Josh1Eight

Scripture: Luke 17:1-4 "One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! 2 It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. 3 So watch yourselves! If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. 4 Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” Observations: Jesus once gave His disciples a quick lesson about sin by pointing out that sin is a reality that everyone must deal with and no one will ever be exempt from. As such, people can't afford to take sin lightly because it has the potential to not only affect individuals but also other people. Like a disease, sin has the ability to infect humanity and spread like a virus to others. For that very reason, Jesus made it abundantly clear that it is th...

Scripture: Deuteronomy 33:3 "Indeed, he loves his people; all his holy ones are in his hands. They follow in his steps and accept his teaching." Observations: Moses' final blessing spoken over God's people just before his death reminded them about God's covenant relationship with Israel and how they came to be known as His people. In this verse he uses an expression to describe God's special care and concern for His people. The word translated "loves" in this context carries the same basic meaning as "to choose", meaning that God's love for and His choosing of the people of Israel as the only nation on earth to enjoy this special kind of favor were the result of cause and effect. Because God loved Israel He also chose them. This is significant when you consider the fact that God's intention in all of this was for relationship with His people. When God commanded His people to "love the Lord your God" (6:4), they understoo...

Scripture: Luke 16:9-12 "And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. 10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?" Observations: Jesus told the story about the corrupt businessman who had been embezzling from his boss and was then fired and asked to clean out his desk. But before he left the office he made a few phone calls to some of his clients and gave them some discounts to ...