Thu, May 30th - 10:26PM

Luke 18:9-14

Luke 18:9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (NIV)

The Pharisee thought he was righteous because of the deeds that he did but in reality his heart was far from God.  The Pharisees considered themselves righteous because they followed the Law but God knew their hearts and knew their hearts were far from Him.  The tax collector on the other hand knew he was a sinner and knew he needed forgiveness.  The Bible says that we are all sinners.  Every one of us is a sinner in need of a Savior.  We are made right before God when we recognize we are sinners and that Christ is the Savior and we accept His gift of salvation and make Him Lord and Savior of our life.

To call Jesus Lord is to recognize He is the Lord of our lives.  It is no longer our lives but we give it to Him to be used for His purpose.  Our life no longer revolves around our own selfish desires but revolves around pleasing the Lord and doing His will because that is what a servant does.  He doesn’t live for himself but He lives to please the Master and serve Him. 

The Pharisee failed to recognize this.  In his eyes he was right because he kept all the laws and traditions of Jewish culture and religion but yet he had never submitted himself to God.  He had an attitude that a lot of people portray, that somehow God should be thankful for having someone so good serving Him.  Don’t be foolish we need God not the other way around.  The will of God will be accomplished with or without us.  What I am saying is no matter of how good a teacher, preacher, singer or anything else you think you are Christianity doesn’t revolve around you or any other person, it revolves around God.  Every one of us is a humble servant that has submitted our lives to God so that He may work through us and if great things are done by us it is the work of God not something we did.  If you look up the word servant you will see there is nothing prideful and self-exalting in being a servant.

Mon, May 27th - 10:33PM

Luke 17:31-33

Luke 17:31 “On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. 32“Remember Lot’s wife. 33“Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (NASB)

If you remember the story of Lot’s wife then angels led Lot and his family out of Sodom before God destroyed it.  As the angels were leading the family out they warned them not to look back but Lot’s wife still looked back and she was turned into a pillar of salt.  This might sound harsh but take into consideration that first of all she disobeyed the angels who were probably only conveying the will of God and also her actions shows her heart had an attraction to the wickedness that was going on in Sodom.  It is obvious from the punishment God dealt to her that she was actually regretting seeing the wickedness of Sodom being destroyed. 

To be true disciples of Christ we must leave the sins of this world behind to be true followers of Christ.  As the Bible says you can’t serve two masters.  You can’t live with one foot in the world and one foot in the church.  I say that because a lot of people try to live this way.  They are all holy and Godly for a couple of hours on Sunday morning but the rest of the week they are just as sinful as everyone else.  This isn’t fooling God.  He knows your heart and He knows if you heart is set on fully serving Him. 

One of these days pretty soon Christ is going to return for His church and take His church out of this world before God renders His judgment on mankind.  It is said but true a lot of so called Christians who tried to live serving both masters, God and the world at the same time, are going to be wondering why they were left behind to face the seven years of tribulation with everyone else.  And the answer is simple; they were never really Christians to begin with.  They had never truly given their heart to God.  They had never been born again and were still unsaved sinners.  You can fool your fellow man but God isn’t fooled.  He knows your heart and knows rather are not you are truly committed to Him.   

Sun, May 26th - 11:41PM

Luke 17:26-30

Luke 17:26 And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28“It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; 29but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30“It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. (NASB)

Just as in the days of Noah and Sodom the people of today are going about living their life in complete disregard to God.  They don’t care about God and don’t want God interrupting their lives.  That is very clear to me this morning when I pulled into my neighborhood after church and seen my neighbors doing yard work, cleaning their garage, washing their car.  Sunday is nothing more to most people than any other weekend day.  The last thing on most people’s mind is going to church on Sunday morning.  Like I said just as in the days of Noah and Sodom the last thing on people’s mind is worshipping God.

 Just as in the days of Noah and Sodom people have turned away from God and serve idols but in today’s world idols of wood and stone have been replaced by the idols of materialism, greed, and the biggest idol of all, Me.  Their world doesn’t revolve around God it revolves around the idol of ME.  Just as in the days of Noah and Sodom wickedness and sin runs rampart and no one cares but just as in the days of Noah and Sodom mankind is going to find the love and patience of God does have its limits.  God is loving and patient God and He has given mankind close to 2000 years to turn from their sins and accept salvation in Christ but He is also a God of justice and judgment that will judge the wicked and the sinful.

