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#15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20 #21 #22 # 14 Matthew
22:2-14 [Jesus
said:] "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a
wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been
invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent
out other slaves saying, " Tell those who have been invited, Behold I
have prepared a dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered
and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast." But they paid no
attention and went their way, one to his own farm another to his business,
and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. But the
king was enraged and sent his armies, destroyed the murderers, and set their
city on fire, and then he said to his slaves "The wedding is ready, but
those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways and
as many as you find there invite to the wedding feast." And those slaves
went out into the streets and gathered together all they found both evil and
good, and the wedding halls were filled with many guests. But when the king
came to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in
wedding clothes, and he said to him " How did you come in here without
wedding clothes?" And he was speechless. Then the king said to the
servants "Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness
that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." for many are
called but few are chosen. ~ I
believe that Jesus is referring to that free gift we talked about in the last
issue. See when he was talking about the king he was referring to God, and
when he talked about the servants he was referring to us. This shows how the
people do not accept such a kool thing they just pass it up! They ignore God
and therefore they don't get to go to the wedding feast. But for those who
did listen they got to have a good time with the king! As for the one who
showed up without wedding clothes. That is like the hypocrite that is among
all of us. There is always one who knows who God is and who says that they
believe in him, but they really do not believe with their heart, and
therefore they are going to "the outer darkness" which is hell.
Don't be like those who didn't listen to the king and passed up his wedding
feast. For they got punished for what they did. (They killed the slaves
remember?) And don't be like the hypocrite who got cast into the outer
darkness. Accept God's gift today and you shall have many rewards. Once we
talk about Heaven you will see how wonderful it is and how you CAN NOT pass
this up at all. ~~~~~~~ Revelation 21:18-23 And
the material of the wall was Jasper; and the city was pure gold, like glass. Revelation 22:1-5 And
he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the
throne of God Isaiah 25:8 ..And
the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. And He will remove the
reproach of His John 14:2 In
my fathers house there are many dwelling places, if it were not so I would
have told you ~~ Those verses are basically self explanatory. There will be 12 gates made out of pearls at the entrance to The New Jerusalem, streets made of pure gold, our own places to live in, a tree of life, a really pretty river that is as clear as crystal, And so much more!! Doesn't it sound wonderful? And just imagine, no more tears or sorrow, no more pain, sickness, or dying!! ~~ Dear Danielle, ~ Mellissa, 1 Peter 2:21 ~ Christ left us an example, a good one! One that we can all follow! We can look at how Jesus lived, and live just like him. God gave us a goal, and that goal is to be just like Jesus. And it is a goal that we can reach. Because if it wasn't, why would He give us that goal? It would be pointless!! ~ ~ Dear Danie, ~ Dear Taylor, ~ Matthew 6:5-15 ~ Matthew talks about
how we should pray, and shows us a specific type of prayer. Jesus said that
you should pray in private, and that way it can be just you and God, and in a
humble manner. ~~ Dear Danielle, How come doing good things, and obeying God's Law won't get me
into Heaven? Joel, 13, New Jersey ~ Dear Joel, A lot of people think that if you live a good life you can get
into Heaven, well its not true, just read the following verses and you will
understand! ~ Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in
God's sight, for by the law you know your sins. Romans 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from
the deeds of the law. Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of
yourselves it is a gift from God not of works lest any man should boast. ~ The Old Testament books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy contain the law of God that He gave to His people. But it is
impossible for anyone except Jesus Christ to keep the law perfectly. God gave
the law so that we know that we are sinners who need a savior! And Ephesians says that you can't earn your way to heaven, but
that the way to Heaven is a FREE gift from God. Just think we don't have to do it ourselves, it’s not like a
chore with allowance, and then once you get enough money you can buy what
you've been saving for. NO! Not at all!! So Joel, that's why; because the law
is there to show us that we can't get to Heaven on our own, and doing good
deeds just isn't good enough. And you need to just accept that it is a free
gift! Hope that answers your question, and have a good week everybody!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Danielle, I have been going through a lot lately, a lot of heartbreak and emotional
things. I don't know what to do, sometimes I just feel like giving up. What
can I do?? Anon.-- Colorado ~ You should never give up just because of heartbreak or emotional
things that you go through and this will explain why.... ~ Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are
crushed in spirit. ~ Jesus stays with us to comfort us when we hurt. Three weeks
before the beginning of my senior year of high school, my friend Peggy was
thrown from a horse and died. Peggy had been my neighbor and my good friend
for as long as I could remember. My heart physically hurt as I sat and cried
with her family, and helped them to make those difficult phone calls to
friends and loved ones. We were comforted by the fact that Peggy was a
Christian and we knew that she was with Jesus, but it didn't make us miss her
any less. Peggy and I were both on the tennis team, which had just started
practicing for our fall season, and over the next week as I drove to practice
without her; I felt a painful emptiness inside. All of us go through hard times, and most of us know what it's
like to feel brokenhearted. For you, it may have been when someone rejected
you, when a friend broke a confidence, or when you were cut from the team.
