Weekly Verses and Inspiration
This is from John 14:
This is from 2 Corinthians 6:
The world teaches self-love which ultimately can lead to self-hate as there is no way to draw strength from one's self. Our kids when they fail, whether it be a job or relationship, put the blame on themselves with no way to forgive themselves (self-hate) and when a new job or relationship begins and the failure of past fades to lift their self-up, is only temporary until the next failure.
This is from John 15:
This is from Ephesians 4:
Not to say our kids are completely lost, as the seed was planted a long time ago, it is a possibility they may never turn back to their creator. The question will remain does baptism save you from death. Baptism is the identification of faith, to believe and confess Jesus Christ is king and our savior. There is nothing I can find that baptism gives one the ability to become one with this world and still receive the blessings of our Lord. He is the one who will judge when the books are opened upon His second coming. Is anyone willing to bet your life on it?
The lost can see the truth again: A faithful saying in 2 Timothy 2
26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
In Matthew 13:
Parable of the sower
Disciples, please explain the tares of the field
In conclusion, our children whether young or old are under attack from this world. God warned us many times throughout His word of deceit, lawlessness and hatred. Many institutions are out to corrupt or have already tarnished our kids and our living God with lies and propaganda. Read again 2 Timothy 2 especially verses 25 & 26 which states 25) in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26) and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. Jesus in all His glory has given the lost the chance to repent, come to their senses, learn the truth and escape the noose the devil has been dragging our children around with keeping them lost and in despair. I will say again, do not assume you are saved and in the book of life. Repent daily and keep the faith in our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. From Philippians 2 9) Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The road to Damascus
I always liked this story of Saul to Paul. He was born around the time Jesus was in Nazareth. While it was common in those days to have dual names, Saul first began using this name which is his Hebrew name and after the bright light moment that dropped him to his knees and started his mission for Jesus that he decided to use his Roman name Paul. Therefore, it was Paul's decision what name he preferred to be called.
Saul is from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew but was also born in the Roman city of Tarsus which made him a Roman citizen. An interesting combination to say the least. He was a devoted Jew and many believe this is what led to his persecution of Christians. Saul first started hearing rumors of Jesus who was called teacher, counselor, prophet and king. These believers of Jesus grew very strong in their belief and their numbers were increasing by the day as the good news spread. Saul a Jew was among those who did not believe Jesus, who was thought to be a commoner or a peasant could not be a king of noble heritage. It is therefore viewed by some that Saul was looking for a king but not The King. He grew angry at those believers and hence his action to oppose/persecute those followers to be known as Christians.
Stephen, a very outspoken advocate for Jesus, was arrested and a hearing was being held, which Saul heard about and went to watch and see what he could do to help out with the punishment. Saul, who had no compassion for Stephen, could not help but notice how calm he was with no fear present in his eyes even as he was surrounded by those who would stone him to death. You see, Stephen kept his eyes on God above him in the heavens and this only served to anger Saul even more which led him to travel the road to Damascus where he heard was a refugee place to hide Christians. He wanted to punish every one of them only Jesus had other plans. On that fateful road came this very bright white light that served to blind the soldiers on the spot. The light brought Saul immediately to his knees and the voice that followed, he knew right away that voice was Jesus which Jesus confirmed. Saul at that moment knew he was wrong in his belief that a peasant could not be a king. Jesus was indeed the King and from this point on would be on a mission to deliver the good news of Jesus to the gentiles and from hence on he would call himself the Roman name of Paul. As a strong believer of the Jew, he choose Saul, as a representative of Jesus and his delivery of the Word of God to the gentiles he choose Paul.
