''When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’'' Luke 14:15-24 (ESV)
HOW TO PRAY FOR SHEPHERDS
Good Shepherd, you know us by our name and our identity is not hidden from you. Gather us to yourself as a shepherd gathers the sheep, that we might know your Name. Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer. Amen.
THE GRAVITY AND GRIP OF UNFORGIVENESS
Many people ruin their health and their lives by taking the poison of bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness. (Matthew 18:23-35) tells us that if we do not forgive people, we get turned over to the torturers. If you have a problem in this area or have ever had one, I'm sure you bear witness with what I'm saying. It's torture to have hateful thoughts toward another person rolling around inside your head.
RE-BUILDING THE WALLS
Nehemiah is the account of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem is a symbol of the city of God, God's dwelling place and the center of life for the world. In an individual life, then, the rebuilding of the walls would be a picture of re-establishing the strength of that life. We have all met people whose defenses have crumbled away.
WORK AND WITNESS
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16
BIBLICAL ASPECTS OF FASTING
16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”(ESV)
Esther 4:16
SEXUAL SIN PART 2
The Bible is not sex or pleasure negative. And you see that in Proverbs 2. And so, you can't really look at this issue of sexual sin without thinking about the theology of pleasure in Scripture. It's not necessarily godly to deny pleasure because God, in His wisdom, created a gloriously pleasurable world for us.
SEXUAL SIN PART 1
Well, if you are reading the Proverbs and you don't leave understanding the seriousness of sexual sin, you just haven't been paying attention. It’s one of the cardinal themes of this book. In fact, the way Proverbs deals with sex is one of the things Proverbs is known for, and there's a level of seriousness that is so important in this generation that we’re in.
REMOVE AND REPLACE
Remove and replace means to remove and dispose of an existing item or building component and to provide and install a new item or building component in its place.
PUT OFF..... PUT ON
One of the principles of Christian growth is called the “put off and put on” principle (see Eph. 4:22–24). Behind the principle lies the fact that there are always sinful attitudes and actions we need to put off, and there are always positive traits of righteousness we need to put on more firmly.