Teaching

Luke 19:47 And He was teaching daily in the temple.

What many call “Holy Week” began when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday and ended with His resurrection on Easter Sunday. But what was Jesus doing between those two events? How did He spend that time?

All the Gospel writers tell us Jesus spent those days teaching in the Temple. He taught about the Kingdom of God. He spoke in parables and answered many questions. He taught about everything from paying taxes to the resurrection of the dead. Jesus spoke of the future destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and He answered questions about the end of time and His second coming.

During those days Jesus spoke to both Jews and Gentiles. He knew the age was coming when the Church would carry forward the work of God’s Kingdom. He taught about humility, giving, repentance, prayer, obedience, faith, hope, love…the list goes on and on.

The spiritual depths of Jesus’ teaching that final week are beyond human measure. So I encourage you to take some time to pick up your Bible and consider what Jesus taught in those days. Let me suggest Matthew Chapters 21-25, Luke 19:28-22:28, Mark Chapters 11-13, and John 12:12-17:26. I believe you will find many blessings in any or all those readings.

Have a God Filled Week and a Blessed Easter,

Brother Donnie

Bread

John 6:47-48 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life.

When Jesus said these words it was shortly after He had miraculously fed a multitude of people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. When the crowds came back to Him they were expecting more free food. If fact they expected Him to call down manna from Heaven. Being more concerned over the filling of their stomachs than the filling of their souls, they were fixated on what is earthly rather than spiritual.

Many people do that today. They come to the church expecting a physical blessing without any thought for their spiritual need. They come seeking food or money rather than spiritual blessing. Now the church does what it can to meet those physical needs, Jesus commanded us to do so. But if we provide for people physically without providing for them spiritually then we’ve failed to fulfill His commandment. We must give them physical bread while telling them about the Bread of Life.

You see, Jesus is the Bread of Life. Those who eat physical bread will eventually die, but those who partake of the living Bread will have eternal life. Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51) Jesus gave His life—His flesh—when He died on the Cross for sinners like us. When you believe in Him you symbolically partake of His flesh and you will live forever.

Have a God Filled Week,

Brother Donnie

Not Ashamed of the Gospel

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

I’ve been talking with an old friend of mine this week. His name is Howard and he’s near 80 years old. He and I taught together for many years and I considered him a mentor. Howard tells me he’s beginning a new personal ministry in which he intends to tell people he knows who aren’t saved about Jesus. Some want to hear it and some don’t, he said, but he’s going to tell them anyway. Now that takes guts. It’s not easy to speak Christ to people who might reject you, but Howard isn’t ashamed of the Gospel. We all need a ministry like Howard’s.

Every Christian who is still breathing needs to spread the Gospel to the lost. Too often we hide our head in the sand and refuse to speak truth into an unbeliever’s life. Rather than bravely proclaiming Christ to the lost we succumb to fear. Too often we act as if we’re ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but there is no greater ministry we can perform. Feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, protecting the battered, and comforting the sick and lonely are all great ministries, but they pale in comparison to our calling to lead souls to salvation. It’s great to invite people to church, but it’s our calling to invite people to faith in Christ. The ministry of the Gospel belongs to all of us, not just the preachers, pastors, and evangelist.

In our generation fewer people are professing faith in Jesus than the generations before us. Now is the time to speak up and speak out. Now is the time to say I’m not ashamed of the Gospel.

Have a God Filled Week,

Brother Donnie

Blessed

Psalm 1:1-2 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

It’s wonderful to know God’s blessings are falling around you and on you, that His favor is before you and behind you. There’s a certain peace and comfort that comes over a blessed believer.

How does a believer obtain the blessings of God? Well, a lot of it revolves around who you listen to and who you socialize with. These verses tell us we aren’t to take advice from ungodly people, and we’re not to socialize with sinners. Look, you can’t expect God to bless you when you’re mingling with unrepentant sinners all the time. Don’t be influenced by people who mock God. Ours is a disrespectful culture and much of that disrespect is aimed directly at the Lord and His Church. So if you want to be blessed be careful about whose advice you take and be cautious about who has influence in your life.

The best place to find good advice is in the Law of God, the Bible. If you take delight in the Word and meditate on it day and night you’ll find good counsel, and if you socialize with people who take delight in God’s Word you’ll find good company.

That’s God’s simple advice. If you want to be blessed avoid ungodly, sinful, scorners, and take delight in God’s Word. Meditate on it day and night.

Have a Blessed Week,

Brother Donnie

Building Up

Acts 20:32 So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

We live in an age of deconstruction, and many Christians these days are “deconstructing” their faith. Now according to modern philosophy “deconstruction” means to take apart what you believe, analyze all the parts of your faith, and then rebuild your faith based on your personal analysis. Those who think this is a good idea would say Christianity needs some “updating.” They would tell you to throw out what you’ve believed in the past about Jesus, the church, and the Bible because it’s old-fashioned, dilapidated, and of no value.

Now all this “deconstruction” really boils down to “destruction” of what Christians have held dearly since the days Christ walked the earth. It’s a very selfish philosophy. It asks questions like, “What do I think? What do I feel? What do I believe?” It gives little room to what Jesus thought, what Jesus felt, or what Jesus taught us to believe. The “deconstructionists” place great value on what the culture wants and what society believes, but they give little thought to what the Bible says.