Or, it could have been when you did not get a part in the plat, when someone
spread false gossip about you, or when you had to deal with the pain of your
parents' divorce. Being brokenhearted isn't fun and picking your self up back
again isn't easy. It's during these times that it is especially important to
know that we are not alone. In this weeks verse, God promises that He
"is close to the broken hearted." This isn't a suggestion, but a
promise. God is telling us that when we are brokenhearted, He is there. He
cares about how we feel, and sticks close beside us when we walk through
painful times. He stays wit us all the way, and heals the broken places in
our hearts. And remember that he will never leave you nor forsake you and
he will be a friend when there is no one else to turn to. He will be the
better than any friend, boy friend, girl friend, etc. That you can/will ever
have in your life. He always listens to you, will never betray you and will
love you no matter what. I hope that helps you and every one else this week.
I know it helped me a lot too. Do it: The next time that you are hurting, claim this promise from Psalm
34:18, or share this verse with someone you know who is going through a tough
time. Pray it: Dear Jesus, I thank you that no matter how bad things might look
from time to time, You are close to me when I am hurting. Please help me to
remember that I am never alone, and to turn to You for comfort when I am
broken hearted. Help me to trust that my heart can never be too broken for
You to heal. Amen. Dear Danielle, I just wanted you opinion on this, You know how we all have doubts. About almost everything! Like clothes,
and dates, and more importantly God. So I've always believed that doubting
God is bad. But it doesn't seem like something you can help. You can't
exactly help it when those thoughts pop into your head. Do you get it? Could
you please tell me what you think about this? My Bible has these verses in it
to make you feel better when you ARE in doubt. But that doesn't exactly
answer my questions. Whether or not you can actually help the doubtful
thoughts. ~ Dear Kelley, I don't think it is "wrong" to doubt God but when we do
doubt, it is because we are going through a tough time in our lives. Or
something really bad has happened lately. And your right, you can't really
help but thinking those things sometimes. ~ Matthew 14:28 - 31 And Peter answered and said; "Lord if it is you, command me
to come to you on the water" and He (Jesus) said to Peter
"Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came
toward Jesus. But seeing the wind he became afraid, and beginning to sink he said
"Lord save me!" And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of Him
saying "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" ~ We see Jesus, and focus on Him, and sometimes we can let fear
doubt our minds, along with many other things. But Jesus is right there to
pull us up out of the water and reassure our faith. There is no need to doubt God. He has proven everything He has
said! But when we are in doubt all we need to do is call on Jesus to
save us from sinking. Remember He will always be there no matter what, just call His
name and he will pull you up out of the water and show you the truth. ~ Do it: The next time you are in doubt or even just thinking about stuff
that is clearly against what you believe go to Jesus in prayer and ask Him to
pull you up out of that water and show you the way. You will be surprised at
the results. Everyone in their life time doubts God at one point or another,
but sometimes they don't find there way back to Him. Just rely on God and He
will help you. Pray it: Dear Jesus, I don't want to be in doubt anymore. Please help me
to reassure my faith in you. Pull me up out of the waters of doubt Lord
Jesus. I love you and want you with me I don't want this doubt to hurt my relationship
with you. In Christ's name, Amen. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Danielle, Luke, (some where in the beginning) has a few verses that say
something like "Bless those who hate you, pray for those who lay curses upon
you. (((I believe that is close to the wording))) Then it says that "Do
unto others...." thing. What does it mean when it says Bless? What does Bless mean? ~ Dear Taylor, That is a good question, and here are the exact verses with your
answers. ~ Luke 6:28 Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; Bless and do not curse Bless in these verses -- give them something good, in this case it
is good words and not bad. ~ Bless can mean many different things, but in these verses Jesus
is basically saying not to repay evil with evil, and that you should turn the
other cheek. Revenge is not a good thing even though sometimes it may be
"sweet". Jesus calls us to live in a Christ-like manner. When Jesus was
on his way to his death many people spat on him and called him all sorts of
names. But Jesus instead of calling them names back he did nothing. And in another example; Jesus was about to die while people
were just staring at him mocking him. But what he did was shocking....
