse 23.
Of course we don’t give spices when they pass the
offering plate around at church. This
passage reminds me of some who put large sums of money in as an indicator of
their faith in God, yet their daily actions show quite the opposite. Outside of church, they may be critical and
judgmental of others, not generous to those less fortunate or unforgiving of others. The thing that matters to God is how we live
our lives as examples of His positive influence on us, not how much we put in
the offering plate.
Here are some related passages:
*Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye make clean the outside of the cup and
of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which
is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses 25-26.
*Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones,
and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also
outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses
27-28.
*Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets,
and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the
days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of
the prophets. Matthew, Chapter 23,
verses 29-30.
………………………………………………………………………………
And many false
prophets shall rise, and deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But
he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the
end come. Matthew, Chapter 24, verses
11-14.
Many will try to entice us to believe things that
won’t lead us to Salvation. They will
encourage us to belong to churches that sound like they follow God’s Will, but
really misconstrue what is said in the Bible.
God doesn’t want us to be taken in by these people, but wants us to
continue to share His Word with others.
Here are some related passages:
*Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the
Christ, or there; believe it not. For
there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs
and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very
elect. Behold, I have told you before, Wherefore if they shall say unto you,
Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret
chambers; believe it not. Matthew,
Chapter 24, verses 23-26.
*But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and
worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been
assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou
hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 2 Timothy, Chapter 3, verses 13-16.
*BUT THERE were false prophets also among the
people, even as there shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring
in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that brought them, and bring upon
themselves swift destruction. And many
shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the Way Of Truth shall be
evil spoken of. And through covetousness
shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a
long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 2 Peter, Chapter 2, verses 1-3.
*Then said the prophet Jeremaiah unto Hananiah the
prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this
people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus
saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth; this
year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in
the seventh month. Jeremiah, Chapter 28,
verses 15-17.
*And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the
ears of Jeremiah the prophet. Then came
the Word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, Send to all them of the captivity,
saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that
Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to
trust in a lie: Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah
the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among his
people: neither shall he behold the good that I will do for My people, saith
the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD. Jeremiah, Chapter 29, verses 29-32.
………………………………………………………………………………
When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all
the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: And
before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from
another, as a Shepherd divideth His sheep from the goats: And He shall set the
sheep on His right Hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His
right Hand, Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and
ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying,
Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee
drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and
took, Thee in? or naked, and clothed
Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or in
prison, and came unto Thee? And the King
shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me. Then shall He say also unto them on the left
hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels: For I was hungered, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and
ye gave Me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in: naked, and ye
clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not. Then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord
when saw we Thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or
in prison, and did not minister unto Thee?
Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye
did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew, Chapter 25, verses 31-46.
We aren’t just supposed to say, “I am a Christian so
I will have Salvation regardless of my actions.” There is a passage in Romans that talks about
whether we are saved by our works alone, which is definitely not going to
happen.
Neither yield
ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin: but yield yourselves
unto God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not
under the Law, but under grace. What
then? shall we sin, because we are not under the Law, but under grace? God forbid!
Romans, Chapter 6, verses 13-15.
We are to be examples of how God works in our lives,
not just to those we consider worthy of our attention. We are to include those who are down and out
and those that society deems as unworthy.
………………………………………………………………………………
And the angel
answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus,
which was crucified. He is not here: for
He is risen, as He said. Come see the
place where the Lord lay. And go quickly,
and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead; and, behold, He goeth
before you into Galilee ; there shall ye see
Him: lo, I have told you. And they
departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to
bring His disciples word. Matthew,
Chapter 28, verses 5-8.
A little bit ago, I was reading the part of the
Bible that makes me the saddest, where they spit on Jesus and mock Him when
He’s preparing to give His life for our sins…even for those that treated Him so
terribly. Now, I’m reading this part
which makes me exceedingly happy. I get
goose bumps thinking of how amazing it must have been to be there when Jesus
had arisen just as He had told them, such wonderful news that defies all
explanation!
………………………………………………………………………………
Then He taught them many things by parables, and
said to them in His doctrine: Hearken: Behold, there went out a sower to
sow. And it came to pass, as he sowed,
some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it
up. And some fell on stony ground, where
it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of
earth: But when the sun was up, it was
scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns
grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and
increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And He said unto them, He that hath ears to
hear, let him hear. Mark Chapter 4,
verses 2- 9.
And He said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and
how then will ye know all parables? The
sower soweth the Word. And these are
they by the way side, where the Word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan
cometh immediately, and taketh away the Word that was sown in their
hearts. And these are they likewise
which are sown on stony ground; who when they have heard the Word, immediately
receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for
a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the Word’s sake
immediately they are offended. And these
are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the Word, And the cares of
this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things
entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good
ground; such as hear the Word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some
thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
And He said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or
under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid which shall not be
manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him
hear. Mark, Chapter 4, verses 13-23.
Since many who hear the message of Salvation, start
out well-intentioned but are led astray, it’s important for me to not take my
faith for granted. It’s something that
needs to be an integral part of my everyday life. I should live my faith outwardly and develop
it further so I don’t become vulnerable to the influences of others and the
world.
Here are some related passages:
*And He spake
many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and
devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth:
and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when
the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered
away. And some fell among thorns; and
the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and
brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew, Chapter 13, verses 3-9.
*Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the Word of the kingdom,
and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that
which was sown in this heart. This is he
which received seed by the way side. But
he that received the seed into stony places, the
same is he that heareth the Word, anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not
root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution
ariseth because of the Word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns
is he that heareth the Word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness
of riches, choke the Word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good
ground is he that heareth the Word, and understandeth it; which also beareth
fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matthew, Chapter 13, verses 18-23.
………………………………………………………………………………
He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to
eat. And they say unto Him, Shall we go
and buy two hundred penny worth of bread, and give them to eat? He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye?
Go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. And He commanded them to make all sit down by
companies upon the green grass. And they
sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, He looked up
to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to
set before them: and the two fishes divided He among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments,
and of the fishes. And they that did eat
of the loaves were about five thousand men.
Mark, Chapter 6, verses 37-44.
I had always enjoyed reading about this miracle that
Jesus did, but I was really surprised when I was reading the Bible and found
there was another time Jesus fed the multitudes. At first, I thought it was a different
disciple telling about the loaves and fishes and was just off on some of the
basic facts a little. Then after reading
the Bible many times, I realized it was Mark who told about the first feeding
of the five thousand and he was the same one who told about the feeding of four
thousand. These were two different, but
similar miracles that Jesus did.
In those days the multitude being very great, and
having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto
them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me
three days, and have nothing to eat: And if I send them away fasting to their
own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. And His disciples answered Him, From whence
can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And He asked
them, How many loaves have ye? And they
said, Seven. And He commanded the people
to sit down on the ground: and He took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and
brake, and gave to His disciples to set before them; and they did set them
before the people. And they had a few
small fishes and He blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled, and they
took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four
thousand: and He sent them away. Mark,
Chapter 8, verses 1-9.
This amazed me, but I still figured I must be
mistaken. This next passage, also
written by Mark, puts the whole thing together.
And He left them, and entering into the ship again
departed to the other side. Now the
disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them
more than one loaf. And He charged them
saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of
Herod. And they reasoned among
themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it. He saith unto them,
Why reason ye, because ye have no bread?
Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears,
hear ye not? And do ye not remember?
When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full
of fragments took ye up? They say unto
Him, Twelve. And when the seven among
four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they say Seven. And He said unto them, How is it that ye do
not understand? Mark, Chapter 8, verses
13-21.
I know, I know! This may not be the most profound
religious experience you have ever had.
I just thought it was interesting to know that there were two totally
different times that Jesus provided food for the multitudes and Mark told about
both of them. It influenced me to start
reading more in-depth to not miss the details.
Then, Jesus refers to both miracles when He asks His Disciples why they
were so worried about having enough food; didn’t they remember the two recent
miracles He had done in their midst?
I guess the lesson I would get out of all of this is
to remember that God does so much for me.
He provides for my every need. He
gets me through all types of situations.
Now, do I remember these things when I’m faced with uncertainty? Nope!
Just like the disciples, I’m too quick to fret and worry about things,
forgetting God will provide for all my needs and take care of me, if I let Him.
Here are some related passages:
*When Jesus then lifted up His Eyes, and saw a
great company come unto Him, He saith unto Phillip, whence shall we buy bread,
that these may eat? And this He said to
prove Him: for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennyworth
of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a
little. One of His disciples, Andrew,
Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto Him, There is a lad here, which hath five
barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus
said, Make the men sit down. Now there
was much grass in the place, So the men sat down, in number about five
thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and
when He had given thanks, He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to
them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, He said unto His
disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and
filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which
remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the
miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a Truth that Prophet that should come
unto the world. John, Chapter 6, verses
5-14.
