Jesus Tells us about the Future – Part 2
Good day to you reading the first part and hope you stick around the next part.
I do hope that you and your family and friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and that you enjoyed the great food, lots of laughs and many memories to share.
By the way, I saw a sign that said, Thanksgiving is not a specific day but each and every day—Great thought—This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.
I am going to throw a change-up as I searched the net and came up with a few short stories with a moral lesson from Wealthy Gorilla:
1 – Having A Best Friend
A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand;
“Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”
They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone;
“Today my best friend saved my life.”
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him;
“After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”
The other friend replied;
“When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”
Moral of the story:
Don’t value the things you have in your life. But value who you have in your life.
2 – The Four Smart Students
One night four college students were out partying late night and didn’t study for the test which was scheduled for the next day. In the morning, they thought of a plan.
They made themselves look dirty with grease and dirt.
Then they went to the Dean and said they had gone out to a wedding last night and on their way back the tire of their car burst and they had to push the car all the way back. So they were in no condition to take the test.
The Dean thought for a minute and said they can have the re-test after 3 days. They thanked him and said they will be ready by that time.
On the third day, they appeared before the Dean. The Dean said that as this was a Special Condition Test, all four were required to sit in separate classrooms for the test. They all agreed as they had prepared well in the last 3 days.
The Test consisted of only 2 questions with the total of 100 Points:
1) Your Name? (1 Points)
2) Which tire burst? (99 Points)
Options – (a) Front Left (b) Front Right (c) Back Left (d) Back Right
Moral of the story:
Take responsibility or you will learn your lesson.
3 – The Struggles of Our Life
Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it.
She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.
Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.
The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners.
He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.
Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”
“Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied.
“Look closer” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
Which one are you?” he asked his daughter.
“When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
Great stories and great thoughts—I hope it makes you think in this fast-paced world. As this is the time of the year where everything can become a blur and we forget the real reason for Christmas.
Before I begin the lesson, here is an article from the Texas Tribune:
Bill requiring Ten Commandments in Texas classrooms fails in House after missing crucial deadline
I ask you to read the bill and Provide your thoughts on this Texas bill and the church/state debate.
Not so long ago the Ten Commandments were displayed in schools and it seems that it did not bother anyone nor did people voice their concerns.
I have been reading many of the comments on whether they are for the bill or against. I went on the following website:
Watch This Texas Democrat Leave Republicans Speechless When He Uses The Bible Against Them
By: Ariel Messan-Rucker
A video of Texas State Rep. James Talarico using biblical scripture to tear down conservative Christian arguments is going viral on social media, and it is glorious to watch.
This past summer, Texas Republicans tried to pass Senate Bill 1515, which would have required the Ten Commandments to be displayed prominently in every public school classroom in the state. The bill was an attempt by conservative Christian Republicans to inject religion into schools, but Talarico wasn’t going to take this lying down. Instead, he used their religious text against them.
After passing the Texas State Senate, the House Public Education Committee was considering the bill at a May meeting, where Republican Candy Nobel — who sponsored the bill — argued that “This legislation will bring back this historic tradition of recognizing America’s foundational heritage in both our education and our judicial system,” reported the Texas Scorecard.
In a viral video of the meeting posted to his TikTok account, Talarico stood up for LGBTQ+ rights and calmly explained why, as a Christian, he feels the “bill is not only unconstitutional, it’s not only un-American, I think it is also deeply un-Christian.”
I watched this video from Texas State Rep. James Talarico and I have Biblical answers for both questions. Very simply, the representative is a politician who is afraid to take a stand against what is right and what is wrong. Jesus said you can either take the narrow path or wide path.
If one has a rainbow poster, then why can’t one have a ten commandments poster? The Texas representative uses Matthew 6:5 for his Biblical text—This text in Matthew from verse 5 through 9 was the basis on how to pray and has nothing to do with the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments came directly from God for the Israelite people to follow and not to break. Since this young man says he is a Christian, why would he be opposed to these Ten Commandments for they were in schools since the 18th century.
