06 September 2020
Two-Minute Features | 13 September 2020

Giving Up Sin for the Kingdom, Part 1 (TMF:1455)

Friday, September 11, 2020
Peace to Live By: Giving Up Sin for the Kingdom, Part 1 (TMF:1455) - Daniel Litton
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       Turn or tap to Matthew 19, and let’s go to verse 20. We are going to pick up here at the end of the conversation that Jesus is having with the rich young man in this passage. The man originally came to him and asked him what good deed he had to accomplish in order to inherit eternal life. And Jesus had asked him if he had kept all the commandments. Now, let’s pick up in verse 20: “The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (Matthew 19:20-22, ESV). This passage here relates to a couple of others we’ve gone over during the past couple weeks. First, consider that the problem the rich young man has is that in entering the kingdom of God, he’s going to have to give up a sin. Likely, we would say it is the sin of covetousness.

Satan Takes Scriptures & Twists Them (TMF:1454)

Thursday, September 10, 2020
Peace to Live By: Satan Takes Scriptures & Twists Them (TMF:1454) - Daniel Litton
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       We are finishing up our series today on hard sayings from our Lord Jesus which come to us from Matthew’s Gospel. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been considering many of the tuff things that we find in Matthew’s Gospel from Jesus’ mouth, perhaps even things that we have had personal struggle with as we have examined them. Hopefully, by now we have a better understanding of them, and hopefully in the future we will not be afraid or bothered by them when we come across them in the future. We should remember that God is on our sides, and that he is not against us. That’s important for every believer to keep at the forefront of his or her mind. Satan can often try to use the weaknesses of others and varying circumstances in our lives in order to try to get us to believe that God is against us. He even takes Scriptures and twists them, or gets us to view them only with negative eyeglasses on. And then we walk away with the wrong impression, believing something about God, or how God expects us to act, that he never intended.

What Will Truly Fulfill Your Life? (TMF:1453)

Wednesday, September 09, 2020
Peace to Live By: What Will Truly Fulfill Your Life? (TMF:1453) - Daniel Litton
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       The truth of the matter is what will truly fulfill your life is being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, knowing that your sins are forgiven, and that you are now in right standing with God in a personal relationship with Him. God isn't just wanting to save you from hell—though that is very important—God wants to be part of your life. He wants you to surrender your life over to Him, so that He can give you true life. There is nothing to lose, at all, by knowing God. All there is, by knowing God, is gain. So, if you believe that you would like to have a personal relationship with God today, and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, then follow my lead in this simple prayer: God, I am a sinner. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and that on the third day He rose from the dead so that I might have a new life. And I, God, want to surrender my life to you now, so that you may be Lord of my life because, Father, you know what is best for me. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

God Wants You to Accept the Truth (TMF:1452)

Tuesday, September 08, 2020
Peace to Live By: God Wants You to Accept the Truth (TMF:1452) - Daniel Litton
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       Well, no matter who you are, no matter what your position in society is, no matter how unimportant or important you think you are, I am here today to tell you that God is offering you His free gift of salvation that He offers to anyone who would believe in Him. God wants everyone to accept the truth, to accept Jesus' death on the cross as a payment for their sins. All that matters today is whether you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. You cannot earn God's favor. You can't bargain with God—you can't say, “God, if I do this for you, will you do this for me?” That's not the way it works. You can have much, much more than that. If you will come into a personal relationship with God, He will give you eternal life, and a new life, starting today. He will forgive you of your sins, and eventually, as you seek to please Him and follow Him, he will give you, according to His will, the desires of your heart. God wants people to be at peace, to have joy, to be happy.

Do We Experience Persecution? (TMF:1451)

Monday, September 07, 2020
Peace to Live By: Do We Experience Persecution? (TMF:1451) - Daniel Litton
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       On a smaller scale, Christians in the United States certainly do experience persecution, but generally it’s over matters of things like creation, or what is sin versus what is not sin. It’s the typical battles with unbelievers over the truth that have been faced from the beginnings of Christianity. The important thing is that we stay grounded in the Bible, and follow what it says—that we still call sin what actually is sin, and that we do not let what the Bible calls sin to change over time. It is crucial that we still stand for the truth, even when people don’t like it and may even come against us. We need to pick up our crosses, and be willing to stand with Jesus even when it’s not popular and when it’s uncomfortable. Hopefully none of us will ever have to be imprisoned or even face death for our beliefs in our country. If it were to come to that, we should be willing to give up our lives for Christ’s sake. But the battles seem to be more on a smaller scale right now, like the loss of friends, reputations, and even money for the name of Jesus.