Podcasts about Pharisees

Father asks us if we will accept the good yeast and not the bad yeast of the world.

Read Online“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.” Luke 12:2–3Immediately prior to this passage quoted above, Jesus told His disciples: “Beware of the leaven—that is, the hypocrisy—of the Pharisees.” This comes after Jesus gives a long and very direct series of condemnations of these leaders in the previous chapter. Jesus is quite serious about their destructive actions. So, after directly confronting them, He then turns to His disciples to warn them of the consequences of these hypocritical leaders.A hypocrite is one who pretends to have some moral virtues but, in truth, is only deceiving himself and attempting to deceive others. For that reason, Jesus assists His disciples by sharing with them the fact that all truth will eventually come to light. Thus, every good deed will eventually be seen by all for its goodness, and every evil intent, no matter how hidden, will eventually come to light. Though the immediate temptation for many in hearing this passage will be to think about others who they think fall into the sin of hypocrisy, it may be far more useful to ponder these truths for oneself. The simple message that Jesus preaches is that we must be people who are truthful in every way. We must be honest with ourselves and make sure that we are fully aware of our inner life, seeing ourselves only in the way that God sees us. This act of honesty and integrity is one of the best ways by which we prepare ourselves for eternal life. How sad it would be if we went through life pretending, on the surface, to be something we were not, only to have the full truth divulged at our final judgment when it is too late to change.Being honest with ourselves can be difficult. It's normal for us to want to be good, to want to be holy, and to want others to think this way about us. For that reason, it is very common for us to put forth only the best image of ourselves, hiding many other things that may embarrass us and even humiliate us. And though we do not have any moral obligation to tell everyone about every sin we struggle with interiorly, it is morally essential that we face it ourselves and do so with the grace of God.One practical way to do this is to ponder the above Scripture passage. Jesus makes it clear that at some time, in some way, everything within us in our hearts and minds will come to light. For some this will happen, by God's grace, during this life as a way for them to change. For others, these secrets will only come to light at their final judgment. The truth, however, is that all that we are, all that we think, and all that we do in a hidden way will come to light. And if that frightens you in some way, that is good. Sometimes we need a holy fear to encourage us to look inward and to deal with all that we keep hidden from others. Reflect, today, upon the importance of striving for a life of true transparency and integrity. The best way to do this is to live every day as if everything within your heart were visible for all to see. If that means you need to change in some way so as to be at peace with what will eventually come to light, then work diligently on making that change here and now. The opposite of hypocrisy, for which the Pharisees were firmly condemned, is honesty and sincerity. Spend time reflecting upon these beautiful virtues and pray that the Lord will gift you with them so that you can live a life of true integrity here and now in preparation for that glorious day of judgment, when all will be “known” and “proclaimed on the housetops.” My revealing Lord, You see all things. You know my heart in every way. Please grace me with the ability to see myself as You see me and to know my inner heart as You know me. As the deepest truths of who I am come to light for me to see, I pray that I will also have the grace to sincerely change so that I may truly glorify You with my actions and become a source of authentic inspiration to all. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: Lawrence W. Ladd, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Gospel Luke 11:47-54 The Lord said: "Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. Therefore, the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and Apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute' in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter." When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say. Reflection Once Jesus ministry became public, he made it clear that there was a problem with the scribes and Pharisees. The leaders of the people. And in a way, diplomatically you might say, he was careful to point out things that they were doing wrong. But then he got to the point when his ministry was about an end, and he was tired of holding back. He wanted to make clear to them how deadly they had become, how much damage they were doing to the people. And so you can see in this passage that it finally gets down to a shouting match, probably between the scribes and Pharisees and Jesus. And they're always trying to trip him up, and they can't. They're losing. And that's when they decided to destroy him. Closing Prayer Jesus, often, when we are working at exposing our weaknesses, our shortcomings to ourselves, when we become more and more conscious. It gets a little bit more and more frightening at times if it gets to a point where we see more and more darkness. But unlike the scribes and Pharisees, we don't want to turn that into a rejection of you, the truth teller. And we want to embrace the truth. And we ask this in Jesus ‘name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Read OnlineWhen Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say. Luke 11:53–54Over the past few days, we have been reading Saint Luke's version of Jesus' “Woe to you” rebukes of the scribes, Pharisees and the scholars of the law. Today's Gospel concludes these rebukes of love by pointing out that these religious leaders did not convert. Instead, they began plotting against Jesus so as to “catch him at something he might say.” This is what happens when people use God's holy law as a weapon to attack.Normally, we take inspiration from the Holy Scriptures in a positive way, meaning, by reflecting upon Jesus' words and actions and applying them to our lives. However, we can also learn from the evil others commit and allow their actions to inspire us to avoid their sin. In today's Gospel, we are invited to ponder the obsessive plotting of these religious leaders so as to consider whether we also are guilty of their sin.First, note that at the conclusion of Jesus' rebukes, these religious leaders “began to act with hostility” toward Jesus. Normally, when we act with hostility toward another, it is done with the mindframe that we are right and they have done something wrong. We justify our hostility by pointing to their perceived sin. However, it must be understood that every act of hostility on our part is a clear indication that we have started down the road of sin and are not justified in our obsession.Notice also that these religious leaders exercised their hostility toward Jesus by interrogating Him. In other words, in their anger, they kept asking Him questions so as to find some fault with Him. They tried to trick Him and trap Him with their speech using God's very Law handed down through Moses and the prophets. But they manipulated that Law so as to justify their hostility and, out of pride, to falsely accuse Jesus.Think about any times in your life in which you found yourself somewhat obsessed with what you judged to be the sin of another. Hostility in this case can even be passive, meaning you may present a kind disposition on the surface, but interiorly you are obsessively thinking about how you can condemn the person. Often when this happens, we can feel justified in that we convince ourselves that justice must be done and that we are the dispensers of that justice. But if God is in control of our lives, He will not call us to obsessive plotting in regard to another. Instead, when we are following the will of God, we will sense Him inspiring us to act with immediacy, calm, joy, kindness, honesty, and freedom from all anger and obsession. Reflect, today, upon any way that you have seen this misguided tendency within your own life. If you can identify a time when you struggled with hostility toward another, look at the fruit it bore. Was God glorified through your actions? Did this leave you at peace or agitated? Were you fully objective in your thinking? Be honest with these questions and you will begin to discover the road to freedom from such obsessive thinking. God wants you to be at peace. If there is injustice, trust that our Lord will sort it out. You, for your part, must continually work to forgive, act with charity, and direct your attention to the will of God as it is gently presented to you. My patient and kind Lord, You were falsely accused and condemned by many of the religious leaders of Your time because You spoke the pure truth with love, clarity and boldness. When I act with hostility and anger toward another, help me to turn from these sins so that I will never condemn, never judge and never manipulate Your divine Law for my own purposes. Fill me with Your peace and charity alone, dear Lord. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Gospel Luke 11:42-46 The Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces.   Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.” Reflection Jesus had an intention, not necessarily to insult those that were leading the temple as much as it was to change their understanding of who they were. They were blinded by their darkness. And what we see in this is that they are making other people enter that darkness with him without even knowing it. To step on a grave would make a person unclean, to be in the web of the Pharisees and scribes would also make them unclean. So Jesus is worried about the impact he's having on the people, and as he reveals it, all they can hear is an insult that is unfairly offered. Closing Prayer Father, bless us with the understanding of the fullness of who you want us to be. If it was just about you and us, it would be different. But it's about us and everyone around us. Help us to understand how contagious we can be, both for the light and for the darkness. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Heart and Mind Agree: Finding Peace in Christ The prophet Joel calls the priests and people to repentance and fasting, . . . . . . warning that “the Day of the Lord” will bring judgment for those who remain unconverted but salvation for those who turn back to God with sincere hearts. True conversion means harmony between the heart and the mind . . . when our thoughts and desires are aligned with God's truth. Jesus illustrates this in the Gospel by confronting the Pharisees, who accuse Him of casting out demons by the power of the devil. Their hearts recognize His goodness, yet their minds reject Him out of pride and deceit, revealing an inner division. Jesus teaches that a “house divided against itself cannot stand” and warns that a heart cleansed of evil must be filled with God's grace, or else greater evils will return. The Homily concludes with an invitation to examine our own hearts: Are we filled with the Spirit of God or with division? True conversion brings harmony within us and, through us, harmony to our families, Church, and world. Only Christ, who is Truth itself, can bring this lasting peace and unity. Listen to this Meditation Media. Listen to: When the Heart and Mind Agree: Finding Peace in Christ ---------------------------------------------------- Art Work Christ And The Rich Young Ruler (cropped): German Painter: Heinrich Hoffman: 1899 ---------------------------------------------------- Gospel Reading: Luke 11: 15-26 First Reading: Joel 1: 13-15; 2: 1-2

The Lord said:“Woe to you Pharisees!You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb,but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.These you should have done, without overlooking the others.Woe to you Pharisees!You love the seat of honor in synagoguesand greetings in marketplaces.  Woe to you!You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply,“Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law!You impose on people burdens hard to carry,but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”

Gospel Daily with Josh Weidmann When Memory Fails Us: Moving from Remembering to Trusting Jesus, Part 1Series: Encountering Jesus Scripture: Mark 8:1-21 Episode: 1439 Scripture Summary: In Mark 8:1–21, a large crowd gathers again, and Jesus, moved with compassion, miraculously feeds 4,000 people with just seven loaves and a few small fish. After everyone is satisfied, seven baskets of leftovers remain. Later, the Pharisees demand a sign from heaven, but Jesus refuses, grieved by their hardened hearts. As He and the disciples cross the lake, they worry about not having enough bread. Jesus rebukes them for their lack of understanding, reminding them of the miracles of the loaves and asking, “Do you still not understand?”

