Forgive and Be Free

Jesus Never Said ‘Hustle’: Finding True Rest in a Burnout World

Understanding Spiritual Ranks

Grow Through It: 7 Healing Practices That Cultivate Resilience  a 7-Day Reading Plan by Essie Faye

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Pain to Peace: A Man's Path Past Pitfalls

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkMAT">
 <div class="chapter ch22" data-usfm="MAT.22">
 <div class="label">22</div><div class="s1">The Parable of the Wedding Banquet</div><div class="p"> 1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2&#8220;The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.</div><div class="p"> 4 &#8220;Then he sent some more servants and said, &#8216;Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 5 &#8220;But they paid no attention and went off&#8212;one to his field, another to his business. 6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.</div><div class="p"> 8 &#8220;Then he said to his servants, &#8216;The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.&#8217; 10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.</div><div class="p"> 11 &#8220;But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12He asked, &#8216;How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?&#8217; The man was speechless.</div><div class="p"> 13 &#8220;Then the king told the attendants, &#8216;Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 14 &#8220;For many are invited, but few are chosen.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar</div><div class="p"> 15Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. &#8220;Teacher,&#8221; they said, &#8220;we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren&#8217;t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax#22:17 A special tax levied on subject peoples, not on Roman citizens to Caesar or not?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, &#8220;You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19Show me the coin used for paying the tax.&#8221; They brought him a denarius, 20and he asked them, &#8220;Whose image is this? And whose inscription?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21&#8220;Caesar&#8217;s,&#8221; they replied.</div><div class="p">Then he said to them, &#8220;So give back to Caesar what is Caesar&#8217;s, and to God what is God&#8217;s.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.</div><div class="s1">Marriage at the Resurrection</div><div class="p"> 23That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24&#8220;Teacher,&#8221; they said, &#8220;Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. 25Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27Finally, the woman died. 28Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 29Jesus replied, &#8220;You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31But about the resurrection of the dead&#8212;have you not read what God said to you, 32&#8216;I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob&#8217;#22:32 Exodus 3:6? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 33When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.</div><div class="s1">The Greatest Commandment</div><div class="p"> 34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36&#8220;Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 37Jesus replied: &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.&#8217;#22:37 Deut. 6:5 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: &#8216;Love your neighbor as yourself.&#8217;#22:39 Lev. 19:18 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Whose Son Is the Messiah?</div><div class="p"> 41While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42&#8220;What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;The son of David,&#8221; they replied.</div><div class="p"> 43He said to them, &#8220;How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him &#8216;Lord&#8217;? For he says,</div><div class="q1"> 44 &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;The Lord said to my Lord:</div><div class="q2"> &#8220;Sit at my right hand</div><div class="q1"> until I put your enemies</div><div class="q2"> under your feet.&#8221;&#8198;&#8217; # 22:44 
 Psalm 110:1
 </div><div class="m"> 45 If then David calls him &#8216;Lord,&#8217; how can he be his son?&#8221; 46No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkMAT">
 <div class="chapter ch23" data-usfm="MAT.23">
 <div class="label">23</div><div class="s1">A Warning Against Hypocrisy</div><div class="p"> 1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2&#8220;The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses&#8217; seat. 3So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people&#8217;s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.</div><div class="p"> 5 &#8220;Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries # 23:5 That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called &#8216;Rabbi&#8217; by others.</div><div class="p"> 8 &#8220;But you are not to be called &#8216;Rabbi,&#8217; for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth &#8216;father,&#8217; for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.</div><div class="s1">Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees</div><div class="p"> 13 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people&#8217;s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14]#23:14 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.</div><div class="p"> 15 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.</div><div class="p"> 16 &#8220;Woe to you, blind guides! You say, &#8216;If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.&#8217; 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18You also say, &#8216;If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.&#8217; 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God&#8217;s throne and by the one who sits on it.</div><div class="p"> 23 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices&#8212;mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law&#8212;justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.</div><div class="p"> 25 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.</div><div class="p"> 27 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.</div><div class="p"> 29 &#8220;Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30And you say, &#8216;If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.&#8217; 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!</div><div class="p"> 33 &#8220;You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.</div><div class="p"> 37 &#8220;Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, &#8216;Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.&#8217;#23:39 Psalm 118:26&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkLUK">
