“Be concerned not to perform your good deeds publicly for observation by men; otherwise you will gain no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
So whenever you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not blow your own horn advertising it, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored and recognized and praised by everyone. I assure you most solemnly, they've already received their reward in full.
But when you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, don't dwell on it,
so that your charitable acts will be done in secret; and your Father who observes secretly will reward you.
Also, when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they desire to pray openly standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets so that they may be observed by men. I assure you most solemnly, they have their reward in full now.
But rather when you pray, enter into your most private room, shut the door and pray to your unseen Father , and your Father who observes in secret will reward you.
And when you pray, do not use thoughtless repetition as the pagans do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
“Be concerned not to perform your good deeds publicly for observation by men; otherwise you will gain no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
So whenever you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not blow your own horn advertising it, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored and recognized and praised by everyone. I assure you most solemnly, they've already received their reward in full.
But when you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, don't dwell on it,
so that your charitable acts will be done in secret; and your Father who observes secretly will reward you.
Also, when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they desire to pray openly standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets so that they may be observed by men. I assure you most solemnly, they have their reward in full now.
But rather when you pray, enter into your most private room, shut the door and pray to your unseen Father , and your Father who observes in secret will reward you.
And when you pray, do not use thoughtless repetition as the pagans do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
I guess modern Christians can't read this part?
It is one thing to pray to God and it is quite another to pray so that others imagine that you're praying to God. I pray often (thought not often enough) but I do not make a show of it. I do pray while driving, at work, and simply going for a walk. I don't know if you can comprehend this.
Stop acting as judge, so that you may not be held to your standards.
For with the law you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever standards you apply, it will be applied to you.
Why do you consider a speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the beam protruding from your own eye?
Or how will you remark to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the beam is in your own eye?
Hypocrite, deal with your own problem first, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Do not hand what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs; otherwise they will trample them under their feet, then turn and rip you up.
Ask, and it shall be provided for you. Seek, and you shall discover. Knock, and it shall be opened for you.
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks discovers, and to the one who knocks find an opened door.
For what father among you, when his son asks him for nourishment, will hand him a stone?
Or when he asks for a fish, will give him a viper?
If you then, being sinful, know how to give necessary gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give necessary things to those who ask Him!
So in EVERYTHING, do to others what you would want them to do to you—for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many take the seemingly obvious entrance.
How tight is the gate and difficult the journey that leads to life, and those who discover this are few.”
Watch out for false prophets, who come to you sweetly but inwardly hungry for your soul.
You will recognize them by their deeds. Grapes aren’t gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, are they?
Even so, every good tree produces valuable fruit, but the rotten tree produces spoilage.
A good tree cannot produce valueless fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce valuable fruit.
Every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and burned up.
So then, you will recognize false prophets by their deeds.
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does My heavenly Father's will.
Many will say to Me at judgement, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?’
Then I will proclaim to them, ‘I never met you. Get away from Me, you manipulators!’”
As a result, everyone who hears My words and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and flooding arrived, and the winds howled and blasted against that house; and yet it did not collapse, for its foundation had been laid upon the rock.
Everyone who hears these My words and does not act on them will be like a silly man who established his house on the sand.
And the rain came, and the flooding arrived, and the winds howled and beat against that house; and it collapsed—and its fall was tremendous.”
Now when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were astounded at His teaching,
for He was teaching them as authoritative and not as their law scholars.
New International Version (NIV)
Judging Others 1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Ask, Seek, Knock 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
The Narrow and Wide Gates 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
True and False Prophets 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
True and False Disciples 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The Wise and Foolish Builders 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,
29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
LittleNipper wrote:It is one thing to pray to God and it is quite another to pray so that others imagine that you're praying to God. I pray often (thought not often enough) but I do not make a show of it. I do pray while driving, at work, and simply going for a walk. I don't know if you can comprehend this.
Hare Krishnas are supposed to pray over a thousand times a day so they're closer to God than you. You can't prove that God doesn't have an elephant head, can you?