Today, Jesus takes the three disciples with whom he has a closer relationship up on a high mountain, and there, he is miraculously transfigured before them. This change in his physical appearance, accompanied by an auditory testament to his identity, is in some ways a “sign from heaven” which the Pharisees and Sadducees had requested in our last reading. Jesus did not reveal this vision to those men because they wanted proof in order to have faith; Jesus instead reveals his deity to his disciples who already have faith and have confessed that Jesus is the Messiah. After this, Jesus begins to tell his disciples that he will delivered over into the hands of sinners to die. :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Resting In the Promises (1) (audio) David Eells, 10/15/25 Today, I'd like to encourage you and remind you about the rest of God and to trust in His promises so we can see His salvation come to pass completely. We need the Lord to help us understand how deep and broad His precious promises of the Real Good News are, and what His power is to those who believe them. Jesus said, (Mat.9:29) According to your faith be it done unto you. And in (8:13) As thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. It's important what we believe and know because faith is based on knowledge, and you can't believe for something that you don't know about. So we need to be familiar with the Word. The promises of God are for our salvation in personal (soul) salvation, healing (body) salvation, and also deliverance, protection, and provision. We know that all these promises are past tense. (1Pe.2:24) Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree ... by whose stripes ye were healed. (Col.1:13) Who delivered us out of the power of darkness.... (Rom.6:18) And being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness. (22) But now being made free from sin and become servants to God... They are all past tense so that we can enter into His all-inclusive, New Testament rest. The rest mentioned in Hebrews speaks of ceasing from our own works through faith in His promises. We need to walk in that rest and in that peace so that we are not condemned by the devil, separated from the faith of God, separated from the things that God wants to do through us. All provision has been made in our New Testament Sabbath rest. Our sabbatismos, as it is called in Hebrews 4, means “a continual rest.” The Sabbath is no longer one day that we rest; we have to cease from our works and enter into His rest through faith every day. That's His promise. The Lord has been bringing individuals through their own personal wilderness so that they can learn how to live by faith. (Heb.10:38) But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. (39) But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul. Now, your soul is your mind, will and emotions; it's your nature, your character. Jesus Christ is an example of a saved soul, and walking in His steps is something that He has provided for us to do. (1Jn.2:6) He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. And we can see from His life that Jesus walked by faith, completely trusting the Father in everything. The Lord is using our time in the wilderness to work the same thing in us. We understand that we are living in the latter days, and Jeremiah said in (Jer.30:23) Behold, the tempest of the Lord, [even his] wrath, is gone forth, a sweeping tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked. (24) the fierce anger of the Lord shall not return until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it. And continuing in (31:1) At that time (still talking about the latter days), saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Romans 11 tells us about all those who are grafted into the olive tree, which is called “all Israel” by faith. The Lord broke off the unbelieving Jews concerning the new Kingdom and He grafted in the Gentiles as the Church, and then He said, (Rom.11:26) And so all Israel shall be saved. “All the families of Israel” is a very large group of people around the world, not just natural Israel. (Jer.31:2) Thus saith the Lord, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The wilderness is a sparse place with very little worldly provision for man. There, the Israelites had to have their salvation, provision, and protection from God. He brought them to a perfect place to learn to trust in Him for His provision. He made this an opportunity for them where God, in His mercy, had to ultimately save them after they ran out of all their provision from Egypt (a type of the world) and there was no natural provision around them. So, when you believe these past tense promises from God, you automatically enter into a wilderness because there is no help from man. I have seen God's wonderful stored provision for His people headed to wilderness.  God's already delivered you, healed you, provided for you, fed you, housed you, already protected you, and saved your soul. He's already done all these things; therefore, you can't do anything to bring them to pass. Since He's already done them, you just have to rest. (Heb.4:3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. In other words, God is saying, “Why shouldn't you rest? The works are already finished!” The problem is that people don't walk by faith and the promises are quickly taken away from them. Here's one instance: (Heb.3:18) And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient? (19) And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief. So if you want to know where disobedience comes from, it comes from unbelief because when you believe the promises, you are at rest. You are at peace. You are trusting in God to bring it to pass and you are ceasing from your works. Now, your works of the flesh are disobedience and they're sin. Your works of the Law, which are of the Old Covenent, are sin in the New Covenant. So you see, unbelief brings disobedience, and the Greek word apeitheia means both “disobedience” and “unbelief.” It can be translated either way. How can that be? Let's read (Heb.4:11) Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience (apeitheia or “unbelief”). (6) Seeing therefore it remaineth that some should enter thereinto, and they to whom the good tidings were before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience (apeitheia or “unbelief”). If you have unbelief, you will be disobedient and one reason is that you cannot cease from your own works when you don't believe God's already done it. You always want to help Him out, or you get your eyes on the world and your problems. When that happens, people fall victim to fear, doubt, discouragement, and all those things because of what they see with their physical eyes, rather than what they see in the Bible. If you walk by sight, you will not walk by faith. You'll be like Israel in the wilderness, who looked around and saw lack on every side. They didn't believe that God was able to meet their every need out there, and the devil agreed with them, so they became full of fear, discouragement, and disobedience, and they spoke against the Lord. You will do that too if you don't have faith. Let's read some of that story and look at a few points. (Num.21:4) And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. (5) And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loatheth this light (or “vile”) bread. They were speaking about the manna and calling it “this vile bread.” The bread of life is sweet to the taste but is bitter in the belly. In other words, the flesh does not like it because it demands your life, and that you give up your thinking and your ways. It demands submission. Well, these people were walking by sight, having their eyes on the problems around them, instead of on the promise, so they became discouraged and they spoke against the Lord. But God has already taken care of every problem that you could possibly have or imagine. It's all been covered by the blood. It's already been covered by the Lord on the cross. He's already taken it away; it's already solved as Jesus said in (Joh.19:30) It is finished. Jesus told His disciples in (16:33) Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. If we keep our eyes on those promises, they bring us rest. If we get our eyes on the problem, we stumble and fall. When that happens, we go back to walking by sight and speaking against the Lord. Do you know what speaking against the Lord can be? It can be anything that is contrary to the Word, anything that is not confessing the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. (Rom.10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Our salvation in every form comes not only by faith, but the works that come from that faith, and the biggest work that comes from faith is what we say. We have to learn to confess the Lord in the midst of the situations around us. The Lord brought the Israelites into the wilderness on purpose to try them, to see if they would walk by sight or by faith. Jesus tells us this, too. (Mat.10:32) Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. (33) But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven. We believe His promises and they give us rest, and then what naturally comes out of our mouth is in agreement with the Word of God. And when you confess Him before men, He confesses you before the Father. The word “confess” here is the Greek homologeo, and it means “to speak the same as.” When we are in the tribulations of our wilderness experiences, we see our need, our lack, our sickness, and our sin; we see our problems, which as we have discovered the Lord has already taken care of. Are we going to agree with the Good News? “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” It's very important that we're careful to confess faith in the promises. This brings the salvation that we're believing for. With our confession, we're “calling the things that are not as though they were.” It's very important that we confess Him before men, that we say before men what His Word says. (Heb.3:1) Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, [even] Jesus. Jesus is the “High Priest of our confession,” Who offers an offering before the Father and that offering is what we say; it's the words of our mouth. And if we speak the same as Jesus, then He confesses us before the Father and before the holy angels. (Luk.12:8) And I say unto you, Every one who shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: (9) but he that denieth me in the presence of men shall be denied in the presence of the angels of God. I also like this verse: (Mat.12:36) And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Thank God that we come into days of judgment so that we don't have to come into the Day of Judgment! The Greek word translated as “idle” here means “unfruitful.” There are unfruitful words that don't give us any help in the day of judgment. (Mat.12:37) For by thy words thou shalt be justified (that means “accounted righteous”), and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. When you come into judgment you want to be justified, so that you come through and overcome it. (Rom 3:4)  God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.  He tells us in order for that to happen, we have to confess Him before men. (Mat.15:18) But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man. (19) For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings: (20) these are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man. When we think thoughts that are contrary to God, when we speak what we see, feel and hear, we're like the spies who went into the Promised Land and brought back a bad report. They reported what they saw, what they felt and what they heard, so they were condemned by God. They made the hearts of the people fearful and that made the people fall away (Numbers 13,14). The spies died in the wilderness because they brought a bad report and the rest died because they believed what they heard and not what God said. Our report, the good witness that we're supposed to give before men, has to be what “thus saith the Lord.” What did the Lord say about our circumstances and our situations? By your words you are going to be justified or accounted righteous, and by your words, you are going to be condemned. When these Israelites in the wilderness began to look at the problems around them and became discouraged because they didn't have their mind on the promise, they “spoke against the Lord.” (Num 14:28) … as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you. They spoke about what they saw, what they felt, what they heard, and what their fears told them would happen. They cried the whole time to go back to Egypt because they loved the fleshly rest of trusting in the world to supply their needs. God wanted them to rest in the promises in the wilderness, and He had to bring them through the wilderness to get them to the Promised Land of rest. We see here that the people, walking in flesh, “spake against the Lord,” and that's what comes from the disobedience caused by unbelief. They spoke against the Lord, saying that He was going to cause them to die in the wilderness and they spoke of how much they hated the bread, which brought a curse upon them. (Num.21:6) And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. They said they hated the “light bread.” They hated the Lord! Did you know that if you don't love the bread of the Word, you don't love the Lord? Many people say they love the Lord, but what did the Lord Himself say? (Joh.14:15) If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. If you love the Lord, you will love the Word. Now the “light bread” that they reviled was the manna, but what was the manna? (Exo.16:31) And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers [made] with honey. Some Bible versions have a footnote that the word “manna” is actually the Hebrew word “man.” Wow! And Who is the Man? The Man is Jesus. (Joh.6:33) For the bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (34) They said therefore unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. (35) Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. They hated the manna, which represented the Word of life. It represented He Who is the Word, Jesus Christ. They hated the Lord, but the Lord is these promises. (Joh.1:14) And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. “The Word became flesh,” or to state it another way, the Word manifested in flesh. The Word became flesh in order for us to be like Him, bearing His fruit, because we also have to be the Word become flesh. God's plan is that He might reveal Himself through the body of Christ today, like He revealed Himself through the first body of Christ. The Israelites in the wilderness hated the Lord because they had their eyes on the problems instead of the promises, and they became discouraged. They hadn't entered into the rest. They hadn't ceased from their works and so they were under the curse. (Num.21:6) And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. (7) And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. They sinned because they spoke against the Lord. Do you know it's overwhelmingly common for God's people to speak against Him? That's because their tongue is connected to their physical sight and their physical hearing. It's also common that God's people live under the curse, but the Lord did not ordain us to live under the curse. He ordained us to live above the curse. God told Joshua (Jos.1:8) This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: (Notice: You will be able to do what is written if you speak in agreement with the Word.) for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous (Hebrew: “to push forward”; this has nothing to do with the worldly “prosperity” doctrine.), and then thou shalt have good success (Notice: Christian success comes from speaking and acting in agreement with the Word.). To state it another way, when we speak in agreement with the Word, although not necessarily quoting the Word, “then thou shalt make thy way prosperous.” This is how we “prosper” in going to the Promised Land and what else did He say? “That thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.” You see, faith makes us obedient; unbelief makes us disobedient. If we never cease from our works, then we will never enter into the rest. That's what the Lord exhorted in (Heb.3:11) As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. Why? (12) Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God. They couldn't enter into the rest because they had “an evil heart of unbelief” that made them speak against the Lord. When they realized this was sin, they asked Moses to pray for them and Moses prayed for the people. (Num.21:8) And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. What does the serpent represent? We came out of this world and into the Kingdom of God, into what is called “the body of Christ.” So what body were we a part of before we came to the body of Christ? The body of antichrist. Anti means against. Jesus said, (Mat.12:30) He that is not with me is against me.... He talked to the Pharisees and said, (Joh.8:44) Ye are of [your] father the devil.... They were members of the body of the devil, which is antichrist! And we used to be in the devil's body, too. We were created to be in his image but we were actually full of the poison of the serpent. We had that poison in our heads, just like the serpent does. Remember what Revelation says. (Rev.12:9) And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.... And yet the Lord called us to be a part of His body. The Bible says that Jesus became like that serpent on the pole. (Joh.3:14) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. From now on, when we look at Jesus upon the cross, we can see our curse put there upon Him. We can see our sin and our sickness put upon Him. We can see our lack and whatever our problem is put there upon Him because of this. (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.... “Redeemed” is the Greek word exagorazo, and it means “to buy out or to purchase a slave with a mind to set him free.” Christ bought us. He delivered us from the bondage of slavery to sin, the devil and the curse. The “curse of the law” is all of the evil things that came upon mankind for disobeying God's Law (Deuteronomy 28). (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.... Jesus became the curse! We know that the devil administers the curse and he's been given that authority by God to do it so that people would be humbled, repent and turn to Him. (13) Christ… having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (Now we see that Jesus became cursed on that cross; He became like the serpent, like us.): (14) that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The Bible says that Abraham was blessed in all things. (16) Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. God made all these promises to Christ. He made all these promises to just one seed and now we must abide in Him. And we abide in Him by accepting the same promises, by speaking the same promises, by walking in faith in the same promises. And we receive the benefit of Abraham because Jesus became cursed for us. God put our curse, the whole curse that's partially enumerated in Deuteronomy 28, upon Jesus. No matter what problem you have, you should be able to see this problem upon Jesus. (Num.21:8) And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. We were snake-bit and Jesus took the venom. I'd like to point out something else: (2Co.5:21) Him who knew no sin he made [to be] sin (Jesus became the curse and He became the sin.) on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Do you have a problem with sin? Do you have a problem with the curse that comes from sin? We see the serpent on the cross and that the Lord has put all of this upon Jesus. Now we confess what the Bible says: (2Co.5:17) Wherefore if any man is in Christ, [he is] a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. All of that curse and sin has completely passed away. We are new creatures by faith in this. When you look at the serpent on the pole, you're supposed to see your curse, your sin, upon Him. The curse is very broad. If you read Deuteronomy 28, you'll find it's all sickness, it's all lack, it's all bondage to your enemies, etc. We're speaking against God if we're not speaking in agreement with His promises. We must repent. We must “change our mind,” which is what “repent” means. We are new creatures in Christ. Christ has been raised up on the pole for our salvation and we are to get our eyes upon Him because Moses said, (Num.21:8) ... every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. (9) And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the standard: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived. So when the Israelites got their eyes on the Son, which in this case is represented by the serpent, and on what the Son had accomplished, they were healed. Many years ago, I had a vision in which I saw myself walking to a stream and when I got into the stream, I received a revelation that as long as I lay on my back and looked at the sun, I could stay floating up the stream. As I meditated on that, the Lord gave me the understanding that this stream represents the Word of God. God told Moses, (Deu.11:26) Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. He was talking about His commandments because they represent both a blessing and a curse. They represent the blessing of God's Good News, and they represent the curse of death to those who disobey it. So I realized that the water represented the Word of God (Eph.5:26) having cleansed [the church] by the washing of water with the word, and that it could either kill me or give me life. I could go upstream, contrary to nature, if I kept my eyes on the sun and I would always stay afloat; in other words, I would always stay above the curse. Water will kill you if you go beneath it, but if you stay on top, it's a blessing like Noah in the ark. We have to keep our eyes on the Son in order to stay above the curse that's upon this world because He's the One Who promised and He's the One Who bore the curse. We should be able to see our curse upon Him. If you can see your problem having been put on Jesus, you can be free of it; that's His method. It's very, very simple. If you get double minded you sink into the curse like Peter when he walked on water. That's what faith is all about; faith is believing that you have already received on account of the promises that God has already given. Continuing with my dream, as I was lying on my back with my face to the sun, I was floating upstream, contrary to nature and to the laws of this world. If you keep your eyes on the Son, it's supernatural. It's above the laws of this world. The supernatural takes precedence over the laws of this world. For instance, healing comes to people who believe that they have received it, but healing comes very hard to people who are always seeking it. It works the same way for deliverance from sins and all of the curse. (Mar.11:24) All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received them, and ye shall have them. That's very simple and an awesome benefit that the Lord has given to us. So I'm floating upstream and I looked around me and saw there were a few others who were doing the same thing. As we floated away, I noticed that there were people on the left side of the stream who floated up under a tent that was stretched over about half the stream. Whenever any of these people who were floating with me went under the tent and the shadow fell upon them, they sank to the bottom of the stream, for they lost sight of the Son and His salvation. I quickly got out onto the bank and cut the ropes holding the tent up. It fell into the water and the water carried it away. Then I made these floats to float the people up off the bottom. As soon as they saw the sun again, they started floating once more. I realized that the tent represented man's religion. The religions of man like to take credit for what God has already done. They like to tell men, “God does not do it that way anymore.” They have their fleshly ideas and their way of leading people is, “Let's go back to Egypt and do it the way of the world. Let's have God's salvation through man's provision. Let's go back by the fleshpots.” They don't teach people to walk by faith with their eyes on the Son, but they bring them into darkness. They block the light of the Son and the people sink. They're under the curse and think it's normal to live that way because everybody around them lives that way. God did not ordain us to do that. If we keep our eyes on the Son, we will stay above the curse; that's what the Lord revealed to me about this. Also it was those on the “left” that fell away. Jesus put the goats on the left. Many “Christians” are self-willed and rebellious like goats and must be taught better. Another revelation I want to share …   Resting in Jesus to Do the Work Missy Pollock - 04/11/2012 (David's notes in red) A couple was ministering to me concerning something I've been going through for about four years. The husband said he sensed in his spirit that soon things would come to light. Then, that same night, the Lord gave me the following dream to encourage me and build my faith. I believe that this dream can be encouraging and faith-building for other members of the body of Christ. In the dream, my husband (representing Jesus) was driving to work and I was with Him (the Lord doesn't do anything without me; He needs my cooperation). (Missy here represents the bride of Jesus, who is learning to let Him lead and do the work.) There was a car (representing circumstances and situations in my environment, or in my life) in front of us with a baseball glove attached to it by about 6 feet of string (my flesh) on the back bumper. (Getting ahead of the Lord's works.) My husband (Jesus) said that the baseball glove (the hand of God) was His. I said, “No, that's not your glove” (not recognizing God's hand in things). Then there was another car in front of us with a string attached to it with a baseball glove on a power line (Doing our work by)(the power of God's kingdom) and the car eventually pulled the string tight to the point that it came off and the glove stayed on the power line (God is using the circumstances in my life to cause me to let go and let God). This same thing happened again (the process of transforming me into His image through dying to self and taking up my cross and following Him) with another car and ball glove attached. The next time it happened, when the string was pulled tight, it wasn't a glove but a bird attached to the string, and it flew away and landed in a tree. (I am the bird in the Spirit, in resurrection, one with the Lord, free from the flesh [the string], resting in the tree from the works of the flesh. Amen. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!) (Also, a bird can represent God's Spirit who enables His works with gifts.) Then my husband was driving fast (doing a quick work in my life) and I asked Him to slow down (a quick work is hard on the flesh. Amen; it's dying! (1Pe.4:1) ... for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin). He made a comment that the road was a dirt road (an earthly, temporary journey: (2Co.4:18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.) and I said, “No, it wasn't.” My husband made a turn without even looking and a car almost hit us (Psalm 91). I said to him, “That car almost hit us.” My husband was annoyed with all my comments (because I wasn't trusting in Him). At some point, I saw that the road really was a dirt road and there were a lot of curves in the road (finally seeing that it was just a temporary (earthly) journey). My husband made another reckless turn. (This is just the perception of my carnal man. I need to make sure I set my mind on the things that are above and not on the things that are on the earth.) These are the verses the Lord gave me to go with the dream: (1Ki.12:33) And he went up unto the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth (rest) day in the eighth (the number of circumcision, the cutting off of sowing flesh) month, even in the month which he devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel and went up unto the altar, to burn incense. (Serving God our own way in the flesh. The wife gave the meaning of the numbers. She said, “Step away from the matter now; it's in God's hands. Rest in all that God has shown you. The end of the matter is at hand. Be patient in spirit!”) Also (Joe.3:17) So shall ye know that I am Jehovah your god, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. We start out serving God in the flesh, but learn to rest through all the trials and tribulations He takes us through. Eventually, there are no strangers (man in the flesh) in God's Kingdom and His bride. (Ecc.3:14) I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God hath done it, that men should fear before him. Amen.

Pastor Liz Roberson (Worship Pastor at Shiloh) steps out from behind the piano to walk us through John 8—where Jesus teaches in the Temple and confronts the Pharisees over authority, truth, and freedom. What does it mean to live as sons and daughters of God today? Pastor Liz shows three marks of a child of God: we recognize truth, we rescue others, and we remain in the Word. She shares a personal testimony from a serious car wreck and how declaring the name of Jesus aligned her with the greater, positional truth of life in Christ. If you've ever felt stuck between what you see and what God says, this message will help you choose the higher reality, walk in freedom, and bring others with you. Key scriptures John 8:21–59; John 8:31–36; 2 Corinthians 6:16–18; Ephesians 2:4–10; Colossians 3:1–2; Daniel 7:13–14; 1 John 4:13–17 Big takeaways • Truth recognized becomes freedom received. • Freedom received becomes freedom shared. • Those who remain in the Word remain in the house—and in life.

Read OnlineThen one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”  Luke 11:45–46This scholar of the law had been listening to Jesus firmly rebuke the Pharisees. As he listened, his own conscience was pricked, and he challenged our Lord. What does Jesus do? He quickly and firmly rebukes the scholar of the law, pointing out that the scholar uses the law to impose heavy burdens on people. Jesus did not back down in this rebuke of love. Instead, He directed it to the very place that His rebuke was bearing fruit: in the conscience of this scholar of the law.This experience of the scholar of the law teaches us two important lessons. First, we learn from him the importance of paying attention to our conscience when it is “pricked.” Second, it teaches us that when this happens, it is very easy to become defensive.What is it that pricks your own conscience? Think back over the past month and reflect upon anything that you became defensive about. Did something someone said bother you? If so, pay attention to this. Sometimes we are bothered for reasons other than our own sin. But oftentimes, what actually bothers us is that we come face-to-face with some sin with which we struggle, and we do not want to admit it.What if this scholar of the law would have listened to Jesus and, instead of being offended, became grateful for Jesus' words? What if he would have humbly looked at his own life and realized that he was also guilty of the very things that Jesus was condemning the Pharisees for? If he would have done that, he would have been put in a position to sincerely examine his actions and begin a process of change. But this is hard to do. Reflect, today, upon anything that has recently offended you. Be honest and admit that it is often the case that when God presents you with your sin through some means such as the loving rebuke of another, you must work diligently to overcome any pride. And when you feel defensive, you must immediately see that as an indication that there is something in your life that you need to change. A pricked conscience is a gift from God. Rejoice when that happens, rather than being offended, and you will discover one of the best ways by which you can grow in holiness of life by becoming free of the very sin our Lord is presenting to you. My challenging Lord, You are constantly speaking to me in various ways. Sometimes You are gentle, and at other times You lovingly rebuke me. Please help me to see my sin. As I do, I pray that I will not become defensive or dismissive, rationalizing my erroneous actions. May I learn to rejoice in all that You say to me, especially when You speak Your rebukes of love. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: Jacob Jordaens, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Today's Topics: 1, 2, 3, 4) Bishop Strickland joins Terry Gospel - Luke 11:37-41 - After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited Him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that He did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you." Memorial of Saint Callistus, Pope and Martyr Saint Callistus, pray for us!

(4:46) Bible Study: Romans 1:16-25 Father talks about relationships and how they relate to God. Luke 11:37-41 Why did the Pharisees invite him to dinner? (21:06) Break 1 (22:22) Letters: How did the thief know who Jesus was when they were crucified? What is the difference between Jews and Hebrews? What is the difference between mortal and venial sin? Father answers these and other questions, send him a letter at simon@relevantradio.com (34:59) Break 2 (35:35) Word of the Day Adam (40:11) Phones: Tony - My brother died in the sin of addiction and he got molested by a family member and he died recently and I want to know where he is? God is merciful but I just want to have a better understanding of the state of his soul. Lawrence - Are priests allowed to be critical of bishops and the pope. I heard your answer about the blessing of the block of ice and I wasn't convinced and I thought maybe that was why. Andy - My wife is becoming catholic, and I recently came back too. She wants to know why the church makes people wait till Easter!

Gospel  Luke 11:37-41 After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.” Reflection In order to understand the life of the Pharisees that Jesus was so anxious to expose was the fact that there was a way in which they were called to always be clean, never unclean, and there were all these rituals that went to make them clean. And Jesus knows them and knows at the heart of their very being there is a problem. It's greed. It's wanting power. It's wanting control. It's so interesting that he says in such a simple way, you know, if you would just get past all of this, focus on yourself and your power and be generous. Give it away. Understand who I can be in you, making you so rich and so powerful. Closing Prayer Father, bless us always, with a generous, open heart. When we are open to you, we are open to one another. We have compassion. We have understanding. Bless us with not being caught up so much in ourselves, in our roles, in our positions, but make us more like you. Compassionate and understanding. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Garth Heckman The David Alliance TDAgiantSlayer@Gmail.com    People Problems… today we are talking about the person who is your biggest problem.    If you could kick the person in the pants as hard as you could responsible for all your problems, you wouldn't be able to sit for a week.       Jesus was never nice, but he was always kind. We have been domesticated in our Xn walk.   Ex. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to be NICE to the world.       NO NO NO NO to die for the world.      John 5  Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” 7 “I can't, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” 8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” 9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can't work on the Sabbath! The law doesn't allow you to carry that sleeping mat!” 11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.'” 12 “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded. 13 The man didn't know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse (GK same word: the evil spirit will return with 7 more and you will be worse) may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.  **Many times when Jesus healed the sick he would say and your sins have been forgiven- acknowledging that they believed he was the Messiah and had received their healing because of it- but not his guy. He did not want to be healed, nor did he believe Jesus was the messiah.    **I might add the Pharisees did not hassle this man they went after Jesus - which was typically not the case. HOWEVER I believe that because the man did not receive Christ as the messiah the demons didn't care about his healing and left him alone… the pharisees were obviously motivated by the demonic! 

After Jesus had spoken,a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.He entered and reclined at table to eat.The Pharisee was amazed to seethat he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees!Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,inside you are filled with plunder and evil.You fools!Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?But as to what is within, give alms,and behold, everything will be clean for you."

Gospel Daily with Josh Weidmann When Memory Fails Us: Moving from Remembering to Trusting Jesus, Part 1Series: Encountering Jesus Scripture: Mark 8:1-21 Episode: 1438 Scripture Summary: In Mark 8:1–21, a large crowd gathers again, and Jesus, moved with compassion, miraculously feeds 4,000 people with just seven loaves and a few small fish. After everyone is satisfied, seven baskets of leftovers remain. Later, the Pharisees demand a sign from heaven, but Jesus refuses, grieved by their hardened hearts. As He and the disciples cross the lake, they worry about not having enough bread. Jesus rebukes them for their lack of understanding, reminding them of the miracles of the loaves and asking, “Do you still not understand?”

The Pharisees and the Sadducees were often at odds with each other concerning doctrine and philosophy, but they had a common link in their skepticism about Jesus. Today they ask Jesus to display his power with a sign from heaven. Christ has already performed numerous miracles, but these men have been blind to the truth; they can't read the signs of the times. Later, Peter makes what is often called “the good confession,” which is that Jesus is not John the Baptist resurrected or Elijah, but the Messiah. Jesus says that he will build his church on this confession, but those who follow him will have to take up their cross in order to do so. :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Read OnlineAfter Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools!”  Luke 11:37–40It's hard to imagine Jesus calling someone a fool. But that's exactly what He did. This Pharisee had just finished listening to Jesus give a series of teachings and then invited our Lord to His home for dinner in an apparent gesture of kindness. But as the passage unfolds, it's clear that this Pharisee is no friend of Jesus. Instead, his hospitality and kindness are a cloak for the evil within his soul.Why does Jesus respond so fiercely, calling the Pharisee a fool? Because this Pharisee is filled with hypocrisy. His exterior actions do not flow from a heart filled with charity and faith. Instead, his exterior actions are a show. He is a fraud. He, like many of the Pharisees, was very concerned with various external rituals, such as scrupulously washing his hands before he ate. He believed that doing so was a sign of his holiness and closeness to God. But it wasn't. His heart was one that was filled with judgment and self-righteousness. He looked down on others and elevated himself. In doing so, he deceived others and even deceived himself. The central message we must take from this is that we must diligently focus upon that which is in our hearts. Our hearts, our interior life, must be blooming with love of God and others. We must place all of our efforts on cultivating a sincere life of virtue within. This is done by prayer and humility. Humility will open our eyes to see the truth of who we are. Prayer will strengthen us to change as we see that which needs to be changed within. Only then, when we see clearly the truth of who we are and prayerfully rely upon grace obtained by prayer, will we be able to become people of true integrity and holiness. And only then will our interior holiness be made manifest externally in our actions. Reflect, today, upon these powerful words of Jesus: “You fools!” Don't be offended by these words; they are words of love from our Lord. They are His fierce attempt to wake this Pharisee up and lead him away from his hypocrisy. Listen to these words as if they were also spoken to you. Every one of us can humbly benefit from this loving chastisement from Jesus. Every one of us needs to humbly be transformed more fully interiorly. Let Jesus' words speak to you and reveal to you the ways that you need to change. Perhaps your pride has led you to an interior practice of judgment of others. Perhaps it has blinded you to sins that you need to confess. If you can listen to these words as if they were spoken to you, then Jesus' fervor will reach you, and your eyes will be opened to that which is in your soul that needs to be changed. Do not turn a blind eye to this. Be open, be humble and listen. My fervent Lord, You spoke words of love in many ways. At times You were gentle and at times You were firm. Please give me the grace and humility I need to be open to Your firm rebukes of love. Help me to sincerely see the ways in which I need to change my life so that Your grace will transform my interior life, flowing over into my actions. I love You, dear Lord. Help me to love You more. Jesus, I trust in You.Image: Luca Signorelli, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

#10MinuteswithJesus ** Put yourself in the presence of God. Try talking to Him. ** 10 minutes are 10 minutes. Even if you can get distracted, reach the end. ** Be constant. The Holy Spirit acts "on low heat" and requires perseverance. 10-Minute audio to help you pray. Daily sparks to ignite prayer: a passage from the gospel, an idea, an anecdote and a priest who speaks with you and the Lord, inviting you to share your intimacy with God. Find your moment, consider you are in His presence and click play.

