April 11, 2026

The Parables Of Jesus: 32

The Lost Coin

The story of the lost coin gives us a glimpse into the heart of Jesus and his love for us. The heavens erupt in rejoicing when just one sinner repents and turns to him. We are more important to him than we can imagine. It was about 52 years ago that I repented and turned my life over to Jesus; and though I was given a guardian angel at birth, the whole choir sang for joy when I turned my life over to him, and they have protected me ever since. Can you imagine it? We are dearly loved by our Savior, so much so that he gave us the Holy Spirit to accompany us on our earthly journey and to intercede for us to the Father. We were that lost coin of great value, and he sought us until he found us. Sing a song of praise and give thanks to him because he is good and his mercy endures forever.

Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Luke 15:10

April 10, 2026

The Parables Of Jesus: 31

The Invited Guests

This story seems to be more of wise instruction rather than a parable, but it is something that is repeated throughout scripture, so we should take notice and follow Jesus’ advice. 

When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; Luke 14:8

It is likely that you won’t have to worry about where you sit at a wedding nowadays because the hosts usually reserve your seat for you. It’s humbling when you expect to sit near the wedding party or the hosts, only to find out you aren’t as important as you think you are and they’ve seated you in the back. However, on any occasion where you are free to seat yourself to dine, be modest and find a seat that is the least desirable so you are not embarrassed by the hosts moving you because they want to sit near someone more important to them. If they move you near them, then you have don’t the right thing. 

For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Luke 14:11

April 9, 2026

The Parables Of Jesus: 30

The Barren Fig Tree

When Jesus said, “I come not to bring peace but sword” he wasn’t kidding. Many look at Jesus as passive but some of his words cause fear. We may not need to fear what the world can do, but we should fear what God can do to us eternally. If you aren’t barring fruit necessary for His purpose, He might take you out. Here is scripture that causes me to shudder because Jesus doesn’t stutter:

Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? Luke 13:7

In this instance Jesus is talking to Israel and Judah, but we can take him at his word that if we are not a fruitful part of his kingdom, we should be concerned for ourselves. Praying the sinners prayer and being baptized is not the end of our responsibility, it is only the beginning. We must turn from our sinful ways and transform into the likeness of Jesus. We may not be completely sinless, but it should be our goal. If you go to church, you are that fig planted in the vineyard where the ground is fertile, so you had better hope the vinedresser keeps praying for you so you are not cut down.

And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. Luke 13:8-9

April 8, 2026

The Parables Of Jesus: 29

The Parable Of The Rich Fool

A man asked Jesus to tell his brother to divide his inheritance with him, but he refused, telling him he wasn’t a judge or divider over him. Then he told the parable of the rich fool who had an abundance of crops and thought to himself that he would tear down his barns and build new ones to hold all of it. 

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Luke 12:19-21

The point is that you never know when your soul will be collected, so you should cultivate the things of God rather than attend to worldly affairs because one is more profitable than the other in the hereafter. We should be mindful of who will ultimately take our soul. When our soul is divided from the body, where will you go? Who will collect your soul? Will it be the devil or God? Set your mind on things above.

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3 

April 7, 2026

The Parables Of Jesus: 28

The Friend Seeking Bread 

The disciples had just asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. In his response, he taught them what we now call The Lord's Prayer. It wasn't a standard prayer because the gospels were slightly different, but more of an outline to give us direction. Instead of the flowery prayers of the J*ws, which were mostly praise, adoration, and doxology, The Lord's Prayer outlines mostly petitions and requests. That doesn't mean we should stop our praises and adoration; it means we should include our petitions and requests. 

In teaching the importance of asking the Father for what we need, he shared with them the parable of a friend who had a friend in need of bread for his traveling. It was late in the evening, and the man had no bread to give him, so he went to his neighbor's house after he was already in bed and asked for bread for his friend. Still, the man didn't want to wake his family, so he told him to go away, but the man kept knocking and aggravating him, so he got up and gave him bread.  