*Then Jesus
said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the
Sadducees. And they reasoned among
themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, He said unto
them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves because ye have
brought no bread? Do ye not yet
understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many
baskets ye took up? Neither the seven
loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye do not understand that I
spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of
the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then
understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of
the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matthew, Chapter 16, verses 6-12.
………………………………………………………………………………
And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the
temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold
doves; And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the
temple. And He taught, saying unto them,
Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?
but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Mark, Chapter 11, verses 15-17.
I think this passage shows a time where even Jesus
says through His actions, “Enough Is Enough!”
It really got me thinking.
Generally, I hide behind my Christian faith to justify my passive
interactions. In this instance, Jesus
didn’t handle the situation in a passive manner. It leads me to believe there are times that
stronger actions are needed to get the point across! Anything less, would be condoning the
inappropriate behavior or situation.
This reminds me of a Cultural Diversity training my
husband arranged for co-workers. They
were talking about being in a situation where someone is putting down others
whether for racial, gender, sexual reasons or otherwise. They said to just stand there and not say
anything is the same as participating in the put-downs, because our lack of
action condones that behavior. They said
people should actually take a stand and tell the ones making the rude comments
that we find them objectionable and would prefer that they discontinue them
immediately.
Now, the passive side of me that doesn’t want to
stand out in a crowd has to come to terms with this one. Not only am I drawing attention to myself, I
am also risking the possibility that someone may get angry with me or
disapprove of my opinion. Jesus took an
active stand on an important issue and I think that I need to work on being
able to confront people who are belittling others, despite my
insecurities. Jesus didn’t stop and
think, “Now, if I tell them to quit selling all their wares in the church, they
may be angry with Me. Maybe I shouldn’t
risk this because they might not like Me anymore.” He took action because He knew it was
wrong! I need to take action because I
know belittling others is wrong!
Here are some related passages:
*And Jesus
went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the
temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them
that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shalt be called
the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. Matthew, Chapter 21, verses 12-13.
*And He went into the temple, and began to
cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; Saying unto them, It is
written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of
thieves. Luke, Chapter 19, verses 45-46.
*And the Jew’s passover was at hand, and Jesus
went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep
and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when He had made a scourge of
small cords, He drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen;
and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto
them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not My Father’s house an
house of merchandise. And His disciples
remembered that it was written, The zeal of Thine house hath eaten Me up. John, Chapter 2, verses 13-17.
………………………………………………………………………………
And Jesus, answering saith unto them, Have faith in
God. For verily I say unto you, That
whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into
the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things
which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever
ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark, Chapter 11, verses 22-24.
This reminds me of how I ask God to take care of me,
but I’m really establishing a plan in my mind of how to handle the situation or
I’m continuing to worry about it. It’s
like I’m saying, “God, I want You to handle this situation but just in case You
don’t take care of me, I will have a ‘Plan B’ ready or worry until it’s
resolved.” It’s just like telling God I
don’t really trust Him to take care of me.
I need to be much more aware of displaying total trust in God to take
care of my needs, concerns and my family.
Here are some related passages:
*If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,
that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given
him. But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering. For he that wavereth is like a
wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. James, Chapter 1, verses 5-6.
*Jesus
answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt
not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye
shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;
It shall be done. And all things,
whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Matthew, Chapter 21, verses 21-22.
*And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you;
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he
that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that
is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish
give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask
an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If
ye then, being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? Luke,
Chapter 11, verses 9-13.
*Ask, and it
shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth: and to
him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or
what man is there of you whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a
stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give
him a serpent? If ye then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father
which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? Matthew, Chapter 7, verses 7-11.
*And they
shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land
devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant of
renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither
bear the shame of the heathen any more.
Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that
they, even the house of Israel
………………………………………………………………………………
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught
against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive your
trespasses. But if ye do not forgive,
neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. Mark, Chapter 11, verses 25-26.
This passage makes me think I’m a “Hold Grudges
Against Others Christian,” because I remember insensitive or hurtful things
people have done to me. God doesn’t want
me to hold onto these feelings. I’m sure
I have done my share of insensitive and hurtful things to others in my
life. I sure don’t want to be judged by
God with the same harsh standards that I impose on others.
………………………………………………………………………………
Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die,
and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should
take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were seven brethren: and the first
took a wife, and dying left no seed. And
the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third
likewise. And the seven had her, and
left no seed: last of all the woman died also.
In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall
she be of them? for the seven had her to
wife. And Jesus answering said unto
them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the
power of God? For when they shall rise
from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the
angels which are in heaven. Mark,
Chapter 12, verses 19-25.
This was really interesting to me, especially
because I have remarried and my first husband was not a very nice person. This is a relief, because now I know we won’t
be in heaven joined with our past or present spouses.
Here is a related passage:
*Then came to Him certain of the Sadducees, which
deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked Him, Saying, Master, Moses
wrote unto us, If any man’s brother die, having a wife, and he die without
children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his
brother. There were therefore seven
brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children. And the second took her to wife, and he died
childless. And the third took her; and
in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of
them is she? for seven had her to wife.
And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry,
and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain
that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in
marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels;
and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Now that the dead are raised, even Moses
showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is
not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him. Then certain of the scribes answering said,
Master, Thou hast well said. Luke,
Chapter 20, verses 27-39.
………………………………………………………………………………
And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye
not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am
the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of
the living: ye therefore do greatly err.
Mark, Chapter 12, verses 26-27.
This passage causes me to refocus my thinking. Rather than focus on what it’s going to be
like in heaven, I need to focus on how my life reflects my belief in God, right
now, here on Earth.
………………………………………………………………………………
And one of the scribes came, and having heard them
reasoning together, and perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him,
Which is the first Commandment of all?
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the Commandments is: Hear, O
Israel; The Lord our God, is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all
thy strength: this is the first Commandment.
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself. There is none other Commandment
greater than these. Mark, Chapter 12,
verses 28-31.
I’m reminded that I can’t be a “Just When It’s
Convenient Christian.” I’m to make my
faith a priority. God wants me to treat
others nicely, even if…Even if they are rude to me…Even if they get the job I
wanted…Even if they have more money than I do and didn’t deserve it…Even if
they take advantage of me…Even if they are hateful…Even if they talk down to
me…Even if they make really poor lifestyle choices…Even if they cut in front of
me on the freeway…Even if they don’t believe the way I do…Even if they are a
telemarketer and don’t let me off the phone when I want to get off. (I really have to work on this one!) If I get caught up in being resentful, rude
or hateful, I’m not being the example that God wants me to be of how He works
in my life.
Here is a related passage:
*Then one of
them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, Master, which is the great Commandment in
the Law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind. This is the first and great
Commandment. And the second is like unto
it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the prophets. Matthew, Chapter 22, verses 35-40.
………………………………………………………………………………
And He said unto them in His Doctrine, Beware of the
scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the
marketplaces, And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at
feasts: Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers:
these shall receive greater damnation.
Mark, Chapter 12, verses 38-40.
This reinforces that God wants us to live our
faith. We are to be good examples of
this faith in all that we do, not just at church by doing showy things so
others think we are righteous. Our faith
in God should be something that is an integral part of our daily lives,
tempered with discreetness and humility.
Here is a related passage:
*Then spake
Jesus to the multitude, and to His disciples, Saying, The scribes and the
Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe,
that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do
not. For they bind heavy burdens and
grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will
not move them with one of their fingers.
But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their
phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost
rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses 1-6.
………………………………………………………………………………
And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld
how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in
much. And there came a certain poor
widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. and He called unto Him His disciples, and
saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in,
than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in out
of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all
her living. Mark, Chapter 12, verses
41-44.
I get very self-righteous thinking about how I do
nice things for people and donate to the needy.
I was on a work mission with our church’s youth group in Juarez , Mexico
If I had just left a few things to donate to the
people of the community, no one would have been the wiser. If I had donated everything I owned except my
favorite nightgown, no one would have even known, but God and I knew. The thing that bothered me the most was how
long it took before I was finally willing to leave all my things for the
needy. It showed me how worldly I had
become. That certain possessions
mattered to me, appalled me, because I had always prided myself in being a
“Good Christian.”
Obviously, we can fool ourselves. I’m so thankful that God provided this
opportunity for personal growth. I still
find it easier to give to others out of the excesses of my time, money and possessions. I have to be reminded that I’m not truly
giving until I give out of my need, or at least closer to it.
Here are some related passages:
*And He looked up, and saw the rich men casting
their gifts into the treasury. And He
saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And He said, Of a Truth I say unto you, that
this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their
abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in
all the living that she had. Luke,
Chapter 21, verses 1-4.
*But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall
reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also
bountifully. Every man according as he
purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for
God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is
able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all
sufficiency
in all things, may abound to every good work. 2 Corinthians, Chapter 9, verses 6-8.
