One night a thief broke into a house he thought was abandoned. As he walked then the darkened house with a flashlight he heard a voice from the kitchen that said, “Jesus is watching you.’ He stopped and said, “who’s there?” There was no answer so he thought he must have imagined it. But after he took a few more steps, the voice said again, “Jesus is watching you.” He decided to walk toward the voice, just before he entered the kitchen, he heard it again, “Jesus is watching you.” He swung the flashlight up and saw a parrot talking in a cage. The parrot said, Jesus is watching you.” The their turned flipped on the kitchen light and said, “Why you’re just a dumb bird.” The he looked in the corner of the room and seen a huge Rottweiler couching. And the parrot said “Get him Jesus.”
You might think it’s strange that Jesus would compare Himself to a thief. Of course, Jesus isn’t identifying with the sin of stealing. But just a good thief (that’s a oxymoron).that tries to sneak in quickly and quietly and escape with His people. That’s an accurate description of how Jesus will rapture His church.
We should all be living as if Jesus was crucified yesterday; raised from the dead this morning, and is coming back this afternoon.
1 Thessalonians 5: 1-4 tells us, “But concerning the times and the seasons, you have no need that anything be written to you. For you yourselves know that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come to then, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.
We should know these 4 things
1. Jesus will return, But we don’t know the exact day.
Can you imagine a thief sending you a text or email saying, “Just wanted to know that I’m coming to rob your house tonight.” Of course not. Thief’s don’t announce when they’re coming. They sneak in and out.
When I was growing up my Dad used to do military funerals when a soldier or veteran would pass away. My father would keep all the guns in his closet. One night when no one was home the house was broken into and all the M16 rifles were stolen. He was very upset because they trusted him with these rifles. For a long time there would be someone home, or a neighbor would be watching the house.
Jesus told us to keep watch, because you don’t know on what day the Lord will come. We need to understand, if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not let the house be broken into. So we must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you don’t expect him (Matthew 24:42-44),
There have been times throughout history when many people expected Jesus to return. We use the Gregorian calendar now, but when the Julian calendar turned from year 999 to the year 1000, people expected Jesus to come for a new millennium, the same was true in the year 2000. People were on their best behavior, In the year 1000 history says that worldly goods were sold and money was given to the poor. Prisoners were set free, and many traveled to Israel to wait for Jesus’s return,
In the second and third chapter of Revelation, Jesus gives messages to the 7 churches, which represent all churches of all time. When He wrote to the church at Philadelphia, He says, “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I also will keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth” (Revelation3:10).
In Luke 17 Jesus compares His return to a couple of Old Testament events. “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the dat Noah entered the ark. Then the flood cane and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and suffer rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son Of Man is revealed (Luke 17:26-30).
I think the biggest mistake people make when visiting America or any other country is that they are they treat people here with disrespect. Or automatically think this country is like their own. It’s not. Where I live there are a lot of farmers and people who work hard for their living. The last thing you want to do is show disrespect for their way of life.
Gratitude is more than just a feeling- it’s a spiritual practice that draws us closer to God. The Bible encourages us to give thanks in all circumstances, recognizing God’s goodness in both trials and blessings. A heart of gratitude can transform our perspective, making us more aware of God’s presence and faithfulness in our lives.
I think that’s why I enjoy nature so much. When a trial comes that I think I’m not going to get through this one. I can go over the pictures I have taken and remember how good God is.
When we cultivate this attitude of getting ourselves out of the way, align our hearts with God’s will, and acknowledge that the source of every gift we’ve ever received is from God.
Gratitude is not just an expression of thankfulness, they are declarations of faith. They remind us that even in difficult times, God’s love remains steadfast.
When we pray we should pray with a thankful heart, and invite joy, peace, and contentment into our lives. This not only strengthens our relationship with God,nit allows us to experience His guidance and protection more deeply.
Gratitude is a doorway to spiritual growth, that helps us focus less on our problems and more on God’s provision.
Each prayer we say should encourage a spirit of thankfulness in every area of our lives: health, prosperity, family, relationships, and even trials.
Gratitude is not something we stumble upon, it’s a daily practice. Finding the good in the ordinary isn’t always easy, but it’s entirely worth the effort.
An oil painting by German artist Friedrich Moritz August Retzsch
Life may look like checkmate, but God still has one more move. What appears final is often a set up for the breakthrough He’s preparing.
Hanging in the Lourve Museum in Paris is a painting that most people walk right past.
It’s not a famous painting like the Mons Lisa or as grand as most, but it carries one of the most powerful lessons I’ve ever heard.
