Romans 7:15-25

 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Romans 7:15-25 ESV

How Can You Know If You Are Poor In Spirit

 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 ESV

Seven ways to know if you are poor in spirit (Thomas Watson on The Beatitudes)

1. He that is poor in spirit is weaned from himself. (But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131: 2 ESV)  Your focus is not on yourself.
2. He that is poor in spirit is a Christ-admirer. Your focus is on Christ.
3. He that is poor in spirit is ever complaining of his spiritual estate. ('One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth." Proverbs 13:7 ESV)  
4. He that is poor in spirit is lowly in heart. (Job 42:6 'therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.', Philippians 4:13 'I can do all things through him who strengthens me.', Galatians 2: 20 'I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' 1 Corinthians 15:10 'But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.' ESV) 
5. He who is poor in spirit is much in prayer.
6. The poor in spirit is content to take Christ upon his own terms. (Philippians 3:8 'Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith', ESV)
7. He that is poor in spirit is an exalter of free grace. (1 Timothy 1:14 'and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.' ESV)

Who Is Feeding You?

 "A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats." Charles Spurgeon

Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Matthew 26:32 ESV

He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. Titus 1:9 ESV

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:16 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, Ephesians 4:11-13 ESV

Psalm 51:10-13

 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Psalm 51:10-13

The Resurrection

 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you." So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up an took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." Matthew 28:1-10 ESV

Jesus Last Words From The Cross

 Seven Last Words of Jesus from the Cross

1. Luke 23:34 "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
2. Luke 23:43 "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise."
3. John 19:26 "Woman behold, your son!"
4. Matthew 27:46 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
5. John 19: 28 "I thirst"
6. John 19:30 "It is finished"
7. Luke 23:46 "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!"

Good Friday

 So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews," but rather, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be." This was to fulfill the Scripture which says "They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots."

So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Matthew 21:16-30 ESV