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WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU ARE WALKING DOWN THE STREET AT NIGHT AND SEE A GANG OF YOUNG KIDS COMING IN YOUR DIRECTION? IT IS A SHAME BUT WE TEND TO WANT TO CROSS THE STREET TO GET OUT OF THEIR WAY. WHY IS THIS? I THINK IT IS BECAUSE ALL WE SEE ON TV IS HOW THE GANGS ARE ROAMING THE STREETS DOING BAD THINGS.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN PERSECUTED BECAUSE OF YOUR LOVE FOR JESUS? IF YOU HAVE, GOOD...REJOICE...BE GLAD...PRAY THAT IT WILL CONTINUE. DO YOU THINK I AM NUTS FOR SAYING ALL THIS? LOOK WHAT JESUS SAYS IN MATTHEW 5:10 "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." NOW YOU SEE WHY I CAN SAY THIS.
For this boy's father to have seen him "a great way off" would imply that the Father had been eagerly awaiting his son's return. Certainly, in the spiritual application of this parable, our Heavenly Father is longing to cleanse and receive the sinner, if he will just repent and come to Him for forgiveness.
Jesus was using this parable to rebuke the Pharisees for their harsh, self-righteous, unforgiving attitude towards sinners. The older brother in this parable was symbolic of the Pharisees. Like this brother, the Pharisees had not lived an outward life of rebellion and they thought that others who didn't measure up to their standards were surely hated by God. But, "God so loved the world" and "Christ...
THE REASON I AM WRITING THIS MESSAGE IS BECAUSE I FEEL VERY STRONGLY THAT GOD WANTED ME TO WRITE IT AND THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE THAT NEEDS TO HEAR IT. ANOTHER REASON IS THAT I COULD NOT HAVE COME UP WITH THESE VERSES AND IDEAS ON MY OWN.
I WANT TO TALK ABOUT A SUBJECT THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE AVOID FOR FEAR OF BEING CALLED A HOMOPHOBIC. I HAVE HEARD THIS WORD, "HOMOPHOBIC" MENTIONED MANY TIMES AND TRUTHFULLY, I REALLY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANT. WELL, YOU KNOW ME, I LOOKED IT UP. NOW THIS FIRST DEFINITION IS ONE THAT IS NOT ME. "Fear, hatred, or mistrust of lesbians
This is a good example of true repentance. This son did not claim any goodness of his own or try to justify his actions, but he humbled himself and appealed to the mercy of his father. Likewise, we cannot approach God in self-righteousness, but we have to humble ourselves, put all of our faith in a Savior, and turn from our wicked ways (2 Chr. 7:14). That is true repentance.
Repentance is a necessary part of salvation. Repentance may include godly sorrow, but sorrow does not always include repentance. Repentance is simply a change of mind accompanied by corresponding actions.
There is a godly type of sorrow and an ungodly type of sorrow. Godly sorrow leads to repentance. Ungodly sorrow, or the sorrow of this world, just kills.
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God's Word makes it clear that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Romans 1:18-20 reveals that even those who don't know God's Word have an intuitive knowledge of right and wrong and God's judgment against sin.
Therefore, for anyone to live in sin, as depicted by this prodigal son, they have to be deceived. This is exactly what the Bible says is the case in 2 Corinthians 4:4. When Jesus said, "he came to himself," He was referring to the deception being removed and the son's spiritual eyes being opened.
Like this story of the prodigal, tragedy often brings people out of deception and back to their senses. It's not that God sends the tragedy. God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, "Thy way and thy doings have...
IN JESUS' MINISTRY, HE DID MANY MIRACLES AND MANY FOLLOWED HIM JUST TO SEE THESE MIRACLES AND EVEN BELIEVED ONLY BECAUSE OF THEM. THE BIBLE SAYS IN JOHN 2:24 "But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men," HE DIDN'T WANT PEOPLE TRYING TO SPREAD HIS MESSAGE THAT REALLY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HIS MESSAGE WAS. THEY HAD SEEN THE MIRACLES AND BELIEVED BECAUSE OF THEM. I THINK THIS SHOWS THAT JESUS IS INTERESTED IN THE QUALITY OF OUR MESSAGE AND NOT JUST THE QUANTITY. THIS IS WHY WE NEED TO BE CONSTANTLY IN HIS WORD AND LEARN AS MUCH AS WE CAN.
The parable of the man building a tower is a continuation of the teaching regarding what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus. This parable stresses commitment. "Jailhouse religion," where a person is only sorry he got caught and is trying to get out of a bad situation, will not produce true discipleship. It takes a forsaking of all to be Jesus' disciple. Jesus is simply saying, "count the cost."
Jesus' teaching on discipleship emphasizes commitment. Just as a king wouldn't engage in war without thoroughly considering all the possible outcomes, so no one should attempt to become a disciple of Jesus without counting the cost. It would be better not to start following Jesus than to start and then turn back.
When a...
I HAVE WRITTEN A LOT ABOUT TALKING TO YOUR "MOUNTAINS" BUT TODAY I WANT TO JUST TALK ABOUT "TALKING". A LOT IS SAID IN THE BIBLE ABOUT THE TONGUE. JAMES, THE BROTHER OF JESUS, SAYS IN JAMES 3:6 "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." WE TEND TO SAY THINGS WITHOUT THINKING AND THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS.