Jim Hill: I hope all things are well. No matter why we walked away? The Father has opened Arms, waiting for our return! All his children one time or another sIn. Not like we did before salvation, for in Christ we sin a lot less! Thank you Lord for 1John 1:9. Some of us even take a walk for one day,one week, one year--? The Father is calling tenderly,gingerly come home. The end is in sight
E.Lesser: Matthew 22, Luke 14:16-24 is about non-believers being invited to come to the supper prepared for whosoever is on the list. Most are too busy to be bothered they are on Broadway Matthew7:13. If you're not on the guest list "Revelations20.15".
Have you been invited? John6:44,ready 1John 1:9,Matthew3:11.
You will know !! 2nd Corinthians5:17. What a day that will be!
Never ending never
After my initial salvation 21 years ago according to the Word of God Acts 2:38 to bear His cross is to endure to the end. Matthew 10:22 To endure is to live in the Spirit by actively displaying the fruit of the Spirit Matthew 7:20Galatians 5:22-23 God bless you all.
The cross that Jesus bore was doing the will of the Father. He said "Not my will , but thy will be done". He did what God commanded of Him to do. He was willing to do what His Father commanded. My cross is to do whatever my Father commands me from His word.
Mathew 10;37 If you love your father or mother more than me, you are not worthy of me. If you love son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of me. Meaning if you let anything take your mind off of God, you are not worthy of him. If you follow after the ways of the world, you have chosen the world. you cannot serve two masters. if something is a distraction from him, he will remove it.
I do not believe Jesus said Luke 14: 16 it is a error of some kind . Church teaches it means something else ,which is brain washing. If Jesus did not mean what he said then why say it ? The verse got mixed up through thousands of translations and hinders of years. We are not a wittness to anything in the bible.
In response to Motdaugrnds's statement perhaps I was being esoteric when I said one must hate the hate. It's not easily understood. God does not want hate in the world and God does not want one to love evil. Evil is hate. One must hate evil to love what is good. There must be division at some point recognizing what is wrong for the good of mankind and what is not. God is love but at some point he will send Jesus to kill those that do not love but instead they hate others for personal gain and control. Armageddon is the result of God hating the hate. The kind of thoughts we have and the kind of attitudes we hold reflect our spiritual being. God will renew and restore love for all eliminating hate from the world but until then we must hate, meaning strongly disapprove of because it is opposite of the divine direction Jesus has given us, the hatefulness of others and replace it with compassion in our hearts. Faith encourages one to understand that to hate hate which is to be in opposition to evil, is to love.
Sunday you can separate yourself from those who would influence you away from our Savior without hating them. You can, also, identify wrong "behaviors" in self and others without hating those behaviors. Seems to me that spending any time at all "hating" will not bring one closer to a character Jesus would approve of.
The meaning of this verse is that Jesus is the ultimate gift ever released by God and you have to hate any body mother, father,sister, brother, wife,children personal habits etc capable of making you to loose Jesus in your life. This is because any body that can make you to loose Jesus has lost Him already and is heading to hell. So instead of all of you heading to hell, it is better that you separate yourself after frantic effort to align them to Jesus fails.
Insight 777, You sound as though you have a good grip on the spiritual side of man however, I caution you about what you've said about "hating the hate". Please do not practice what you are saying you know is wrong.
I'm so blessed to read and learn,I have no comments about others, Jesus made it plain,Every time I study the word,I'm drawn closer to the savior ,Thank you for spiritual ears to hear,and walking close to thee.Thank you Jesus and forgive me if I have disobey your word,Our one purpose is to serve and worship you.
