Category Archives: Parables

Controlling Thoughts, Parables

Take Control of Your Thought Life

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Can you imagine trying to watch TV or use the internet if you could not control what channels or websites kept pulling up in front of you on the screen!? Every time you select what you want to watch, there is a pop-up ad or program that you did not want to watch that keeps blocking your view and taking your time. It would be absolutely frustrating… no beyond that… maddening.

Now what if you knew all of those annoying pop-ups were based on choices we made on what to watch in the past? Would you determine to be more careful of what programming you selected to expose yourself to? Would not you take great effort to regain control of your screen, turning off what you don’t want and turning back to what you do want rather than just accepting what pops up randomly?

It can be that way also with regards to what ideas come into our minds throughout the day in different situations. To be sure, what comes to mind is influenced by what we allow ourselves to see and do… by what we focus our time and attention on. If we focus on those things that are right and good and true, than that is more likely to be what is on our mind. If we expose ourselves to pornography,  violence, greed or lust than that is what will be more likely to be on our mind. Once these thoughts and ideas are in our minds and hearts, they can be very hard to remove.

Guard your hearts. Actively control what you expose yourself to. Actively direct your thoughts to what is good and away from evil. Pray and seek help from the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 1:1-3 1How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. 3He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.

Proverbs 4:23-27 23Watch over your heart with all diligence,
for from it flow the springs of life. 24Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious speech far from you. 25Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. 26Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. 27Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.

Isaiah 55:6-8 6Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. 7Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. 8“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.

Philippians 4:8-9 8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Take back control of your thought life starting today!

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Character of God, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Heaven and Hell, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Parables

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

Jesus continues with another parable in Matthew 22: 1-14. The parable of the wedding feast is directly related to that of the vineyard told at the end of Matthew 21. Both refer to God’s chosen people, the Jews, who rejected God and responded violently to His messengers.

      1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. 3“And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4“Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ 5“But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. 7“But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. 8“Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10“Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

      11“But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, 12and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. 13“Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The parable shows God’s love and desire for His people to be with Him, obeying His commands and living in personal relationship with Him. When the people reject God’s invitation, they have no real excuses. They just can’t be bothered to come. They find business in the things of this world… in the day to day chores and activities. The truth is they do not desire to come to be with the Lord.

God prepared everything. The people just need to come to Him and accept His offer. Still they reject it.

God next extends His offer to the gentiles and many will accept it and come to the feast. God invites those who have done evil as well as those who have done good. He extends His offer to everyone through Jesus Christ.

The offer, however, requires humility and submission to God. It is most likely that the king, who had prepared everything, had prepared and offered wedding clothes to the guests, knowing they were poor and would not have their own. When the man refused to wear them, refused to submit to the king, instead choosing rebellion and disrespect, then the king had him cast out.  This man represents hypocrites, who come to the feast, pretending to submit to God, but have clearly not found salvation through submission to Christ. They will be revealed and cast out when they face the king.

So too is it for us, when we come to accept God’s offer of salvation through grace, by faith… to turn away from our sins and prior evil, and submit to God through Jesus as our Lord… we must come humbly and submit. We must not just come to the feast and continue in our old sinful ways, assuming everything is fine and we can have all that God offers, while still living willingly and unrepentantly in bondage to sin.

Have you accepted God’s invitation to the wedding feast… His invitation for salvation through Jesus Christ?

Have you genuinely repented of, or turned away from, your old sinful ways, and humbly asked Jesus for forgiveness?

Have you submitted your whole life genuinely and completely to Jesus? or are you honoring Him with your lips only and keeping certain areas of your life out of submission to Him?

God loved us enough to make a way to be reconciled with Him! Praise God the feast is prepared and we need not complete any works to be judged worthy. We just need to accept His invitation and then begin to follow and submit to Him!