*And above all things have fervent charity among
yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without
grudging. 1 Peter, Chapter 4, verses
8-9.
*For the poor shall never cease out of the land:
therefore I command thee, saying Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy
brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land. Deuteronomy, Chapter 15, verse 11.
*He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he
that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.
Proverbs, Chapter 28, verse 27.
………………………………………………………………………………
And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped
Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger: because there was no room
for them in the inn. Luke, Chapter 2,
verse 7.
Royalty usually are shown
living in castles or expensive mansions.
I think it’s difficult for today’s royalty to move around without
lots of Paparazzi following them everywhere.
It’s to the point that they can’t even go for a walk without people
snapping their picture. Customers buy up
these magazines, because they are in awe of royalty or celebrities, of one kind
or another.
Jesus came into this
world in very humble surroundings. There
was no fanfare or notoriety, unless you figure an angel notifying the shepherds
and a star guiding the wise men, fits into this category. Jesus lived a humble life. He didn’t live in a castle with great wealth
and servants even though He could have chosen to. In fact, He didn’t even own property.
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and
the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where
to lay His head. Matthew, Chapter 8,
verse 20.
He could have chosen to
lead the good life, but chose poverty and persecution for me. Do I deserve it? No way!
Nothing I ever do will be anything close to earning all that Jesus went
though on my behalf. The only thing I
can do is make sure that I’m not just a “Holiday Christian,” only focusing on
God or only attending church on religious holidays. The only way I can thank Him is by trying to live my
life as an example, so others can come to know Him as I do.
………………………………………………………………………………
Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when
the time is. For the Son of Man is as a
man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his
servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the
master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight ,
or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you
sleeping. And what I say unto you I say
unto all, Watch. Mark
13, verses 33-37. There is a similar passage
in Luke, Chapter 12, verses 42-47.
This passage helps me realize that I’m supposed to
live the life God wants, all the time. I
could have a more self-involved attitude where I wanted to be worldly now,
focusing my time and attention on earning the most I could, attending all-night
parties, living life in the fast lane, with heavy drinking and recreational
drugs, thinking I could focus my attention on my faith later on in life.
I might not ever get a second chance to do
that. I could be in an accident five
minutes from now or the world could end.
Who knows? Only God does and I
may never get another chance to turn my life around.
Do you think the owner will continue to employ the
servant who fell asleep while he was supposed to guard the owner’s home? I doubt it.
Well, God wants us to live the life of a Christian all the time, not
sometime later, when we feel like settling down a little more. That time may never come.
This is in no way meant to imply people who have
lived their lives in the fast lane can’t go to heaven. The operative word is “lived.” This means the person has made a choice to
change their life around because of their faith in Jesus and start living the
life of a Christian. None of us knows
when God is going to come for us, so we can’t put off these choices
indefinitely. We need to put a lot of
prayerful thought into whether we think God would be pleased with the life we
are leading?
Here are some related passages:
*Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall
not pass away. But of that day and hour
knoweth no man, no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. Matthew 24, verses 35-36.
*Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your
Lord doth come. But know this, that if
the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would
have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore
be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man
cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise
servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in
due season? Blessed is that servant,
whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him
ruler over all his goods. But and if
that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And
shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and
in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him
his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. Matthew, Chapter 24, verses
42-51.
*Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor
the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.
Matthew, Chapter 25, verse 13.
*Let your loins be girded about, and your lights
burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will
return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto
him immediately. Blessed are those
servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto
you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will
come forth and serve them. And if he
shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so,
blessed are those servants. And this
know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would
come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of
Man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
Luke, Chapter 12, verses 35-40.
*And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and
wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them
their portion of meat in due season?
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so
doing. Of a Truth I say unto you, that
he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and
to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not
for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and
will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant which knew his lord’s will,
and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten
with many stripes. But he that knew not,
and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him
shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will
ask the more. Luke, Chapter 12, verses
42-48.
*And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the
kingdom of God
should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God kingdom of God
*And as it was in the days of Noe [Noah],
so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.
*And they asked Him, saying, Master, but when shall
these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to
pass? And He said, Take heed that ye be
not deceived: for many shall come in My Name, saying, I am Christ; and the time
draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
And when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for
these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Luke, Chapter 21, verses 7-9.
*Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My Words
shall not pass away. But of that day and
that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the
Son, but the Father. Mark, Chapter 13,
verses 31-32.
*But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are
therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and
godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein
the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat? 2 Peter, Chapter 3, verses
10-12.
*But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
Him. For this we say unto you by the
Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall
rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another
with these Words. 1 Thessalonians,
Chapter 4, verses 13-18.
………………………………………………………………………………
And He entered into one of the ships, which was
Simon’s and prayed Him that He would thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people out of
the ship. Now when He had left speaking,
He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a
draught. And Simon answering said unto
Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless
at Thy Word I will let down the net. And
when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their
net brake. And they beckoned unto their
partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help
them. And they came, and filled both the
ships, so that they began to sink. When
Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees saying, Depart from me; for I
am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was
astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they
had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were
partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto
Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. Luke, Chapter 5, verses
3-10.
Jesus impressed me when He turned the work of these
three gentlemen from being fishers, who supply man’s human needs, to being
fishers of men, who supply man’s spiritual needs. I think Jesus wants us to be fishers of men
too. We need to each listen to the
instincts that He gives us about this so we can do His will.
………………………………………………………………………………
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do
good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you. And unto him that
smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away
thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also.
Luke, Chapter 6, verses 27-29.
I used to get caught up in being angry and resentful
when people were rude or insensitive to me.
I can’t say that I don’t ever get caught up in those human emotions
anymore. Fortunately, these passages
will pop into my mind in the middle of those feelings.
I realize that God wants me to pray for these people
rather than waste my time being angry with them. I think anger can be a very counterproductive
emotion, at times. I remember a time
when I was working under a very insensitive-demanding supervisor. I was almost to the point of tears at work
when I went into the bathroom because I didn’t want anyone to see me
crying. This passage popped into my mind,
so I prayed for the supervisor and for God to bless her. I was only expecting God to make me feel
better so I could leave the restroom without anyone realizing I had been
crying.
When I left the bathroom after saying that quick
prayer, not only did I feel relieved but the supervisor was much nicer to
me. I really wasn’t expecting that to
happen. Since it happened this way the
first time, I have gone to the bathroom to pray many times over the years. Every time I have done this, the situation
was much better afterward. It’s amazing
to see how God is personally involved in our lives.
It’s important that I do not respond to these people
in like manner. Coming back with an
equally hateful or insensitive remark isn’t being the example God wants me to
be of how He works in my life. When I
pray for these people, I’m putting them in God’s very capable hands. Actually, it would be wonderful if these
hurtful or rude people would have their lives turned around by God who can
cause miraculous changes in anyone.
Here are some related passages:
*Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse
not. Romans, Chapter 12, verse 14.
*Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all
men. If it be possible, as much as lieth
in you, live peaceably with all men.
Romans, Chapter 12, verses 17-18.
*Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he
thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his
head. Be not overcome of evil, but
overcome evil with good. Romans, Chapter 12, verses 20-21. There is also a similar passage in Matthew,
Chapter 5, verse 44.
*And if any
man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak,
also. And whosoever shalt compel thee to
go a mile, go with him twain. Give to
him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not away. Matthew, Chapter 5, verses 40-42.
*The disciple is not above his Master, nor the
servant above his Lord. It is enough for
the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the Master of the house
Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household? Matthew, Chapter 10, verses 24-25.
………………………………………………………………………………
Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him
that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. Luke, Chapter 6, verse 30.
I think God wants us to give freely to those in
need. I’m not sure about the
interpretation of the second part of this passage. I have taken it to be an answer to a dilemma
I have with giving to others. I think
there is a fine line between empowering and enabling. There are times when a person gives to others
and it empowers them, giving them a hand-up to be the best they can be. Then there are times where you give to others
and it creates an enabling dependency that is counterproductive and isn’t
healthy for that person. So I don’t give
to people I think are going to use the money to buy another bottle or to people
who are deliberately trying to take advantage of me or scam me.
I’m not sure that’s what the second part of this
passage was really saying and I apologize if I’m misleading anyone, but that’s
the way I have taken it. A good rule of
thumb is to trust the instincts that God gives you. I try to let those instincts guide me in giving. Don’t forget giving isn’t only of our
money. Sometimes giving is by treating
others with respect or taking the time to listen to their story whether you’ve
heard similar stories a million times over.
Giving of your time by being there for someone else when they need
someone in their corner can be a much more powerful thing than any monetary
gift. Sometimes people who are down and
out just need a hand-up, a little respect and a smile or two.
(As I read this passage while I’m editing the book,
I wonder if God doesn’t want us to give even if we think someone is going to
buy another bottle. Who are we to say
whether our kindness might leave a positive impact on that person which goes
far beyond anything we might ever realize.
