Tag Archives: Personal Relationship with Jesus

Kairos-A Christian.051415

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[This is an excerpt from the Kairos talk “A Christian”]

the Good SamaritanLOVE is about mercy and forgiveness; Mercy is being nice to someone (cuttin’ them a little slack) even when they deserve to be punished.  That’s what God does for us.

Forgiveness is what love is in practice.  It’s what happens when we love people enough to forgive them, even when they are wrong and we’re right; even when no one is looking and it won’t help us a bit.  Forgiveness is the evidence of mercy in our individual personal relationships.

In 1 Corinthians 13:4, it says ‘Love is patient.’  In the King James version of the Bible, and in the original Greek the verse says, “Love suffers long.”  That means if you really love someone, you put up with them.  I’m thinking about my kids when they were teenagers.  It means that you put up with them, even though you’ve told them 15 times what you expect, and they’re still doing it wrong, very likely on purpose and not accidentally.  That’s what it means when it says love suffers long. Continue reading →

A CHRISTIAN: 051215

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concepts of the fruits of the Spirit as from Galatians 5:22

This is the first part of the Kairos talk, A CHRISTIAN: I call it “How to Quit Struggling and Start Walking the Walk and Talking the Talk.” Luke 9:23-24, says, “If anyone would be My disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”  Just so you’ll know; the word disciple means follower.  So if you want to be a follower of Jesus, what do you have to do?  Three things: 1] Deny yourself, 2] Take up your cross daily, and 3] Follow Jesus. Continue reading →

DELIVERANCE TO THE PRISONERS . 050515

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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 →

WATCH OUT! 042315

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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 →

RESISTING EVIL. 041315

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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 →

CORRECTION AND DISCIPLINE. 040615

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Warning SignHebrews 12:5-8 says, “My son .  .  .  and do not lose heart when He scolds you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he [corrects] everyone he accepts as his son.” .  .  .  If you are not disciplined—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.” NIV

My son Ian, 16, just got his ‘real’ driver’s license, and an ’88 Ford pickup.  Along with the license and the truck he got a few hard fast rules to live by.  FIRST RULE “keep your parents informed.”        Second rule: Don’t drive near the HEB, the primary shopping area by our house. It’s dangerous: traffic accidents, teenage drivers and others not paying attention; cell-phones, texting and other distractions.  Not a place for an inexperienced driver.

The other night, after supper, he says, “I’m going to go drive around just for fun.”  He said he’d drive in the neighboring subdivision and be back in 25 minutes . We agreed.  In 25 minutes he called.  He said, “I’m down here across from the HEB and the truck won’t run.”  When I arrived, I asked him about gas. Turns out he bought a little gas ($2.50 worth) 3 days ago.  No wonder he ran out. Continue reading →

Holy Smoke! A Talking Donkey. 040315

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AsinoIn Numbers 22:26-28, it says,  “Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.  And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.  Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

The story goes on to say that the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the Angel of the Lord, and fell on his face.  The Lord was very displeased with Balaam for what he was wanting to do, so He sent the Angel to kill Balaam.  But the donkey saved Balaam from being killed.  You can read the whole story in Numbers Chapters 22-24.

The moral of this story is this:  If the Lord can use a donkey to get His message out to people in the world, maybe He can even use you and me.  Praise the Lord!

FISHERS OF MEN. 040215

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Fishers of menHe 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 →

PERFECT PEACE. 030515

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Evening autumn mountain river in orange mist.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.

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VINE and BRANCHES. JOHN 15.030115

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VINE BRANCHES FFRUIT. 030115John 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 →