272. Pathway to Joy and Happiness in Parenting with Amy Rienow   Psalm 144:15b NKJV, "Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!"   *Transcription Below*   Questions and Topics We Cover: Will you share your story of God revealing a spirit of perfectionism was sneaking into motherhood? How can we recognize our own spirit of perfectionism and what can we do about it? What is one thing you've found every mom needs more of and how can we get it?   Thank You to Our Sponsor: MidwestFoodBank.org   Amy Rienow's first ministry is loving her husband and nurturing faith in their seven children. She and Rob founded and lead Visionary Family Ministries, a ministry created to equip parents, encourage couples, and help families live for Christ. She attended the University of Illinois, followed by Wheaton College Graduate School, where she earned her MA in Clinical Psychology. She is a licensed clinical professional counselor. Amy has her hands full as a mom, partnering with Rob, and serving in the women's and worship ministries at church.   Savvy Sauce Episodes Mentioned in Episode: Special Patreon Re-Release: Discipline that Disciples with Dr. Rob Rienow Five Love Languages with Dr. Gary Chapman 87 Visionary Parenting and Grand-Parenting with Dr. Rob Rienow 182 Things I Wish I'd Have Known Before My Child Became a Teenager with Dr. Gary Chapman 220 Cultivating Healthy Family Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman 245 Stories Series: Miracles Big and Small with Dr. Rob Rienow 230 Intentional Parenting in All Stages with Dr. Rob Rienow   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook, Instagram or Our Website    Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:11 - 1:43) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.   Thank you to an anonymous donor to Midwest Food Bank, who paid the sponsorship fee in hopes of spreading awareness.  Learn more about this amazing nonprofit organization at MidwestFoodBank.org.   I'm thrilled to get to introduce you to my inspiring guest for today, Amy Rienow. Now, that last name may sound familiar because Amy's husband, Dr. Rob Rienow, has been a previous guest multiple times, actually. So, I'll make sure and link his previous episodes in the show notes, along with other episodes that we recommend in this conversation.   Amy and Rob are founders of Visionary Family Ministries, and they are parents to seven children. Amy is also an author, podcaster, and she's practiced as a licensed clinical professional counselor in the past, so she's going to combine all of this experience together, and her wisdom just pours out as now she's going to seek to encourage us to seek the Lord and follow His guidance, especially as parents in our parenting journey. Here's our chat.   Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Amy.   Amy Rienow: (1:44 - 1:51) Hi Laura. I'm so glad to do this with you. It's been a while since we've talked about it, and I'm excited to be here today.   Laura Dugger: (1:51 - 2:00) Well, I'm thrilled to have you join, and I'd love to just dive in and hear how did Jesus Christ become your personal Lord and Savior?   Amy Rienow: (2:01 - 3:39)  I love that you start with that question. I grew up in a home with a Christian mom and a non-Christian dad, but they had made an arrangement before they were even married. She did have the wisdom to ask her husband to give her the domain of that, like picking a church, and he was willing to go with us as a family to church, even though he was not a believer, and that was very clear.   But she led me to the Lord when I was about four years old, and I grew up going to church, and that was my first. I feel like I never kind of have a lot of memory of not knowing Jesus, but I would say that my faith increased and became even more my own. I feel like it was always my own, but in high school, I went on a missions trip to Mexico, and I will never forget the experience of being in a very poor town in Mexico, and there was this horrible storm coming in, and all of us Americans were afraid of the storm, and we ran into the church while the service kept going on, and literally none of the Mexican people that were outside in the service, the storm didn't faze them at all.   They just kept going on, and honestly, that was such a pivotal point in my life where I was like, that is the type of faith that I wanted to have. I mean, it really cemented. I feel like that's when the Holy Spirit just helped me to know that that's who I want to be.   I want to be a person of that kind of faith in the Lord that is not budging when the storms come.   Laura Dugger: (3:40 - 4:04) Love that. Thank you for sharing, and since that time, you've added some people to your family, so I'd love to get a snapshot of your family right now and then share some more about motherhood, specifically in one of your books you wrote about recognizing that you had a spirit of perfectionism. So, I'd love to hear more about that because I think it's very relatable.   Amy Rienow: (4:05 - 6:43) Well, my family right now, I've been married to my husband Rob for 30 years. I have seven children, R.W., Lissy, J.D., Lainey, Millie, Ray, and Rush.  And R.W. is turning 28 this year. He has one little boy.   His name is Cliff, so that's my grandbaby number three. My daughter Lissy is married to Bond, and she's about to have baby number three, so that will be my fourth grandbaby. She has Avey, Bondy, and then this little new one on the way. And then my son J.D. just got married to Brooke last summer, so that is exciting. We're thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to have Brooke in our family. Lainey is graduating from Olivet. She graduated in three years, which we're really proud of. Millie is a junior.   Ray is a freshman, and Rush is in fifth grade, and I still homeschool those three. They kind of do part-time at a Christian school here, and then I homeschool the rest of the time. So, that is my current family.   It's expanding. As you will find out when you get to the stage, expansions come very quickly, and it's exciting, exciting times. But about that spirit of perfectionism, actually, even before I became a mom, I was convicted of a spirit of perfectionism because I had always been very critical of myself.   I had a very critical spirit. Just I don't know if it was, you know, the peer pressure, what those components are. I'm a middle child, but I just tended to critique myself very harshly.   And after I was married, even about a year, the Lord showed me how, because of my husband and I were becoming one flesh, I was really turning that critical spirit onto him. But then there was a book called The Fly Lady. She is a home organization.   I think I mention it in my book, but that is when I really began to understand that I struggled with perfectionism, and that's often what kept me paralyzed. It often keep me with that, you know, I would say engaging with that critical spirit, communicating a lot of criticisms, whether it be to my children or to my husband. So, that was, you know, so it started early in marriage, but by the time I was well into motherhood, I was really starting to understand what this was. What the critical spirit was, and it really was a spirit of perfectionism.   Laura Dugger: (6:44 - 6:52) Well, and the Lord met you there, and there is a story that you share related to picture frames. Would you be willing to tell that?   Amy Rienow: (6:52 - 9:07) Yeah. So, my daughter, Lissy, was graduating from high school, and it was classic me. I was trying to like get this massive graduation party together, and I'm sort of a procrastinator and life is busy.   So, it's like we are, okay, I got to get this done before this big party, this big event, and had a friend who was a decorator to kind of give me an idea of what to do. And so, my husband and really the whole family was kind of working overtime to get everything ready for this big event. And he had helped my, we had this huge wall that had to be that my decorator friend suggested a gallery wall.   So, we had all of these pictures up and I was looking at it late at night, kind of exhausted. We're talking about past midnight and I know it wasn't just my husband helping. I had JD helping.   I don't remember where I was, but we were just all working hard to get this ready for this party. And I was laying there as past midnight looking at that wall and so frustrated, like so frustrated because all those pictures I kept looking at like, Oh, this is going to be a mess. Like they're all, they're not like, you know, they're not command stripped.   Right. And so they're all going to be, I just felt like, what have I done? It's looking crooked already.   And it was so frustrating to me. And that is when the Holy spirit completely convicted me with just like, Amy, you should be looking what's in those pictures and not whether they're crooked or not crooked. Like, first of all, like all the family has been helping me with this vision.   Right. And it's not really their vision. It's my vision.   They've all been supportive of me in front of me. It was a wall of all the memories of all these beautiful pictures. And here I was so focused on my right angles and having it look perfect for the crowd coming in at the graduation party, as opposed to what everything on that wall represented.   And so, it was a very convicting moment to me of just like, I have a choice. Am I going to embrace everything in those pictures and everything my family's done to help us get to this special day? Or am I going to come in and be fixated on how crooked those picture frames look to me right now?   Laura Dugger: (9:07 - 9:19)  Appreciate you sharing that. And I'm wondering for any parent, especially listening, if they find themselves identifying with that spirit of perfectionism, what can we do with that?   Amy Rienow: (9:20 - 11:11)  It's a challenging one because I think our culture promotes it. And I also think I'm on the flip side of the positive side of it. Let me just say, I believe there's a vision of perfect in our hearts because we were created for perfect.   We're created for heaven. And the Bible says that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, or no mind has even conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. So, there's this drive for perfect that I think is very good and right.   And so, we don't want to give up like excellence, or we don't want to give up that we have that drive. The problem is that the enemy, in fact, I've actually done more research on this. There's really can be a demonic spirit of perfectionism where we're trying to create heaven here.   We're trying to think in our own flesh and our own strength that we can take care of all of our sin, take care of all of our flaws. We can take care of our children's flaws. We can take care of our husband's flaws.   That is actually from the enemy in the sense that we believe in our own strength. And you can look at that through history. It's basically a form of humanism that we can fix everything in ourselves.   God makes it very clear in scripture that that is not possible. So, I think understanding this tension, that it's okay to want things to be wonderful, that's not bad. But what's bad is when we leave God out of the picture and we put this pressure on ourselves and on the people around us to accomplish what only can God can do.   And we don't accept God's timing. We don't have patience with who we are, our sinful nature and really put our trust in Christ and not in ourselves.   Laura Dugger: (11:12 - 12:56) Let's take a quick break to hear a message from our sponsor.   Midwest Food Bank exists to provide industry leading food relief to those in need while feeding them spiritually. They are a food charity with a desire to demonstrate God's love by providing help to those in need.   Unlike other parts of the world where there's not enough food in America, the resources actually do exist. That's why food pantries and food banks like Midwest Food Bank are so important. The goods that they deliver to their agency partners help to supplement the food supply for families and individuals across our country, aiding those whose resources are beyond stretched.   Midwest Food Bank also supports people globally through their locations in Haiti and East Africa, which are some of the areas hardest hit by hunger arising from poverty. This ministry reaches millions of people every year. And thanks to the Lord's provision, 99% of every donation goes directly toward providing food to people in need.   The remaining 1% of income is used for fundraising, costs of leadership, oversight, and other administrative expenses. Donations, volunteers, and prayers are always appreciated for Midwest Food Bank. To learn more, visit midwestfoodbank.org, or listen to episode 83 of The Savvy Sauce, where the founder, David Kieser, shares miracles of God that he's witnessed through this nonprofit organization. I hope you check them out today.   You also write in one of your books that there's one thing that you found every mother needs. So, what is it and how can we get it?   Amy Rienow: (12:56 - 14:56) That one thing is joy, joy, joy. And, and I like to use the word happiness, honestly, because I feel like that happiness got a bad rap, I say, in Christian world for like a while, in my opinion. I don't know if it's still that way, but so often I heard sermon saying, you know, like we don't want happiness.   We want joy. Like there's these two different major things, like, you know, almost like a rejection of happiness for this deeper spiritual joy. Well, finally, the Lord really convicted me that deep, deep inner joy that doesn't show is an oxymoron.   Like, you really should see happiness. You should feel happiness. You should feel those things.   If you ever come across someone's like, oh no, I have a deep joy, but like, there's no evidence of it. Well, that's a red flag. That's a problem.   The Lord, you know, in the King James version, it actually says happier people whose God is the Lord. And I believe every mom desires that happiness. And sometimes they don't even really know that that's the most important element that they want in their home, you know, because it's so easy to get, I don't know, sidetracked on things that feel more important that you kind of forget how important happiness is.   And, you know, we can take it for granted. I feel like very easily because often when our kids are little and we don't have not entered that world of, whether it be academic or whatever into the greater world, let's just say in your home, you can kind of have like a natural happiness and joy that's just there, but it's so easily stifled. When we start putting our self into the world of either comparing ourselves to other moms, comparing our kids to other kids, stressing about the expectations or what we think our kids need.   We can often find that happiness slipping away. And I believe we do not want that to happen in our homes and in our hearts.   Laura Dugger: (14:57 - 15:08) And so how can we get more of that, both as parents and how can we train our kids to be happy and joyful as well?   Amy Rienow: (15:09 - 17:18) It's such a good question and a hard question. Cause I don't think it's just like we can snap our fingers and just do that. I think that it's really important that we are seeking the Lord and helping him order our priorities.   You know, God gave us 10 commandments for a reason. And if you look at the first one, it says, “You know, you'll have no other gods before me, you'll keep him first.” And part of the reason why I think that commandment is both like the first and also in many ways, very abstract, like, you know what I mean?   How do you even do that? You know, it's confusing, I think, but I think that's what the Lord wants is of a seeking of helping us keep him first. Because when we help to keep God first, number one, and number two, we don't have idols that we bow down to, that we place above him. Like, let's take an example of motherhood.   Let's say the idol might be, um, I have to have super smart children. Let's put it that way. You know, your joy is going to be robbed when you keep sacrificing to that idol, because that's a trap.   Like the enemy wants to trap you there to make the wrong sacrifices. And that is why I think God knows this. Like he's telling us right in those 10 commandments, you know, you need to keep me first.   You can have no, do not worship to idols. Because when you're making the sacrifices to eternal God, who is the author of joy, the author of love, the author of peace, those are the things he gives back to you. No other idol can give you peace.   No other idol can give you joy. So, I think when we look at the lack of joy that we see in a lot of our homes in our culture, it's because we've been ensnared into an idolatry where we're making the wrong sacrifices. We're sacrificing things that we don't realize the consequence of that until we're in it.   And we're like, wait, this didn't produce the happiness and joy that I expected it to produce. Cause we were tricked.   Laura Dugger: (17:19 - 17:27) Do you have any examples from your own life or friend's stories where that really comes to life?   Amy Rienow: (17:27 - 21:22) Oh boy. There's lots of examples and lots of friends stories, but I'm going to say one that's more of a story that I'm well aware of and not, you know, personally walk hand with. But I think it's always struck with me because it was so painful story. You know, I grew up, I've raised a lot of athletes in my home and my son, especially my first born very athletic boy.   And we were kind of at the beginning of the cusp of how important travel was, you know what I mean? Travel baseball and travel, you know, sports in general. And there's that pressure.   You need to choose this. You need to do this or else you are going to, you know, ruin the advantages for your child. If you don't do this, even if choosing that is going to mean you're going to sacrifice family time, you're going to sacrifice finances.   You are going to sacrifice your Sundays. I could go on and on. The world will tell you you have to do this in order to get to the prize that you're looking for, or your son is going to be disadvantaged.   If you don't choose that. And it took a lot to be like, no, we're not going to make, we're not going to make that trade. And there was a lot of pressure.   There's a lot of pressure with our son, you know what I mean? With him feeling sometimes neglected and having to deal in that relationship. So, it's not like that's immediate happiness or immediate joy, you know, but what did it did allow us to disciple him through all that.   It allowed us to see God, you know, use him, whatever team he was on, give him a lot of joy in sports. The blessing of it is that we saw him in high school, you know, excel in baseball, always rise to the top, win character awards. He eventually did go on to play college baseball and AIA, not like D1, but he got to play, got to use that gift to pay for his education.   But most importantly, he was a joyful, happy kid. Baseball didn't control his life. And I just praise God for that.   And in contrast, he, at the same, his age, same age level, there were these two boys who were twins were very well known for being top, top, top, top players. And they were just elevated in many circles we were in. And, you know, you, when you're in the baseball world, baseball moms will understand this, you know who the top players are.   You see the name, like, you know, when your son's in the paper for something, you know, he was listed in the number of top of DuPage kids. And obviously that's a feather in your cap and you're really proud of that. These boys were top of the top D1, but I'll never forget.   They went to different D1 schools and one of them ended up taking his own life his freshman year. I believe it just the most devastating thing. I could not, I cannot speak to any of those situations.   I don't know his family background. I do not know any history of at all. All I can say is it hit me really hard in the sense that these were the boys that so many parents were envying, envying of their success and of their status.   And that was so jolting to, to know that they'd received, you know, hit so many of these incredible hurdles that every parent thinks they want their kids to achieve. But obviously there was something amiss because there was a lack of joy, lack of happiness. I don't know the whole story.   But that just strikes me again of just how important it is to again, go back to keeping God first, make sure you're making the right sacrifices.   Laura Dugger: (21:23 - 22:43) That's a good word. It's such a sobering story, but making sure we're making the right sacrifices or really listening to God's counsel. That reminds me where I was this morning, Psalm 25.   I read it in the amplified version, but it was talking specifically that some of his guidance comes from his word. Like it's amazing. It's incredible.   It's important to pray and to be around others who are godly and do other spiritual rhythms, but there's nothing like reading his word to hear from him. And let me try and find the verses. Verse 14 in the amplified version says, “The secret of the wise counsel of the Lord is for those who fear him and he will let them know his covenant and reveal to them through his word, it's deep inner meaning.”   And the next verse, just the first part goes on to say, “My eyes are continually toward the Lord.” And that was such powerful takeaway this morning, but then I'm hearing it through the way that these lives played out. Because when you look, is it my understanding correct?   That you did travel sports, but they were not, your children chose not to do Sundays.   Amy Rienow: (22:44 - 25:52) Well, we did not even do travel sports for my oldest. It was back in the day when park district actually, you could, you know, like there were enough kids. So, we, my son did only park district all the way through eighth grade, but then he kind of, because he was like young for his age, he had one sort of gap year in between high school before he started like high school sports.   And that's when he did play a travel sport. We found one that honestly was not good at all. I don't think the level was any better than park district, but they accepted the no Sunday situation.   So, that's what we did. And you know, it was a losing team. Like he was on losing teams, like most of his baseball career until he got to high school.   So, it really was you know, the opposite of what the world said he needed. And yet he was able to, to rise and, and achieve. And honestly his high school experience was being able to always, he was a starter all the time and he his teams won.   So, it was like years of like, not, you know, kind of paying these prices I would say. And that's neither here or there. The winning or the losing is really not important.   The important was keeping baseball in its proper place, enjoying the gifts that God has given you, not letting, listening to the world. I'll just throw this in because we are what you said about sound. First of all, I love the amplified version.   So, that blessed me that you read the amplified, but you know, seeking the council, you, we must be as parents in his word, like regularly listening to how he's speaking to us because we also, it's so interesting. Rob and I live in a very interesting world. We had one foot, especially back then, one foot in the homeschool world, one foot in the public school area, public school community, lots of public school friends.   And then also the Christian school is where my son played. But you know, if we'd go to homeschool conference, there were tons of messages that you should not have your kids in sports at all. Sports are wrong.   Sports are a waste of time, you know? So, that was a strong message of sort of like condemnation almost for being in sports at all. So, my point is there was no one community that said, okay, this is the way, you know what I mean?   We had to seek the Lord, you know, for ourselves, for our family, for our son, knowing this was his love and his giftedness and continue to look for wisdom and how he should grow in those gifts. You know, and how he wanted to use it in his life, but not let it take over his life. And isn't that the lesson for all of us?   So, anyway, it depended on that seeking the counsel of him, both myself with my husband and then also with our W. It wasn't like we kept him out of the picture. We were praying the three of us for wisdom and all those things.   Laura Dugger: (25:53 - 26:42) I love hearing that because you're right. It's not about black and white decision of travel sports are always wrong or always right. But the main takeaway is seek the Lord because he has wisdom for our individual unique situation.   And I want to go back and close a few other loops. Sure. Please.   One of those being that even with perfectionism or with comparison or when we're choosing godly values that may contradict worldly values, I'm hearing a theme that there's a, it's a fight and that there's a spiritual battle. And you even said you had researched some of this, Amy, how do you personally learn about that and be aware of the spiritual realm?   Amy Rienow: (26:44 - 30:42) We, we really, I can't say it enough that we do need to be so aware of the spiritual realm. I didn't understand. I didn't understand in my early years of parenting at how important that was to pay attention to.   And here's the thing there's, I feel like there's the Lord brings us on a path along the way with the knowledge we need at the time. And then he wants us to stretch and grow and learn a little bit more. So, there was a season in my life.   When especially we began homeschooling, the Lord brought us into all these new teachings that we didn't really understand was so powerful. It was so wonderful. We were very blessed by all of those teaching and the conferences that we were attending.   But what began to happen for me is that the perfectionism that I knew was there kind of gotten folded into that teaching because all of a sudden I kind of wore as a spiritual, like pride that I, I called it my noble list. Now I, when I talk about my book, Not So Perfect Mom, I, this is not in the book, but this is part of my talks. Like I kind of replaced the world's list of great athlete, great, you know, so smart, all those things with my noble list.   My child will have wonderful character. My child will read God's word. My child will know what it means to serve, but you see what I mean?   We're still dealing with a list. God had to call me out of that way of thinking back to the importance of a relationship with him, meaning for myself and meaning for my kids. Because when my oldest was 12, I was starting to see that we could be raising a Pharisee. If we keep focusing on this noble list, like if he knows all of his Proverbs, if he obeys perfectly, if he, you know what I mean?   Like life is not supposed to be, God never called us to do that. He desires a daily relationship with us. And that's what he desires for our kids.   So, that was beginning to suffocate my oldest for sure. And my, I would say, and my daughter right underneath him because they felt the weight of this, you know, we need to arise to this, this standard. So, like that perfectionism can take on this, this type of robe that makes you feel very noble about it.   Especially if you're in certain circles, like spiritual circles, where if your kids look right, dress right. You know, say yes, ma'am and yes, sir. Then we're all assuming that they're wonderful and we're not really getting to the heart underneath, but that is, there's a tension and a spiritual battle.   That's far. That's super important to pay attention to. And the way the Lord showed that to me is that I would often say the phrase in conversation.   Oh, it's a battle. Oh, it's a battle. We're in a battle.   I'm the Lord. I don't know what they gave me a vision. That's too strong word, but I had this sort of, I, I guess it's a vision.   