Parables of the Sheep and Goats

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Hi ladies it's me again and happy Lord's day! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I can't believe it's the month of May and there is so much to talk about this month! The title I have for this blog is called "Mental Health From A Christian Perspective". Why is that important for Christians especially to know? Well number one God made our minds as He made our bodies and spirits. Secondly it's a big problem in our culture, thirdly it's something most people in the church are uncomfortable talking about, and lastly the concerns of psychology. To be honest I used to think like this too all the reasons people don't like talking about mental health. But here's what happened. When COVID happened five years ago, later on losing multiple loved ones in a short amount of time, and recognizing the abuse of my past (I encountered emotional, verbal, psychological, and slight case of spiritual abuse but no physical or sexual abuse) and I saw how it was impacting my walk with the Lord, dealing with others, and my emotional life I began to care about mental health. Also doctors and psychologists have said that trauma can impact the brain significantly and affect our mood swings. Believe it or not mental health is something to be concerned about. I find it interesting if our physical body gets sick we know to pray and know to get medical help right? We do those things without thinking about it do we? But when it comes to our mind and emotions being in shambles we don't know what to do about it. I know all of us no matter how long we've been walking with the Lord have encountered trauma in some way. Whether it be abuse, losing a loved one, dealt with a betrayal, or even COVID or something significant that turned our world upsidedown. Even non Christians deal with that stuff as well too. The good news is as Christians we know that we can go to God and we can get practical help too. The fact is God knows we live in a fallen world since Adam and Eve sinned. God knows the deep parts of our hearts and minds that have been altered due to unthinkable things that happened to us. We must ask Him to mend our broken hearts and traumatized minds and does that mean healing will happen overnight? No not necessarily. But that's when healing can and needs to begin. Someone has said. "God only heals what we reveal" is very true. Also don't forget people in the Bible dealt with issues too people like Joseph in the Old Testament, Job, Ruth and Naomi, King David, Prophet Jeremiah, the Apostle Paul, and even our Lord. They all had traumatic things happen to them but they made it through. Some endured abuse, betrayal, loss of loved ones, imprisonment, and even depression but they made it through. As this month goes in ill be sharing stories from people in the Bible and people in our world that have dealt with mental health challenges but by God's grace and going to counseling they were able to overcome that. If you or someone you know is dealing with concerns about mental health go to God in prayer about it and don't be afraid to get practical help like going to counseling or the doctor if need be. That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. Blessings, happy Lord's day, and have a blessed week everyone.

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Tuesday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. The title I have for this blog is called "Christ Ascending And The Spirits Descending". Now the gospel accounts of Mark and Luke and the early part of the book of Acts talk about Christ's last words before He ascended to heaven. Another important point I want to make is before Christ ascended into heaven the Bible says that He was on for forty days after He rose on Easter Sunday! What was He doing? He talked to two disciples of Emmaues (see Luke 24) He likely appeared to His mother Mary, His siblings, possibly Mary, Martha, and Lazarus and other unnamed people to prove He was alive through the marks on His hands and feet. He also was probably trying to make the most of His time spending time with loved ones (especially the disciples) knowing that He was going to depart the earth very soon because He fulfilled His mission which was Him dying on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day. Jesus told the disciples and others to meet Him at the Mount of Olives because He had some final words to tell them. What did He say? Well we know that He gave them the "Great Commission" where He told them both in Matthew 28 and Mark 16 to "Go to all the world and make disciples of all men baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to observe what He commanded them. " The disciples asked if it was time for Israel to be restored! What were the disciples asking? They wondered if it would be time for Jesus to establish His earthly rule at the Millennial reign after His death and resurrection! (The Millennial reign will happen after Christ and the raptured saints/armies of heaven overthrow the Antichrist and false prophet and other wicked armies who oppose Israel after the tribulation period.) But Christ redirected the conversation back to the "Great Commission" and shared Acts 1:8 "They will receive power when the Holy Ghost will come on them and be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth". He promised He's with them until the end of the age. Then Christ ascended into heaven in the clouds and the disciples and others looked up until they could see Him no more. Two angels promised the disciples that Jesus will return in like manner as they saw Him go. But here's the beautiful thing about this. Christ told the disciples in John 13-16 He would leave them but promised He would send the Holy Spirit before His death and resurrection took place! You know what? The disciples and the rest of the 120 in the upper room earnestly prayed and waited for ten days until the Holy Spirit came down and their lives and world was turned upside down! Though Christ ascended the Holy Spirit descended! That's something for all of us to be thankful for. You know what ladies? Someday Jesus will descend again on the clouds and take us away to be with Him in heaven and bring the Holy Spirit with Him too. What a day that will be! But until then we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to bring us closer to the Father. That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. Blessings and have a blessed week everyone.