As I said originally, trust the instincts that God gives you on this
subject. Those will be right for your
situation.)
………………………………………………………………………………
And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye
also to them likewise. For if ye love
them which love you, what thank have ye?
for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to
you, what thank have ye? for sinners
also do even the same. And if ye lend to
them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive
as much again. But love ye your enemies,
and do good, and lend hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great
and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful
and to the evil. Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Luke, Chapter 6, verses 31-36.
God is telling us He wants us to be nice,
considerate and giving to everyone, especially those who aren’t nice,
considerate and giving to us. He says
it’s easy to be giving to people who are nice to us, so that’s not very difficult. We are really doing a bigger thing when we
are giving to those we don’t care for, those who aren’t nice to us or those who
don’t look like people we would ever associate with. I can’t say I always do this, but I pray that
God gives me the willingness to be the example that He wants me to be to
others, especially those I’m reluctant to interact with.
………………………………………………………………………………
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not,
and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it
shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and
running over, shall men give into your bosom.
For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to
you again. Luke, Chapter 6, verses
37-38.
This message reminds me that I would NOT want God to
judge me by the same standards I use to judge other people. I’m very thankful that He reminds me of this,
because I often find myself being critical or judgmental of others.
When we genuinely give to others out of our need,
God will always make sure we are provided for.
This is a miracle unto itself, similar to the loaves and fishes. I do have some concerns though. There are some supposed churches that promote
giving to others as a plan to get financial reward in return. They talk to their parishioners about giving
lots of money to the church or to causes in order to get great wealth for their
good deeds. Well, this is God we are
talking about and He’s all-knowing. He
can tell when we are genuinely giving to others and when we are giving to
others with ulterior motives. You can’t
con God!
Here are some related passages:
*And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a
woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto
Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the Law commanded us, that such
should be stoned: but what sayest Thou?
This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger
wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted
up Himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first
cast a stone at her. And again He
stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went
out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left
alone; and the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, He said unto
her, Woman, where are those thine accusers?
hath no man condemned thee? She
said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto
her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I
am the Light of the World: He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the Light of Life. John,
Chapter 8, verses 3-12.
*Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever
thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest
thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is
according to Truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest
them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the
judgment of God? Romans, Chapter 2,
verses 1-3.
*Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment: and with what measure
ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Matthew, Chapter 7, verses 1-2.
………………………………………………………………………………
And He spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead
the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? Luke, Chapter 6, verse 39.
Sometimes we get into a routine of doing whatever
everyone else is doing. If they are
going to a particular church, we try it out.
If our friends use God’s Name in vain, we forget what we learned in
Sunday school while we were growing up and start using His Name in vain
too. If everyone else is doing it, it
must not be all that bad. Right???
We need to make sure the people we choose to follow
are those who make choices God would approve of, or we just might be following
someone right to Hell (the ditch). That
definitely isn’t the direction I want to go!
Here is a related passage:
*Let them
alone: they be blind leaders of the blind, And if the blind lead the blind,
both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew,
Chapter 15, verse 14.
………………………………………………………………………………
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy
brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother,
Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself
beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out
of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is
in thy brother’s eye. Luke,
Chapter 6, verses 41-42.
From what I have read in the
Bible, God doesn’t want us to get to the point we EVER feel so self-righteous
that we can be critiquing other people’s behavior or choices. We need to focus on our own choices and make
sure we are being the best example of our faith we can possibly be.
Here is a related passage:
*And why
beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the
beam that is in thine own eye? Or how
wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and,
behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou
see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Matthew, Chapter 7, verses 3-5.
………………………………………………………………………………
Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and
doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an
house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood
arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for
it was founded upon a rock. But he that
heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house
upon the earth; against which the storm did beat vehemently, and immediately it
fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Luke, Chapter 6, verses 47-49.
I need to make sure that my faith in God has a firm
foundation like the house built on rock, because my faith has to withstand all
the human temptations that arise. Some
of those temptations are very subtle and can let little things into our lives
that seem very minor but still shake our foundation. Food has always been one of my bigger vices.
My younger brother has always been very giving and
still is. I’m ashamed to say that I took
advantage of him when he wasn’t even in school yet. Being the youngest and the only boy in the
family, he had a piggy bank full of money.
When my parents weren’t around, I talked him into breaking into his
piggy bank to get all his money out to take with us to the movies. Being the generous person that he is, he
shared all his money with his older sister.
I bought ice cream after ice cream, followed by enough candy bars to
make a person sick. He had trusted me,
but my ulterior motives interfered with being an example of my faith. Like I said, we have to be careful about the
subtle things in life that sneak in and shake our foundation on rock. Something very minor could cause that foundation
to crumble!
Here is a related passage:
*Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto
a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for
it was founded upon a rock. And every
one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened
unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell:
and great was the fall of it. And it
came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at
His doctrine. Matthew, Chapter 7, verses
24-28.
………………………………………………………………………………
And He said to them all, If any man will come after
Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose
it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the
whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
Luke, Chapter 9, verses 23-25.
I think God is telling us that we have to be totally
dedicated to Him. It’s all too easy to
get caught up in our daily lives and focus on getting ahead in the world. It’s especially difficult since there is so
much pressure to try to keep up with the Jones’s that we might lose sight of
our goal. To paraphrase what Jesus said,
“What good is it to have all these worldly things and lose your Salvation in
the process? Those that are willing to
give up everything, including their worldly lives for Me, will have eternal
life in Heaven.”
Here are some related passages:
*He that
loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth
son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and
followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.
Matthew, Chapter 10, verses 37-38.
*Then said
Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose
his life for My sake shall find it. For
what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own
soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? For the Son of
Man shall come in the Glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall
reward every man according to his works.
Matthew, Chapter 16, verses 24-27.
………………………………………………………………………………
For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My
Words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own
Glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. Luke, Chapter 9, verse 26.
This relates to a situation that made a major
difference in my relationship with God.
One time, I was doing something that was an outward sign of my faith. It was in a place where other people could
see what I was doing and would have known I am a Christian. I’m ashamed to say that this had made me
really uncomfortable.
The thought in my mind shortly after this was about
the movie “American Graffiti”. One of the main characters had been in charge
of keeping an eye on a young pre-teen or teenage girl. He had a reputation of being “cool” and
didn’t like being a glorified babysitter.
Later, he and the young lady got to know each other better and became
friends. Then there was a point in the
movie where he was driving down the main drag and he saw a group of his
friends. He realized that they would see
him with this young girl and it could hurt his “cool image” if they knew he was
babysitting. So he asked his new found
friend to duck down in the seat so his other friends wouldn’t see her sitting
in his car, thus maintaining his reputation.
Well, that’s what I was doing with God. I was saying to God, “You are really
important to me and I love you a lot, but I don’t want other people to know how
important You are to me. I want to look
‘cool’ to others and don’t want them to think I’m a religious fanatic. So, God, please duck down so they don’t know
I’m a Christian.”
This movie impacted my life and my relationship with
God because it helped me realize that I used to shy away from mentioning
anything about God or my faith to anyone.
I can’t say it’s all that easy for me now, because I’m still very weak
and have a hard time risking ridicule from others. I do try to say things like, “Boy, God was
really looking after you,” when there was a miracle in someone’s life that they
may have overlooked.
When I do this, I’m generally anxious because I
never know how anyone is going to respond to these statements. I’m always afraid that they are going to
think I’m a fanatic and shy away from me, but I have never received that
response from anyone. In fact, people
have been very appreciative and it has opened up opportunities for the other
person to share their perspective of how God has influenced their life. I need to continue to focus on being more
willing to take risks for God. I would
never want Him to turn His back on me the way I have done to Him.
………………………………………………………………………………
Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of
them should be greatest. And Jesus,
perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by Him, and
said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in My Name receiveth Me: and
whosoever shall receive Me receiveth Him that sent Me: for he that is least
among you all, the same shall be great.
Luke, Chapter 9, verses 46-48.
Being a “Self-righteous Christian” too many times to
mention, this passage reminds us that we shouldn’t get caught up in determining
how great we are for all the good things we do in God’s Name. That isn’t what it’s all about. God says, “For he who is least among you all, the same shall be great.” I need to make sure that I’m focused on
living the life God wants for me rather than trying to look pious to others by
attaining religious status.
………………………………………………………………………………
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus,
And who is my neighbour? And Jesus
answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem
to Jericho
It makes me think of all the people that need help
on the side of the road that I ignore. I
have a dilemma. It isn’t very safe to be
picking up people by the side of the road these days, but I bet there are
things I can do to help anyway. I could
probably ask them if they need me to call a tow truck or something. That might be risky too. What I have been doing is using my cell
phone, at times, to call the highway patrol to tell them the approximate
location of the broken down car. I know
it’s not as big an effort as the Samaritan made, but I think we all need to
start someplace. I get too caught up in
my own little world and tend to ignore the things that make me uncomfortable or
that I really don’t want to deal with. I
need to be more sensitive to the needs of others, being an example on a regular
basis of how God works in my life.
