In Matthew 16:21, Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

Right after the glorious revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus began to reveal to the disciples God’s plan to redeem man. He revealed to the disciples the gospel before it even happened. The truth is Jesus was betrayed, beaten, killed, and raised up on the third day. Many of us seem to lose focus on that. We only want to talk about the love of Jesus, the great teachings of Jesus, to follow His examples, or the peace that He brings. However, without the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, everything else is utterly meaningless. Paul wrote without the resurrection of Jesus, our faith is in vain and we are to be pitied the most amongst all men. Without BOTH the death and resurrection, there is no Christianity, there is no redemption, there is no peace. Our faith lies upon two pillars. The first pillar is the death of Christ to wipe ALL of our sins away. We are covered by His precious blood. The second pillar is the resurrection of Christ. Through His resurrection, we have received a new life. Both are the two most essential components of our faith. If one is missing, the foundation completely falls to the ground. Thank you God for this newness of life in Jesus Christ you have so graciously given to us. Lord, let Your world fall on us to bring forth the fruit you deserve.

Respect can be defined as the condition of being honored or as an admiration or esteem. It seems we search our entire life to be respected. We feel as if we deserve respect. We even demand it. We puff our little chests and yell “I will be respected!” Why is respect so important in our lives? In Ephesians 5:33, the Bible tells wives to respect their husbands. God knows how important respect is to men. The Bible also tells husbands to love their wives. God also knows how important love is to women. However, we always forget right before wives are commanded to respect their husbands and husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, we are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the same Holy Spirit that came upon Jesus while being baptized by John the Baptist. The same spirit that goes to and from the earth and sees all things, knows all things, hears all things, knows our deepest thoughts, and all the secret desires of our heart. Without the Holy Spirit, the third person of the God-head, dwelling in us, we will never be able to truly love and respect each other.

However, something that I have realized lately is people are getting this idea that they deserve respect and can demand it. I’m not sure who put this idea into our mind. In actuality, we are not owed anything by anyone. We owe our lives to Jesus Christ for His sacrifice on the cross for us. He paid a debt that we could not pay. He paid it in full. Yet we always say we must be respected. We want the world to respect us. It seems we haven’t realized that the world hates us and its ultimate goal is to see us painfully and slowly die. It is like an insanity cycle. We say respect ME and the world spits in our face, so we try again and then the world slaps us. When will we learn to stop prostituting our lives with this world? We need to stop reading the parts of the Bible that make us feel good and dive into the complete and perfect word of God. We need to ask Jesus to live His life through us. We need to have the Holy Spirit empower us.

To all who are in Christ, yet demand respect from the world (one of our enemies), let’s take a logical approach at this. The world hates God and our Lord Jesus Christ. They always resist the Holy Spirit and blaspheme Him. Now, if we are in Christ, why would we expect respect from the same world that hates and has no respect for our Savior? That doesn’t make much sense.

In Matthew 16:7, after Jesus warns the disciples about the Pharisees, they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”

Although this statement amongst the disciples may be a bit humorous, it is also sad and describes our lives. Our minds are always preoccupied by the current state of our conditions that we may completely miss what God has to say to us. How many miracles and wonderful works has God worked in our lives? How many times has He kept us safe? He has delivered us out out of trouble over and over. Yet, it always seems to go right out the window when we are faced with uncertainty or adversity. It may be the loss of a job, a death in the family, or a mortgage that needs to be paid. There are so many different situations that occur in our lives. I know it happens to me many times. Then while I’m frantic and worrying, God tells me not to worry; He’s got it covered. Just recently, we were trying to figure out how we would solve a transportation issue for our vacation. Imagine that! Worrying about vacation. As usual, God gave the perfect solution at the perfect time because He is perfect. That is such a small example but it shows how God cares about the smallest details of our lives and wants to take care of those issues as well. Praise the Lord for His mercy. Thank God for His compassion. He is so patient with us. As He slowly refines our lives, being the great master potter that He is, He takes our worry, our thoughts, and other works of the flesh away from us and adds love, mercy, and compassion in our lives. The more we allow God to work in us, the more He transforms us into the image of His son Jesus Christ.

Fighting and going against God is so tiring and is a fight that we will never win. He wants to love us and take care of us. If anyone is yet to turn their life over to the Lord Jesus Christ, let today be the day! Ask Him into your heart and let Him do the mighty work He so desperately wants to do! Receive His precious salvation!

The question always arises “what do I need to do to be a perfect Christian?” I am sure many people have a plethora of answers on what it takes to be a perfect Christian. All these answers are the cause of denominational outbursts. Every time we disagree with what one another says or believes (in how to live the Christian life), we create our own brand new, hot off the press denomination to do what we want to do. Not only this is dangerous but it is also selfish. Religion is the biggest separation between man and God. Look at how separated the Pharisees were from God, yet they were very religious.  The separation happens because man moves away, but God always remains in the same spot. The wall that Christ destroyed between Jew and Gentile, circumcised and uncircumcised, and all the other methods of separation, man is trying to build back in Christianity. Once we allow religion to separate us from men, we then become separated from God. God wants us to have fellowship with one another. Also, the danger of this separation allows the enemy to make his way in and devour our souls.

