Good morning and welcome in everyone.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from Psalms 51, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.

Many years ago I wanted to find an inexpensive way to feed my family, so I ended up buying a whole flock of chickens.  When they were the proper age, they began to lay, and soon we had so many eggs we hardly knew what to do with them all.  The children loved to gather them up, bringing in bucketfuls from the hen house. We put eggs in just about everything, in order to use them all up. There is a simple lesson that I still learn today, each morning when fresh eggs are brought into the house.  In order to get what was inside, you first must break the egg.

This reminds me of the Christian Life

Before God can expunge and remove the sin from our lives, like an egg, our hearts need to be broken.

Psalms 51:16-17  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Before God’s mercy can flow into the heart, the heart needs to be broken before Him.  Before God forgives us we must come humbly before him in a state of contrition.  Contrition is feeling or expressing remorse or penitence;   When you are filled with true penitence, you have a feeling of regret or sadness for doing wrong or sinning.  Contrition is to be affected by guilt by feeling or showing sorrow for a sin or shortcoming.  You will be apologetic, humble, repentant, sorry and filled with compunction.  God wants to cleanse us of our sins, but we must first display this quality in our hearts before Him.  In the following passage, a woman was so sad because of her sins, that she was weeping, not only in the sight of the Lord but the entire household.

Luke 7:36-50  And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.  And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,  And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.  Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.  And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.  

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?  Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.  And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.  Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.  My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.  Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.  And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.  And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?  And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

This woman is an example of contrition.  Jesus taught that she did have many sins, but because of her act of humility, she received forgiveness.  They were all washed away because her heart was broken before God.  Like an egg, each of our hearts need to break before the sin can be removed from inside and replaced with His forgiveness.  God does not delight in offerings, or money and possessions.  God desires the spiritual sacrifice of a humble and contrite heart, confessing our faults to Him.  Contrition is required for salvation.

Psalms 34:18 – The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Isaiah 57:15 – For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

We cannot buy forgiveness, we cannot earn forgiveness, we can never do enough deeds to compensate or offset the sins that we have committed.  God extends to us a free gift of grace through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, but the only way it can be received, is to allow our hearts to break before Him.  This is exactly what the humble publican did.

Luke 18:10-14  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Those who are poor in spirit are filled with contrition.

Isaiah 66:2 – ……. but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Matthew 5:3 – Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The prodigal Son was filled with humble contrition.

Luke 15:21-24  And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.  But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:  And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

We must come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need.  We need to confess our faults to each other and show each other mercy and forgiveness, as good stewards of what God has given us.  We must break the hard outer shell of our hearts and expose what’s inside.  Only then can the contents be emptied out and removed.  

I remember this lesson every time I hear the sizzle of a hot fry pan, and a crack in the kitchen.  

I am reminded by the sound of another……

…….Broken Egg

Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.

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Please be kind please rewind

In today’s world, technology is advancing at incredible speed. Just 20 years ago, most cell phones could only be used for their most basic service, calling and sending an occasional text message. But today the cell phone has become probably the most used device out of all electronic devices. Not just a phone anymore, it has basically become a portable computer, a wallet, an entertainment studio, car keys- the list goes on and on.

Something else that has greatly changed over the years is how people watch movies. Today many people watch their movies digitally through a streaming service, or they might throw a disc into a player, but not too long ago movies were recorded onto video cassette tapes. A plastic case with magnetic tape inside, these tapes were far different than today’s DVD discs. With a DVD, as soon as the movie is done you can just take the disc out and put it away until the next time, but with a video cassette tape, as soon as the movie was done you first needed to rewind the tape back to the beginning so that it would be ready the next time. 

This was such an important thing that the movie rental stores would put a sticker on each tape that read, “Please be kind, please rewind.” They wanted the tapes brought back to the beginning once again, ready to watch again for the next person.

And that reminds me of some important qualities that Christians need to have: the ability to forgive, and reconciliation. 

To start, we first need to define what these two words mean. To forgive means “to pardon; to waive any negative feeling or desire for punishment, retribution, or compensation.” I think that is pretty self explanatory. Forgiveness is the act of releasing any hard, angry feelings towards someone for an offense that they have committed. 

Now for reconciliation. To reconcile means “to restore a friendly relationship or to bring back to harmony.” So if two close friends have an argument and don’t talk to each other for a period of time, if they are able to work things out in the future and become friends once again, that is reconciliation. They are like those video tapes, rewound back to the beginning, and ready to start again.