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Character of God, Consequences of Sin, Discerning / Judging, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Greed, Heaven and Hell, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Parables, Repenting from Sin, Salvation, Satan, Selfishness

Parable of the Vineyard Owner

Jesus is still teaching at the temple in Matthew 21:33-46. His audience is the chief priests, the Pharisees, and the Jewish people who actually came to the temple, those perhaps perceived as more righteous than the “sinners” who did not come to the temple.

33“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. 34“When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35“The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36“Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. 37“But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38“But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39“They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40“Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

42Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone;
THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD,
AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?

43“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. 44“And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. 46When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.

Most of us read this story and immediately recognize that the vine-growers were greedy, selfish, and wicked … refusing to live up to their agreement and willing to kill others who represented the one with rightful claim on the land. They were the ones who rejected the agreement they had made previously. We recognize that the vineyard owner is in fact quite patient with the vine growers who rebel against him, giving them multiple warnings and chances to repent and live by their agreement. Ultimately we recognize that he is within his rights to destroy the vine  growers and rent the land to others. It is a very straightforward story.

However, do we take time to really understand what this means when we apply its meaning to our relationship with God?

The vineyard owner is God. The vine growers represent His people, in particular the rebellious chief priests and other religious leaders who after receiving the offer to be God’s chosen people, reject His ways insisting on ruling themselves. They reject, abuse, and kill His messengers… the prophets. Then, God comes down as Jesus Christ… the son of God… surely they will respect Him… not at all. They reject, abuse, and kill Him also. Now what do you think God will do?

The specifics of this parable refer to God’s chosen people, Israel, rejecting God and then God opening up His kingdom to the gentiles, but the principle of the story applies to each of us even today.

In His grace and out of His great love for each of us, God has made a way for us to be reconciled with Him through Jesus Christ. For those that genuinely accept that offer, it changes their life as they submit all of their life to Christ and live according to His instruction.

But to those who reject Him, they will be destroyed in Hell, by their own choice of rejecting and rebelling against Him. There is righteous judgment for our sin. The penalty is death. Jesus paid the price, but many insist on rejecting His offer and insist they pay the price themselves instead.  Do not be misled by the deception of Satan, who proclaims that there is no judgment, all are righteous, all will go to Heaven. Satan comes to deceive and destroy.

God is love, but God is also righteous, holy, and just. Sin represents rebellion against God and it is ugly. It requires strict punishment. Do not rationalize to accept sin as “not that bad”. How many of us would think it wise for parents to accept “a little rebellion” from their children without consequences? What we inherently know is that rebellion against our parental authority is bad, and if allowed to continue without consequences it will grow and grow into more rebellion. It must not, can not be tolerated.

Note that rebellion is a continuous refusal to obey, often intentional but it can also come out of ignorance of the rules and laziness in refusing to learn the rules that have been clearly provided.  This is different from making a mistake, repenting, and sinning no more. Mistakes can be forgiven. Continuous rebellion must be addressed.

Each of us should study God’s word to learn and understand how He wants us to live… to relate to him and other people… and then change our behaviors to do as He instructs or commands.

In what areas of your life are you refusing to submit to God? Why? Are you going to change that behavior or continue rebelling against God?

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Consequences of Sin, False Prophets / Teachers, Forgive Others / Seek Forgiveness, Grace / Forgiveness, Heaven and Hell, Humility, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Obeying God, Parables, Pride, Salvation, Thankfulness

Who Is Truly Doing the Will of the Father?

Jesus appears to be still talking to the chief priests and elders at the temple, or perhaps to others who had come to the temple to worship and hear God’s word, when he shares the content of Matthew 21:28-32. He has just finished a rather clever rebuke for their effort to question His authority. Then He speaks to show us who is truly doing the will of the father… those with nice words and a good front or those who act on God’s instruction, humbly submitting to Him in repentance of their sin.

  28“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29“And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. 30“The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. 31“Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32“For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

Jesus is sharing an important message with us. Notice His target audience, by context… those that were religious leaders and those that had come to the temple. (Think of it like this… Jesus came to a church to speak to a congregation that already thought of themselves as obeying and serving God.) He is not speaking to those that did not come to the temple.  It is important to do God’s will, even if we get off to a poor start. On the other hand, it is intentional deception and wickedness (or perhaps sloth), to say we will obey God’s instructions but then fail to do so. Not understanding God’s instruction clearly is a call for us to study it more and seek answers in scripture and in prayer… it is not an excuse to keep living the way we want to… that, too, is sloth.

