Thoughts From the Bible

Read Mark 15: 1- 14-  Jesus' march to death continued through this passage. We see the  chief priests and religious leaders acting out of fear and envy. Verses 11 through 14 show us their devious natures, ‘ (11) But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should  rather release  Barrabas to them. (12) Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with  Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” (13)  So,  they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” (14) the Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” Bu t  they cried out  all the more , “C rucify Him!”’   This is a passage that   brings to mind  the evil surrounding the treatment of Jesus. I also  know this was what God had planned  in order to  bring redemption of sins for me. In my human mind, I want to wish there  was  an easier way for God  to have Jesus be our redemption, but this was His plan, all designed ...

Read Revelation 17:15- 18 -  Satan will turn his back on anyone in order to create strife in people's lives. In verses 16 and 17 we read this, “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.”   As Christians, we need to understand we can fully and wholly trust God in our lives.  His principles work in all situations.  What people will find in the last days is that Satan cannot be trusted, even by those who have dedicated themselves to him.

Read Revelation 17: 1 - 6- Verses 1 and 2 say this, “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual imm orality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.’” There is much symbolism in this chapter however it is a chapter of warning to all of us.  This passage speaks of sexual sins and worshipping of things not of God.  This will be seen in the final days, but it is not that far removed from individuals' personal behavior today.   We need to guard against worshipping things in our society and allowing those things to dominate our daily lives.  This world offers so many things and many of those things we can become obsessed with to the e xclusion of what God has for our lives.  We need to be very careful and very aware and pray the Holy Spirit is ...

Read Revelation 12: 10-17 - We live in times filled with high temptation.  God has said He will be with us through those temptation just as He was with Jesus in the wilderness when Satan tempted Him.  We do not have to leave our homes without temptation being there in our faces. No one is immune from temptation as we have learned but the church as a whole is being tempted. Church leaders are being tempted to spend time trying to decide what they think the scriptures say rather than asking themselves what was Jesus saying in the scriptures.  What was God saying in the scriptures? It is not so much what we think but what was God or Jesus thinking. The church is being attacked today somewhat as it is described in these verses in Revelation. We have the sins of church leaders on display. The motivation is not to discredit a leader as much as it is a way to discredit the chur ch as a whole in the eyes of non-believers. That is Satan’s greatest move. In this passage however...

Read Revelation 12:1- 9 - Read these short three verses, “Then war broke out in heaven.  Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.  But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.  The great dragon was hurled down; that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.  He was hurled to the earth, and his an gels with him.” This whole passage harkens back to the birth of Christ and the ensuing battle between God and Satan. As Christians we need to understand there is a definitive spiritual battle being waged.  We have a place in that battle to stand against Satan and not allow him a place in our lives and to help others who struggling in that f ight. Too many people today think love is all that is needed.  It does require love on our parts, but we need to know others are working to fight against us and God’s principles.  We need to be wise in our ...