Forgiveness and reconciliation go together, although there are those who claim differently. Forgiveness without reconciliation is not really forgiveness. We just read that to forgive somebody means to waive any negative feeling towards someone, so if a person will not bring themselves back into harmony (reconcile) with the other individual, then they do not understand what forgiveness and reconciliation really are.

Romans 5:6-10  “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

So we see that we have been separated from God’s presence because of our sins. It was sin that separated Adam and Eve from paradise in the Garden of Eden, and it is sin that causes our physical death. It is this sinful, mortal body that we are in that separates us from living forever with God in Heaven, and the only way for us to be brought back to how Adam and Eve were created is through forgiveness. And that forgiveness is only found through one Man, Jesus Christ.

Through Jesus’ forgiveness we are able to be cleansed from our sin. Through Jesus we have the ability to be brought back to the beginning, and brought back into a place of harmony with God. Separated because of our sin, forgiven and reconciled back through the blood of Christ. 

Have you shown this kind of treatment to others who may have wronged you in the past, but have since apologized and asked for forgiveness? Have you rewound yourself back to the beginning once again?

In Christ,

Andrew

Did you know that it is recommended that you test your batteries in your smoke alarms regularly? This is done so that in the event of a fire your smoke alarm actually goes off and alerts you to the danger. But how do you test the battery? There is no gauge on the side of the battery that tells you how much power is left in it, no visual notification that identifies whether the battery is good or not. Well, smoke alarms have a button on them that you can push and if the alarm starts to sound then you know it still works. To further test it, you could take the battery completely out and put it into a battery tester which will tell you exactly how much power is left inside. 

You can test batteries, but were you aware that you can test people as well? It’s true! In fact, this is the subject of this study today: testing the spirit.

1 John 4:1-8  “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

John wrote that we need to try the spirits, whether they are of God, or not. To try something means “to prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality; to examine; to prove; to test.”

Each of us on the Earth looks the same, relatively speaking. Certainly we may have different colored skin, we may be taller or shorter, man or woman, but we are all humans. We might look similar on the outside, like those batteries, but it is what is inside that we are measured by. It is the spirit in a person that determines who we really are.

Is it the spirit of God? or the spirit of the devil? The spirit of good, or evil? You cannot judge a book by its cover, and you cannot judge a person based on their appearance. You need to have a look inside.

What is the first way that John teaches us how to make this determination? “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” And likewise, “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.” 

A person must acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, and the only begotten Son of God. They must admit that they are a sinner and that they need Christ for forgiveness, for it is only through Him that we are saved.

What is another way to test the spirit inside of a person, whether they are of God or not? As John wrote, “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us.” John was an apostle, picked by Jesus Christ Himself to go and preach. The same Spirit that was/is in Jesus is the same Spirit that John was filled with.. And Peter. And Paul. And James. Matthew, Mark, Luke, etc. The entire New Testament was written by holy men of God, filled with the Holy Spirit. If someone refuses to hear and obey the teachings found therein, then they are not of God, no matter how much they may claim that they are. 

The Pharisees claimed to be of God, but they sought to kill the Lord! Jesus, the King of kings! Jesus told them, in John 8:47, “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”

These first two examples should be plenty to determine the spirit of a person, but we have one more. Back to the apostle John. “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 

Love. Probably the strongest feeling that one can have. It has been said that love conquers all. A parent’s love for their child will cause them to work tirelessly as they try to provide for their child’s every need. Love will get them up at night to give a baby their bottle. Love will cause someone to give up things, and give them to others. Love will forgive, and forget. If it is truly love, it will always do what is right. 

We have been commanded by Jesus that the first commandment is to love God, with your entire heart, soul, and mind. To place God first, over anything and above anyone else. He is our Creator, and it is He who we need to serve first, and then comes everyone else. We need to treat our neighbors, just as we would want to be treated. That is love.

But some people attempt to rewrite these two commands it seems, because instead of putting God first, they place themselves first by doing what they want. They may claim to love God, but through their works they show that they really don’t. Instead of forgiving others just as Christ forgave them, they refuse to obey this simple command. They say they love Jesus, but they will not do to others what Christ did for them. 

Test the spirits. Are they filled with the spirit of God, or the spirit of the devil?

In Christ,

Andrew

Good morning and welcome in everyone.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.

