A New Creature. . . an Apostolic Pentecostal blog

  Parables. . . I’m studying Matthew chapter 13.  Much of the chapter is devoted to the teaching parables of Jesus. Parable             Verses Sower           4-9 Tares           24-30 Mustard seed           31-32 Leaven                   33 Hidden treasure          44 Pearl of great value            45-46 Net            47-50 New and Old Treasures 52 The parable of the sower has traditionally a heavenly perspective.  The Word of God is spread among men, and has various outcomes depending on the condition of the soil. . . (men’s hearts) The parable of the Tares, likewise has a traditional heavenly perspective.  Tares, false darnel, is a poisonous plant that looks ...

 I ran across this passage in Isaiah a couple of weeks ago: Isaiah 42:1-9 (NKJV) 1 "Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. 4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law." 5 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it: 6 "I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the...

I'm preparing for our Wednesday Bible study at New Life Apostolic Church.  We're in Matthew chapter 12 this week, when I ran across this verse: Matthew 12:15 (NKJV) But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. The Apostle John concluded his gospel with this: John 21:25 NKJV  And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. In our verse in Matthew we are told GREAT MULTITUDES followed Him. . . not a mere multitude, but GREAT MULTITUDES plural, and HE HEALED THEM ALL! Jesus miracles were not the primary purpose of His ministry.  His deeper purpose and goal was spiritual healing.  Today, we often pray for physical healing. . . Not long ago, I felt a gentle rebuke during my prayers. . . The words came to me, 'You pray  more for physical healing than you do for spiritual ...

Sam's Club had memberships on sale for $15.  My wife and I used to always shop there, before they closed down the Goshen, Indiana store.  Anyway I bought a membership online, and we headed to the Fort Wayne, Indiana store today. We were most of the way through the store, when I saw a lady with a "Pray Always" shirt on, and I felt like I needed to give her and what appeared to be her daughter some crosses. They were headed in the opposite direction down the crowded aisle. I had to catch up to her from behind. I waited for an opportune moment, and I handed them to her.   I told her, "I make these."  Her eyes immediately began filling with tears, and she said, "You have no idea how much these mean to me."   She said, "My son died two days ago.  We're burying him Friday, and I don't know how I will get through this."  I told her I lost my son 5 years ago.  "How do we do this.", she asked her voice quavering.  I replied, "Ps...

  You've gotta get this. . .  God is loving. . . God is compassionate. . .  God is not willing that any should perish. . . God is hugely forgiving. . . BUT! Acts 2:38 NKJV  Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 3:19 NLT  Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Luke 13:2-3 NLT  “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered?  3  Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. 1 John 1:9 NKJV  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. None of us are perfect.   Isaiah 64:6 KJV  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; a...

Yesterday, Father's day, Jackie and I and one daughter, SIL, and grandkids were in church together.  The Pastor was teaching/preaching on the role of fathers, and how this was an earthly role.  In heaven he said, quoting the Bible, that we're not married or given in marriage. A wave of great love washed over me, no we won't be legally bound by marriage anymore, but I still want to be with my wife.  I want to explore heaven, discover all the wondrous things with her . . . maybe explore the universe. . . spend eternity worshiping God with her. . . I have no idea what heaven is like, but if possible, I will seek out Jackie to be with her there also. . .  From Lazarus, and the rich man in the Bible, it seems like we will be able to recognize one another there.  I don't know which of us will get there first, but I'm going looking for her, or waiting for her when I get there.   I want to be able to comfort her, reassure her, help take away any fear she might...

  As most of you know, who follow my posts at all, I walk during my lunch break at work.  I walk about 2 miles each day.  I have type 2 diabetes, and walking is huge in helping to lower my blood sugar levels. Tuesday on my walk, I saw a lady at a local factory, out by the road smoking a cigarette.  I heard the Lord speak to me that I should witness to the lady, and pray for her to be delivered from her addiction to nicotine. Today on my walk, two ladies were out by the road smoking.  I again heard from the Lord, that I would witness to them and pray with them. . . At the same moment my headphones quit working, just as I was passing them by.  This is not usual.  They quit three times, as I walked by the ladies. This is not comfortable to me. . . I walked another 50 yards or so past them, before gathering up my courage, and turning around and approaching them. . .  I asked if they wanted to quit smoking.  Both of them said that "yes they did", ...

