Zechariah 4:7 (KJV) Grace To Overcome

Zechariah 4:7 (KJV)
Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

The mountain at this point, in Israel’s history, was the temple. It needed to be rebuilt. Their worship needed to be re-established. But the obstacles were great and many.

The question is asked, “Who art thou oh great mountain?”

This could be read in a derogatory manner.The mountain isn’t as great as it believes itself to be.

Or it could be asked in an open-ended fashion.There are more hurdles than just those Israel faced. We can apply this to any and every assignment God delivers to us, and to those forces resisting our accomplishment of them.

God gives:

• Grace to overcome the obstacles 
• Grace to accomplish our assignments and
• Grace to see that it was if Him

To my readers:
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For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Zechariah 4:7 (KJV) Grace To Overcome

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Luke 20:1 (KJV) One of “Those” Days

Luke 20:1 (KJV)
And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,

I’m encouraged to see that even Jesus knew what it was like to have, “One of those days.”

It is not possible to walk in this world and not have days when the questions come from every direction and you don’t have answers for them – at least not all of them.

• Jesus answered some of them with a question 
• Jesus didn’t answer some of them and
• Jesus never lost his head over any of them

May we learn from the Lord:

• Not to expect that every day will be perfect
• To use wisdom in every situation and 
• To trust God for the outcome

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Luke 20:1 (KJV) One of “Those” Days

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Zechariah 3:5 (KJV) God Standing By

Zechariah 3:5 (KJV)
And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.

The picture represented in this vision is remarkable and especially meaningful to me.[1]

Joshua’s “conversion” is here:

• Ordered and
• Overseen

by the angel of the Lord.

He is:

• Set free of Satan
• Re-clothed in righteous garments and
• Crowned with the fair mitre

The work is accomplished, according to the vision, under the authority of the prophet.

God uses instruments for His work. But it is:

• Supervised
• Approved of and 
• Supported 

by the angel of the Lord.

The servant of God is never alone and the one served is assured that the service rendered is as of the Lord.

[1] But I do not plan to share the reason at this time.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Zechariah 3:5 (KJV) God Standing By

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Luke 18:39 (KJV) So Much the More

Luke 18:39 (KJV)
And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

As Jesus moved through the city crowds of people gathered. Each one had their own motives. Not all of them were sincere and selfless.

The blind man, unable to move along with the crowd, did the only thing he could do, he called out to get Jesus’ attention. This, of course, was unsettling to the crowd seeking Christ’s attention for themselves. These were not the disciples. These were the shallow self seekers. These were onlookers.

We will discover that those who pretend to be near Jesus but have no living relationship to Jesus get very upset when their own agenda is disrupted by earnest faith. Should we give in to them? Should we tone down our Christianity for their sakes? That’s not the lesson of this event. He cried out so much the more.

The more we find we need Jesus the more earnestly we must cry out to Him.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Luke 18:39 (KJV) So Much the More

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Luke 17:3-4 (KJV) Why Won’t They Forgive?

Luke 17:3-4 (KJV)
Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. 

Here is, I think, one of the chief reasons some people have trouble forgiving; they have not confronted the one who has offended them.

Rebuking an offending person never means to be angry or mean spirited. It doesn’t mean that we must start a fight with them. If they have offended us it will be of no use to offend them back.

But we do need to go to them. We need to kindly express our grievance. We need to give them opportunity:

• To see that they have offended us 
• To explain themselves (sometimes we have taken up our offense unjustly) and 
• To apologize if they are inclined to do so

Be warned. Sometimes they won’t reconcile. We need to have forgiven them in our hearts already so that, whether they reconcile or not, we have rid ourselves of the burden of the offense. This verse does not justify holding an offense unforgiven.

The person who is too weak to rebuke an offending party is very often the person who is too fleshly to forgive the same.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Luke 17:3-4 (KJV) Why Won’t They Forgive?

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Luke 16:9 (KJV) I Am Sorry

Luke 16:9 (KJV)
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. 

Albert Barnes writes,
“So, says our Saviour to the publicans and those who had property, so use your property as “to secure” happiness and comfort beyond the time when you shall be removed from the present life. “Have reference,” in the use of your money, to the future.”

I want to take this on a path completely different than its lesson other than it has to do with influencing eternity.

Very early on in my ministry I attended a pastor’s fellowship meeting here in the state of Washington. One of the preachers rose to tell of his visit with a preacher by the name of Preeb, Jerry Preeb is what comes to mind. Bro Preeb was in the final stages of cancer. Just previous to his death he had asked the pastor addressing us to tell the other pastors, “If I have done anything to offend you, I am sorry.”

• I did not know this preacher 
• I do not know the context of his apology 
• I do not even know if I spelled his name correctly 

But I know that this dying man’s apology has been indelibly etched into my mind. He has influenced me eternally simply by saying, “I am sorry.”

Never be afraid to say those words.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Luke 16:9 (KJV) I Am Sorry

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Luke 15:32 (KJV) It’s Right To Rejoice

Luke 15:32 (KJV)
It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. 

It’s right to rejoice.

While it is certainly true that there are reasons for concern in our day:

• The rise of Islam
• The growth of agnosticism 
• The arrogance of unbelievers 
• The degenerative nature of Christians 
• The worldliness of so many (so-called) churches 

Some people capitalize on the negative and neglect what is positive:

• The promises of God
• The effectiveness of the Bible 
• The blessing of fellowship among saints 
• The worship of the Lord
• The testimony of souls saved

There is a time to weep but there is also a time to rejoice. Every Christian should take that to heart.