We have a sweet chocolate lab that has a toy that she absolutely loves to play with.  Sometimes she will forget where she put it, but eventually we will find it somewhere in the house, in the yard or even up on the road.  When she wants to play catch, she will come running up with her toy in her mouth, but many times when you reach out for it, she will quickly turn her head away, stepping back a few feet and resist the urge to give it to you.  I tell her to “drop the toy” so we can go outside and have some fun, but she continues fighting to release it.  She’s only hurting herself and missing out on the beautiful day, all because of her stubborn refusal to comply with my wishes.

The disciples of the Lord were preaching God’s Word to the people so they could be saved, but in order for that to happen, they needed to be capable of complying with the message that they were teaching.  Comply means to act, or to be in accordance with someone’s requests, demands, requirements, and conditions or to be in submission to their wishes.  In the Christian Life, it’s about being in complete submission to the will of God. Submission is a very hard word for many people to accept because it means doing the will of somebody else rather than their own.

Submission is found in the Lord’s Prayer when we say “thy will be done.”  Without possessing the quality of submission, a person cannot please God.  Without submission you can never do His will.  Without submission you can’t walk in His calling and purpose for you. Without submission you can never become what He wants you to be.  God reaches out to save us with one hand, but we need to reach out for it with a submissive heart.

James 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

If you are submissive, you obey someone without disagreeing and arguing.  Imagine telling your child to go do their chores before they go outside, but then they begin to argue with you.  They really don’t want to do the will of their parents, so they try to fight their way out of it by arguing.  The antonym of submission is resistance.

It’s like having two magnets in your hands.  When you hold them one way they attract each other, but turn them around, and they push away from each other.  Likewise, a submissive heart will draw close to God, ready to submit and obey, while a rebellious heart will push Him away and fight.  This is not the way you treat people in authority. Parents don’t like it, the military doesn’t like it, a husband doesn’t like it, and God doesn’t like it.

Ephesians 5:22-23  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

Our God is a God of authority and He wants you to submit to those who have authority over you.  This begins at a young age in a Christian home when a child is brought up to obey their dad in everything. He has been ordained by God to this position over His wife and household.  He warns and rebukes them as needed for correctional purposes because he cares for them. To resist him is to resist the ordinance of God, which unrepented of will result in damnation.

Hebrews 13:17  Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

True submission requires meekness and humility.  If somebody truly is humble they will have the desire to be obedient to God and His will.  Humble people will become submissive and faithful to the teachings and commands of Christ.  If they fiercely refuse to submit, it’s because of their pride and a haughty heart.

When you are meek, you are overly compliant, completely yielding to those who have control over you. Meek people are obedient people. Jesus obeys the heavenly Father perfectly, displaying His perfect meekness in submission to Him.  Scriptures teach that Moses was the meekest of all men, which means he was in complete submission to God’s will. To enter into eternal life; you must possess these qualities otherwise you will never come into compliance with scripture.

 1 Peter 5:5-6  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

The virtue of humility is so important in our relationship toward God that it is spoken of numerous times in the Scriptures.  Without humility people don’t feel sorry for what they’ve done wrong.  They have no desire to do the will of God.  Instead of feeling godly sorrow, they are filled with the fake laughter of an arrogant heart.

James 4:8-10  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

God sees everything and He rewards those who are truly humble before Him.

1 Peter 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Compliance to God’s will and directives requires humility.  Compliance is the action or fact of complying with a wish or command.  It is the act or process of doing what you have been asked or ordered to do.  Christianity is about compliance to the commands of Jesus.  It is the proof that we truly love Him in our hearts.  It is the way of knowing that we are abiding in the Fathers love.

John 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

1 John 2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1 John 3:24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him…..

Genuine Christianity will result in obedience to biblical teachings.

Romans 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Philippians 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Abraham’s wife obeyed him as an example to all wives of faith.

1 Peter 3:6  Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

So if you ever pray the Lord Prayer think about what you’re saying when you say the words……

…..Thy Will be Done.

Let’s think about these things for right now, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow.  Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

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Today we are going to learn about what hope is and what it means to be filled with hope, but first I have a short story I would like to share with you. I have been to a handful of different amusement parks over the years, some indoor, and some outdoor; some were water parks, and others were your standard theme parks, but each of them had one singular feature/requirement: you had to be at least a certain age or height to go on the ride. 

