The men who crucified Jesus were completely ignorant of His divine nature and purpose. They had no idea of God's plan of salvation through the death and resurrection of His son. People's ignorance of sin will help us understand forgiveness. A man's ignorance does not excuse his sin, but it does help us to understand his sin.
"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell lyou that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." (Matthew 5:27-39).
If you think of heaven as kind of a boring place with puffy white clouds, little cherubs flying around, and not a lot going on does God have a surprise for you!
"Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness" (Matthew 9:35).
"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers" (Acts 2:42).
"If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in His eyes, pay attention to His commands, and keep all His decrees, I will not inflict any illness on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you" ( Exodus 15:26).
Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point in the city, "Let all who are simple come in here," she says to those who lack judgment. "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live, walk in the ways of understanding" (Proverbs 9:1-6)
"The Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord began to torment him" (1 Samuel 16:14).
David would "Pick up his lyre and play, and Saul would then be relieved, feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him" (1 Samuel 16:23).
One of the not-so-talked-about byproducts of sin is a rationalization that it doesn't matter, that it's no big deal. We delude ourselves into thinking life will go on as always and that God really didn't take notice. But the harsh reality is that God will sooner or later call us to account--just as he did with King David.
Jesus said, "Don't work for the food that perishes, but for the food which lasts for eternal life" (John 6:27). He also told the Samaritan woman at the well, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty again" (John 4:14). It is a shame and a sin that we are more desirous of daily bread than of the Bread of Life Himself.
When the topic of spiritual warfare comes up, we often tend to think of ourselves as individuals fighting a lonely battle against overwhelming odds -- kind of like a Rambo or James Bond tackling the darkness solo. But the Bible paints a more complete picture. Although it's true that, as individual believers, we are to put on the armor of God and resist evil, Scripture portrays the battle as a group activity.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God" (Mt. 5:3).
No-one wants to be poor. But Jesus was not talking about our bank account. In fact, ithas nothing at all to do with financial status. Someone who is poor in spiritunderstands that they have absolutely no standing before God. They comprehendthat they are spiritually bankrupt because of their sin. They see with spiritual eyes that their only hope is through the Lord Jesus – the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
The Lord Jesus told us to pray, “lead us not into temptation”. Temptation is anissue we all deal with. It’s inescapable and has been around since the Gardenof Eden. As a human being we swim through temptation like a fish in water. Itis woven into the fabric of our life to such a degree that we don’t give it asecond thought. Many of the thousands of random thoughts, images, compulsions andideas that enter our minds every day are nothing more than temptation’sattempts to drag us to the dark side. Discover three action steps to disarm temptation.
For if you forgive people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive people their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Mt.6:14-15).
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).
“Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, overflowing will be poured in your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38).
To put on our spiritual armor is to put on Christ Himself!
Sharing the Gospel can seem intimidating, scary and complicated, but the message itself is simple. I want to give you four verses to memorize and utilize for sharing the Gospel with yourfriends. They are John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8 and John 1:12. Write thosedown, look them up and commit them to memory so they will be on the tip of yourtongue when the opportunity to share the Gospel arises. These four truths can change eternal destinies!
“The eyes of the Lord go throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming" (Matthew 24:42).
To be unprepared is inexcusable. It’s a sign of laziness. It’s an indication of disrespect. Someone who is unprepared is destined for irrelevance. This is an everyday fact of life. How many students fail the exam because they didn’t even read the syllabus. If the consequences of not following the coach’s game-plan gets you kicked off the team, what will become of us if we neglect Christ's commands?