Daily Inspirations

Good morning. Back to the Prodigal: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.” That’s strange. Wasn’t the sin against his father? Remember what David said, “Against You and You alone have I sinned.” And this was after not only Bathsheba, but also being responsible for her husband being killed. I wonder if he told her what he had done? Back to the Prodigal: his father never batted an eye. He told the servants to bring out the best suit - I mean the best robe, etc. They killed the fattened calf ( can anyone say Kobe beef?). They had the biggest block party ever seen! The older son had been working in the hot sun all day. He hears the celebration and wants to know what is going on. The servants tell him, and he gets very angry and pouty. He refuses to come celebrate. His father comes out to get him to come to the celebration. I never neglected a command of yours, and yet you never even gave me a young goat much less a fattened calf for me to celebrate ...

Good morning. Skipping verses – some reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Back then, and even now, people believed that when something bad happens to you it was because you did a great sin. Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (though He did not say it would be a horrific death). Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will likewise perish. Again, just because something bad happens to you does not mean that you are a bad person. On the other hand, the opposite is also true – just because something good happens to you does not mean that you were a good person. Then we have the parable about the prodigal son. The younger son wanted th...

Good morning. Someone in the crowd said to Him, “teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you? Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. Of course that’s not the way most people behave – even Christians. People try to stockpile more and more things. They put their trust in their things, instead of God. What if all of their things were suddenly gone? Then what will they put their trust in? The land of a rich man was very productive. What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops? I will tear down my old barns and build bigger ones. I will say to my soul you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry. God said to him you fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who stores u...

Good morning. Jesus travels on and comes to the village where Mary and Martha lived. Martha is the one who welcomes Him into the house. Her sister Mary was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. Martha was very busy getting everything ready for everyone to eat. And wouldn’t you know it, sis was not even helping her. Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me. Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. It is all too easy to get distracted with the every day cares of life and to neglect spiritual things. Some people will doggedly make sure that they do a certain amount of exercise each day, while neglecting to read their Bible or pray. Three weeks from today, I will be going to San Diego for the annual math conference. You can be sure that there will be plenty of people maki...

Good morning. So this dude was going from Jerusalem to Jericho and some robbers beat him up and left him for dead. And by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side (he must’ve been going in the same direction or it would have just said that he passed him by and would not have said on the other side). It’s getting as busy as I-4 going towards Orlando. But a hated Samaritan, who was on a journey came to the place and saw him and felt compassion. It does not say in which direction the Samaritan was going. If he had been going the opposite direction, he would have seen the priest and the Levite and would now realize that they had not stopped to help the man. He bandaged his wounds, put him on his own beast, brought him to an inn and took care of him. It does not say how far away the inn was nor which direction. Remember the wh...

Good morning. Then Jesus rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” Thankfully we were chosen to have these things revealed to us, and to know the Son and the Father. As we have seen in Matthew and Mark, a lawyer wants to test Jesus by asking what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus puts it back onto him. “What is written in the law? How does it read to you?” By loving the Lord your God completely and your neighbor as yourself. Correctamundo (though I seriously doubt that Jesus used that exact word) do this and you will live. Now wait a minute! I was wanting to ...

Good morning. We have seen the following verse before; but my Bible has an interesting comment about it: “Follow Me.” “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” If his father had already died, the man would have been occupied with the burial then (Jews bury people right away). Evidently he wanted to wait until after his father‘s death, which might’ve been years away. Jesus appointed 70 others and sent them to every city to which He was coming. And now the verse that is like the one with the woman at the well and why it might be that Samaritan village: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” The 70 return saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. (The word nothing is a double negativ...

Good morning. Skipping a number of verses that are also in Matthew and Mark: when the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem. The word translated approaching means to be fulfilled. Just like before, it was the right time. He knew what was going to happen; yet He went to meet it head on. He sent messengers on ahead of Himself, and they entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. They did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. A comment in my Bible: Samaritans were particularly hostile to Jews who were on their way to observe religious festivals in Jerusalem. It was at least a three day journey from Galilee to Jerusalem through Samaria, and Samaritans refused overnight shelter for the pilgrims. Because of this antipathy, Jews traveling between Galilee and Jerusalem frequently went on the east side of the Jordan River. That would have taken more than three days; because you had to go dow...

