Daily Inspirations

  Good morning. What Jesus had told previously to Peter after Peter said that Jesus was the Son of the living God, He now says to all of the disciples: whatever you bind/loose on earth has been bound/loosed in heaven. If two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in heaven. Mathematicians get picky about the difference between any and all. If there were four apples on the table and I told you to take any, how many would you take? Most likely you would take just one. But if I told you to take all, you would take four. It's not like there are a bunch of things to pray about, and all of you agree on only one of them. The word translated anything means all. The word agree means to be in harmony like an orchestra. Jesus continues with: for where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst. Then Peter wants to know, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Actual...

  Good morning. Jesus now talks about the man who had 100 sheep and one had gone astray. He leaves the 99 and goes to search for the one that is straying. Too many times we are more concerned about keeping the 99 from straying than we are about retrieving the one that did. Thus it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish. This would be an example of why I do not like the term “permissive will”. God permits it, but it is not His will. The word "will” implies desire. There are, however, limits to what God will permit. Just like God permits sin, but it is not His will. And if your brother sins (against you), go and reprove him on Facebook - no, in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. Actually, a person can only sin against God. If he doesn't listen to you, bring one or two more with you to confront him. If he still does not listen to you, tell it to the entire church. If he does not listen to the church, then let ...

  Good morning. Yesterday we talked about having to be converted and become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Want to be great in the kingdom of heaven? Whoever humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. That is just the opposite of what men try to do. Whoever receives one such a child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea. That's pretty clear; and yet there are a lot of people who disregard that admonition. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! (Remember Peter and the mouse trap) It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! Then He talks about the hand, foot, eye causing you to stumble – get rid of it! Of course those things cannot cause you to stumble. Stumbling comes from your heart. See ...

  Good Sunday morning. After they come down from the mount of Transfiguration, a man comes up to Jesus and falls on his knees. He begs Jesus to heal his son because the disciples were not able to do so. Jesus casts out the demon, and the boy is cured. The disciples want to know why they could not cast it out. It was because of the littleness of their faith. They only needed the faith of a mustard seed to even move a mountain. A mustard seed does not have to do anything special to grow – it just knows that it will! We should be the same way in the exercise of our faith. (some manuscripts add that this kind does not come out by anything except prayer and fasting). Jesus reminds them that He’s going to be delivered up; killed; and raised on the third day. They are deeply grieved. They are expecting Jesus to set up His kingdom here and now. Then we have the fish story – you know, the one where Peter cast the hook into the sea, and the fish has a coin in its mouth. The disciples want ...

  Good morning. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up to a high mountain. There He is transfigured. That is the same root word that is used in Romans when it talks about do not be conformed to this world but be transformed. His face and His clothes shone brightly. Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. A cloud overshadows them, and a voice comes out of the cloud “ this is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!” This is the instance that Peter talks about in one of his letters when he says that we have the prophetic word made more sure. Jesus fit perfectly the description of what the Messiah would be and do. Peter had already earlier declared that Jesus was the Son of God; so he should not have had to have this voice out of heaven saying that Jesus was His – God's – Son. As they are coming down the mountain, Jesus commands them to not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. As we said before, Jesus did not want the...

  Good morning. If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. Of course He is not talking about taking up a physical cross and losing your physical life. It is something much harder to do. With your physical life, it is over and done with fairly quickly (though that does not mean that it will not be very painful). With your soul, it takes a lifetime. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Of course at the time it seems like the here and now is more definite and more important. There is always time to change and make things right at the end - we think. For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds. In the end you will get your comeuppance. Every...

  Good morning. Taking up where we left off: Jesus tells Peter that He will give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever he shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. The words bound and loosed are in the perfect tense. That means that the actions of binding and loosing had already been accomplished in heaven before Peter did it on earth. Jesus then warns the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ. It was not the correct time for that to happen. That would have caused great conflict between the Pharisees and the people. The people would have wanted to make Him king, and the Pharisees would've been afraid of losing their power. Jesus wanted to “fly under the radar”. Jesus then began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, be killed, and then raised up on the third day. Of course that went contrary to what they were expecting. They were expecting Him...

  Good morning. “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” So the disciples consulted the latest polls 😊 . Jesus was not ready to declare Himself to be the Messiah. It turns out they believed that He was some special person from the Old Testament or else John the Baptist. Then Jesus asks them who they say He is. It was OK that the people believed He was someone else; but it was crucial that His followers believed that He was the Messiah. If you ever taught a class with Peter in it, you could be sure that he would be one of those who would speak up, and all the time. If you were doing group work, his group would never be one of the silent ones. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And of course Jesus commended Peter for his great insight – right? No He said “Blessed are you, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall n...

