Thoughts From the Bible

Read Luke 15:1- 7 The Pharisees and the scribes stayed after Jesus because of the threat they felt from Him. They challenged Him in His welcoming sinners. In verse 4 Jesus says, " What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?"  He finishes by telling the people this in verse 7, "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. "   Jesus is trying to teach the Pharisees and scribes how important everyone is. Jesus did not accept the sinners' sins, but He knew He could not separate f rom them because of their sin. He would challenge their sin while continuing to show love to those who were the ones who needed it. This was Jesus accepting the sinner but not accepting the sin.   Proverbs 15: 17- Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a ...

Read Luke 5:17-26-  Jesus was teaching and many of the religious leaders were listening to Him. When He healed the man who was lowered through the roof of the place where He was teaching, rather than telling the man he was healed, Jesus said in verse 20, 'When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."' then in verse we see the scribes and Pharisees says this, '(21) And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"'  Jesus openly told the religious leaders who He was in the next verse, "(23) Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven you, or to say, rise up and walk? (24) But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins," He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and got to your house."'  If there was any question who Jesus was, He answered all questions i...

Matthew 23: 15-   There are many things we can do that honors God. Many Christians do acts of service or even dedicate their lives to working for Christ.  What are their motivations? Are they focused singularly on what they feel the Holy Spirit is directing them  to   do ? Are they working to follo w in someone else’s footsteps? Are they working to draw attention to themselves? What are their motivations?  The Pharisees would work  very hard  to have others accept the trad itional Jewish religion. For many of these Pharisees, the motivation for the Pharisees proselytizing was  to gain a higher standing for themselves, not to bring others into a closer relationship with God. Jesus knew this. This is what Jesus said in verse 15,  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”  The...

Read Matthew 22: 41- 46-   Jesus asked the religious leaders a question.  Jesus had been answering their questions and now He asked one of His own. Jesus asked them who He was.   In verses 44 and 45, Jesus says,  ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet ?” if then David calls Him Lord, how is  He  his son?”   I need to be better than the Pharisees. I need to be prepared to tell anyone who asks, who Jesus Christ is. Unlike the Pharisees who wanted to protect their status, I need to unashamedly  be prepared to tell others who I know Jesus Christ to be. I need to be prepared to tell them with joy and confidence  about the comfort that comes from knowing Jesus Christ is Lord.   

Read Matthew 16: 5-12 - Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “ What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”   This applies to the teachings of the Bible also. There are some spiritual leaders who are finding new interpretations to what is written in the scriptures and these new interpretations result in changes to some basic Bible principles. When we hear someone say they have received new insight to what is really meant in the scriptures, we ne ed to immediately prepare ourselves to test and research what is being presented and see how the new idea sits wi th the principles of the Bible. Jesus was teaching this same concept to the disciples when He said in verses 11 and 12, ‘How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and ...

Matthew 16: 1- 4- ‘ And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Him they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “ When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Y ou know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So, He left them and departed.’ We know the Pharisees and Sadducees were trying to get Jesus to perform for them. Jesus wanted the people to see past an individual miracle and to see the time of the Messiah had come. The very person the nation of Israel had been waiting for was among them, but they refused to see Him. I need to caution myself to not be like the Pharisees and Sadducees and recognize the time I live. So many prophecies point to the return of Jesus, and thos...

Matthew 12: 38- 39- Faith is something that seems to be harder and harder to come by. People want proof of just about everything . They want to be able to see and touch something before they will believe anything. In these days of arti ficial intelligence, even the things we see and hear are not things we can have total faith in. The scribes and Pharisees wanted Jesus to do something outrageous to tes t Him. These same people had already heard of the things Jesus had done and the impact He had on people’s lives but now they wanted Him to perform for them. He gave them a bold response, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you. But He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ”’ Jesus was quick to let the scribes and Pharisees know where he saw what they were doing. They were afraid of losing thei r positions so their faith in Him was not going to happen. We have our faith, and we need t...