Matthew 25:10 (KJV) There Is A Salvation

Matthew 25:10 (KJV)

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

Witness the arrogance of men. Being unprepared, they missed when the Lord arrived, were late for the wedding, and cried for the door to be opened for them. There was no respect for the solemnity of the occasion, there was no regard for the bride and the groom. There was no reverence for the order of authority. There was only slothfulness, selfishness, and demand.

I am so very thankful for the mercy and the grace of our Lord. But a warning must be issued in our day. This current focus on the sensitivities of men will only lead to an ever-increasing number being lost from eternity with the Lord. God is good, longsuffering, and gracious. But He is those things because He is. Men must not take them from granted. 

• There is a door of salvation
• There is a Man of salvation and
• There is a day of salvation

To neglect these and ride on the expectation of grace is to condemn the soul to be lost.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

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 http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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Matthew 25:10 (KJV) There Is A Salvation

Judges 15:11 (KJV) What Is This?

Judges 15:11 (KJV)

Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

It is pathetic when men become so bound by fear that they attack those whose aim is to deliver them from their oppressor. Samson had terrible flaws, but he had obvious strengths. Though few of his day understood those strengths to be of the Lord, it would have been apparent if they had but looked. 

It could have been prejudice over his unconventional appearance. It might have been disgust over his lack of personal separation. Whatever the cause, they did not see that this was of the Lord (2 Samuel 14:4). 

Jesus came to Israel at a time not that different than Samson’s. Israel again had a foreign nation ruling over them. Though they did not like Rome, they feared anything or anyone that might disturb their tenuous “peace.”  Jesus was unconventional. He came, so they thought, from the wrong side of the tracks. He challenged their system of religion. He was purported to be a king. So, the religious leaders of Israel bound Him and delivered Him to the ruling nation to be condemned. 

Jesus did not resist. They did not know that the cross they nailed Him to would be the very thing that won deliverance for His people. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

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 http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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Judges 15:11 (KJV) What Is This?

Judges 13:16 (KJV) Details, Details

Judges 13:16 (KJV)

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.

Adam Clarke says that this angel is “generally regarded to be the second Person of the Trinity.” Gill agrees. So do I. Manoah, however, does not appear to have known that and the angel of the Lord seems quite concerned by that. 

Manoah was hasty in his desire to worship this angel. He did not seem to care if the angel was a created being or not. He seems only to care that he is heavenly and that he has promised he and his wife a miracle. 

It was God who spoke with them. By the end of the encounter, he knew it. But he would worship him whether he was or was not. Details didn’t matter. 

There is a great deal of Christianity that is “manoahan” in nature. So long as a thing appears to be from God and gives good things that look like they come from God, the details are of little concern. 

The product of this sort of spiritual relationship, for Manoah, was a son who was powerful, but not godly. He accomplished a mighty thing, but it cost his life. We have no record of any lasting fruit from Samson. I am concerned the same will become of much of Christianity today. Anxious to have immediate power and success, we fail to be diligent in the details. This will lead to little and likely no fruit in the near future. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

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 http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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Judges 13:16 (KJV) Details, Details

Judges 10:2-3 (KJV) Hat’s Off!

Judges 10:2-3 (KJV)

And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.
And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.

Tola and Jair judged Israel a total of forty-five years. We know nothing else about them. The Bible records: 

• no miracles 
• no great military exploits 
• no acts of heroism. 

It is in what is not recorded I believe we find the greatness of these two leaders. It was not until Jair died that the Bible says, in verse six, “And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord…”

The greatest act of greatness is that which encourages the people to live righteously before the Lord. 

My hat’s off to Tola and Jair. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

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 http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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Judges 10:2-3 (KJV) Hat’s Off!

Matthew 21:27 (KJV) A Lesson On Teaching

Matthew 21:27 (KJV)

And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

Few in my audience would deny that Jesus is the master teacher. His knowledge of His subject is infinite. His grasp of illustration is impeccable. His command of His audience’s attention is remarkable. 