I can comprehend that the airwaves are full of the televangelists who pray, pray, pray. I've seen some of the most dishonest politicians on earth meekly bow their heads in reverence and mouth a prayer. Then there's all the religious lobbyists who tell us we have to have a day of the Bible or a day of prayer or some other kind of example of exactly what you're not talking about. Maybe you can't comprehend that Jim Bakker is still hawking products and Peter Popov is still pretending to psychic powers and Benny Hinn is pretending to faith heal. Maybe you can comprehend that your book is full of errors and contradictions and confusion that have caused wars and discord for centuries. Maybe you can't comprehend it. It's not like you're giving your brain much of an exercise here.
LittleNipper wrote:It is one thing to pray to God and it is quite another to pray so that others imagine that you're praying to God. I pray often (thought not often enough) but I do not make a show of it. I do pray while driving, at work, and simply going for a walk. I don't know if you can comprehend this.
Hare Krishnas are supposed to pray over a thousand times a day so they're closer to God than you. You can't prove that God doesn't have an elephant head, can you?
I can comprehend that the airwaves are full of the televangelists who pray, pray, pray. I've seen some of the most dishonest politicians on earth meekly bow their heads in reverence and mouth a prayer. Then there's all the religious lobbyists who tell us we have to have a day of the Bible or a day of prayer or some other kind of example of exactly what you're not talking about. Maybe you can't comprehend that Jim Bakker is still hawking products and Peter Popov is still pretending to psychic powers and Benny Hinn is pretending to faith heal. Maybe you can comprehend that your book is full of errors and contradictions and confusion that have caused wars and discord for centuries. Maybe you can't comprehend it. It's not like you're giving your brain much of an exercise here.
There is certainly nothing wrong with praying 1000 times a day, unless one is attempting to fulfill some man devised quota to achieve nirvana by some merit system -- does spinning a prayer cylinder sound like really being wholehearted in prayer --- or just following procedure! I certainly can prove man in general was not created with an elephant head. Man was created by GOD apparently in GOD's image. Why wouldn't GOD give us elephant heads? Jesus isn't reputed to have had an elephant head.
Among the evangelists I like Billy Graham myself, he seems so unpretentious, so unassuming. Remember, not everyone saying " But, but, but ---- Lord, Lord, didn't I do this and didn't I do that, was I not fantastic and did it my way?" The Lord looks on the heart/soul ---- considering our intent. If one is calling attention to himself, I cannot imagine that is what GOD wants. GOD wants a contrite and humble heart. When healing does happen, you can be sure GOD and not some TV evangelist or even some doctor performed the miracle...
And Jesus came down from the mountain and large crowds followed after Him.
And as it happened a leper came to Him was laid down before Him, begging, “Master, if You wish, You can cleanse me”.
And Jesus stretched out His hand, He touched him, saying, “I so wish. Be cleansed”. And immediately his leprosy cleared up.
And Jesus tells this man, “Don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded, as a testimonial to them
And Jesus entered into Capernaum, and a commander of 100 foot soldiers came to Him, appealing to Him
This centurion said, “Master, my servant has been brought into the house paralyzed, being terribly tormented.
And Jesus said to him, “Since I'm here, I will cure him”.
And having responded, the centurion said, “Mister, I'm unworthy that You should come under my roof. But simply say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I'm also a man under authority and have soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it”.
Having heard, Jesus considered, and said to those following, “Truly I say to you, with no one in Israel did I find so-great a faith!
And I tell you that many will come from east and west, and will recline to eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens.
But the sons of the kingdom will be tossed into the outer darkness. In that realm, there will be wailing and the gnashing of teeth”.
And Jesus told this centurion, “Go. Let it be done for you as you expected”. And his servant was healed at that moment.
And Jesus, entered into the house of Peter, saw his mother-in-law lying in bed, being sick-with-fever.
And Jesus touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose, and served Him.