I imagine that I was on, I was sitting in a coffee, like at a table with a friend drinking coffee. And we were just, you know, chatting and yet that coffee table was in the middle of this bloody battlefield. And the Lord was just kind of showing me, this is how your attitude is about saying that it's in a battle.   Like you're sitting here, just talking with your friends, drinking coffee and chatting and laughing. And this is the battlefield. It's all around you.   What are you doing about the battle? You know, when you are following after the Lord, you need to expect opposition. You need to understand that your kids are under spiritual attack.   And if we're not praying and putting on that full armor of God and recognizing it, we're not engaged in it.   Laura Dugger: (30:42 - 31:41) When was the first time you listened to an episode of The Savvy Sauce? How did you hear about our podcast? Did a friend share it with you?   Will you be willing to be that friend now and text five other friends or post on your socials? Anything about The Savvy Sauce that you love. If you share your favorite episodes, that is how we continue to expand our reach and get the good news of Jesus Christ in more ears across the world.   So, we need your help. Another way to help us grow is to leave a five-star review on Apple podcasts. Each of these suggestions will cost you less than a minute, but it will be a great benefit to us.   Thank you so much for being willing to be generous with your time and share. We appreciate you.   When you go back to your family of origin, did your father ever find a saving faith in Jesus Christ as well?   Amy Rienow: (31:41 - 33:11) He did. He did actually. That's such a wonderful question. And he did when my husband and I were married for about a year. And he, at Christmas day in front of our whole family, after we were sitting at the table at dinner, he kind of waited for all the gifts to be open and be at a different spot.   And he said, “Well, I opened one more gift today and it was the gift of salvation.” Wow. I still tear up thinking about it and thinking about my older brother's response, who was not an emotional person.   And I saw tears in my older brother's eyes, but I just want to even in saying that, that taught me a lot because even at the time when he accepted salvation, he even said, I don't necessarily believe all the Bible's true. He really, you know, he accepted in faith and now he doesn't, you know, the Lord took him from evolutions. Now he's probably more conservative or believes the Bible in a way that I would say many other Christians maybe wouldn't believe, but I'm saying that it was a process watching him grow.   And my kids don't even understand that, that we call him Bop Bop. He used to be a man who, you know, let the communion plate pass every week. And he was not a believer because they see him so much as a spiritual leader now, but you see how faith moves and how faith changes us.   And we need to be patient with God in ourselves, with our kids, you know, and trust in that walk with Him. Love it.   Laura Dugger: (33:12 - 33:23) Well, I'm going to change gears here a little bit. Yeah. Will you explain attachment and share why you're so passionate about this topic?   Amy Rienow: (33:24 - 37:18) That is, I do feel like I love talking about attachment. I feel like it's an underrated thing to talk about. Some of you might be familiar.   I don't know if any of these names like Mary Ainsworth or the Harlow experience, you remember the monkey Harlow experience. It's most, most kids who've had like even a high school psychology class, know that the story of the monkey who has the wire surrogate mom with the bottle. And then has like the fuzzy mom that doesn't have the bottle and the monkey goes and gets its food from the bottle of the wire mom but continues to go over to the furry surrogate mom for comfort.   That's some of the original psychology on attachment but I was started my professional job in a school with children with behavior disorders and autism. That's one of my first jobs. And, and because of that, I went to different seminars for continuing education.   And one of them was a woman who specialized in attachment. And part of the reason she specialized in attachment because she'd adopted so many children and she was sort of a professional on adoption. And that's when I really did a deeper dive into attachment and specifically something called reactive attachment disorder.   I can't go into that. It would be a long tangent. But she was such an eye-opening time.   And this is even before I had children. But she said that, you know, she couldn't say everything she wanted to about attachment and the effects specifically of daycare on children, because it wasn't politically correct. That she would lose her funding basically, if she gave her true opinion on some of the things that our culture was doing to destroy attachment among families.   And it was just very eye opening to me that, you know, when we get our baby development books, the time that I was having kids, it was What to Expect When You're Expecting and What to Expect for Your One Year Old and all these milestones that moms are looking for. And obviously moms generally love their kids. I will stand by that over and over, you know what I mean?   That's the norm. And, you know, you're told to look for all of these milestones, but really attachment is not even mentioned in this book of how important it is. What are the signs of a securely attached child?   And yet this is so significant. And it's not just in the Christian world that we can recognize this. This is universally known in the psychology world, how important attachment is.   So, let's go back to that spiritual battle. Why is it that that is not discussed? Or why is that not focused in the development book?   Or why is it that if you're going to adopt a child, you're going to learn all about attachment, but that's not something that you may necessarily come into contact with if you're just having your own children. But attachment is essential for all healthy relationships. And specifically attachment with the mother.   I mean, we can use the term primary caregiver. Yes, to other people come in and be a primary care. I'm not saying that, you know. It's not just the mom, but this relationship with the mom, this, this attachment is so significant because God created it that way.   And it, how that relationship and how that attachment happens will have this impact on all the other relationships that your child is going to have in their life. So, it's something that we need to be talking about. And I pray that it becomes more and more common for people to talk about it.   Laura Dugger: (37:18 - 37:25) Well, and I'm even curious that speaker was that Karen Purvis?   Amy Rienow: (37:25 - 38:04) Oh, I don't even remember her name. I apologize. She was not a Christian. She was not a believer.   She, well, if she was, I don't know that. Cause I was, I was listening to her in a secular setting. You know, so she might've been, I don't, so I don't know, but I, the reason why it was so curious to me that the time most of the children on my case list that I had at this school were adopted.   So, I found that so interesting, like, and that was why I went to her seminar to try to understand more that connection of the adoption. And you know, how did that play into some of the problems that these children were, were having.   Laura Dugger: (38:05 - 38:20) Well, and just to go a little bit further with attachment, let's take it from the positive side. What are some proven examples or ways that we can form that healthy attachment with our children and that bonding?   Amy Rienow: (38:21 - 40:38) Yeah, well, a lot of it is just a spending time with your child, you know, and that's why I want to be very gentle here. Cause the world that we live in, I mean, I know for a fact that there are so many moms in situations where they have to go back to work right away. There are difficult circumstances.   And I'm, I am not here to say that then you don't have an attached relationship with child. Cause that is honestly not true. But I will say that if you have any opportunity to be home with your children, please, please, please take that opportunity because your children need that contact with you to form that attachment.   I mean, the number one thing for attachment is presence, time, touch, eye contact, and smiles. I mean, like it is what the baby that interplay that's happening with the baby and the mother and, and the why babies love faces. I mean, like they, we need to have that time with our children.   We need to be the ones to know our children the best that only comes with time. But even a mom who maybe for reasons have to be away from their baby, the important thing is that when you're with them, that you are engaged. You know, I even, I don't have my phone in front of me.   Even the phone takes away attachment. You know, when you're looking at another screen, as opposed to paying attention to that communication with the baby long before they're communicating long for the communicating with words, they are interacting and communicating with you. So, God knew what he's doing when he created mothers with the ability to feed their babies.   Nursing enables attachment, you know, because the baby is dependent on the mother. So, all of these things play into why God created our system the way it is because it was designed not to just physically feed our babies, but to emotionally create this attached, secured relationship where that enables a child to feel safe, feel security.   Laura Dugger: (40:39 - 40:54) Well, that makes me think of another a word that you wisely encourage us. And that is the word affection. So, can you share why this is also important to shower on our children?   Amy Rienow: (40:55 - 43:47) Yes. You know how it is when you become a mom, there's all these new parenting styles out there, things that you get bombarded with, or should I do this? Or, you know, and I think I was really impacted by a Bible, small group where a woman was talking about her six-month-old needing disciplining her six-month-old.   And it hit me really negatively because I just heard a woman who had had like, I think she has 17 children who talked about, you know, there's, you cannot spoil and she used, you cannot spoil anybody under the age of two. I would say it's as much as under three with as far as attention and love and affection, affection, your children need your affection. Again, let's go to how this, how Satan, let's go back to that spiritual battle.   We can keep going back. Cause I often find you can see God's truth with how it's perverted in the world. So, let's look at how we have a sex education system now in so many schools, including in Illinois that tries to teach younger children horrific adult sexual behaviors, correct?   And they are manipulating what needs to, what children do need, which is positive, a non-sexual physical connection with their parents, with their siblings, with aunts and uncles. So, so in some ways I can remember early in my career and either in my development in getting my classes, my masters, you know, in some ways they demonize, you know, like parents are afraid to sometimes have too much physical touch or too much of this because it's almost like, Oh, we can't, you know, we have to make sure our children are more independent, you know, like, like for example, co-sleeping, which builds a lot of affection between parents, which is normal in most cultures and normal throughout history can be viewed as really negative. Like, you know, you gotta get your kid in another room and another, like pushing them out early and yet look at what we see from the world, which is an encroachment of inappropriate touch, inappropriate sexuality at younger and younger ages.   And obviously kids who don't have positive, strong, physical affection are more inclined to fall for Satan's counterfeit. And desire and need touch, but they, they, it's been twisted from the world's perspective.   Laura Dugger: (43:47 - 44:17) Does that make sense? Are you tracking with that? I am.   And it's even making me think of a previous guest, Dr. Gary Chapman, talking about mostly the five love languages of in marriage and how those are displayed. But we also discussed with children and the parent child. And I'm just thinking as you're giving examples of affection, it, it even goes beyond the hugs and kisses and appropriate touch to acts of service and lighting up with them and spending that quality time and all those love languages.   Amy Rienow: (44:18 - 46:16) That's right. As the kids get older, I mean, my, my, we joke about, you know, I have certain sons that, did not want to be touched at all when they were 13, 14. We laughed at my son J.D. like he would want to come give me hugs and he would want to, but it had to always be on his terms.   Like I could never come up, you know what I mean? And how can you, my affection towards him was I'll get you a double cheeseburger. I will make you a milkshake.   That was the way I communicated my affection to him, but it was also my presence in listening to him when he needed to be listening to. There's so many ways as we get older. Right.   And I love Gary Chapman's work as far as like understanding our kids love, love languages, but I'll never forget, you know, I just had JD's wedding and he surprised me with the mother son dance and he had a song ready for me. I'm going to cry again, but it was this wonderful, he had told his siblings that he was probably going to cry on his wedding day when he saw Brooke and when he danced with his mom. And I had so many, and he was really hugging me and holding on and not afraid to be affectionate with me during that dance.   And that's because affection has always been a normal part of our home and a normal part of our relationship. And so, I just want to encourage parents out there not to be afraid of both physical affection when they're young and don't push your child. If your child is needing you or wants hugs, I would say, don't hesitate to give those to them because there is a culture again that pushes kids like, Oh, you shouldn't need that now.   You shouldn't, you're too old for that. Let them determine those boundaries. You give them the hugs and the affection as long as they still want it.   Cause I promise you they're all going to come to a day and they're not gonna want it. And you don't need to worry about if they're looking for that for you, it's a need that, that you can still meet.   Laura Dugger: (46:17 - 46:34) Well, and one other piece of parenting. I know we oftentimes hear mom guilt. I don't know if dads experienced the same thing, but how can we overcome that?   And what do you see as being at the root of struggling with sometimes that false guilt?   Amy Rienow: (46:35 - 49:52) Yes. Well, that I think comes so much again. Well, for me, it came internalized.   I had, I carried some internalized guilt with me, but that's compounded by a culture that puts so many expectations and demands on us as mothers. Where we are bombarded with another ideal, another sense of where we're falling short. And again, I know I keep coming back to the spiritual attack, but the point is I want to lay it out there that sometimes, sometimes moms can feel like, especially in an area, this sounds interesting, but because so many more children have been in daycare or exposed to a lot more developmental things at young ages. If you are like home with your kids, if you feel like, well, gosh, I'm not providing a craft every day.   I'm not, you know, I'm not reading. I went to the library and it literally had this whole campaign on a thousand books before kindergarten. Like, are you kidding me?   And that's the kind of thing. It's like, you're just having a normal mom day and all of a sudden you walk into the library and you get bombarded with what? I'm supposed to read my child a thousand books before, like a new standard that's just put in front of you.   And the enemy uses that to, to make women feel that they're not enough, you know? And first of all, we have to go back to God's word. That says, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”   And to really understand that, yes, we need to be open to be convicted to sin. But when we are convicted of something that our heavenly father wants us to change, we will experience a freedom and a lightning when we repent. And it'll be like a burden lifted up.   And as soon as you have that revenge, you feel like you've been given a gift. It's not something that's a burden. So, that is always my guide for women.   Like if you are under something that you feel like is a burden that you're carrying around, um, this sense that you're not doing enough or that you're a bad mom, that is not coming from your Heavenly Father. You need to reject that in the name of Jesus Christ, because this sense is clearly from the accuser. The Bible says Satan is an accuser and he stands accusing us, but Jesus is there to, you know, to say, no, that's my child.   They're covered by my love covered by my grace. So, we don't want to live under that over that guilt, bad mom guilt shadow for whatever, you know, God knows our faults. He doesn't expect us not to have faults, and your children are going to have faults and your husband are going to have faults.   So, if we think that the Lord is, you know, carrying around our faults, hanging over this, we need to, we need to be reminded that that's not from him and we have to reject it. And again, we're talking about a spiritual battle. You might have to reject the same lie 20 times a day until you find real freedom from falling for that guilt trap.   Laura Dugger: (49:53 - 50:12) Well, and along those lines, as you talk about engaging in the battle, you encourage us as children to woo our children in this same way that the Lord draws us close to him. So, how can we go and do likewise as the Lord does?   Amy Rienow: (50:12 - 52:09) Woo our children's hearts. Like I think it's important to know that the relationship that we have, our kids will, the more we model our relationship, our parenting off of how our heavenly father parents us, the easier it will be for our kids to kind of what I, I have a visual in my mind that I'm walking with my child's hand and I'm holding Jesus hand and I'm gradually through this parenting, trying to connect my child's hand to Jesus hands.   Like that's the picture that I want to be guiding my parenting, not I'm trying to raise you to be X, Y, Z, da, da, da, da, da. I'm trying to lead you to your Heavenly Savior. So, you're going to walk with Him.   So, Jesus is, you know, there's many components of our relationship with Jesus and the Heavenly Father and Holy spirit. But one of them is that God woos the hearts of his people. When you read scripture, He desired, He's always telling them you walk with Me.   “My burden is easy. My yoke is light.” You know what I mean?   He's, He's showing us this freedom and this love and grace. He's not coming with a sense of, see, you're doing this and this and this and this and this. And that's why. You know what I mean?   Like you see God's everlasting love for his people. And we want to woo our children with that same kind of everlasting love. You know, I always say, say you can, you can demand your kids to obey you.   You can demand your kids to respect you, but no one can demand love. Even our Heavenly Father doesn't demand love. He gives us free will and choice to choose to love him.   And so, we want to remember that with our kids to woo them. We want them to choose to love us. So, we woo our hearts.   You already mentioned Gary Chapman by understanding our kids' love languages. You know, realizing that's part of our job as a parent is to woo their hearts.   Laura Dugger: (52:10 - 53:13) So, I love how you're drawing this out as the Lord being the best parent ever and that we can learn from Him. That was something that I felt like he was really teaching me in my quiet time this week. And I wanted to take it one step further.   So, for me applying that, I just made a note on my phone and now anytime I come across a parenting scripture, I want to put it in this same list and go back and review it and be prayerful that the Lord can change me to be more like Him as a parent. So, I'm just going to share the first verse that inspired me to do this this week is Luke 6:36 and the amplified version again, “Be merciful, responsive, compassionate, tender, just as your Heavenly Father is merciful.” And so, Amy, just as He's a great parent and we can learn from Him, I appreciate you just drawing us back, pointing us to the heart of the Father.   And if we want to continue learning from you after this chat, where would you like to direct us?   Amy Rienow: (53:13 - 55:30) Well, I'd love you to come to our website at visionaryfam.com and listen to us at our podcast, Family Vision. You know, we named it Family Vision kind of like television because television really changed the American family. It did when it first introduced on to the scene and our heart is that family vision.   Our podcasts would help give your family a new vision, a vision from God's word for all that he wants to do in your family. You can also find our books well on our website, but also on Amazon. We have, I brought a couple today, but Not So Perfect Mom: Learning to Embrace What Matters Most, which is what you're talking about today.   And this book is very close to my heart because it really was wonderful. It was the easiest book I've ever written because I just felt like it was being able to talk about how God has worked in my own life and my own journey. And it just was the like culmination of so many conversations I've had with moms like all over the country, but really overseas and over the world.   And we're all battling some of the same exact things. So, I just, I would encourage you to pick up Not So Perfect Mom: Learning to Embrace What Matters Most. And then the other book that is, it's not new, it's called Shine Embracing God's Heart for You.   I'm actually leading a group of women through it on a zoom study right now. Um, but I actually wrote this, originally back in 2005 when I was a youth pastor's wife. Um, but really it's all about kind of what I talked about earlier of just, recognizing how to, to trust and believe the Lord.   I said, you know, wholeheartedly with our head and our hearts and our hands and, and really going back to, you know, keeping God first, identifying idols in our life. So, we, you know, the more that we get our own relationship with the Lord centered and we kind of figured that part out. I feel like everything flows from that in our homes, in our marriage, in our other relationships. So, I highly recommend, um, picking up this shine and there's a prayer journal to go with it.   There's a leader's guide. If you'd like to lead a group and that's all on Amazon or at our website.   Laura Dugger: (55:31 - 55:48) Wonderful. As always we'll add the links to that in the show notes for today's episode and Amy, you already know that we're called The Savvy Sauce because Savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so, as my final question for you today, what is your Savvy Sauce?   Amy Rienow: (55:48 - 57:06) I love that question. My Savvy Sauce is actually mentioned in Not So Perfect Mom, but it's when the Lord gave me that quote, “whatever is worth doing is worth doing poorly.” I feel that perfectionism kept me paralyzed so often.   If I couldn't do things exactly the way I thought that they should be in my head, then I was kind of pathetic and wasn't going to do it at all. And so, my encouragement in any area, if you know something is worth doing. Let me give you a practical example really quick on this, even when it comes to like, um, when you're struggling with your marriage. I know I had some issues in my marriage with my husband where I was getting to the point where I didn't even really want to go out on a date, you know, because it was just discouraging and whatever's worth doing is worth doing poorly. So, knowing that, you know, even when my relationships aren't living up to my expectations, or even when I'm feeling hurt, the Lord tells us to press on. Don't, don't stop doing what you know, God wants you to do, um, because you don't think it's living up to your expectations.   Do it. Just do it.   Laura Dugger: (57:07 - 57:38) That's a good word. And Amy, you have so much to share. Our family has benefited so much from the ministry and work that you and Rob do through Visionary Families.   And I am just so grateful for your time and you just to share all of this parenting wisdom. It felt like a mentoring conversation. I loved hearing all the ways that you've been intentional in what you've learned from the Lord. So, thank you for seeking Him.   Thank you for sharing with us and thank you for being my guest.   Amy Rienow: (57:39 - 57:58) Thank you, Laura, for having me. It's been a delight. I love connecting hearts with people who are like-minded.   I love what you're doing with The Savvy Sauce. In fact, my neighbor is one of your devoted followers, and she was so excited to hear about your podcast. So, thank you so much for having me and it's truly an honor and a pleasure to be here.   Laura Dugger: (57:59 - 1:01:13) One more thing before you go, have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you, but it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior, but God loved us so much. He made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life. We could never live and died in our place for our sin.   This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished. If we choose to receive what he has done for us, Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   So, you pray with me now. Heavenly father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you.   Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life? We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus name we pray.   Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me. So, me for him, you get the opportunity to live your life for him.   And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you're ready to get started.   First, tell someone, say it out loud, get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes and Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it.   You can start by reading the book of John. Also get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.   We want to celebrate with you too. So, feel free to leave a comment for us here. If you did make a decision to follow Christ, we also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “in the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Gospel Luke 11:29-32 While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.” Reflection Jesus has no hesitation to try to expose the Pharisees, the scribes, for their lack of openness to who he was and what he's calling us to. In this particular reading, it seems to me that the generation that is always asking for signs, ‘show us a miracle, show us something spectacular'. Didn't understand that Jesus was not here primarily to prove that he was God, but that he was here for conversion. He wanted people to understand a new way of seeing things. The Ninevites, the Queen of Sheba, they were Gentiles, and the Gentiles were more open to who God is, who God sought to make people understand him than any of the Pharisees or the Israelites. Closing Prayer Father, you have a calling. You want us to understand who we are and who you are. You want us to be changed. That's the work of Jesus, to come and convert us from a world that we were caught in, to the world that we were made for. Bless us in this work of conversion. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It began as an insult from the Pharisees—calling Jesus “a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” In one sense, they were right. But true friendship with Jesus changes everything.

