In John 5:24, Jesus says, 24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe [trust] in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned, they have already passed from death into life.” This is the most basic expression of the Gospel.
Matthew 25: 14-30: This passage is usually called the “Parable of the Talents”, but I call it the “Parable of the Unfaithful Servant”, because that is what the story is all about. Y’all know the story. Three servants (really slaves). Their master, referred to as ‘lord’ in the story, goes on a long trip. Before he leaves he calls his slaves in and says, “Slave 1, I’m giving you 10 talents; Slave 2, 5; Slave 3, 1. Y’all invest the money. See what you can make for me while I’m gone.” A talent of gold was several lifetimes of wages for the average man in those days. Estimates have it at $300,000.00 in today’s currency. (One talent) Continue reading
Isaiah 26: 3, said, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Focus on God, and He will keep you in perfect peace, because if you stay focused on God, you will trust Him; which is the main thing.
Psalm 37: 39-40: “But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble, and the Lord shall help them and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him.”
Who are the righteous? Most of my life I understood that the righteous are those who do right; who live up to God’s standards of behavior; people who don’t “drink or cuss or dance or chew, or ever run with them that do.” Continue reading
John 15 1-3 “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. . . . 4 “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with Me. Continue reading
I’m always talking about how God will take care of you if you’ll just trust Him. But will He really? Will He still take care of you even if you do something really bad; something you knew was wrong before you did it, and you did it anyway? I mean like when you were doing it, you looked God in the eye and said, “I don’t care what you think; I’m going to do this anyway” Will God take care of you, even then, even after that? Continue reading
Hebrews 11: 6, says: “Without faith (trust) it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe (trust) that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him.” This is about the attitude of trust in God. You just don’t have a chance with God unless you trust Him. Since you can’t see Him, you must trust that He exists. (Funniest thing though, when you start trusting Him, you start seeing the things He does, and feeling His Presence all around. He reveals Himself to you.) And you must trust that He’ll reward you if you earnestly seek Him. Like it says in James 4:8, “Draw near to God, and He’ll draw near to you.” ‘Drawing near’ could be translated, ‘earnestly seek Him’. Continue reading
Philippians 4: 6-7: Tex’s paraphrase: “Don’t worry about anything, but with an attitude of gratitude, tell God what you need, and leave it in His hands. Then His peace, the peace that gives you comfort and rest, the peace that passes all understanding, will guard and protect your hearts and your thoughts through Christ Jesus.”
“Don’t worry about anything.” In Matthew 6:34, KJV Jesus says, “Take no thought for the morrow.” Liberally translated that’d be “Don’t worry”, but Tex’s paraphrase would be “Don’t even think about tomorrow AT ALL.” That’s what Phil 4:6-7, starts out saying as well, “Don’t worry about anything, don’t even think about it.” God wants us to turn all our problems over to Him, not even think about them anymore, just let Him take care of them. Continue reading
In Matthew 21: 28-32, Jesus tells the story of the man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Go to the vineyard.” And the son said, “I will not.” But afterward, he regretted it and went. Then the father went to the second son and said the same. That son said, “I’ll go.” But he didn’t. Then Jesus said, “Which one of the sons did the will of his father?” [the Pharisees] said, “The first.”
Then Jesus tells the Pharisees that the sinners will get into heaven before them because the sinners BELIEVED what John the Baptist preached and were changed; while the Pharisees didn’t believe even after they saw it. Jesus compared them to the second son, who said the right thing, but didn’t do it. Continue reading
In Matthew 21: 28-32 Jesus says, “What do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ The son said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” [The Pharisees] said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John [preached] righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.”
What does this mean? It’s this: “Whatever you SAY; God cares about what you DO.” So the Pharisees answered correctly. But Jesus skips right to the main point, “You guys say the right things; but you don’t do right. So the bad people, the people you despise because they don’t do right and they don’t answer correctly; they are going to heaven and you’re not. They believed John’s preaching and turned; but you didn’t turn even when you saw how they were changed.”
So I guess you could say, “Practice what you preach,” and God will like you. But that might not be quite right either; because God looks at our hearts; and He knows what’s in your heart, even if you’re able to hide it from everyone else. Doing right is not necessarily obedient, if your heart’s not in the right place. Just like the two sons, the first son said, “I won’t go;” but then regretted it and went. His heart was in the right place. The second son said the right thing, but his heart wasn’t right, ’cause he didn’t go. Like the Pharisees.
So obedience must be about having your heart right. And how do you make your heart right? You humble yourself, you surrender to Jesus and you trust Him; and His Spirit comes into your heart. Your ole heart just can’t get any more ‘all right’ than that.
lifevolumeone 