None of us are “good enough” to meet God’s standard. We are all sinners. Those of us who recognize our sin, who recognize that our sin is so ugly to God that the punishment is death, should genuinely repent and turn from our sins, asking God’s forgiveness and submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord. We do not hide from our sin or deny our sin, but rather ask God’s help to overcome it! God loves us so much that He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him and forgiven of our sins. Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead so that those who believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. We come thankfully and humbly before God in the name of Jesus Christ, repent from our wrong behaviors and thoughts, and ask Him to be Lord of our lives. Then we begin to live our lives for God instead of our own way.

Those who put a nice image, or front, of being perfect or good enough are fooling themselves, and perhaps fooling others, but they are certainly not fooling God. In particular, the chief priests and elders had every opportunity to know and follow God’s law, but instead followed traditions of men and looked out for their own power and status. The punishment they receive is great. Many who claim to teach about Jesus even today do likewise, misleading many or living in hypocrisy, teaching about God and living for themselves.

Do not get complacent, taking confidence in your church attendance or even your church leaders. Test what they teach against scripture to confirm it. The wise welcome reproof and correction and get wiser still; only fools despise correction and testing. We should come before God like the tax collectors and prostitutes to whom Jesus referred. Accept and admit to our sins and turn from them. Live like Jesus Christ is truly Lord of our life and turn loose of any pride that we must be righteous on our own… we are not!

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Abortion, Miracles, Murder, Parables, Selfishness

Are Miracles Rare or Common?

Many are convinced that God’s supernatural intervention into our world and the lives of His people, miracles, is now rare or does not happen at all. Many do not even believe in any miracles at all. For those who are interested to seek out the answers, let us explore this topic by starting with a story.

Not so long ago there lived two women many miles apart. One lived on a rocky hillside near the mountains and one lived in a fertile valley. The first woman, on the rocky hillside, loved flowers. They were rare. They did not grow often near her home, so whenever she found one she rejoiced. She even let them grow right in her pathway so as to enjoy their beauty. Each morning she would look around for the beautiful flowers  and take a few minutes out of her day to stop and enjoy.

Near the home of the second woman, the same flowers were plentiful. They were everywhere. At first she really enjoyed them, but after awhile she tended to just overlook them. She accepted them as normal and ordinary. In fact, she found it frustrating that so many grew in her pathway and complaining in frustration she would often pluck them out to keep her pathway clean and organized.

The fact is that many miracles are impactful to us because they are somewhat rare. They are God’s supernatural intervention to do something that would not normally happen. By definition they are typically unusual. In that way, our human minds better process their wonder and look to God as a result.

Let’s take an example regarding cancer or other serious illness. If God always healed everyone who had serious illness, we would soon come to completely miss God’s miracle when He chooses to heal someone and just conclude that it is normal for people with cancer to heal on their own… like the common cold. If something is common we dismiss it too easily.

We could even take a moment to explore human nature further regarding some very uncommon miracles and how people relate to them today. Just to take a few exceedingly rare miracles as examples, let’s consider:

  • God created the universe and everything in it.
  • God flooded the whole earth during the time of Noah.
  • God performed many miracles leading the Israelites out of Egypt under Moses.
  • God became man, lived, died and came back to life in physical form to show us how to live out God’s word and provide a path to reconciliation with God from our unrighteousness.

Most of the world denies these miracles ever happened. They are said to not have occurred because they are hard to believe in the absence of God. Instead of acknowledging God, many try very hard to explain them away, in spite of the overwhelming evidence that God left for us to see that these things are real. It is worth noting, however, that these miracles are life changing once one accepts them as real and from God. All we must do is study the facts closely and follow where the evidence leads. Praise God He did these things even knowing most would reject Him!