 <div class="chapter ch20" data-usfm="LUK.20">
 <div class="label">20</div><div class="s1">The Authority of Jesus Questioned</div><div class="p"> 1One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2&#8220;Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,&#8221; they said. &#8220;Who gave you this authority?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3He replied, &#8220;I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4John&#8217;s baptism&#8212;was it from heaven, or of human origin?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5They discussed it among themselves and said, &#8220;If we say, &#8216;From heaven,&#8217; he will ask, &#8216;Why didn&#8217;t you believe him?&#8217; 6But if we say, &#8216;Of human origin,&#8217; all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7So they answered, &#8220;We don&#8217;t know where it was from.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8Jesus said, &#8220;Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">The Parable of the Tenants</div><div class="p"> 9He went on to tell the people this parable: &#8220;A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.</div><div class="p"> 13 &#8220;Then the owner of the vineyard said, &#8216;What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 14 &#8220;But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. &#8216;This is the heir,&#8217; they said. &#8216;Let&#8217;s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.&#8217; 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.</div><div class="p"> &#8220;What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.&#8221;</div><div class="p">When the people heard this, they said, &#8220;God forbid!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Jesus looked directly at them and asked, &#8220;Then what is the meaning of that which is written:</div><div class="q1"> &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;The stone the builders rejected</div><div class="q2"> has become the cornerstone&#8217; # 20:17 
 Psalm 118:22
 ?</div><div class="m"> 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.</div><div class="s1">Paying Taxes to Caesar</div><div class="p"> 20Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21So the spies questioned him: &#8220;Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24&#8220;Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Caesar&#8217;s,&#8221; they replied.</div><div class="p"> 25He said to them, &#8220;Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar&#8217;s, and to God what is God&#8217;s.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 26They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.</div><div class="s1">The Resurrection and Marriage</div><div class="p"> 27Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28&#8220;Teacher,&#8221; they said, &#8220;Moses wrote for us that if a man&#8217;s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30The second 31and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32Finally, the woman died too. 33Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 34Jesus replied, &#8220;The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God&#8217;s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord &#8216;the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.&#8217;#20:37 Exodus 3:6 38He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 39Some of the teachers of the law responded, &#8220;Well said, teacher!&#8221; 40And no one dared to ask him any more questions.</div><div class="s1">Whose Son Is the Messiah?</div><div class="p"> 41Then Jesus said to them, &#8220;Why is it said that the Messiah is the son of David? 42David himself declares in the Book of Psalms:</div><div class="q1"> &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;The Lord said to my Lord:</div><div class="q2"> &#8220;Sit at my right hand</div><div class="q1"> 43 until I make your enemies</div><div class="q2"> a footstool for your feet.&#8221;&#8198;&#8217; # 20:43 
 Psalm 110:1
 </div><div class="m"> 44 David calls him &#8216;Lord.&#8217; How then can he be his son?&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Warning Against the Teachers of the Law</div><div class="p"> 45While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, 46&#8220;Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47They devour widows&#8217; houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkLUK">
 <div class="chapter ch21" data-usfm="LUK.21">
 <div class="label">21</div><div class="s1">The Widow&#8217;s Offering</div><div class="p"> 1As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3&#8220;Truly I tell you,&#8221; he said, &#8220;this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times</div><div class="p"> 5Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6&#8220;As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7&#8220;Teacher,&#8221; they asked, &#8220;when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8He replied: &#8220;Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, &#8216;I am he,&#8217; and, &#8216;The time is near.&#8217; Do not follow them. 9When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10Then he said to them: &#8220;Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.</div><div class="p"> 12 &#8220;But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13And so you will bear testimony to me. 14But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17Everyone will hate you because of me. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19Stand firm, and you will win life.</div><div class="p"> 20 &#8220;When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.</div><div class="p"> 25 &#8220;There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 29He told them this parable: &#8220;Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.</div><div class="p"> 32 &#8220;Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.</div><div class="p"> 34 &#8220;Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 37Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, 38and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.</div>
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