Jesus, who is God, is telling us to keep asking for what we need and to intercede for others until we receive an answer. Jesus makes it clear that it's okay to ask the Father for things and that we should do so. However, if you really want to increase your faith and see your life change, ask Him to deepen your communication with the Holy Spirit, because you already have Him if you are saved, and hearing Him more clearly is truly a gift. 

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall yourheavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Luke 11:13

April 6, 2026

The Parables Of Jesus: 27

The Good Samaritan 

A lawyer challenged Jesus by saying, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered him by asking him what the law says.

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. Luke 10:27

Jesus told him he answered correctly. Then the lawyer asked, “Who is your neighbor?” He was trying to catch him saying something illegal. Then Jesus blew his mind by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. Here is a summary of the story:

A J*w fell to robbers on the side of the road between Jerusalem and Jericho and was seriously injured and nearly half dead. A priest came upon him and passed him on the other side of the road. Then a Levite priest came along and also passed by him on the other side. Fortunately for the injured man a Samaritan man, not a J*w, but someone the J*ws detested, came along, and having compassion, bound the mans wounds, put him on his horse and took him to a nearby inn, paying the innkeeper to continue caring for him. 

So, who is our neighbor? Everyone! We must have compassion for other human beings because all people are considered our neighbors. As far as the lawyer goes, he found nothing to charge Jesus with because he didn’t give him instructions that were against the law. 

April 5, 2026

He Is Risen

Nothing thrills my heart more than to write about Jesus! David wrote about him without even knowing it. Psalms 22 points to Jesus’ suffering and dying on the cross. Those who deny him, especially of the J*wish faith, only do so out of ignorance because the words of this song point to Jesus and the words he spoke as he was hanging on the cross. It also depicts the actions of those around him as they divided his clothes and cast lots for them. Even the heckling he received is alluded to by the spectators telling him that if he were the son of God, why didn’t he take himself off the cross? This entire psalm happened during the crucifixion. Some commentators think that he probably recited the whole psalm, if only to himself. 

Take comfort in knowing that when you think God isn’t hearing your prayers, Jesus felt the same way when hanging on the cross. He cried out in pain to his Father, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” God turned his eyes away from His son because of our sins, that he bore upon the cross, but once those sins were burned up in the pit of hell, he awakened from the dead. Jesus was resurrected to become our King and Savior. The Old Testament and New Testament agree that Jesus is the Son of God and that He is the Savior of all humanity; we will all bow before Him in reverence, whether we are lost or saved. Feel privileged that God chose you as part of His kingdom. 

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations. Psalms 22:27-28

April 4, 2026

Day Three In The Tomb

Where, in the Bible, does it say Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, which would be Sunday?

The scriptures say that Jesus died at 3 pm, then 3 full days in the tomb would have him come back to life at 3 pm on the Saturday-Sabbath, with Mary finding the tomb empty early on Sunday.  

He died at 3 pm, the 9th hour on Wednesday, according to J*wish time.

1st day in the grave, 3 pm on Thursday.

2nd day in the grave, 3 pm on Friday

3rd day in the grave, 3 pm on Saturday, the Sabbath

If Jesus had risen on Sunday, the 1st day of the week, it would have been at 3 pm, not at sunrise. Yes, they found the tomb empty at sunrise on Sunday, the 1st day of the week, because they couldn’t break the Sabbath to go to the tomb until then, so they went to the tomb as early as they could. The earth quaked, and the stone rolled away, but Jesus wasn’t inside. I read all four accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and none of them say he rose on the first day of the week, only that they found him then. 

I’ve been questioning the narrative that Jesus died on “Good Friday” for as long as I can remember, and could never reconcile the time and make it make sense. We must let go of what we’ve been taught and read the Bible for ourselves, rejecting the preferred narrative given to us by the enemy to distract us from participating in the feast of Passover, one of God’s holy festivals. It’s a tool of the enemy to keep us out of compliance with God’s Word. Our Passover Lamb was slaughtered, his blood painted on the doorpost of our hearts, cleansing us of all unrighteousness and removing all the levin within us, and we celebrate that the destroying angel will pass over us and that Jesus is taking us out to Egypt! Jesus is the bread of life, and we should celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Passover.

