The Devotional

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 101 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   Luke 6:39-42 – The Eternal Plan of God And He spoke a parable to them : “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they, not both fall into the ditch? “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First, remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah How important are the words “ And He spoke a parable to them”? If you go to a conference or weekend retreat, then you know that at certain times the speaker will take a break so that people can refresh, even the

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 100 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   Luke 6:37-38 – The Eternal Plan of God “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah We are looking at the very words of Jesus regarding relationships with the people who live in our circle of influence. I wish to back up for the moment and note His Words in verse 27, to those following Him. “But I tell you who hear Me” Now, all who were following Jesus could hear Him, but not all heeded the messages. These folks did not have the help of the Holy Spirit as He had not been given and the church had not yet begun. Is this an excuse, I think not, today we have the Spirit of God

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 99 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   Luke 6:32-36 – The Eternal Plan of God “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. “And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. “Therefore, be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah Our relationship with GOD, can you understand? Is as different as night is to a day! With people all around us and if our love for them is NOT different, then we love as the world. What spiritual blessing r

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 98 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   Luke 6:27-31 – The Eternal Plan of God “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, “bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you. “To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. “Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.   “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah It is very easy to skip over scripture when the Word being read points to areas in our lives where deep-rooted problems exist. The LORD is the ONE who leads us to read and acknowledge these areas that require spiritual healing. We are the ones who willingly gloss over His Word with excuses and say “Well I keep the Law, therefore, this does not apply to me. In

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 97 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   Luke 6:46-49 – The Eternal Plan of God – Jesus “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?   “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. “But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah Yesterday we looked at the LORD’s challenge in Luke 6:46-49, but we are not finished. One wonderful attribute about the Word of God is that it is always ALIVE and alert, and God will speak to you through His Word often. Eve

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 96 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   Luke 6:46-49 – The Eternal Plan of God – Jesus “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?   “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. “But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah Luke 6:46-49 is a challenge for most of us, we often see ourselves as failing to live up to the standard presented in these words spoken by the LORD. Matthew and Luke record these words as the final challenge at the end of

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 95 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   John 20:30-31 – The Eternal Plan of God – Jesus And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah I am sure we cannot capture the moment when Jesus entered Nain and raised the widow’s son from the dead. Most every family I know has a member who has past away, either by illness, old age or accident. And like Martha in John 11:21 spoke “LORD, if you would have been here, my (brother, sister, son, daughter, mom or dad would not have died). We can believe that this trip of Jesus was more than coincidence. I believe the widow whose home was not far from Capernaum was crying out to God in grief as we all do in times like the death of a loved one. God hears a

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 94 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   John 21:25 – The Eternal Plan of God – Jesus And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if these were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself the books that would be written. AMEN! SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah By now that is if you are reading the scripture verses at the top, you should have these memorized. I have memorized scripture in the past, but I find that if I meditate in the context of what is being said, my recall of Truth is a lot better. and this recall is especially more profitable! For when I am in the prisons or rescue missions locally, it is the Spirit of God and the Word of God that I rely on to do the work of the ministry. I would hope that we take our life ‘In Christ’ joyfully and seriously, whatever God has called you to do, do it with joy and perseverance. In chapter 7 of Luke, we find a career minded soldier who ha

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 93 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   John 20:30-31 – The Eternal Plan of God – Jesus And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah The return of Jesus Christ/Messiah could happen at any time. Before the last words of the New Testament were penned and canonized, Jesus was expected to return for His Church. Still, for two thousand years, the Bride has been waiting for her Groom. In our day the words of the Living Word of God are dismissed, overlooked as a fable, and even made fun of! Watch ANY drug remedy commercial, any sitcom, or better than these; watch any of the liberal news stations here in our nation or any other nation. ONE world government is alive (as the only hope for the world

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   John 21:25 – The Eternal Plan of God – Jesus And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah Here in our nation we do not feel the supernatural effects of the kingdom of heaven, since we are fat with prosperity and not persecuted as other nations are. In some African and Middle East nations, believers in the Christ persecuted and put to death for their confession of faith. These saints live and die, moment by moment in the ‘beatitudes. I would be remiss if I failed to explain that our nation is headed for that same persecution. We can read about the current sufferings around the globe, we can pray too, and we should be praying. We can study and meditate on the beatitudes as we are this morning. This will be a help for the future, but it may amount to lit

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - 91 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   John 21:30-31 – The Eternal Plan of God – Jesus And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah From AD26 to AD30/31 time does not stand still, in a little over two years the LORD Jesus who is the LAMB of God will take upon Himself the sin of the entire fallen world of mankind. All of the past sin from Adam, all of the present sin of His disciples, including Judas Iscariot. Also, the sin of all peoples today, including you and me and all who will be born in the future. The magnitude of this burden is larger than can be counted. While it saddens all of us to think upon this, it is bitter, but Oh so sweet to know that our sin is cleansed in the sacrificial B

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures - (90) SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   John 20:25 – The Eternal Plan of God – Jesus And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah Jesus goes on His first ministry tour of Galilee, He explains to His four disciples that this is what He was called to do. At Capernaum; and before he leaves, He healed many sick and cast out many demons. Also, as He often did, He went out to a secluded spot in order to be alone and pray. see Mark 1:12-19 and then He travels to Galilee. 10. Luke 5:12-16 – Healing of illnesses are miracles, we read of these specific events in the life of Jesus and our focus is normally on the miracle. Peoples lives are affected, first by a disease, then by the healing. The man is not identified, he did what Jesus asked him to

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   John 21:25 – The Eternal Plan of God – Jesus And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written, everyone. I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah It is interesting to me that during AD27 to 29 while the LORD was in Galilee the apostle John has little to say until the spring of AD 29. However, the others; Matthew, Mark, and Luke, have plenty to say. 7.       Jesus calls four more men to follow Him. Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:16-20 and Luke 5:1-11. Looking at the Matthew account. In this, I like the KJV comment of Jesus to Peter and Andrew . “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” James and John were called next. We do not hear or read from Matthew what Jesus said to them, but when these two men heard the call, they immediately left their father and work and followed Him. Perhaps the four men were clo

A Devotional - SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES (87) SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   John 20:30-31 – The Eternal Plan of God – Jesus And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah Over the last week we have looked at some of the very familiar events in the Life of Jesus, but what we may not know is that up to this time in His life, it is only AD27 and His public ministry has not yet begun. His first miracle was in Cana at a wedding, remember, if you have read (John 1:35-51) of how He changed fresh water into costly wine. Or when He cleansed the Temple for the first time (John 2:2:13-22). Jesus did many other things too numerous to record according to the apostle John.  As time moved forward, Jesus journeyed to Samaria for a brief time, as in

A Devotional – SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES (86)  SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:   John 21:25 – The Eternal Plan of God – Jesus And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: Jesus, the Christ of God/Messiah (4)    Nicodemus, (Conqueror of the people) is the literal meaning of the name. It is unique how the apostle John and LORD brings this meaning into play while the event unfolds. (John 3:1) a ruler of the Jews (9-10) Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Jesus describes the physical procreation of all humans, Jesus also explains the spiritual birth needed by all (whosoever will) to enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus was to be one of the first to hear the LORD’s discourse regarding God’s love for mankind and