A Thought for Today 29-10-2010

Luke 14:1-6

On a sabbath day Jesus had gone for a meal to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. ‘There in front of him was a man with dropsy, and Jesus addressed the lawyers and Pharisees. ‘Is it against the law’ he asked ‘to cure a man on the sabbath, or not?’ But they remained silent, so he took the man and cured him and sent him away. Then he said to them, ‘Which of you here, if his son falls into a well, or his ox, will not pull him out on a sabbath day without hesitation?’ And to this they could find no answer.

A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.
(Adlai E. Stevenson)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXw2wzyu0rs&ob=av2n

Weekly Blessing:

http://www.francescoproductions.com/weeklyblessing.asp

A Thought for Today 28-10-2010

Ephesians 4:11-13

To some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.

If God is in a life, it doesn't have to be big to be happy and to be important in His kingdom.
(Keith Miller)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxft8N_Jeis&feature=related

A Thought for Today 27-10-2010

1 Peter 5:5-7

Wrap yourselves in humility to be servants of each other, because God refuses the proud and will always favour the humble. Bow down, then, before the power of God now, and he will raise you up on the appointed day; unload all your worries on to him, since he is looking after you.

I will place no value on anything I have or may possess except in relation to the kingdom of Christ.
(David Livingstone)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22jwZsgH_sY

A Thought for Today 26-10-2010

Luke 13:18-21

Jesus said, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with? It is like a mustard seed which a man took and threw into his garden: it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air sheltered in its branches.’

Another thing he said, ‘What shall I compare the kingdom of God with? It is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’

If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.
(William Law)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2tA_oJkR6M

A Thought for Today 22-10-2010

Luke 12:54-59

Jesus said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud looming up in the west you say at once that rain is coming, and so it does. And when the wind is from the south you say it will be hot, and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the face of the earth and the sky. How is it you do not know how to interpret these times?

‘Why not judge for yourselves what is right? For example: when you go to court with your opponent, try to settle with him on the way, or he may drag you before the judge and the judge hand you over to the bailiff and the bailiff have you thrown into prison. I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the very last penny.’

These are the times that try men's souls.
(Thomas Paine)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8k1ZjVXZTQ

Weekly Blessing:

http://www.francescoproductions.com/weeklyblessing.asp

A Thought for Today 21-10-2010

Luke 12:49-53

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!

‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

You have within you many strong and cruel enemies to overcome. You must know that there are still a thousand ties which you must break. No one can tell you what they are; only you can tell by looking at yourself and into your heart.
(Johannes Tauler)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtjmnxhi2R8

A Thought for Today 20-10-2010

James 1:22,25

You must do what the word tells you, and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves. But the man who looks steadily at the perfect law of freedom and makes that his habit – not listening and then forgetting, but actively putting it into practice – will be happy in all that he does.

The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.
(Saint Augustine)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsEgU1Ph_jk&feature=related

A Thought for Today 19-10-2010

Luke 12:36-38

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit. Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready.’

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.
(C. S. Lewis)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCxZvD_wZ6I

A Thought for Today 18-10-2010

1 Corinthians 15:1-2,3-4

Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established, the gospel that brings you salvation. In the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures.

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
(Corrie Ten Boom)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBC6T71XtGg&feature=related

A Thought for Today 15-10-2010

Luke 12:1-7

The people had gathered in their thousands so that they were treading on one another. And Jesus began to speak, first of all to his disciples. ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees – that is, their hypocrisy. Everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places will be proclaimed on the housetops.

‘To you my friends I say: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Can you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid: you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.’

Truth is what works.
(William James)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq_dr1LWvEA

Weekly Blessing:

http://www.francescoproductions.com/weeklyblessing.asp

A Thought for Today 14-10-2010

Luke 11:47-54

Jesus said:

‘Alas for you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building.

‘And that is why the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will slaughter and persecute, so that this generation will have to answer for every prophet’s blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary.” Yes, I tell you, this generation will have to answer for it all.

‘Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.’