Some Christians remind me of the older brother:

• They live angry, pouting lives. 
• They refuse to be part of that which is positive. 
• They will not enter into fellowship with those who are happy.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Luke 15:32 (KJV) It’s Right To Rejoice

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Luke 14:22 (KJV) There Is Room

Luke 14:22 (KJV)
And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 

They had done what was commanded; yet there was room.

I understand that, as the servants of the Lord, we have done far less than we could have or should have. Certainly in comparison to the first generation of believers we have been weak at best. They turned the world upside down for Christ. And even they were far from perfect. How many more might have been in heaven had believers of the past been more faithful? How many more could still be saved if we forsook the interests of this world for Christ?

The servants of the parable did all that was commanded and yet there was room.

I am reminded of the Ark. It surely could have contained multitudes of people. Only eight got on board.

• It wasn’t Noah’s fault 
• It wasn’t his wife’s fault
• It wasn’t his children’s fault 

The masses made their own excuses why they stayed off the ark. They died of their own hard hearts. There was room. They refused to fill it.

God will wipe away all tears in heaven. Perhaps, for a time, we will stare at all the empty room in heaven and weep for those who could have been there but judged themselves unworthy of eternal life.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Luke 14:22 (KJV) There Is Room

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Luke 13:6-9 (KJV) Don’t Be a Cumbrance

Luke 13:6-9 (KJV)
He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. 

One more year.

The primary application of this parable has to do with Israel. God has suffered with her these thousands of years and now has placed her on His shelf. God has a new work underway with Jews and Gentiles alike coming together in a new body, the church.

Nevertheless He is not finished with Israel. She has another opportunity. In Daniel’s “Seventieth Week”, God will turn His attention once again to Israel. We are assured in prophecy that there she will indeed bear fruit.

There is also an application, which can be easily made to our current era. God seeks results in our lives. He seeks:

• Our growth 
• Our sanctification 
• Our progress 

on the path to conformity into Christlikeness. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t mean we lose our salvation but we surely lose our heavenly rewards.

Nevertheless Christ intercedes on our behalf. As long as we have breath we have opportunity:

• To repent 
• To grow in grace 
• To lay up treasure in heaven

Don’t cumber the ground with spiritual fruitlessness. Don’t waste your years. Surrender to Christ and grow in grace.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Luke 13:6-9 (KJV) Don’t Be a Cumbrance

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.

Zephaniah 2:3 (KJV) The Day No Christian Need Fear

Zephaniah 2:3 (KJV)
Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.

Not all believers have been hidden from tribulation and trials on this earth.

• The prophets were severely treated by their own kings, as is recorded in Hebrews 11. 
• Christians from the beginning of the faith have been sorely persecuted, at times, worse than other times. 
• Those who come to faith during the Great Tribulation called Jacob’s Trouble, will face terrible persecution and difficulty.

But there is a window of hope in the Word of God. There is a promise of rescue. There is generation of believers who will escape The Tribulation.

Previous to Daniel’s Seventieth Week, also know as Jacob’s Trouble or the seven year Tribulation, God will remove those believers still living from the earth. It is:

• The blessed hope of Titus, 
• The promise in the book of First Thessalonians and 
• The next great event in the prophetic timetable of God’s Word

Any Christian is subject to the trying of his faith. Though difficult, it is good for us. But no Christian need fear facing the day of the Lord’s anger, which He will pour out upon this earth during the Tribulation Period.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Zephaniah 2:3 (KJV) The Day No Christian Need Fear

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Luke 12:4-5 (KJV) You’ve Been Tested

Luke 12:4-5 (KJV)
And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. 

It is a friendly thing to warn others of future judgments.

This passage puts us to the test. Do we believe what Jesus says or not? There are those, of course, who plainly deny Christ. There are many in the United States who would claim to believe in Him but practically, theologically and philosophically reject what He teaches.

It is worthless to claim to be a believer if we will not believe.

Jesus could not have been clearer.

• We have an eternal soul and those outside of true faith will be cast body and soul eternally into hell. 
• Life on this earth is petty and secondary to life after death. 
• One should fear God if he has not been saved

Take it or leave it but don’t pretend to be on the fence with it. Either Christ is all the Bible says, and hell is a reality for the lost or else Christ is a phony.

• He is not just a good example 
• He is not a prophet of Allah
• He is God or He is fake 

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Luke 12:4-5 (KJV) You’ve Been Tested

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Luke 11:44 (KJV) Do You?

Luke 11:44 (KJV)

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

I understand that the preferred method of burial would have been, in Biblical days, in some sort of tomb. This would have been impractical for everyone and, I would assume, most burials would have been similar to our current American practice. The graves would have been in the ground with something to mark it.

Jewish law forbade walking over a grave and deemed the one who did it unclean. In some cases a grave may have been unmarked, causing the living to violate the law unawares.

That's the picture Jesus paints. The Scribes and Pharisees were dead but they were unaware of it. They were condemned as lost, facing the judgment of Almighty God, and worse, they did not know it. They believed it to be otherwise.

In their case the matter was worse still. Because they were leaders the people tended to follow them in their condemnation. Just as an unmarked grave defiled others these Scribes and Pharisees were themselves defiled and defiled others in the process.

There is no reason for anyone to be dead in trespasses and sin and not know it. 1 John 5:13 clearly teaches that we may know we have eternal life.[1]

Do you?

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3800 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Pastor Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup.

Luke 11:44 (KJV) Do You?

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[1] 1 John 5:13 (KJV)

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.