#S4-006: How and Why It’s Important to Honor Your Parents [Podcast]

Honor your parents, that's the Word of God unto us.

Philo, a first-century Jew living in Alexandria, Egypt, writes about the obligation of children in the home to honor their parents.

“Parents have not only been given the right of exercising authority over their children… for parents pay out a and invest in nurses, tutors, and teachers, in addition to the cost of their clothes, food, and care in sickness and health from their earliest years until they are full grown. Given all these considerations, children who honor their parents do nothing deserving of praise since even one of the items mentioned is in itself quite a sufficient call to show deep respect…Therefore, honor your father and mother next to God, he [Moses] says [Ex. 20:12].… For parents have little thought for their own personal interests and find their fulfillment and happiness in the high excellence of their children, and to gain this the children will be willing to listen to their instructions and to obey them in everything that is just and profitable; for the true father will give no instruction to his son that is foreign to virtue.” 1

Philo had it right. The Bible is clear, honor your parents.

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[Tweet “Jesus connects the word ‘honor’ with doing things financially for your father and mother.”]

Why Your Miracle Testimony Gives Glory to God

The Epistle to the Galatians

Your Miracle Testimony Is Important

A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. “Why do people call me a Christian?” the man asked. After a moment’s pause, one youngster said, “Maybe it’s because they don’t know you.”1 This is not the way to live. Our miracle testimony should give glory to the God who saved us. It should be evident.

[Tweet “Comparing one person’s sins to another is futile. We were all lost in whatever way we took.”]

#S4-005: What to Do When Your Family Thinks Your Nuts about Jesus [Podcast]

The Kingdom Series

Are You Nuts about Jesus?

Here you are, you’ve come to Jesus and you’re nuts about Him. In fact, you didn’t just come to Him, you gave Him your everything. But, your family thinks you’ve gone off the deep end. You’ve gone a little too far with this Jesus business. What do you do? Well, you can look at the example of Jesus. What did Jesus do when His family thought He had lost His mind over God the Father?

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[Tweet “The ones who are nuts, are those who don’t choose the Kingdom first lifestyle.”]

More on Revelation and Building the Kingdom of God

The First Epistle to the Corinthians

You must revelation from God's Spirit to be a wise master builder.

There is nothing like nature to unfold truth about God. Nature is constantly shouting to us about the wisdom and the power of God. It gives a sense of awe and mystery to life. Even atheists cannot fully escape this. God’s revelation in nature is like an orchestra performing a concert. Some people who come to listen hear only the instruments as they express the melody and harmony of the music. But others who come are familiar with the composer and know the words that go with the music. These hear more than the music. In much the same way, only those who have a personal relationship with the Creator through Jesus Christ can really see in all of creation the fullness of what God intended to communicate through it.1 Seeing is part of knowing and knowing is part of building. Those who are God lover’s possess a deep desire to build His Kingdom. How do we do that exactly? Growing the Kingdom starts with growing you.

[Tweet “Anything built on the foundation of God has revelation from His Spirit as an essential element.”]

#S4-004: What Commitment to Kingdom First Really Looks Like [Podcast]

The Kingdom Series

Kingdom First? Some Bible Examples of Commitment

In last week’s podcast, we took a look at two Bible examples which illustrated the principle of Kingdom first. One was a positive example in Asa, the other a negative one in the example of Eli. In this week’s episode we are going to look at a few more ‘commitment’ examples, both Old and New Testament people who illustrated by their choices that seeking first the Kingdom of God was the way to live. All this on this week’s Light on Life.

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[Tweet ” The Hebrew word for ‘awesome’ means exactly that, to be inspiring awe or reverence or fear.”]

The Fear of the Lord As a Manifestation of the Spirit

The Fear of God Is A Manifestation of the Spirit

As we continue to look at the Fear of the Lord, the following illustration is of note. Back in 1994, there was a very famous television evangelist who was in prison; his name is Jim Bakker. Jim Bakker had the largest Christian television network in the whole world, but he got caught up in fraud, and adultery. The government prosecuted him for the mail fraud he committed, and he was thrown into jail for five years. John Bevere visited him while in prison. This was part of the conversation they had.

After he had talked for a while, I felt like I wanted to ask him some questions. The first question I asked was, “Jim, when did you fall out of love with Jesus? When did you stop loving Jesus? Was it when you committed adultery with Jessica Hahn seven years before you got thrown into prison? Was it the fraud? When did it really happen?” Because I remember he was so on fire for God in the earlier years. He looked at me and said, “John, I didn’t.” I said, “What do you mean, you didn’t?” He said, “I didn’t fall out of love with Jesus; I loved Him all the way through it.” And then he saw total bewilderment on my face. I said, “What do you mean?!” He said, “John, I loved Jesus, but I didn’t fear God.” There are millions of Christians in America who love Jesus but don’t fear Him, and it is the fear of the Lord that perfects holiness in our life.” 1

In today’s blog, we continue to look at the Fear of the Lord in our everyday life.

[Tweet “The fear of the Lord falling upon people is one of the manifestations of the Spirit.”]

#S4-003: Kingdom First? Some Bible How To Illustrations [Podcast]

The Kingdom of God Series

Putting the Kingdom of God First

Joyce Meyer had this to say about priorities and putting God and His Kingdom first.

There are so many things that clamor for our attention and devotion: our jobs, our kids, our spouses, our hobbies – the demands and distractions of life. And we have to be careful not to let them become more important or more of a priority than our relationship with God.

In this week’s podcast, we will continue to look at the danger of putting family ahead of the Kingdom.

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[Tweet “Life is more than anything so don’t allow money worries to come between you and God.”]

#S4-002: The Danger of Putting Family First Ahead of the Kingdom of God [Podcast]

The Kingdom of God Series

What's your choice, God or family?

What do you think the concept of putting the Kingdom of God first means? How do you do it? If you remember from last week’s podcast, Jesus gave a Kingdom parable about a Great Feast where everyone who was initially invited to it refused to come. The excuses they gave for turning down the invitation fell into two categories, money and family. We already looked at the first excuse, money. Today, we are going to begin to look at the second which is family.

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[Tweet “If Jesus said to seek first the kingdom, don’t you think He lived this ‘Kingdom first’ principle?”]

Why Living Revelation from the Spirit of God Is Important To Your Life

The Gospel of Matthew

Revelation of who God is starts by allowing Jesus in.

God in nature has revealed Himself, as it were, inarticulately and indistinctly; but, in His Son, He has revealed Himself as a man declares his inmost thoughts, by distinct and intelligible speech. Jesus is to the Father what speech is to us; He is the unfolding of the Father’s thoughts, the revelation of the Father’s heart.1 So says, Spurgeon. Along with this line, Jesus asked his disciples a compelling question. The answer required revelation from God. Do you know the answer to this question?

[Tweet “All revelation starts with the correct answer to this Jesus question, ‘Who do men say that I am?'”]

#S4-001: What Does Priorities in the Kingdom of God Look Like? [Podcast]

The Kingdom of God Series

What are our main priorities in life. Is it God or money?

There’s no better verse on the subject of priorities than Matthew 6:33, Seek first the kingdom of God. Here are some quotes which echo the thought that priorities will help us to live spiritually successful lives.

Lewis Sperry Chafer, referring to a friend who was devoting most of his time and energy in pursuit of an insignificant matter, said, “He reminds me of a bulldog chasing a train: what’s he going to do with it if he catches it?” 1 When Charles E. Hummell was going into the ministry, a businessman gave him an excellent piece of advice. “Be careful that the urgent doesn’t crowd out the important.” 2 Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: Put second things first and we lose both first and second things. 3

Let’s take a look today, in this week’s Light on Life, at what God says our priorities should be when it comes to the Kingdom of God.

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[Tweet “Life is more than anything so don’t allow money worries to come between you and God.”]

Perfect Church? Why There Is No Such Thing

The Epistle to the Galatians

Is this the perfect church?

Nice picture of a church in Cavtat, Croatia, don’t you think? But, does a nice location make for a perfect church? In last week’s blog, we took a look at a few of the problems which Paul dealt with in the churches he had influence in. We were able to see how Paul didn’t cast people aside who were imperfect in their walk with Christ. In Today’s post, we follow up on this thought about imperfections by looking at the subject ‘Why There Is No Such Thing as a Perfect Church.’

[Tweet “There will never be a perfect church on planet earth, that is until Jesus comes back.”]

Why Bumbling Believers Are Yet Part of the Family of God

The Epistle to the Galatians

In today’s post, I want to address the issue of ‘bumbling believers’. I use the term with respect as I have visited the ‘Bumbling Believers Club’ many times throughout over forty years of walking with God. Have you ever bumbled things in God? Have you ever stumbled, mishandled, and generally messed things up? I know I have. Is there any help for us bumblers? Thank God there is. When all the dust settles, there is Jesus standing right there to help pick us up. All we can do then is raise our hands and say, ‘Thank God for Jesus. Thank God for His mercy. Thank God for His blood which cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

[Tweet “Sometimes the problem is us. We are at times our own greatest enemy.”]