Are you sitting on your "CAN" or your "CAN'T"?

Good morning friends.  God is good all the time, all the time God is good. BLESSED!  Sorry I was MIA for a while.  Interesting week.

   Are you sitting on your CAN  or are you sitting on and waving around your CAN'T?

   A famous Henry Ford quote, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't – you're right,” emphasizes how much attitude determines success or failure.

   How often do we use the latter - CAN'T - which is, many times, an excape clause that justifies everything in our minds.

   Let me pull a few scriptures from Philippians chapter 4.  First, verse 1: Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

  It is important we stand fast and not be wishy-washy as the wind blows.  Then we must remember verse ¹³ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

     So, today I do hope you shy away from the four letter word CAN'T and use your CAN.  GOD bless and may your day and weekend be safe and enjoyable. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

The deaf will hear; the mute will speak (Mark 7:31-37)

5 Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good. TOO BLESSED TO COMPLAIN!!!

  Jesus, in today's terms, would be a Hollywood star.  He came, of meager means, a carpenter background and poor maiden as his mother, and became known all over the area.  People followed him, wanted to be in his presence, and asked him for many things (healing).

   And of course, as goes with anyone "famous" or "outstanding" you have people who love you and people who hate you.  Just as anyone who is in the spotlight or limelight today will tell you they are cheered and jeered.  This to was Jesus.  However, it seemed the major ones to jeer were in a comfortable position in the Jewish temple and rejected him totally.

   Here are some that cheered for Jesus in Mark 7: 

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man

31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. (Decapolis is a land in the Roman Empire and not Jewish) 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”).35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. (in Isaish 35 at verse 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

    and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.)

36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

   Jesus, it seems to me, enjoyed speaking to people, healing people, and turning everyone to God.  Jesus is definitely a good son, going about his father's business in a good way.  Jesus did not want the publicity, he just wanted to continue the work set before him.  However, even as celebrities today, the people went about sharing stories and eye witness accounts of what he did.

   You will note that often after healing or preaching/teaching Jesus went off by himself to pray.  We need to heed his behavior and do likewise.  Thank you for reading today. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Faith - go forth with an expectant attitude and hope! Mark 7: 24-30

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good. BLESSED!!

  Okay, when Jesus was speaking of it is not what you eat that defiles you but your heart, in essence, Jesus is saying that all food is okay to eat.  Jesus is taking this all to a new era where the law not longer reigns (nor the Pharisees traditions).

  Your faith, how strong is it really?  Do you still believe in miracles? Or are miracles dead as some believe tongues is?  Hmmm!  Questions for you and God to ponder.  But, again, how strong is your faith?

   Next comes a lady whose daughter was devil possessed, BUT, she had the faith that Jesus could heal her daughter.  View the conversation and ponder on it:  Mark 7  24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet.26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

  Jesus is referring to the household pet dog, not in the negative sense that Jews, in this day, did refer to gentiles as dogs.    

The lady that approached Jesus was a gentile and she came with an attitude of expectant and was hopeful; not in a negative way at all.  She knew what she wanted and believed Jesus could provide.

  Jesus makes a statement to her about feeding the children first, she comes back with even the dogs eat the crumbs the children drop.  Jesus approved her answer and told her to go home, her daughter was healed.

   We must come to Jesus, God, with an expectant heart, remembering that we will have what we ask for IF it be GOD'S WILL!!

   Jesus' power is so great that he did not need to be present to cast the demons out of the girl.  Wowee!  Do we serve an awesome God or what?!?!  Yea!!  Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Defiled or Cleanse? Mark 7:17-23

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO COMPLAIN!!!  I trust you are off and running on a new week.  Now is the time to remember that Jesus Christ is LORD, God reigns supreme, and the Holy Spirit is here to direct us.

  Continuing on in Mark 7 I can imagine Jesus is getting frustrated with his disciples as well.  See what he says and let's break it down a little.

   Starting with verse 17 And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.

