Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. —Luke 11:23 The big game had arrived and thousands were gathered. The home team crowd was seated on one side of the stadium while the opponents were on the other. As the game started and progressed you could easily identify which side was for which team and which was against the other. There were no middle grounders— no one was cheering for both teams. You were either for or against a team. So it is with Jesus, there are no middle grounders, no fence sitters, no one that can like or be on both…

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. -Matthew 7:15-16 You know plants, trees and people by the “fruit” they bear. You expect to get the “fruit” that tomato, pepper, radish… plants produce. So also you pick certain “fruits” from apple, orange, peach… trees. It is expected. It is true of people as well. The fruits of their life can be seen. A doctor, baker, seamstress… are known by the “fruits” of what they do. The “fruits” of a person’s character and personality is also seen as it is projected outwardly. According to…

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. —Matthew 6:19-21, 24 Down back of our house in the woods sits a car out of the 1950’s or I…

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. —Matthew 5:14-16 When you go out into the dark you can bring a flashlight to illuminate your way. The light dispels the darkness. Light overcomes the darkness and darkness can only exist in the absence of light. You have never heard…

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. —John 5:18 1=1, 2=2, 3=3… each is the same as the other. Those that are the same as the other are equal. Equal is to be: equivalent, identical, like, the same, one and the same. The verse above is a statement about Jesus being equal to God. The Jewish people understood what He was saying and they wanted to kill him for saying it. By calling God His Father, they knew that Jesus was putting…

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony. —John 4:29 My dad had been raised with a religious background. His parents and grandparents had been with the same religious group as well. It was something that was just expected in the family and so my parents, though sporadically, brought us to the same church when we were young. Everything was in Latin and I did not understand a thing. I really wondered if my parents did because when I looked like I was getting ready to ask what this was all about, I got the look telling me not to ask. Years later…

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes,…

“Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” —Luke 5:10 He was off to go fishing. He had his pole, his boat, his bait… everything he needed to go fishing and I saw him drive off just before sunrise. Later that day I was driving past this large field and to my utter amazement I saw my friend sitting in his boat in the middle of the field. He was holding his pole… fishing? This did not make any sense at all… his boat on dry land? You might read the above illustration and think that is absurd and it is. But, how many of us are…

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. —Matthew 4:4 Just yesterday I went to one of my “fishing pools” to see who the Lord might have me talk with. I greeted a man who was there and he introduced himself. I had heard about this man, but had not met him. He is very wealthy and can have just about anything money can buy. He told me how he lived in Israel 1 month each year for the last 6 years and how he was looking to lease a field there for 25 years so Israelites and Palestinian children…

And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. —Mark 1:4 Jesus told this parable— “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” (Matthew 21:28-31) What is your answer? The elders of the people answer correctly…