"Oh Lord forgive them for they know not what they are doing." He
didn't ask God to curse them and punish them, but instead He asked God to
forgive them! Now you may be thinking ".. Why would He ask God to
forgive them?! They were so mean and cruel to Him!!" I know I thought
that, but He did, He was merciful to them. So Taylor, this is what the word "Bless" means. ~ Do it: You may get picked on at school or even mistreated because of
your faith, but whatever it is, don't retaliate. It’s not worth it! But
instead, pray for those who did this to you, and when ever you see them say a
good word or two to them. It may turn out better than you expect. Pray it: Jesus, it is so hard to bless the people who do bad things to me
I don't see how you did it. But I want to follow in your footsteps, and I
need you to help me. Help me to be able to turn the other cheek and to pray
for the people who do wrong things to me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. ~ Matthew 6:25-34 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will
eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important
than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the
air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and your heavenly Father
feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying
can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See
how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you
not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that
is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow
is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, o you of little
faith? So, do not worry saying "what shall we eat?" or "what
shall we drink?" or "what shall we wear?" For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly
Father knows that you need them. But seek after the kingdom and His
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ~ We can be certain that worrying will get us nowhere. Recently I
have been dealing with a bad pain in my side. I have been to the doctor 2
times and the hospital once. At first the doctor said that it was just a
muscle problem, but he said if the pain didn't go away by Friday then to go
back. The pain still hadn't gone away, so I went back. This time he was
saying that it could be just a bruised rib or a liver problem. So they took
my blood and they sent me to the hospital for an ultrasound. When I went to
the hospital they looked around at my insides, and then they came to my
ovaries... it didn't look good. I still don't know anything yet, but God has
been speaking to me about worrying. Most people worry about a number of
things on a regular basis, so if you have a tendency to do so, you are not
alone. The Bible makes it clear, however, that it is unnecessary. Today's
passage reminds us that God knows your needs and that if we "seek first
the kingdom and His! Righteousness, all these things will be given to
you..." The question becomes, how much do you trust in your heavenly
father? Do you place too much importance on things that are really trivial?
Do you believe that God will provide for your true needs, and there is no
situation that is outside of his control? God knows that when we worry we get
distracted away from the things that really matter. We miss opportunities
that he places in our paths because we are focused on our own needs and
fears. When we worry we try to take control, instead of turning the control
over to God. On the other hand, when we trust, we are freed up to live lives
of purpose and loving-kindness. We learn to depend on Him, and are able to
see in new ways, the many ways that our Lord provides for us. We are able to
walk in peace and to more fully appreciate His goodness. ~ Do it: We are going to do this once again!! Make a list of all your
worries and then pray over them telling God that they are all his worries now
and that you know that he will take care of them. Then after you pray rip the
piece of paper up into tiny little pieces and then throw them away. Pray it: Dear Jesus you know the worries that I carry around in my life,
and how easy it is for them to get in the way of living out my purpose in
you. Please help me to put your kingdom and your righteousness in the
forefront of my mind, and to trust that you will provide all that I need. You
know that this is not an easy step for me, but I am asking for your help to
truly let go of my worries for good. In Jesus name, Amen.
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