The painting called Checkmate shows two people sitting at a chessboard: one is clearly distressed, His face pale and defeated, and across from him, Satan smiling thinking he,s won.
The title says it all: Checkmate. The game is over. Or so it seems…
But what may seem like the end, we need to take a closer look.
There’s a truth about this painting that tells a different story -the real story:
Years ago a chess grandmaster visited the museum as part of a tour while the painting was on display.
He stood in front of the painting letting everyone else walk by as he was looking closer he realized something. The tour guide came back to him, telling him to move along. The grandmaster told him ‘someone either needs to modify the painting or change its title.
Because the King has one more move.
I’m sure we have all experienced something like the man in the painting.
Trapped.
Out of options.
Certain that your story has reached an end.
You’ve done everything in your power and it feels like defeat is staring you in the face.
But remember just because it looks like the game is over it doesn’t mean it is.
God still has one move left, even when you can’t see it.
Think about Joseph, sitting in a prison cell after being betrayed by his brothers. Or Daniel, surrounded by lions in a dark cave. Or even Lazarus four days in a tomb, while everyone else was mourning.
Each of their stories looked like checkmate.
But they weren’t finished. God was still moving the pieces.
You might not see the move yet.
You might not understand the strategy.
But you can trust the King who is still at the table.
So, don’t give up. Don’t close the story before He’s done writing it.
Because no matter how hopeless the board looks one truth still remains.
My fears came from my childhood. My mother would tells me, I as worthless, I was stupid, I would never amount to anything, that people judged me because of it. That I was meant to be seen and not heard. She would use fear to control me. It taught me to trust no-one because they would judge me.
As an adult I thought everything I did and said had to be perfect or not at all. I feared people paying attention to me, I would rather stay in the background and let others take the credit for my hard work. I internalized shame, because I believed my core was fundamentally flawed, broken, unworthy and an accident. When God found me I had hit rock bottom, I had a choice to end it all or trust that God would pull me up out of the dark pit I had fallen into again. I had to change my entire perspective. I had to let go of the bitterness and unforgiveness, I felt for my mother. Today I still deal with the damage my mother caused. The anxiety that comes from social interactions, the lack of trust I feel towards people. Everyday I choose to override my fear because action cures anxiety.
God has given us everything we need for life and godliness and in retire God expects us to bear fruit as faithful tenants.
In Genesis 1:11 God said, “Let the land produce vegetation, seed bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seeds in it, according to their various kinds, and so it was so.” Think about the variety of fruits – Pineapple, mango, pears, kiwi fruit, papaya, grapes and apples. God has made a world of fruits and vegetables all of them from seeds, the genetic code of which God created at the beginning.
In the beginning God created man, male and female, in His image, this is the command He gave them. “God blessed then and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” Fruitfulness that mean’t having children, who themselves, would be made in God’s image, that they would be fruitful and multiply and fill the world with human beings so that the earth would be filled with knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. Throughout the scriptures is that God has lavished on us many advantages and blessings, everything we need for life, godliness, and faithfulness. In return God expects a return on His investment.
Many scriptures speaks on this issue of required fruit. With the coming of the Kingdom of God, John the Baptist preached a very fiery message. He said to His generation, “Produce fruit and keep with repentance.” He also said a few verses later, “The ax is already at the root of the trees. And every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” In Matthew 12:33 Jesus said, “Either make the tree good, and it’s fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and make it’s fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by its fruit. In John 15, He gives an image of a vine with many branches. He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him, produces much fruit, because you can do nothing with me. While every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
Mark 12 teaches this vital lesson, that Almighty God expects fruit from His people. He expects a return on His investment in our lives.
Jesus taught the parable of the vineyard to help us understand this in context:
The last week of Jesus life, He told this story directly to the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the Jewish. The situation the religious leaders had just confronted Jesus and angrily demanded to know by what authority He was teaching and clearing the temple.
It is the Passover. Thousands of pilgrims, Jewish worshippers were flooding from all over to Jerusalem. Jesus had already entered Jerusalem to shout of acclaim and triumph to the praise of the people. But, Jesus’s enemies are there as well. They were there to attack Him, and tear His down. The next morning Jesu saw the “fig tree,” with a lot of leaves. Jesus went to get fruit from it but found nothing. He said to the tree, “May you never bear fruit again.”
I think His prophetic cursing of the fig tree with its judgment and its immediate withering was connected to the spiritual fruitlessness of the nation of Israel, because He was just about to go in there and cleanse the temple of all its wickedness, its wicked corruption. This cleansing of the temple involved driving out greedy money changers and corrupt religionists who are making money on religion.
