You Can’t Serve Two Masters. Jesus said, you can’t serve two masters. You must love one and hate the other. (Matt. 6:24) That is especially true of God and Satan. They are exact opposites. You must choose between them or be torn apart. Lent is a time to focus on who we are serving and make sure we are following God and not Satan. Liberal philosophy is so deceiving because they use words we understand but with a different meaning. No Christian would be against two people loving each other but love to them means sex solely for selfish pleasure, not true love and concern for each other. True love can be really satisfying for two people, but the love the world promotes is very destructive. We have to know what they mean by what they say or we will end up supporting things which go against God. Satan goes around like a roaring lion seeking who he can devour. He seeks to deceive even the people of God. Therefore it important to study the Word of God so you will not be deceived. Choose one of the four Gospels and read a chapter a day between now and Easter and see what Jesus says about living a life pleasing to God. If we truly love God, we will want to obey Him. We can please Him by doing what He wants us to do (obeying His Commandments). God set down His commandments as guidelines to show us how to live a life that is pleasing to Him and that would bring us peace and fulfillment. He knows what is best for us and did not give us the Commandments to spoil our fun but to help us avoid that which creates strife and dissension among us. When we ignore His commandments, we throw away that peace and fulfillment and stray into things that create strife and dissension.
Archive for the ‘Lent’ Category
First Sunday of Lent-Feb 22
“Seek ye first kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you”. God’s ways are not our ways. We feel that if we seek THINGS, we will get things, but the Bible says that if we seek God, He will provide what we need. If the things of this world are just temporary, it doesn’t make sense to work hard to get something that we will leave behind in a little while and not put something away for eternity. It makes more sense to walk in the presence of God now and gain that which is eternal, which we can take with us and have for eternity. Nate Saint, a missionary who lost his life trying to reach a tribe of natives said that only a fool would seek that which he cannot keep and ignore that which he cannot lose. Moths and rust will destroy the things of this world, but nothing can destroy what we do for God. As we prepare our hearts for Easter, we need to commit ourselves to living a life pleasing to God. To do that, we must seek to learn more about how God will have us to live. Christ came to show us how to live so we need to study the Scriptures to find what He wants to teach us. Now is a good time to begin a systematic study of the Gospels. Begin reading a chapter a day in Matthew and spend some time after each chapter meditating on what the Scriptures are trying to tell you, paying particular attention to what Christ says and does. Today is a good day to reflect on what it cost Jesus to pay for our sins. He was despised and rejected by men, He was spit on and beaten, and finally He was crucified on the cross, but the greatest pain came when Jesus took on Himself all our sin and His own Father (God) turned His back on Jesus because He could not look on sin. Are you willing to suffer rejection by the world in order to find favor with God? The Bible says, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his life?” Matt.16:26 This life is temporary but if we accept Jesus as our redeemer, we shall be with God for eternity.
Fifth Sunday of Lent-March 6
Fifth Sunday in Lent-March 6, 2025-Doers, not just hearers-Matt 7:24-27 Jesus said those who hear his Word but do not do them are like a man who builds his house on sand and when storms come, the house will fall. But he who hears God’s Word and does it is like a man who builds his house on solid rock. If we hear His instructions, but do not follow them, we build on a very shaky foundation and when trials come, our house will collapse because it isn’t built on God’s Word. Men today think they know better than God but the world they built will collapse when trouble comes, as it must. Since God created us, He knows what is best for us. If we follow His instructions, we will prosper. If we hear His Word and follow it, we will be on a firm foundation and won’t be shaken when we experience trials. We need to return to the way God taught us. Few churches today teach Biblical values to their people. That is why wrote the courses on Biblical values. In the same way, preaching alone does not change people. Jesus spent three years teaching the masses but they did not automatically become disciples because His preaching told them what to do but did not show them how. Jesus chose twelve disciples and they followed Him. They watched Him as He lived out what it means to love God and those around them and they learned how to live a life pleasing to God as they watched Him. Too many churches are filled with spiritual babies because the church relies on preaching alone.
Fourth Sunday in Lent-March 30
Don’t do to be seen by men-Matt 6:1-8. Jesus tells us that we should not parade our piety before men but do it in secret before God. Some people like to give alms and pray in front of everyone so everyone will be impressed with how pious we are. When we do that, it is to find favor with men and we will be rewarded by men, but God will not be impressed. The Pharisees used to stand on the street corners and pray so people would be impressed and look up to them as pious people and Jesus often chastised them for it because they loved the praise of men more than they loved God. He wants us to do it to please Him, not to please men. If we do it in secret, God will reward us openly.
Second Sunday in Lent Mar 16
Matthew 18:1-5 Like A Child-Many people now think that Sunday school is for children. When they grow up, they don’t need to go anymore. Jesus says that unless you are converted (born again) and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. When we are born again, we become like a child and need to learn how to walk in the way God wants us to, just as a child has to learn to live the way society expects him to behave. Children are not apathetic about the world around them, they are fascinated with everything around them. They want to see everything, feel everything, and try everything. We should be just as eager to learn about God and how to walk in His ways. That involves listening to Biblical preaching, discussing it in a class setting, and living it out in a close fellowship, just as parents need to lay down rules for their kids, talk to them about how to obey them, and then allow them to interact with the family where they gain experience.
First Sunday of Lent-Mar 9
Liberals have failed to create the great society they expected because they fail to understand man. They feel that man is good by nature and society corrupts him. All man needs is to be freed from the restraints of society and he will develop best. They feel that if laws prevent him from doing what he feels best, he should ignore the law. However we know from watching a child that they are selfish by nature and want to do what they should not do. We have to establish rules to prevent them from harming themselves and others. As they grow up, they should learn to control themselves and as they do, laws are not needed as much, but we still have to have laws because the desire remains and some don’t learn to restrain themselves. If a child does not learn to control themselves, they become a threat to themselves and others. We, as a society are reaping the results of not training children to restrain themselves. Jesus said “You must be born again” He is not talking about a mere makeover but a new life, a fresh start. We can’t continue to live in the way of the flesh and expect to have fellowship with God. We must die to self and be born again through the Spirit of God. Paul says in Ephesians 4: 22-24. “We must lay aside the old self which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” During Lent, let us seek to put off the old man of flesh and be born again through the Spirit of God.
Ash Wednesday March 5
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. Lent was a time when the early church instructed new converts in the Christian life in preparation for baptism and should be a time when believers examine their life and seek out any sin in their life that would stand between them and serving Christ. It is a good time to examine our life in light of the revelations in the Gospels by reading through the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), a chapter or portion of a chapter every day. As we read, we should consider what Christ has to say about following Him and try to apply it to our own lives. As we examine our life, it should result in changes in how we live. Faith without works is dead for our works demonstrate our faith, just as a fruit tree that doesn’t bear fruit is worthless, works without faith is in vain because the works alone will not produce faith and often are merely a means to be seen by men. James 2:14-26. Now is a good time to reexamine your life and your faith.