Good morning. Jesus now talks to the multitude about John. “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? One who is more than a prophet. Among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” John was the best that the old testament good get. If you are born again, then that is better than even John. The people acknowledged God‘s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God‘s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John. Jesus then talks about the men of that generation. Nothing you did was right. “John came eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say he has a demon! The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” You can’t win for losing. Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children. And of course that sounds lik...

Good morning. Luke has basically the same things as Matthew and Mark for some verses. He went to a city called Nain. A dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. Remember that this meant that she was in really big trouble. She had no one to help take care of her. According to my map, Nain was not very far from Nazareth. It is very likely that Jesus and His mother knew this lady. This possibility is brought out by the next verse: when the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “do not weep.” Jesus touched the coffin and said, “young man, I say to you, arise!” He sat up and began to speak. Jesus gave him back to his mother. The disciples of John reported this to him. He sent two of them to ask “are You the expected one or do we look for someone else?” “Tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead raised up, the poor have the gos...

Good morning. Remember that all of Jesus’ neighbors were saying good things about Him and then: No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, physician heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well. No prophet is welcome in his hometown. There were many widows in the land of Israel in the days of Elijah; but he was sent only to one in a foreign land. There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; but only one was cleansed, and he was a foreigner. Now everyone was madder than a wet hen 🐔 ! They tried to throw Him down the cliff, but He passed through their midst and went on His way. Skipping some that is also in Matthew and Mark - Luke gives the beatitudes. There is one verse that is unique to him. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return. What is ...

Good morning. After His baptism, Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness. Matthew also said He was led by the Holy Spirit; Mark says He was impelled by the Holy Spirit. Luke then goes through the temptations of Jesus by the devil. After resisting the temptations, Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. He went to His hometown of Nazareth; went to the synagogue on the Sabbath; and stood up to read. They gave Him the book of Isaiah, and He found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. That was a very bold statement, because it applied to the Messiah. After all He was the hometown ...

Good morning. The word of God comes to John the Baptist. And he came into all the district around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Luke has a lot of the same things that Matthew and Mark have about this. Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham for our father, for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. The people wanted to know what John meant by this. The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise. The tax collectors were to collect no more than what they were ordered to. The soldiers were to not take money from anyone by force, or to accuse anyone falsely, and to (gasp) be content with their wages. I bet if the pastor said to people right before they were baptized do you promise to do all of these things? There would not be very many wanting to be baptized. Jesus is...

Good Sunday morning. Every year Jesus and His family went to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover. The one we are interested in was when He was 12. When they left, they did not know that He stayed behind. They assumed that He was in the caravan. It must’ve been pretty big for them to not see that He was not with the group; and it also must’ve been a common occurrence in these trips that He was with others. They finally realized that He’s not with them, so they returned to Jerusalem to look for Him. After three days they find Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions. Someone has said that it is possible that one of the three days was the one before they discovered He was missing; then part or all of the second day would’ve been taken up in walking back. It is possible that one of the teachers was Nicodemus. All who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. Of course His mom is upset...

Good morning. When eight days were completed before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. Again we see that it was eight days before He was officially named. When the days for their purification were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. When we talk about going up to someplace, it usually means that that place is more less north of us, but not always. When they were talking about going up, they meant elevation. Jerusalem was up from just about everywhere. So they may have gone back to Nazareth, or they may have stayed in Bethlehem. There was a man named Simeon who was looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. He came in the Spirit, took Jesus into his arms, blessed God and spoke. It did not say that he was filled wit...