Now, I happened to go through a few sudden growth spurts in my earlier years, so I was a relatively tall child by the time I was 9 or 10, and could go onto pretty much any ride I wanted to, but I can remember the time when I sat in a line for a while, waiting for my turn on the ride, but when my turn to go on the ride came, someone said, “Wait.” I looked towards them and they directed me to go and stand next to a ruler against the wall to see if I was tall enough to ride. Well, unfortunately for me at the time, I was just a little bit too short to meet the required height limit, and had to turn around and go on some different rides. I could come back as soon as I was taller.

As you can imagine this was a rather disappointing moment, as I had been looking forward to going on this ride for quite a while, but there was nothing I could do. Hopefully I would grow enough and I could ride next year.

Over the next year I waited, as I slowly grew taller over and I continued to be filled with hope that the next time I went I would be tall enough for the ride.

After about a full year had passed, we again went to that amusement park, and I again stood in that line. But this time the result was different; I wasn’t stopped, but was instead let right through and onto the ride. I no longer needed to wait, my hope and patience had finally paid off. I was tall enough!

We need to be filled up with hope just like that as we wait until the day we go to be with the Lord. We want to be with Him so much, but our time is not yet. The promise of eternal life is such an incredible gift that we want to obtain it right now, but we need to be filled with patience, and continue to wait in hope for that day.

Romans 8:16-25  “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

To hope for something indicates that that we are waiting for something in the future. We don’t have it or see it yet, but we patiently wait and believe that someday we will.

The Bible is full of promises. Jesus says that if we shall ask anything in His name, He will do it (John 14:14). Jesus told us that He is preparing a place for us (John 14:2-3), and while we cannot see the place He is preparing for us right now, we know that Jesus will keep His promise. We just need to continue to wait in hope until that time.

It is the unseen things that we hope for, as Paul wrote. If we had eternal life right now, we would have no reason to hope for it. But because we don’t yet, we wait. We wait patiently, in hope.

In Christ,

Andrew

Good morning and welcome in everyone.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.

When I was in middle School, the School bell would ring signaling that it was time for changing classes.  As I quickly walked down the busy hallway, someone would trip me so that I fell down and lost all my books on the floor.  This happened numerous times, and for some people, it was a source of enjoyment to watch me fall flat on my face.  

In the Christian life we don’t want to trip others who are trying to walk steadily in their personal convictions toward God.  Some people have permanently given up coffee, being convicted that it is bad for them.  Maybe they drank it way to much.  You certainly don’t want to be a stumbling block and tempt them to have a cup of coffee with you.  We are not supposed to be a stumbling block like that to others, otherwise you can become responsible for their failure.  

Every man has certain weaknesses, or temptations in the flesh, whatever they may be.  You want to be mindful of the convictions of others, rather than convincing them to go against them.  The church is supposed to love one another, helping each other to overcome these temptations, rather than lead each other into a place of temptation.  This is what the devil did to Eve.  He convinced her to go against her conscience, and to disobey God’s will.  He was a huge stumblingblock and was punished accordingly.

In the church, we are trying to keep ourselves free from sin.  Each of us have certain convictions, depending on the sins that we lived in our past, or the way that we have been raised in scripture.  We need to lovingly submit to the convictions of others, so as to not lead them away from them.  Because of our carnal nature, all of us must deal with certain temptations in the flesh, but we must understand what each of us might be tempted by, so that we don’t become a stumbling block unto them.  Someone may have given up alcohol and refuses to drink it anymore.  You certainly don’t want to have a drink around them.  The Apostle Paul had temptations too.

Galatians 4:13-14  Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.  And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

The church did not condemn Paul’s personal temptations. Each of us deal with the sinful carnal nature. The church is a place that is filled with people who have come out of many sinful behaviors and are now trying to walk a life of faith and purity towards the will of God.  Each of us have done certain things in our past that we don’t want to be a part of anymore.  

For example, a woman is supposed to dress modestly in public. One reason is so that she doesn’t lead a man into a place of temptation, where he could have impure thoughts about her, or cause him to have a sinful desire to commit fornication with her. Many people in the church have had great difficulties with sexual temptations in their past and they don’t want to walk into the church and see women who are dressed up in all sorts of worldly attire.  They want to come out from the world,… not to see the world displayed in the church.