My question is this, if Saul would have put his Jewish belief in his pocket only long enough to go see and hear for himself the man they called Jesus, would he have kept his Jewish belief and continue to persecute Christians? The same goes to the time we live in today. Saul's anger grew out of his one-sided belief. Had he wanted to seek the truth, his path would certainly have changed. Today we have lots of propaganda thrown at us. Propaganda is the communication that is primarily used to influence an audience and further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular perception to produce an emotional response rather than a rational response to the information being presented. Think about that. The emotional or rational response. Which one leads you to make the possible worse case decision? We live in a place where force, mandates, double thinks, public health orders, executive orders, elites conflict of interest, and maybe one of the worst things to rear its ugly head is censorship. Think about this, THE ONLY WAY TO HIDE THE TRUTH IS CENSOR THE OPPOSITION. How many who opposed and oppressed Jesus and His followers thought that though the persecution of Christians and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ would lead to the fall of His ministry to be silenced forever? His word will never be silenced because of the strong faith and belief of His followers even with all the persecutions of Christians going on around the world today. Jesus is the truth, the light and the way. Satan is division, propaganda, force, mandates, lies, hate and loves censorship. Read the bible, keep the faith and pray for your pastor. And that my friends is the bottom line.
Forgiveness is what we need
Is it not our responsibility to forgive those who have hurt us? Are we responsible for the sins of others committed from the past? Should we not learn from the past so we can forgive those sins and let go and let Jesus, who is from God, lead us in a different path? Why is forgiveness necessary in our daily lives? The answer is because forgiveness is freeing that breaks the bitterness un-forgiveness brings. Un-forgiveness can poison your soul and destroy you. Can you witness a loved one going through this? Seeking forgiveness is the answer.
Prayer is very important part of forgiveness as noted in Matthew 6:5-15.
5"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think they will be heard by their many words. 8Therefore, do not be like them. For the Father knows these things you have need of before you ask Him. 9In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed by Your name. 10Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 14For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
And this my friends is the bottom line.
Truth is a good thing
One thing that seems evident today is the lack of honest to God truth. My mission is not about who is right and who is wrong but the matter of truth and what Jesus has to say.
I was drawn to John and 1John. Let us start in 1John4. Jesus begins "dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false spirits have gone out into the world." This chapter deals with recognizing the Spirit of God. The truth lies upon the test whether or not Jesus did indeed come in the flesh from God. To believe Jesus did come in the flesh is to be in the Spirit of God. To the unbelievers is to be in the spirit of antichrist. Why is this important? Verse 6 helps which states, "We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize who is in the spirit of truth and who is in the spirit of falseness." Is this not powerful?
Another good message is from John8 where Jesus is talking with Jews who do not believe He is from God. Let us start with verse 37 "I know you are of Abrahams descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for My word." Jesus continues with His message which the Jews continue to reject. In verses 41 and 42 Jesus states "You are doing the works of your own father." "We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only father we have is God himself." Jesus said to them "if God were your father you would love me, for I have come here from God. I did not come here on my own; God sent me. Therefore, if there is no Spirit of God in you then what's left is the spirit of the antichrist." I like verse 44 as it says it all. "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth is him. When he lies he speaks in his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
Jesus is then our key to truth. Jesus loved His children. He was sinless and the truth was always with Him and His greatest pleasure was to glorify the one who sent Him. The devil on the other hand works overtime to deceive anyone who will listen. He has no desire to love anyone and takes pleasure is seeing people hate and hurt one another. Do we have honest to God truth anymore? Does anyone actually interested in the truth? Would our world actually be better off living under honest to God truth or under the father of lies? What we see so much of today is the constantly changing beliefs of man influenced by man and not by God and that is not necessarily a good thing. Therefore, I encourage you to let Jesus be your teacher and find out why the truth will set you free. And that is the bottom line.
LOVE defined
Paul explains love in a way no one else can. In 1Corinthians13:4-8 Paul wrote these beautiful words. 4.Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up; 5.does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6.does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7.bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8.Love never fails...Moving down to 13.And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; But the greatest of these is love. Paul could not have done his work for the Lord without the passion he had without the love he had for Jesus. Love of Jesus is what the world has too little of it appears to be true. Seek the love of Jesus my friends and that is the bottom line.