In Acts 23, the Apostle Paul stands before the Saducees and Pharisees people and the authorities to share his life-changing encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. In this message, we explore how God can transform your past mistakes, setbacks, and struggles and use those very setbacks to propel you forward. Learn how to:Accept the past Allow the past to propel you forward  Turn your past into a platform to help others move forward Main scripture: Acts 23

This week on Beyond the Sermon, Pastor Magrey deVega and Mat Hotho explore what it means to keep Christ at the center of our political lives. Using Jesus' famous words—“Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's”—they unpack how faith can guide us through today's culture of division, misinformation, and echo chambers. From the craftiness of the Pharisees to the traps of modern media, they draw a line between ancient wisdom and our digital age, reminding us that discernment, balance, and love remain timeless spiritual practices.Find out more at HydeParkUMC.org/NextSteps

What if faith and politics can coexist without partisanship? When the Pharisees asked Jesus about religion and empire, He responded, "Render unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and to God the things that belong to God." His answer offers key principles on how followers of Jesus can engage in politics while staying true to their faith.Find out more at HydeParkUMC.org/NextSteps

We close out our sermon series on those who had encounters with Jesus with probably the most relatable character in our entire series. He is the only one who was already a Christian and had probably known Jesus and followed him in his early ministry, but our encounter takes place much later while he is living in Damascus and Jesus comes to him while he is praying. Jesus ask Annanias to complete what seemed like a simple task; go find a man and pray for him and tell him that God has and important job for him. Something that most of us have done before in praying and encouraging others - but the man Annanias is called to visit was the Christian killing Pharisee named Saul. Join us to discover what happened and how this simple encounter challenges all of us. From Luke 9:10-19. The final sermon in the series "The Had Been with Jesus". Thank you for listening to our podcast and we would love for you to subscribe to our page and share with others. Join us for our weekly worship online at www.firstbaptistblowingrock.com or our Youtube page. Contact us at office@firstbaptistblowingrock.com or by phone @ 828-295-7715

In this message, Pastor Brandon continues our study in the Gospel of Matthew—focusing on the **Sermon on the Mount**, where the Messiah reveals His divine authority to correctly interpret the Law of Moses. Jesus contrasts His interpretation with that of the Pharisees, exposing the difference between **external religion** and **internal righteousness**. He reveals that true righteousness comes from the heart—not mere outward obedience. Pastor Brandon also explains: - Why Jesus said He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it - The difference between the **Law of Moses** and the **Law of the Messiah** - The eternal moral principles that still apply today - How selective, "cafeteria-style" Christianity affects rewards in the Kingdom - The danger of false teaching, cultural compromise, and the need to stand firm in biblical truth This message challenges all believers to walk in holiness, discern truth from deception, and boldly proclaim Christ in an age of moral confusion.

