This is the final episode of our 28 day journey of daily podcasts on the statements from Jesus that will transform your relationship!  It's a special one too, because I have two surprise guests join me on the show! I'm in the mountains of Colorado at Deer Valley Ranch encouraging pastors and their wives with Kevin Henson from Compassion International and....you'll have to listen to find out who else joined me.

There is no greater way to transform your relationships than statement #28 from Jesus.
It’s why I titled this one, a flashlight and the fate of your relationship. You’ll want to hang in there with me for this entire episode so you can hear how a simple flashlight can help you understand how important this statement is for you.

The greatest among you must be a servant. Matthew 23:11

"Jesus begins this chapter by describing the failure of the Jewish religious leaders (23:1–36). Verses 2–7, 25–36 describe their hypocrisy. Their practice...

Once upon a time there was a fire in a small town. The fire brigade rushed to the scene, but the fireman were unable to get through to the burning building. The problem was the crowd of people who had gathered not to watch but to help put out the fire. They all knew the fire chief well – their children had climbed over his fire engines during excursions to the fire station, and the friendliness of the fire chief was legendary. So when a fire broke out the people rushed out to help their beloved fire chief.

Unfortunately the townsfolk were seeking to extinguish this raging inferno with water pistols! They’d all stand there, from time to time squirting their pistol into the fire while making casual conversation.

The fire chief couldn’t contain himself. He started screaming at the townsfolk. “What do you think you’re doing? What on earth do you think you’re going to achieve with those water pistols?!”

The people realised the urgency of the...

So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. Matthew 5:23-24

In v23 Jesus is likely talking about someone you have legitimately offended. You probably did do something wrong and you need to go immediately and make it right. "Jesus says there’s more to this commandment than simply not murdering. We must tackle our anger by forgiving each other. Even if we are at the most sacred moment of our year—poised to offer a gift to God—forgiveness is more important. We must leave our gift and make peace with the person with whom we are so angry." (Knowles, Andrew. The Bible Guide.)

How does Jesus want you to treat others?

A childhood accident resulted in poet Elizabeth Barrett becoming an invalid and recluse. Despite her isolation her early poetry drew the attention of...

At the end of today’s show I’ve got a story for you, it’s about a murdered duck, a little boy, his sister and the Grandma who gets it!

21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” 22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! Matthew 18:21

Jesus is demanding a radical kind of love, to forgive when they don’t deserve it. Peter’s question in v21 comes from the teaching in verses 15-20. One of the new things I learned here was that the typical rabbinic consensus was that you would need to forgive a brother three times. But Jesus radically challenges this idea. Not three but seven times seventy!

Jesus does more than forbid vengeance; he transposes a cry of revenge (see Gen. 4:15, 23–24) into a call for forgiveness. Whether he says “seventy-seven times” (NIV) or “seventy times seven” (NIV marg.), his words...

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37

The picture of forgiveness in verse 38 is of a measuring jar in which the corn is pressed down so that it will hold more, shaken together so that every crack is filled, and poured over the top so that it overflows. Just as God has generously given to his own, so the disciple should give an overflowing amount to others. (Evangelical Commentary)

This is also about personal responsibility.

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5

And look...

To be the greatest of all time you must be able to do this one thing right!

“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.” Matthew 18:15

Imagine picking your car up from the shop after a routine tune-up and the technician says, "This car is in great shape. Clearly you have an automotive genius to take great care of your car." Later that day, your brakes don't work. You find out you were out of brake fluid. You could have died.

You go back to the shop, and you say, "Why didn't you tell me?" The technician replies, "Well, I didn't want you to feel bad. Plus, to be honest, I was afraid you might get upset with me. I want this to be a safe place where you feel loved and accepted." You'd be furious! You'd say, "I didn't come here for a little fantasy-based ego boost! When it comes to my car, I want the truth."

Or imagine going to the doctor's office for a check-up....

Maybe your problem is you keep trying too hard to make your relationship work. You could try this!

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 (NLT)

Peace is the birthright of every believer in all circumstances. It is found only in God and is maintained through having a close relationship with him.  The point here is to find peace, rest in Jesus before ever trying to obey his commands. Otherwise law keeping becomes a terrible bondage. Many whom Jesus addresses are weary and burdened precisely because of their efforts to keep the Law (cf. Acts 15:10). Jesus grants rest to his people by giving them his law (vv. 28–29)! In fact, the subject of the very next passage is that God revealed the fourth commandment to grant rest (the meaning of the word sabbath). Jesus’ yoke is easy!

Douglas Maurer, 15, of Creve Coeur, Missouri, had been feeling bad for several days. His temperature was...

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. John 15:4

Carl Lundquist in Silent Issues of the Church, writes: Henry Wingblade used to say that Christian personality is hidden deep inside us. It is unseen, like the soup carried in a tureen high over a waiter’s head. No one knows what’s inside—unless the waiter is bumped and he trips! Just so, people don’t know what’s inside us until we’ve been bumped. But if Christ is living inside, what spills out is the fruit of the Spirit.

We see this theme throughout scripture:

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not...

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.” John 14:1

Anyone who has lived or worked in a skyscraper knows tall buildings sway in the wind. There’s no danger; the engineers know it will happen, but the sway is uncomfortable for people inside. When engineers and architects designed Citicorp Center in New York, they decided to do something about it. At the top of the fifty-nine story building, they installed a machine called a tuned mass damper. The machine, writes Joe Morgenstern in New Yorker magazine, “was essentially a four-hundred-and-ten-ton block of concrete, attached to huge springs and floating on a film of oil. When the building swayed, the block’s inertia worked to damp the movement and calm tenants’ queasy stomachs.” When the winds of life gust around us, there is a stabilizing force in the heart of every believer that calms his or her fears. It is trust in God.

John 14:1 is Jesus trying to...

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:34

Some of you are not going to like this one because it’s something you struggle with everyday. Personally this is finally something I don’t really struggle through a lot. I think my blessing is that I’ve gone through so many insane things that it has made it easier for me not to freak out about the future. However, let’s not bring up:  self-discipline, thoughts, lying and a whole bunch more!

The point is take a deep breath and trust Him. All of us are in the same boat dealing with the waves of this fallen world.  But if worrying about the future is your thing, the truth is that uneasiness and anxiety about the future is a faith problem and grounded in a lack of trust in God and what he has promised.

The causes of worry are:

1. Being world-centered - Matthew 6:25 (NLT) — 25 “That is why I...