Thursday, March 12, 2026
I Will Have a New Name
Revelation 3:12 "...I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God... and my own new name".
Just recently, I saw a Facebook post about names given to children. Someone was dismayed that so many people were now giving their babies "old people" names.
I thought this was amusing because all names are given to babies first, and they only become old names when the baby grows into an old person.
It pleases me to know that God has a name for me that no one else knows, not even me. He will have a perfect name that describes me personally, and it is between Him and me.
Jesus Christ died to pay the debt of my sins, offered it to me merely by faith in Him, came to live in me, cleansing me every day until He takes me home. He answers my questions, brings understanding to things I could not have understood on my own and carries me through all the difficulties of life. Those difficulties have stretched and grown me in ways unexplainable to anyone else. He makes my path straight in ways I could never do myself.
Jesus Christ knows me and loves me better than anyone else could; it's why I trust Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6
"5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight."
Anyone can have this if they want it, just by believing Christ and desiring to be cleansed by Him.
Just recently, I saw a Facebook post about names given to children. Someone was dismayed that so many people were now giving their babies "old people" names.
I thought this was amusing because all names are given to babies first, and they only become old names when the baby grows into an old person.
It pleases me to know that God has a name for me that no one else knows, not even me. He will have a perfect name that describes me personally, and it is between Him and me.
Jesus Christ died to pay the debt of my sins, offered it to me merely by faith in Him, came to live in me, cleansing me every day until He takes me home. He answers my questions, brings understanding to things I could not have understood on my own and carries me through all the difficulties of life. Those difficulties have stretched and grown me in ways unexplainable to anyone else. He makes my path straight in ways I could never do myself.
Jesus Christ knows me and loves me better than anyone else could; it's why I trust Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6
"5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight."
Anyone can have this if they want it, just by believing Christ and desiring to be cleansed by Him.
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
The Tares are Poisonous
There are many tares in the church today, spreading division, upsetting the holiness of the group.
Let us remember that God told us not to uproot the tares in the church because we might be pulling up the wheat. The wheat and tares look so much alike that they are difficult to discern. Some tares say and do all the right things, but have trusted in themselves and not Christ.
Tares and wheat are almost identical. Something to note about the tares is that they are deadly because their appearance is so much like the wheat, and yet they are ruinous to a gathering. The wheat are good for food but the tares are poisonous and cannot be eaten.
One way to tell the difference is to challenge individuals with Scripture and watch what comes out. The tares will be very uncomfortable and even combative. They don't always fight, but they live by cliches and unbiblical mantras they think are Biblical unwilling to change what they want to believe.
Tares see the benefits for themselves of being in the church gathering. They are not there because of Christ but only for themselves. They see the lifestyle as better for them, but have no interest in Christ guiding them through life or cleansing them.
The roots of the tares are entangled with the wheat roots. Uprooting the tares may disturb the roots of the wheat. Sometimes, wheat is not able to discern the tares and will become offended, causing a distraction in the gathering.
Matthew 13:24-30
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
Let us remember that God told us not to uproot the tares in the church because we might be pulling up the wheat. The wheat and tares look so much alike that they are difficult to discern. Some tares say and do all the right things, but have trusted in themselves and not Christ.
Tares and wheat are almost identical. Something to note about the tares is that they are deadly because their appearance is so much like the wheat, and yet they are ruinous to a gathering. The wheat are good for food but the tares are poisonous and cannot be eaten.
One way to tell the difference is to challenge individuals with Scripture and watch what comes out. The tares will be very uncomfortable and even combative. They don't always fight, but they live by cliches and unbiblical mantras they think are Biblical unwilling to change what they want to believe.
Tares see the benefits for themselves of being in the church gathering. They are not there because of Christ but only for themselves. They see the lifestyle as better for them, but have no interest in Christ guiding them through life or cleansing them.
The roots of the tares are entangled with the wheat roots. Uprooting the tares may disturb the roots of the wheat. Sometimes, wheat is not able to discern the tares and will become offended, causing a distraction in the gathering.
Matthew 13:24-30
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
Satan Hates Marriage
Satan hates marriage because the sealed union of two people into one person by God is representative of the relationship between believers and Christ.
The woman covered represents the church, and the man uncovered represents Christ. The devil hates anything that protects the gospel and is a symbol of the permanency of salvation through faith in Christ.
Ephesians 5:22-33 " Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
30 because we are members of his body.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."
The wife is one with and alongside of her husband, just as the husband is one with and alongside of his wife. The husband's role is to protect and uplift the wife in the word as well as support her in her calling as the keeper of the home.
The wife's role is to support the husband in his calling and counsel him when he strays from the word. Standing by someone does not mean doing their bidding; it means seeking Christ for the truth while coming alongside to support doing what is right.
God said it was not good for man to be alone. He needed a support system that helped him in his weaknesses as well as his support in his strengths.
Proverbs 31 says that the woman elevates her husband in the eyes of others by her good standing in the community, so that he will be honored in the city gates because of her.
When a woman takes care of all the household needs, interacts in the community as she makes goods to sell and buys a field to plant a vineyard, she is seen as diligent while providing everything the family needs.