Jesus then begun to teach in the temple. He was doing miracles, healing in the temple, and because of His powerful presence and action, the religious leaders opposed Him to His face. They demanded to know by what authority He was doing these things. He would Andrew with a question. If they answered He would answer their question with authority. He answered with John’s baptism, where did it come from? Was it from heaven or from men?
A very wise answer on Jesus’s part because the same one who sent John to baptize in water sent His son into the world to do what Jesus was doing.
Keep in mind that the vineyard is Israel, the landowner is God, and the tenants were the corrupt religious leaders, and the landowner’s son who is killed by the tenants is Jesus Himself.
Jesus told of a vineyard, there choice vines, and the protective wall around it. There is a wine press, a watchtower. And there is also a very disappointed outcome for the owner of the vineyard.
In Mark 12:1-11 Jesus began to speak to them in a parable. “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the wine press and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard, but they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty handed. Then he sent another servant to them. They struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent another, and that one they killed. After a few more servants. He sent his son, saying they will respect my son. The tenants said ‘This is his heir, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they took him and killed him and threw him out in the vineyard. The owner of the vineyard came to kill those tenants and gave the vineyard to others.” (Paraphrased).
There are details in this parable that are very valuable. The main idea of Jesus’s parable of the vineyard is that fruitlessness produces judgment from God if the vineyard is absent from the landowner.
Ordinarily, it would take three years to begin getting return on the landowners vineyard. Every advantage as given to this vineyard.
First there’s a wall around it for protection to keep out wild animals and thieves. There’s also a wine press, which is an anticipation of the prophet from the vineyard. Generally, there would have been two basins carved out of rock and lines with plaster, an upper one and a lower one, the servants would have put the grapes in the upper one and tread them out with their feet. Then the wine -the grape juice, would run down into the lower basic where it would begin the process of fermentation. Then their is the watchtower, which enables guards to look out over the vineyard and make sure it’s protected, a constant vigil looking out over the terrain
In this parable there are “tenants” tenants are hired laborers who are brought into work the vineyard. It’s not theirs it the landowners. Their skill and labor are essential to the success of the vineyard. The vineyard doesn’t belong to them, but if they work well, they will share in its profits. This is the key concept: The vineyard belongs to the landowner. The tenants are farmers just working the vineyard in the hopes of sharing its harvest.
It’s essential to pay attention to Luke’s version, that the owner goes away on a long journey. He is not visibly there managing it. So the tenants are on their own. They have to remember and be faithful to him in their hearts.
Jesus crafted this parable to maximize shock. The judgment is there. The details are repulsive. The violence gets worse with each successive messages. The first servant is beaten, the second one is crushed in the head and treated shamefully, and humiliated, and the next is murdered outright.
Even more amazing is how patient the landowner is. The people listening to Jesus, probably thought, ‘How much more of this will the owner going to put up with this. Jesus said the owner actually sent many others. Some of them they killed and abused. Others the beat. Each one got treated shamefully and not one of them got his return on the investment. And then Jesus’s plot twist was he sent his son who he loved. He sent him last saying, “They will respect my son. But the workers said ‘let’s kill him and take his inheritance.
The hearers of Jesus parable were probably thinking, ‘wait don’t do that, it’s obvious what’s going to happen.” Remember that at Jesus’s baptism in Mark it says, “You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased. That’s the message spoken directly from God to Jesus.
The landowner said, “They will respect my Son.” And that’s exactly what should have happened, they should have respect His Son.
They should have listened to His Son.
They should have honored His Son.
They should have worshipped His Son.
They should have followed His Son.
Instead they rejected Him. They despised Him. They opposed Him, and in the end the killed Him.
In this parable, what is the tenants farmer’s motive? The tenants did not want the owner ruling over them, they rejected His authority. They didn’t want to give Him anything. They wanted full ownership of the vineyard themselves. They wanted all the proceeds from themselves. They wanted control of the vineyard. They thought if we kill the heir and take His inheritance (meaning the vineyard) it will be ours then.
This is clearly prophecy of Jesus’s rejection and His crucifixion outside of the city gates, completely rejected by His own people. He died outside the city.
The ending is what the owner will do to those tenants. Matthew 21:41 tells us “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in its season.”
In Verse 42 He said, “Did you never read the scriptures. The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. This as from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes.
We are supposed to produce the fruit of the kingdom. It’s our time.
Many are made to believe that Jesus is coming back the same way He came as gentle as a lamb, but they will be sadly mistaken. He is coming back as a lion to conquer sin and evil. The final judgment and renewal of all creation.
