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I AM SURE WE ALL ARE THANKFUL FOR WHAT JESUS HAS DONE AND IS DOING FOR US. NATURALLY, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT HE TOOK OUR SINS AND SICKNESSES TO THE CROSS AND DIED FOR US. BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER THINGS HE HAS DONE, AND IS DOING, FOR US THAT WE DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT? THE SAD THING IS THAT THERE ARE NO WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, OR ANY LANGUAGE, THAT CAN EXPRESS THE GRATITUDE WE SHOULD HAVE FOR ALL HIS BLESSINGS. I KNOW WE SAY "THANK YOU" BUT THOSE ARE JUST WORDS, EVEN THOUGH WE REALLY MEAN IT.
Despite the abundant and clear prophecies about His death and resurrection, Jesus' disciples didn't understand or remember Jesus' words until after His resurrection (Lk. 24:5-9). Luke records twice that Jesus' sayings about His resurrection were hidden from the disciples. It is interesting to note, however, that the chief priests and Pharisees remembered Jesus' prophecies about His resurrection (Mt. 27:63) when His disciples didn't.
One of the great truths of the Bible is that Jesus died for our sins, not for His own. Jesus was totally sinless. This is one of the major differences between Christianity and the religions of the world....
Jesus was not implying that Peter and Satan were one-and-the-same, but was referring to the fact that Satan had inspired Peter's statement. This type of metaphor was used elsewhere in scripture such as when God spoke to the serpent in the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15) as though addressing Satan. The serpent was merely the vehicle of communication Satan used to tempt Adam and Eve, while Peter was the vehicle Satan used to tempt Jesus. Ephesians 6:12 reveals that our warfare isn't with people, but against the spiritual powers who inspire and use people. Jesus recognized that Peter's reaction to His prophecy about His death was motivated by His enemy, Satan, so He went right to...
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Self-denial is an important part of the Christian life. Jesus sacrificed His life for us and He demands that we die to ourselves that we might experience the new life He has provided. We do this first by recognizing that we can't save ourselves by our own effort and, second, by trusting God - not self - for salvation. Then daily, we need to deny our own wisdom and seek God's wisdom and direction for our lives.
Self-denial is only good when we are denying ourselves for the singular purpose of exalting Jesus and His will for us in some area of our life. Some have made a religion out of self-denial and find pleasure in their denial - not in Jesus'lordship. This leads to legalism and bondage, which Paul...
I KNOW EASTER WAS A COUPLE OF MONTHS BACK BUT I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT THIS MORNING AND WONDER WHY WE DON'T CELEBRATE JESUS EVERY DAY AS OUR RISEN LORD. WE ALWAYS ENJOY THIS DAY BUT WHEN IT IS OVER, WE TEND TO FORGET WHAT WE JUST HAD. WE NEED TO REMEMBER WHAT EASTER MEANS TO US ALL YEAR LONG. WE ARE THE ONLY RELIGION THAT CAN SAY THAT OUR GOD IS ALIVE. AND, THE GOOD THINGS IS THAT HE IS NOT WAY OFF IN THE SWEET BY AND BY BUT HE LIVES INSIDE US. WHEN WE PRAY, WE DON'T HAVE TO LOOK UP TO HEAVEN, WE JUST HAVE TO LOOK DOWN TOWARD OUR HEARTS WHERE HE LIVES.
Some people have mistakenly interpreted this passage to say that Peter was the foundation on which Christ would build His Church. However, that would violate many scriptures that refer to Jesus as the "chief cornerstone."
Ephesians 2:20 does mention the apostles as being part of the foundation stones of Christ's church, but it doesn't single Peter out above any of the other apostles, This same scripture once again mentions Jesus as the "chief cornerstone."
There are two different Greek words used for "Peter" and "rock" respectively in verse 18. The word used for "Peter" means "rock" but signifies a piece of rock like a pebble. In contrast, the word translated as "rock" signifies a massive rock which...
It was unusual for Jesus to inquire about the results of His ministry as He did in verse 23. It was even more unusual that Jesus laid hands on this man a second time. This is the only example in the New Testament where Jesus had to minister to any need more than once to affect a total healing.
Many people request things from God and then look at their circumstances to see if God answered their prayer. That is walking by sight and not by faith. If they can't "see" God's answer, then they pray again asking for the same thing. This is not the way Jesus taught us to pray and receive. We can be certain that Jesus didn't lay hands on this man a second time because He...