18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;  (Jesus is asking his disciples why don't you understand? You have been with me and should know these things.)

19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? (Jesus puts it in plain terms, what you eat does not make you unclean because it passes on through; verse 20 it is what you speak, your actions, these are what defiles or makes one unclean.)

20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

It is what is in your heart that defiles you; what you mind thinks affects your heart, and that is where we are either clean or unclean.  When you look at all Jesus mentions it probably steps on many of our toes multiple times.  Fortunately, we can ask forgiveness and be forgiven.

   Jesus' whole premise here is that the Pharisees created their own "traditions" and "rules" to live by, which were not then, nor ever God's rules and then they are presumptuous enough to present themselves as HOLY.  What truly defiles one?  Where are you today in your state?  Clean, unclean, or slightly dirty (which is unclean)?  Thanks for reading. Tis time for me to ask forgiveness and be cleanse. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Have you had a HEART check-up lately? Mark 7:14-16

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good. BLESSED EVERY DAY!!!

  In Mark 7 as you travel on to the next verses, 10-13, you will find Jesus tells the Pharisees they use God as an excuse to avoid helping their families.  They thought it was more important to put money in the Temple treasury than to help their needy parents.  God's law specifically says to honor fathers and mothers and to care for those in need.   Helping ones in need is one of the most important ways to honor God, especially your father and mother.  Greed had overtaken the Pharisees.

   Then Jesus speaks to the crowd and wants them to come and hear: “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. ¹⁵ Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

  When I read this I do realize that what I eat and drink affects my health, but Jesus is not talking about that here.  Jesus is talking about what comes out of us spiritually.  Jesus is still rebuking the Pharisees for their view of the disciples eating with "unclean" hands.  Actually the disciples hands were not dirty, they just had not gone through the ritual the Pharisees had set in place.

   This is a time for a "heart check-up" for us all.  How is your heart?

   Next comes verse16.  The modern translations claim it was not in Mark's original transcript.  Verse 16: If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

   This was said by Jesus several times, you can find it in Matthew and Luke.  Also, it is in John's account in Revelations about 8 or so times.  Some scholars believe it is added and take it out.  The modern Bibles will have [16] with a footnote saying it was taken out.

   I, in my opinion, believe it is important for us to know this verse. Why?  Jesus is chastising the Pharisees for their "traditions" and what they believe to be sin by their standards (not God's) and the verse above tell us it is what comes from the heart.  We need to hear.  Often we, if you will, listen, but fail to hear.

  We will finish Mark 7 at a later date.  Thank you for reading with me today. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Jesus chastises the Pharisees about inner purity

Hello All. God is good all the time, all the time God is good. BLESSED MORE THAN I DESERVE!
  So, did you understand about the traditions that the Pharisees and teachers of the temple made.  Stretched into what they expected you to act like, not what God expected.  Just a recap of yesterday.  Jesus scolded them for keeping the law and traditions to LOOK HOLY!  Jesus is telling them that they were wrong in thinking they were acceptable to God because they were clean on the outside.  Often we, as Christians, have a lot in common with the Pharisees by creating our "traditions" in order to be more HOLY.  Hmmm.
  Let us look further into Mark 7: ⁶ He (JESUS) replied,
 “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
⁷ They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’

⁸ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

⁹ And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
   Hypocrisy is pretending to be something you are not and have no intention of being.  Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites because they worshiped God for the wrong reasons. There worship was not motivated by love but by a desire to attain profit, to appear holy, and to increase their status.
   Do we do this?  We do when we are more concerned about our reputation than our character; when we follow religious practices to the T while allowing our hearts to remain distant from God (going through the motions); and we point out our "good side" while noting others sins.
  The Pharisees had hundreds of traditions or rules and regulations they added to God's holy laws and forced them on the people.  Yes, they professed to know God's will in all things.  We have the same such "PHARISEES" in our pulpits today.  This we must be careful of; stay in pray, and listen to God to know what he desires for us.  I found this quite interesting and a reminder to be mindful of God's will for us.  Thank you for reading.  Love you all.
In Christ's Love and Grace
Johnny
 

Do we hold others accountable to GOD according to OUR STANDARDS? Mark 7

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good. TOO BLESSED TO COMPLAIN!!