“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Exodus 12:14 

April 3, 2026

 

Day Two In The Tomb

After Jesus was laid in the grave, some of the people who had called Jesus a deceiver went to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.” They demanded that the tomb be made secure because they remembered that Jesus said that after three days he would rise to life, and they feared that the disciples might steal his body and proclaim that he had risen. 

Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchresure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. Matthew 27:65-66

They knew there was a possibility that what Jesus said was true because he had recently raised Lazarus from the dead after he had been entombed for four days. They had to begin their cover-up, which to this day has caused many J*w to reject Jesus. Those same guards witnessed the earthquake when the angel descended from heaven and the stone beingrolled away, and reported it to the governor. They were given money to keep it quiet. 

The people that did what they did to Jesus did not go unpunished. According to the J*wish historian, Josephus, about forty years later, the Romans desecrated the temple, persecuted the Christians who hadn’t fled, burned the city, ransacked and demolished the temple. The Christians who fled recognized the signs that Jesus told them about and left the city. It was a tribulation worse than ever, like nothing the world had ever experienced. We also need to prepare and recognize the signs of the times and prepare for Judgment Day. 

April 2, 2026

He that was born from a virgin-womb must rise from a virgin-tomb. 

The J*ws were preparing for the sabbath-Passover, and asked that the men hanging on the crosses would have their legs broken so they would die quickly. When they went to brake the legs, they saw that Jesus had already died, so instead, they pierced his side, which was prophesied of him in the Old Testament, and his fluid poured out, and that very same blood is what covers our sins today. 

But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. John 19:34

Joseph of Arimathaea, who was a secret follower of Jesus for fear of the J*ws, went to Pilate and begged for Jesus’s body so that he might have a proper burial. Then he took his body and laid it in a new tomb in the garden which he had carved out of stone for himself. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. (John 19:39b-40) They hurried because the day of preparation was getting close. Then they rolled a stone over the doorway of the tomb. 

Today, contemplate all the things that were done so that you might have eternal life, honor him by thanking him for his sacrifice. Though we are unworthy of such a gift, he is worthy, and because of his blood our sins are forgiven and we are no longer expected to pay the price for those sins. 

April 1, 2026

Every year, around Passover and through Resurrection Day, I begin thinking about whether Jesus might come, so from today until Sunday, I will take a break from the parables to honor him and the sacrifice he made for our salvation. There is an official timeline, but it doesn't match scripture. I've always felt that it was off because Jesus explicitly told us through the scriptures that he would be three days in the tomb, but somehow we've accepted that he was only in it for one full day. God knows days and times, and for us to ignore what he said to fit it into the narrative we've been told is wrong. Also, Passover is one of God's appointed feasts and is considered a Sabbath. So when scripture says it was the day before the Sabbath, it means the Passover Sabbath, not the Saturday Sabbath. Jesus and the disciples celebrated before the Passover began, which makes for a better timeline and fits with Jesus being in the tomb for three full days before resurrecting on a Sunday. John even tells us it was before Passover in the following scripture.

Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. John 13:1

Passover began when God released the Israelites from captivity in Egypt. Now, Passover is a solemn memorial of the Israelites' release. However, as Christ-followers, we honor it as the day our Savior gave up his life to save us from our sins so that the devil's power to ravage us was taken away. 

Summary of that day: 

The disciples ate their Passover meal together, Jesus called out Judas as his betrayer, instituted the Lord's Supper, foretold Peter's denial, and then went to Gethsemane to pray. Jesus is then arrested and taken before Caiaphas, the high priest, and the council. The chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death. This was a very long night for our Savior, with a trial and beatings, then eventually he was crucified by hanging on the cross.

Today, think about the sacrifice Jesus made so you could have eternal life and live for him. Worship him and offer thanksgiving for your salvation. We are fortunate to call him our Savior. 

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. Matthew 27:50

March 31, 2026

The Parables Of Jesus: 26 

Parable Of The Two Debtors

Jesus was invited to dine at the home of a Pharisee, Simon. While there, a woman came to him weeping, and with her tears she washed his feet, kissing them and anointing them with an alabaster jar of ointment. Simon, judging Jesus in his heart, thought to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.” Jesus knew this man’s thoughts and responded to him with a parable. 

