Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to “give thanks in everything!”

I am thankful for everyone that God has placed in my life and humbled by His love for His creation...us!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Mark 6:4-6

This pretty much sums up how I feel about Americans right now….we say we are a Christian Nation but our actions speak volumes to the opposite. 

The religious right has become the most vocal about their right to carry arms and kill without cause, maim and destroy the poor by their financial practices and discriminate against anyone who isn’t white. 

We need to think and then to act upon the question “What would Jesus do?” In the end He was murdered also so that ALL peoples in ALL nations of ALL colors could have an even playing field in eternal life. God sent His only begotten Son to die in our place BECAUSE there was no one righteous no not one.

The people readily acknowledged both Jesus’ wisdom and His mighty works, but with insensitive hearts and spiritual callousness they rejected Jesus’ message to love God above all and to love others as much as they do themselves.

Perhaps others were jealous of Jesus’ popularity and huge following. Their envy even took the form of violence against Christ

Mark 6:4-6

⁴ But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” ⁵ Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

⁴⁴ For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 

John 4:44

¹⁶He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him. 

Isaiah 59:16

² For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 

Hebrews 4:2

John 6

Jesus will get you where you need to be! 

Sometimes in the blink of an eye you are changed and sometimes He places you on a long journey where you reach your destiny on a need to know basis by faith alone.

As long a we keep love alive in our spirits we

 are on God’s path of recovery and His

 perfection.

This miracle, the fifth sign recorded by John, pointed to Jesus’ deity.

 Only God could walk on water, calm the sea, and supernaturally transport the disciples to their destination.

The Son provides life as a gift the Father has authorized and authenticated the Son as the Giver of life.

John 6:16-21

¹⁶ Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷ got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. ¹⁸ Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. ¹⁹ So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. ²⁰ But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹ Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

John 6:27-29

²⁷ Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

²⁸ Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. 

Isaiah 43:2

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 

Ephesians 2:8

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 

Isaiah 42:1

⁷ And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” 

Mark 9:7

²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 

1 John 3:23

²² Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 

James 2:22

²⁶ And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations— 

Revelation 2:26

Mark 3:1-5

The time is always right to do good….Jesus would want it that way… showing the living, spiritual Word of God to the physical world we live in. Keep your heart soft and yielding to the Holy Spirit not hardened by the actions of the religious right.

Look for good and not evil and then leave a trail of God’s joy, peace and love wherever you go!

The Pharisees, watched Him closely, not to hear the words of life but to accuse Him.Certainly it was more consistent with the intention of the law to restore this man’s afflicted hand, even on the Sabbath, than to destroy his hopes for the sake of keeping human tradition.

Mark 3:1-5

3 And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ² So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. ³ And He said to the man who had the withered hand,  “Step forward.” ⁴ Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. ⁵ And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.

³²The wicked watches the righteous, And seeks to slay him. 

Psalm 37:32

²⁰ So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor. 

Luke 20:20

¹² Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 

Zechariah 7:12

Isaiah 47:10-11

Trusting in your own ability always ends in misery. 

Live your life asking what would Jesus do?

Trust in the Lord to direct your steps and you will benefit from the fruits of the talents that He has given you and you will have all you need.

The selfish pride of the wicked is based in part on believing that there is not an all-knowing, all-seeing God in the universe.

Isaiah 47:10-11

¹⁰ “For you have trusted in your wickedness;

You have said, ‘No one sees me’;

Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you;

And you have said in your heart,

‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’

¹¹ Therefore evil shall come upon you;

You shall not know from where it arises.

And trouble shall fall upon you;

You will not be able to put it off.

And desolation shall come upon you suddenly,

Which you shall not know.

¹² Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ” 

Ezekiel 8:12

²⁹Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would consider their latter end! 

Deuteronomy 32:29

²⁷ They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 

Luke 17:27

Luke 15:1-7

You have always been  God’s child  you belong to Him. The Holy Spirit is always near listening for our cry of help so that He can fully come into our life. He is waiting for us to see our sins, repent asking for forgiveness and then to accept the solution that God the Father provided… Jesus Christ , the Savior, who willingly gave His life for ours and broke down the wall that separated us from the Father. 