The selfishness that occurs due to our weak knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is caused by a lack of communication with God. We may say that we pray every day, but my beloved, what are we praying for? Are we praying for the truth of God to be revealed in us so we can preach the word of God throughout the world? Or are we praying to worldly satisfaction? Do we want people to do everything the way we want it done because we are the perfect Christians? I say assuredly, when we continue to pray to God for something He does not want to give us, He eventually may allow us to obtain it, but it will also come with the consequences of why God didn’t want to grant that prayer request. Let us not blame the Lord for our selfishness.

This denomination outburst is incredible. We have become so divided in order to have a higher place so in this world to say we are doing the will of God. The commandments of Jesus Christ were to “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39) Our selfishness causes us to be divided; we are unwilling to accept one another. We are so stiff-necked and hard-hearted. We all want the Word to conform to our lives and to be shaped around our selfish nature. We must shape our lives around the Word of God so it can mold us into His perfect image.

I have seen so many denominations of Christianity that will not even listen, let alone acknowledge another denomination because they do not do the same things or follow the same rituals that they do. We all want to have people convert to our denomination by teaching why our denomination is better than all the other ones, but where is the Word of God? Where is the encouragement to love brothers and sisters and to tend to the lost sheep? Yet we keep statistics of how many converts we make, and how many members we have, how much money we raise, building projects, and all this worldly information so we may boast. This information is not for the Lord because He already knows! Why does it matter how many members a church has or how many people converted?

Speaking to a Catholic relative the other day, she told me the Catholic Church is the ONLY church because it is the “universal” church and is the church that Simon Peter established. I say assuredly, the ONLY church is the Church that the Lord Jesus Christ established. That is the universal church. What we label a church is not what makes it the Church of Christ, it is what our spirits put into it and what our spirits get out of it that makes it the church. Whether we are Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, or any other denomination of Christianity, we are ALL baptized by the SAME Holy Spirit and none of us is any different from the other. To be a Christian, we must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If we do not trust Him, rely upon Him, cling onto Him, knowing that He died for our sins, but rose again on the third day by the power of God the Father, and have the assurance of salvation, that we will be with Him in eternity, we are not yet a true Christian. We are just going along with the label. Whatever denomination we claim, the ONLY thing that truly matters is that we preach the Word of God and we live accordingly to the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ. Assuredly, if we want to stand to worship, sit to worship, wear earrings or not wear earrings, hats or not hats, sneakers or shoes, and the list can go on and on, do it for the glory of God. Just love the Lord and praise God for giving us life! Don’t let petty rituals and religion get in the way of the loving relationship we have with our Savior, our Comforter, our Friend, our Protector, our Provider, our Messiah, our Christ, our Lord, OUR GOD!!!

In Romans 14:1 the apostle Paul writes “As FOR the man who is a weak believer, welcome him [into your fellowship], but not to criticize his opinions or pass judgment on his scruples or perplex him with discussions.” (Amplified Bible)

Who are we to say a person is a weak believer and tell them how they serve the Lord is wrong? Let the Lord guide them as we unite with them in fellowship. Let us not cause brothers and sisters to fall because we do not agree with their methods. The way they serve may bring them closer to God the same way we serve brings us closer to God. If the way we serve doesn’t bring us closer to God, maybe we are really the weak believer and should be the one asking for their guidance.

I actually have an answer to the opening question “how to be a perfect Christian?” The answer is simple. The Lord Jesus Christ answered it to for us two thousand years ago. If someone disagrees, you are not disagreeing with me because I didn’t say it; I’m just quoting my Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. The answer is to love God with your all and ask Him to let the Holy Spirit guide us. Once we have truly opened our hearts and accepted the Holy Spirit, it will unite us with our brothers and sisters covered by the blood of Jesus Christ regardless of which denomination of Christianity we belong to. Let the labels not divide us, but let Christ unite us! We shall speak out on what is against the will of God, provide support for the body of Christ, helping each other grow in truth accepting each other’s differences, so in all ways we can glorify Christ, our Savior and King.

Paul says in Acts 21:13, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

With the certainty that Jesus gives us, and the love that He has for us, those who truly believe and completely trust in Him have no limitations to sharing the gospel. Many people reject it, but some do accept Christ into their lives after hearing the love that Christ has for them. As Paul expresses he becomes all things to all men with the hope of winning a few for Christ Jesus. At times, we will be persecuted, ridiculed, even attempts to hurt us because we share the love of Christ to the world. Let us share the same assurance and confidence that Paul has in Christ and live without fear or limitations. It is a beautiful love story how Christ died for our sins while we were still sinning; we should be honored to live without limitations, even including death, for His name, His life, and for the fact that He still lives today!