Even at certain public schools they have dress codes for this very reason.  If someone feels it’s inappropriate for you to be wearing it in public, then for their sake, you shouldn’t be wearing it. Otherwise you can tempt them and cause them to stumble and fall.  The Christian Life is thinking about the convictions of others, understanding them, and submitting to them so you don’t lead them into temptation.  There may be policies like no makeup, putting your hair up, or wearing long dresses that don’t display your figure.  These things are done so that you don’t lead other people astray from the struggles that one might have had previously. 

Instead of being part of the problem, Christianity is about being part of the solution.  We can aid others in their strugles to overcome, by our own actions towards them.  Not everybody shares the same convictions that we do, but we must bend to those who have them.

Romans 14:13-15, 21  Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.  I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.  But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.  It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

We also must remember that something wrong for one person might be alright for the next.  But just because it’s ok for you, doesn’t mean that you should tempt those who can’t do the same thing.  That’s what it means to be a stumblingblock.  You may have certain liberties in Christ to do certain things, while another persons conscience forbids them from that same activity.  You don’t ever want to do something that would cause others to become weak, or to do something contrary to their conscience.  In the church, people are trying to do the will of God,  trying to walk steadfastly and do what is right.  A stumbling block wants to prevent this from happening.  This is what the devil was essentially was trying to do Jesus in the desert, to get Him to go against biblical convictions. Impossible because He is the Word of God made flesh!

Some people in the church have turned away from false religions and activities, and converted to Christianity.  They are convicted in there own conscience how wrong it was for them to participate in such things. For their sake, there a certain things that you don’t want to do around them.

1 Corinthians 8:7-13  Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.  But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.  But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.  For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;  And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?  But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.  Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

You don’t want to cause your brother to sin by leading them into temptation through your actions.  It may be ok for you, when it’s not for them.  It could be just about anything, so be mindful of others.  On the quest to do what is morally right in both our minds and in the sight of God, make sure that you don’t cause others to……

….Trip

Let’s think about these things for right now, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow.  Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

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Have you ever witnessed a young child learning how to count their numbers? With an entire lifetime of knowledge ahead of them, learning to count is one of the very first steps on that path.

I personally can remember when I was about 5 or 6 beginning to learn my numbers. I had learned my first handful of numbers up to maybe 20 by that point, but when I began to go to school I really started to progress and learn more. It took a little bit of time for me to commit my numbers to memory, as I would always be at a number such as 49, and struggle to remember what came next. But I learned them eventually, all the way up to what I thought was an astronomically large number. 100! I was so happy and pleased with my success that I would repeatedly try to count as fast as I could up to 100, each time feeling a sense of accomplishment, and that feeling drove me to want to go even further. 200. 300. 1000. 

And you know, no one ever tried to stop me from counting higher. No one told me “stop” or tried to dissuade me from my learning. They were instead very supportive, and helpful, encouraging me to continue on. Which makes me wonder: what if the situation had been different, where instead of encouraging and helping me, I had been discouraged or deterred from my studies, would I have ever learned my numbers? If the fires of learning inside me had been quenched, would I have ever been able to count from 1 to 100?

And this is what our verse is about today. It is not a very long verse, but there is plenty to learn from it.

1 Thessalonians 5:19  “Quench not the Spirit.”

To quench, when used in this verse, means to extinguish or put out, such as a fire. Some of you may have been camping at a remote campsite, and after a day of sitting around the fire, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows you pack up everything and prepare to leave, but before you do you take a bucket of water and pour it onto the fire. You put the flames out, quenching the flames.

To quench the Spirit then means to try to put it out. To try to impede or stop someone from seeking, growing, or becoming stronger in their faith. A situation like this happened in Mark 10:13-16.

“And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 

But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.”

Here these young children had been brought to Jesus to be with Him, but the disciples had tried to stop them. This displeased our Lord greatly, and He allowed the children to come to Him. Jesus loves those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), and it is a seeking heart that we all need to be filled up with. Seeking to spend time with Christ in our prayers and personal time. Studying the scriptures and meditating on them. Helping others to grow stronger and wiser in their faith. All of these things are a very important part that we need to have in our lives as Christians, and we never want to discourage others from seeking to do God’s will for them.

The Apostle Paul wrote this same thing again in 1 Corinthians 15:58.  “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

Here was a great man of God who wanted the church to be steadfast in their faith, and to abound in the work of the Lord. He encouraged them to be strong and unmovable, having a faith that no one could shake. 