Ask Him in and watch the miracle in your life unfold.

Jesus compared the joy of finding a lost sheep to the joy of heaven over a sinner’s repentance. The unstated conclusion is that the hope of such a conversion was the reason Jesus associated with the undesirable of society.

The scribes and Pharisees believed that they did not need to repent because they were not lost.

Luke 15:1-7

15 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. ² And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” ³ So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

⁴ “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ ⁷ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

¹² “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? ¹³ And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. ¹⁴ Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. 

Matthew 18:12–14

²⁵ For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 

1 Peter 2:25

¹⁰ for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” 

Luke 19:10

¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, He said to them,  “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” 

Mark 2:17

John 6:28-29

Jesus is the Bread of Life  in Him we find eternal life and there is no other way to the Father except in Him. 

Ask the  Father  and He will send the  Holy Spirit  into your life to guide you in understanding the spiritual which is more real and closer to us than the physical.

Just B.E.L.I.E.V.E. and show your faith to the world by your good deeds borne of your love and gratitude for  God’s  great mercy towards you.

The Son provides life as a gift the Father has authorized and authenticated the Son as the Giver of life.

The  Holy Spirit  is the third person of the Trinity who exercises the power of the Father and the Son in creation and redemption. Because the Holy Spirit is the power by which believers come to Christ and see with new eyes of faith, He is closer to us than we are to ourselves. 

Like the eyes of the body through which we see physical things, He is seldom in focus to be seen directly because He is the one through whom all else is seen in a new light. This explains why the relationship of the Father and the Son is more prominent in the Gospels, because it is through the eyes of the Holy Spirit that the Father–Son relationship is viewed.

John 6:28-29

²⁸ Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

³ remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, 

1 Thessalonians 1:3

²² Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 

James 2:22

²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 

1 John 3:23

²⁶ And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations— 

Revelation 2:26

Nahum 1:7-8

The joy that we find in the Lord strengthens us but woe to those who place their trust in their gods…money, power and control…. that they make for themselves. Walking in their own power their demise will come suddenly.

Trust in the Lord with all your strength and lean not on your own understanding.

Psalm 23:5-6

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever.

Because we know that the Lord is good, we can endure the tribulations of life. 

The judgment of the Lord will be inescapable. The word flood is both a poetic term for overwhelming devastation and a specific reference to the actual manner of Nineveh’s fall. It is believed that the invaders of Nineveh entered the city through its flooded waterways.

Nahum 1:7-8

⁷ The Lord is good,

A stronghold in the day of trouble;

And He knows those who trust in Him.

⁸ But with an overflowing flood

He will make an utter end of its place,

And darkness will pursue His enemies.

³⁹But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble. 

Psalm 37:39

⁴⁰And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him. 

Psalm 37:40

²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. 

Lamentations 3:25

¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 

John 10:14

Luke 21:25-28

Pray that we will be able to escape the chaos and uncertainly of those times and stand with  Jesus.

Jesus shifts His focus to the end times with His second mention of cosmic turmoil. The terror of it will cause apprehension about what is coming.

The  Son of Man  has divine authority to judge the world and acts on behalf of those who have followed Him and suffered in His name.

Luke 21:25-28

²⁵ “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶ men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

²⁹ “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 

Matthew 24:29

²⁴ “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 

Mark 13:24

²⁶ Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 

Mark 13:26

²³ Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 

Romans 8:23

⁷ Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. 

Revelation 1:7

John 14:5-7

The Father provided the way to Him through the Word made flesh, Jesus,  so that ALL His creation would have the chance to spend eternity with them. It is up to us to spread the Good News after we accept His salvation. Then it is up to the individual in union with the power of the Holy Spirit to accept or reject His love.

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus is the way to the Father. He is also the truth and the life. 

