Category Archives: ATTITUDE,

DELIVERANCE TO THE PRISONERS . 050515

Leave a reply

Abandoned Jail in TallinnIn Luke 4:16-20, is the story of when, shortly after Jesus returned from His temptation wilderness, He first appeared in the synagogue at Nazareth to announce His ministry.  It goes like this: ‘And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

In a number of places in the New Testament, Jesus says that those who believe (trust) in Him will receive the Holy Spirit (That’s Jesus’ Spirit), like John 7:39; John 20:22;  and Acts 1:8; I take these verses to mean that because you and I trust Jesus, His Spirit lives in us too, and the passage in Luke quoted above applies to us, just as it applied (applies) to Jesus.  We too are to proclaim deliverance to the prisoners.   Continue reading →

BE LIKE JESUS. 042815

Leave a reply

Teacher talking with students in the clasroomIn Matthew 10:24-25, Jesus said, “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough that the student be like his teacher, and a servant be like his master.”  Like it says in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind (this attitude) be in you that was also in Christ Jesus.”  (That’s humble and willing to serve)  I pray these verses for you and me.  I pray we can BE LIKE JESUS.  That will definitely change our lives.

WATCH OUT! 042315

Leave a reply

Der Wolf im SchafspelzMatthew 7:15-16 says, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are vicious/ferocious wolves. You will know them by what they do.”  This is Jesus talking, in the Sermon on the Mount.  He goes on to say that good trees bear good fruit, bad trees bear bad fruit, and people are the same way.  Beware means “be warned”.  Watch Out! Continue reading →

I’M SOOOO SORRY.042015

Leave a reply

man lawn mowing1 Samuel 15:22-23: Samuel said, “Does the Lord delight as much in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.  Indeed, rebellion is like witchcraft, and stubborn arrogance is idolatry. Because you have rejected this message from the Lord, he has rejected you from being king.”

This passage comes from the story of King Saul and the prophet Samuel, when God told Saul to take his army and kill all the Amalekites; man, woman and child; and destroy all the plunder, all the stuff they captured in the battle.  Turns out, Saul did not obey. He brought back the best of the sheep and cattle supposedly to sacrifice to the Lord; and he even failed to execute Agag, the king of the Amalekites.  God was very angry, so He sent Samuel to tell Saul what was going to happen. Continue reading →

WHO IS YOUR MASTER? 041815

Leave a reply

Business conceptMatthew 6:24 “Jesus: No one can serve two masters. If you try, you will wind up loving the first master and hating the second, or vice versa. People try to serve both God and money—but you can’t. You must choose one or the other.” (VOICE)  The old versions, like KJV, say “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.” (Mammon = riches)

If you can’t serve both, then you must choose.  Or as I often say, “You get to choose.”  Do you want to serve money and stuff, or do you want to serve the Creator and Ruler of the Universe? Continue reading →

Don’t Make Me Leave You. 041715

2 Replies

Young smiling woman with her teen daughterRuth 1:16-17: But Ruth said [to Naomi], “Don’t force me to leave you; don’t make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I’ll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; where you die, I’ll die, and that’s where I’ll be buried, so help me God—not even death itself is going to come between us!” The Message

You probably heard this story, about Ruth and Naomi.  Naomi was from Israel, but because there was a famine, she and her husband and two sons moved to Moab, where the two sons married, one of them to Ruth, a girl from Moab.  Continue reading →

WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE? 041615

Leave a reply

Coin. Coin pyramid.“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be too.”  Matt 6:19-21

Le Christ du Corcovado et la Baie de RioSo I’ve got a few questions for you: 1] Where is your heart? 2] What do you treasure?  I mean, what do you really care about?  What do you focus your attention on? When you’re not really thinking about anything in particular, what does your mind keep coming back to?  If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?  Here’s another way to say it: What do you really love, with all your heart?

Continue reading →

THIS BOOK OF THE LAW.041415

Leave a reply

geneses oneIn Joshua 1:8, The LORD says to Joshua, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ”

It’s a lot like Psalm 1:1-3, where David says, ” Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the river, his leaf will not wither, and whatever he does will prosper.” Continue reading →

RESISTING EVIL. 041315

Leave a reply

PICS 092114 094Matthew 5:38 [Jesus said] “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person.”

Jesus says we’re not supposed to resist the evil person.  We’re supposed to give up, give in, let them have their way.  How can we possibly do that?  The only way we can even consider doing it is if we have truly surrendered to God and we have His Spirit in our hearts.  Then we can say, “Lord, I don’t like this, but I’m going to do what You say.  I’m going to be obedient.”  Why?  Because God really CAN do something about it.  He turns the world upside down every day, just to bring honor and glory to Him.  He can supernaturally intervene and change peoples’ lives, just because we surrender and obey.

It reminds me of Bobby Ray, a friend of mine in prison.  Bobby Ray leads a little Bible study out in the Rec Yard.  One day, he’s getting ready to have the Bible study, and this guy walks up to him and says, “You make me mad.  I’m going to whip your ‘rear’.”  Now Bobby Ray is a big guy, about 50 years old, maybe 6’2”, weigh about 250, not an ounce of fat on him. He says to himself, “I don’t have to take this kinda stuff off this guy.” Continue reading →

Works of Righteousness. 041215

Leave a reply

Ephesians 2.8In Ephesians 2:8-9: Paul says,“For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

And in his letter to Titus, in chapter 3, verse 5, Paul says again,  “ .  .  not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”   Did you get that?  It is not by any works, not by any deeds we have done, or by any special actions we have taken, that God saves us.  Particularly not by “works of righteousness”, meaning good things we’ve done to make God like us. 

Continue reading →