Blogs
Our Hearts Control Our Bodies
May 19th
Mark 7:15, 'There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.'
MATTHEW 15:1-20; MARK 7:1-23
All of the Old Testament dietary laws were shadows (or pictures) of spiritual truths which would become realities in the New Covenant. These Pharisees (as well as many Christians today) missed all of the spiritual significance of these laws and saw only the physical act.
The real spiritual meaning that these Old Testament dietary laws symbolized was that we were supposed to be holy (separated) unto God in everything - even what we eat. Under the Old Testament law, it was...
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT HOW THE TWELVE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC AND ASTROLOGY GOT STARTED. IT LOOKS LIKE THE EXPERTS BELIEVE THEY CAN BE TRACED BACK TO EXODUS 28 IN THE BIBLE. GOD SAID TO MOSES "Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests. Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him...
Tradition Neutralizes
May 18th
Mark 7:13, 'Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.'
MARK 7:1-13
Deuteronomy 4:2 clearly states 'Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it . . . .' This same thought is repeated in the New Testament in Revelation 22:18-19 with very stiff penalties. Religious man is very swift to observe the part about not diminishing any of God's commandments, but there seems to be an unwritten law that adding to them is okay. Every denomination has its own set of 'do's and don'ts' which aren't found in scripture, and like those of the hypocritical Pharisees,...
WE ALL HAVE FAITH. WE USE IT EVERY DAY IN OUR CARNAL LIVES. WE ALSO NEED TO USE IT IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES. WE HAVE "THE" MEASURE OF FAITH AND THAT FAITH COMES FROM JESUS AS IT SAYS IN HEBREWS 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
NOW THERE ARE TWO PASSAGES ABOUT FAITH THAT I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT. THE FIRST IS MATTHEW 9:18-25 WHERE IT SAYS "There came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, He...
The Law Is Not Of Faith
May 16th
Mark 7:2, 'And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.'
MARK 7:1-7
Man looks on the outward appearance (this is what the scribes and Pharisees were concerned with), but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). Jesus looked on men's hearts. The Old Testament laws concerning washing served a secondary purpose of hygiene, but as stated in Colossians 2:16-17 and Hebrews 9:1,9-10, their real purpose was to shadow or illustrate spiritual truth.
Defiled food may hurt our bodies, but it cannot reach our spirits (Jn. 3:6).
The scribes and Pharisees missed the principle of spiritual purity...
The Spirit And The Word Are One
May 15th
John 6:63, 'It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.'
JOHN 6:40-71; 7:1
Jesus is stating that our spirit, not our flesh, is where our life comes from. These people were so dominated by their physical lives that they were missing all the spiritual significance of His words. Although God's Word does benefit our physical man, the Word is spiritual and must be understood through the spirit. God's Word is spirit and it takes our spirit to illuminate its truths to our minds.
The Word of God is not paper and ink. Jesus is the Word, and He existed in spiritual form long...
I WROTE ABOUT THIS RECENTLY BUT FEEL I NEED TO ADD A THING OR TWO TO IT. THERE IS SOMEONE READING THIS AGAIN THAT NEEDS TO ACCEPT THEIR HEALING. YOU ARE BORN-AGAIN BUT HAVE NEVER REALLY STUDIED WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT HEALING. YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT IT. YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD HEALS SOME PEOPLE AND YOU KNOW HE CAN DO ALL THINGS BUT YOU ARE NOT YET CONVINCED THAT HE WILL DO THIS FOR YOU. YOU HAVE GOT TO CHANGE YOUR THINKING. THIS IS A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH. HE WILL NOT DO FOR ONE OF US THAT HE WILL NOT DO FOR THE OTHER.
Separating The Tares From The Wheat
May 14th
John 6:61, 'When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?'
JOHN 6:60-69
This scripture, as well as Matthew 15:12, reveals that people will be offended by the Gospel. As much as possible, however, we should make sure that it is not ourselves that are offensive. But we cannot labor under the deception that everyone will receive the Gospel, even if the truth was presented properly. We know that Jesus represented His Father perfectly and yet most people rejected His message.
In these two instances, when Jesus realized He had offended the listeners, He didn't apologize and try to make concessions to...
Receiving Christ
May 13th
John 6:56, 'He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.'
JOHN 6:47-59
Many thought that Jesus was speaking of cannibalism, but He was speaking of the spiritual man. Just as the physical man receives life from the food he eats, so the spiritual man receives life as he partakes of Jesus, the life of men (Jn. 1:4; 10:10; 14:6) or the 'Bread of Life.' Just as the life of a root is found in the soil, or a branch in the vine, or a fish in the sea, so the believer's true life is found to be in union with Christ.
The Bible presents salvation as a life transforming experience. Change is one of the distinguishing characteristics of a true believer....