Monday, June 27, 2011

The Clark Sisters - Livin'

Mark 8:22-38 "And he cometh to Bethsaida; and..." KJV - Online Bible Study

Mark 8:22-38 "And he cometh to Bethsaida; and..." KJV - Online Bible Study

The Keys to Your Blessing

[1.] It will redound to our profit; for our reward shall be great, Luke 6:35. What is given, or laid out, or lent and lost on earth, from a true principle of charity, will be made up to us in the other world, unspeakably to our advantage. "You shall not only be repaid, but rewarded, greatly rewarded; it will be said to you, Come, ye blessed, inherit the kingdom."




[2.] It will redound to our honour; for herein we shall resemble God in his goodness, which is the greatest glory: "Ye shall be the children of the Highest, shall be owned by him as his children, being like him." It is the glory of God that he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil, bestows the gifts of common providence even upon the worst of men, who are every day provoking him, and rebelling against him, and using those very gifts to his dishonour. Hence he infers (Luke 6:36), Be merciful, as your Father is merciful; this explains Matthew 5:48, "Be perfect, as our Father is perfect. Imitate your Father in those things that are his brightest perfections." Those that are merciful as God is merciful, even to the evil and the unthankful, are perfect as God is perfect; so he is pleased graciously to accept it, though infinitely falling short. Charity is called the bond of perfectness, Colossians 3:14. This should strongly engage us to be merciful to our brethren, even such as have been injurious to us, not only that God is so to others, but that he is so to us, though we have been, and are, evil and unthankful; it is of his mercies that we are not consumed.



Exhortations to Justice and Sincerity.



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37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. 39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. 41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. 43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. 46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.



All these sayings of Christ we had before in Matthew; some of them in Matthew 7:1-29, others in other places. They were sayings that Christ often used; they needed only to be mentioned, it was easy to apply them. Grotius thinks that we need not be critical here in seeking for the coherence: they are golden sentences, like Solomon's proverbs or parables. Let us observe here,



I. We ought to be very candid in our censures of others, because we need grains of allowance ourselves: "Therefore judge not others, because then you yourselves shall not be judged; therefore condemn not others, because then you yourselves shall not be condemned, Luke 6:37. Exercise towards others that charity which thinks no evil, which bears all things, believes and hopes all things; and then others will exercise that charity towards you. God will not judge and condemn you, men will not." They that are merciful to other people's names shall find others merciful to theirs.



II. If we are of a giving and a forgiving spirit, we shall ourselves reap the benefit of it: Forgive and you shall be forgiven. If we forgive the injuries done to us by others, others will forgive our inadvertencies. If we forgive others' trespasses against us, God will forgive our trespasses against him. And he will be no less mindful of the liberal that devise liberal things (Luke 6:38): Give, and it shall be given to you. God, in his providence, will recompense it to you; it is lent to him, and he is not unrighteous to forget it (Hebrews 6:10), but he will pay it again. Men shall return it into your bosom; for God often makes use of men as instruments, not only of his avenging, but of his rewarding justice. If we in a right manner give to others when they need, God will incline the hearts of others to give to us when we need, and to give liberally, good measure pressed down and shaken together. They that sow plentifully shall reap plentifully. Whom God recompenses he recompenses abundantly.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Mark 8:1-21 "In those days the multitude being..." KJV - Online Bible Study

Mark 8:1-21 "In those days the multitude being..." KJV - Online Bible Study n those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat , Jesus called hisdisciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they havenow been with me three days, and have nothing to eat : 3 And if I send them away fasting to theirown houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. 4 And his disciplesanswered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? 5And he asked them, How many loaves have ye ? And they said , Seven. 6 And he commanded thepeople to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks , and brake ,and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7 And theyhad a few small fishes: and he blessed , and commanded to set them also before them. 8 So they did eat , and were filled : and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9 Andthey that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away . 10 And straightway heentered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. 11 And thePharisees came forth , and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven,tempting him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith , Why doth this generation seekafter a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. 13 And heleft them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side. 14 Now the disciples hadforgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. 15 And hecharged them, saying , Take heed , beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven ofHerod. 16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying , It is because we have no bread. 17And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye , because ye have no bread?perceive ye not yet, neither understand ? have ye your heart yet hardened ? 18 Having eyes, seeye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember ? 19 When I brake the five loavesamong five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up ? They say unto him, Twelve.20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up ?And they said , Seven. 21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand ?