………………………………………………………………………………
And it came to pass, as He spake these things, a
certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto Him, Blessed is
the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked. But He said, Yea rather, blessed are they
that hear the Word of God, and keep it.
Luke, Chapter 11, verses 27-28.
God lets me know in this passage that it’s not good
enough to hear the Word of God. We are
supposed to live the life that He suggests.
It reminds me of teaching math to children. I would explain a new math concept to nodding
heads. I would ask if anyone had a
question, but they rarely did. I thought
they really understood the concept, but as I walked around the room, I found
that although the children thought they understood the concept, they weren’t
applying it and were lost.
It’s pretty easy to hear things in church and feel
it’s impacted your life. If we are just
“Sunday Christians” cussing at other motorists, yelling at our kids or being
rude to others the rest of the week, we may not be living our lives as examples
of how God works in us.
Here is a related passage:
*For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which
is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother. Matthew, Chapter 12, verse 50.
………………………………………………………………………………
For there is nothing covered, that shall not be
revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the
Light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed
upon the housetops. And I say unto you
My friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no
more that they can do. Luke, Chapter 12,
verses 2-4.
I think Jesus was probably talking about the people
who were plotting against Him. Those who
said all these hateful things about Him in private thought it was private, but
God knows all.
I’m not totally sure of God’s message in this
one. What I think about when I read this
passage is more directed to me, personally.
It feels like God is saying to me, “You know you profess to be such a
good Christian, don’t you? But I see
when you are gossiping with others and saying less than kind things. You know your actions are supposed to be an
example of your faith in Me. You think
those things you say in secret are really secret, but I know everything! You ought to think about whether this is
really what you want Me to hear coming out of your mouth. Think about it, Debbie, because I care about
you.”
………………………………………………………………………………
But he that denieth Me before men shall be denied
before the angels of God. And whosoever
shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto
him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. Luke, Chapter 12, verses 9-10.
Sometimes I feel awkward talking to others about my
faith in God. I’m afraid they will shy
away from me the same way I want to hide in my house when a particular
religious group that has a belief that isn’t compatible with mine, comes
knocking on my door. I hate it that God
sees all the times I’m afraid to risk on His behalf. I want to be a strong Christian He can depend
on, not the “Self-serving Christian” who is worried about what others think.
………………………………………………………………………………
And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and
unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall
answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same
hour what ye ought to say. Luke, Chapter
12, verses 11-12.
Jesus is really talking to the disciples and other
people, preparing them not to worry about what they should say if they are
questioned about their beliefs, because the Holy Spirit will provide the right
words for them to say. Well, I have
found this is also beneficial for me to bear in mind in all types of
situations.
I found myself worrying about a job I really
wanted. I remembered that it’s all in
God’s hands no matter which way it turned out.
When I realized that, I relaxed knowing He would take care of it.
Shortly before I went for the interview, I said a
quick prayer and asked God to take care of the words (meaning the words that
come out of my mouth) and my willingness to let Him take care of the
words. It was amazing! When I came out of the interview, I reviewed
it over and over in my mind, amazed at how the words just flowed out of my
mouth. I couldn’t believe some of the
answers I had given to questions I knew little about or had never thought about
before.
I guess I shouldn’t have been so amazed. God always takes good care of me and hadn’t I
just asked Him to take care of the words?
Should I have expected any less?
Now before stressful situations, I try to remember to ask God to take
care of the words and my willingness to let Him take care of the words and He
always does!
Here is a related passage:
*And ye shall
be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them
and the Gentiles. But when they deliver
you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you
in that same hour what ye shall speak.
For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which
speaketh in you. Matthew, Chapter 10,
verses 18-20.
………………………………………………………………………………
And one of the company said unto Him, Master, speak
to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And He said unto him, Man, who made Me a
judge or a divider over you? And He said
unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth
not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And He spake a parable unto them, saying, The
ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within
himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down
my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my
goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul,
thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and
be merry. But God said unto him, Thou
fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those
things be, which thou hast provided?
Luke, Chapter 12, verses 13-21.
Our belief in God isn’t a “Once a Christian-Always a
Christian Guarantee” that once you have it, you always have it regardless of
your actions. If it were, people could
become a Christian, go rob a bank and shoot someone because they need their
next fix, not worrying because they think they have Salvation regardless of
their actions.
It’s like planting a garden using seeds. That gardener’s energy and enthusiasm are
there after they have hoed the rows, preparing them for the seeds to be
planted. He carefully plants the seeds
and waters them regularly, just as a person who starts a relationship with God
has energy and enthusiasm for their new-found faith.
If that gardener were to go on vacation right after
planting his garden and expected to find fully grown plants when he returns, he
would be greatly surprised! The garden
would be overgrown and the vegetables would be strangled by the weeds while the
remnants of the garden would still be there.
This is similar to what happens to the Christian who doesn’t tend to
their faith regularly by making it a DAILY part of their life.
That Christian’s faith will wither away, strangled
by the weeds of worldly living while the remnants of that faith will still be
there. Our faith needs constant
cultivation and care just as the garden does in order to grow and flourish.
………………………………………………………………………………
And He said unto His disciples, Therefore I say unto
you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body,
what ye shall put on. The life is more
than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have
storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the
fowls? And which of you with taking
thought can add to his stature one cubit?
If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye
thought for the rest? Consider the
lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you,
that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is
today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will He
clothe you, O ye of little faith? And
seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of
doubtful mind. For all these things do
the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need
of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God
This is one of my favorite passages
in the whole Bible. It has personal
significance to me because of my experience with it. Years ago, I was on a very tight budget. It was so tight that I had to buy powdered
milk in case I didn’t have enough money to have milk for my children’s
breakfast. Now, I know our situation
wasn’t as bad as some, but I just want you to know that things were tight and I
had to be very careful about my spending.
Now, one of my biggest vices, as I’ve shared, is the need to be in
control of my life.
Since things were so tight, I would spend hours
making a budget or revising it every time there appeared to be a need. I lived my life by this budget and tried very
hard to not deviate from it. I spent
most of my waking hours trying to plan, scheme and figure out ways to get by
through the month. Then one day, God had
me read this particular passage and it totally turned my life and my
relationship with God around!
I found out that God didn’t want me spending the
vast majority of my time fretting over bills and figuring out ways to make ends
meet. When I was doing that, I was
showing that I didn’t trust God to provide for my family’s needs. I was also wasting a lot of time planning
when I could have spent that time reading the Bible, praying or spending time
with my family.
It was like I was saying, “God, you know I love you
and I think you’re wonderful, but I just don’t think you are going to take good
enough care of my family. I’m going to
devise a plan to take care of them, just in case you fail us.” Well, that isn’t the message I want to be
giving God.
I can’t say I don’t ever get caught up in worrying
about finances anymore, but quite often God will put the thought of this
passage in my mind which helps me refocus.
I need to trust God to take care of my family’s needs and I need to be
an example of how God works in my life.
This is a disclaimer of sorts. This doesn’t mean a person should go out and
spend their family’s money on gambling, alcohol, Bingo, possessions, etc. and
God will make sure that all their needs are met. I don’t think He wants us to ever take
advantage of Him.
It would be like telling an unemployed relative that
he could stay with you for a month or two while he gets back on his feet. While your relative goes out to look for work
every day you tell him, “Don’t worry about cleaning up your room. I have a little extra time and I’ll take care
of it.” This is a genuine offer and you
don’t mind cleaning up the minor things the relative leaves around.
Then the relative starts taking advantage of the
fact that he has someone taking care of him.
The relative starts leaving all his clothes on the floor. He leaves his dirty towels lying around instead
of putting them in the hamper. He leaves
his dirty dishes lying on the table.
It’s bad enough that you have to take his dirty dishes to the sink and
wash them, but they are hard, crusty and difficult to wash.
To top this all off, the relative is getting used to
having someone pay all the bills, cook the meals and clean up after him. Having a job, getting up early and going to
work is looking less and less attractive to him.
Your relative isn’t getting up early in the morning
anymore to look for work. In fact, he
seems to be staying in bed later and later every day. You bring the paper to your relative with
some potential jobs circled and find that he has tossed it on the floor with
the rest of his dirty clothes, making no attempt to look for work or even call
any of the ads you carefully circled.
You aren’t empowering your relative by helping him
become the best he can be. Instead, you
realize that you are enabling him and making him dependent on you. Finally, you recognize that enough is enough
and you tell your relative that you aren’t going to be doing things for him
anymore. You notify him that he has to
be responsible for himself and if he doesn’t get a job in a certain amount of
time or at least make a decent effort; he will be out on his ear.
