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HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU DONE SOMETHING WRONG (SINNED) AND HOPED NO ONE SAW YOU? I HAVE MANY TIMES, IN MY PAST, AND HAD TO ASKED GOD TO FORGIVE ME. THAT STILL DID NOT MAKE IT OK. WHAT IF A YOUNG CHRISTIAN, WHO POSSIBLY LOOKED UP TO ME, SAW ME AND IT CAUSED HIM OR HER TO QUESTION THEIR BORN AGAIN EXPERIENCE? THE REASON I MENTION THIS IS BECAUSE OF THE SCRIPTURE MATTHEW 18:1-6...
There are only three instances in Scripture that give us information about Martha. From these accounts, we can see that Martha had a brother named Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, and a sister named Mary. Martha had misplaced her priorities on this occasion and was corrected by Jesus. Later, at a supper for Jesus in the home of Simon the leper, Martha was once again serving while Mary her sister was worshiping Jesus by anointing His feet with a costly perfume.
Martha was the first one to run and meet Jesus when He came to their home after the death of Lazarus. It was at this time that Martha said she knew Jesus could have prevented Lazarus from dying and that, even then, she knew He could raise him from the dead. She...
This question of "who is my neighbour" can be used by Satan to deceive us in more than one way. Not only can he deceive men into thinking they have fulfilled the command to "love thy neighbor as thyself" when they haven't, but he will also try to apply this command in a way that condemns those who are seeking to fulfill it, by making them think they are not doing enough.
We cannot meet the needs of every single person in the world. Jesus wasn't teaching that. This wounded man was directly in the path of these three men. The priest and the Levite had to walk around him. Jesus is simply teaching that we should take advantage of the opportunities we have. The fact that we can't help everyone is no excuse not to help anyone.
Jesus, through this parable, defined a neighbor as any fellow human being who crosses our path...
Just as with this lawyer, pride causes many people to resist the truth of justification by faith in the grace of God. This lawyer loved himself and the public recognition his "holy acts" gave him. He was not willing to love God first and his fellow man ahead of himself. His was not a sincere question but rather an evasive question to shun responsibility. This man was seeking to be justified in the sight of God through his actions. He knew he had not loved everyone as he loved himself, so he is tried to interpret the scripture (Lev. 19:18) in a way that would conform to his actions. He wanted to define "neighbor" as just his close friends whom he had treated well.
Self-justification always produces excuses, while repentance and faith toward...
We were never instructed to have a Ph.D. in demonology. However, some justify focusing on Satan and his activity to an inordinate degree. This will actually encourage demonic activity and become a device that Satan can use against us.
As Paul said, we should not be "ignorant" of Satan's devices. We certainly need to know that the devil and demons exist, and we need to recognize when we are facing demonic activity. But we need to keep our focus on the Lord.
Some people who are excessive in "spiritual warfare" actually spend more time talking to the devil each day than they do talking to God. That's not right.
The best defense against the devil is to be so "God-centered" that we give no place to Satan. People who are very sensitive to the devil's...