Just as in the days of Noah and Sodom God is about to judge mankind for its sins and just as in the days of Noah and Sodom He will rescue the righteous before He judges the wicked and the sinful.  The Bible is very clear pretty soon God will unleash His judgment on mankind but before that He will remove His church.  If you are a Christian you have nothing fear because before God unleashes His judgment on the world He is going to remove all believers and take them to heaven but all non-believers are about to face seven years of God’s wrath known in the Bible as the tribulation.  If you are a Christian you have no need to fear because God has never judged the righteous with the sinner.  When all of these events take place you will already be in heaven but if you are not a Christian you have every reason to fear the coming wrath of God. 

Thu, May 23rd - 10:16PM

Luke 17:7-10

Luke 17:7 Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ” (NIV)

We are servants of God.  When we declare Christ as our Lord that means we accept His lordship over our lives.  We no longer live to do our will but the will of the Master.  Some Christians seem to live with the attitude that God should be thankful to have them.  That God should be thankful that they are working for Him.  What arrogant and prideful attitudes.  God doesn’t need us, we need Him.  The will of God is going to be accomplished with or without us.  God just allows us to be part of what He is doing in the world.  I know if I step out of ministry Christianity isn’t going to collapse without me.  God will find someone else to accomplish what God was having me to do.  Don’t get me wrong I am not telling anyone to quit.  I am saying God’s will will be done with or without you.  If you are doing great things for God realize God deserves the glory not you.

The great heroes and leaders of the Bible were all men that surrender their lives completely to God and allowed His will to be accomplished through them.  Moses was hiding in the desert from his past when God sent him to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.  Moses not only had to face the Egyptians but also his own people who often rebelled against his leadership but he remained faithful to God and through Him the nation of Israel made it to the Promised Land.  Paul went from a respected position among the Jewish political establishment to being a prisoner and eventually executed for preaching the faith he once tried to silence.  Paul brought the message of the cross to the Gentile nations of the Roman Empire and wrote a large part of the New Testament but he paid a heavy price for his efforts.  Several times he was beaten, stoned, imprisoned and suffered many other hardships for the Gospel and eventually beheaded by the Romans.  But Paul and the other Apostles who paid with their lives for the Gospel knew their reward was not here on earth but in heaven.  They realized they were merely servants doing His will. 

As Christians we are all servants of God and we live to do His will not ours.  God will do great things through you if you allow Him to work through you but God always deserve the glory not us.  We are merely vessels for God to accomplish His will through. 

Mon, May 20th - 10:37PM

Luke 17:1-2

Luke 17:1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. (ESV)

People are going to be tempted and people are going to sin but Christ had a special warning for those who cause others to sin.  You can get wealthy selling sin.  Many people have proved this to be the case but is it worth the cost?  Sooner or later you will receive the consequences of your actions, if not in this lifetime the lifetime to come.  Sooner or later you will be judged by God for your actions.  God might allow you to escape His wrath here on earth but someday you will stand before the judgment seat of God to answer for your actions and then all the money you made causing others to stumble will seem like nothing. 

Those who have made a fortune here on earth selling alcohol, drugs, pornography, sex, or other vices that have destroyed lives, marriages, and has brought destruction to those in involved will answer for their sins.  They may have gotten rich here on earth living in complete disregard for those they have destroyed but the Bible is clear they will answer for their sins. 

This kind of living just shows the foolishness of mankind, so many of us are willing to destroy the hope of an eternity in heaven with God over the pleasures of this earth which is temporary.  The things of this earth are temporary but the things of God are eternal.  The high you get from drugs and alcohol only last a short while before we are looking for the next high, the pleasures of sex only last a few minutes before we are seeking more pleasure, money don’t last, we get bored of the things we own and are constantly seeking something new but we are never satisfied for the things of this world can never fill the void in our soul that longs for the Creator. 

Sun, May 19th - 10:43PM

Luke 16:27-31

Luke 16:27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’29“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’30“ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’31“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ” (NIV)

There is an obvious reference to Christ in these verses.  The Jews were the children of God but yet throughout the Old Testament they lived almost in a constant state of rebellion against God.  God sent prophets to reach the people but they were ignored and often persecuted and killed.  He sent His own Son to preach repentance and salvation but they killed Him on the cross but yet just as He prophesied He would He rose from the grave on the third day but yet they still refused to believe. 

