Filthy Rags

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and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.” Luke 9:48

There are a lot of people working hard in the name of Jesus for all the wrong reasons. There trying to make a name for themselves, or build a great empire, or even motivated financially. However the truth is all our good deeds are just filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6)

Does that mean we should stop doing work for The Lord? No of course not, but we need to stop looking for personal recognition for our works. All the glory goes to God, nothing should come to us. This is very difficult to accept for our human ego, even the Born Again Christian must remind themselves to continually deny ourselves and carry our crosses as Jesus instructed

The disciples were having difficulty comprehending this also, as they argue with each other over who is the greatest disciple. We still see this today, as Christians continue to argue with other Christians, its all fifthly rags to God

Jesus insulted all their egos when he took a child and said they were the greatest in the Kingdom of God. How insulting for the disciples who did all these great works, their egos were bruised! That was the whole point, we need humble ourselves before The Lord!

Keep fighting the good fight in Jesus name, but not for yourself but because you love Jesus because he loved us first!

The Christian Walk

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And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. Luke 9:23

What does it cost to be a Christian? Is it a onetime event where you come to Jesus and be saved? Or is it a daily walk in a transformed life? Well actually its both, the day you come to Jesus in full repentance and receive him as your Lord and Savior, you are saved and become Born Again! However your work is not done its just beginning

The Christian walk is not as easy as it sounds. Just look at the early Apostles, all but one was murdered for their faith. The temptations of sin will challenge you , that’s why Jesus said we must deny ourselves daily. Give up the flesh and be led by the Spirit. Sounds easy? Not in a corrupted body, but the power of the Holy Spirit will guide you if you listen

Deny Yourself- Give up the pursuit of temptations of the flesh

Carry Your Cross– Endure hardships and suffering for The Lord

Follow Jesus– Be a true servant of Christ, as he is your Lord (Master)

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. Luke 9:24

Again if you truly want to be a Christian there has to be a transformation, a lifestyle change. You cant keep living in your old sin and be saved, what did Jesus save you from then? Just as the Israelites were freed from the slavery and bondage of Egypt, you have been freed from the bondage and slavery of sin and death. But you must come out of that sin and follow Jesus to the Promise Land!

If you want to save your life , you must lose your old life, the only way is Jesus Christ!

Demons Tremble

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Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” Luke 8:28

We live in a world full of fear, anxiety , and chaos. I had a couple coworkers at lunch tell me about how they were preparing for the “Zombie Apocalypse” and they were serious! This is what Satan does to you, he plays mind games. He uses TV shows, movies, and music to influence people into ungodly behavior

However look what happened when some demons ran into the Lord Jesus Christ. They begged him not to throw them into the Abyss (Hades). Now the demons identified themselves as “Legion” (Luke 8:30)meaning there was many of them. There might have been thousands of them dwelling in this one man, but they all feared the Lord Jesus Christ

Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. Luke 8:32

The demons begged Jesus to let them enter a herd of pigs instead of going into Abyss. First thing notice the demons cant enter anyone or anything without permission. You will not become possessed by a demon by accident, however if you invite them in through Satanic practices they will enter. This is why its important to be careful what your listening to and watching

Second, why would Jesus allow them into a herd of Pigs? Well pigs in the Bible are considered unclean animals. This is symbolic for unclean “sinful” people, demons will enter those who reject Christ

And the demons came out of the man and entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. Luke 8:33

Notice the fate of these pigs, why would Jesus allow them to drown? Again this is symbolic, if you ever read Revelation you know the fate of those who reject Jesus is the Lake of Fire. This is symbolic of eternal judgement, the unclean (sinful) were thrown into the Lake for judgement

“Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. Luke 8:39

Notice what Jesus says here “Tell everyone what God has done for you”, then the man tells everyone what Jesus has done for him. This is not an accident , Jesus is revealing his deity here as God in the flesh

Faith In Christ

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Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” Luke 7:48
Who does he think he is? Who can forgive sin except God alone? One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner at his house, and the dinner event turned into something he will never forget.

First this sinful woman shows up at his house uninvited and starts washing the feet of Jesus. The Pharisee is appalled this woman would come into his home but he’s more insulted that Jesus would have anything to do with this woman. The Pharisee says “If this man was a prophet , he would know this woman was a sinner”! (Luke 7:39)

However instead of Jesus rebuking the Pharisee he teaches Peter a lesson about forgiving sin.

For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Luke 7:47

All these Pharisees believe they are more righteous than this woman, yet this woman shows more love and compassion than any of them. How can we expect to be forgiven of our sin when we wont forgive anyone of their sin? We would be a hypocrite, right! The Pharisees were hypocrites, this is why Jesus showed more honor and compassion to the sinful woman

Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” Luke 7:49

Jesus told this woman your sins are forgiven, who does he think he is? We know who he is, he is the Son of the Living God, Immanuel. He has all power and authority to forgive sin, his deity is being revealed again!

And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:50

So what did this woman have to do to be saved? Her faith alone in Jesus Christ saved her, she believe he was the Christ and came to him for forgiveness. The work was completed at the cross, come to Jesus to be forgiven!

The Expected One?

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Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?” Luke 7:19

Often Christians feel concerned about having doubts or questions about their faith, take notice here, John the Baptist asking his followers to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah?

Now lets think about this for a minute, John the Baptist was born a prophet to be the Messenger of Jesus (Luke 1) fulfilled in the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 40) John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River and saw the Holy Spirit descend down upon him and then heard the voice of the Father confirm “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Luke 3)

So how could John the Baptist have doubts who Jesus is? Because even though John was filled with the Holy Spirit he was human. John was eventually executed with his head chopped off, he was a living breathing person just like us. He knew deep inside Jesus is the Messiah but his human nature got in the way of Gods supernatural revelation

And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. “Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.” Luke 7:22-23

What was Jesus response to Johns question? He answered with scripture, Jesus quoted the Messianic prophecy from Isaiah 61, which Jesus earlier stood up in a synagogue and declared he has fulfilled this prophecy (Luke 4)

Jesus fulfilled this prophecy by his actions, everything that was written about him , he has completed it. So what did Jesus think of John the Baptist? He called him the greatest of all prophets (Matthew 11:11)

This is why the Word of God is so essential to your daily life, feelings are not always truthful but the Word of God is always true Amen!