And that evening, they brought to Jesus many demon-possessed individuals. And He cast-out the spirits with a word and cured all the ill,
so fulfilling what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet saying “He took our weaknesses, and carried away our diseases” [Isa 53:4].
Now Jesus, observing a crowd surrounding Him, gave-orders to depart to the other side.
And having come to Him, one scribe said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go”.
And Jesus told him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man does not have a particular place where He may lay His head”.
And another of His disciples said to Him, “Master, excuse me first to go and bury my father”.
But Jesus told him, “Following Me, and allow the unredeemed bury their own dead”.
And Jesus having climbed into the boat, His disciples followed Him.
And behold— a great tumult took place in the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But Jesus slept.
And having gone to Him, they woke Him, saying, “Master, save us. We are dying”.
And He says to them, “Why are you afraid, ones of-little-faith?” Then having gotten up, Jesus reprimanded the winds and sea. And there was a great calm.
And the men considered, saying, “What kind of man is this individual, that even the winds and sea obey Him?”
So Jesus came to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, 2 demon-possessed men met Jesus, coming out from among the tombs. They were very violent, so that no one was strong-enough to travel through that way.
And it was that they yelled, saying, “What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Did You come here to begin tormenting us before the time appointed?”
Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding some distance from them.
And the demons nagged Jesus, saying, “If You are casting us out, send us out into the herd of pigs”.
And He said to them, “Go!” And the ones, having come out, went into the pigs. And note that the whole herd rushed down the steep-bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.
And the ones feeding them ran away to the city. They reported everything— even the things about the ones being demon-possessed.
And then the entire city came out to meet with Jesus. And taking note of Him, they begged Jesus to leave their districts.
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy 1 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.
2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.
4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
The Faith of the Centurion 5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.
6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Jesus Heals Many 14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.
15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.
17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” The Cost of Following Jesus
18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.
19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus Calms the Storm 23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.
24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.
25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men 28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
29 “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding.
31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.
33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.
34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
Last edited by Guest on Sun Dec 04, 2016 1:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
That's right. Mental illness is demons and can be transferred to a herd of pigs. You mental health professionals can go home. You veterans with PTSD, you sufferers of schizophrenia and dementia, you just need more Jay-Zuss.
Maksutov wrote:That's right. Mental illness is demons and can be transferred to a herd of pigs. You mental health professionals can go home. You veterans with PTSD, you sufferers of schizophrenia and dementia, you just need more Jay-Zuss.
Jesus, being God with us, was able to cure anything. Right now Jesus is in heaven and what Christians possess is the Holy Spirit. Do I believe in demon possession? I most certainly do. I feel that many diseases are possibly manifestations of Satan's legions. I feel that many of our weather conditions are the result of demonic manipulation. Laugh all you want, but you change nothing and proved even less.
Maksutov wrote:That's right. Mental illness is demons and can be transferred to a herd of pigs. You mental health professionals can go home. You veterans with PTSD, you sufferers of schizophrenia and dementia, you just need more Jay-Zuss.
Jesus, being God with us, was able to cure anything. Right now Jesus is in heaven and what Christians possess is the Holy Spirit. Do I believe in demon possession? I most certainly do. I feel that many diseases are possibly manifestations of Satan's legions. I feel that many of our weather conditions are the result of demonic manipulation. Laugh all you want, but you change nothing and proved even less.
So diseases and weather are caused by demons. Earthquakes and floods too? What about comets?
LittleNipper wrote:[ Jesus, being God with us, was able to cure anything. Right now Jesus is in heaven and what Christians possess is the Holy Spirit. Do I believe in demon possession? I most certainly do. I feel that many diseases are possibly manifestations of Satan's legions. I feel that many of our weather conditions are the result of demonic manipulation. Laugh all you want, but you change nothing and proved even less.
So diseases and weather are caused by demons. Earthquakes and floods too? What about comets?
Comets are possibly remnants from the Flood of Noah's time --- the firmament above...
