Janzie

Because it has never happened before. Great civilizations come and go. World powers may last for a few decades, even a few hundred years, but then they fall before another ascendant power. Jesus' kingdom, however, will reign forever! "His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." (Daniel 7:14) Righteous government is so rare because many are still in sin, evil, corrupt, looking for power and not righteous. His Kingdom will be just and righteous, never endings and bring eternal life for those who follow after Him.

Wonderful Counselor - Meaning in every problem or decision need to be made in my life, He is there to give me counsel in every need. I just need to come to Him. Mighty God - He is the all powerful God, all knowing, all seeing, all wisdom. He is Mighty not just in my life but all over the world He has created. He is my Hero, the one who has delivered me, healed me, set me free, my Rescuer, a Mighty God. He fights all my battles, wins all my victories. Everlasting Father - He is a Father to the homeless, the sick, the needy and He is a Shepard to all His people, protecting them, providing for them, & caring for them. Prince of Peace - There is no other peace like His peace. He brings peace in the midst of a storm, comfort, rest. When things are a mess, you know He knows what is going on and all we need to do is to Trust Him. Knowing His titles shou8ld draw us to Him, looking to Him, trusting in Him and believing His Word and knowing He has already won the Victory.

People chose to live in darkness because they are afraid they have to give up something. But little do they know that Christ wants to enrich their lives. People resist the light of Jesus because they want to live life they want to, doing whatever they want to. I hesitate sometimes because I am afraid of what is coming or I won't be able to do it. Instead I need to let God work through me, trusting Him. The light transformed the reputation of Galilee because the Word says: "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." (Isaiah 9:1-2) Light transformed me and my old friends did not want to stick around me any more and therefore, I found new friends in Christ.

"If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:29) Isaac willfully submitted to his father, just as Jesus voluntarily submitted to His Father. Isaac was the only son of Abraham and Sarah, just as Jesus was God's only begotten Son.

I did have roses and had to prune them to stay healthy. I would first cut off the dead branches, so the life of the vine would go into the other ones. Then I would look at the branches that would be producing new nodes and cut above the node so they would produce new flowers and healthy ones. We are pruned and cleansed by the Word of God. It keeps us from sin and sinning and keeps our mind on God and the things of God. I find that staying away from God's Word puts you into the carnal realm and being pulled into the things of this world. As we get into the Word, the Lord can speak to us, we can acknowledge our sin and repent bringing cleansing and freedom from sin.

It tells us that Judah's descendant will be strong, powerful, overcoming and triumphant. Jesus qualifies for the promise of the ruling scepter as he is the Holy Son of God being obedient unto death that He might save many. He was the Deliverer of Mankind, King of King and Lord of Lords. Obedience is so hard for us, as we have our human nature and we have the ability to chose and unless Jesus is totally Lord over our lives we can chose disobedience, it is a struggle. It is so important for us, because that is how we grow in God. When we obey, we are blessed. When we disobey we cannot grow in God. Disobedience gets us no where.

Hypocrisy is easier to see someone's faults and weaknesses rather than our own. Sometimes we fall into hypocrisy without even knowing it. Always putting our best foot forward than really confessing our faults and shortcomings, and being transparent with others. Hypocrisy is so deadly to spiritual growth because it is hard to hear from God and when you are a hypocrit. It hinders our growth and does not give us the passion to witness and bring others to Christ and it clouds the gospel of God's love, that it will prevent many from being saved. It hinders our witness, obedience and being a real disciple. The antidote for hypocrisy is being open and transparent to others, even apologizing for our slip ups in not giving glory to God in everything we do.

People push themselves forward, because they think that they are more important than others, that they deserve it, are selfish and prideful. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Humility is so important because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Don't humiliate yourself, take the lowest place, Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. If we dont learn and internalize this lesson we will be humbled because God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Children's characteristic necessary for salvation is their innocence, openness, trust, receptivity and humility. The disciples were upset and angry thinking the children were bothering Jesus and they thought that they were unworthy, and unimportant, but Jesus welcomed them. The characteristic the disciples showed when arguing who was the greatest was their pride, thinking they were better and more deserving than the other disciple, but it is the one who is humble that is deserving and really God's pick. Humility is essential in repentance because we must come to Jesus with lack of pretension, In innocence, in faith believing that he died for us and gives us the grace, grace to change, to obey, and to be teachable. Because becoming like little children is how they should be, in humility believing God to save them. Coming to Jesus has nothing to do with your worthiness and everything to do with his willingness to forgive, cleanse, and transform you.

"The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself4: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men -- robbers, evildoers, adulterers -- or even like this tax collector. He thought he was better than sinners. He had a high example of himself. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'" (Luke 18:11-12) He was confident of his own righteousness. His actual sin was pride and self-righteousness. He knew he was a sinner. The tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'" (Luke 18:13) It is easier to promote ourselves in front of others rather than humble ourselves because we want recognition for what we have done - pride - and we want others to like us and see our better side and how happy we are - and not our weaknesses and problems. Like social media.🙂 He wanted them to know they were saved by grace, God's atonement and mercy and not their righteous deeds. That they were not to be prideful but humble and they are not better than others because we were all sinners and needed a Savior.

There is nothing more important in my life than Jesus. He gave me life when I was dead in trespasses and sin. He has changed my life completely and I praise Him; I would give them my testimony of how Jesus came into my life and how He changed me and continues to change me.

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." (Luke 9:23-24 If a disciple wants to take this step of commitment he must count the cost. If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." (Luke 9:23-24)when a disciple has accepted death, then no man can control him with fear; he belongs fully to Jesus, come what may.

No, because Jesus is God, creator of the universe, who made us and loves us, and longs for us to have fellowship with Him. Why can we not follow and obey Him? We sometimes forget about God and live in this world and do our own thing. We need to be reminded about the Savior and how much He loves us. We need a full heart surrender, not being afraid but totally surrendering, committing and trusting our lives to Him.

That Jesus comes first. We are not to make excuses but to be serious of following, believing and trusting in Jesus. He is to be first in line and our focus should be on Him and doing His will. Jesus is so urgent because time is running out and there are so many more needing to be saved and hear the message of the Kingdom. We need to step up our pace and declare the Word of the Lord, so people who are in need can hear the Word of God and follow Him. He was seeking to teach the disciple that they are to stay steadfast in Him and not to look back but to focus on Jesus and His will for them.

That we should make every effort to enter the Kingdom of God, strive, keep believing God and reading and studying His Word, being guided by the Spirit of God. We must be aggressive in our walk with God, hearing Him, getting to know Him by spending time with Him and staying in tune with Him. If we don't seek Him we will get cold and start serving the world and getting a hard heart. Because He doesn't want us to get cold and drift off. We just don't make a commitment and then fade away. He needs to be pursued, we need to put all our excuses away and spend quality time with Him. Let go of the things of this World and focus on Jesus.

Thorns of worry, not trusting God; going after wealth and wanting to become rich; desiring things we don't need - coveting; pleasures of this world, pursuing happiness apart from God - all choke the Word and make it unfruitful. A disciple is a follower of Jesus, one who hears the word of God and keeps it and seeks the Lord with all their hear, compared to people who seem to believe for a while and receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they don't persevere in faith, they "fall away. I can clear up the thorns in my life by seeking Jesus, not the things of this world and having ears to hear what the Spirit is saying.

Because they don't receive the Word and give it a chance to grow in their heart, the soil of their hearts is hard, persecution. They won't repent and let Jesus turn their life around.