  Good morning. Multitudes come to Jesus, and He heals many people.”I feel compassion for the multitude, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not wish to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” The disciples want to know where are they going to get enough food to satisfy so many people since they are in a desolate place. After all there is no 7-Eleven nearby, and Amazon would take two days for the food to get there. Of course they have already forgotten about the feeding of the 5000. Jesus wants to know how many loaves of bread do they have. They replied that they have seven and a few small fish. Jesus takes them; gives thanks; breaks them; and gives to the disciples, who then gives to the multitudes. They have seven large baskets of leftovers. This time there are 4000 that are fed. The Pharisees are again wanting a sign from Him. He tells them that they know how to discern the appearance of the sky and what weather will ...

  Good morning. Jesus goes to the west coast of Israel. A Canaanite woman comes to Him. “have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon possessed.” Notice first of all that she's a woman. Occasionally you will read about women coming to Jesus; most of the time it is a man or men bring someone. Secondly, and most importantly, she is a Gentile. Jesus did not even answer her. The disciples asked Jesus to send her away because she was shouting out after them. She was making a big ruckus, but Jesus was ignoring her. I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Jesus then makes a “loving” statement to her: “It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” Are you feeling the love? Would He ever come under criticism from the PC police! She could have gotten offended and pouted off somewhere; but then her daughter would not have been delivered. “even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their Master’s table.” ”Oh woman, ...

  Good morning. Have a glorious Easter Sunday! Let’s look for a moment at what John said about Easter morning. Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. From the movie, the Passion of the Christ, I believe that it was a full moon, which was also part of what made it to be Passover. After all they did not have streetlights or flashlights. Notice that it does not say that she looked into the tomb (she probably couldn’t have seen anything at that time of the morning anyway). So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved (almost certainly John) , and said to them, “they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.“ She did not look inside, so she must have just assumed that His body was taken away. Other Gospels say that there was more than just Mary at the tomb that morning.   While John does not say ...

  Good Sunday morning. The Pharisees are fussing at Jesus again – big surprise. Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. Now of course they're not talking about the way we wash our hands. This is a ceremonial dipping of the hands into water. Also, it is a tradition, not part of the law of Moses. Jesus wanted to know why did they transgress the commandment of God for the sake of their tradition. If someone used the word corban in a religious vow, he could formally dedicate to God his earnings that otherwise would have gone for the support of his parents. That money did not however have to go for religious purposes. It was a means of circumventing the responsibility of children toward their parents. They did not honor their father or their mother. Jesus said they invalidated the word of God for the sake of their tradition. Getting back to the not ceremonially washing their hands before eating, Jesus said “ n...

  Good morning. We just had the feeding of the 5000. It says that Jesus “made” the disciples get into the boat. It wasn't just a simple request – Jesus compelled them to get into the boat without Him. In John it says that the people were going to come and force Him to be their king. He sent the multitudes away. He went up the mountain alone to pray. It was already evening. The boat with the disciples had already gone a long ways on the water. They see Jesus walking on the water, and think that it is a ghost. Jesus tells them to not be afraid “it is I”. Peter says “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. Jesus commanded him to come, and Peter gets down out of the boat. Remember that there are winds and waves. The boat is not sitting still on the water; it's bouncing up-and-down. He walks on the water and comes toward Jesus. Seeing the wind, he becomes afraid, and begins to sink. It's not like the Wiley coyote who runs off the edge of the cliff into noth...

  Good morning. This chapter starts with King Herod having the head of John the Baptist chopped off. We will skip all of the details. After John's disciples take away his body and bury it, they went and reported to Jesus. Jesus withdraws from there in a boat to a lonely place by Himself. You remember that John was a relative of Jesus. When Jesus gets to the shore, He sees a great multitude. You and I would probably tell them to leave us alone for a little while; but Jesus felt compassion for them, and healed their sick. Time passes, and it is getting dark. The disciples tell Jesus to send the multitudes away because it's getting late, and the multitudes need to get food for themselves. Where they really thinking about the multitude, or were they thinking about their own stomachs growling? Jesus tells them “you give them something to eat”. The disciples go “say what?” “We only have five loaves and two fish.” That's not even enough for the disciples to eat. Jesus gives than...

  Good morning. And now another parable about the end times. The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age; the angels shall come forth, and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This verse again says that they take the wicked out from the righteous and not the other way around. Every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old. Then Jesus goes to His hometown and teaches in their synagogue. And of course they said, “isn't He wonderful?” - not! No, they said, “where did this man get this wisdom, and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is n...