Well, don’t you think that if we could feel this
way, maybe God would get a little upset if we took advantage of Him? I don’t think He would like it if we spent
our money carelessly so that we didn’t have enough for our bills, but relied on
Him to pick up all the pieces and work everything out. So, although I’m saying God will take care of
our every need (and He really does, even better than I ever did when I was
budgeting so tightly), we still need to be responsible about our finances and
choices by not taking advantage of God’s forgiving nature.
………………………………………………………………………………
Surely Thou
wilt slay the wicked, O God; depart from me therefore, ye bloody men, For they
speak against Thee wickedly, and Thine enemies take Thy Name in vain. Psalm, Chapter 139, verses 19-20.
It doesn’t sound to me that God takes it lightly
when people curse Him or use His Name inappropriately. That’s why I am very concerned about people
casually using “God” and “Jesus” in their everyday speech. I don’t think people realize how strongly God feels
about it.
All the passages that say we aren’t to profane God’s
Name or to use His Name in vain really made me stop and think. It has become very common these days for
people to say “God” or “Jesus,” without really any thought. You hear people say things like, “God that was a
great game!” “Jesus Christ! I ran out of
bread again!” “Oh, good God, get off
your high horse and give me a hand around here.”
Of course, I can’t mention all the possible ways
I’ve heard people use God’s Name inappropriately. The point of great concern is that these
people really aren’t focusing on God when they say these things. They aren’t praying or genuinely telling
other people about God or glorifying Him either. God states very clearly throughout the Bible
that we aren’t supposed to use His Name in vain.
Reading many passages about this in the Bible has
caused me to become alarmed about this issue.
I don’t think people realize how often they’re saying “God” or “Jesus,”
in their everyday language. It’s on TV
and it’s in the movies. Almost everyone
seems to be doing it, even the little kids and people we respect. Some people who are doing this consider
themselves to be good Christians. I
don’t think these people even know they are using God’s Name in vain or that
they are being a poor example of their faith in Jesus.
I realize that some people may not like hearing
this. Most of us like thinking we are
pretty good people. This may hurt our
self-perception of the type of Christian we think we are. I’m hoping that we will get beyond this and
become much more aware of the words we choose to use.
Using God’s Name in vain has become just casual
slang, like, “Shucks” used to be when I was a kid. I hope one of the things that you get out of
this book is a deeper awareness of this issue.
Listen to people talk. What if
each and every person who used God’s Name in vain as slang was to lose their
Salvation? That would be a pitiful
thing.
Maybe that’s what my job is. Maybe I’m supposed to make people aware that
they are doing this. Maybe I’m supposed
to draw their attention to the possible repercussions of using God’s Name in
vain. I have no idea. I just know I felt led to write this book and
God will take care of the rest!
Fortunately, God is very merciful and will forgive
us if we ask Him to, provided we make the necessary changes to only use His
Name in ways that glorify Him.
Here are some related passages:
*Thou shalt
not take the Name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him
guiltless that taketh His Name in vain.
Exodus, Chapter 20, verse 7.
*And ye shall not swear by My Name falsely, neither
shalt thou profane the Name of thy God: I am the LORD. Leviticus, Chapter 19, verse 12.
*And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel
*And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through
the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the Name of thy God: I am the
LORD. Leviticus, Chapter 18, verse 21.
*Thou shalt not take the Name of the LORD thy God in
vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in
vain. Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify
it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is
the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor
thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine
ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy
gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt
*I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin
not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is
before me. Psalm, Chapter 39, verse 1.
*He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he
that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction. Proverbs, Chapter 13, verse 3.
*Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good
manners. 1 Corinthians, Chapter
15, verse 33.
………………………………………………………………………………
He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig
tree planted in his vineyard and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found
none. Then said he unto the dresser of
his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree,
and find none: cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it
alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear
fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. Luke, Chapter 13, verses 6-9.
If a person stole from stores and then said to God,
“I’m sorry I am not the Christian You want me to be; please forgive me,” but
neglected to try to change anything, God would be patient with him up to a
point. This passage makes me think that
there comes a time when God says that He’s given enough chances for the person
to change their actions and if they haven’t, then He cuts His losses.
Fortunately for us, God is very forgiving. If that person finally turns his life around
to be the Christian that God wants; all will be forgiven. God doesn’t want us to put off our faith
until the last minute.
Here are some related passages:
*And now also
the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Matthew, Chapter 3, verse 10.
*Whose fan is
in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into
the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Matthew, Chapter 3, verse 12.
*Ye are the
salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be
salted? It is thenceforth good for
nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 13.
*Ye shall know
them by their fruits. Do men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree
cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good
fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know
them. Not every one that saith unto Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doth the will
of My Father which is in heaven. Many
will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? and
in Thy Name have cast out devils? And in Thy Name done many wonderful
works? And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew, Chapter 7, verses 16-23.
*But He answered
and said, Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be
rooted up. Matthew, Chapter 15, verse
13.
………………………………………………………………………………
Then said He, Unto what is the kingdom of God
This reminds me of when I mention to someone else
about how God looked after me in a particular situation. It’s like planting a seed that has the
potential to grow and to continue to grow into a full-fledged belief in
God. It’s just like the mustard tree
that grows from that tiny seed that is planted.
It makes me think that we never know how the little
things we share might make a difference in someone else’s life. My being fearful of sharing my relationship
with God may not be giving that person the opportunity to come to have a relationship
with God.
Here are some related passages:
*Another
parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a
grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed
is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs,
and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the
branches thereof. Matthew, Chapter 13,
verses 31-32.
*And He said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God
………………………………………………………………………………
Then said one unto Him, Lord, are there few that be
saved? And He said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many,
I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the Master of the house is risen
up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at
the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto
you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten
and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But He shall say, I tell you, I know you not
whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. Luke, Chapter 13, verses 23-27.
This reminds me of when I was heavy and there were
people that weren’t really friendly to me.
When I lost the weight, all of a sudden these same people were much
friendlier. I didn’t really want to be
close friends with them at that point.
They had an opportunity to be friendly with me before when I was heavy,
and they hadn’t chosen to.
Jesus may be telling us something very similar about
putting off our decision to become active Christians. If we don’t acknowledge Him when He calls us,
maybe He won’t remember us when we get around to asking Him for help.
Something unexpected like an accident might happen
where we don’t ever get another chance.
If I’m a “Bird in the Hand Christian,” I need to develop my relationship
with God now, while I have the chance.
Here is a related passage:
*Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the
gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be
which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which
leadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it. Matthew, Chapter 7, verses 13-14.
………………………………………………………………………………
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets,
and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy
children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would
not! Behold, your house is left unto you
desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me, until the time come
when ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord. Luke, Chapter 13, verses 34-35.
When I was reading my Bible this morning, I was
thinking about how God uses picturesque language throughout the Bible to give
us a mental picture of what He is trying to convey to us. This passage is a good example of that.
I can picture a mother hen spreading her wings
trying to focus her children to go in the correct direction, just as Jesus does
for us. Do we listen? No, just like kids we say we want to do
things our own way and tend to wander off, losing our focus. Now, when something traumatic happens in our
lives or the lives of our loved ones, BAM, we are right back on target, asking
God to help with this situation.
On Judgment Day, do you think Jesus will have pity
on us who decide at that moment that we are finally ready to become Christian
when our lives haven’t reflected that dedication all along????
Here is a related passage:
*O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto
thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you
desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall
not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the Name
of the Lord. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses
37-39.
………………………………………………………………………………
For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and
he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Luke, Chapter 14, verse 11.
In the previous three verses in the Bible, Jesus was
talking about a wedding to teach us to have humility. Rather than go to a wedding and sit in a seat
of honor, only to be embarrassed when asked to sit in a position of lower
status, it was better to be humble and sit in the lower status seats. and then,
to be asked to sit in the position of honor.
I think He was trying to convey that He doesn’t want us getting so
self-righteous and big-headed that we lose our focus and humility.
Here are some related passages:
*But many that are first shall be last; and the last
shall be first. Matthew, Chapter 19,
verse 30.
*But Jesus
called them unto Him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles
exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon
them. But it shall not be so among you:
but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let
him be your servant: Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but
to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many. Matthew, Chapter 20, verses 25-28.
*And there was also a strife among them, which of
them should be accounted the greatest.
And He said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over
them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is
greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that
doth serve. For whether is greater, he
that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at meat? but I
am among you as He that serveth. Luke,
Chapter 22, verses 24-27.
………………………………………………………………………………
Then said He also to him that bade Him, When thou
makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither
thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and a
recompense be made thee. But when thou
makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt
be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at
the resurrection of the just. Luke,
Chapter 14, verses 12-14.
This passage lets me know that when I do nice things
for others I need to make sure that I’m doing them for people who really need
it and not to do it to gain some sort of personal recognition for my actions.
It’s sometimes a hard one to live by because it
makes me look at my motives for doing favors.
