What has Jesus left you with? Mark 13:34-37

In these Scriptures, Mark 13:34-37, Jesus is explaining what His leaving for heaven, and His plan to return are like. But, the main emphasis here, is on what He has left us with...There are four things ...

He is like a man who went to a far country....but, when He left, He gave us four things.

1. He has given us authority, or power....that's what the word means. So, right off the bat, we know that while we wait for Him to return, we have power from Him, that is the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is within each of us as believers in Jesus Christ, and He also wants to overflow our lives with Himself, that is, empowering us, bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. ( There are many other things that the Holy Spirit does ) But, here, in this passage, we see that He has left us power......

2. He regards us as His servants. A servant in the New Testament, is someone who lives to do the will of their master. They exist to carry out His will, His plans, and His desires. That's what the Bible calls doing the will of God. So, we are servants who have power.

3. He has given us a specific work to do as His servants. In fact, He has outfitted each of us with the needed gifts to do His will. For example, if He has called you to work in His kingdom as a teacher, then He has given you the gift of teaching, etc, etc. You have a gift(s) to serve Him with.

4. He has called us to watch and wait for His coming. Watch, means to be awake, and to be alert, and to not be sleeping. As you can see from verse 36-37, He says, "lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping" We can get so tired, and find ourselves spiritually sleeping. Especially if we have been awake a long time, and working a long time. But, He wants us to be awake and alert.

Mark 13:34-37

34 “It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.

35 “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming--in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning--

36 “lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.

37 “And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

Lord, thank You for Your Word. It's so clear, and it's layed out for us in an easy to understand way. We want to walk in Your ways, and we pray today for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit, a renewed attitude of service for You by the use of our spiritual gifts. Help us to wake up if we are sleeping, and keep us alert and waiting for your return.....

In Jesus name.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Strife, it's cause and how to avoid it.

Pro 13:10 By Pride comes nothing but strife. But with the well -advised is wisdom.

The book of Proverbs has much to say about this subject, i.e strife, or contention. And here in 13:10, we are told it's cause, and we are told how to walk in wisdom, or not to have strife.

The cause of strife is pride. Pride means, arrogance, and presumption. So, the it's arrogance that brings about strife.

Arrogance, as defined Biblically, means, pomp, swelling, or proud. It's to have an attitude of self importance. That's how the dictionary defines it to. "having an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities. It's to be puffed up with conceit.

Self admiration, egotism, self-regard, smugness, big-headedness, vain glory.

It's the opposite of humility. That is pride is the direct opposite of humility.

But, with the well advised is wisdom. Or "those who receive counsel" is wisdom.

We do not naturally have God's wisdom. It must be given to us, and we must receive it.

And, if we are the kind of people who can receive counsel, it will help us not to walk in pride, and it will help us not to cause strife and contention.

So, Lord, here we are. People who need counsel, people who would want to receive counsel. Your counsel. Will You help us this day to be humble, to be receptive to You, and to have Your wisdom, and avoid being the cause of strife and contention.

We truly do love You, and we need You more then we know. Thank You Lord. In Jesus name. Amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier

3 things that can come into our lives

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.

This verse tells us of several things that can come into our lives.

It might be more appropriate to say that there are a total of four things that are mentioned in this verse.

Let's count them.........pride, shame, humility, and wisdom.

Two of these are really from within us, and they serve as the basis for what will happen to us as the result.

First of all......Pride.....it comes from within, and when it comes, it brings shame.

Pride means insolence, or presumptuousness, also translated, arrogance......If we are walking in this, we will then have shame....it comes with pride, or from pride.....Shame means disgrace, and dishonor.

So, pride and shame go together.

Then, we have humility and wisdom. To walk in humility, means that we walk in a lowly way, or a modest way. Sometimes it's defined as having an accurate view of oneself. We are just earthen vessels.

But, if we are humble, then we will have wisdom. Meaning, the skillful man, to have our wits about us.

Well, Lord, help us to be humble and avoid shame, and have wisdom.

We love you, in Jesus name.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Blessed is the man.........

Hello, and blessings to you today.

The following verse actually tells us, or describes for us a "Blessed Man"

Blessed means to be happy, and it comes from a word meaning to go straight, to make progress, to advance.

And, it simply means to be happy.

It is clear from reading the Bible that people often pursue being happy, but come up empty. But, on the other hand, many people find themselves happy because they have simply followed the Lord and find that happiness is a by-product of that relationship. It's an actual promise from God that if a man lives a certain way, he will find happiness in his life.

So, here's one of the scriptures that lays it out for us.

Proverbs 9:34

"Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors"

Three things are said here about this happy man. He listens to God, He Watches, and He Waits.

The happy man Listens. This means to hear and it means to obey. So, hearing the Lord, and obeying Him are part of our being happy.

The happy man also Watches. This means to be alert, to be awake, to keep watch. Jesus often talked about this attitude of mind and heart. So did the apostles.

The happy man Waits. This means to keep, guard, observe, give heed.

So, one of God's simple but effective and true prescriptions for happiness. To Watch, Listen and Wait.

Lord, we desire Your blessings in our lives, they are the best experiences of our lives down here on earth. Would you please fill us with Your wisdom, and help us to Watch, Listen and Wait upon You.

In Jesus name.

Pastor Bob Grenier

A thought about overcoming.

Ro 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

What a blessing here in Romans, how the Lord teaches us about overcoming evil.

As you can see, first of all He tells us "Do not be overcome by evil"

This would mean then, that it's entirely possible for us to not be overcome by evil. The Lord would never instruct us, and teach us to do something if it was not possible to do.

The word overcome means, to conquer, to get the victory.....So, we are not to be conquered by evil. ( Evil by the way, means, to hurt, destroy, harm.

Going on in this verse, we are to then conquer evil by or with good. Or that which is good. Good also means benefit, useful, pleasant, agreeable, happy, upright and honorable.

So, those are the ways by which we can conquer evil, it's by good.

A prayer..... Lord, thank You for Your Word. Would You please guide each of us to walk in the ways that are good, pleasant, upright, happy, and beneficial to others, May we personally experience overcoming evil in our own lives, and may we be tools in Your hands to bring that victory to the people we are in contact with.

Thank You again Lord...

Pastor Bob Grenier