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Lord's day! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I hope and pray that each of you ladies had a good Easter Sunday last week and I got to attend my church "New Life Assembly Of God Church", (we were off for Bible study Easter Sunday night) got to see my nephew and his interesting parents, and eat yummy Easter treats. (Thanks Easter Bunny lol!) Well ladies I'll be sharing today in a blog called "Jesus Forgives And Restores Peter". Y'all can read about that account in the gospel of John 21. Yes that's right that took place after Jesus' death on Good Friday and after His resurrection on Easter Sunday! This also was after Peter denied Jesus three times! I don't blog hardly about Peter that much much less about him denying Jesus and all four gospel accounts Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John mentioned that. The Bible says that before the rooster crows that Peter would deny Christ three times and he did! This took place when Christ was arrested and put on trial when the disciples (including Peter) scattered with the exception of Judas Iscariot. (Judas later unfortunately committed suicide!) Of course we know about the crucifixion and resurrection and I'm sure during those events Peter struggled to forgive himself for what he had done for denying Jesus. That also brings me to this point. I think all of us have done things and said things or even didn't do things or didn't say things that we regret. What do we do during our time of failure? I imagine that Peter was wrestling with a lot of questions about what to do with his life and John 21 mentioned that Peter decides to go back to fishing and the disciples agreed to go with him. They fished all night and caught nothing and Jesus who stood on the shore asked if they caught anything. Peter and the disciples said no and Christ told them to throw the net on the other side and they'll catch fish. They did so and a ton of fish got caught and the disciples realized it was Christ! Peter decided to jump out of the boat and swam to see Jesus while the other disciples rowed the boat full of fish until they all made it to the shore. Jesus made a campfire and Peter and the disciples brought the fish they caught and Christ grilled the fish in the fire! (Side note I wonder if in the "Marriage Supper Of The Lamb" if we'll eat fish in heaven. Just something to think about.) Then they and Christ ate and enjoyed their time together just like how we enjoy eating with our loved ones too. Then after they finished eating Christ asked Peter three different times if he loved Him. Now I know that may seem strange for Jesus to do that but I'm sure He asked that for a reason. Remember when Peter denied Jesus three times? Perhaps Christ wanted to give Peter three more chances to prove His love for Him even after his worst failure! What a loving and compassionate Savior we serve! Jesus also told him to feed His sheep and predicted that when Peter would get old and prophesied what death he would die for the gospel sake. (After Peter wrote 2 Peter, historians say they crucified Peter upsidedown! That last time he stood up for Jesus!) Peter asked about what would the other disciples future would be (specifically John the Revelator who wrote John's account) but Christ asked him what is that to Him to continue to follow Him. Even after Peters worse mistake Christ forgave him and restored him. I pray that this will encourage all of us to know that none of us are too far gone from a loving Savior. Some of us may have unsaved loved ones or prodigals that according to the world "they're too far gone". (You know things like homosexuality, drugs, alcohol, incarceration, having financial problems, divorce etc.) But there's room at the cross for everyone and I love how there's a song called "Flawless" by Christian band "Mercyme" and there's a phrase in that song that says "No matter what they say or who you think you are the day you called His name that made you flawless". Let me explain what they mean by that. Flawless in the worlds mean is without faults but flawless in God's eyes mean complete. (The same could be said about perfection. Perfect in the worlds eyes means without fault but God defines perfection as maturity.) That gives me hope and encouragement that in our worst failure Christ is there waiting for me with open arms even though other people won't always do that. Christ extends the same for you ladies and your loved ones as He did for Peter. That's what I wanted to share with you ladies and I pray that this blog encouraged y'all. Blessings, happy Lord's day, and have a blessed week everyone.