When the husband treats his wife with the highest respect, protecting her from those who would demean her, she will be seen as special and cherished to her husband.
It is important to notice from Scripture that God never commanded each spouse to make sure the other one does what they should. Each spouse must choose to do what is right, even if the other spouse does not do what they should, while never supporting sin or evil.
No one will stand before God on judgment day and be able to use their spouse as an excuse for bad behavior or willful and angry character. We stand before our Lord alone, completely responsible for our own choices.
The purpose of marriage is to reflect the relationship between Christ and His church. No marriage should be operating under the curse when each party is attempting to dominate the other. This was a condition of the fall and not what God intended for marriage.
The husband is to lovingly lead and protect his wife, and the wife is to follow when the husband obeys God. Each one must obey God first. Submission to God is for everyone by their own choice, not compulsion or domination by anyone else.
Those who think they must dictate to their wives or the wives to their husbands are not acting in love, but in selfishness and tyranny. This is not godly and sends a monstrous witness to the world of false Christianity.
My hope is that those who are using the fall, "a woman's desire will be to rule her husband, but her husband will rule her," as an excuse for the husband to act in disrespectful ways to their wife, will stop using this passage to justify rudeness. This condition of spouses ruling over one another is a condition of the fall and not the example of a godly marriage.
No one should be ruling over the other; each should be willingly submitting as each one obey's God in a deep, abiding love for one another.
And lastly, no one should ever judge another person's marriage!!!! My mantra in the past few years has become, "mind your own business.",No one can know exactly what goes on in someone else's marriage.
Unless someone comes to us for advice and is willing to listen to Biblical counsel, we should make a practice of never judging someone else's marriage. Those who insert themselves into the marriages of others without being asked are busybodies and need to mind their own business.
1 Thessalonians 4:10-12 "…10 And you are indeed showing this love to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel more and more 11and to aspire to live quietly, to ATTEND TO YOUR OWN MATTERS, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you. 12 Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.…"
2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 "For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.” For we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives, accomplishing nothing, but being BUSIBODIES. We command and urge such people by our Lord Jesus Christ to begin working quietly to earn their own living.
Just Saying!!!!
The woman covered represents the church, and the man uncovered represents Christ. The devil hates anything that protects the gospel and is a symbol of the permanency of salvation through faith in Christ.
Ephesians 5:22-33 " Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
30 because we are members of his body.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."
The wife is one with and alongside of her husband, just as the husband is one with and alongside of his wife. The husband's role is to protect and uplift the wife in the word as well as support her in her calling as the keeper of the home.
The wife's role is to support the husband in his calling and counsel him when he strays from the word. Standing by someone does not mean doing their bidding; it means seeking Christ for the truth while coming alongside to support doing what is right.
God said it was not good for man to be alone. He needed a support system that helped him in his weaknesses as well as his support in his strengths.
Proverbs 31 says that the woman elevates her husband in the eyes of others by her good standing in the community, so that he will be honored in the city gates because of her.
When a woman takes care of all the household needs, interacts in the community as she makes goods to sell and buys a field to plant a vineyard, she is seen as diligent while providing everything the family needs.
When the husband treats his wife with the highest respect, protecting her from those who would demean her, she will be seen as special and cherished to her husband.
It is important to notice from Scripture that God never commanded each spouse to make sure the other one does what they should. Each spouse must choose to do what is right, even if the other spouse does not do what they should, while never supporting sin or evil.
No one will stand before God on judgment day and be able to use their spouse as an excuse for bad behavior or willful and angry character. We stand before our Lord alone, completely responsible for our own choices.
The purpose of marriage is to reflect the relationship between Christ and His church. No marriage should be operating under the curse when each party is attempting to dominate the other. This was a condition of the fall and not what God intended for marriage.
The husband is to lovingly lead and protect his wife, and the wife is to follow when the husband obeys God. Each one must obey God first. Submission to God is for everyone by their own choice, not compulsion or domination by anyone else.
Those who think they must dictate to their wives or the wives to their husbands are not acting in love, but in selfishness and tyranny. This is not godly and sends a monstrous witness to the world of false Christianity.
My hope is that those who are using the fall, "a woman's desire will be to rule her husband, but her husband will rule her," as an excuse for the husband to act in disrespectful ways to their wife, will stop using this passage to justify rudeness. This condition of spouses ruling over one another is a condition of the fall and not the example of a godly marriage.
No one should be ruling over the other; each should be willingly submitting as each one obey's God in a deep, abiding love for one another.
And lastly, no one should ever judge another person's marriage!!!! My mantra in the past few years has become, "mind your own business.",No one can know exactly what goes on in someone else's marriage.
Unless someone comes to us for advice and is willing to listen to Biblical counsel, we should make a practice of never judging someone else's marriage. Those who insert themselves into the marriages of others without being asked are busybodies and need to mind their own business.
1 Thessalonians 4:10-12 "…10 And you are indeed showing this love to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel more and more 11and to aspire to live quietly, to ATTEND TO YOUR OWN MATTERS, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you. 12 Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.…"
2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 "For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.” For we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives, accomplishing nothing, but being BUSIBODIES. We command and urge such people by our Lord Jesus Christ to begin working quietly to earn their own living.