  Circumcision commanded by God: Leviticus 12:1-3 NKJV  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,  2  "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean.  3  And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Came across this in my reading, from Google AI search: Performing circumcision on the eighth day is medically advantageous because vitamin K and prothrombin—essential for blood clotting—peak at their highest lifetime levels on that day, optimizing healing and minimizing bleeding risks. It also coincides with a surge in cortisol, offering natural anti-inflammatory benefits for quicker recovery. Medical and Biological Benefits: Optimal Blood Clotting: Studies indicate that vitamin K and clotting factors VIII and IX peak on the eighth day. Prothrombin levels are higher on day 8 than on any other day i...

I'm learning so much in our Wednesday morning Bible study.  We are looking at the gospel of Matthew line by line. In our latest meeting we studied Matthew chapter 7.  In it Jesus warns us: Matthew 7:15-16 NKJV  "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  16  You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? There will be those who dress in the clothing of sheep, but who are actually those whose purpose is to kill and devour sheep. In the immediately preceding passage, Jesus tells us: Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  14  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it. ...

A compelling thought has been bouncing around my head for about a week or so. . . That anything and everything that damages my pride helps me to grow spiritually.  My pride is my worst enemy.  My pride kept me from worshipping God for the first 45 years of my life.  I was too proud to bend my knee. . . too proud to admit that there was a God superior to me in every way. . . too proud to admit that I was a sinful person who needed redemption. In my pride I thought that the few little good things that I did somehow outweighed the many terrible things that I did. . . giving a bag-lady $20 somehow counterbalanced the lies I told. . . the other awful shameful things I did. . .  Today I was listening to 2 Corinthians: 2 Corinthians 12:10 NLT  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Insults. . . persecutions. . . other humbling troubles. . ....

Years ago a friend at work gave me my first bee hives.  I had always been interested in beekeeping, and when I found out that he, Milt Fair, had bee hives I was so intrigued.  I asked him so many questions, and began reading everything I could find about them. Sometime later he offered to give me a couple of beehives.  I lived in a residential neighborhood, north of Mishawaka.  We had a large 1¼ acre lot.  I chose a spot toward the back of the lot in a little grove of wild cherry trees in which to put the hives. My next door neighbor at the time,  was an older man, probably my age now.  He had an above ground swimming pool behind his house.  One day he came over and complained to me that my bees were landing on the swimming pool ladder, and his grandkids were getting stung. I told him that I thought that was unlikely, as I had a large oval shaped galvanized tub, filled with water right outside my hives, with bark floating on top for my bees to get...

  We are so careful. . . so thoughtful when we buy a house.  We look at the neighborhood.  We consider the schools our children will attend.  In our minds eye we rehearse the daily drive to our job.  We have the house inspected for mold, termites, the soundness of the roof, electrical system, plumbing, heating and cooling system.  We look at the cost of the taxes, utilities, insurance.  Can we afford the payments? How well will the house age?  What will the neighborhood be like in 10 years.   All this for our physical abode. . .  What thought do we give to our spiritual abode?  How much planning and consideration do we give to it?  Preparing for our weekly Bible study.  This week we're studying Matthew chapter 7.  I ran across this passage: Jesus speaking: Matthew 7:24-27 NKJV  "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ...

  Yesterday in our Wednesday morning Bible study, we were going through Matthew chapter 5. Jesus was addressing commandments written in the Law of Moses. I mentioned that there were 613 commandments in the Law, and someone in the group asked if I had a list of those 613 commandments. This is something that I had thought of doing previously, but had never gotten around to. This morning my computer is tied up running a large engineering problem, so I spent a few minutes looking this up. There are many websites which list the commandment in differing ways of sorting them. I took the following list from Wikipedia. The order is by when they first appear in the Bible. A person could try to follow all these 613 rules, and still not be living a life pleasing to God, if they, like the Pharisee's forgot about the foundation of these rules. Jesus said: Matthew 22:34-40 NKJV But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a ...