Thoughts From the Bible

  Luke 19: 47-48- "And he was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him. (46) and were unable to do anything, for all the people were very atte ntive to hear Him."   Jesus was bringing the spiritual lives of the people back to the forefront of their lives. Jesus was tea ching them and people were following Him. Jesus' words will lead us to where we need to be. There will be those like the religious leaders who will not appreciate us living according to God's principle and they will say we hate certain people or groups of people because we are not accepting of their sinful decisions or sinful lifestyles.  We need to continue to follow Jesus' principles regardless of the negativity that may begin to surroun d us. We want to have positive testimonies of Jesus ' principles and others who oppose that will have to face God with their decisions that are opposite those principles.    Prove...

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 .

Read Mark 9: 42-50-   Jesus is working to show the disciples how important it is to live a holy life. He is trying to get them to see living according to His principles is an everyday part of life. In verses 47 and 48 we read this, (48) “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire (48) where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’”   Jesus is speaking to me directly about my sin. Jesus is telling me that I must be prepared to take dramatic steps to address my sin and work to remove that sin from my life. He is also showing me there is a price to be paid for unaddressed sin. He describes one of the realities of hell, a place void of His love, and how that is not a price anyone would be willing to pay for the sin of this life. This is a short passage to be taken very seriously. Proverbs 9: 11- For by me your days will be multiplied. And y...

Read Matthew 18: 7- 9- Our world is full of temptations. There are more temptations in our world t oday than that probably ever before in history. Jesus is wanting us to see we all have a responsi bility to work to not succumb to temptation. Jesus wants to see us strengthen our weaknesses. As we review the Bible and the principles we learn , we develop a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong. As we grow and learn, we can recognize temptation.  In verse 7, Jesus says this, “Woe to the world for temptation to sin! For it is necessary that temptations, come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes .” The person who authors these temptations will not be welcomed by Christ. We have a responsibility to resist temptation but those who present the temptations will feel the wrath of God. We need to realize Satan wants to see us fail and Jesus is telling us we need to do whatever is necessary to resist Satan so we can present a better testimony of Jesus Christ.  ...

Matthew 7: 1-2- We make a large number of assumptions in our lives.  We make assumptions about oth er people based on how they live their lives and their everyday actions. Some people validate our assumptions very quickly. Many times, we do not know a person’s whole story, yet we judge them based on the information we have, not necessarily all the information. Jesus is telling us to guard against judgin g others. In verses 1 and 2 Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment, you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Je sus is telling us to let Him be the one who established the standard for judging a person’s actions. There are many things in the Bible that is clear in how sin is defined but Jesus is the One who determines and defines sin, and He will be the one who holds people accountable for their sins. He will hold us accountable for our sins.  

Matthew 6:22-23- The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light., but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! I really think Jesus knew things were going to get harder and harder in the future when it comes to the topic of what we see and what we think about. There were obviously temptations and negative but enticing things when He walked the earth. Our world today has those things in abundance and it is at our fingertips in our cell phones. We can see anything we want and we can read anything we want. Here’s the real deal, we can dwell on anything we want. Jesus is warning us to choose the good and the right over the bad.  We need to work at controlling what we let into our minds and that may require it becoming a matter of prayer for us. Not controlling it can change us as a person. Sometimes control for us may mean complete abstinence. Satan ...

 Read   I John 5: 16-19- Think about this short passage of scripture God has given us through John. The scripture points out the reality of sin, but it also points out our role in acting on another person’s sin. Verse 16, “If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it.” Our responsibility is to know God’s word well enough to recognize sin and then it is our responsibility to pray. That’s it. It is not our job to intervene in these cases. Our intervention is through prayer. As John writes, there is a sin that leads to death. This is the sin of Satan. It is denying the reality of who God is and working to battle the Holy Spirit or deny the Holy Spirit. We are human. We are going to make mistakes and we are going to sin. Denying God and denying who God is can lead to death.

Read 2 John 1: 1-2 - The human life can be a difficult life. Difficult in that we have been given a challenge to not sin. We are human and we are going to sin even though we may have professed our faith and belief in God. God wants us to continue to work to be the best we can be. We will fail and God knows that. But God shows us His grace in this short passage. Verse 1, “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father . He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. (2) He Himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins; and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.” I know this short passage is about sin and encouraging us to not sin but the thought that really jumps out at me is that God loved us enough to allow His Son to be our sacrifice and give us a direct pathway to God and the grace He has provided us. That should humble all of us .