[Matthew 5:10-12 NASB95] 10 "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when [people] insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Being a follower of Christ is not easy. Every generation of Christians have experie

[Matthew 5:9 NASB95] 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Before we look at the words of Jesus let’s look at the word, Peace. The Hebrew word is shalom. It means completeness and wholeness, nothing lacking. Do you have peace in your life? Jesus is the only One who can give peace and a part from Jesus we have no peace. [Romans 5:1] “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” [John 14:27] J

My wife and I traveled to Florida recently and her goal was to find lots of sharks' teeth. As she sorted through the scoops of sand and small shells, she did find several sharks' teeth and they varied in size. They were all small compared to what I was hoping that she would find but she was excited to have them. Some time after returning to our home, she was going through some items that she had brought home from a trip to the Outer Banks years ago... several years ago and gu

[Matthew 5:8 NASB95] 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” To be pure is to be untainted and unpolluted. To be pure in heart is to have pure desires that drive your decisions and choices. Let us understand first of all that we are born into iniquity and sin, even at conception. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” [Psalm 51:5] Why is this? Because, through the disobedience of one man, Adam, we have all inherited hi

[Matthew 5:7 NASB95] 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Mercy is a beautiful thing. To be merciful is to be compassionate. To be compassionate is to see someone hurting and experience the pain and suffering as if you were going through it. We should help carry the burdens of others. The Scripture’s say, “Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” [Gal 6:2] GOD doesn’t leave us on our own and we shouldn’t leave others on their

[Matthew 5:6 NASB95] 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Have you ever been so hungry or thirsty that you couldn’t think of anything else? It distracted you from all other tasks. You could not focus until you filled your belly. We could apply this to our spiritual walk with Christ. But first, let’s define and clarify what “righteousness” means. Simply put it is doing what is right. But then we have to ask, “Doing what is

[Matthew 5:5 NASB95] 5 "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Jesus continues a similar thought from the two previous verses, which revolves around us rightly acknowledging ourselves before GOD. We shouldn’t think too highly of ourselves. The word “gentle” could be used interchangeably with the word “humble.” Humility is a characteristic of GOD’s people. It’s difficult to be prideful when we know that “nothing good dwells in (us)” (Romans 7:18), but throug

Whenever I meet a pastor of another church, I will probably ask him what book of the Bible he is preaching from. One preacher that I asked that question to said "Oh, I don't preach through a book verse by verse. I preach what our congregation needs to hear. The preachers who preach books of the Bible verse by verse only do that because they don't know how to pick the next topic for their sermons." Well, sir, thank you for playing but you are incorrect. Preaching through a boo

This past Sunday, we had a baptism in our church family but just saying that isn't enough. The right way to say it is "Lukas was baptized this Sunday" and after he was baptized, he glorified God with his statements. You may accuse me of being judgmental about this but I have seen too many churches committing one of the following mistakes. The first mistake happens when a church focuses on the number of baptisms instead of the people who are being baptized. I have even seen th

[Matthew 5:4 NASB95] 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. There are things in life that cause us grief. Sometimes we bring it on ourselves and sometimes it comes out of nowhere and we have absolutely no control over it. Sometimes we mourn over our sin and turn away from it. Sometimes we mourn over the sins of others and pray that GOD would open their eyes. Grief is inevitable. Sometimes it passes quickly and sometimes it stays for years and years. Wher

You are probably wondering how "God Is Good" and football practice are connected so let me take you back a couple of decades. The Cincinnati Bengals used to have a training camp in Georgetown, Ky and so I would take my son, Blake, to Georgetown every year for this big event. In 2003, I had booked a hotel room for us to stay a couple of days and go watch the Bengals practices but that week started off differently than it normally did. Shortly after we had checked into the room

[Matthew 5:3 NASB95] 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew chapter 5 is the beginning of what is known as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. A discourse to believers highlighting the ways in which we should live in the world characterized by a new behavior that’s been transformed by Christ. It covers Matthew chapters 5, 6 & 7. It is a great portion of Scripture to read frequently and evaluate your walk with Christ. Once His disciples gather

[Matthew 4:18-20 NASB95] 18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Peter and his brother, Andrew, were fishermen. They made their living and supported their families by it. Their career was catching and selling fish. T

Tony was one of the shorter guys at church... but only in a physical sense. But because of his contagious laugh, his powerful love for one another and the influence that he had in the lives of those around him, Tony was and will always be a giant in our church. Tony set the example of what it means to serve the church with the gifts that God has given you and not only did he do it, he did it well. Tony did not believe in the old saying "that's good enough for government work"

[Matthew 4:17 NASB95] 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Without repentance (turning away from evil and doing good) no one can become a child of GOD or enter the kingdom of heaven. We must all understand our sinfulness and lack of ability to do good in our own power. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” [Romans 3:23]. However, we must also understand, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift

[Mat 4:8-10 NASB95] 8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" Satan’s final wilderness temptation to Jesus was an utter failure. Why would the adversary try and tempt the One who created all with onl

[Matthew 4:5-7 NASB95] Then the devil took Him (Jesus) into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU'; and 'ON [their] HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.' Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'" Our Savior, after He

[Matthew 4:4 NASB95] 4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" (Other References Luke 4:4) We have a body and we have a spirit and they both need food. Unfortunately, we tend to feed the physical body much more than we feed our spiritual body, but Jesus (quoting Deuteronomy 8:3) says we should live by every word that comes from the mouth of GOD. Where can we find the words of GOD?

I know, that sounds like a loaded question and it is. But let me ask you again. Which holiday is more important? Christmas or Easter? Obviously Christmas is very important because it is through the birth of Christ that we have received the greatest gift of all. God's only Son. Introduced by the Old Testament prophets. Born of a virgin. Announced by the angels. Sought after by the wise men from the east. But what if we only had Christmas but no Easter? Jesus would still be the

Can you still run like you did when you were young? Physically, my body says "No" but what about spiritually? Not running from God but running to Him. Today, I want to show you some passages featuring the word "flee" . 1 Corinthians 6:18–20 (ESV) — 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