Much Forgiven, Much Love

A sinful woman showed her love toward Jesus with her good works of washing, kissing and anointing His feet. The woman had much sin to be forgiven. With much to be forgiven, she showed much love. The woman left with her sins forgiven and her faith had saved her. This is shown in Luke 7:36-50.

Jesus' Teachings

We have a rock foundation if we choose to hear and follow Jesus' sayings. Jesus has many valuable teachings in Luke 6:20-49. These are great teachings to refer to often and to place them on our hearts.

As Christians, we are to set ourselves separate from worldly ways and to love and to do good to everyone. Everyone includes those who do not necessarily love us and do good to us. In following Jesus' teachings, we can turn to the Psalms to serve as a song and prayer to help us along the way. A helpful Psalm is 119:9-16:

9) Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

10) With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

11) Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

12) Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.

13) With my lips have I declared all the judgments of my mouth.

14) I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.

15) I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

16) I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

We're Family

As Christians, we're a Godly family comprising heaven and earth (Ephesians 3:15). Members of our family have faith in Christ and we are to do good to one another in our household and to others (Galatians 3:26; Galatians 6:10).

Memorial

May we never forget the good deed performed by the woman for Jesus. The story is in Mark 14:3-9. Jesus is in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper. We do not know the woman's name, but we are to remember her for anointing Jesus' head before His burial. Jesus thought so much of the deed that He said, "...Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her" (Mark 14:9).

Word of God Increases Faith

When we read or hear the Word of God, we become more and more hungry and thirsty for it. We receive the Word and our hunger is fed and our thirst is quenched. God knows what we need to hear and when we need to hear it. As a result, our faith is increased. We develop Saving Faith of accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior or we are continuing and building our relationship with God through faith.

17) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 11:17).

Peace

For someone, at this moment, these are the words of Jesus you need to hear:

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).

Through these words of Christ, may you be comforted! God Bless you!

Light and Water Produces Fruit

Let the Light and Water of God within us flow outward to produce good fruit to overcome the unfruitful work of evil. A way to overcome evil with good is in Romans 12:20, 21 which shows that if our enemies are hungry or thirsty we are to give them food or drink. What a powerful witness for Christ to do such an act for our enemies!

God's Uniting Love and Peace

God breaks down walls and unites us in love and peace through Christ:

Ephesians 2: 4, 5

4) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Ephesians 2: 14

14) For he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Lord--Savior, Strength, Deliverer

The Lord is our Savior, Strength and Deliverer when the enemy is hindering us. Here are some comforting verses from Psalms for the times of trouble:

Psalms 37:39, 40

39) ...the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

40) And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

God is Good to All

God has blessed us with another day. What will this day bring? Thank You God for Your sunshine. Thank You God for Your rain. You treat us all equally and bring rain and sunshine on the just and the unjust. Whatever this day holds, You are to be thanked and honored. We are to be content.

God's light is shining on portions of Psalms 145 today to share and sing in our hearts. Please turn to Psalms 145 in your bibles for verses 9, 14, 18, 20 and, of course, more if you are moved.

9) The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works.

14) The Lord upholdeth all that fall and, raiseth up all those that be bowed down.

18) The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

20) The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

Yes, God is good to all! He is "...gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy" (Psalms 145:8).

We must keep God near us and not take advantage of His mercy. God sees and knows our hearts. We must keep Him close in truth and love. If we approach God in untruth and without love, He knows our motives and we fall in the ways of the wicked.

Prayer:

Thank You God for another day! Thank You for shining in my heart and leading the way. Your Son, Jesus, is the Way, the Truth and the Life and there is no other way to You Please keep close to me and keep me from straying from Your path. There are so many tempting things on
this path of life. I can only make it with Your help. Thank you for all You are and all You do for me. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen!

Psalm of Unity!

While waiting on God, His light shines:

Glory to God for His Psalms. Let us sing with grace in our hearts a song about unity in Psalms 133:1-3:

1)Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

2)It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

3)As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing even for life evermore.

Glory to our God of unity:

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:6).

Glory to God and may we "[endeavor] to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace"(Ephesians 4:3).

God Bless You in the Spirit of love, unity and peace!

Light of Life

Then spake Jesus...saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).

Competition for the Miracle

In Jerusalem, during Jesus' day, there was a pool called Bethesda where sick people would gather for healing. They gathered around the pool because an angel would come along and stir up the water and afterwards the first one in the pool would be healed of their sickness.

There was a man who waited by the pool in hopes of being healed. He had been sick for thirty-eight years and was hindered from being healed because there wasn't anyone to lift him into the pool . He would try to make it into the pool on his own, but another person would step in before him. Jesus heard his story, had compassion on him and healed him. This story is in John 5.

Jesus was the answer then as He is today and always. There is no need for competition. Jesus has enough love and compassion to go around for everyone.

Voice of God

In accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we become a new person. We are no longer acting in the natural realm of things. We become spiritual. It is through this change in us that we know the voice of God. The Holy Spirit teaches us. We are able to spiritually discern the things of God. We no longer consider the things of God foolishness (I Corinthians 2:14).

Sheep Following the Shepherd

We are the sheep who follow our Shepherd, Jesus. We know Jesus' voice. Today and forever that voice is still heard through the leading of the Holy Ghost, our Comforter, who dwells in us (John 10:4, John 14: 16, 17, 26).

Faith Reminder--Mustard Seed

Jesus said, "...If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matthew 17:20).

Ashamed of Jesus?