So we know there are many historical evidences of God’s exceedingly rare miracles… but are there still examples miracles today? Simply put, yes. But we must take care to avoid the trap of the second woman in the story in today’s teaching. She totally missed the beauty in the flowers because they were common. So too is it with many who experience common miracles today all around them. They are so common, they are no longer considered miracles.

Let us consider just one prominent example. People can stare directly into the impossible diversity and uniqueness of every day events and claim it is completely random, dismissing God. Many can wonder that there are so many snowflakes and never two the same. Others miss the glorious miracle of how God creates each child, like a snowflake, unique and unmatched in all the history of mankind across billions of people. God forms each person in their mother’s womb.

God clearly tells us life begins in the womb in Jeremiah 1:4-5

4 The Lord gave me this message:

5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my  prophet to the nations.”

And again in Psalms 139:13-16

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

Yet still people around the world, including many Christians fail to see the miracle and instead have actually taken Satan’s deception that babies are just commonplace and disposable. Over 40 million babies are murdered in their mother’s wombs every year for little more than selfishness and convenience of the mother. The glorious, but seemingly common, miracle of God has become ordinary and disposable to many. They miss the miracle and instead , remove it from their path in frustration that it is even there at all.

To sum up… what is the answer to our question in the title of this teaching… “Are Miracles Rare or Common?” In fact the answer is “Yes, miracles are both rare and common.”. We should take care not to miss the common ones all around us and take equal care not to dismiss the exceedingly rare ones as ever really happening. Let both the common and rare miracles lead us to deeper relationship with our creator.

If you or someone you know has been involved in abortion, help is available. Those involved should acknowledge their sin, repent and genuinely ask forgiveness through Jesus Christ… turning from their sin and encouraging others likewise to avoid abortion. There is forgiveness and love at the cross. Please see our teaching, The Message of the Cross. If you want more information on abortion, please visit our website page, Crisis Help: Stop Abortion.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Am I too late?, Character of God, Consequences of Sin, Faith / Trusting God, Grace / Forgiveness, Hope, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Joy / Happiness / Rejoicing, Love, Merciful, Parables, Repenting from Sin, Selfishness

The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Vineyard

Jesus teaches us about the kingdom of heaven by comparing it to a vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16. Once again He clearly shows the contrast between the kingdom of heaven and the ways of man with a stark contrast that at first read appears “unfair”, but in reality demonstrates the mercy, grace, and love we all want to receive.

20 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage[a] and sent them out to work.

3 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. 5 So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.

6 “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’

7 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’

“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’

8 “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9 When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. 10 When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11 When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, 12 ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’

13 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14 Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

16 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

People often misunderstand this parable when they view it through the eyes of men rather than the eyes of God. As is true of all parables, Jesus is using an illustration people should be able to understand to explain a greater concept about the kingdom of heave.  Jesus’ point is not about the sum of money that people receive for working in a vineyard. Rather, Jesus is speaking about the offer God has extended to each of us through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He offers salvation to all of us, no matter if we find Him early in the day (e.g. early in our lives) or late in the day, just before work is completed (e.g. on our deathbed).

None of the workers “deserve” or are “owed” the right to work in the vineyard and receive payment. All of them are invited at the discretion of the vineyard owner, who represents God. We can all receive salvation and forgiveness from sins no matter how close to death we are. What a wonderful God we serve that he receives us even if we come to Him late in our lives. We may have hope of eternal life with Him and hope for others we know that it is never too late for them, until the very moment of death and judgment. God shows mercy, grace, and love to all of us by extending the offer to serve Him through submission to Jesus Christ.

For those who submit to God, we will be like the angels in heaven, rejoicing when a single soul repents and asks Jesus to be Lord of their life, submitting fully to God and proclaiming Him publically. For those who see life only through the eyes of their own selfishness, they will continue to wrestle with and complain about this parable… claiming that it is not fair that they worked longer for Jesus and do not appear to get a higher reward. Truth be told, these people are often far from the kingdom of God. We are not saved by works and when we love and submit to Jesus as our Lord, we do not consider it a burden we resent carrying but rather rejoice that we may serve Him. If we serve Him longer it is all the better to further the kingdom! If others join us late, it too is cause for celebration!

