Blog 07-29-2011

Friday

 PRaP 07-29-2011  

 

 250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 206

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Tells About The Final Judgment”

Matthew 25:31-46

 

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

   ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

   ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

   ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

   ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

   ⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

 

Baaaa Baaaa Baaaa! For when you see someone hungry feed them and when someone is thirsty give them drink and when someone is naked clothe them. Not just in the physical but in the spiritual as well. Many come to you hungry for the Word yet you send them away empty and so many come to you from the world thirsting for Truth and you send them away thirsty and some come naked and raw yet you do not cover them. REPENT and take care of those to whom the Lord has brought you. You can’t have Salvation in Christ and not share it for that isn’t salvation at all. For Salvation is a heart renewal and your life is for the work of Christ and no longer of your own or of the world. Christ alone gives and takes and by His hand shall you feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty and clothe the naked.

 

We will begin section 3 next week on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

Peace and Agape love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 04-04-2011

Monday

PRaP 04-04-2011  

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 156

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Teaches About Seeking Honor”

Luke 14:7-14

 

⁷ When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

 ¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

 

Two very powerful lessons here!  The first is the simplest one of all don’t seek out the high places because you are trying to bring honor to yourself.  Allow the host to bring you the honor by moving you to those places of honor.  This goes not only for a dinner party but in life as well.  I have found that when I stopped trying to make the focus about me and allowed the one who invited me to the party bring the honor to me it has been a blessing in my life.  That type of honor is great among men and cannot be removed by men.

The second lesson here is how important it is not only to feed the hungry and the poor but again it will bring a place of honor in your future.  Maybe not honor here on Earth but honor in your Fathers house in heaven, which is greater than anything someone can attain here.  Have a party and have a banquet but be sure to invite those who will bring you honor in the presence of the Father.  This is not a new concept folks it is a difficult concept because it requires a step outside our comfort zone.  I have to push myself outside this zone to make stuff like this happen.  I am not immune to the temptations of cowering back and allowing others to do these things.  As a matter of fact it is easy to say “Let’s feed the hungry today” and have a group of people get together and go while I watch.  I tell you the truth there is coming a time when we will not have the option to just say let’s go do this it will be the only way many will eat.  So be the host of these events that you may receive honor in heaven at the Father’s table.  If you are a farmer, rancher, or other in the food preparation field a time is coming for you that you will be the hosts of many banquets.  Do not be caught off guard!

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 12-22-2010

Wednesday

PRaP 12-22-10

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 105

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Feeds 4,000”

Matthew 15:32-39

Mark 8:1-10

 

Matthew:

 ³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

 ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

   ³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

   “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

 ³⁵ He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ³⁸ The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹ After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

 

Again it mentions that there were 4,000 men and if you add the women and children that were likely present as well there were likely about 8,000 or more people present.  Ever wonder how come Jesus has two accounts of feeding a great number of people with small quantities of food and having leftovers in the end that were greater than what they begin with?  Here let me help you out.  Christ can multiply something small into something huge.  He can take something that we see as impossible and make it possible.  Everyone in this scenario believed in Him and put their faith in Him so He was able to do abundantly more than if they had little or no faith.  We read recently that Jesus was not able to do many miracles in His hometown because they saw Jesus the carpenter’s son and not Jesus the Messiah who came into the world as the Savior of the world.  Therefore I believe that all in attendance believed in Him.  Begs the question.  Does your group have the faith in Jesus that He will provide even when they are in a remote place?  Can you step out on that faith and know that you know that He is there and has prepared a meal for you?  Be careful with this and don’t turn it into something it isn’t.  Look through your spiritual eyes here and see what He is saying to you.  He has compassion on us in our time of need and will not allow us to go hungry.  Stay tuned God has a message for you.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

 

Blog 10-15-2009

Thursday

PRaP 10-15-2009

 

“Where Are We Headed?”

