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Showing posts from January, 2020

Bible Character Studies: Peter. Pt. 7 Peter's wrong view of forgiveness is corrected.

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Good morning, Today the Lord is going to show us the depths of His forgiveness to those who are born again.  The Father's forgiveness is full and complete because it is anchored in the work of His Son in whom He is welled pleased. Matthew 18:15-17  Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17  And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.   In the paragraph above Jesus lays out the details of how church discipline should function. If a brother sins against one of us we are to go to that brother and make him aware of the issue. He may listen and seek to resolve the sin so that it is no longer causing a pr

Bible Character Studies: Peter. Pt. 6 Peter earned a rebuke from Christ and from the Father!

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Good Morning... Have a blessed day in the Lord today! Jesus foretells His death and Peter blows up Matthew 16:21-23  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.  22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.  23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.   The disciples  heard Jesus foretell about Peter being used in the formation of His church and they witnessed all the miracles Christ worked. They listened to the sermons when He preached the pure doctrines of God.  Now, Peter is going to impulsively put his foot back into his mouth. Jesus is starting to teach them about the road He must travel going to Jerusalem

Bible Character Studies: Peter. Pt. 5 Christ is the Rock & Peter a pebble.

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Good Morning to each of you this!  I am praying these lessons on Peter will show us that God can use each one of us as vessels to spread the good news! Let's pick up where we left off in the last post with regard to Peter's confession of faith.  Mathew 16:17-20  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.  18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  19  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  20  Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.  Jesus responded to Peters triumphant expression of faith and it is noteworthy to see what our Lord said. Christ is going

Bible Character Studies: Peter. Pt. 4 Faith questions and Peter's powerful confession!

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Good Morning to everyone this new beginning of the day. Can we think about this?  God's mercies are new every morning for us!  As we go do our varies tasks today, I pray that each of us will extend mercies to those around us too.  What did Peter and the disciples see happen after Jesus taught them about the things that truly defile a man? Matthew 15:21-39 ends with the disciples seeing the daughter of a Canaanite woman healed by Christ, and another great multitude of 4,000 fed by the Lord. In between these two events they watched Jesus minister to large numbers of people by healing those who were blind, deaf, lame so that the people "glorified the God of Israel." The first part of Matthew 16 find the Pharisees and Sadducees demanding a sign from Jesus and Christ's warning to beware the leaven (false doctrine) of the Pharisees.  This leads us to the next time that we find Peter mentioned by name. Matthew 16:13-20  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesa

Bible Character Studies: Peter. Pt. 3 Peter's ignorance raises the issue of our wayward hearts.

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Good Morning Brothers and Sisters in Christ, What will today bring into our lives?  It may be happy moments, stressful times or even heartache.  But whatever it is, the believer can rejoice in knowing that our Father knows exactly what we need on this day.  Religious leaders had bad hearts! In Matthew 15:1-9 Jesus brings out in the light the problem with the religious leaders (scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees). They had bad hearts. Not in the physical sense like someone needing heart surgery. No, their hearts were spiritually rotten.  They came to Jesus criticizing Him because His disciples are eating bread without washing their hands. There is nothing in God's Holy law about the people needing to do this. It was a ritual washing imposed on the people by the religious leaders. God did not command this.  Matthew 15:7 -9 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,  8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their h

Bible Character Studies: Peter, Pt. 2 Bold, impulsive, afraid and wavering at the same time!

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It's a new Lord's Day today.  I pray our day will be filled with praise and worship to the King of Glory and our minds will be renewed by the washing of His word. Have a wonderful day! Peter was a family man, a hard worker and a good provider.   Matthew 8:14-15  And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. 15  And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.   The next time we read about Peter in Matthew's gospel is where we learn that Peter was married. we also learn that Peter had a home and that his mother-in-law lived with them.  The name "Peter" means a rock. We also learn the name of his father because in this text he was called "Simon bar Jona" which means Simon son of Jona (Matthew 16:17). The village Bethsaida was birthplace to 3 of the apostles, Peter, Andrew and Philip. It was an important fishing village located where the Jordan

Bible Character Studies: Peter. Pt 1 A Simple Fisherman Follows Christ

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Good Morning, This is the beginning of our character study on Peter.  We will see  that he was very much as we were. Hard working, the head of his household and he would have had good days and bad days.  His character was good but it also needed some work.  Like I said, he was alot like we were.  Let's watch how the Lord changes Peter. Matthew 4:18-20  And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20  And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.  Peter and his brother Andrew were the first 2 disciples Christ called into ministry. Peter was a fisherman which tells us a lot about the man, Peter. At the time of Christ fishermen were strong men who often took decisive actions. Although they were considered to be ignorant and unlearned, fishermen learned much about the weather, the patt