Yes, I have found there have been times when I was choosing to do things
for someone to draw attention to myself.
Now, I’m trying to be more discreet in my favors to avoid this
self-focus.
………………………………………………………………………………
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh
not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.
Luke, Chapter 14, verse 33.
I spent all day yesterday packing up my
classroom. My husband has taken a job in
a state that we had previously lived in.
I thought it would only take a few hours to finish packing, but it was 7:00 p.m. when my husband and I
finally pulled away from the school.
I was amazed because I had given so many teaching
resources away during the year and still had so much stuff. One of the teachers came by and made a
comment about how I should get rid of all the stuff. I was appalled with the idea. I couldn’t get rid of all my stuff. It was important to me!
The stuff in my life becomes too important and gets
in the way of my relationship with God.
I would hate for Jesus to tell me that I couldn’t come to heaven to be
with Him because my stuff had become more important than He was.
I had to come back and add this to what I had
written this morning. My husband came
home and I was preparing to paint the bathroom before we put our house on the
market. I said something about taking
all my paint to our new house so I can try my hand at sponge painting the next
house we buy. He said it would take too
much room and we can get more paint after we move. I got upset with him for even thinking of
getting rid of it. Then I realized that
I hadn’t learned very much from writing about this earlier. I was still having a hard time letting go of
stuff!
God had perfect timing by having me deal with this
particular passage right now. It wasn’t
one week earlier or a month later. It
was the exact same day that I am having stuff withdrawal issues. Isn’t it wonderful that God could time this
so precisely? He knows as well as I do,
I really need to continue to work on this one!!!!!
Here are some related passages:
*In that day, he which shall be upon the
housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away:
and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot ’s
wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his
life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. Luke, Chapter 17, verses 31-33.
*Let him which is on the housetop not come down to
take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return
back to take his clothes. Matthew,
Chapter 24, verses 17-18.
………………………………………………………………………………
And He said, A certain man had two sons: And the
younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that
falleth to me. And he divided unto them
his living. And not many days after the
younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and
there wasted his substance with riotous living.
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and
he began to be in want. And he went and
joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to
feed swine, And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the
swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my
father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise
and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against
heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as
one of thy hired servants. And he arose,
and came to his father. But when he was
yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell
on his neck, and kissed him. And the son
said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am
no more worthy to be called thy son. But
the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him;
and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted
calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and
is alive again; he was lost, and is found.
And they began to be merry. Now
his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he
heard music and dancing. And he called
one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, thy brother is come;
and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe
and sound. And he was angry, and would
not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo,
these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy
Commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with
my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy
living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with
me, and all that I have is thine. It was
meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and
is alive again, and was lost, and is found.
Luke, Chapter 15, verses 11-32.
I could get my Christian nose out of joint from this
passage, but I do the same thing in the classroom. I love teaching kids, but where I get the
most personal reward isn’t from the gifted kids who could be successful on
their own; it’s from helping students who thought they weren’t competent. I try to help them find out how capable they
really are. I guess God likes seeing
people turn their lives and their focus around, in somewhat a similar manner.
Here are some related
passages:
*And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying,
This Man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And He spake this parable unto them, saying,
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not
leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost,
until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders
rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he
calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me;
for I have found my sheep which was lost.
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner
that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no
repentance. Luke, Chapter 15, verses 2-7.
*Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if
she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek
diligently till she find it? And when
she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying,
Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Luke, Chapter 15, verses 8-10.
*For the Son of Man is come to save that which was
lost. How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of
them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the
mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say
unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which
went not astray. Even so it is not the
will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should
perish. Matthew, Chapter 18, verses
11-14.
………………………………………………………………………………
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is
an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his
vineyard. And when he had agreed with
the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw
others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them, Go ye also into
the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour,
and did likewise. And about the eleventh
hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why
stand ye here all day idle? They say
unto him, Because no man hath hired us.
He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is
right, that shall ye receive. So when
even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the
labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the
eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received
more: and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured
against the goodman of the house, Saying These last have wrought but one hour,
and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of
the day. But he answered one of them,
and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a
penny? Take that thine is, and go thy
way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will
with mine own? Is thine eye evil,
because I am good? So the last shall be
first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. Matthew, Chapter 20, verses 1-16.
I’m ashamed to say that I relate all too well with
the first laborers who wanted more than what was promised for their extra time
and effort. If I’m truly being honest,
there have been times where I expected preferential treatment because I tried
to be good and follow all the rules. I
have deliberately flaunted the good choices I have made in hopes that teachers,
employers and family members would like me better than others.
Well, it may have possibly worked since the people
mentioned are human beings who could not see my ulterior motives, but God
doesn’t get suckered into struggles for attention. He loves us all the way we are. So the prostitute, the rock star, the
janitor, the prisoner, the president, the former drug addict, the school
teacher and anyone else who loves Jesus as their Savior can go to heaven. There is no preferential treatment
there!
………………………………………………………………………………
And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all
these things: and they derided Him. And
He said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God
knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination
in the sight of God. Luke, Chapter 16,
verses 14-15.
People tend to look up to people who are rich,
famous or have climbed their way up the corporate ladder. I like to watch the channel that shows the
lives of famous T.V. and movie stars, past and present. Some, but not all of these, have been
involved in lifestyles that included drugs, excessive drinking and some
heavy-duty partying.
Even though people admire these stars, I think God
would consider that type of lifestyle an abomination. Fortunately, some of these stars have had the
opportunity to turn their lives around as they tell how they’ve gone from their
party-hardy lifestyles to making God a priority in their lives.
………………………………………………………………………………
There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in
purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain
beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring
to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the
dogs came and licked his sores. And it
came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into
Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up
his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom. And he cried and said, Father
Abraham have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger
in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son remember that thou in
thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but
now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Luke, Chapter 16, verses 19-25.
Do I want all the notoriety of the rich, famous and
those who have climbed up the corporate ladder or would I prefer to focus on
leading a lifestyle that allows me to go to heaven?
In order to get to heaven, I have to make sure I’m
focused on Jesus, living as an example of how He works in my life on a daily
basis. It’s not always easy because I’m
human and let greed and jealousy sneak into my life. I keep praying that God gives me the
willingness to be the example He wants me to be, despite my very human nature.
………………………………………………………………………………
Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass
against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times
in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou
shalt forgive him. Luke, Chapter 17,
verses 3-4.
I’m sitting at the computer thinking about getting a
job when we move instead of focusing on this.
I said a little prayer and asked God to forgive me for being so
distracted, and then it all came to me!
God forgives me ninety billion times a day. He forgives all my distractions, angry,
jealous and other human thoughts on a regular basis. When I ask God to forgive me, He never says,
“No way! You’ve already long passed your
quota of times to be forgiven.”
If God forgives me an unlimited number of times,
then He wants me to be more forgiving and tolerant of others. I shouldn’t be there with my little mental
clipboard saying, “Well, you’ve done this three times and that’s it. I will no longer forgive you or be your
friend!” If God treated me like that, I
would have been “a gonner” a long time ago!
………………………………………………………………………………
And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our
faith. And the Lord said, If ye had
faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou
plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey
you. Luke, Chapter 17, verses 5-6.
This passage seems especially appropriate since I’m
a “Focused on Other Things Christian,” thinking about selling my house, finding
a job and buying another house. If I
were really paying attention to what I’m writing, I would realize my faith is
weak, because I am worrying and having sleepless nights.
I need to focus on God and things will fall into
place. He works everything out so
beautifully in timing, if I have the patience to let Him.
Here are some related passages:
Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and
not one of them is forgotten before God?
But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than
many sparrows. Luke, Chapter 12, verses
6-7.
*Are not two
sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of
them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are
of more value than many sparrows.
Matthew, Chapter 10, verses 29-31.
………………………………………………………………………………
And it came to pass, as He went to Jerusalem
that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee . And as He
entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers, which
stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have
mercy on us. And when He saw them, He
said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they
were cleansed. And one of them, when he
saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And
fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten
cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give
glory to God, save this stranger. And He
said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. Luke, Chapter 17, verses 11-19.
I pray to God about things that concern me in my
everyday life. Do I stop and thank Him
for resolving all these issues? Not for
the most part! My life runs smoothly
because the problem has been resolved and I go on with my life, putting Jesus back
on the shelf until I need him again.
After I read this passage, I thought about how
ungrateful the nine healed lepers were.
Isn’t that exactly what I’m doing when I don’t take the time to thank
God for resolving the issues in my life?
………………………………………………………………………………
Luke, Chapter 17, verses 34-37, is very
controversial. I have heard many
different opinions from supposed authorities on these passages. I decided years ago that it’s more important
for me to continue to focus on my relationship with God. Spending my time arguing over how and when I
am going to heaven is time wasted, in my opinion, when I could have spent the
time being a better example of Jesus’ influence on my life.