And so it continues today, mankind still refuses to accept Christ as Savior and continues to live in rebellion against God.  There is only one Way to salvation and one Way to heaven and that is by accepting Christ as Lord and Savior.  You are going to spend eternity somewhere and if you have rejected the only Way to heaven then you are going to spend eternity in hell.  Christ died on the cross as a sin sacrifice for mankind so that whosoever believes in Him and accepts Him as Lord and Savior can have the forgiveness of their sins and eternal life through Him but if you reject God’s gift of salvation then what choice does God have.  There is only one road to my house if you refuse to drive on that road you will never reach my house.  Although there are many roads there is only one that leads to my house and so it is with heaven.  There are many religions and teachings in the world but there is only one Way to heaven and that Way is Christ all other ways are false ways and only lead to hell.  If you refuse the one and only Way to heaven you will never get there.  When you refuse to follow the one and only Way to heaven then the only alternative is hell. 

Sat, May 18th - 11:07PM

Luke 16:19-26

Luke 16:19 There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’25“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ (NIV)

I tell you hell is very, very real.  Some people try to dismiss it as fantasy and myth but don’t be fooled hell is very real.  The Bible is clear that our life here on earth is only temporary but after your death here on earth you will spend eternity somewhere.  In Hebrews 9:27 it says we are all going to die, if Christ doesn’t come back first, and after death is the judgment.  If you are saved, meaning you have been born again and accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have nothing to fear because you are going to spend eternity in heaven with God but if you haven’t been saved, meaning you rejected the offer of Christ to be born again and refused to recognize Him as Lord and Savior then you are headed to hell.  There is no grey area; it is either heaven or hell.  The idea of somewhere in between is just fantasy.  If you haven’t accepted Christ as Lord and Savior you are going to hell.

To be saved means that you recognize first of all that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and this applies to everyone because we all have sinned.  Second, it is to recognize that Christ is the Savior because He died on the cross as a sin sacrifice for your sins.  And third, it means to confess Him as Lord and Savior.  When you confess Him as Lord it means you are giving your life to Him and you are going to serve Him.  You no longer serve yourself and your selfish desires but you serve Him and seek to do His will.  And when you confess Him as Savior it means you recognize Him as the one and only Savior of the world. 

Wed, May 15th - 10:35PM

Luke 16:14-15

Luke 16:14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. 15And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

God doesn’t care about who is the next American Idol, who on your block has the biggest house, or the loudest car speakers, or the most expensive rims or the newest phone this all the stuff the world cares about and it means nothing to God.  While mankind might judge each other based on the things of this world God judges the heart.  While America is busy worshipping its celebrities there is a dying world out there spiritually and physically.  While we are caught up on what’s new on TV or the newest fad there is people around the world dying and going to hell, they are starving, un-educated and living in poverty while the people of the church are distracted by the things of the world. 

Satan is a smart enemy and he knows he doesn’t need to persecute the Western Church.  The Western Church is not a threat to him because we have grown worldly and complacent.  As long as it doesn’t disturb us and our free time we don’t care what is happening in the world around us.  When I say the Western Church I am talking about the church in Western Europe and North America as a whole.  I know there are individual churches that are on fire for God but as a whole the Western Church truly is the lukewarm church of Laodicea in Revelation 3.  The church is in a rut and a sleep at the wheel while the signs are all around us where our society is headed.  It is corrupt, immoral, and sinful and many Christians are a part of it but we better wake up.  The world is taken a turn away from God which we know from the Bible that God said in the last days there would be great apostasy and evil in the world which only means we are that much closer to the return of Christ.

So the big question is are you going to be one of the ones caught up in the things and distractions of the world or are you going to be that faithful servant that serves God and concentrates on doing God’s will including telling those who are headed to hell about Christ? 

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Tue, May 14th - 10:37PM

Luke 16:13

Luke 16:13 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (NIV)

Hear that prosperity preachers?  You can’t serve God and money, if your goal in life is to pursue wealth than you are not interested in serving God.  If you are following God to see what kind of material benefit you can get out of it than your heart is not in the right place.  If you are gathering up earthly treasure than you are not building up heavenly treasure and you are doing nothing to help your fellow man. 

Remember what Jesus told the rich young ruler?  He told him to sell all that he had and follow Him.  Remember when Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to go to heaven?  There is nothing wrong with money and possessions in themselves.  They are just objects.  It is the greed over these things and the lust over these things that are the problem.  It is hard for a rich man to go to heaven because he has a hard time learning to trust in God instead of his own abilities and wealth. 

The things of this world are temporary.  Money comes and goes.  Possessions rot away or we get bored of them and want something new until we are never satisfied with what we have already.  But the things of God are eternal.  You are going to spend an eternity somewhere, either heaven or hell.  Why let the things that are temporary decide your eternity? 