So here is a lesson on teaching teachers frequently struggle with. 

Jesus did not always provide the answer. 

Sometimes the best approach to a difficult subject, but especially when the students are argumentative, is to resist the temptation to offer an answer. 

• They may insist you give them one
• They may attack your integrity if you refuse
• They may question your ability if you can’t convince them

Most of the time these sorts of students don’t want an answer. They want to find a trap with which to take you. 

Resist. 

Give answers to those who wish to learn. To the others, give them questions to which they need to search out the answers. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

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 http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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Matthew 21:27 (KJV) A Lesson On Teaching

Matthew 20:3 (KJV) He Went Out

Matthew 20:3 (KJV)

And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

Matthew 20:1 (KJV)
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
Matthew 20:3 (KJV)
And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
Matthew 20:5 (KJV)
Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

Everyone has differing and unique responsibilities. Those who are faithful in whatever is theirs will be those who do the best at succeeding in caring for themselves and their own. 

The householder could have, I suppose gone out only at the sixth and the ninth hours. 
He was able to get laborers at that time of the day and he surely would have enjoyed being home.

He could have gone out just the third hour. 
That would have been morning. He would have had laborers the majority of day and not have had to be out so early.

He could have, for that matter, settled on those he had hired early in the morning. 

He had, after all, done his job diligently. He was able to hire the most workers, the most ambitious of them and his pick of them. He must have hired all he thought he needed or else he would have hired all of them.

What he did was to go out again, and again, and again, and again.
There was work to be done. His work was to hire those to do the work.

He kept at his work until the day was done.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

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 http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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Matthew 20:3 (KJV) He Went Out

Matthew 19:3 (KJV) An Overstated Problem

Matthew 19:3 (KJV)

The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

When the serpent tempted Eve with “Yea hath God said…?” Eve’s response was to overstate the Lord, Genesis 3:2-3 (KJV)
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Our text here demonstrates the same propensity both in the Pharisees and then in Jesus’ disciples, Matthew 19:3 (KJV)
… Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 

Matthew 19:7 (KJV)
…Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?

Matthew 19:10 (KJV)
… If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. 

It has been my experience that, when reacting to the Word of God, people very often overstate the Word of God, making it appear harsh and unreasonable. The problem is compounded by the fact that, when we are called upon to defend the Word of God, and sometimes simply to proclaim it, we too can overstate God’s intent. Imagine then a debate where the position is overstated and then the argument is overstated beyond that. 

God is loving, just, wise, and good. 

If we will take a breath, step back, and let God speak through His Word, we will discover His commands are quite sensible and in no way grievous. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

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 http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Matthew 19:3 (KJV) An Overstated Problem

Matthew 18:1 (KJV) At The Same Time

Matthew 18:1 (KJV)

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

At the same time

• 
  
  At the same time He had prophesied His rejection 
• At the same time they had required of Him a temple tax
• At the same time He had declared his Sonship with the God of the Temple
• At the same time He had demonstrated it by producing a coin in the fish’s mouth
• At the same time He had taught them to avoid offense 

It was at this same time they were leveraging who would the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The best of us struggle with right priorities. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

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 http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Matthew 18:1 (KJV) At The Same Time

Judges 6:7-8 (KJV) A Prophetic Reminder

Judges 6:7-8 (KJV)

And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,
That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;

• Before there was a deliverer there was a prophet 
• Before the angel of the Lord there was a prophet
• Before a promise of victory there was a prophet 

He is not named in the Scriptures. 

• We do not know who he was
• He offers no solution for the people
• He only reminds them of why this sorrow is come upon them

But he is as much an answer to their cry as was Gideon and his victory against the Midianites. 

None of us like hearing reminders of our transgressions. The fact is that if we do not face them and correct them, any victories we experience will be shallow and short lived. 

Need proof?

Just read the book of Judges. 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

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 http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Judges 6:7-8 (KJV) A Prophetic Reminder