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Mark 14:5-9 - And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. "For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. "She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. "Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her." NASU
I want to do a good deed with this Pump Up. I want to fulfill one of Jesus' prophecies. He said wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world what this woman has done will be spoken in memory of her and I am doing that with this Pump Up. I am approximately 6,000 miles away from Jerusalem and almost 2,000 years from the time she anointed Jesus with this very precious or costly ointment and I want to say congratulations to her for believing Jesus was the long-awaited for Messiah. I also believe Jesus is the Messiah or the Christ.
I have asked myself, "If Jesus were here today would He say this about me?". Would He say, "Serago has done what he could."? Now don't get me wrong I am not teaching a person is saved by his or her works. Everyone is saved by the works accomplished by Jesus, which were He never sinned. His blood atoned for our sins and nothing we can do can improve on that. But is there something else I can be doing for the Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom? I hope these Pump Ups help encourage people and my life displays Christ-like characteristics. I think it might be a great question for all of us to ask ourselves today. "Are we doing what we could for Jesus and His Kingdom? Think About These: A Christian shows what he is by what he does with what he has. A good example is the best sermon you can preach. A good example has twice the value of good advice. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Mark 4:14 - 20 - "The sower sows the word. These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." NASU
Jesus says, "…when they hear…" something is going to happen and then He tells them "immediately Satan, God's adversary, is going to come and take away the word which had been sown in them. You and I must realize we have an adversary and when the Word of God is sown in our hearts the wrestling match begins. Our adversary is going to try and wrestle the Word of God away from us. The devil knows the Word of God can help us be more like Jesus, avoid sin and by obeying the Word we will be led into Eternal Life.
It is the method of afflictions and persecutions. When you are going through your afflictions and persecutions I can tell you this much there will be thoughts that flood your mind saying, "So this is how an all-loving God treats one of His own." The devil does everything within his power to get us to doubt God loves us. His tactics have not changed. When you read about his lies to Eve in the Garden and his lies to us today there isn't any difference. He fraudulently besmirches God's character. Like a wrestler who gets his face shoved into the mat because of a poor single-leg shot, so must we shove the devil's face in the ground when he tries to take us down with a lie about our God not loving or caring for us.
He tries to steal your peace by getting you not to trust God and worry about everything. Jesus explicitly told us not to worry and the devil says, "Don't listen to Him, you need to worry." The Word of God is not heeded when you are worrying. In fact, according to Jesus, it is being "choked" because you are worrying. You might not be a worrier, but do you love having money, riches and wealth? Do you never have enough and are your desires always to have more stuff? We need to be very careful. The devil will see to it you receive riches if it means you lose your way on the road to Eternal Life. He doesn't care how rich you are here if it means you spend your eternity with him in hell.
We need to allow the Word of God to produce fruit in us. We are to grow spiritually. Every day we should read the Word and see if there is one new thing we can learn or one way we can improve our walk with the Lord. There is a day coming when God will either say, "Enter in… or depart from me…" The choice is ours. It is my prayer all of us who are reading this Pump Up will hear His Words - Enter In My faithful servant. Think About This: The one who expects to go to heaven must take time to study the route that will get him/her there. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Numbers 22:27-33 - When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his stick. And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" Then Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now." The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?" And he said, "No."
Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed all the way to the ground. The angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was contrary to me. "But the donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you just now, and let her live." NASU
We couldn't see this purchase was going to end up being a loss of money, our parents did and they were not able to talk us out of buying it. Balaam couldn't see the Angel of the Lord, but his donkey could see the Angel. The Angel had his sword drawn and was ready to use it, but the donkey saved Balaam's life by lying down under him. How was he repaid for saving Balaam's life? Balaam in a fit of rage beat his donkey with a stick. Hopefully, this doesn't sound familiar? Hopefully, you have not lashed out at someone who was trying to help you. Did you know your best friend is going to be one who sees things objectively and will honestly share with you their unbiased opinion?
His donkey wants to know why he has been treated so harshly for saving his life? Have you ever treated a friend harshly for telling you the truth? You couldn't see what he/she was seeing because you didn't want to see it. You were making a decision based on your subjectivity. The Lord opens the eyes of Balaam and allows him to see the Angel of the Lord with His drawn sword. The Angel informs him if it hadn't been for his donkey He would have killed him.
Balaam was not listening to God and it almost cost him his life. What about us? Are we listening to God or the people He sends to speak with us? Is God trying to get our attention? God used Balaam's donkey to speak to him. Who is God trying to use to speak to us? I would like to share some words of wisdom from the book of Proverbs 27:6 - Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy. We all need a friend who will tell us the truth even though it hurts for it is better than being lied to by so-called friends. The lie may make you feel good at the time but it will bring pain that could have been avoided. Think About This: "When a person with experience meets a person with money, the person with experience will get the money. And the person with the money will get the experience." - Leonard Lauder Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word John 3:30 - "He must increase, but I must decrease." NASB
This is an indisputable truth. Jesus must increase and we must decrease. If you want peace in your life then do everything you can to fight off the daily attacks where your flesh is vying to be number one. Look what happened to the Lord's disciples when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane: And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Mt 26:40-41) When the Lord asked His disciples to watch and pray they couldn't do it. The reason why they couldn't do it was because of the battle that was going on in their flesh. You and I have to battle our flesh every day. Our daily battle cry should be Jesus must increase and I must decrease. He is the One who needs to be in control. The apostle Paul pens it down this way in Romans (8:1-9) Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yes, we are in the Spirit and the Spirit of Christ dwells in us. Therefore, we should be proclaiming the same thing John the Baptist was announcing, "Jesus must increase and we must decrease."
Okay then, we know how to walk. We are to walk after the Spirit and this we will do. Think About This: When we die we leave behind all that we have and take with us all that we are Faith builds a bridge from this world to the next. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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