Jesus later gives us a very tangible illustration of the meaning behind this parable as He hangs upon the cross.  He clearly shows us that we are saved not by works, but rather by grace through faith. Praise God! None of us is good enough to meet God’s standard by works. Only Jesus met the standard. And He carried our sin to the cross on our behalf. Even the criminal who was deserving of death was able to be saved in the closing hours of his life when he could do no works, join no church, and take no action to repent other than with his heart and his words.

Luke 23:39-43

39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

God gives us all the opportunity to be saved, but not by our own works. We can have hope in knowing it is never too late for us or for those we love. But with this hope comes great opportunity. Each of us should consider:

  • Have I accepted Jesus’ offer to work in His vineyard… to submit to Him and serve Him in the work He wants done? (Am I saved?)
  • Am I working hard in the vineyard to do the Lord’s work or am I content to just do the bare minimum to get paid at the end of the day (e.g. make it into heaven)?  (Am I fully submitted to Jesus and His work or only committed to the point that it is convenient and comfortable for me?)
  • Am I studying and learning God’s word, seeking Him prayerfully to develop a more intimate relationship with Him? or am I content to be baby in the faith, requiring constant care and feeding (e.g. spiritually). Such as these are not able to disciple others and may fade even themselves over time. They are easily misled by false prophets.
  • Is my goal to convert others to Christianity (e.g. bare minimum for them to be saved)? or is my goal to make disciples of others such that they can share God’s word and bring the good news effectively to others?
  • What changes should I make today to fully submit my life to Jesus?

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Character of God, Consequences of Sin, Heaven and Hell, Justice / Judgment, Parables

Hell Is Real – Prepare Today To Avoid It Tomorrow

If you accept Jesus Christ as Lord, so must you accept that hell is real. Many of our churches today do not teach on hell because it makes people uncomfortable. People want to believe that everyone goes to heaven and there is no hell. However Jesus Christ Himself spoke about hell on many occasions and warned people to avoid it with a sense of urgency. He knew it to be important to warn people about hell because it is a miserable place and our decision to accept or reject God will have eternal consequences.

[John 3:16-18] 16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[a] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.

[Matthew 25:41-46] 41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.[g] 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

[John 5:24-30] 24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

25 “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. 26 The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. 27 And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man.[d] 28 Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, 29 and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment. 30 I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.

 If we love others, we must tell them about hell as Jesus did. If we saw a building was on fire and people were having a party inside, would we not come and tell them with a sense of urgency? If they still did not believe us, would we not tell them again trying to point to the evidence of it, urging them at least to come and look for themselves? It would be a true failure on our part as Christians to just walk by their house as it burned and say “I am sure they are aware of the fire and have chosen to remain inside, so they are responsible for themselves. I do not want to upset them and disturb their good time. I don’t want them to make fun of me and I certainly don’t want them to feel embarrassed or self conscious about remaining in an house that is on fire. ”

If you accept Jesus as Lord, you must also accept heaven and hell as real. He taught about them often. Just because it may be unpopular does not make it false. Are you living your life as if heaven and hell are real and eternal? Are you telling others with a sense of urgency, as if to rescue them from a burning building?

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Bitterness / Resentment, Forgive Others / Seek Forgiveness, Grace / Forgiveness, Parables

How Often Should I Forgive Someone Who Sins Against Me?

Jesus teaches us about forgiveness in Matthew 18:21-35. Right from the beginning of this scripture passage he clearly states the case that forgiveness in God’s eyes is different from the natural instincts of man. We naturally assume there is a limit to how much can be forgiven. God calls us to forgive without counting the sins against us.

21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone[i] who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven![j]

23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.[k] 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.[l] He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters[m] from your heart.”