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Tuesday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I hope and pray that each of you ladies had a good Easter Sunday with family and friends celebrating the Lord's resurrection. The title of this blog is called "Similarities Of Holy Week And Passover". Of course this year both Passover and holy week were close to each other this time and in this blog I'll be sharing my thoughts as well as truths from God's Word that deal with both. Passover is in honor of the Passover lamb. If you remember the story of Moses in the book of Exodus (Exodus means exit) and remember the ten plagues God sent to the Egyptians as a result of judgment because of Pharaoh's rebellion for refusing to let the Israelites go. The first nine plagues Pharaoh unfortunately hardened his heart but God sent one more plague the death of the firstborn of humanity and firstborn animal would die but if the death angel saw blood it passed over it. God told Moses and the Israelites take one year old male lamb with no blemish to kill it and put blood on the doorpost so their lives would be presevered. Because the Israelites put blood on their doorpost God protected them while death smote the firstborn of Egypt with people and animals. God would tell the Israelites from that moment on to honor Passover for generations to come to remember their deliverance from the wicked Egyptians. Well in the New Testament though holy week isn't in the Bible perse we came out of celebrating Christ's remaining time on earth on Palm Sunday when He rode in Jerusalem, His death on the cross on Good Friday, and this past Sunday on Easter Sunday honored His resurrection. Christ before He died on the cross had the Passover meal with the disciples and He transitioned it to what we call today "Communion". We take the bread in honor of Christ's broken body and juice the blood. Remember during Passover the Jews had to use a one year old male lamb with no blemish and kill it to put blood on their house to keep them from physical death? Well Jesus our Lord and Savior is the spotless Lamb of God who was brutally killed in the cross on Good Friday for our sins and it's through His blood that cleanses the stain of sin! I hope and pray that we're all grateful for that! Not only does His blood forgive our sins but keeps us from eternal death eternal separation from God the Father. His blood may or may not keep us from physical death but it keeps us from eternal death! Also for thousands of years after the Jews Exodus from Egypt they would offer sacrifices from lambs, bulls, and goats so blood could be shed for their sins and Passover was a high holy day for the Jews to be honored every year. Well we God's people celebrate holy week every year in honor of Christ death and resurrection who would be our Deliver spiritually. Also Christ died on the cross of Calvary on Good Friday during Passover week! I don't think it's a coincidence with that happening and holy week and Passover took place the same time this year! That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. Blessings to each of you ladies and have a blessed week everyone.

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Lord's day and Happy Easter! Oh my goodness! We're at the end of holy week! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well and hope that you ladies and your families are doing well. I got to have a great time worshipping the Lord at church while enjoying hearing about His resurrection. I'm happy to present another blog called "Happy Resurrection He Is Risen!" We know that last week Sunday on the Lord's day that we honored Palm Sunday when we remembered Christ riding on a donkey in the streets of Jerusalem and the crowd shouting "Hosanna! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord!" But then later on they crucified Him on the cross of Calvary and I wrote a blog last week even though it was Tuesday I wrote a blog honoring the cross of Calvary. Well today we're honoring the resurrection of our Lord! We know that all four gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) recorded the Psalm Sunday and crucifixion moments but all accounts also recorded Christ's resurrection! All accounts mentioned about Mary Magdalene (a single woman who had seven demons casted out on her see Luke 8) Mary mother of James the younger and Joses, Joanna wife of Cuza, (Cuza worked for Herod Antipas and they were wealthy too) Salome, (likely the wife of Zebedee, mother of John the Revelator and James who were fishermen. Herod Antipas had a step daughter named Salome too.) Susanna, and possibly Mary the mother of Jesus carried their spices to annoint our Lord's body. Remember these were the women who followed Jesus and often traveled with the disciples as well as helping them financially too. (See Luke 8) They also were there during the crucifixion and there have been many paintings of women mourning at the cross and Passion plays too. I can only imagine the grief that Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of Jesus, and the rest of the women of Galilee must have felt seeing their Lord being scourged 39 times and see Him put on a cruel cross and how troubled their hearts must have been. As they walked a long journey the stone was rolled away! An angel moved it and he said. "Do not fear the Lord Jesus isn't here but He has risen just as He said. Go quickly and tell the disciples that He will see them in Galilee". The women hurried away about what was told to them. John's account says Mary Magdalene told Peter and John and they hurried to the tomb and ran back to their dwelling place. Mary Magdalene looked to find Jesus wearing a white robe and asked why she was crying and called her name! Then Mary Magdalene ran to tell the other women what happened and Jesus appeared again! (Mary Magdalene saw Jesus twice in one day!) Jesus greeted them and they bowed down and worshipped Him. He told them not to be afraid but tell the disciples to go to Galilee where they'll meet Him. Listen ladies Jesus chose women to be the first to see Him alive! Eventually Peter and the remaining guy disciples would get to see Jesus later in the day and other occasions but I find that cool Jesus chose women to witness the resurrection. Why? A woman's testimony back then wasn't accepted and Mary Magdalene especially had a troubled past too. But it didn't stop Jesus from appearing to them and yes the disciples unfortunately doubted the women though Christ sent them and Marks account mentioned that Christ rebuked the disciples sternly for their lack of faith too! Wow! The other important part about the resurrection besides women being the first to see Him alive is Jesus took the keys away from Satan the keys of death, hell, and the grave and was given authority on heaven and earth as mentioned in Matthew 28! Wow! What a dimension! Also the resurrection was a completion of Christ's mission and our salvation was completed at the resurrection! The resurrection sets Christ apart from all other religions and all the false deities like Mohammad and all the others never got up from the grave but Jesus did! We along with the women of Galilee have a reason to rejoice and be glad that because Christ rose from the dead guarantees a "spiritual resurrection" (those spiritually dead to become born again) and a bodily resurrection at the rapture too! We have much to rejoice about and there's many wonderful songs that honor the resurrection like "Forever" by Kari Jone, "Christ The Lord Has Risen Today", "He Lives" just to name a few. That's what I wanted to share with you ladies! Blessings to each of you ladies, enjoy time with loved ones, happy Lord's day, happy Easter, and remember because He rose we can rise and overcome anything life throws at us!