Ive gotten married and cant come.no doubt he accepted the invatation according to tradition.to he invited to a banquet was a great call to attend seems if he truly wanted to go he would have made an effort to bring his wife.but it seem an excuse is what he needed to not attend how many will not heed to the invatation god gives for heaven.many are called but few are chosen.all are invited but many wont come because. With the invatation comes responsibility to follow christ
Being a Follower and disciple of Jesus Christ, We must possess the character that Jesus has. And it is not hard to do that if we really know who we are. God created us in His IMAGE and LIKENESS..it is built in to us that we POSSESS the CHARACTER that Jesus also had.....just READ the Bible and Have Faith and Pray to God..and no doubt He will Give us Understanding and Wisdom.,,,God Bless
verse 27, the cross that the followers of Jesus bear is the prayer that connects with the spirit of God. Prayer enables people to continue with faith in Jesus. Our earthy bodies are composed of elements that age and eventually die crumbling into dust. Our physical bodies contain our thoughts, our life energy, that is our life being. But this life being dies with the mortal body as there is no longer a vessel to contain it. This life being, symbolically wine, will be put in a new vessel that will never perish. The mortal body will be given an immortal body. Through prayer and connection with Jesus this fragile, expendable life energy becomes powerful spiritual energy sustained by God. Gods will and plan for man to have eternal life in love, peace and joy is a spiritual energy that is the power of the Holy Spirit. When we pray opening our mind to the divine guidance, including baptism, of Jesus then we are granted the Divine life from God which is the source of all life. Jesus died on the cross, causing it to become symbolically our tree of eternal life. Man must bear his cross realizing there is no life after the death of the body except with the resurrection of Jesus. Sharing this knowledge is building the church. Harmony in this thought and prayer builds goodwill with others and a solid foundation of love for all mankind to receive the grace of God. "According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation. " - 1 Corinthians 3.10
The way I understand verse 26 connects with the way I understand verse 27, i.e. Jesus is talking of the sinful nature of man. He has already told us to "honor " our parents so verse 26 cannot contradict this and I do know the "cross " we are to carry is our sinful nature. Thus, it only makes sense He is talking about that part of man, i.e. the carnal minded one, that is out of harmony with a spiritual life.
As I sit here reading some of your comments it helped me understand it better! Thank you all so much! I love each and every one of you, Even though I don 't know you But god loves you way more! Pray for me!
The person who can not part with his belonging can not be a disciple of Christ. In some countries there is so much emphasis put on material things. However, Jesus Christ was described as not having a place to lay his head. It 's hard to not become attached to material possessions, especially when they provide so much comfort. This scripture helps to keep in mind the place of material things. They can not save when in a crisis.
I think it could be easy for someone to draw a negative conclusion to what this verse is say 'n. Especially one who 's try 'n to FIND SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE WORD OF GOD.........WE can 't have a love FOR ANYTHING or ANYONE that will get in the way of FOLLOWING WHOLEHEARTEDLY OBEY 'n GOD NOTHING NO ONE....GOD 1st in all things....
The Letter killeth the Spirit keepeth alive. The word is not enough alone. The Holy Spirit will guide you. common sense ALMOST every time. Common sense says God does NOT want me to hate my parents. However for some it is a knee jerk reaction to reject any association of the word Hate with GOD. As if He couldn 't or wouldn 't. He can He does. God Hates just as passionately as He loves. i.e.Romans Chap.1 He is a God capable of eternal love forgivness He is a God capable of Wrath Judgment. To leave out this attribute is a dangerous mistake that can lead to destruction. He is not a one dimensional God.
God doesnt want us to " hate " anyone as we understand hate. The word " hate "in biblical form means to love less. Why would God say honor your father and mother then tell you to hate them? That wouldnt make any sense. God wants to be first and He is supposed to be as the Creator full of love mercy and grace none of which we deserved. Love your neighbor as yourself but put God first! Blessins!!!
To carry my cross and follow Jesus means, All troubles and tribulations in life dont distract me from doing whats right in Gods sight whatsoever life throws at me, i just trust God to see me through and continue doing God 's will amidst the troubles.
After we are told to surrender all we have to Jesus, we still have something to give, our very lives verse 26 27 . Being a disciple of Christ is not easy. The cost is very great. If we want to be truly found in him, we have to pay the price. We have to be willing to lay our lives and all we have on the altar. Whatever it takes, Lord let me be ready to give. Anything just to be found in you. "I surrender all I surrender all All to thee My blessed saviour I surrender all. " Amen.
Have you been invited? John6:44,ready 1John 1:9,Matthew3:11.
You will know !! 2nd Corinthians5:17. What a day that will be!
Never ending never