I don’t have to spend years trying to figure out
whose interpretation of this Bible passage is correct. My Salvation is guaranteed through Jesus’
death and Resurrection as long as I continue to love Him as my Lord and Savior
and try to lead a life that reflects my faith in Him. If I do these, I will have Salvation at the time
and in the manner that God deems is best.
I think God has other things He would like me to focus on, like reading
the Bible rather than worrying about the details of how and when this is all
going to happen.
………………………………………………………………………………
And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted
in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up
into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with
himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would
not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying,
God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell
you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every
one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted. Luke, Chapter 18, verses
9-14.
This passage is kind of like Biblical irony. The Pharisee with the higher status,
self-righteous attitude and brags about all the wonderful things he has done
for others, isn’t justified. The humble
man with the low status, who states how unworthy he is, is justified.
It really opens my eyes. Sometimes I become very self-righteous like
the Pharisee, boasting to myself about all the good things I’ve done. (Actually it wasn’t me doing them in the
first place. God gave me the instincts
to do those things, but I was taking credit for them while boasting.) I need to be much more humble and not get so
caught up in the egotistical part.
That’s how Satan sneaks in and leads Christians astray!
………………………………………………………………………………
And they brought unto Him also infants, that He
would touch them: but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto Him, and said,
Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the
kingdom of God kingdom of God
As an elementary school teacher, it never ceases to
amaze me how sweet, trusting and honest little children are. It seems some get corrupted as they grow up
and become cynical by the ways of the world, media and life, in general.
In the early grades the children would play with
almost any other person that was willing to play with them. They generally got along well with everyone
except for little squabbles, regardless of ethnicity or any other factor. Nearing the intermediate grades, these same
groups of children would no longer associate with some of the children that
they used to consider their best friends.
They seemed to group themselves by ethnicity and other factors like
income. I think Jesus wants us to be
“Uncorrupted Christians” who generally get along well with others, regardless
of ethnicity or any other factor.
Here is a related passage:
*Then were
there brought unto Him little children, that He should put His hands on them,
and pray: and the disciples rebuked them, But Jesus said, Suffer little
children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me: for of such is the kingdom of
heaven. And He laid His hands on them and
departed thence. Matthew, Chapter 19,
verses 13-15.
………………………………………………………………………………
Then He took unto Him the twelve, and said unto
them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem
This passage is soooooo amazing! Jesus knows how terribly they are going to
treat Him, how they are going to mock Him, spit on Him and crucify Him. Yet Jesus is still willing to go through all
that utter humiliation to save us from our sins. Now a parent might possibly be willing to go
through all of that to save the life of their child, but would they be willing
to go through all of that for complete strangers, for people who are hateful
and rude to them? No way!!! Jesus gave His life for us knowing in advance
how terribly humiliating it would be, because He loves us that much!
Jesus told the disciples about what was going to
happen to Him in advance. He wanted them
to remember what He had told them as another proof that Jesus is the One True
Savior of all. It’s sad that Jesus can
be willing to give His life for us, and we need ALL this proof first before we
are willing to believe in Him.
Here are some related passages:
*From that
time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples, how that He must go unto
Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him,
saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee. But He turned and said unto Peter, Get thee
behind Me, Satan, thou art an offence unto Me: for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men. Matthew, Chapter 16, verses 21-23.
*And they came
down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man,
until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead. Matthew, Chapter 17, verse 9.
*And while
they abode in Galilee , Jesus said unto them,
The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill
Him, and the third day He shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. Matthew, Chapter 17, verses 22-23.
*And Jesus
going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto
them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto
the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death,
And shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify
Him: and the third day He shall rise again.
Matthew, Chapter 20, verses 17-19.
*What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of
death. Then did they spit on His face,
and buffeted Him; and others smote Him with the palms of their hands. Saying, Prophesy unto us, Thou Christ, Who is
he that smote Thee? Matthew, Chapter 26,
verses 66-68.
*For scarcely for a righteous man will one
die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled,
we shall be saved by His life. And not
only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have
now received the atonement. Romans,
Chapter 5, verses 7-11.
*Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and
from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might
deliver us from this present evil world, according to the Will of God and our
Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever.
Amen. Galatians, Chapter 1,
verses 3-5.
………………………………………………………………………………
And it came to pass, that as He was come nigh unto Jericho Nazareth
Jesus is on His way to His crucifixion knowing full
well what terrible things are going to happen to Him, but Jesus still takes
time out to heal this blind man despite all He is about to go through. It reinforces how Jesus takes time to be
there for me and my very trivial concerns.
I’m so fortunate to have Jesus as my Savior!!!
Here is a related passage:
*And the blind
and the lame came to Him in the temple: and He healed them. And when the chief priest and scribes saw the
wonderful things that He did, and the children crying in the temple, and
saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased. And said unto Him, Hearest thou what these
say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea;
have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected
praise. Matthew, Chapter 21, verses
14-16.
………………………………………………………………………………
And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho
I remember hearing a group of people talking amongst
themselves saying something about not associating with sinners. That rushed through my mind when I saw a
display outside a church that said, “Sinners Welcome!” Jesus didn’t give His life to save those who
are perfect. (That would mean He had
given His life to save Himself since Jesus is the only perfect person. Now that doesn’t even make sense!)
Jesus died and rose to save sinners like you and
me. He gave His life for those people
who were judgmental of others and the people they thought were unworthy of
their association. If Jesus can turn the
life of Zacchaeus around who was a self-serving tax collector, then who is to
say that He can’t turn around the lives of those people deemed unfit?
If no one invites or welcomes these people into
church, how will they be saved? Do you
want it on your shoulders that you had the opportunity to befriend one of these
“undesirable” people by being an example of how God works in your life, but you
ignored that responsibility because you decided that those people didn’t
deserve it? Something I wouldn’t want to
have to explain to God on Judgment Day!
Here is a related passage:
*And when the
Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, Why eateth your Master with
publicans and sinners? But when Jesus
heard that, He said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but
they that are sick. But go ye and learn
what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Matthew, Chapter 9, verses 11-13.
………………………………………………………………………………
And as they heard these things, He added and spake a
parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem , and
because they thought that the kingdom
of God
Jesus may say on the Last Day, “You were all given
the same task to be examples of how I work in your lives and to share your love
of Me with others. Did you do it? When you had problems you turned to Me but
when I solved those problems for you, you didn’t even take the time to thank
Me. You just turned back to your life
like I didn’t exist until the next problem or religious holiday came
around. Then, you were so focused on
showing off your new clothes at church that you didn’t even pay attention to Me
and the real reason for the season.
Sorry, Charlie, you’re not making it to heaven!”
Here is a related passage:
*For the
kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own
servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one;
to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his
journey. Then he that had received the
five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he
also gained other two. But he that had
received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants
cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so
he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying,
Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them
five talents more. His lord said unto
him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a
few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of
thy lord. He also that had received two
talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I
have gained two other talents beside them.
His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter
thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he
which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou
art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sowed, and gathering where thou
hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth:
lo there thou hast that is thine. His
lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest
that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou
oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my
coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give
it unto him which hath ten talents. For
unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from
him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into
outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When the Son of Man shall come in His glory,
and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His
glory. And before Him shall be gathered
all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a Shepherd
divideth His sheep from the goats. And
He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Matthew, Chapter 25, verses 14-33.
………………………………………………………………………………
Then began He to speak to the people this parable: A
certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a
far country for a long time. And at the
season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the
fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant; and they
beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded
him also, and cast him out. Then said
the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may
be they will reverence him when they see him.
But when the husbandmen saw him they reasoned among themselves, saying,
This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and
killed him. What therefore shall the lord
of the vineyard do unto them? He shall
come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God
forbid. Luke, Chapter 20, verses 9-16.
After reading the parable, this is my opinion of
what God might say. “I protected My
people and promised them a Savior (Jesus).
Then I sent them prophets to tell of Jesus’ coming and they ignored
them. I thought that they just didn’t
understand that I’m trying to help them turn their lives around so that they can
have Salvation with Me. So, I decided to
send John the Baptist and they ignored and killed him. I figured surely they will acknowledge My
only begotten Son, Jesus, so I sent Jesus to them.
“They totally ignored the fact that Jesus is the Son
of God, and then they had the audacity to kill Him. That way they didn’t have to feel guilty
anymore for living their worldly lives not focused on My teachings. They didn’t have any idea about who they were
dealing with, because Jesus arose from the grave on the third day to fulfill
the Scriptures. He conquered death so
that all who truly believe in Him will have eternal life in heaven.
“You are ungrateful people! You killed My only begotten Son and don’t
deserve the gift of Salvation that Jesus has provided for you. I’m going to give that gift to anyone who
believes that Jesus is their Savior, because you aren’t worthy of it!”
Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.
