Proverbs 10:12

Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy mans’ faith in God but the only one who can let him win is you…love trumps his hatred! Jesus has already won the battle for our souls just invite Him in.

For God so loved the world the He gave His only begotten Son to live, die and be lifted to stand at the right hand of the Father in intercessory prayer for all who believe in Him. What a wonderful God we serve! 

Those who have been forgiven much…love and forgive much.

Proverbs 10:12

¹²  Hatred stirs up strife,

But love covers all sins.

⁹ He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends. 

Proverbs 17:9

⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

1 Corinthians 13:4–7

²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. 

James 5:20

⁸ And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” 

1 Peter 4:8

Proverbs 2:6-9

We all long for wisdom in the tumultuous days we live in. If we seek God first in all we do He will guide us into His perfect will for us. His peace He promises us, not the peace of the world, but true peace no matter what circumstance we are in. 

What a comfort it is to trust only in my Lord.

Be fair

Be forgiving

and walk your path with humility

Micah 6:8

The phrase paths of justice contrasts strongly with ways of darkness. This contrast introduces one of the dominant themes of Proverbs, the contrast of two roads. Jesus spoke of two roads, one narrow and the other broad. The right road is marked by demands of righteousness, justice, and equity. These demands come from God’s law.

Proverbs 2:6-9

⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

⁷ He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;

⁸ He guards the paths of justice,

And preserves the way of His saints.

⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice,

Equity and every good path.

⁹ Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 

1 Kings 3:9

⁸ But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. 

Job 32:8

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 

James 1:5

⁵ Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. 

Proverbs 30:5

Luke 12:49-53

The Jewish population was not expecting a Messiah who was not politically motivated. They were wanting vindication from the gentile rulers and they wanted the power and control that comes with the winning party. They would not accept anyone less.

Jesus, all God/all man, came to offer mercy and grace by paying ransom for their sins…not what they wanted to hear. His coming brought about great conflict within the Jewish community and pitted family members against each other. It divided the goats from the sheep…those who believed in the Messiah and those who did not. ..those who believed in His righteousness and not their own.

Part of Jesus’ mission was to create a division within humankind.

Fire is an image associated with God’s judgment. Jesus’ coming brings judgment on those who refuse to accept Him and divides the believers from the faithless.

Luke 12:49-53

⁴⁹ “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! ⁵¹ Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. ⁵³ Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

¹⁸ “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, 

Matthew 20:18

²⁷ “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 

John 12:27

⁴³ So there was a division among the people because of Him. 

John 7:43

⁴ But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. 

Acts 14:4

⁶ For son dishonors father, Daughter rises against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own household. 

Micah 7:6

¹² Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 

Mark 13:12

John 8:58

Before the beginning of creation on earth the great I AM was. Jesus Christ all man, all God… the past, present and future were and always will be in His hands. 

All knowing, all present, and all powerful… all glory belongs to God.

I AM (Gk. egō eimi) (6:35; 8:58; 10:7, 14; 15:1; 18:5) Strong’s #1473; 1510: This expression denotes “self-identity in self-sufficiency.” In one breath, Jesus asserted His eternal preexistence and His absolute deity. Abraham, as with all mortals, came into existence at one point in time. The Son of God, unlike all mortals, never has a beginning. He is eternal; and He is God. This is evident in Jesus’ use of the words “I AM” for Himself. This statement recalls the Septuagint (the Greek OT) translation of Ex. 3:6, 14, in which God unveiled His identity as the “I AM WHO I AM.” Thus Jesus was claiming to be the ever-existing, self-existent God.

John 8:58

⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

² “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” 

Micah 5:2

⁵ And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. 

John 17:5

¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” 

Revelation 22:13

¹⁴ And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 

Exodus 3:14

^24 l“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 

John 17:24

¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 

Colossians 1:17

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” 

Revelation 1:8

Amos 7:7-8

Jesus is the plumb line…the only (straight) path to the Father. Where heaven meets earth, there in the cross hairs, where the vertical meets the horizontal, there is Jesus the Christ..all God all man. In His birth, death and resurrection we find the merciful salvation of the Trinity.

A plumb line is a string with a weight tied to one end, used to establish a vertical line so that a wall can be built straight.

The plumb line of God’s revelation in the law had been set in the midst of … Israel for many generations. Now God would stretch a plumb line to demonstrate how “crooked” the people’s observance of His commands had been.

Amos 7:7-8

⁷ Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. ⁸ And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

And I said, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said:

“Behold, I am setting a plumb line

In the midst of My people Israel;

I will not pass by them anymore.

¹⁷ Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet; The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the hiding place. 

Isaiah 28:17

¹⁸ Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. 

Micah 7:18

Ephesians 4:30-32

The person of the Trinity that both the Father and Son guard is the Holy Spirit, the very heart of God. He is in us to guide and direct us all the days of our life. Do not break Gods’ heart!

Be kind. Be loving. Be forgiving (Micah 6:8)

The Holy Spirit of God should never be pushed away, ignored, or rejected. If we would remember that the One who lives in us is God’s own Spirit, we would be much more selective about what we think, read, watch, say, and do.