   In Mark 7 Jesus is with HIS disciples, AND, the church leaders are following Him.  Why would they be following Jesus?  They did not like what HE was saying and wanted to trap Him, then be rid of Him.  So here they are and what happens?

Mark 7: The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus ² and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. ³ (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. ⁴ When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

   The Pharisees had created more than the laws of Moses and when they washed their hands prior to eating they had to do it in a certain way.  They had to have a certain amount of water in their hands and when washing the water had to run down past the wrist for their hands to be "clean" and "undefiled" according to their tradition.  Then they spoke to Jesus.

⁵ So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
  Notice - live according to the tradition - take this thought for a moment and think about it. TRADITION!  How often do we hold others to our standards.  When we go to church are we projecting our personal standards onto others - holding them accountable to us rather than to God?
   Hmmm!  Think about this for a moment.  Here are some responses you may have heard through the years:  If the preacher does not wear a suit I won't attend that church?  (What?)  Cover your tattoos we don't want the youth to think tattoos are okay! (Really?)  People should wear their Sunday best, dresses and shirts and ties. (Seriously?)  I am certain you have heard many other "personal" concerns of how others should be accountable according to personal beliefs.
   The Pharisee had a lot of "dumb" traditions that they tried to hold the people accountable that were not God's doing at all, but personal.  A couple examples of the Pharisees "traditions."  On the Sabbath you could not carry a handerchief as you would be doing labor, BUT, if you wore it around your neck it was okay.
   Another, you could "spit" on the Sabbath, but if you rubbed or scuffed it into the ground it was a sin because you were doing "agriculture"; what?  These were some of the types of goofy TRADITIONS the Pharisees and church leaders had adopted.  And how did Jesus respond?  Well, let us visit about that tomorrow. Thank you for reading.  Love you all.
in Christ's Love and Grace
Johnny

What Isaiah said Jesus would do for you and me!

Hello all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good. BLESSED!

   Isaiah told about Jesus' coming.  Take a moment to see what Jesus really did for you and me.  Here is the first part of Isaiah 53:

Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

Jesus took it all for us.  He laid down HIS life so that we may have life. WOW!  Just soak this in for a few moments. Thanks for taking time. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Authority and FAITH! Matthew 8

Good morning everyone.  God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  BLESSED!!!

  Under what authority do you live?  Who is the MAIN AUTHORITY in your life? Well, we think government, spouse, boss, work, and many others.  Many mimic famous people such as movies stars, athletes, politicians and such.

   We live in America and are SUBJECT to the laws of America; BUT, we as Christians, are under the AUTHORITY OF GOD.

   What power does God/Jesus have?  Many will ask this question; when we think logically about it we are talking about the creator or the universe, the creator of life, the creator of all living things. So, what power does God/Jesus have? ALL THE POWER!

  The question then becomes, ''Do I have strong enough belief that God is the authority?"

  The Centurion in Matthew 8 had the belief in Jesus' authority.  Read with me:

⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
⁷ Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
    Here is a Roman soldier who has heard of Jesus, believes in Jesus and has the FAITH.  This man has not read the Bible as have we.  So how could he know without studying the scriptures?  This man knows the power of authority and knows that Jesus has the authority of GOD.

   Can you, can I, can our fellow Christians all say we have as much faith as this man?  Look back up at verse 10 - can Jesus say this about you, about me?  Food for thought.  May your day be wonderful, safe, and full of the belief in God as much as the Centurion. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

What does the future hold? Who knows?

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!!

  We, the people, being human and animals of curiosity tend to want to know what is in our future.  We have short term goals such as lists: honey-do lists, grocery lists, work lists, and lists of many items.  But, there seems to be a longing to know what will be happening in the future for many.