As truth, He is the revelation of God. As life, He is the communication of God to us.

way |wā|

noun

1 a method, style, or manner of doing something

truth |tro͞oTH|

noun (pl. truths |tro͞oT͟Hz, tro͞oTHs| )

the quality or state of being true

life |līf| 

noun (pl. lives |līvz| ) 1 the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death: the origins of life.

John 14:5-7

⁵ Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

⁷ “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 

John 10:9

² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

Romans 5:2

¹⁸ For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 

Ephesians 2:18

⁸ the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 

Hebrews 9:8

¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 

John 1:17

¹² Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 

Acts 4:12

Hosea 9:7

Time as we know it has an end…..when we see wars and hear the rumors of more and more violence it is getting closer. As it draws nearer people will no longer want to hear the truth because of their violent, sinful actions and its implications against their lifestyle. 

We need to look upward to God and listen closely to the Holy Spirit and His warnings. 

Hatred and fear will replace the love of God and our duty to love others as ourselves.

We will need  divine wisdom  to know the truth and be led by the  Spirit .

iniquity |iˈnikwitē|

noun (pl. iniquities)

immoral or grossly unfair behavior: a den of iniquity | a liberal lawyer could uncover the iniquities committed on his own doorstep.

ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French iniquite, from Latin iniquitas, from iniquus, from in- ‘not’ + aequus ‘equal, just.’

enmity |ˈenmitē|

noun (pl. enmities)

the state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something: enmity between Protestants and Catholics | family feuds and enmities.

ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French enemi(s)tie, based on Latin inimicus (see enemy) .

Sinful Israel disdained God’s true prophets, regarding them as raving maniacs. Enmity refers to strong resentment that can give rise to violent behavior.

Hosea 9:7

⁷ The days of punishment have come;

The days of recompense have come.

Israel knows!

The prophet is a fool,

The spiritual man is insane,

Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity.

³What will you do in the day of punishment, And in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory? 

Isaiah 10:3

²² For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 

Luke 21:22

Jeremiah 22:15-17

How we treat the poor and needy is the outward expression of us being the hands and feet of Christ. Doers of the Word of God made flesh are holding Him up for the world to see. 

Be fair, forgive easily and remain humble knowing that all things come from God. 

We are to share our blessings with those less fortunate.…it is a privilege from Him.

Israel perished because of its lack of knowledge of God. Knowledge of God here is related to concern for the poor and needy.

Jehoiakim did not follow in the footsteps of Josiah. Covetousness, shedding innocent blood and practicing oppression and violence: This triad of sins characterizing the reign of Jehoiakim would hammer home a resounding message to Judah concerning the collapse of its kingship. Covenant violations would not go unpunished.

Jeremiah 22:15-17

¹⁵ “Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar?

Did not your father eat and drink,

And do justice and righteousness?

Then it was well with him.

¹⁶ He judged the cause of the poor and needy;

Then it was well.

Was not this knowing Me?” says the Lord.

¹⁷ “Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness,

For shedding innocent blood,

And practicing oppression and violence.”

And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 

Luke 12:15–20

“Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, For they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 

Isaiah 3:10

     He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

Luke 9:23-26

We need to do the right thing for the right reason….. out of the love we have for God and the grace that He provided in Jesus. 

This Jesus who was raised from the dead by the power of the  Holy Spirit  to give  all  people the opportunity of salvation through the Good News. The Father  wants no one to perish but all who believe to have eternal life with them.

It is possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason for our own glory or the wrong thing for the right reason through misplaced compassion but ultimately we need to mature and have  God’s wisdom to do the right thing for the right reason.

It makes no sense to attempt to save our lives on earth only to lose everything when our lives quickly and inevitably pass away. The wise course is to invest our earthly resources—our time, talents, and wealth—in what is eternal. Even if we lose our lives for Jesus’ sake, that investment will produce returns for all eternity

Luke 9:23-26

²³ Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ²⁵ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 

Matthew 16:24

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 

Mark 8:36

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 

Romans 1:16

If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. 

2 Timothy 2:12