Good morning. A census is to be taken. Everyone was going to his own city to register. Mary and Joseph were going to Bethlehem because he was of the house and family of David. While they were there the days were completed for her to give birth. (everything at just the right time). And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Notice that it says firstborn and not only begotten son. There is a denomination that believes that she only had one child – Jesus. If there is a firstborn, then there must be a second one. Then we have the shepherds in the fields watching over their flocks by night. An angel appears and tells them that in the city of David there is been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. He gives them a sign that they will find the baby in a manger. Suddenly as if they could not wait any longer, a multitude of the heavenly host appeared praising God: “glor...

Good Morning. Congratulations – it’s a boy! Like any good Jewish family they go to circumcise John on the eighth day. That is when they officially name a boy. The family wanted to name him Zack Junior, but Elizabeth said no way – his name is John. Like any good interfering family they didn’t want to pay any attention to the mama - they asked the daddy what he wanted to call him. He wrote (remember he could not talk) “his name is John.“ All of a sudden he could talk and made up for nine months of being quiet. He was filled with the Spirit and prophesied. Remember I told you that when people were filled with the Holy Spirit that usually they spoke afterwards. His words are known as the Benedictus or Blessed be. He tells what God is going to do through Jesus and John. It says that John lived in the desert until the day of his public appearance to Israel. John’s parents were old when he was born; so we don’t know how old he was when he started living in the desert. It doe...

Good morning. And what was Mary’s response to the angel – behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word. It is sad that we do not always respond that way. Too many times it’s “well if it doesn’t cause me too much trouble“. Mary quickly went to see Elizabeth. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s voice, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. This is most likely the fulfillment of the angel’s words that John the Baptist would be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. Then Elizabeth says “blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord. Most of, if not all of the times that someone was filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak afterwards, whether it was in English or in tongues. T...

Good morning. When John the Baptist’s father came out of the temple, he could not speak. He finished his term of service and went home. His wife became pregnant, but did not tell anyone. In the sixth month of her pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth to talk to Mary. She was engaged to Joseph, a descendant of David. The angel tells her that she has found favor with God. He tells her that she will bear son and name Him Jesus. He will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. Mary wanted to know “how can this be, since I am a virgin?“ The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy child shall be called the Son of God. That would make anyone wonder if that were true. The angel gives her a sign: your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. That help...

Good morning. Back to the angel talking to John the Baptist’s father: he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. John’s father said, “how will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.“ The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and bring you this good news. And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper t...

Good morning. We are now ready to start Luke. Luke also has some passages that are almost identical to Matthew and Mark. He says that many had compiled accounts of the things that had happened, and that they had been handed down to them by those from the beginning who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Luke investigated everything carefully and wrote them down. Since Luke was a physician, he was ideal for the task. There was a priest named Zacharias with a wife named Elizabeth from the daughters of Aaron. Since he was a priest, he too was a direct descendant of Aaron. That meant that both of John the Baptist’s parents were direct descendants of Aaron the original high priest. That meant that if John the Baptist had followed in his father‘s footsteps, he would’ve also been a priest and possibly one of the chief priests (Who were the ones who condemned Jesus to death. He may even have saved Jesus from crucifixion, which is not what God wanted.) Elizabeth was...

Today is Pentecost Sunday. As Paul asked the Ephesians, "Did you receive when you believed?"

Good morning. Now we have Mark’s version of the great commission: go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. There is a denomination that says that this indicates that you if you have not been water baptized, you are condemned. That would of course eliminate deathbed confessions. Then the part of Mark’s version of the great commission that some denominations don’t accept for today’s believers. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Even in our church you don’t hear this version of the great commission preached. I’m not sure why not. There are those groups who have misinterpreted it – that’s why you have snake handlers....

Good morning. Now it is evening. And because it is the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph goes to Pilate and asks for the body of Jesus. Mark says that Joseph was also a member of the council. Pilate is surprised that Jesus is already dead. After finding out that it is true, he grants the body to Joseph. Joseph bought a linen cloth, took the body down from the cross, wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb. This linen cloth is what Is supposedly the shroud of Turin. When my friend and I went to Europe, part of our trip was to try to see the shroud of Turin. It had been on display for the public to see, but we were too late. It was kept in a silver box elevated high in the Cathedral. We did get to see a replica which was very impressive. It looked like the photographs that you see. The different gospels have different versions of what follows. When the Sabbath was over, the women bought spices to anoint His body. The stone had b...

