Blogs
In Romans 12:10 we are admonished to desire the welfare of others more than our own; to like others better than ourselves. That is an awesome command that is only obtainable through God's supernatural love. If this very simple, yet very profound truth could be understood and applied, then strife would cease (Prov. 13:10). The world would see Christianity as never before, and we would discover the true joy that comes from serving someone besides ourselves.
There is much confusion today on the subject of love because we have only one English word (love) to describe a broad aspect of meanings. For example, if I said, "I love my wife, I love apple pie, and I love my dog," obviously I am not talking about love in the same degree or definition.
...
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU HEARD SOMEONE SAY "I DON'T TAKE CHARITY?" MAYBE YOU ARE EVEN ONE OF THEM. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT CHARITY. WHEN SOMEONE IS TRYING TO DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR YOU, IT IS CHARITY BECAUSE CHARITY IS LOVE. IT BLESSES THEM TO DO SOMETHING FOR YOU BECAUSE OF THAT LOVE. MAYBE THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU AND THE LORD TOLD THEM YOU NEEDED SOMETHING. THAT IS HOW THE LORD WORKS, YOU KNOW? HE DOESN'T JUST MAKE THINGS MATERIALIZE OUT OF THIN AIR. HE USES PEOPLE. THAT PERSON MIGHT HAVE BEEN PRAYING AND THE LORD TOUCHED HIS HEART AND TOLD HIM TO GIVE TO YOU. LOOK WHAT IT SAYS IN LUKE 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. DO YOU SEE IT, "SHALL MEN GIVE INTO YOUR BOSOM."
This rebuke by Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy was the harshest treatment that He ever gave to any group. He did this publicly before the multitude, the people the hypocrites most wanted to impress.
Jesus had faced many prior battles with the scribes and Pharisees. On this particular day, the encounter started with the chief priests and elders challenging Jesus' authority. Jesus stunned them by replying with a question that challenged their authority. He then used three parables to illustrate that the leaders of the Jews had rejected the rule of God in their lives, despite their pious religious acts. They "perceived that he spake of them."
The Pharisees countered by tempting Jesus with a question about paying taxes to the Roman government. Then the Sadducees tried...
I LOVE READING JOHN 14:27 BECAUSE JESUS IS NOT ONLY TELLING HIS DISCIPLES THESE THINGS BUT US ALSO. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." I SAY THIS BECAUSE ACTS 10:34 SAYS "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons." IF HE MEANT IT FOR THEM, HE SURELY MEANS IT FOR US TODAY.
Jesus took an apparent contradiction in scripture and through combining these paradoxical statements (concerning the humanity and deity of Christ) brought forth the truth that Christ is God in human flesh. Both assertions (the fact that Jesus was David's son and yet David's Lord) were right at the same time.
It was correct that Christ was David's son and it was also correct that Christ was David's Lord. This meant that Christ also was God. However, Christ was not exclusively David's son nor was He exclusively David's Lord. These two truths had to be combined to arrive at the whole truth. No truth of God's Word stands independent of the other truths in God's Word.
A lack of balancing truth with truth is usually the cause of much contention among men when interpreting scriptures. Some argue...
I JUST LOVE PROVERBS AND THERE ARE TWO PASSAGES I WOULD LIKE TO COPY BELOW FOR YOU TO READ AND ENJOY. THERE IS A GREAT MEANING IN EACH ONE OF THESE AND WE SHOULD ALL TRY TO FOLLOW WHAT THEY ARE SAYING. THERE ARE PROMISES WITH EACH ONE OF THEM AND IT WOULD BE GREAT FOR US TO MEMORIZE AND SAY EVERY DAY TO ENCOURAGE OURSELVES..
PROVERBS 4:20-22 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
PROVERBS 3:1-6 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
Jesus repeatedly made reference to His deity for which the Jews had sought to kill Him, and yet He quotes from Deuteronomy 6:4, that "The Lord our God is one Lord." There are not two or three Gods and yet Jesus claimed to be God just like God the Father. This union is a great mystery that defies human understanding but can be accepted and believed.
Jesus in His pre-existent state was in the form of God. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus is God manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16). However, Jesus did not demand or cling to His rights as God. He laid aside His Divine rights and privileges in order to take the form of a servant and be made in the likeness of man. He further humbled Himself by...
ARE YOU SO STRESSED THAT YOU HAVE TO TAKE A PILL TO GET YOU THROUGH THE DAY? I HAVE A BETTER PILL FOR YOU TO TAKE AND IT IS CALLED THE "GOD-PILL:....GET IT..."GOSPEL". THERE ARE SO MANY SCRIPTURES IN THE BIBLE TO TAKE CARE OF ALL OUR PROBLEMS IF WE WOULD JUST READ THEM AND HAVE FAITH TO BELIEVE THEM. SOME OF YOU WILL BELIEVE IT IS FOR OTHERS BUT NOT FOR YOU. I WOULD LIKE TO REMIND YOU OF ACTS 10:34 WHERE PETER TELL US THAT "God is no respecter of persons." WHAT HE WILL DO FOR ONE, HE WILL DO FOR ALL.
LOOK WHAT PETER TELLS US IN 2ND PETER 1:4 WHERE HE SAYS "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." TO ESCAPE THE CORRUPTION THAT IS IN THE WORLD WE NEED TO RENEW OUR MINDS. THE BIBLE SAYS IN 1ST...
IF YOU PUT FOOD IN YOUR MOUTH AND IT IS BAD AND DOESN'T TASTE GOOD, WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU WOULD PROBABLY SPIT IT OUT AND NOT SWALLOW IT....RIGHT? I KNOW I WOULD. THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO WHEN SATAN PUTS AN EVIL THOUGHT IN OUR MINDS. WE NEED TO GET RID OF IT JUST LIKE WE DID THE FOOD. SATAN WILL TEMPT US IN MANY WAYS AND WILL DO IT SO SNEAKY THAT IT WILL CATCH US OFF GUARD. FOR INSTANCE, HAVE YOU EVER GOT AN EMAIL FROM SOMEONE YOU KNEW AND WHEN YOU OPENED IT THERE WERE PORNOGRAPHIC PICTURES IN IT? I HAVE AND I REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO SEE SOMETHING LIKE THAT BUT IT WAS TOO LATE. IF WE ARE NOT CAREFUL, OUR MINDS, ESPECIALLY MEN, WILL START THINKING ON THOSE PICTURES AND SOMETIMES IT WILL TURN INTO LUST AND IF IT DOES THEN IT IS SIN AND SATAN HAS WON.
Jesus revealed that all of the Old Testament laws were designed to instruct us how to love God and love others. Therefore, the two commands that dealt directly with loving God and others (Lev. 19:18 and Dt. 6:5) were the most important.
The religious leaders had become so obsessed with keeping every minor detail of the law that they had lost sight of its ultimate purpose. They neither loved God nor their fellow man, yet they thought they were keeping the law.
The same thing is happening today. Some of the cruelest acts of men towards their fellow men have...