Being ashamed of Jesus and His Words is the same as exchanging your soul for the world. You are turning your soul over to Satan. "Oh," one might say, "my friends do not want to talk about that Jesus stuff, we have worldly things to do." Wherever you go in the world, it is wise to take Jesus with you. If you are ashamed, He will be ashamed of you "when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." Please turn to Mark 8:34-38 for more on this story.

Your Choice--Heaven or Hell!

Believing without seeing is faith. We rely on the Word of God to build our faith in the truth that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. We are favored by God and through our faith we receive the gift from God of being saved (Ephesians 2:8). To believe is a choice we have. We can choose to believe and choose to live the life for Jesus for life everlasting in heaven or we can choose not to believe and live for Satan for life everlasting in the flames of hell fire.

Love of God

By receiving Christ in our life, we have accepted the love God has for us. God loves us and sent Jesus, His only begotten Son, to die on the cross for our sins. God is all about love. God loves us and we should love our brethren. Through love, God dwells in us. For this and more, turn to I John 4.

Comforter, Teacher, Reminder

We have the Holy Ghost sent in Jesus' name to comfort, teach and remind us of Jesus' words (John 14:26). The Holy Ghost is a gift from God and all we have to do is repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins to receive the gift (Acts 2:38).

When you make this change in your life, you will be different from the world. The world believes and knows what they see, but you will believe and know the Holy Spirit because He dwells in you (John 14:17).

Sons of God

When we open our hearts and let the Holy Spirit lead us, we are the sons of God.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14).

As a child of God, we manifest the fruit of the Spirit which is in "all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord"(Ephesians 5:9,10).

God Bless Our Friends

God Bless the military men and women who are making the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. God Bless the men and women in public service who make the same sacrifice. May they abide in Jesus for they exemplify great love:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

Our men and women of service have befriended the citizens of their country. May the comfort of the Holy Spirit be with them!

Abide in Jesus

When we abide in Jesus, He takes care of our physical and spiritual needs. He took care of His followers while He was on earth. "And Jesus, when he, came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things" (Mark 6:34). In His teachings, Jesus fed the "lost sheep" the spiritual food they needed.

Continuing in the book of Mark, it was getting late and the disciples brought the time to Jesus' attention. The disciples wanted Jesus to send the followers on their way to buy themselves some food. Instead of sending the followers away, Jesus performed the miracle of dividing the disciples' food of only five loaves and two fishes among the five thousand. Jesus provided the physical food they needed.

In following our Shepherd, Jesus, we can be certain that all of our physical and spiritual needs will be met. The Holy Spirit is dwelling with us today as Jesus was physically on earth.

Renewing Our Mind

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2)

Renewing our mind is to think the way Jesus thinks which is contrary to the world. Look in Luke 18:18-30 where the rich ruler had followed the commandments and was wondering how he could have eternal life. Jesus told him to sell all that he had and distribute to the poor. Jesus told the ruler that he would have treasure in heaven and said for the ruler to come follow Him. When the ruler heard what Jesus had to say, "...he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich." And when Jesus saw his sorrow, he said, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!"

There is always more we can do to follow Jesus. We must not be so attached to our possessions that we place them before the well-being of mankind. We must set our sights on Jesus. We must set our treasure in heaven.

All About Love

When we have harsh words with one another it hurts us. Harsh communication can harden our hearts. We must guard our hearts and any words that come out of our mouth should be used to edify (lift up) instead of tearing down. "Thank you," "Good job," "Let me help you," "Let me show you how." These are only a few examples to help lift up our brethren in most any situation anywhere, anytime. These words help to build unity and show love.

We must always guard against anything contrary to love. Anything other than love is giving in to the devil. Anything other than love sets us up for the ways of iniquity. In the end, iniquity will cause the love of many to grow cold (Matthew 24:12).

Love does not rejoice in iniquity. Love rejoices in the truth (I Corinthians 13:6). Love rejoices in Jesus. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). Let's keep our love from growing cold. This is love:

4) Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5) Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6) Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.

7) Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8) Charity never faileth...

This is from I Corinthians 13:4-8.

Jesus is the answer for our life today and for life everlasting. All we have to do is ask Him into our life and to forgive us for our sins. Jesus will forgive us! We must love and forgive one another as Jesus loves and forgives us:

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32).

Love Lesson

Ways to exercise our love toward our brethren are to feed them when they are hungry, give them drink when they are thirsty, give them shelter when they are without shelter, give them clothing when they are naked, visit them when they are sick or in prison. When we do these things out of love toward our brethren, we are considered righteous and it is the same as if we cared for Jesus. This story is in Matthew 25:31-46.

Jesus had given His first and second great commandments in Matthew 22: 37 and 39. The first commandment is that, "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." The second commandment is "...Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." As the book of Matthew continues, we see that showing our love for our brethren is the same as showing our love for God. We are righteous when we sincerely show our love.

Without charity which is love, I am nothing. We can talk all we want, we can have great faith, we can feed the poor and so on, but it does not profit us without love. Paul explains all of this in I Corinthians 13:1-3. The ultimate profit is life everlasting in heaven. We can be counted as sheep on the right hand of Jesus (Matthew 25:33). "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:" (Matthew 25:34).

It is amazing what love out of a pure heart can accomplish. As Paul closed in I Corinthians 13:13, I shall close today:

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Jesus is the Answer!

Jesus is the answer to the "...weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith:..." (Matthew 23:23). The scribes and Pharisees made life for the citizens very burdensome. The citizens were oppressed. Jesus had a new way. Jesus taught the people to:

29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:29-30).

Jesus also taught:

37) "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

38) This is the first and great commandment.

39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40).

In following God's law, we must follow Jesus' example for the answers. The Holy Spirit will lead us. Our faith will increase and we shall be comforted.