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Luke 7:41-42

Simon answered him correctly, saying, “I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most.” Then Jesus said he had judged right, and then corrected him by telling him all the woman had done for him, but he had offered him nothing to clean his feet, nor had he anointed him with oil. Jesus then forgave the woman and told her to sin no more. 

When we finally come to realize the amount of debt we owe to Jesus, it is when we are humbled and honor him, the One who has forgiven us the most. God is so good to us; show him your love by surrendering yourself and accepting His mercy, as the woman with the alabaster jar did.

March 30, 2026

The Parables Of Jesus: 25 

The Parable of the Seed Growing 

And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. Mark 4:26-27

I've always been amazed at how plants grow and how you can take a tiny seed, put it in soil and water it, and eventually see it come to life. It's an amazing mystery. When spring comes, and you see plants flourishing, it makes you pause at the wonder of creation. Jesus compares the spreading of the gospel to planting seeds in this parable. Though we shared what he wanted us to share by telling others about him, we have no idea how a simple word or action can contribute to the growth of it in that person's heart. God expects us to plant the seeds and care for them until they mature, and He does mysterious things deep within them as He calls them to Himself. Don't neglect to do your part by encouraging others, telling them all that God has done for you, so that they, too, may receive the gift of eternal life as that word you shared grows in their hearts. 

March 29, 2026

The Parables Of Jesus: 24 

The Parable of the Talents 

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Matthew 25:14-15

The servant the man gave five talents, which is money, invested what he was given and doubled it. The servant that the man gave two talents also doubled it. However, the servant he gave one talent hid it, trying to be careful not to lose what the master had given him. The two who increased their money were told, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” While the one who did nothing with what he was given was cast into utter darkness, where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

Jesus is the master, and the servants are Christ-followers. He gave each of us gifts, with the main gift being our salvation, but he also gave us spiritual gifts; some of us were given many gifts, while others were given few. Those gifts were givento us to help increase the kingdom of God, and if we don’t use them, we will lose them. Just like the parable of being given a light and hiding it, it’s of no use. You didn’t have to do anything to receive your salvation or your spiritual gifts, but if you don’t use them, you could lose them like the servant who was given one talent and ended up being cast into utter darkness. 

Jesus was the one telling us this story, so you tell me, how can we reconcile this with the idea that once saved, always saved? If that is true, fine, you can sit there and do nothing, but if it’s not true, you had better get it together and do something for God’s kingdom. Otherwise, you could end up like the servant with his only talent taken away. 

Truth be told, if you were actually saved to begin with, nothing can stop you from doing all you can to increase the kingdom of God. However, Jesus did call the man with only one talent a servant, likening him to a person with salvation. 

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? James 2:20

March 28, 2026

The Parables Of Jesus: 23

The Ten Virgins And Their Lamps

To summarize, ten virgins were waiting for the bridegroom to come, and the waiting became long. They all had lamps, but five of them didn’t bring the extra oil needed. They all fell asleep, but when they heard the call, they got up to meet him, but the five who didn’t bring extra oil, asked those with plenty to share theirs, but if they had shared they wouldn’t have had enough to light to way of the groom so they sent them to buy more, but the groom didn’t wait and they were locked out of the feast. 

The five virgins are like those who say, “Lord, Lord,” and Jesus says, “I know you not.” These are the people you see every Sunday sitting in the pews next to you, who have the appearance of a Christ-follower, but whose hearts were never cultivated and growing in love for Jesus. This situation is very sad, because if they were a stranger attending our church, we might encourage them to seek Jesus while he may be found, but we don’t do that with a familiar face because we think they are already saved. How do we remedy this situation? We hope and pray that they hear an encouraging word that changes their lives before it’s too late. Our job is to pray for the people attending our church, that everyone may know and feel the love of Jesus and start living for him, filling their hearts with oil, that they might begin shining their light for him until the day he comes again. 

Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. Matthew 25:11-13