He loves and cares for them, they are his, therefore he protects them from enemies and saves them. By caring for them, teaching them, loving them and dying for them so that they could be saved, follow Him and do as he did, love others and be willing to die for the Gospel. For us, In laying down His life, shedding His blood, forgiving our sin and giving us eternal life with Him. They were to lay down their lives by following Jesus, denying themselves, caring for others and their needs, putting others first, sharing the Gospel. When I first came to the Lord, there was a fellow named Norman who was a hippie, wearing overhauls, barefoot, came to the altar at our church and gave his life to the Lord. That was around 1973. Now after so many years he is a missionary in the Phillipines and Asia for over 25 years. Starting new churches. What a blessing, laying down his life for the ministry and others.

It is so important to know the voice of the Shepherd and obey it because if we don't we can easily be led astray. We hear many voices -- the pressures of our society's expectations, our family's desires, our own selfish desires, our own inner voices. It is possible to hear Jesus' voice and distinguish it from the others, but we must make a practice of learning which is which. And that is gotten by spending time with the Lord and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. having fellowship with Him. When we act independently of the Shepherd and we think we know best, we leave ourselves open for the thief and robber, making a way for the enemy. The sheep stray when they don't listen to the Lord do, our own thing and then we make ourselves open to the enemy.

That you can't put new wine in old wine skins because when you do that the old will burst. When you try to patch an old garment you can't use unshrunk cloth because it will tear and make it worse. In the spiritual realm the saying comes to mind - "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" People are used to the old way of doing things and they will not change unless they have an open heart to receive a new word which can give them freedom. In the case of wine, people say the old wine is better because it is mellow. People are used to the old way of doing things, they feel more comfortable and do not like change. Our church traditions limit the Holy Spirit's work in our, day because people like the old way and their traditions and are not about to change and are not open to what the Lord is really saying. When you get serious with God and really need Him, he hears your cry and brings truth to you where you can't refuse and makes you open to what He is doing today and reveals the truth about your old traditions. It is easier in a newly planted church, because preaching the Gospel to new Christians they are open and receive the Word. They they don't have a lot of baggage from other churches and when they hear the truth they receive it.

Although the mustard seed is very small when it is planted it grows to 4 or even 5 ft, like a tree so that even the birds perch in its branches and the yeast in leaven when it is first put together with the flour is small but given a chance to rise, the dough is overflowing in the bowl. Small beginnings, large endings. The disciples might have been discouraged because they didn't understand the Kingdom of God, because the Kingdom seemed very small and was not great in the start, but Jesus is saying that it will grow. But within a single generation after Christ's death, Christianity had spread all over the Roman empire and beyond -- India to the East, Ethiopia to the South, and Britannia to the West. Because we always think we are not doing enough, and we look at some other Christians and all they are doing. Patience and faith are so important. To His disciples because they saw His miracles and how He healed everyone who came to Him and wanted to be healed and that so built faith and patience in them. Faith and patience were built in us when Jesus came into our lives, as we were totally changed and an experience we can never forget, so that built faith in us and because of it, we have patience and we have to keep on keeping on.

Satan is the strong man. Jesus is the stronger warrior. Because Jesus is the Mighty Warrior, He is God having all power and authority. Because of His shed blood, dying, buried, raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father, He sent His Holy Spirit to all who accept and believe in Him. He sents us free. He is our Deliverer, He is our Savior, He is our Rescuer. He is the power of God working in us who believe. "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4) He will set anyone free who accepts and believes in Him and His finished work.

He wanted us to remember his dying on the cross for us for forgiveness of our sins. On the night of the last supper Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it and gave it to his disciples, While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.'7 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom.'" (Matthew 26:26-29)

The impossibility of a camel going through a needle, so impossible. Meaning we can't get to heaven on our own, or buy our way, or do enough deeds to get there. A rich man has just his riches, his treasures, and, good times, but will find himself wanting, because he is not able to give up those things and be humble enough to surrender to Jesus. Salvation is impossible for humans because good deeds won't get us there. Only our surrender to Jesus and believing He died for us, paid the price for our sins and has given us His grace and mercy.

Flowing or living water is symbolic of not just of life, but continuous, eternal, everlasting life. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Streams of living water will flow from within him, By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. The promise was in going to the Father He would send the Holy Spirit to those who believe. John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.