Ephesians 4:30-32

³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. ³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

⁸ But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 

Colossians 3:8

¹⁴ “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 

Matthew 6:14

³⁷ “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 

Luke 6:37

Acts 11:15-18

God is in total control. We will not fully understand the wisdom in HIStory until He chooses to reveal it to us…through the Holy Spirit. Always be seeking to hear Him and see how He uses current events and the people involved to bring about His will on earth!

God has not left us at the mercy of our own weaknesses; He has sent the Holy Spirit to help us follow their example, and to be Jesus’ witnesses in all of the earth. Christ places believers in the care and safekeeping of the Holy Spirit until the day He returns. The Samaritans were part Jewish; the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius were Jewish proselytes. Finally the Jewish Christians that made up the early church understood Jesus’ commission to them: they were to bring the gospel message to everyone who would listen.

The manifestation of the Holy Spirit was the same to the Gentiles at Caesarea as it was to the Jews at Jerusalem.

Acts:11:15-18 

¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”

¹⁸ When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

⁷ And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. ⁸ So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, ⁹ and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 

Acts 15:7–9

¹¹ I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 

Matthew 3:11

³³ I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 

John 1:33

⁸ So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 

Acts 15:8

⁶ Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” 

Isaiah 49:6

¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 

Romans 10:12

Ezekiel 34:11-16

Our salvation exceeds any gift that has been given to man. With deep gratitude and praise for my Father I delight in His word and in His Word made flesh. Through the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, the very heart of God, He is able to deliver us home and no one can take us from His hand. 

As adopted sons of the Most High through Jesus Christ we inherit the promises of Abraham.

Israel, though guilty and misguided, would eventually be rescued by the divine Good Shepherd and restored to the Promised Land.

Ezekiel 34:11-16

¹¹ ‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. ¹² As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. ¹³ And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. ¹⁴ I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶ “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”

¹⁰ “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, And declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’ 

Jeremiah 31:10

¹⁰ Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, For My people who have sought Me. 

Isaiah 65:10

⁶ “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast And those whom I have afflicted; 

Micah 4:6

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

Mark 6:45-52

NOTHING is impossible with our God. In the measure that we believe in His omnipotence and not constrain our faith to what is known determines the measure that He can work in us and through us. There is nothing to fear…Just believe!

omnipotence

noun

the omnipotence of God: all-powerfulness, almightiness, supremacy, preeminence, supreme power, absolute power, unlimited power; invincibility.

Prayer opens the door to the Father.

Asking in the name of Jesus fulfills them.

Prayer was a vital part of Christ’s communion with the Father and always preceded and accompanied especially difficult situations. He could easily have calmed the waves from shore, but He wanted His disciples to understand His deity and mastery over all nature. 

Jesus showed complete control over His creation when the wind ceased.

Mark 6:45-52

⁴⁵ Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. ⁴⁶ And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷ Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. ⁴⁹ And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them,  “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. ⁵² For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.

²⁶ And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. 

Matthew 14:26

² Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” 

Matthew 9:2

¹⁰ Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ 

Isaiah 41:10

²⁹ He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. 

Psalm 107:29

³⁷ And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” 

Mark 7:37

¹⁴ Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 

Mark 16:14

Luke 17:31-36

Together we will rise in Christ… either on the earth or in heaven. We must be prepared for either by daily seeking the will of the Father.

rise |rīz|

verb (past rose |rōz| ; past participle risen |ˈrizən| ) [ no obj. ]

move from a lower position to a higher one;

• (rise above) succeed in not being limited or constrained by (a restrictive environment or situation)

On that day, the Son of Man will divide humankind into two groups: those who are taken to judgment and those who are left to live and reign with Christ. Other commentators suggest the opposite: The righteous will be taken into God’s kingdom. Either way, Jesus is clearly saying that a person’s eternal destiny is not determined by being close to those who are righteous. Each person stands before God alone.

Luke 17:36 is missing in the oldest extant manuscripts and is usually not included in modern translations. The passage reads, “Two [men] will be in the field. One [man] will be taken and the other one will be left.” Werner Bible Commentary

There is no encouragement here for dispensational theologies about the rapture of the faithful, and the judgment of those left behind on the earth. To the contrary, the polarity of the saying "two will be in the field, one will be taken one left behind." Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken, one left behind is just the opposite of the dispensational reading of the text. The left behind are those blessed who have escaped the great judgment just as Noah's family escaped the flood. The prudential advice is that the faithful must stay vigilant and awake, knowing that Christ will return, though the timing remains unknown. The phrase "the day or hour," or even just the phrase "the hour," simply means the timing. It is not suggesting that the general time frame of Christ's return can be known in advance, but that the specific day or hour is obscure. Working Preacher  Commentary.

Luke 17:31-36

³¹ “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. ³² Remember Lot’s wife. ³³ Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. ³⁴ I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. ³⁶ Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”

²⁵ He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 

John 12:25

³⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 

Mark 8:35

¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 

1 Thessalonians 4:17