Few stories are more iconic, gripping, or tender than that of the woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus with their “clever” question about this woman. In this message, Pastor Philip describes the thickening plot: a clever trap, a brilliant escape, and a transforming love. What if the ugliness of our sin displayed the loveliness of God's grace? This month's special offer is available for a donation of any amount. Get yours at https://moodyoffer.com or call us at 1-800-215-5001.  Moody Church Media [https://www.moodymedia.org/], home of "Moody Church Hour," exists to bring glory to God through the transformation of lives. Your gift helps deliver insightful teaching from Pastor Philip Miller, inviting people on The Journey of a Lifetime—following Jesus! Your generosity makes the Moody Church Hour, a listener-supported program for over 50 years, accessible to those far from God or unable to attend their local church. Click below to support the Moody Church Hour with your gift now or call Moody Church Media at 1.800.215.5001.    Offer link:   https://secure.moodymedia.org/site/Donation2?df_id=8201&mfc_pref=T&8201.donation=form1    SUPPORT:  Tax Deductible Support: https://www.moodymedia.org/donate/  Become an Endurance Partner: https://endurancepartners.org/    SUBSCRIBE:   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MoodyChurchMedia  Weekly Digest: https://www.moodymedia.org/newsletters/subscription/

In this message, Pastor Brandon continues our study in the Gospel of Matthew—focusing on the **Sermon on the Mount**, where the Messiah reveals His divine authority to correctly interpret the Law of Moses.   Jesus contrasts His interpretation with that of the Pharisees, exposing the difference between **external religion** and **internal righteousness**. He reveals that true righteousness comes from the heart—not mere outward obedience. Pastor Brandon also explains: - Why Jesus said He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it   - The difference between the **Law of Moses** and the **Law of the Messiah**   - The eternal moral principles that still apply today   - How selective, “cafeteria-style” Christianity affects rewards in the Kingdom   - The danger of false teaching, cultural compromise, and the need to stand firm in biblical truth   This message challenges all believers to walk in holiness, discern truth from deception, and boldly proclaim Christ in an age of moral confusion.

Acts 4:1-31The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand. The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest's family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is “ the stone you builders rejected,      which has become the cornerstone.Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old. On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “ ‘Why do the nations rage     and the peoples plot in vain?   The kings of the earth rise up     and the rulers band together   against the Lord     and against his anointed one. ' Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.Acts 5:17-42Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to. Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them. The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood.” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “We have smoothly transitioned from one form of feminine subservience to another, but we pretend that this one is liberation.” “…Western sexual culture in the twenty-first century…promotes the interests of the Hugh Hefners of the world at the expense of the Marilyn Monroes.”~Louise Perry, British journalist in The Case Against the Sexual Revolution “For we were the purpose of [Christ's] embodiment, and for our salvation he so loved human beings as to come to be and appear in a human body.” “He became what we are so that he might make us what he is.”~Athanasius of Alexandria (c.296-373), On the Incarnation “The dignity of human nature, fashioned in the divine image, is such that God can take it for himself—and keep it.”~Nigel Cameron, bioethicist “[The] central doctrines of Christianity prompted and sustained attractive, liberating, and effective social relations and organizations…. [P]erhaps above all else, Christianity brought a new conception of humanity to a world saturated with capricious cruelty and the vicarious love of death…. [W]hat Christianity gave to its converts was nothing less than their humanity.”~Rodney Stark (1934-2022), Professor of Sociology and Comparative Religion “It is a serious thing…to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare…. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal…. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit….”~C.S. Lewis (1893-1963), The Weight of Glory “Christianity's success is to be found in its inclusiveness. More than any other of its [ancient] competitors it attracted all races and classes…. Christianity, too, was for both sexes…. The Church welcomed both rich and poor…. No other [religion]…took in so many groups and strata of society.”~Kenneth Scott Latourette (1884-1986), historian at Yale UniversitySERMON PASSAGEselected passages (ESV)Genesis 1 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image,    in the image of God he created him;    male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Matthew 22 15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.... 34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” 1 Corinthians 6 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Hebrews 2 14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Episode 997 (10:09) In this episode: Dcn. Brett Edmonson is preaching; Background of the issues with the Jews and Samaritans; Jesus heals the Samaritan; Which temple is the right place to worship? Jesus is the true temple and priest; Pope Leo's Exhortation about the poor; Our obligations to the poor Image by ChatGPT Related Web Sites:  My Website Podcast PageAll Previous Episodes

During his ministry, Jesus repeatedly referred to himself as the Bread of Life. His words would have stirred echoes of the Torah: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Just as bread sustains the body, the words of the LORD nourish the soul. Yet, Jesus's teachings were not always easy to digest. His words could be unsettling and paradigm-shifting, turning long-held beliefs on their heads. Some who heard him turned away. But Simon Peter recognized the truth. When others left, he confessed, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” In this series, we will dive deep into one of Jesus's most famous teachings, the Sermon on the Mount. We will consider how these words of life nourish us, even as they challenge us, and how we might apply them to our lived stories today. This week, we listened to Jesus's critique of the Pharisee's righteousness practices of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, and we considered our own practices. Are our practices training us in the love of God and neighbor, or are we training in the love of self? If The Practice Church is your home community, please join the Core Team. If The Practice Church has been meaningful to your journey, would you consider a tax-deductible gift? You can give at https://thepracticechurch.com/give/

Episode Summary In this episode of Porn and the Gospel, Spencer unpacks one piercing verse from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount — Matthew 5:20 — and shows how it cuts through our pride and performance to reach the real issue: the heart. Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Most of us try to fix our behavior — to stop looking at pornography, to clean up bad habits, to appear holy on the outside — while our hearts remain unchanged. But Jesus makes it clear: you can't fake holiness or white-knuckle your way into purity. Only the Great Physician can perform the open-heart surgery your soul truly needs. Through Scripture, honest reflection, and a story of a friend caught in adultery, Spencer reminds us that sin is subtle and deadly — like arteries slowly clogging — and that only surrender to Christ brings real change. This isn't about trying harder. It's about laying your heart bare before God and letting Him do the deep, painful, yet loving work of transformation. Key Scriptures Matthew 5:20 — “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Philippians 1:6 — “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

1. Searching for Love2. Judging Correctly3. Finding MercyToday's sermon, "Longing for Love," explored Luke 7:36-49, contrasting the attitudes of Simon the Pharisee and the sinful woman who anointed Jesus' feet. This passage reminds us that we all have a God-shaped void in our hearts that only Jesus can fill. The sermon highlighted how true satisfaction comes not from worldly success or religious pride, but from humbly seeking God's forgiveness and love.Takeaways:- God knows everything about us, including our hidden thoughts and past, yet He still offers us forgiveness and love.- We should be careful not to judge others harshly, as we all are in need of God's mercy and grace.- True repentance and humility before God lead to freedom, forgiveness, and a transformed life.As we go through this week, let's remember that no matter our past or current struggles, Jesus invites us to come to Him. He offers forgiveness, love, and a new beginning to all who approach Him with sincere hearts.May we be like the woman in the story - willing to humble ourselves before Jesus and receive His transforming love.

We live in an extremely polarized society. Everyone seems to want to divide up into teams. Usually these divisions are along socio-philosophical lines. But some choices we are confronted with have big consequences.We'll be considering that in our study of the Gospel of Matthew this week.In our text we'll be reading this Sunday, Matthew 12:22-37, we are confronted with a choice between two worldviews. It's a fairly uncomfortable passage, but it's there, and we need to wrestle around with it and see how it will shape our lives.As you read the text from v22-24 you see right away that Jesus has a polarizing effect on people. There are two very distinct opinions forming about him. Jesus will latch onto that and develop a picture of the world in stark contrasts between good and evil.Jesus' counter argument from v25-30 starts with a logical premise that brings to the surface the dualistic view of this world. There is a kingdom of our enemy, the devil, and there is a kingdom of God. He clearly portrays these at odds with each other and in conflict. His logic is pretty simple: why would the devil be working at cross purposes against himself? Which reveals something about the nature of Jesus' mission. In fact, v29 pretty much describes what Jesus is up to. Who do you think the “strong man” is? What is the house and what is the plunder that is taken (put it in the context of what started this whole thing in v22 – the healing of the demon possessed man)?V31-32 has had the effect of scaring some people, especially those new to the faith. They worry that Jesus is describing some partially identified way of sinning that can never be forgiven if committed. Have you ever worried about that? Just to put your mind at ease, that's not what he's trying to say. He's talking about how the Pharisees were claiming that the devil was the source of Jesus' work. If they reject Jesus and the salvation that's offered, there's no other way offered that provides forgiveness. We'll unpack that more on Sunday.V33-37 deals primarily with our use of language. The words we speak and the way we communicate reveals something about ourselves. How can we see to it that the words we communicate are in harmony with the purposes of God's kingdom in this world?Hope to see you this Sunday!Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

Lesson 2 - The One Who is Lord of All Mark 2:13 – 4:25. Mark continues recounting the miracles, the confrontations and the teachings of Jesus as His ministry spreads and grows. The Pharisees move front and center in this lesson, angry at Christ's association with “sinners” and His total disregard of their rules and traditions, especially regarding the Sabbath. Christ openly challenges their stubbornness and pride, ending with a warning about the need to listen carefully to what He says, because everything hangs in the balance.To learn more about Michele or to support this international ministry please visithttps://intheword.com

