Thoughts From the Bible

Mark 11: 25- 26-   Jesus is still working to educate the disciples on the messages He wants them to preach going forward in their lives. These two verses are very impactful  not only for the disciples but for us.  “(25) And wheneve r  you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may forgive you your  trespasses .  (26) But if you do not forgive, neither  will  your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”   This is a simple lesson for us to learn yet something that is  very hard  for us to do at times. There are times when the world will tell us some offense is unforgivable. We cannot have that wor d in our vocabulary if we are going to work to live our lives as God would have us live. I need to continually work on better learning how to forgive.   P roverbs 10: 13-   Wisdom is found on the lips of  him who has  understanding , but a rod is for the back of him ...

Read Mark 9: 14- 29   This story is a strong lesson for us as believers in Jesus Christ. The di sciples were ineffective in  attempting  to heal the boy in the story. The boy’s father ends up being a  key character because of his statement. In verses 23 and 24 we read,  ‘ (23)  Jesus said to  him, "If  you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (24) Immediately the father of the c hild cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”’   The father believed in  Jesus,  but the father also knew he had questions  about his belief. This can be  very complicated . One thought is that we humans live in such a finite  world,  and we have learned within a finite world. Jesus sees the fini te world but knows the spiritual world and knows the workings of faith and how the spiritual world  impacts  the finite, physical world.  My role is to continue to believe in the pow...

  Mark 4: 24- 25-   There is a lot of things tied up in these two verses Jesus shared. We need to look at this in the context of the dialogue He was having at that time and what He was saying in this chapter.  Verses 24 and 25 say,  ‘ And He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; with the   measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” ’  Within the context of this chapter, I would contend Jesus wants us to be good stewards of our salvation. Jesus wants to see us working to advance His message and to be living our  lives according to His principles. Yes, I think we can apply this principle to how we work in our jobs and how we manage our  money,  and how we cultivate our relationships . I  want to make sure my  first priority  is to advance His message of love and peace and ...