Scripture defines good as that which is aligned with God’s nature, will, and creation, while evil represents rebellion against God. Goodness is eternal, whereas evil originates from rebellion of created beings.
Evil does not balance or compliment good, it is an intrusion into a perfect creation that will ultimately be eliminated.
I believe building self-confidence is acquired by taking action whether we are fearful or not – not waiting for it to disappear. When we intentionally step our of our comfort zone, we can give our brains concrete evidence that we can handle uncertainty and proving to ourselves that we are capable and resilient.
When we replace self doubt with confidence, our nervous system requires proof of our capabilities and not just optimistic affirmations.
Fear. Regret. Insecurity. Bitterness. Depression, Anger. The list can go on and on. We all have seasons in life when we struggle with intense emotions. These emotions can feel like we’re carrying a 50 lbs weight on our back. It can become exhausting
We all have baggage that needs to be surrendered to God. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus invites those who are weary and burdened to come to Him and find rest for their souls, offering a yoke that is easy and a light burden.
Giving our baggage to God is a daily intentional act of surrendering our anxieties, regrets, and heavy burdens to Him. Rather than carrying the weight of life alone, we can actively choose to trust God to manage our struggles and provide emotional rest.
Holding onto emotional baggage drains our energy and prevents us from experiencing the peace God intends for our lives.
It shifts the focus from our own limited strength to the limitless strength and comfort of God.
The hardest part is often resisting the urge to pick up burdens once we have prayed about them.
As we empty our minds of our worries, we can invite God to fill those empty spaces with His goodness and grace.
When I started this blog, it wasn’t about building a subscriber base. It was about helping that one person who struggled the way I have through life. About values and the way I have overcome the giants in my life. I still hold to the belief that If I can help one person even for a day everything is worth it.
It wasn’t about actively chasing followers, it relies on sustainability through high-quality content that solve real life problems with common sense involved.
“When this perishable body, will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: Death is shallowed up in victory. Death, where is your sting? Sheol, where is your victory” – 1 Corinthians 15:54-55.
The victory of Jesus over death, the hope of eternal life, and the power of the resurrection and transformative truths that can inspire optimism and hope despite present struggles.
The verses above are profound because they reveal three incredibly powerful truths. They speak of victory of Jesus over death, the hope of external life and the power of the resurrection. These truths can transform our lives, shift our perspectives and fill our hearts with hope.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer a Lutheran pastor said in his book “The Cost of Discipleship, “The essence of optimism is that it takes no account to the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have resigned, it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and no to abandon it to his enemy.”
Our faith in Jesus’s victory and our hope in eternal life is the Essen of this optimism that Bonhoeffer spoke about. It’s not about arguing our present struggles, but it’s about claiming our future in Jesus and His resurrection.
The victory of Jesus over death triumphant declaration of His victory over death, a victory that has profound implications for our understanding of life, death, and eternity.
It begins with His crucifixion on the cross. Jesus bore the weight of our sins and suffered the penalty of death that we deserved. Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. But death could not hold Him. On the third day, He rose from the dead, defeating death, and proving His power over it.
It’s a demonstration of God’s power over death. It shows us death is not the end, but a transition to a new life. It assures us that our physical death is not the final word, but the beginning of our eternal life. Jesus is victory over her death was our assurance of that we are able to have a life with Him.
But, it has implications for how we live our lives now. Because of Jesus‘s victory, we don’t need to fear death. We can live with the confidence that death is not the end, but the doorway to eternal life. And we have free will to choose how we will spend eternity with Him or without Him.
This gives us the courage to face the challenges of life, to take risks for the sake of the gospel, and to live with the sense of purpose and hope.
Jesus is death is a source of hope for the future. It assured us that God‘s ultimate plan for the world is not death and destruction but a chance for life and renewal. It gives us hope that one day, God will wipe away our tears, death will be no more, and we will live forever in the presence of God.
We are given a chance to transform our understanding of life, death, and eternity. The resurrection of Jesus, reminds us that death has lost it sting and the grave has lost its victory. It assures us that with Jesus, we have the promise of eternal life and hope of a new creation. This challenges us to live our lives with courage, purpose, and hope, knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.
The hope of eternal life is the promise that through faith in Jesus, we will share in His resurrection and enjoy eternal life with Him.
A proverb that I think is wrong is “Money is the root of all evil.” This suggests that money is evil itself and causes all human suffering. But the reality of the proverb that is found in 1 Timothy 6:10 out of context. The original passage actually says, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” The desire for wealth, rather than money itself is what drives unethical behavior.
From Pity to Praise 