Gary Gleans

Matthew 12:46-50 46  While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.  47  Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.”  48  But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”  49  And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!  50  “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:31-35 31  Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent  word  to Him and called Him.  32  A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.”  33  Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”  34  Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “B

Matthew 12:43-45 43  “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find  it.   44  “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds  it  unoccupied, swept, and put in order.  45  “Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.” The spirit world one about which we have very limited knowledge and even less access.  It is a real world that has significant impact on the events of this earth and our lives but there are many things about it that are hidden from us.  The Scriptures tell us all we need to know about angels and daemons.  We are instructed to pray concerning this spiritual warfare.  There are examples from Scripture of Jesus and the Apostles casting daemons out of people.  However, we a

Matthew 12:38-42 38  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”  39  But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and  yet  no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;  40  for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  41  “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.  42  “ The  Queen of  the  South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. Excuses are very dangerous because they are attempts to avoid what we know needs to be done.  The scribes and Phari

Matthew 12:33-37 33  “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.  34  “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.  35  “The good man brings out of  his  good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of  his  evil treasure what is evil.  36  “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.  37  “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” We don’t like the idea of being judged.  Most of the time when people judge us in the present we become defensive.  When we think of our future judgment in heaven we become fearful.  Today’s text teaches us that our words are very important for us to evaluate in our lives because they are the objects of both our present and future judgments.  Our tongues are the hardest p

Matthew 12:22-32 22  Then a demon-possessed man  who was  blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.  23  All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?”  24  But when the Pharisees heard  this,  they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”                                                      25  And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.  26  “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?  27  “If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast  them  out? For this reason they will be your judges.  28  “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.  29  “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and c

Luke 8:1-3 1  Soon afterwards, He  began  going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him,  2  and  also  some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,  3  and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means. There are many different roles to be played in God’s mission of proclaiming the Gospel to all the nations.  Each of the roles are vital and are both recognized and rewarded by God.  God is in the business of transforming lives.  He takes us from a life of sin and selfishness to a life of sanctification and service.  God can use us in a variety of ways so we must be careful not to define our roles in such a way that we dedicate ourselves exclusively to one particular area of service.  There are different seasons to life and the ne

Luke 7:36-50 36  Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined  at the table.   37  And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining  at the table  in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,  38  and standing behind  Him  at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.  39  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.” 40  And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.”  41  “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  42  “When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both.

Matthew 11:25-30 25  At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from  the  wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.  26  “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.  27  “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal  Him. 28  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  29  “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.  30  “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” God chooses the most unlikely people.  Smart and strong people are who most people are looking to hire for their companies.  God chooses the weak and the weary.  The reason men look to recruit the smart and the strong is that they need help so they look for the people with the

Matthew 11:20-24 20  Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent.  21  “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  22  “Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in  the  day of judgment than for you.  23  “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.  24  “Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in  the  day of judgment, than for you.” One day every person will stand before God and give an account for what he did with the opportunities that were given him.  God is the perfect and righteous judge who knows exactly how to judge us.  He knows what is in our hearts, all of the op

Matthew 11:7-19 7  As these men were going  away,  Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?  8  “But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft  clothing?  Those who wear soft  clothing  are in kings’ palaces!  9  “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet.  10  “This is the one about whom it is written,‘BEHOLD,I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU,WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’ 11  “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen  anyone  greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  12  “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.  13  “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John.  14  “And if you are willing to accept  it,  John himself

Matthew 11:2-6 2  Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent  word  by his disciples  3  and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”  4  Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:  5   the  BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and  the  lame walk,  the  lepers are cleansed and  the  deaf hear,  the  dead are raised up, and  the  POOR HAVE THEGOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.  6  “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.” Luke 7:18-23 18  The disciples of John reported to him about all these things.  19  Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?”  20  When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’”  21  At that very time He cured many  people  of diseases and affliction

Today is a holiday in Brazil so I will not have a post today.  Our ministry will have an evangelistic Sports Marathon today so we would appreciate your prayers.  I will be traveling later on today to speak at a men's conference for the weekend in a river community.  We are expecting over 500 men so please be in prayer for that event as well.  I am not sure if I will have internet so if there is not a post tomorrow that is the reason.  God bless and have a great weekend.

Luke 7:11-17 11  Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd.  12  Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.  13  When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.”  14  And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”  15  The dead man sat up and began to speak. And  Jesus  gave him back to his mother.  16  Fear gripped them all, and they  began  glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”  17  This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district. Not only were the teachings of Jesus unlike the teachings of the religious leaders of that day; but the miracles He performed were unlike any

Matthew 8:5-13 5  And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him,  6  and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”  7  Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”  8  But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  9  “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does  it. ”  10  Now when Jesus heard  this,  He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.  11  “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline  at the table  with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;  12  but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there w