  Good morning. More parables about the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all the other seeds; but when it is full-grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. The kingdom of heaven is also like leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three pecks of meal, until it was all leavened. In both cases it only took a little to greatly affect something much greater. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. In both cases the person gave up everything that he had to obtain something of much greater value. What he had was valuable, but could not...

  Good morning. The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. When the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The workers wondered how this could've happened. The owner said that an enemy had done it. Do you want us to go and gather the tares? No; lest while you are gathering the tares, you may root up the wheat with them. Allow both to grow until the harvest; and then we will first gather up the tares; bind and burn them; and gather the wheat into the barn. We will now jump down to Jesus’ explanation. The Son of Man sows the good seed, which are the sons of the kingdom. The field is the world; the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. At the end of the age, the Son of Man   will send the forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stu...

  Good morning. Jesus’ mother and brothers were standing outside seeking to speak to Him. He points to His disciples and says behold, My mother and My brothers! Whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother. He then gets into a boat while the people stand on the beach. He tells the parable about the sower and the seed. Some seeds beside the road - birds ate; some fell on rocky places with little soil - no root, withered away in the sunshine; some among thorns – thorns choked them; some on good soil – yielded a crop. The disciples wanted to know why Jesus used parables. To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Now the disciples did not get it ...

  Good Sunday morning. OK so Jesus just warned everybody to not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. That's a no-brainer. And of course as Christians we should not be using profanity. But Jesus makes it even stricter. Every careless/idle word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned. The scribes and Pharisees were saying – enough of this talk; we want to see a sign from You. He just healed a man who was blind and dumb – just what kind of a sign are you looking for? If He had given them some sign that they were looking for, they would not have believed He was the Christ anyway. And yet in the end times people will marvel when the Antichrist and his crew perform signs. An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster...

  Good morning. Jesus now wraps up the discussion. Any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven man, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the one to come. In Mark it says because they were saying that Jesus had an unclean spirit. Remember that they were saying that He cast out demons by the ruler of the demons. Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and it's fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. I know you've heard it before that we're not to judge anyone, but we are to be fruit inspectors. Then Jesus says something that is not quite politically correct. You brood of vipers, how can you being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. Imagine if you said something like that to someone today. Th...

  Good morning. They brought to Jesus a demon possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. The multitudes wondered, “this man cannot be the Son of David can He?” In other words, they were wondering if Jesus were the Messiah. Of course this upset the Pharisees. Just like earlier in Matthew, the Pharisees said that Jesus cast out demons by the ruler of the demons. So in essence they were saying that the devil was casting out his own workers. But Jesus said “any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by the ruler of the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall be your judges.” In other words if I do it that way, so do your sons do it that way. “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come ...

  Good morning. Of course I will be praying for you and your family. Jesus then goes into the synagogue. There is a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees wanted to know, “is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” This was so that they could accuse Him. After all this was a much worse breaking of the Sabbath than the disciples picking and eating grain. Jesus asks them, “what man shall there be among you, who shall have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it, and lift it out? How much more value then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” This would be akin to today saying that you could not get healed on Sunday. Today most Christians think that that is the only day you can get healed; and of course it must be done in church. Jesus tells the man to stretch out his hand, and he does. If you think about it, that took faith on the part of the man. He did not have time to talk himself out of it by thinking what ...

  Good morning. Jesus and His disciples are walking through the grain fields on the Sabbath and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. The Pharisees say that they are doing something that is not lawful on the Sabbath. The picking and eating the heads of grain was permissible according to the law - they were not stealing. The Pharisees were saying that what they were doing was work on the Sabbath, and therefore not lawful. The Pharisees had a whole list of things you could not do on the Sabbath. They were so afraid of someone breaking the commandment that they went overboard. It's kind of like what Adam did with Eve. God said to not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; but Adam added to that to not even touch it. In fact when you read the account of Eve seeing the tree with the serpent, it seems like she has never even seen it before. Adam was probably so afraid she would eat and die that he did not even let her see it....

  Good morning. Jesus reproached the cities where He did most of His miracles because they did not repent. It's not surprising when people today reject signs and wonders, since they rejected even Jesus when He did signs and wonders. However in the end times they will follow those not of God who perform signs and wonders. Jesus said, “all things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” This is another place where Jesus points out that you cannot know God apart from Jesus, the Son. Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light. Notice that it says you will find rest for your souls – not for your bodies. This is not so much a physical heavy laden, but an inw...

