Old Jerry

Jesus focused the Parable of the Wise and Foolish builders because He wanted us to put into practice what He was teaching. Just believing isn’t knowing Jesus. We can always teach young Christians but is up to them to move from believing to true discipleship.

Jesus told the Parable of the Guilty Defendant because He wants us to repent right now and not later. The way that people we have wronged and to whom we have not kept our promises get in the way of worship because we will be thinking about our wrong doing while the preacher is trying to tell us truth about Jesus. We are to be friendly at all times when it is dependent on us so it would be hypocritical not to resolve our problems to the best of our ability.

Jesus and Jeremiah tell us that the heart of a man is very deceitful. The reason that we want to look good on the outside because that is what the people around us see. But only me and Jesus see what is on the inside. Repentance is needed so that we can cleans our hearts.

The servants that were sent to collect the landowner’s share of the crops represent the Prophets. Then Israel, who rejected God’s servants, were to be thrown out of the vineyard and destroyed. I have seen a church reject a pastor or leader that God had sent to help them. Unless a pastor or leader has the support of the congregation, they are almost helpless in spreading the work of God. In the Beatitudes, Jesus encouraged those who are rejected and persecuted by saying the they will first in the Kingdom of God.

The people that were invited to the banquet were the Jewish people. The people recruited from the streets and lanes of the city were the gentiles and the low lives is that society. The servant-recruiters was probably the apostles and disciples.

The excuse-makers represent the Pharisees and me when I make excuses for doing something the God wants me to do. The potential results of excusing ourselves from carrying out God’s will as we know it is being thrown out into the darkness where there will be mashing of teeth.

The spiritual leaders didn’t want God’s son to be with them and they were doing everything that they could to get rid of him. The thing that keeps the fruit of the Holy Spirit from growing and maturing in our lives is we aren’t always willing to do the work that God wants us to do. We disciples can learn from the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree that we need to get on board with Jesus or we too will be removed from his presents.

I saw justice and grace when the the king forgave that great amount of money owed. I saw greed and unforgiveness in the person who was trying to collect the debt owed to him. We are to incorporate in to our life’s forgiveness.

The woman must have been saved before the dinner because she was worshipping Jesus. If she knew nothing of Jesus then she probably wouldn’t have been there. We should express our gratitude for salvation be sharing it with others especially with the non-believer.

The things that are common in these Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin is that they are lost and then are found and there is a celebration after they are found. The parables tell us that the Father’s values are that He is always seeking the lost and when the lost come to Him he celebrates. The older son has always been faithful to h is Father and had done what the father has told him to do. The way that he lacks them is he no compassion for the lost. We should be on the lookout for those that are lost and to help them to come back to Jesus.

God is always looking for ways to bring his lost sheep to himself. When He does, He and the angels will celebrate. The Pharisees were always teaching those that were already religious and didn’t want any outsiders to join them. Jesus was always looking for the lost. The way we should disciple to the lose is when the opportunity comes up, we should talk about Jesus to them.

Prideful living is living for yourself and not considering others. Therefore, we could not show grace if we are living for ourselves. God opposes the proud because they aren’t doing anything for the kingdom, only for themselves. Humility makes us know that we don’t know it all and therefore we will listen to others.

I don’t think that it is possible to be grace-filled and stingy at the same time. You might want to look and see if you are really grace filled. This is so because it feels great to have God’s love that you want to share it with others. In giving you do your part and don’t look back while giving generously you give and are thinking of other ways to help.

The characteristic of a conversation with an unbeliever should be like talking with a friend. You would not offend them but offer them loving and kind words. The rule that we should follow when we speak is to speak gently. We don’t have to emulate our leaders’ words but we can speak kind those that are cursing us.

Ethical behaver is returning evil for evil. Grace is returning something good for evil. Jesus’ radical teaching is that we would never return evil for evil. We think we have to get even with the person that hurt us. But Jesus tells us to love them. One of the illustrations that Jesus uses to point out this teaching is when someone take your cloak you should also give him your tunic.

It is God’s grace that has made me the way that I am. I would be nothing without it. What I do is by God’s grace because I do things that I don’t understand why I did them.

God’s gifts of grace are immensely greater blessing to those who attend church because they are able to share what they have been given. They are able to talk to like minded people that helps them keep on track for the gospel.

Our responsibilities as stewards of God’s grace is to use it to the best of our of ability which God have given. We are his hands and feet on this earth so we should be going out and proclaiming God’s grace.

There is a close relationship between “grace and “gifts” because God is the giver of both. It is through God’s grace that we get our gifts. A generous person is always thankful for the gifts that they have received. The gift is the way that God equips us to be able to share what He has given us.

God’s power flourish best when we are weak because we have to be totally dependent on Him. God’s grace is “sufficient” to accomplish in or through us when we are speaking about Him. He is there for us when the whole world is upside down and we don’t want to be with that upside down world.

I think that the reason that we feel so weak in times of sickness or affliction because we have got our attention focused on that problem. We stop ministering to others when we are struggling because we are focused on ourselves.

We know that He is our great priest and we can go to him. We are intimidated because the leaders of our country would frown on those that were brave enough to approach them. So, we try to honor our King the same way. We know that we are sinners therefore we fear judgment and condemnation when we approach God. That is what would happen if we approached a great leader, they would just laugh at us. God is aways with us and we know that He does dispense “mercy and grace”.

I think that there are so many assurances of faith in the New Testament because we are to believe in something that we can’t see. Since we have a loving God, He just wants us to feel safe in his hands. The favorite promise of God’s role is that he is going to keep us save to the end and that he is with us at all times.

We have to have faith that God is always be there to protect us from the evil one. This shows us God grace because we are still sinners and God has forgiven us.

It is impossible for people to come to Christ without God’s action because we are such evil people. We would never think of a Higher Being if it weren’t for God.