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Tuesday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I'm happy to present to you ladies another blog called "The Importance Of Honoring Good Friday". I know that Good Friday won't be until a few days from now but it's important honoring. We know the significance of Christmas which honors Christ's birth right? We know that Easter concludes holy week and we honor when Christ rose from the dead. (Don't worry I'll write an Easter blog too!) But I don't believe we pay enough attention to Good Friday like we should. I know that most of us understand the Bible and understand as the Bible says in Romans 3:23 "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God". We all understand because of Adam's sin we were born in sin and in need of a Savior. We also know that prior to the death of Christ on the cross from the time of Moses until the cross the Jews had to offer sacrifices each and every year. They had to take a one year old male lamb and kill it to offer as an atonement for their sins. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22 "Without the shedding of blood there's no remission of sin". The Jews understood that. But as we know the blood of lambs, bulls, and goats were able to cleanse the outside but not cleanse the conscious. That's where Christ's blood came in and is able to cleanse us from our guilt, sin, and shame. Another important thing to remember is before Christ got arrested, was scourged, and died on the cross He prayed at Gethsemane. Christ experienced being overwhelmed knowing He was going to die for the sins of the world but I'm thankful He did it anyway. Christ would endure being beaten 39 times which is what the Romans did to Him calling it a scourge. Some Roman and Jewish historians said that sometimes scourges were so bad that some prisoners would be beaten to death because of that! When Jesus died on the cross He was crucified between two thieves one who mocked him while the other repented for his sin. Don't forget that Christ's loved ones especially His hurting widowed mother Mary had to witness her Son and God's Son die a brutal death on the cross. Christ told John the Revelator to take care of His mother in His absence. Of course other women surrendered the cross Mary Magdalene, Joanna wife of Cuza, (Cuza worked for Herod Antipas) Susanna, Mary mother of James the younger (a disciple of Christ) and Joses, and Salome (wife of Zebedee, mother of John the Revelator and the other James and possibly Mother Mary's sister) mourned His death while others mocked Him. Most of all God the Father turned His back on His Son and prophecy was being fulfilled from Isaiah 53 that Christ bore not only our sin but our sickness and carried our sorrows. Christ endured that so we could be right with the Father, be healed physically and emotionally too. Also the curtain in the temple which separated God from man was torn from top to bottom, the earth shook, and the sun refused to shine. May we never take what Christ did for granted and may we ever be so thankful for what He did for us. I pray that this blog will prepare you ladies for Good Friday giving us time reflect and be thankful for our salvation. That's what I wanted to share with you ly. Blessings, happy Tuesday, and have a blessed week everyone.