  Good morning. Jesus sends off the 12 to preach the word. As a note – Judas is with them. It does not say whether or not he participated in the preaching of the word. John the Baptist is in prison. He hears about the works of Christ. He knows that he himself is the forerunner for the Messiah, and that there are certain signs that the Christ will perform when He comes. Just to be sure, he sends his disciples to determine if Jesus is the Messiah. They are to ask Jesus, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?” We do not know how long John's mother lived after he was born. You know that she would have told John about when Mary came to visit while he was still in her womb. Jesus tells John's disciples to go tell him what they heard and saw. Not only were there miracles, but also the poor had the gospel preached to them. This is what would accompany the Messiah. Jesus also said “Blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.” After John's disciples leave, J...

  Good morning. So Jesus is the great peacemaker, right? Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Say what? Didn't Jesus say to love everyone, even your enemies? “For I came to set family members against each other; and a man's enemies will be members of his household.” That does not sound right. It is true, however, that when one member of the family is completely dedicated to Jesus, the rest of the members of his family can become quite agitated at him. You might be able to ignore someone at work who is a dedicated Christian; but you cannot ignore a member of your own family who is. You see Jesus in that person every moment you are home. You can escape from someone at work, but not someone who is in your home. It is easy to compromise your beliefs among the members of your family. Jesus says that if you love a member of your family more than Him, you are not worthy of Him. You care more how they feel then you care how...

  Good morning. Something that is hard to adhere to: do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul. That is just the opposite of the way we act most of the time. If some one or entity can harm us, we fear them greatly, and so order our lives to avoid displeasing them. Rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. God does not automatically and instantly zap us when we do wrong; but those with authority here on earth do. We say to ourselves “I'm sure God will forgive us”; but we don't say that about earthly authorities. They inflict their punishment quickly, while God many times delays His. Jesus then talks about the sparrows. We are of more value than many sparrows. What do we do when it really counts? Everyone who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. The proof is in the pudding. How about ...

  Good morning. Jesus continues with: family members will deliver up each other and cause them to be put to death. That's pretty nasty. Can you imagine a member of your family turning you in to the authorities, and you being put to death? You will be hated by all on account of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. That is already happening to some extent today. Christians are being hated simply because they are Christians, and not for anything that they have done. Evil doings are projected upon them. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple to become as his teacher and the slave as his master. I told you the other day that Matthew was going to come back to this situation: if they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household? This was because Jesus had cast out demons. He tells them to not fear those people. There is nothing covered that will not be...

  Good morning. Jesus then calls His 12 disciples. He gave them authority to cast out unclean spirits, and to heal every kind of disease and sickness. He tells them to not go to any place except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They are to preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. They are to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely they have received, and freely they were to give. They were to do exactly the same things that Jesus was doing. God gave to us freely, and we are to give to others freely. People who are not of God charge for their services. That does not mean that we do not support ministries. They were not supposed to take along provisions for their journey – they were to trust God to supply. “ I send you out as sheep in the midst of the wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves. Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the courts, and scourge you in their synagogues.” There will be opposition...

  Good morning. After raising the little girl from the dead, Jesus passes on from there, and is followed by two blind men. “Have mercy on us, Son of David”, they cry. Son of David is one of the expressions denoting the Messiah. In this version, Jesus does not ask them what they want. He asks if they believe that He is able to do this. They say yes, and He touches their eyes, saying, “be it done to you according to your faith.” So we have the woman and the two blind men healed because of their faith. The little girl was raised from the dead because of Jesus’ faith. “Don't tell anyone”, Jesus says to them. Could you be quiet, if you had been blind and Jesus just healed you? I know I couldn't. Besides, people would notice that they could now see. Then Jesus comes across a demon possessed man. He cast out the demon, and everyone marvels - except the Pharisees. They said that He cast out demons by the ruler of the demons. He could do no right in their eyes. It sounds like the main...

  Good morning. Jesus arrives at the synagogue official’s house. Remember that in Matthew the little girl was already dead, but in another gospel she was at the point of death. In that version while on the way to the house, someone came and told the official that his daughter was dead. Imagine that it is your daughter. You have but one hope – and that is Jesus coming and healing your daughter. He is delayed by the healing of the woman. Because of that your daughter is dead. Not only would you be heartbroken because of the death of your daughter, you would probably be angry that Jesus stopped and healed the woman. Two words that can cause someone a lot of anguish – if only. “If only that woman had come at a different time”. “If only Jesus had said wait a little bit until I heal his daughter”. If I only – . That's what Martha and Mary said to Jesus when He came to Lazarus's house. We say that too often. If only we had not done this, or if only God had intervened in time. It...