Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. He even invited a customs collector named Levi (Matthew) to become a Disciple. Like a doctor making house calls, the Lord came to heal people, physically and spiritually. He expelled whatever interfered with holiness. The Lord continues to teach with authority and to heal as needed, asking only that we have faith and cooperate! After a group of four men lowered a paralytic through the roof to reach Jesus, some scribes decried the Lord’s forgiveness of sin as blasphemy (irreverence or claiming equalit
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After feeding the spiritual hunger of a vast crowd, the Lord multiplied five loaves and two fish for the people to eat. The leftovers filled twelve baskets. Jesus then sent the Disciples and the crowd on their way so that He could pray by Himself for a while. Terrifying His friends by walking through wind and over waves to rejoin them in their boat, the Lord then calmed the sea and their fears. As the Lord continued to preach, heal, and Baptize people, news about Him spread. John the Baptist willingly and humbly became like a best man in the pr
Read MoreIn accordance with Mosaic Law, Mary and Joseph presented the infant Jesus in the Temple. There, a devout man named Simeon recognized the Child as fulfillment of a revelation that he would live to see the Christ. Magi defied King Herod’s instruction to report back to him after finding the newborn King, but Herod soon irately ordered the killing of boys aged two or younger anywhere near Bethlehem. Warned by an angel to flee, Joseph took the Holy Family to Egypt until after Herod’s death. Time went on, and John the Baptist told religious leade
Read MoreBelief comes as a blessing. The angel Gabriel proclaimed a wondrous plan to Mary, chosen to give birth to the Son of God. The angel also said that Mary’s kinswoman Elizabeth, childless into old age, had miraculously conceived a son. When Mary greeted her, Elizabeth felt the exuberant movement of her unborn child (John the Baptist) and called Mary blessed for believing the Lord’s message. Elizabeth’s husband had his doubts at first but later gave their son the name told to him by an angel. On the first Christmas, the night became glorious
Read MoreJoseph knew that Mary’s expected child wasn’t his. Under Mosaic Law, pretending otherwise would result in God’s punishment of the Israelite nation. An angel came to reassure Joseph of God’s blessing. An angel also appeared to Zechariah, who doubted the message that his wife, Elizabeth, would bear a son in the couple’s old age. It seemed impossible! Zechariah lost the ability to speak until the day he named their baby in accordance with the angel’s message. The child became John the Baptist. In His ministry, Jesus offered to tell rel
Read MoreMary believed the angel Gabriel’s message that she would give birth to the Son of God. On the other hand, incredulous Pharisees and scribes denied that Jesus could forgive the sins of a small group rewarded for their faith when they lowered a paralyzed man through the roof to ask for healing. Jesus then instructed the man to walk home with his stretcher in hand, showing undeniably the power of His words. The Lord compared the generation around Him to people refusing to respond either to a mournful dirge or dance music. Advent invites the fait
Read MoreWalking along the Sea of Galilee, Jesus invited Peter, Andrew, James, and John to become Apostles. They left their boats then, but Scripture tells of future fishing trips. People can do the will of God anywhere, among anyone they meet, and anytime in prayer. After all, Jesus’ ministry combined teaching, having heart-to-heart talks, healing, and praying to the Father. After giving the Twelve authority to proclaim the Kingdom of heaven and to cure sickness in body or spirit, Jesus sent them forth. The Lord provided a solid foundation and wants
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