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Lord's day and happy Palm Sunday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. To let y'all know that Palm Sunday is the first day of holy week! Holy week for those of you who don't know is when we honor Christ closing time on earth. Holy week is also called Passion week as well too. All four gospel accents Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John mention about Palm Sunday and what is Palm Sunday about? It's about honoring and celebrating Christ's arrival at Jerusalem. In fact Jesus told His disciples on all four gospel accounts Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John that they'll find a donkey and a colt and for them to borrow it and bring it to Him. The disciples did so and put our Lord on the donkey and He rode through the streets of Jerusalem. The crowd took their Palm branches and shouted "Hosanna Hosanna. Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord!" This event fulfilled a prophecy Zechariah 9:9 that says "Rejoice oh daughter of Zion behold thy King cometh to thee He is just, having salvation, and lowly riding on a donkey." Here's another important thing to remember. The Jews in Jesus' day were shouting "Hosanna " because they thought when Christ arrived in Jerusalem on a donkey during Palm Sunday would be when He would reign as King and overthrow the Roman rule! Here's another important point to know. Back in the ancient times if a King road on a horse to a nation he would declare war! That's what the Jews wanted a warrior king! We know that in the book of Revelations 19;11-16 talks about Christ riding on a horse along with the armies of heaven (raptured saints) and Him being declared "King of kings and Lord of lords!" That's going to happen after the seven year tribulation period which I'll share for a different blog. Anyway if a King rode to a nation on a donkey meant the king came to bring peace. When our Lord rode on a donkey on Palm Sunday it was a time to peace because our Lord is the Prince of Peace! The Jews also didn't understand that Christ came first His first coming to give peace as well as give His life on the cross of Calvary (something He did later in the week which we honor as "Good Friday") and rise again on Easter Sunday and only later as I mentioned in Revelations 19:11-16 come back to overthrow wicked rulers and rule the kingdoms of this world during the Millennial reign. (That's for another blog for another time.) Also Christ's arrival in Jerusalem and the crowd cheering and praising Him made the Pharisees uncomfortable but Christ told them. "If they keep quiet the rocks will cry out shouting praise!" So the point of this blog is it's the Lord's day and it's Palm Sunday the beginning of holy week or Passion week! Even though we weren't with the crowd during Jesus' day 2,000 years ago we still can praise and declare Hosanna as well as honor what He did in remembrance of holy week this week. We also can anticipate when Jesus will return in the rapture and take us saints away in heaven and allow the seven year tribulation period and after that bring us saints with Him after the tribulation period to come back and overthrow wicked rulers and begin the Millennial reign! We have much to look forward to not only during holy week but in the future as well. I'm thankful that Christ knew His mission of salvation that He fulfilled first instead of establishing earthly rule. He could have set up the Millennial kingdom right away but mans souls would have been lost for all eternity if He would have did what the crowd wanted Him to do. (Souls can still go to hell but it's only because they rejected Christ willfully or backslid. ) So this week let's rejoice and be thankful not only what Christ did on Palm Sunday but also what He did on Good Friday and Easter Sunday where we honor His death and resurrection too. Blessings, happy Lord's day, happy Palm Sunday, and happy holy week everyone!

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Tuesday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. The next blog for the month of April is called "Believing For The Impossible". What is this blog about? Well it's about two miracles that are talked about that Christ did that's mentioned in the gospel account of Mark 5:20-43 (Matthew and Luke talk about this too) where Christ healed one person and raised another dead person back to life. Jesus was on His way to Jairus's house (he was a religious leader) and begged Christ to help him immediately. Why? His twelve year old daughter was in what we call today "in home hospice care" and Jairus knew if Christ didn't intervene his daughter would die. Christ, His disciples, and Jairus were on their way to Jairus's house and as they were on their way, a woman with an issue of blood for twelve years came up behind Him. The Bible says she was under the care of doctors and noone could help her. But she touched the helm of Christ's garment her bleeding stopped. Of course Christ was astonished and asked who did it and the woman told her the story and Christ told her her faith saved her. The woman went away and some people from Jairus's house told him his daughter had died but Christ told Jairus and his wife not be afraid despite that. Then Jesus asked the crowd to leave except for Peter, James, John, and Jairus and his wife. I'm sure that Jairus was consoling his wife who was weeping and I'm sure he was crying too. But Jesus took the girl's hand and said "My child I tell you to arise!" The girl arose and walked around and I'm sure she hugged her parents and Jesus too. I'm sure that Peter, James, and John rejoiced as well too something that they would never forget and I'm sure that increased their faith too. Jesus warned Jairus and his wife not to tell anyone about it and urged for them to give their daughter something to eat. I know that many of you ladies may have heard these stories before but I want y'all to look at them in a different light. Both the woman with the issue with blood and Jairus were in desperate situations in need of Christ's intervention otherwise nothing would change. Jairus's daughter was at deaths door and the woman was bleeding for twelve years! Ladies think of situations that you're in right now that maybe desperate situations. Maybe you or a loved one may have an illness like the woman with the issue with blood or a loved one close to death. Maybe it might be a different situation. Perhaps you're dealing with a court case, marriage issues, have a wayward son or daughter, you or a loved one lost a job or business deal, or at a "major crossroads" in life in need of God's direction. The old saying goes. "Desperate people do desperate things." I believe that "desperate Christians pray desperate prayers". The fact of the matter is all of us at some point will have situations that push us and break us to a point that it will force us either to call on the Lord or turn away from Him. The point is in times of desperation do what Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood did call on Jesus. He may not answer your prayers right away but don't let that stop you from calling on Him for He's the only one who can help and turn your situation around. (Side note He can use people too to help but in that we need to remember He's the One that sent those people to help and He's still our help in those times too.) I pray that these miracles from the Bible encourage your faith as well as mine to remind us to call on the Lord and He'll be there. Blessings, happy Tuesday, and have a blessed week everyone.