Matt 12:11-12: He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

Their preaching was anti-Scriptural and in conscious, pharasaical defiance of Christ., although they would have denied such a charge. Where legalism leads to an undue burden on the law, undue consequences are attributed to every act.

Eph 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourself: it is the gift of God

We are emphatically told by Scripture that grace and faith are God’s gift. The sovereignty, initiative, and power in salvation originate entirely in God. This does not, however, deny the reality of our own secondary initiative and power in the exercise of grace and faith. It is a gift, but it is a gift to us and to be exercised by us. It is a gift which is now inseparable from our life, and its use by us brings reward. Thus, Rahab’s faith ( Heb 11:31: By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she received the spies with peace”) was manifested in action: the received the spies “with peace.” She protected and defended them out of faith in God.

Hebrews 11:10: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

I Cor 2:9-10: But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God”

The eye of man’s carnal mind hath never seen it. The ear of man’s worldly wisdom hath never heard it. Neither has it entered into the heart of man (apart from the Holy Spirit).

Josh 2:11: And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

Rahab, in citing the terror of the Canaanites over the power of Israel, does more than the Canaanites. She attributes this power to the total power of the Lord. The Canaanites were in terror, because they recognized what Israel had done to all its enemies. The history of Israel from the Red Sea crossing to the present, a forty-year history, was familiar to them. Their recognition of the Lord’s role in that series of events was not religious but superstitious. Rahab, however, saw the matter religiously, and she recognized the sovereignty of God and gave herself to His service at the risk of her life. She did not, like the people of Jericho, wait for death to come. Instead, she risked death to help spies in order to gain life.

He who has an eye to see will see the hand of God in history. Those who refuse will still see the evidence but wrongfully attribute it to the simple power of man and his ingenuity.

Rahab is cited as an example of faith in the New Testament for this very reason. In Hebrews 11, of whom Rahab is one, were people like Abraham, who “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builders and maker is God” (Heb 11:10).

Josh 2:2: And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.

Some versions translate this as “spy” out the country. The suggestion implies the use of espionage.

Joshua 2:1: Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.

The Hebrew word translated “lodged” is literally “lay.” We can see why Rahab has been turned into an innkeeper, both to preserve her reputation and the reputation of the two spies. It is not conceivable that the two spies went to Rahab for her services as a prostitute, but the evidence is against it. The Bible is not a prissy book; if the spies had gone to Rahab as a harlot, it would have read “lay with her.” Samson, for example, is not spared the truth in this respect , for we are plainly told that he lay with a harlot in Gaza (Judges 16{1-3).

Mark 9:35 “Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

This was written by Carley Evans from Grace Partners:

Jesus says that as we receive, accept, help, love a child in His Name, we simultaneously receive, accept, help and love Him. What we do for the least in God’s world we do for Him.

As we become “last of all and servant of all,” we come to reflect Jesus. Reflecting Jesus to others makes us first in the world.

Jesus tells His disciples that they have power over spirits, but He tells them not to rejoice in this power, but to be glad and grateful that their “names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10: 16)

He reminds them that though John the baptist is the greatest man ever born of woman, the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater.

Satan fell from heaven, and in the eyes of the world is the greatest ‘being’ here, ruling it firmly. Yet, the least in the kingdom of God is greater.

John 4:24: God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth

Jesus words in conversation with the woman of Samaria. John 4: 19-26 reveals that the woman of Samaria asks the “where” of worship. Jesus responds by rejecting the “where.” Worship is not simply a time of praise, singing, prayer & ritual slotted into a church service but rather it’s a life style of total surrender of self so that God can be glorified through my life. Worship is not through ritual or good deeds or use of symbolism but through the Messiah who is the Truth being lived out in my life. True worship is self sacrifice but many distractions lurk about as friends, enticements, pain, hurt, anger, revenge, divisions & unforgiveness make it easy to crawl off the altar of sacrifice into a self seeking, arrogant mind set. None of these represent the Truth of the Messiah & a Spirit of unity with the One who deserves all praise & honor. He is worthy of our praise! Let’s worship Him in our life style.

Heb 11:31: By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

Rahab is a problem to many people on two counts. First, she was a harlot. Every kind of Strained exegesis has been resorted to in order to turn her into an innkeeper instead, but the Scripture is clear: she was a harlot. Second, her lie to the king of Jericho’s offficers is uniformly condemned by the legalists, even though it is specifically cited as a virtue by James (James 2:17-26).

It is important to realize that the Bible is never academic; it never provides information merely to satisfy our curiosity. In fact , it avoids satisfying our curiosity again and again, because its purpose is rather to instruct and to reshape us ever more closely into conformity in God’s word, law, and image.

Eph 6:12-13: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Deut 21:16-17: Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

Inheritance meant succession. Succession could not be denied to a godly child., nor and ungodly child be allowed the protection of the family. The ungodly, according to the law, had to be cut-off, a term used repeatedly in the law to cover excommunication, disinheritance, and capital punishment. Succession thus is a godly succession.

James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Humility is oftentimes misunderstood by many. I have come to realize that, it is first of all, a vital state of a man’s heart that reflects in everything he or she does. Not always does it have to do with ways of dressing and talking, but more the condition of the human spirit of a person that is established by the Love-effect of the Spirit, and the Holy commandment, to think of oneself not too highly outside the Word-Description of Christian personality.. Believe if we can properly check our hearts, its desires and lusts that do not much up to the Righteousness of God, the Lord will not but elevate us were we ought to be, not just because we belong there, but we more because we please Him in all things, for He hath said “If ye abide in me and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask whatsoever ye will and it shall be done(produced) unto you”. Humility is a Godly conditioning of the human spirit by the Word of God, through the energy of the Spirit, to produce works of love in faith.

Matt 5:3-12: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you

Our Lord begins his reckoning of “blessings” with poverty in spirit. Poverty in spirit leads to mourning and to hunger and thirst for righteousness. If one thinks he is rich, why would he desire increase? The world has its own definition of a blessed person: one who is rich, strong, self satisfied, popular, enjoys life, etc. They are the worlds beatitudes of sight in the present world. Poverty of spirit is not a feeling of self-disgust which comes over us when we compare our gifts and talents with those of others; it is born from no earthly inspiration, it proceeds from coming face to face with God. A man may be poor in spirit while his soul is on fire with enthusiasm for the cause of God. It is not shown in self-depreciation but in the strength that comes from trustfulness. It is the attitude which, in the presence of God, recognizes its entire dependence, empties itself, and is as a poor man, not that it may be feeble, but that God may fill it.

Blessed — happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous–that is–possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God! How do we keep our heart pure so that we might see God? First, we must start by asking God to come into our heart, and changing us from a sinner to one of His children. We must be “born again.” We must ask Him to forgive our sins and accept what Jesus, God’s Son, did for us on the cross, when He died as an innocent man to take our sins. Jesus then was buried and rose the third day and ascended to heaven, and lives eternally with the Father. Once we become His child, then we need to ask God to cleanse our heart and mind from those things that we embraced while we were a sinner. The Bible tells us that there are things in us, that we need to be delivered from.

Man finds much of his pleasure in the torture of others. Much of the religious persecutions of history were the result of a desire for pleasure or pleasant reaction on the part of those who persecuted.

You don’t rejoice because you are being persecuted, it could be painful, but you look beyond that to the reward.

“The Kingdom of heaven” is the same as the Kingdom of God. The Hebraic avoidance of the use of the name of God led to use of the expression “Kingdom of Heaven.” It has reference to this world and the world beyond. The blessing cited by our Lord have both spiritual; and material fulfillment, and the inheritance in time and in eternity. To be blessed means to inherit the earth, and to inherit heaven, it means being comforted and gaining mercy. The relationship between blessing and inheritance is inseparable.