John 10:7-18,So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”I wonder what comes to your mind when you hear the phrase “abundant life.”David Livingstone (1813–1873) was a Scottish Christian and physician and pioneer missionary, who sailed for Africa in 1840. He spent 16 years in the African wild and returned to London as a hero in late 1856. He had spent the prime of his life encountering physical difficulties and spiritual darkness. And soon he would go back for more.While on furlough, Livingstone spoke to students at Cambridge and explained why he left the comforts of England to serve as a missionary. It had not been easy, and he acknowledged the costs: anxiety, sickness, suffering, frequent danger. He spoke of “foregoing the common conveniences and charities of this life.” But, very memorably, he insisted that this was no sacrifice, but a privilege: “I never made a sacrifice.”The gain of godly sacrifice so outweighed the pains that, in hindsight, it did not feel sacrificial. The sacrifices were real, but the privilege, and joys, far greater.Livingstone embraced the hard life in Africa not just because he found life in Jesus, but because he had found abundant life in Jesus. He wasn't just saved; he was satisfied. He found life to the full. Not minimal life but over-the-top life, more-than-enough life — life spilling over in such joy that he would risk great pains to bring others that great joy.For Livingstone, abundant life didn't mean a comfortable, easy life. It meant he had enough in Jesus, more than enough, to embrace difficulty and discomfort.More Than Just LifeWe come this morning to John 10, and this amazing declaration of Jesus to us in verse 10:“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”I want you to hear Jesus speaking that to you this morning:“I came that you may have life and have it abundantly.”Not just life. Jesus says “have life and have it abundantly.” What is he adding when he adds “abundance”? Why not stop at life. Why say abundant life? That's our focus this morning.As many of you know, I greatly appreciate Don Carson, and named a son after him, and want to give you this preliminary word from him about this abundant life offered to us in John 10. Talking about the image of the shepherd and the sheep, he says that “abundant life” means contented, flourishing sheep, not terrorized by [thieves]; outside the narrative world, it means that the life Jesus' true disciples enjoy is not to be construed as more time to fill (merely ‘everlasting' life), but life at its scarcely imagined best, life to be lived. (Gospel According to John, 385)That is the life Jesus is offering you this morning. Not just more time to fill. Not just getting out of hell. Not just being unstained from the world and watching clean videos or NFL or keeping up with the news. You are invited into “life at its scarcely imagined best.” You are offered “life to be lived,” life worth living.Let me be clear: the main point of this passage is the greatness of Jesus. He is the good shepherd. He enters by the God-appointed door (and doesn't climb in another way, like the Pharisees). He calls his sheep by name, and they hear his voice, and follow him. He leads them out into a life of abundance. And he is the one who genuinely cares for his sheep and willingly lays down his life for them.The main point is the greatness of Jesus.And, get this, the abundant life of the sheep demonstrates the greatness of the shepherd. When the sheep thrive, their shepherd looks great. The shepherd gets the glory in the flourishing, abundant life of his sheep. Jesus is glorified in the satisfaction of his people — and that not apart from him, but in him, conscious of him, recognizing him.Ultimately, we're talking about people here, not sheep. Happy sheep, full of green grass, beside still waters, don't look up and say, “Isn't my shepherd great?” But Christians aren't animals. We're not actually sheep. We're meant to consciously enjoy our shepherd, through his care for us, and say out loud, “Isn't he great?”So, we want to know and experience this “abundant life” that shows the greatness of Jesus. How might Jesus's very words in John 10 help us with what this abundant life is, and is not?I see at least five aspects of this abundant life that Jesus offers us.1. The Abundant Life Is a Rescued Life.The story of our quest for abundance began in a lavish, abundant garden, but quickly came the reality of sin. In a world of yes, our first parents sinned against God's one no and plunged us all into sin and its curse and its misery. We all are born into sin, and we all sin. Ecclesiastes 7:20,“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”Everyone in this room has sinned, and sins. And that's the gravest danger in every life in this room: your own sin, my own sin. The biggest threat is not what others have done or might do to us. And not even what Satan himself might do to us. The greatest threat is our own sin, which separates us from a holy God, and deserves his righteous wrath. We have to get this first to be able to move forward in the story of abundance.So, we begin with the Shepherd's rescue. Verse 11, Jesus says,“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”Why would he lay down his life? Because the sheep, his people, deserve to die. We have sinned against him. We deserve eternal separation from him, and eternal condemnation from him. Except that, again in verse 15, “I lay down my life for the sheep.”And that he “lays it down” means that he does it willingly. Intentionally. Purposefully. Jesus wasn't the victim of a first-century accident. Nor was Jesus's life merely “taken from him.” We often grieve the tragic “taking of life,” and we should. And there's a sense in which Jesus was killed unjustly. These same Pharisees he confronts in John 9 and 10 increasingly want to get rid of him and soon will conspire with the Jerusalem elite. In one sense Jesus's life would be taken by sinners.Yet in another, more fundamental sense, no one would take it from him. Look at verses 17–18:“I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”Who can talk like this? Anyone can choose to lay down their life, but who — who but God himself in human flesh — has authority to take it up again? Oh the greatness of Jesus.The reason Jesus's perfect, sinless life can be effective for the rescuing of his sinful, hell-deserving people is that he lays down his life willingly, on purpose, and he takes it up again.And so, first, the abundant life is a rescued life. Jesus died to rescue us from our own sin. From our sin nature. From past sins. And he is continuing to rescue us from the misery of indwelling sin.That leads us to a second aspect.2. The Abundant Life Is a Relational Life.Forgiveness gets the penalty of sin out of the way that the rescue might lead to a real, personal, life-giving relationship with the Shepherd. To be related and relate to him as persons. To know him and be personally known by him. To love him, and be loved by him, who calls his own by name.Church, this is stunning. This is the heart of the real life, the abundant life. This is the single most important thing to say about “abundant life.” Number 1 was just life. We are sinners; we deserve death. Jesus lays down his own life that our sins might be covered, that we might be forgiven, that we might have life, eternal life, and not misery, forever.But then, to that life, Jesus adds these precious words: “and have it abundantly.” Now we get to the very heart and bottom of this passage: verses 14-15, which is the most important statement in the passage. Look at verses 14-15. Jesus says,“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father . . . .”Did you get that? Let's start with verse 15 and work backwards. Jesus says, The Father knows me, and I know the Father. Amazing. The eternal divine life of the Godhead (talk about abundant!) — Father knowing and loving his Son, and Son knowing and loving his Father.Then see that “just as” at the beginning of verse 15? Jesus makes a claim about an experience of “mutual knowledge” in verse 14 and then he compares it to the “mutual knowledge” between him and his divine Father. And he compares them by saying “just as.” He doesn't say “contrary to” or “unlike.” He doesn't contrast these relationships but says “just as.” He compares them positively. He says they are alike:“Just as my Father knows me and I know my Father, so I know my own [people] and my own know me.”Church, this is the heart of the abundant life. The abundant life is not food and drink and splendid clothes and fancy cars and mansions of glory, and endless hours on devices. What makes this life abundant is knowing and enjoying the Shepherd, and being known and enjoyed by him.Which is why the voice of Jesus is so prominent in John 10. Voice is the medium of relationship. Did you notice how many times his voice in mentioned? Verse 3: the sheep hear his voiceVerse 3: he calls his own sheep by name (how personal!)Verse 4: the sheep follow him, for they know his voiceVerse 16: other sheep too will listen to his voiceHave you ever reflected on how important voices are to relationships? How well could you get to know someone without words? You can see what's on the outside. They can gesture and use facial expressions to try to communicate. But words reveal with clarity what's on the inside. The voice and its words are the primary medium of relationship.And this morning Jesus himself, risen, reigning, glorified, alive, is speaking to us through his words in John 10, saying, in essence, Where are you trying to find life? Your human soul was not only made to live but to live abundantly — lavishly, richly, contentedly, fully. Where are you going for life? Come to me.So, the full-to-overflowing life, the life worth living, life at its scarcely best imagined, abundant life at its height and at its bottom is: Jesus knows his own and his own know him — just as the Father knows him and he knows the Father.The point is this: Come to the Good Shepherd and keep coming. Hear his voice in his word. Enjoy the privilege of prayer. Follow him. The abundant life is life in and with the Good Shepherd. But it is not life with him only. There's a third aspect here.3. The Abundant Life Is an Expansive Life.Life in Jesus expands to include others. It is full to overflowing, and spills over to draw others in. First, other sheep who are fellow believers. The abundant life is not a solitary life. It is a life in relationship with others who have found abundant life in Jesus.And it expands to include “other sheep” not yet in the fold. Verse 16 starts with such an important “and”:“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”Now we need to clarify a few things about this image of the sheepfold and the gate and the shepherd coming and calling to his sheep. Picture a large, fenced-in, fold, shared by multiple families. The sheep are kept safe in the fold; a gatekeeper guards the one gate, so no one can access the sheep except the owners. When a rightful shepherd comes, he opens the gate, and the shepherd comes in and lifts up his voice. His own sheep know his voice and come to him, and he leads them out to green grass and live the abundant life of sheep, and come back in for safety.But remember, Jesus is here confronting the Pharisees. The sheepfold is the Jewish people. Jesus comes, and lifts up his voice, and his sheep, not the whole pen, but just his sheep follow his voice, and the rest remain.Then in verse 16, Jesus introduces “other sheep that are not of this fold.” That is, not Jews. The Son of God has come; he has entered the fold through the gate as a rightful owner and shepherd. He has lifted up his voice and his sheep are coming to him, not all the Jews, but those who are his. And Jesus says he has “other sheep” not of this Jewish fold: Gentiles.So, there is not only a narrowing when the good shepherd comes, but also an expanding. He keeps calling to Jews, and he calls to Gentiles. And as many “other sheep” as are his, he brings. And the one shepherd makes “one flock” of his Jewish and Gentile sheep.So, the abundant life is not just me and the shepherd, but it is expansive.If anything in us balks at that, we need to know this: Jesus is the kind of shepherd in whom joy increases as other sheep join. Resist the scarcity mindset that would say, If more come, that means I get less of Jesus. It's the opposite. The more that truly come, the more who are truly changed and made holy, the more we see of Jesus, the more we enjoy him, the more he's glorified, the more we're amazed at him, the more we praise him.The reason I began this sermon with David Livingstone is verse 16 brought him to mind. It appears on his gravestone, in the voice of the Shepherd: “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring.”So, the abundant life is a rescued life, a relational life, an expansive life, and fourth, it's embattled.4. The Abundant Life Is an Embattled Life.Embattle means opposed. Challenged. As Jesus calls out his “one flock” from among Jews and Gentiles, his people are drawn out from others, and various tensions and divisions are inevitable. We see it right here in the very context where Jesus is teaching:9:40: “Some of the Pharisees near him . . .”10:19: “There was again a division among the Jews because of these words . . .” So, tension up front with the Pharisees; division among Jews at the end, right on cue. And Jesus mentions robbers and thieves and wolves — that is, opponents and threats. For now, abundant life does not mean an unopposed life. Abundant life is not an easy life, comfortable life. Yes, it is truly abundant life already, in knowing Jesus, but also it is not yet in its fullness, with every enemy defeated and every tear wiped away.There are costs to be counted in this abundant life. Divisions and tensions come. Don't be surprised by them. They will come. We don't need to provoke them unnecessarily. Make Jesus the issue, not your own immaturity. And when divisions come because of him, be careful about how quickly you rush to smooth over tensions. Often unbelievers need the relational tension and felt sense of division to ponder the real issues in life. Don't give in too quick just to keep the artificial peace. Let it sit, and pray. And be ready for them to come around and receive them humbly; be the kind of person in humility that people can expect will receive them back humbly.Life now in Jesus is already abundant, but not yet fully so. Greater abundance is coming. Ephesians 2:7: “in the coming ages [God will] show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” But this life in him even now is abundant enough to be enough in sorrows and pain and suffering.So, abundant life is rescued, relational, expansive, embattled, and finally secure.5. The Abundant Life Is a Kept Life.Abundant life is kept by the good shepherd. He guards his sheep. He keeps us. He keeps us secure, even in the tensions and divisions and many sufferings and sorrows. His ultimate protection is a vital part of what it means to have a good shepherd. Verses 12-13:“He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.”But not Jesus. He cares. He says, “I am the good shepherd.” When he laid down his life, he didn't stay dead. If the shepherd's dead, the sheep are goners. But Jesus took up his life again. And he always lives to intercede for us and keep us. His resurrection life is invincible, and he sits in victory on heaven's throne, knowing and protecting (from ultimate harm) every sheep who is his own.Which brings us once more to his Father. What does Jesus mean in verse 17 when he says, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again”? Is Jesus saying that he earns the love of his Father by laying down his life for us? The point is more subtle.What does a loving father do when his son accomplishes something great? He is overjoyed. He rejoices abundantly. He delights in his son. He loves his son. He's always loved his son, and he feels a special surge of love for his son when he achieves something great.Do you know what is the greatest single achievement in the history of the world? It's this good shepherd laying down his life for his sheep, and taking up his life again in victory, in conquest, in triumph over sin and death and Satan.Which brings us to the Table.Great in the Blood of the CovenantWe worked through Hebrews in 2023, and we finished with that great shepherd doxology in Hebrews 13:20-21. Listen for the connection to John 10:Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.Here the shepherd is great — did you catch that? And the reason he is great, says Hebrews, is “the blood of the eternal covenant.” Jesus shed the redeeming blood. Remember this is about the greatness of Jesus. He did not die by accident. He was no mere victim. No one took his life from him. He laid it down of his own accord. And he took it up again. And so at this Table we remember his greatness.

John 11:55-12:11English Standard Version55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

This sermon on Matthew 23 explores Jesus' final public message—a powerful warning about the responsibility and danger of spiritual leadership. Speaking to the crowds and the religious leaders still present, Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes through a series of seven “woes,” declaring judgment on those who misuse spiritual authority. He contrasts true leadership—marked by spiritual authority, integrity, compassion, and humility—with the corruption of false leaders who twist Scripture, act dishonestly, feign righteousness, and lead people away from God. Jesus' rebuke reveals that false spiritual leaders not only harm themselves but also those who follow them, ultimately leading to spiritual death. Yet even amid this strong condemnation, His heart remains full of compassion, longing to gather His people as a hen gathers her chicks. The message concludes with a reminder that judgment is not God's desire—salvation is. Every believer is called to reflect Christ in their leadership, whether at home, in ministry, or in life, living with accountability before God. The ultimate call is clear: turn from self-righteousness, believe in Jesus, and lead others toward Him in truth and love.

https://www.maynardvillefellowship.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Cooke-10-12-25.mp3 Matthew 23:29-33 serves as the capstone on this series of seven woes—these covenantal indictments against national Israel. Central to understanding this 'woe' is a right understanding of the fifth commandment; honor your father and mother. The scribes a Pharisees said 'If we'd been living in the days of our fathers, we wouldn't have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Their pretended honor of the prophets was really a way of honoring themselves and dishonoring their fathers. When we speak evil of parents, there's an extra layer of guilt—beyond speaking evil of others. God placed you with them, blessed you by their care, & now entrusts their care to you; God forbid you speak evil when God command you to act for their good. Parents, can you look back & see ways you failed your children? You wish you'd done better; you wish you'd known then what you know now. You pray God will limit or undo damage from neglect, wrong emphases, time misspent. Afford your parents the same mercy you want from your children. Remember: by what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. If you desire mercy, extend it. Is it hard? It certainly can be—justice & mercy hinge on faithfulness through difficulty. The 'weightier matters of the law.'

Matthew interprets Jesus' withdrawal as the fulfillment of Isaiah 42:1-4 which emphasizes that Messiah's ministry will be Holy Spirit empowered, non-combative, expanded to include Gentiles and ultimately successful.

Above all else, guard your heart.

Above all else, guard your heart.

Few stories are more iconic, gripping, or tender than that of the woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus with their “clever” question about this woman. In this message, Pastor Philip describes the thickening plot: a clever trap, a brilliant escape, and a transforming love. What if the ugliness of our sin displayed the loveliness of God's grace? To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/173/29

“Don't judge a book by its cover.” This saying warns against making assumptions based on external factors. On Truth For Life, Alistair Begg examines Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector to point out how this is also true within the church. ----------------------------------------- • Click here and look for "FROM THE SERMON" to stream or read the full message. • This program is part of the series ‘A Study in Luke, Volume 10' • Learn more about our current resource, request your copy with a donation of any amount. •If you or someone you know is in a season of suffering, be encouraged! Download My Times Are in Your Hands—12 FREE messages on enduring affliction with hope. Comes with a study guide. Helpful Resources - Learn about God's salvation plan - Read our most recent articles - Subscribe to our daily devotional Follow Us YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter This listener-funded program features the clear, relevant Bible teaching of Alistair Begg. Today's program and nearly 3,000 messages can be streamed and shared for free at tfl.org thanks to the generous giving from monthly donors called Truthpartners. Learn more about this Gospel-sharing team or become one today. Thanks for listening to Truth For Life!