Mon, May 13th - 10:37PM

Luke 16:10-12

Luke 16:10 Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? (NIV)

You want to be trusted with more, given more responsibility, or are you seeking higher positions than be trustworthy of what you have been given.  If you can’t be trusted with the little things in life than why should God give you more?  If you can’t show up on work on time than why should you be promoted?  If you can’t be trusted with minor things who is going to trust you with more?   Why should God bless you with more if you aint thankful and trustworthy with what you have already be given?  Why should you be given a leadership position in the church if you don’t take your job as Sunday school teacher serious? 

The little things in life does matter.  If you can’t be trusted with the little things in life why should you be trusted with more?  Are you seeking more responsibility in your church than show you are trustworthy in what you have already been given to do.  If you are an usher be the best usher you can be.  If you are a Sunday school teacher than be the best Sunday school teacher you can be.  Don’t take the role you already been given half-heartedly and then wonder why God hasn’t given you more to do. 

People think that what happens in a person private life doesn’t matter but if a person isn’t dedicated to his own family how can he be trusted to be dedicated to anything else?  If man can’t be faithful to the wife he promised before God to love forever how can he be trusted to be faithful to anyone else?  If a man can’t show love to his own family how can he be trusted to love others?  If a man can’t be responsible in his own personal finances why in the world should he be given responsibility in handling a budget for a church, a business, or a government?

Sat, May 11th - 12:18AM

Luke 15:11-24

Luke 15:11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.13“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.17“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20So he got up and went to his father.“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.21“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. (NIV)

I lived the life of the prodigal son.  I became a Christian at age 13 but in my latter teenage years I drifted away from God.  I became involved in the same snares a lot of teenagers do, drugs, alcohol, and sex.  I went from going to church every chance I could to not at all.  I went from reading my Bible on a somewhat regular basis to not all.  I didn’t stop believing in God I just didn’t have the desire to serve Him.  I was more interested in hanging out with my friends and partying then I was about serving God.  I went from a child of God to a child of the world.  I have no doubt I was saved before but I knew I wasn’t living the life of a Christian at that time and I knew I had no right to expect to go to heaven if Christ took my life at that time.  After I got married I slowly started to get back on track with God and I found God was right there waiting for me and that He hadn’t forgotten about me.

Satan is going to make you feel like you are unworthy of God.  That somehow you have done too much for God to forgive you.  This is nonsense.  Christ died on the cross for all sinners, from the murderer to the church busybody.  Nobody has done so much that God won’t forgive those who seek His forgiveness.  Look at some of the checkered pasts of some of the most well-known Bible characters.  Moses had committed murder but God used him to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt, David had committed murder and adultery but God made him a great king, the Disciples abandoned Christ when He was arrested but Christ forgave them, Paul persecuted Christians before He met Christ on the road to Damascus but yet God made him the Apostle to the Gentiles and led him to write the majority of the New Testament.  It isn’t that God looks for bad people to use it is that when bad people come to Him and seek His forgiveness He forgives them and uses them for His ministry.

There is nothing you have done that God won’t forgive you of.  God loved you so much that He sent His Son to die for your sins that you can seek His forgiveness and be a child of God and spend eternity in heaven with Him.

Mon, May 6th - 10:49PM

Luke 14:28-33

Luke 14:28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’31“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. (NIV)

A lot of people have no idea how tough being a true disciple of Christ can be.  The Disciples were all persecuted and every one of them was killed for preaching the Gospel, except Judas of course and John who did spend plenty of time in prison for the Gospel.  They left their families, their homes, and their careers they left everything behind to follow Christ and to become one of His Disciples.  Being a true Christian isn’t going to be easy.  The world is going to laugh and mock you, they are going to call you names, and they will ridicule your beliefs.  When you take a stand on the Word of God against homosexuality, abortion, and other hot topic issues they are going to call you hateful and intolerant.  Many Christians in many parts of the world face real persecution for their faith while in the West it is usually more hateful than physical.

I say true Christians because many people are Christian in name only.  They have no true desire to be an actual disciple and are willing to be identified as a Christian as long as it doesn’t inconvenience them too much.  They are fine with being identified as a Christian as long as it doesn’t interfere too much with their everyday lives or they don’t have to stand out for their faith.  They are fine with being called a Christian as long as they don’t have to take a stand for their faith or their beliefs or tell others about their faith.  They are fine as long as they don’t have to make a comment on anything controversial or get involved with anything going on with the church.  Thank God the early church and the Apostles didn’t have the same attitude as many who call themselves Christian today because if they did Christianity probably would of died out in the 1^st century and never left Jerusalem because at the first sign of trouble they would of all quit and went home. 

Being a true disciple of Christ takes commitment and sacrifice but we know we have a Father who loves and protects us and will give those who serve Him faithfully eternal life in heaven.  That is the reward of the true disciple of Christ, eternal life with the Father in heaven. 

Sun, May 5th - 10:28PM

Luke 14:27

Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

Jesus Christ died as a sacrifice for us.  He sacrificed His life as a sin offering for us so that whosoever would receive Him as Lord and Savior can have the forgiveness of their sins and eternal life through Him.  Are you willing to live a life of sacrifice for Him? 

There are many preachers who will tickle your ears and tell you the Christian life is all about prosperity and blessings but yet when we read the Bible you see that Jesus called believers to live a life of sacrifice for Him.  In Romans 12:1 Paul calls believers to present themselves as living sacrifices for God.  To call Christ Lord means He is the Lord of our lives not us.  It means we have given ourselves to Him and our lives no longer belong to us but to Him.  It means we no longer live to please ourselves but to please the Master.  When we call Christ Lord it means He is the Master and we are His servants and the servant always lives to please the Master. 

Who is the Lord of your life?  Is it you or Christ?  Do you live to please yourself or do you live to please the Master?  Do you seek to do your will or God’s will?  If you are following Christ because you are expecting great material blessings then you are following Him for the wrong reasons.  Your heart is full of greed and far from God.  Jesus didn’t promise His Disciples great material blessing, He told them to expect great hardships and persecution for following Him with the promise of a reward in heaven.  Are you willing to give up all to follow Christ knowing the things of this world are temporary but the things of God are eternal? 

Sun, May 5th - 12:20AM

Luke 14:25,26

Luke 14:25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. (NIV)

At first glance these may seem like harsh words from Jesus.  Is He telling us we have to hate our family to serve Him?  Of course not, for one thing there are plenty of other verses in the Bible telling us to love our families and to honor your father and mother is one of the Ten Commandments.  So what is He saying?  Christ is saying if you want to be a disciple of Christ then you can put nothing or anyone including yourself before Him. 

The Disciples left everything to follow Christ.  They left their families, their homes, their careers, and eventually they sacrificed their lives for the Gospel.  Anything we put before God is an idol because we are saying it deserves more attention than God.  That could be our family, careers, hobbies, money, possessions or anything that takes away time we should be spending with God.  Now not every Christian is called to leave everything behind and become a missionary in a foreign land but every Christian is called to serve God and every Christian has been given a gift to use in the service of God.  Every Christian should consider themself a disciple of Christ since a disciple is a person who follows the teaching of a master.  As Christians we are disciples of Christ because we follow His teachings and have accepted Him as Master of our lives.  So the big question is there anything holding you back from truly following Him?  Have you given all to serve Him? 

Fri, May 3rd - 11:34AM

Luke 14:15-24

Luke 14:15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”16Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’18“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’19“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’20“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’21“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’22“ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’23“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ” (NIV)

Jesus came first to the Jewish people because they were the children of God but they rejected the Son of God and His invitation to salvation so the Apostles were directed after the resurrection of Christ to take the message of salvation to the Gentiles and that is what they did.  The guests to the banquet is the Jewish people but when they rejected Christ and His message of salvation God sent His disciples to invite all the others, the Gentile people, to join Him in His Kingdom. 

Revelation 19 describes the marriage supper of the Lamb in which all believers are invited to attend compared to Revelation 20 where all non-believers are called to stand before the great white throne of God to be judged for their rebellion against God and their rejection of Christ as Savior and all those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life are cast into the Lake of Fire.  The greatest question in life is where will you spend eternity?  Will you join Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb or will you stand before the great white throne of God to find out that your name is not written in the Book of Life and that your destiny is the Lake of Fire? 

The time to accept Christ as Savior is now.  You are not promised another day on this earth and once you are dead it is too late to accept Christ as your Savior.  Once you are standing before the judge it is too late to change your ways.  One thing you can be sure of in this world is that with each passing day you are one day closer to death or one day closer to the return of Christ but either way you are one day closer to standing before God to be judged.  If you have accepted Christ as Savior you have nothing to fear because your destination is heaven but if you have rejected salvation in Christ then your destination is hell.