Look, rather than “deconstructing” our faith we need to be building it up. How? In the verse above we’re told the word of God’s grace will build us up and bring us into an eternal inheritance in Heaven along with everyone else who has been separated from their sins and remade in the image of Christ. It’s time to abandon all this “deconstruction” and start building on the firm foundation of Biblical truth that has been the bedrock of our faith for generations.

Have a God Filled Week,
Brother Donnie

Be Prepared

Proverbs 28:19 He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, But he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough!

We live in uncertain days, wars and rumors of wars, epidemics, economic distresses, and indiscriminant violence. These are days when we need to be wise, and the Bible has much to say about being prepared for hard times. God wants his people to be prepared whenever trouble comes. Now that doesn’t mean we’re to worry. Scripture says don’t worry about what you shall eat, drink, or wear. But scripture also tells us to be like the ant and prepare in this season for what comes in the next.

Growing up I can remember being taught to “save for a rainy day.” We were taught to work hard to be sure we had enough, and we were careful not to be wasteful. Some of that came to us because my grandfather and grandmother went through the Great Depression and knew what it was like live in very lean times. Some of it was because we were farmers who grew most of our own food, meaning we would go hungry if we weren’t diligent. Perhaps it’s just ingrained in me, but I still try to stay prepared for what might come in the days ahead.

Be wise, my friends. This is not a time to for foolishness. Set a little aside; make sure the pantries are full. I’ve heard it said that Noah didn’t wait for it to start raining to build the Ark. Take heed from the wise men of scripture. As Joseph told Pharaoh, store up enough during good times to make sure you have enough in bad times (Genesis 41:35-36).

Have a God Filled Week,

Brother Donnie

The End of the Age

Matthew 24:6-8 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

My heart breaks for the innocent lives lost in the current Russian aggression against the people of Ukraine. But whenever conflicts like these arise the question always comes up, “Are we in the last times?” Jesus’ disciples asked Him the same question, “…what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) And Jesus answered with a warning, “Take heed that no one deceives you.” (Matthew 24:4)

Jesus said wars will come and go. Disasters will come one right behind another and their intensity will increase as time goes by, but this isn’t the end. Don’t let anyone fool you. All these things are just the beginning of sorrows. There is a great Tribulation coming at the end of human history, but we aren’t there yet.

That doesn’t mean the current conflict won’t be painful; it most certainly will be. But these things are only stepping stones leading to a time of great Tribulation unlike anything the world has ever known. They are difficult and sometimes excruciatingly painful. Hard times are with us, and even harder times are ahead. Jesus promised it would be that way, so we shouldn’t be surprised by it.

But one day Jesus will return. Scriptures says no man knows the day or hour. But when He comes He’ll usher in a New Age, an age where there will be no more suffering or sorrow and peace will reign. In the meantime let us pray for peace in Ukraine.

Have a God Filled Week,
Brother Donnie

Discernment

Philippians 1:9-10 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ…

Discernment is a vital trait for every Christian. We must be able to judge between what is right and what is wrong. We must have the wisdom to know when to speak and when to remain quiet, when to act and when to wait. Discernment keeps us from making mistakes. It keeps us from supporting things we shouldn’t or speaking the wrong words at the wrong time. It keeps us from making rash decisions we’ll regret later.

Discernment directs us to stand for what pleases God, to speak and act in ways that please Him. Discernment teaches us to love as God loves rather than the way the world loves. Discernment teaches us to think as God thinks rather than the way the world thinks. It directs us to live in Christ-likeness rather than worldliness.

Where do we gain the knowledge to apply such discerning wisdom? The knowledge we need can only be found in the word of God—the Bible. We can’t lean on our own understanding and expect to be discerning people. We have to learn from the Book of Wisdom and then apply that knowledge to every facet and relationship of our life.

Like Paul, I pray every one of you abounds in love that comes from an ever increasing knowledge of God’s Word, a knowledge that gives you great discernment.

Have a God Filled Week,
Brother Donnie

All You Need is Love

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

When asked, “Which is the greatest commandment?” Jesus answered by saying, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” He added to that by saying, “…the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39)

As Christians we often live by the second commandment, but we either neglect the first or we elevate the second command into first position. But loving one another is not to come before loving God. Love of God must take first place. We cannot love each other in the way Jesus commands us to love unless we love God first. These two commandments cannot be equalized and they certainly cannot be reversed. Love of God is the greatest commandment. Loving each other is second.

Now, how do we do that? How do we love God and then love each other? Is it simply a matter of words and deep emotions? No, scripture tells us very clearly how we are to fulfill these two commandments. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:2-3)

We know that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ when we love God by keeping His commandments. You see, true love for God and true love for each other is defined by our obedience to the commandments of God.

Have a God Filled Week,
Brother Donnie

No Such Thing as Impossible

Luke 18:27…The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

How many times have we come up against what might seem to be unsurpassable odds? No chance, no hope situations arise, and if we are not careful they will overwhelm us. But Jesus tells us here that what may seem impossible to mere men is quite possible with God.

Some people are encumbered with guilt and feel they will never be relieved of. Others are battling personal illness, told there is no cure. Financial failure, broken relationships, hardships, insurmountable trials… For man there is no way out, no recourse, no hope. But God has no such limitation. He can do anything, solve any problem, and overcome every obstacle. He is all knowing and all powerful.

So when you find you are in a situation that seems impossible to get out of, turn to the One who never fails, never struggles, and is never beaten. There is nothing God cannot do. When the chances of overcoming whatever stands in front of you
seem impossible then remember:

Luke 1:37 For with God nothing will be impossible.

Have a God Filled Week,
Brother Donnie