Paul again, in Titus 3:8: 

“This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”

“… be careful to maintain good works.” Words to live by. We need to be like Paul, encouraging others in their faith, not quenching the fires of the Holy Spirit. Not being a stumblingblock to others by discouraging them from learning about the things of Christ. Let them go to Jesus, let them count from 1 to 100.

In Christ,

Andrew

Good morning and welcome in everyone.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.

A lot of people have heard of a homing pigeon.  It’s claimed that these birds derived from the wild rock dove, and have been used in multiple applications because of their innate ability to find their way home over a long distance.  Flights as long as 1,100 miles have been recorded.  Because of their ability to find their way home, these birds were domesticated and used to carry messages throughout the ages.   They’ve been used for regular mail delivery and even by the military to deliver secret messages, both in World War I and World War II.  Some of these birds were presented with the Dickin medal, for their faithful service.

This reminds me of the Christian Life.

How does a pigeon find their way home?  Some people claim that these pigeons can sense the Earth’s magnetic fields and somehow use this as a direction finder.  For Christians, we find our way home by following Jesus, because He is the way.

John 14:5-6  Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Each day Jesus is guiding our hearts with a Spiritual compass, to find our way home to Him.  He leads us there through the teachings of His Holy Word.  He transforms our mind through our belief of biblical truth, and aims us in the right direction so that we can be together with Him forever.  True Christians are like a homing pigeon, setting our sights on going home, an heavenly one.  We too are traveling over a very long distance, but this one is going to take many years of time to complete.  We travel each day, then we rest, we get back up, and then do it again.  We fly a steadfast flight of faith, on our trip home to paradise.

For many years God has sent men into the world to preach His truth.  The Apostles and disciples of the Lord teach and instruct us the right path to go, leading us in the way of Christ.  They are filled up with wisdom and knowledge, gifts of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:13 – Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Ephesians 4:8, 11-15  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Just like a pigeon flies freely into the air, it’s trusting in scriptural truth that sets us free from our sins.  

John 8:32 – And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

We no longer follow the wide road that leads to destruction, but the Spiritual Compass in Christ’s Word.  

2 Thessalonians 2:15  Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

Heaven is a prepared place and we have to prepare for it now.  We are purified through our belief in Christ’s teachings, and abiding in them.

John 17:17 – Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

The Word of God was not written by men, but spirit-filled men,  guided by the Holy Spirit in their hearts and minds.  

1 Thessalonians 2:13  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

2 Peter 1:21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

The Lord Jesus teaches us that His home is waiting for us.

John 14:2-4  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Unlike this Earth and all the things on it that have been created by men, the home we wait for is created by God himself.

Hebrews 11:10 – For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

It’s been waiting for us since the very beginning.

Matthew 25:34 – Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 

Hebrews 13:14 – For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

Hebrews 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Spirit filled Christians understand that this is just a temporary place that we are passing through.  We’re flying through a period of time, to a destination that we cannot see yet, but we know it’s there.  For the time being it is invisible to us, but someday we are going to see it.  To get there it requires faith in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:7  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

We aren’t home yet, but like a pigeon on his way home, we continue flying the Spirit filled life, each and every day to get there.  It’s a long trip,  but we must keep racing forward, following and trusting Jesus as He guides our direction and shows us the way.  We must trust Him as He leads us onward by His Holy Spirit filled teachings in His Holy Word.  Anxiously we strive forward, awaiting the last day of flight, when we finally arrive in our heavenly home.  I guess that it always reminds me of the Christian Life, when I begin thinking about,…..

……The Homing Pigeon

Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.

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Note: Any copies may be printed and freely distributed among those who have no internet service. There is no AI creative involvement in my writings, and must be left intact because they are very personal to me. These are not to be sold, and are made public only for the free benefit of Spiritual knowledge to those who are genuinely seeking the will of God.

Something that every car owner should know is the importance of keeping their engines full of fresh, clean oil, because the oil in an engine is an essential piece that keeps it running smoothly and efficiently. But what happens if you take and pour in a few cups worth of water and sand into your engine? In a short amount of time you will completely ruin your motor, as the sand and water works its way into the places where the oil should have gone, and destroys the motor from within. 

This example I have used to try to illustrate what Paul had written to the Phillipian church. In this passage, Paul wrote that he had wanted the church to be united in the Spirit of God, all striving together for the gospel. 

Philippians 1:27  “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;”

To “stand fast” is a phrase that isn’t used too often today, but it means to be “firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong; steadfast, with unwavering feeling.”

So Paul was teaching that they needed to be strong and unwavering in their faith, and not just some of the people in the church, but he wanted them all to be united and of one mind. They all needed to believe the same things, and all in agreement in the truth of the scriptures.

Being of one mind and spirit is the oil in the engine. When foreign substances such as that water and sand enter in, it makes that engine break down and stop working as it should, just as an un-unified spirit can cause problems in the church.

This was such an important thing that Paul reiterated this again in the very next chapter.

Philippians 2:1-2  “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”

Notice the pattern here? Like-minded. Having the same love. One accord. One mind. Being filled with the unity of the Spirit.

Do you know who else wrote nearly exactly the same thing? Peter did. Peter was filled up with the same Holy Spirit as Paul, and his writings show this in 1 Peter 3:8. 

“Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:”

Fighting and contention have no place in the church, because it is not love. Fighting and contention is like pouring that sand in the motor, it just does not work. It is not being in the unity of the Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit is one Spirit, not many. It does not fight against itself. We have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit-and they are in perfect agreement because they are all one in Spirit. We need to be this same way towards each other. . 

When there was sin in the church, Paul had those individuals removed from the congregation because their unrepentance. He didn’t want the rest of the church to begin to believe that that kind of action was permittable, so he firmly rebuked them so that they would all be brought back into the unity of the spirit.

Remember, there is one Holy Spirit. Not two or three. Just one. There is one Lord, Jesus. Not many. One way to heaven, not multiple. Let us as servants of Christ be united in that Spirit.

In Christ,

Andrew

Good morning and welcome in everyone. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.

A coal miner has always had a very dangerous job. He needed to have a really good light to find his way through the dark mine passages, but until 1815 they would use candles, which was a great danger because it could ignite mixtures of methane gas that lingered in the mine, known as minedamp. They needed a safe light to guide their path in the darkness.

In approximately 1816, Sir Humphry Davy created an invention that is claimed to have saved as many as 500,000 lives worldwide. It is a wick lamp where the flame is enclosed inside of a mesh screen. He learned that a flame wouldn’t penetrate the mesh and couldn’t ignite the explosive gas in the mines. He had created a safety lamp, to guide miners through the numerous dangers underground.

This reminds me of the Christian Life.

The Word of God is our lamp to safely guide us through the dangers of this dark world.

Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The davy lamps were originally fueled by heavy vegetable oil and they needed to make sure that they were filled up and ready to go as they ventured out into the darkness.

Matthew 25:1-13 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

A man who ran out of oil, ran out of light to guide him in the coal tunnels. There are many people out in the world today that are very similar to the five foolish virgins, living their lives without the oil of God’s Word. We are supposed to let God’s light shine, but how is that possible if you run out of fuel? Scriptures provide the gas that we need, to light the flame, so that we can see where God wants us to go. It gives us the answers, so that we can become pleasing to God and do His will, rather than our own. Having His Word in your heart is like having batteries in a maplight, so that you can see the map in front of you.

Proverbs 6:23 – For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

John the Baptist was completely filled up with the Word of God, and preached to the people.

John 5:33-35 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

There were people who wouldn’t listen to John the baptist preach, just as others wouldn’t listen to our blessed Lord Jesus preaching God’s Word. Like the foolish virgins, they weren’t getting filled up on scriptural truth. It still continues today when people profess to be religious but can’t even see where they are going because they reject biblical truth that leads to conversion and doing the will of God from our hearts. Sometimes trying to help others grow in scripture can be like trying to talk to a brick wall. But when the blind follow the blind, both end up in the ditch. They are without understanding and spiritual comprehension because of their own unbelief. They blind themselves to the truth, and are lamps without any oil.

Matthew 13:13-15 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Certainly, there were many people who rejected the scriptural truths that the disciples of Jesus were preaching. But the disciples were filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit through the knowledge of God’s Word.

Hebrews 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

Remember the foolish virgins’ lamps ran out, and the flame died.

Luke 12:35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;

Each of us needs to be a light that shines in the dark place.

2 Peter 1:19 – We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Psalms 43:3 – O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

There are some who fill up on God’s Word, just like filling up a lamp each day.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

But there will be those who aren’t ready and don’t have oil in their lamps at all.

2 Timothy 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Thank the Lord each day for the free gift of fuel He gives us for our lanterns. It’s time to fill up our hearts just like….

….. The Davy Lamp

Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

tlkjbc.com