When he left the house, the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to catch him out in something he might say.

Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite.
(Charles Spurgeon)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OW6f2PLPkg

A Thought for Today 13-10-2010

Luke 11:42-46

The Lord said to the Pharisees:

‘Alas for you Pharisees! You who pay your tithe of mint and rue and all sorts of garden herbs and overlook justice and the love of God! These you should have practised, without leaving the others undone. Alas for you Pharisees who like taking the seats of honour in the synagogues and being greeted obsequiously in the market squares! Alas for you, because you are like the unmarked tombs that men walk on without knowing it!

A lawyer then spoke up. ‘Master,’ he said ‘when you speak like this you insult us too.’

‘Alas for you lawyers also,’ he replied ‘because you load on men burdens that are unendurable, burdens that you yourselves do not move a finger to lift.’

A hypocrite is a person who - but who isn't?
(Don Marquis)

http://www.youtube.com/user/tfkofficial?blend=1&ob=4#p/f/6/y9tNxsJf7N0

A Thought for Today 12-10-2010

Luke 11:37-41

Jesus had just finished speaking when a Pharisee invited him to dine at his house. He went in and sat down at the table. The Pharisee saw this and was surprised that he had not first washed before the meal. But the Lord said to him, ‘Oh, you Pharisees! You clean the outside of cup and plate, while inside yourselves you are filled with extortion and wickedness. Fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside too? Instead, give alms from what you have and then indeed everything will be clean for you.’

Hypocrite reader my fellow my brother!
(Charles Baudelaire)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB4VrIFsU5U&feature=related

A Thought for Today 11-10-2010

Judith 8:25-26,27

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God who, as he tested our ancestors, is now testing us. Remember how he treated Abraham, all the ordeals of Isaac and all that happened to Jacob. For as these ordeals were intended by him to search their hearts, so now this is not vengeance that God exacts against us, but a warning inflicted by the Lord on those who are near his heart.

If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because He Himself is the way.
(Saint Thomas Aquinas)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8PGeLX_6iE&feature=channel

A Thought for Today 08-10-2010

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.
(Corrie Ten Boom)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya-r674mxbw&feature=related

Weekly Blessing:

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A Thought for Today 07-10-2010

Galatians 3:1-5

Are you people in Galatia mad? Has someone put a spell on you, in spite of the plain explanation you have had of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ? Let me ask you one question: was it because you practised the Law that you received the Spirit, or because you believed what was preached to you? Are you foolish enough to end in outward observances what you began in the Spirit? Have all the favours you received been wasted? And if this were so, they would most certainly have been wasted. Does God give you the Spirit so freely and work miracles among you because you practise Law, or because you believed what was preached to you?

Human salvation demands the divine disclosure of truths surpassing reason.
(Saint Thomas Aquinas)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzyGrcCv-fk&feature=related

A Thought for Today 06-10-2010

Luke 11:1-4

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:

“Father, may your name be held holy,

your kingdom come;

give us each day our daily bread,

and forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.

And do not put us to the test.”’

Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.
(Corrie Ten Boom)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNjH8QDpBFY

A Thought for Today 05-10-2010

Luke 10:38-42

Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’

It makes no sense to worry about things you have no control over because there's nothing you can do about them, and why worry about things you do control? The activity of worrying keeps you immobilized.
(Wayne Dyer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QemZQKKJbRU

A Thought for Today

Galatians 1:6-10

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

"These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own." (G. K. Chesterton)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4fEQGbObvc&feature=related

A Thought for Today 01-10-2010

Luke 10:13-16

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. And still, it will not go as hard with Tyre and Sidon at the Judgement as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell.

‘Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.’

We are not merely propagating theological doctrine; we are representatives of Christ. God confronts everyone by the gospel. It brings men and women to the judgment bar of God, calling them to account for their sins, and giving them the opportunity to repent. Like it or not, the gospel itself has that imperious note. (Reinhard Bonnke)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SymhGhOxwpk

Weekly Blessing:

http://www.francescoproductions.com/weeklyblessing.asp