   This refers to the Christian as well as the pagans.  Some Christians are obsessed with the future and study Revelation and the End Times with great vigor. Also, some Christians falter some the same as our pagan friends and look to their horoscope, Tarot card readers, palm readers, futuristic scientific materials, prep=ers, psychics, or psychic hot lines.  To what does this all avail us? NOTHING!!

   There is only 1, yes ONE who knows and declares the future. Here is some scripture from Isaiah that tells us this.

  Some of the Old Testament prophets had glimpses into the future. Prophets such as Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah.  Jesus spoke about it as did Peter and Paul through some of their inspired writings.  However, the book that leaves us with an interpretation of what the end times will be like is Revelation, the inspired writings of John.

   The word Revelation comes from the Greek word apokalypsis and means "an uncovering," "an unveiling," or "a disclosure."  I am not an end times scholar nor a theologian, however, I will try to study and do discussions on this with any of you who are interested.  This will not be a "mass study" but a study for only ones who wish to study Revelations further.  If you are interested please let me know and we will do a study together via internet.  This may be a long study so consider carefully if you wish to do so.  Revelation has 22 chapters and I would expect this will be covered in the course of a year, meeting once a week.

   Thank you for reading today. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Matthew 8:23-27 Fear, Anxiety, Pride----FAITH

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good. BLESSED!!

   Does fear, anxiety or pride ever hold you back?  It did the disciples, even, when they were with Jesus.  It is all based on our faith.  Faith in who?  Faith in yourself? OR, Faith in God?

   When we have faith in ourselves we make our first mistake.  Now don't get me wrong, we have to have confidence, but we need to remember that all we have has been given us by God's mercy and grace.

  So often we need to wear a button around that says "IT IS ALL ABOUT ME!" Yeah, it's all about me.  Hmmm.  In the middle of anxIety if the big "I"; in the middle of prIde is the big "I".  The disciples were in the boat with Jesus when a big storm rose up about them.  Jesus was sound asleep.  The disciples had fear rise up in them, they were worried about "I" (themselves) and scared. They woke Jesus saying, "LORD, save us: we perish".  

and what did Jesus say?  "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" Jesus got up, rebuked the winds and sea and there was calm.

   So, how often do we, in the storms of life, fail to turn to Jesus, to God for help. We fail to turn to the Holy Spirit for guidance.  Would Jesus say to you "O ye of little faith? 

     In our pride, anxiety and ignorance we fail to turn to our creator for leadership.  We try to do it all on our own.  

   I feel very strongly that GOD is speaking to me about this subject of fear and it being all about me.  When, at 5 a.m. I turned to TBN, Hillsong, and Daystar all I hear was preaching about fear; anxiety, pride.  I ask that you pray for me as I will for you about our fears.  Let it not be about me, but about God and his great plan for us, his children.  Thanks for reading. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Facing the GIANTS in your life?

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good. BLESSED!!!

  When you pray, do you believe?  Are you ready for God's action? "I heard of a story of two farmers praying to God for rain to come. Both prayed but only one prepared the land. Who do you think trusted God more to send the rain?"

  Is your heart right with God? What is in the heart comes from what is in the mind! "Your attitude is the aroma of your heart. If your attitude stinks, it means your heart’s not right."

   "You can't judge your father by his actions and yourself by your intentions."

We often do this, to our parents and other people in general. We tend to judge everyone else by what they do, but when it comes to us we judge ourselves by what we intended to do. We’ll say things to excuse ourselves like “oh. I just forgot. I meant to do it though.” But, when someone else is in the same position we immediately cast the first stone.

   So, my friend, where is your heart today?  I am praying for mine to be in line with Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit.

"With God, nothing is impossible."  Nothing, repeat nothing is impossible.  Luke 1:37

  Thank you for reading with me today.  The quotes above come from the movie "Facing the Giants". Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny