Thoughts From the Bible

Read Luke 18: 15- 17- (15) Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. (16) But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God . (17) Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."   Children do not have a large body of knowledge to guide them in situations. Children just act not knowing if their behavior is appropriate or not. They have no pretense and expect ever ything to be positive. It is a pure thought process. Jesus is telling us we need to approach Him more like children do. No pretense. Just love and positive expectations. We need to learn to leave all our extra baggage behind and approach Jesus with simple love and devotion. No separate agendas .    Proverbs 15:33- The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is hu...

Read Luke 7: 36-39-   It was customary in Biblical times for travelers to have their feet washed when staying with someone. In this passage, a woman is so overwhelmed by who Jesus was, she cried a nd washed his feet with her tears. The hosting Pharisee noted his opinion in verse, 39, ‘ Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This man , if H e were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”’  What the Pharisee did not understand was that Jesus did not discriminate among the people. He welcomed and loved all. He still does, as should we. Jesus would love a sinner but also tell the m, to “go, and sin no more.” As Jesus showed us, we are to love all and be open to all. Also, as Jesus showed us, we do not have to accept and condone their sins.   Proverbs 12: 25 - Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad .

Mark 10: 32- 34-  Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they  followed,  they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: (33) Behold , we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles. (34) and t hey will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And on  the third day he will rise again.   The disciples were concerned about going to Jerusalem. They knew the religious leaders were working to  silence Jesus. Jesus knew their concerns and then told them exactly what would happen in Jerusalem.  Jesus, as the Son of God, knew the price He would  be required  to pay. He was fulfilling the plan of God for all of us. As we have heard many times, there has been no great...

Read M atthew 24: 3-14 (Again!)-   There is another thought Jesus spoke to the disciples about that I think has great application to our society today. One thing that populates our news every day is the random act s of violence that  occur  throughout society. Social media is full of videos of people being violent and/or yelling and screaming at others. People are getting physically  beaten, property is being destroyed or  stolen,  and it is easy to want to retaliate.   Jesus said this in  verses 12 through 14,  “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of   many will grow cold. But the   one who  endures   to   the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the  whole world  as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”   As Christians, Jesus has told us to continue to love those whose love has grown cold. We are not to be the ones allowing ...

Matthew 5:4- “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” There once was a belief when someone died or there was a loss of something significant in someone’s life, many felt a strong person would acknowledge the situation and move on. Jesus is telling us we need to allow ourselves to mourn a significant loss in this life.  Whether it is a spouse, a parent, a sibling or a loss o f a physical function of some type, we are given the blessing to mourn those losses.   Jesus expects us as humans to mourn. To cry, to feel sadness, to be quiet for a time in our lives. Jesus knows that is good for us because He will provide comfort. How? Through a well-placed verse of the Bible that comes to us.  A calm spirit that comes over us while in prayer concerning the loss. Remembering a previous time in our lives when the Holy Spirit provided us a measure of peace. Jesus said this knowing we would need Him.  We need to see this as Jesus’ love for us and His oppo...

Read Revelation 21: 1- 8- A new heaven and a new earth. I am not sure I am even equipped to visualize such a thing.  Can one even grasp a concept of a new heaven and a new earth? The other thing to consider is that the new heaven and the new earth are actually secondary to life at that time.   The primary thing is found in verses 3 through 5, ‘And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.  He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also, He said, “Write this down, for these words are trust worthy and true.”’ The overwhelming experience is being in the presence of God, nonstop. Our reward for believing ...

Read Revelation 20: 7- 10 - I enjoy reading and I enjoy reading books without knowing what the story is about at the beginning.  Never, do I ever, read the end of the book first to see how the story ends.  God has provided us with direction for our lives through the Bible. God has also shown us how this whole story of mankind actually ends . In verse 9 we read this, “ and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. ” Satan defied God.  Satan has worked to destroy God’s creation, and all the people God created.  Even after being bound for almost 1000 years, God will still allow men and women a chance to choose God over Satan.  Unbelievably, there will be those who will still side with Satan, even though we know how this story ends. Satan’s end is known. We need to understand Satan has only our destruction in mind. God has his...

Revelation 20: 4- 6- “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed.  Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.  The rest o f the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended .   This is the first r esurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years.”   As Satan reigns in the Tribulation period, it will take great courage for those to deny him and be committed to God.  God’s plan rewards those courageous people by giving them a special place in His Kingdom. God’s great plan for the peo...

Read Revelation 19: 17- 21 - Jesus Christ returns but Satan still feels he ha s a chance to rule and reign over Jesus. We see quickly, this will not happen. Verses 20 and 21 tells the story, “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image.  These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.” Jesus Christ ends it all.  God’s plan is fulfilled, and we see how His love for us has preserved us . That is one of the benefits of reading Revelation and seeing God’s grand plan and knowing through all the love of G od is for us.

Revelation 17:1 5 -18- And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is sealed, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages .  And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.   And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.” Sometimes God’s plan seems to be complicated.  Why would He allow all this evil to persist in the world? Why would God allow Satan to preside over the last days of the world as we know it with such vile and evil actions? I believe God has put a plan into place that allow s man to decide who they will follow.  We have all had a chance to make that choice.   God has revealed to us...