Proverbs 6:20-22   My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.  Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck.  22 When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.

Don't ignore your parents when they try to tell you something.  There is coming a day when you will wish you had listened more closely, asked more questions and taken more time just to be with them.

Your parents have more wisdom than you probably give them credit for.  As Mark Twain said, it really is amazing how much my parents learned from the time I was a young teenager to the time I turned 21.

So happy Mother's Day to all our moms who deserve our love and respect so much!

Galatians 3:13-14    Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Do you believe in curses?  Did you know that sin carries a curse?  It is not only the curse of thorns and pain that God decreed in Genesis.  The curse includes pain in our relationships, and struggles in every area of our lives.  We have this curse hanging over our heads, and we face eternal death (hell) unless something changes.

Here is the good news:  Jesus became a curse for us.  He took our sin, and nailed it to the cross.  He also took the curse of sin, becoming that curse.  We can live lives of joy now and forever if we trust in Jesus as One who took our place of punishment.  Won't you trust in Him today?

1 John 1:9   ​If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

What is holding you back?  Romans 3:23 reminds us of what we already know:  We have sinned.  We are sinners. And we can't save ourselves.

So admit your sin, confess it to God.  In other words, agree with God that your sin is sin.  He forgives you.  And even more, He cleanses you from that sin.  Your life may be filthy with the wrong that you have done, but Jesus took all your sin and nailed it to the cross.  He cleanses your life.

Come to Jesus today, and know this forgiveness.  Experience His cleansing in your life.  Even if you have followed Jesus for years, come and confess your sin today.  Your life will be renewed in Him.

Romans 10:14    How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 

Maybe you have heard the statement, "Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary."  This saying is wrongly attributed to Francis of Assisi, who preached USING WORDS up to 5 times a day.

Without opening your mouth and letting sounds come out, nobody will know that your good works are being done because you love Jesus.  People will simply think that you are a nice person.

Duane Liftin, the president emeritus of Wheaton College said it well:  It’s simply impossible to preach the Gospel without words. The Gospel is inherently verbal, and preaching the Gospel is inherently verbal behavior.

So as you interact with people today, and this week, don't forget to open your mouth and let them know that the reason you do good things is because you are living for Jesus.  Speak His name as the One in whose authority and power you are acting.

Acts 4:13   Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

We all can make excuses for the reason we don't share Jesus with others.  I'm shy, I don't know what to say, I don't have enough Bible knowledge, I don't have anything special to offer.

Peter and John could have said the same things.  They were uneducated.  They were common.  But they had one thing that compelled them to tell others about their faith.  THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS.

Have you been with Jesus?  That is all you need.  Simply tell others about your experience with Him.  How has He touched you, healed you, and changed you?  

The only thing you need is the only thing they needed.  You have this in common with Peter and John:  You have been with Jesus.

John 3:14-16   And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus was raised up on the cross to die in your place and mine.  He took all our sin, yesterday's, today's, and tomorrow's too.  Why?  So that we will believe in Him.  Why?  So we will not perish, but have eternal life.  Why?  Because He loves us enough that He would rather die in our place than live in heaven without Him.

​What is your response?

Revelation 7:9-10   After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

You and I didn't get the opportunity to wave palm branches on the first Palm Sunday.  But those who were there didn't understand the message and mission of Jesus.  They thought they were proclaiming Him as their king who would defeat Rome and give them their independence.  They thought Jesus would make them the top world power in the place of Rome.  And they were wrong.  Jesus came to establish a different kind of kingdom.

If you and I trust in Jesus, we will be in that final crowd, waving palm branches, dressed in white praising God.  We will be a part of every tribe, every nation, every language, and every color standing before the throne.  But we will all have one message:  “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,"

It is God's children who will be waving those palm branches and praising God.  Will you be there?

Leviticus 9:22-24   Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings.  And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.  And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

While there is no guarantee that you will see God's glory in THIS way, blessing people in the name of Jesus will always bring glory to God.  As God then allows us to see Him working in our lives, and through our lives, we do see His glory.  Are you blessing people in your life?

Jude 20-23   But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.  And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

James said that we are to "keep [ourselves] unstained by the world."  But how do we do that?  By building our faith in Christ.  How do we do that?  By praying as the Spirit directs rather than praying for our own interests, by waiting on Christ's will and doing it, and by having mercy, or compassion, on those who are struggling with their faith.  We are to spend our days "snatching them out of the fire", sharing Christ with all who will listen.

We must "show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh."  In other words, as we care for others, we are to love them, but hate the sin that surrounds them.  We must be careful to keep from becoming a part of their sin, even as we help them change their old way of life for new life in Christ.

1 John 3:16   By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 

There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation.  Jesus has done all that is necessary.  If we truly understand that, we will want to obey Him out of love and gratitude.  We will be willing to lay our lives down as He laid His down for us.