Under Gods Command
Proverbs 26:20 Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.
Talking about every little irritation or piece of gossip only keeps the fires of anger going. Refusing to discuss them cuts the fuel line and makes the fires die out. Does someone continually irritate you? Decide not to complain about the person and see if your irritation dies from lack of fuel.
Under Gods Command
To understand the life and mission of Jesus more fully, all we need to do is study the Gospels. John tells us that his Gospel records only a few of the many events in Jesus’s life on earth. But the gospel includes everything we need to know to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, through whom we receive eternal life.
John 20:30-31 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 23:19-21 Listen, my son and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path. Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Over drinking or over eating will make you poor. Young men are especially vulnerable to these temptations, as most any American college fraternity will prove. Solomon, the wise Preacher and father, warned his son against these two evils and their destructive effects on a man’s career and finances. America, the land of plenty and then some, is a prime breeding ground for both of these corrupting excesses. Let every young man beware!
Consider the context. The inspired father asked his son to hear, be wise, and choose what is right (23:19). He warned him against drunkards and gluttonous eaters (23:20). He also exhorted his son to honor both parents (23:22), put a priority on wisdom (23:23), and to consider the great joy a wise life could give his parents (23:24-25). So great is the danger of these foolish, youthful lusts, he forbid even associating with such sinners (23:20).
Young men think drunkenness is cool – because they are childish, foolish, and ignorant (22:15). They actually boast about getting sick and puking on themselves! They revel in how long their hangovers last! But the great God considers it sinful and stupid. Drinking until you are drunk is a sin against heaven (I Cor 6:9-11; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 5:18), and it is stupid for the painful consequences such drinking brings (23:29-35; 31:4-5).
Under Gods Command (Doubting and Believing)
Jesus Appears to His Disciples including Thomas
Jesus wasn’t hard on Thomas for his doubts. Despite his skepticism, Thomas was still loyal to the believers and to Jesus himself. Some people need to doubt before they believe. If doubt leads to questions, questions lead to answers, and the answers are accepted, then doubt has done good work. It is when doubt becomes stubbornness and stubbornness becomes a prideful lifestyle and doubt harms faith. When you doubt don’t stop there. Let your doubt deepen your faith as you continue to search for the answer.
John 20:24-29 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nails marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Have you ever wished you could actually see Jesus, touch him, and hear his words? Are there times you want to sit down with him and get his advice? Thomas wanted Jesus physical presence. But God’s plan is wiser. He has not limited himself to one physical body; he wants to be present with you at all times. Even now he is with you in the form of the Holy Spirit. You can talk to him, and you can find his words to you in the pages of the Bible. He can be as real to you as he was to Thomas.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 22:10 Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.
This Proverbs speaks for itself. Another word for mocker is ridiculer. I know when certain people don’t show up for work or miss meeting or gatherings, it changes the entire temperature or atmosphere. It just takes one person to stir up strife. I think we all can relate to this, Just make sure that person is not you.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 21:20 – In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.
This proverb is about saving for the future. Easy credit has many people living on the edge of bankruptcy. The desire to keep up and to accumulate more pushes them to spend every penny they earn, and they stretch their credit to the limit. But anyone who spends all he has is spending more than he can afford. A wise person puts money aside for when he or she may have less. God approves of foresight and restraint. God’s people need to examine their lifestyles to see whether their spending is God-pleasing or merely self-pleasing.
Under Gods Command
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
John 20:19-22 On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were over joyed when they saw the Lord. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
This may have been a special filling of the Holy Spirit for the disciples, a foretaste of what all believers would experience from the time of Pentecost and forever after. To do God’s work, we need the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. We must avoid trying to do his work in our own strength.
There is life in the breath of God. Man was created but did not come alive until God breathed into him the breath of life. God’s first breath made man different from all other forms of creation. Now, through the breath of Jesus, God imparted eternal, spiritual life. With this inbreathing came the power to do God’s will on earth.
Under Gods Command
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
John 20:19-21 On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were over joyed when they saw the Lord. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
Jesus again identified himself with his Father. He told the disciples by whose authority he did his work. Then he passed the job to his disciples of spreading the gospel of salvation around the world. Whatever God has asked you to do, remember:
(1) Your authority comes from God, and
(2) Jesus has demonstrated by words and actions how to accomplish the job he has given you.
As the Father sent Jesus, Jesus sends his followers….and you.
Under Gods Command
Jesus Rises from the Dead and Appears to Mary Magdalene
John 20:01- 09 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciples started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
The grave clothes were left as if Jesus body had simply vacated them. The headpiece was still rolled up in the shape of a head, and it was at about the right distance from the wrappings that had enveloped Jesus body. A grave robber couldn’t possibly have made off with Jesus body and left the linens as if they were still shaped around it.
As further proof that the disciples did not fabricate this story, we find that Peter and John were surprised that Jesus was not in the tomb. When John saw the grave clothes looking like an empty cocoon from which Jesus had emerged, he believed that Jesus had risen. It wasn’t until after they had seen the empty tomb that they remembered what the Scriptures and Jesus had said- he would die, but he would also rise again!
Jesus resurrection is the key to the Christian faith. Why?
1. Just as he said, Jesus rose from the dead. We can be confident, therefore, that he will accomplish all he has promised.
2. Jesus bodily resurrection shows us that the living Christ, not a false prophet or imposter, is ruler of God’s eternal Kingdom.
3. We can be certain of our own resurrection because Jesus was resurrected. Death is not the end-there is future life.
4. The divine power that brought Jesus back to life is now available to us to bring our spiritually dead selves back to life.
5. The resurrection is the basis for the church’s witness to the world.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 14:31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
God has a special concern for the poor. He insists that people who have material goods should be generous with those who are needy. Providing for the poor is not just a suggestion in the Bible; it is a command that may require a change of attitude.
Under Gods Command 