God does not keep a running count of our sins, but rather offers forgiveness to those who repent regardless of how many times they sin. As we are all sinners, we can rejoice and praise Him for His grace. However, this is not a license to sin. We have accountability to God in this world and when we stand in judgment for all our actions and inaction. Those who truly repent do not go on proudly accepting their sin, but rather turn from it as best they can and submit to Christ.

Furthermore, God calls us to forgive others in the same way that we desire to be forgiven by Him. We will not receive God’s forgiveness if we hold bitterness and unforgiveness in our hearts toward others.

We are all sinners who need grace and forgiveness.  Praise God that He shows us how to forgive and provides His grace for our sins through the death of Christ, who was without sin.

Each of us should take time to consider if we are harboring any bitterness or unforgiveness toward others. Hurry and waste no time in offering forgiveness. Pray and ask God to help you forgive others as He forgives you.

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Character of God, Children, Heaven and Hell, Parables

God Loves Each Of Us As Special And Unique

Beginning in Matthew 18, Jesus speaks to His disciples about what it means to be great in the kingdom of heaven. He calls a child over and then speaks about how important it is to welcome little children on His behalf and how bad it is to tempt and mislead them. In Matthew 18:12-14, Jesus then continues on with a parable to give insight into how God feels about caring for His people.

12 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! 14 In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.

God cares for all of His people as the shepherd cares for all hundred of the sheep. God cares enough to go looking for even one of us that gets lost. This is a wonderful expression of love. God does not view us as interchangeable parts, each the same as the other, such that missing one when you still have so many others is not important. God knows each of us as individuals and none of us is replaceable by another. He made us. We are each precious to Him. He does not want any of us to perish… to get lost and end up separated from Him for eternity in hell.

I have heard people stumble on this teaching. They think the shepherd is leaving the ninety-nine at risk to go seek the one who got lost. Perhaps they feel like ninety-nine out of one hundred is pretty good after all and how important can the one sheep be?

Most who stumble don’t understand the mentality of a shepherd who is tending his own flock. They think more like a hired hand who feels no personal ownership or accountability for the flock. This parable is actually giving us great insight into how God views us.

Consider a family with ten children that went camping in the woods. Would they return with just nine children? Would not the parent leave the nine at the car or camp site if necessary and go look for the one that was missing? Would they not all rejoice more over the one that was found than the nine that were never lost?

God knows us each personally and loves us as His children. He is our father, our shepherd, and we depend on Him. He wants all of us to grow to know Him and follow Him.

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Discerning / Judging, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Faith / Trusting God, False Prophets / Teachers, Miracles, Parables, Wickedness / Evil

Beware The Yeast of The Pharisees and Sadducees

Matthew 16:5-12 continues after the Pharisees and Sadducees just demanded a miraculous sign from Jesus (again) to prove His authority in verses 1-4. Jesus pointed out that their motivation is evil and they had more than enough evidence in front of them to see He is from heaven but they refuse to acknowledge it.

Following that encounter, Jesus warns His disciples about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

5 Later, after they crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 “Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

7 At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 8 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? 9 Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? 10 Or the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up? 11 Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”

12 Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Jesus once again uses a comparison of something his disciples are familiar with to demonstrate an important element of kingdom truth. Jesus compares of false teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees to yeast in bread. Just as a little yeast can change the character of the whole loaf of bread so too can even a little false teaching change how we understand the character of our worship and obedience to God. We must be careful to avoid any false teaching and avoid making excuses to accept “a little” false teaching.

If we are unsure of whether or not something is correct or false we are not called to just accept it because someone else said it was so, but rather study scripture and seek God in prayer to determine what is true and verify what we were told.

As a side note, I can easily identify with the disciples… starting to argue about who forgot the bread. All to often even those who genuinely love Jesus and desire to serve Him can miss the point or get distracted by events around them. Jesus is gracious enough to redirect us and get us back on track and focused… if we are submitted to Him and listening to Him.

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