In John 9:25, after Jesus healed the man who was born blind, and the blind man was vigorously questioned by the Pharisees on the validity of his eye sight being restored. They advised Him to give the glory to God because the man who healed him (Jesus) is a sinner. In John 9:25, the blind man responds, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

One thing is for sure, all though we once were blind as well, all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have a personal, intimate relationship with him, we are now able to see. No matter what people say against Christ, with various methods to make Him seem that all He has done is not true, or the Bible full of errors amazes me by the amount of ignorance possessed by ‘man‘. We are so quick to accept a history book with information (which constantly proves what the Bible said thousands of years ago), but we reject the true History book that tells us about all creation. It amazes me how the book that is not a history book has so much history in it, and a book that is a history book has barely any history in it. Regardless of the fact, we once were blind and followed the ways of the world. Christ Jesus provided us the Light that our spiritual eyes needed so they may be opened, our chains of slavery to sin sin broken, and our lives to have been healed. No matter what people say, let us be convinced and persuaded, that we will not be separated from the love we have in Christ. Neither death or life can severe, heights or depths can measure the amount of love Christ has for us and the love we have for him. Amen.

Jesus says in John 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

There is a difference being weak in spirit and going against the Spirit. When we are weak in spirit, we allow the Holy Spirit to begin to be a light to our path, and although we may stumble as toddlers in the faith, we are striving to build up strong spiritual legs. As time passes, we become strengthened as long as we humble ourselves. However, if we blatantly go against the Holy Spirit, how can we honestly say we love God? The way we dress and carry ourselves which bring lustful or deceitful thoughts to those who witness us, or the profane words that come from our mouths that preach hate, envy, greed and more are the same mouths and bodies that say they love God. Acts 5:1-9 speaks on lying to the Holy Spirit and how the lives of Ananias and his wife were taken in an instance. Let us pray for those who are constantly lying to the Lord our God their eyes be opened and realize that God knows all things. He is giving an opportunity to repent and turn from our lying wicked ways. Love has no measure so take the time to look at yourself in the spiritual mirror and ask the question: “Do I really love God?” If the answer is yes, let’s obey His commands. God bless!

In John 21:15 it reads:

15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

We all know that Jesus asked Simon Peter three times if He loved Him to restore Peter after His denial of Christ when He was arrested the night of His betrayal. Let us focus on the first time the Lord asked Peter if he loved Him. He asked “do you love me more than these?” In our lives, Jesus asks us the same thing. Look around at all the things and people that we have here on earth, and ask ourselves how much do we value them. Do we value our cars, houses, jewelry, jobs, money, wives, husbands, children, parents and anything else imaginable more than Christ, the risen Lord, King, and Savior who died for and with our sins, took them far away, and resurrected back to Heaven to be with the Father? We must be careful not to let the fruits of this world blind us from what is important. It is nice to have “stuff,” but it is LIFE to have Christ who redeems us and makes us righteous before of the Father.

May the Lord bless you now and forever more and give you life, life more abundantly.

John 15:14-15 in the Amplified Bible reads:

¹⁴You are My friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do.

¹⁵I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.]

We are never alone. If you have ever felt that this world has left you out or left you behind because of the fast pace it moves at, remember that Jesus calls us His friend. This is a friendship far greater and far more worthy than any friendship we can ever experience on earth. Never doubt God’s love for us. He tells us exactly how much He loves us in John 3:16. Then Jesus tells us exactly how much He loves us in John 15:9. Then He shows us how much He loves us by dying on the cross. As Jesus said, there is no greater love than someone who would lay down His life for His friends. He laid down His life on the cross for us, and in turn, that makes Him our friend!

John 15:13 from the Amplified Bible reads “No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends.”

We have never truly loved someone until Jesus comes into our lives through His Holy Spirit, reformats our mind, body, heart and soul, and teaches us how to truly love another as He loved and continues to love us. We often take the phrase “I love you” for granted, but deep in our hearts, it is only the first part of what we really mean. What we really mean is “I love you up to this point” or “I love you because…(and there are many ways we can finish this statement)” However, with Jesus as our guide, we will love each other because He is love. He instills inside of us unconditional (Agape) love. We understand that we are not perfect to each other, but the love of Jesus is the glue that keeps us together. We can say we love someone, but we will never know how much we do until that love is tested in unforeseen circumstances. Assuredly, the love we possess for one another will truly reveal itself as the love of Christ was revealed on the cross.

Our prayer on love is a simple one, “Lord, teach me how to love as You love me.” As Jesus said to the disciples, whatever you ask in My name to the Father, it shall be given.