Just Saying!!!!
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Encountering Rebellious Unregenerate Hearts
When someone is unkind to you but kind to everyone else we know this person is in their character a mean person.
A kind person is kind all the time to everyone. If a kind person is having a rough time and rarely shows rudeness they will feel bad, admit it and convey that to the person they were unkind to.
Unkind people make excuses for their rudeness and blame the one they treated disrespectfully as though they had a good reason.
Proverbs 9:7-8 "…6Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.” 7He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself. 8 Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
Matthew 7:6 "Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces."
It is possible to discern a rude person from a kind person by which trait dominates their life.
It is better to avoid a consistently rude person who mocks the ways of God by their attitude. It is not possible to reason with those who have no conscience about harming others to elevate themselves.
Arrogant, rude people cannot tolerate a correction, even in the mildest terms. They will accuse the one who corrects them of saying it the wrong way or having unkind motives.
A wise person who is corrected considers what is said and discusses it to reach an understanding. This person will grow in character, but the arrogant one cannot grow, remaining ignorant and snarky into old age.
Matthew 15:14 "Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Luke 10:10-11 "But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’"
2 Peter 2:12 "These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed."
We have to remember that those who live in a state of selfishness and rudeness toward those they do not respect do not understand the ways of God because Christ does not live in them.
1 Corinthians 2:14 "The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."
May we become equipped to deal with these people in a godly manner when we have to encounter them. Let us not become like them by becoming like them. "Answer not a fool according to his folly", resist responding or explaining yourself to anyone who is fighting to win.
A kind person is kind all the time to everyone. If a kind person is having a rough time and rarely shows rudeness they will feel bad, admit it and convey that to the person they were unkind to.
Unkind people make excuses for their rudeness and blame the one they treated disrespectfully as though they had a good reason.
Proverbs 9:7-8 "…6Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.” 7He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself. 8 Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
Matthew 7:6 "Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces."
It is possible to discern a rude person from a kind person by which trait dominates their life.
It is better to avoid a consistently rude person who mocks the ways of God by their attitude. It is not possible to reason with those who have no conscience about harming others to elevate themselves.
Arrogant, rude people cannot tolerate a correction, even in the mildest terms. They will accuse the one who corrects them of saying it the wrong way or having unkind motives.
A wise person who is corrected considers what is said and discusses it to reach an understanding. This person will grow in character, but the arrogant one cannot grow, remaining ignorant and snarky into old age.
Matthew 15:14 "Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Luke 10:10-11 "But if you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go into the streets and declare, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’"
2 Peter 2:12 "These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed."
We have to remember that those who live in a state of selfishness and rudeness toward those they do not respect do not understand the ways of God because Christ does not live in them.
1 Corinthians 2:14 "The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."
May we become equipped to deal with these people in a godly manner when we have to encounter them. Let us not become like them by becoming like them. "Answer not a fool according to his folly", resist responding or explaining yourself to anyone who is fighting to win.
Saturday, March 7, 2026
Praying for Individuals not Nations
It also seems like the time to pray for individuals, not entire nations, since prophecy clearly says all nations will be against Christ, Christians, and against Israel.
We are to pray for souls, not the preservation of nations. It is the demise of nations that will cause many to see their need for God when things become deeply frightening.
It is rare that anyone comes to Christ because everything is going their own way. The more prosperity in a nation the more it drifts away from the need for God and the more it becomes hostile to Christ.
My prayer is for the souls of individuals, not for this nation. Perhaps great trials and impossible situations would be the vehicle through which many come to the end of themselves and seek Christ.
Much prosperity breeds pride and self-reliance! It is a fearful thing to think we might endure tragedy in our country, we would rather believe people will come to Christ "just because" things are so good. We have seen this is not the case in our own country. The more prosperous we have become the more sin and arrogance grows.
Malachi 4:5-6 "5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."
Galatians 6:7 "7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap."
May we turn away our hearts from this world and toward Jesus Christ, the only answer to the problem of sin and the broken hearts of the rebellious who have no remedy except Him.
Proverbs 29:1 "He, that being often reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
We are to pray for souls, not the preservation of nations. It is the demise of nations that will cause many to see their need for God when things become deeply frightening.
It is rare that anyone comes to Christ because everything is going their own way. The more prosperity in a nation the more it drifts away from the need for God and the more it becomes hostile to Christ.
My prayer is for the souls of individuals, not for this nation. Perhaps great trials and impossible situations would be the vehicle through which many come to the end of themselves and seek Christ.
Much prosperity breeds pride and self-reliance! It is a fearful thing to think we might endure tragedy in our country, we would rather believe people will come to Christ "just because" things are so good. We have seen this is not the case in our own country. The more prosperous we have become the more sin and arrogance grows.
Malachi 4:5-6 "5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."
Galatians 6:7 "7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap."
May we turn away our hearts from this world and toward Jesus Christ, the only answer to the problem of sin and the broken hearts of the rebellious who have no remedy except Him.
Proverbs 29:1 "He, that being often reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
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