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Matthew 16:21-28-  From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. 22 But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but l...

  “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” JOHN 14:26      PONDER THIS A preacher friend of mine said, “When I first got saved, I was so full of joy. I walked out and I said, ‘Man, this is easy. This is wonderful.’” Then after he lived a while and got his nose bumped a few times, he said, “This is difficult.” And then as he repented and tried to get better and stronger and made more resolutions and resolves, he failed more, and he said, “This is impossible.” But then he learned the secret of Christ in him, and he said, “This is wonderful.” There’s only one who has ever lived the Christian life: His name is Jesus. And if the Christian life is lived in your house, in your club, on your team, in your choir, there’s only one person who’ll be doing it: Jesus! May God help us understand this: We’re not to ...

"Ask God to bless those who persecute you - yes, ask him to bless, not curse."                                                                                                      Romans 12:14 We all have EGRs people who come with Extra Grace Required-in our lives. They annoy us, anger us, frustrate us, and test us. But they also help us grow. God calls us to bless people who cause us the most trouble. How much more is this true for those who only annoy us? Do what's right, no matter what the ...

  Read  Luke 11:1-4-  One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: ' Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”   The disciples to whom Jesus spoke these words were certainly not unfamiliar with the concept of prayer. The Old Testament is full of examples of people who prayed, of which the disciples would no doubt have knowledge. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, cried out to the Lord and begged for a son; a son she would commit back to God. Upon his return, Jacob prayed before meeting Esau; and he had a lot to be worried about, didn’t he? Rahab offered a word of adoration, “Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath”. And of course, ...

Q: Whenever I ask God to forgive me, I try my best to think of everything I've done wrong so I can confess it. But what about the things I don't remember? Will God forgive them also? A: I’m thankful you want to seek God’s forgiveness for the things you do wrong; it’s far too easy, I’m afraid, for us to overlook our sins or act as if they aren’t serious. But they are serious, because unconfessed sin breaks our fellowship with God, which is why we need to admit our sins and seek His forgiveness. He is willing to forgive us and cleanse us because He loves us and wants us to live in His presence every day. This, after all, is why Christ came into the world and died for us. The Bible says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves…. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). At the same time, the Bible assures us that God’s forgiveness isn’t limited only to the sins we...

Trust ME in the midst of a messy day. Your inner calm—your peace in My Presence-need not be shaken by what is going on around you. Though you live in this temporal world, your innermost being is rooted and grounded in eternity. When you start to feel stressed, detach yourself from the disturbances around you. Instead of desperately striving to maintain order and control in your little world, relax and remember that circumstances cannot touch My Peace.   Seek My Face, and I will share My mind with you, opening your eyes to see things from My perspective. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not be afraid. The Peace I give is sufficient for you.   "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." —John 16:33   Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. —Psalm 105:4   "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the...

"Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, He told me everything I ever did!" JOHN 4:39 (NLT)   What excuses have you been making to avoid being used by God?   It doesn't take years of following Jesus to do what God put you on earth to do. No matter what you've done, God has a special assignment for you. In fact, it doesn't even take a day of "good" living. God can use you the moment you put your trust in Jesus like he did with the woman at the well in Samaria.   What started out as a simple request for a drink of water, became the longest recorded conversation Jesus had with an individual, a conversation in which Jesus offered the woman, not well water, but living water the kind that leads to eternal life. Not only did Jesus initiate this conversation, he knew going into it she has had five husbands and wasn't even married to the one she woke up to that very morning. Jesus knew beforehand about her ra...