 

I know where we are headed without Christ’ guidance and that is straight to eternity separated from God or as we like to call it, hell.  Every day I see it and every day I watch on the news helpless to reach those dieing people of God.  Every day listening to the moans and groans of the lost and hungry of the world unable to reach them, knowing that all it takes is faith in Christ and repentance of sin.  Where are we headed?  I know that with my relationship with Christ that I am headed to eternal peace with Him.  I know that with your relationship with Christ that you will be with me.  Wait, you do have a relationship with Christ, right?  GREAT, for a minute there I thought you weren’t coming with me.  It wouldn’t be a party without you there.  Where are we headed?  With what I see and hear the world is headed down the path of eternal separation from God.  Now I know from the Bible that there is to be a great revival before the great trial and I guess the millions of Christians that have fallen away will have to see the hand of God swoop over the earth before they will come back,  I see small pockets of revival in many places and I see the church stepping back and realizing it isn’t about their bank account but the salvation of the lost that matters most.  Men and women from “denominations” forgetting the mans doctrine and choosing to follow the Jesus doctrine and that is to reach everyone they can with the truth about Jesus Christ as we are ALL called to do in His Word.  Where are we headed?  God only knows.

 

Some verses for you today:

Job 33:11

He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.’
Job 33:10-12 (in Context) Job 33 (Whole Chapter)

Job 38:25

Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
Job 38:24-26 (in Context) Job 38 (Whole Chapter)

Psalm 8:8

the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
Psalm 8:7-9 (in Context) Psalm 8 (Whole Chapter)

Psalm 16:11

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalm 16:10-11 (in Context) Psalm 16 (Whole Chapter)

Psalm 17:5

My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped.
Psalm 17:4-6 (in Context) Psalm 17 (Whole Chapter)

Psalm 18:36

You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.
Psalm 18:35-37 (in Context) Psalm 18 (Whole Chapter)

Acts 2:28

You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
Acts 2:27-29 (in Context) Acts 2 (Whole Chapter)

Romans 11:33

[ Doxology ] Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Romans 11:32-34 (in Context) Romans 11 (Whole Chapter)

Hebrews 12:13

“Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Hebrews 12:12-14 (in Context) Hebrews 12 (Whole Chapter)

Proverbs 4:11

I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.
Proverbs 4:10-12 (in Context) Proverbs 4 (Whole Chapter)

Proverbs 4:14

Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men.
Proverbs 4:13-15 (in Context) Proverbs 4 (Whole Chapter)

Proverbs 4:18

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
Proverbs 4:17-19 (in Context) Proverbs 4 (Whole Chapter)

Proverbs 4:26

Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.
Proverbs 4:25-27 (in Context) Proverbs 4 (Whole Chapter)

 

Jesus Bless,

Pastor Steve

Blog 07-27-2009

Monday

PRaP 07-27-2009

 

“Did You Know?”

 

Did you know that when you go out to help people that they will ask what organization you are with?  Do you know what the answer should be?  Did you find out the needs of the homeless people before you went to “help” them?  Did you know that the majority of homeless especially down here in the south have plenty of clothes and have other needs?  Most people don’t know this but most homeless will sell the coats and blankets that you give them so that they can get bus fare.  Did you know that there are lots of orphanages in the United States that need help?  Did you know that anyone can go to a retirement home and volunteer?  Do you know what Jesus says about all these things?

 

To answer the first question, every person you help on the street normally the first question from them will be what organization are you from because of the fact that the Church has made it a business.  The answer to that question is, “I am not here because of an organization, I am here as the feet of Jesus and the hands of Jesus and maybe even the voice of Jesus”  Then sit and listen to them and as you are listening keep the prayer going in your mind for that person.  You should check with your local Salvation Army , Star of Hope or other mission that helps the homeless and ask them what the needs are of the people who come in seeking refuge.  I can tell you from past experience they need bus tokens or bus or train passes so that they can get around town to get food and shelter and maybe even jobs.  The only time you should be handing out blankets and clothes are in the winter months.  Do not take a coat to people when it is 110 degrees outside that is the last thing they need and remember they have no place to store this stuff.  Search your heart and ask questions in your local community about orphanages and nursing homes in your area.  It is time to take care of the needy in our own back yard.  You feel a calling to ministry it is as close as your downtown area or the nearest busy intersection.  Stop giving them money and start giving them hope.  The majority of homeless that panhandle make more money than you and me and will never get off the streets and many are mentally ill so all you can do is pray for their healing.  But there are some out there that are just down on their luck so to speak and just need a leg up.  If you give a man a fish he will eat today, but if you teach a man to fish he will eat for a lifetime.  The poor you will always have and we are to take care of the orphans and widows.  What role do you play?  Do you know?

 

James 1

 

Key Verse:

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:26-27 (in Context) James 1 (Whole Chapter)

 

Jesus Bless,

Pastor Steve

Just a thought 04-02-2009

If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing so you will heap burning coals on his head.  OUCHY!  He will need the water to put out the fire!  Oh Well.  Just a thought.