45 YEARS LATER— I STILL BELIEVE! Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” —Luke 9:20 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. —Luke 9:26 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” —Luke 9:35             Relationship with Jesus, confessing who He is and listening to His Word, indicates if we are truly listening to Him and obeying…

JESUS HAS AUTHORITY OVER ALL! Abimelech ruled over Israel three years.  And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech. —Judges 9:22-23 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me,…

OUR LORD WORKS THROUGH WEAKNESS And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you. —Judges 6:15-16 The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned,…

FORGIVENESS ONLY IN THE CRUCIFIED, BURIED AND RESURRECTED JESUS! And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for…

THE CONSEQUENCE FOR REBELLION IS GOD’S JUDGMENT!                                                                (Those claiming to be wise are really fools!) And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.  And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.  And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought…

SELF DECEPTION BY NOT DOING GOD’S WORD Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day. —Joshua 23:6-8 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.” —Joshua 24:21 After these things Joshua the…

SIN BRINGS ACHING TO YOURSELF AND TO OTHERS Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity. —Joshua 22:20             Because Achan took garments and gold the wrath of God was upon Israel and 36 men died because of his disobedience.  His sin brought the wrath of God, the judgment of God on himself and his family and impacted so many others as well.  Let this be a serious lesson for us.  Our sin does not only impact ourselves, but others as well!             We…

FORGIVEN AND FOLLOWING And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” —Luke 5:20-24 After this he went out…

DON’T FEAR, FISH! Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. —Luke 5:10-11             They had fished all night and it was hard work, yet they did not catch a single fish.  Now they were washing their nets after the long, disappointing night.  That’s when Jesus came along and a crowd of people were around Him, listening to Him.              Jesus got into Simon Peter’s boat and told Simon to “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”  After casting nets all night long and pulling…

GOD’S WORD, NOT CONTRARY THOUGHT, IS TO BE OUR PRIORITY! But my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. —Joshua 14:8 Jesus answered him, “It is written…” —Luke 4:4, 8, 12             Obedience brings blessing… disobedience brings disappointment and consequences.  Caleb, along with Joshua, brought favorable reports after reconnaissance of the land that the Lord already said He was giving to them.  The ten others brought back a discouraging report that impacted the whole nation to disobedience.  The people wanted to stone Joshua & Caleb for their encouraging words to go up and take…