Friday, June 24, 2011

Home | Daily Word

Home | Daily Word
FAITH
My faith in God gives me strength and confidence.

How do I define my faith in God? Do I see it as a strengthening power, a guiding presence, an all-knowing assurance? Perhaps it is all of these things and more. My faith in God is a significant part of my life. Through my faith, I have the confidence to do more and be more; I am revitalized in mind and body; and I am uplifted and strengthened in countless ways.

Through my faith, I feel my connection with the uplifting, unlimited presence of God that unites all people and all life as one. Knowing this presence is at work within me and within all living things fills me with a sense of belonging. I know, deep in my heart, that with God I can do and be all that I am meant to.

Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God."--Mark 11:22

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Mark 6:30-56 "And the apostles gathered themselves together unto..." KJV - Online Bible Study

Mark 6:30-56 "And the apostles gathered themselves together unto..." KJV - Online Bible Study
And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both whatthey had done , and what they had taught . 31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apartinto a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going , and they had noleisure so much as to eat . 32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately . 33 Andthe people saw them departing , and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, andoutwent them, and came together unto him. 34 And Jesus, when he came out , saw much people,and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having ashepherd: and he began to teach them many things. 35 And when the day was now far spent, hisdisciples came unto him, and said , This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: 36Send them away , that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buythemselves bread: for they have nothing to eat . 37 He answered and said unto them, Give yethem to eat . And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, andgive them to eat ? 38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye ? go and see . And when they knew , they say , Five, and two fishes. 39 And he commanded them to make all sit down bycompanies upon the green grass. 40 And they sat down in ranks , by hundreds, and by fifties. 41And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed ,and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishesdivided he among them all. 42 And they did all eat , and were filled . 43 And they took up twelvebaskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. 44 And they that did eat of the loaves were aboutfive thousand men. 45 And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to goto the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. 46 And when he had sentthem away , he departed into a mountain to pray . 47 And when even was come , the ship was inthe midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. 48 And he saw them toiling in rowing ; for the windwas contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walkingupon the sea, and would have passed by them. 49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea,they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out : 50 For they all saw him, and were troubled .And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer : it is I; be not afraid .51 And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased : and they were sore amazed inthemselves beyond measure, and wondered . 52 For they considered not the miracle of theloaves: for their heart was hardened . 53 And when they had passed over , they came into theland of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore . 54 And when they were come out of the ship,straightway they knew him, 55 And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carryabout in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was . 56 And whithersoever he entered ,into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they mighttouch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

E-NEWS The Joy of Jesus: FaithWriters.com-Christian Encouragement - A New Sense of Hope

E-NEWS The Joy of Jesus: FaithWriters.com-Christian Encouragement - A New Sense of Hope
What do you do when you are having a bad day. Given these economic conditions and weather, there only seems to be bad news. Have you ever wondered why? Is there something that we can do to overcome these unfortunate circumstances? Yes. Jesus is still the light of the world.

In order to better understand our situations one must look at a story regarding several men in a boat during a huge storm. The storm was so strong that the boat was on the verge of being completely destroyed.

The people were wise enough to call on Jesus. Jesus raised His hand and calmed the storm. We must place our hope in Christ Jesus to quiet the storms in our lives. Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we by faith in him. God raised Jesus from the dead so that we too will live with Him. A new hope for an old problem: Faithlessness. Jesus is our hope.

What Is Holy Week? - 8 Days of Easter Explained

What Is Holy Week? - 8 Days of Easter Explained