He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matt. 4:19. What does that mean? I mean really, what does that mean to you and me in this day and age? OK I’m ready, tell me what ‘Follow Me’ means. Does it mean ‘walk behind Me’? Or does it mean ‘Do what I do’? Or maybe, ‘Be like Me.’? Think about that. You decide. What does it mean to you? Continue reading
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good . . .” Genesis 50:20
You know the story of Joseph. He was the favorite son of Jacob, the eleventh of twelve, and when he was young he was a little arrogant. His father gave him the “technicolor dreamcoat”. He told his brothers he had a dream which showed all his brothers and even their father bowing down to Joseph. He probably shouldn’t have done that. Made ‘em mad. So mad they wanted to kill him. They even threw him in a well and left him there to die. But Reuben (one of the brothers) got him out and sold him to slave traders on the way to Egypt. Continue reading
Here I am. 66. Married to a good wife with three grown children and six grandchildren; and a 16 yr old son at home. I’m still working at a ‘real’ job, ‘cause my baby needs shoes. Really because God wants me to keep on working so I get to talk to people about Him. Continue reading
[Jesus said] “Everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, is like a fool who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matt 7:26-27.
What does this mean? ‘House’ means me or you and our lives; the things we base our lives on; the things we surround ourselves with. The things we rely on when the storm comes. Continue reading
In Matt 7: 24-27, Jesus says, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, is like a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Continue reading
Obedience is saying ‘yes’ when God tells you something to do (in an immediate sense). “If you love me you’ll keep my commandments;7” and “This is my commandment, that you love one another.” John 15:12. I cannot do right by myself. I can only do right as I surrender and trust God to work His will in me. Only as I die to myself, and let Jesus live His life in me,” (Galatians 2:20) can I live up to His standard, which is, “Be perfect (whole, complete, entire, wanting nothing), even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 Continue reading
In the 22nd Chapter of Genesis is the story of when God told Abraham to get his son Isaac, the ‘Son of God’s Promise’, and take him up on a mountain, and “offer him there as a burnt offering.” The very next verse in the story says, “So Abraham got up early the next morning and started out.”
It really is clear in the Bible, that from the beginning, God’s preferred means of reconciling Himself to men (really His only method and means) is by grace through faith; and this episode is but one of many examples of that message found in the Bible. Continue reading
Matthew 25:35-36: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Continue reading
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” John 7:24
“For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word of God is living and powerful . . and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.” Continue reading
The underlying key to all aspects of our relationship with Jesus is our surrender to Him. So how does humility express surrender in our lives? Early on, I thought the essence of humility is surrender; such as in Philippians 2:5, 8; where it says, ” Let Jesus’ attitude be in you. . Who, being found as a man, humbled himself, and became a slave, and was obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”
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