He believes the bill is idolatrous, exclusionary and arrogant and those three things are diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus and then he uses Matthew 6:5 as his basis for this statement.
How are the Ten Commandments idolatrous? How are they exclusionary or arrogant? If he wishes to defend the rainbow and LGBTQ movement, then why can’t a copy of the Ten Commandments be posted?
Folks, I gather this man who says that if we need to put a poster is a dead religion is right as I hope it awakens fellow Christians who say enough is enough and stand to put the Ten Commandments in the schools.
Sin is sin whether it is telling a lie, stealing a paperclip, murder, etc., and yes, I am in full agreement to love thy neighbor, so I love and pray for those who support their LGBTQ style and it is my hope that they will change their lifestyle. It is their choice, but the Bible makes it very clear that God, who is the ultimate judge does not condone that lifestyle which goes back to sin is sin and we, as Christians, are to hate sin if we want to be like Christ. He says that a teacher, a rabbi said we are to love our neighbor and this is the most important law and the summation of the prophets. I suppose he is talking about Jesus and if that is the case, let us get the full version of what he is referring to:
Matthew 22:37-40
King James Version
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
When quoting Bible verses, be careful of the words you choose concerning the scripture for Jesus begins with the first and great commandment and then the thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself as the second commandment.
When asking the question as to whether this bill truly loves the Hindu, the Buddhist or Atheist, I always thought God loved all who he created and that God gave us the choice to follow him or follow other Gods.
The Ten Commandments are Commandments for Christians to follow and it would be my hope that the Hindu, Buddhist or Atheist would come to Jesus for we are to be fishers of men.
The Ten Commandments do not hinder a young person in any way when they are on display. Shouldn’t a Christian have equal time, equal rights and the ability to say and enact that if a Rainbow poster be placed in schools that Ten Commandments be placed in schools also?
I do not agree with the LGBTQ lifestyle and definitely not that style be taught in any school for this is against my Christian beliefs.
I could use the Ten Commandments to ask, would you send your student to a school that teaches them to intentionally steal, or to murder someone, or how to lie and get away with it, or how to make money dishonestly?
Those are five of the 10 commandments that God gave the Christian and we are doing a rather poor job of keeping any of those in our society. It is my hope that the up-and-coming generation could put them to full use if they were reminded and displayed.
Yes, it is the parents who should be teaching their children the commandments, laws and statutes, but what good does it do if we teach them and our lawmakers will not enforce them?
The question I want to ask Texas State Rep. James Talarico is if a person murders someone and two or more people view this murder and he is caught, then why isn’t he put to death the following night?
The Old Testament is full of commandments, statutes, and judgments from God that are being thrown to the wayside because they are out of date or they don’t meet man’s circumstances.
I am not a politician and do not wish to be one, but I do believe we are seeing more attacks on the Christian, the Christian belief and the Bible for it seems as though man is trying to take God and bring him to his level.
I always thought it should be the other way around and the Ten Commandments were to be just that—Commandments from God for us to follow.
If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15 (KJV)
I think the above verse says it all, begin and end with God.
This goes hand in hand with the first and greatest commandment for why would you want to sin if you love Jesus and why would you not wish to follow his commandments, laws and statutes?
Why would you not wish to post the Ten Commandments as a reminder for all of the perfect law? Are you afraid of losing votes? Your position in society?
One thing I have learned in life, to the atheist, death is the end of life and to the Christian who believes in the Bible that death will begin our new and perfect life.
Is your cup half full or half empty? Will you stand with Christ and with the word of God or will you stand with those who wish to take God’s word and try to place it on man’s level?
I’m sorry, but I had to address this topic on the Ten Commandments for this is a direct attack on not only all Christians, but the very fabric of our country.
The time is short and the end of the age is coming quickly, so I ask that you be vocal and support the Ten Commandments being placed in our schools.
Yes, I will be providing the next lesson on Jesus talking about the future.
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May you bless God in all that you say and do!
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Best
Jeff