Good morning. Just like in Matthew, Jesus then leaves the temple and the disciples are very complementary about all the wonderful stones that make up the buildings of the temple. According to Josephus, they were white, some of them were 37 feet long, 12 feet high and 18 feet wide. Jesus tells them there will come a time when there will not be one stone left upon another. The disciples want to know when, and Jesus goes through the same things He did in Matthew. Mark uses a little different wording for the following: in those days, after the tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven. Matthew mentions a...

Good morning. People like to have a formula to guarantee that their prayers will be answered. And so they think that Mark chapter 11 verses 23 and 24 are the formula they need. But there is an addendum to that. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. Remember: what good is it if you gain the whole world and lose your soul? What if all of your prayers were answered, but you were empty inside because you did not forgive others? Not all manuscripts have the next verse: but if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions. Skipping some more: Jesus was in the treasury of the temple watching how the people were putting money into the treasury, and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. This poor widow put in more than all the contrib...

Good morning. Skipping a lot: this is the scene in Jericho. In Matthew it has two blind men; in Mark it has one - blind Bartimaeus. Again, I believe that this happened because Jesus waited two days before going to Lazarus. The next thing is Palm Sunday. Mark says that Jesus went into the temple and after looking around left for Bethany (where Mary and Martha lived), instead of casting out the sellers. The next morning is the story about the fig tree. Mark includes more details than Matthew. He goes back to the temple and casts out those selling. The next morning the fig tree is withered. Have faith in God. Whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. This is the old, “You receive because you believe versus you believe because you h...

Good morning. We are skipping some of the things that were also in Matthew. The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows – how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. Skipping a lot: after the feeding of the 5000 when the disciples were in the boat and Jesus was walking upon the water, Mark does not mention about Peter walking upon the water. The Pharisees noticed that some of His disciples were eating bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. (He’s not talking about washing your hands with soap and water like we do. It was a ceremonial dipping into water.) The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders. There we...

Good morning. Mark starts out almost right away with John being taken into custody. Other Gospels tell of things happening before that. Then Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of God. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. As we have said before about other things – it was the right time for this to happen. Jesus sees Peter and his brother fishing, and tells them to follow Him, and He will make them become fishers of men. He then sees James and John. He goes into a synagogue, and begins to teach. People were amazed because He was teaching as one having authority, and not as the scribes. The scribes were only giving their opinions or the opinions of people before them. Jesus was giving them the truth about the word of God. There was a man in the synagogue with an unclean spirit, and the spirit cried out “what business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are - the Holy One ...

Good morning.   We are now looking at the Gospel of Mark. Mark starts out with: the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He quotes the passage that says that God will send His messenger to prepare His way. John the Baptist was in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As you know, John wore the latest fashion – camel’s hair with a leather belt. He was also a member of the weight loss program that ate Locusts and wild honey. He knew from the beginning that he was not the number one guy. After me Ono is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie His sandals. I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Then Jesus came and was baptized by John. When He came up out of the water, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit like a dove descended upon Jesus. Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.” So here we have the whole Trinity...

  Good morning. While the women were on their way to the disciples, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that happened. They gave the soldiers a lot of money and told them to say that Jesus’ disciples came by night and stole Him away while they were asleep. They promised to keep the soldiers out of trouble. But the 11 disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. Matthew is the only gospel that does not have the disciples and Jesus in the upper room (Though Mark does have it, it is just a one line statement. It is in the part that is under dispute - that looks like it was added later.). If the apostle Matthew actually wrote this gospel completely by himself, I don't see how he could have left out the upper room. This plus the fact that the gospel of Matthew called the Last Supper the Passover makes me suspicious that someone else actually wrote it. I don't see how someone who was physically present could'...