Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

27 And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time . And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs.   I love doing these five-minute devotional “Pastor Chats” early each morning because I am seeing and learning things from these passages of Scripture I never saw before. Especially, taking the time to look at them m...

It appears to me that the main purpose of Luke sharing this experience of the disciples in the boat with Jesus going to the other side is to show us how that Jesus was teaching His disciples to live by faith. If they were going to going to obey His command to go into all the world and “disciple all the nations” (Matthew 28:19), they would need a great faith! And my friend, the same is true for us...

Are you excited about getting into the “boat with Jesus” and crossing over to the other side? By the grace of God that is what I have been doing for the past 53 years of my life! And I can assure you that it has been most exciting journey a person could experience! I believe every day is another opportunity to get into the boat with Jesus and step out of our comfort zone and launch out into the de...

For the past several days we have been talking about “going to the other side” with Jesus. I can’t emphasize it enough, that the heart of God is the redemption of mankind. This is the storyline of the whole Bible! Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost! The world of people is in darkness, sin and shame, and then Jesus came as the Light of the world to pay the penalty for our sin and to...

I believe especially on this occasion in Luke 8:22-26 Jesus is preparing His disciples to understand and fulfill the Great Commission that He would give them just before He ascended into heaven forty days after His death, burial and resurrection. Yesterday we highlighted His invitation to His disciples to “cross over to the other side of the lake”. Today we want to think about the words, “He got i...

For the next several days we will be looking at these amazing verses in Luke 8:22-26. In the previous verses in this chapter Jesus has been preaching to the crowds and His disciples on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee near the city of Capernaum. In Matthew’s Gospel, you will find the larger version on His message that uses parables to teach what the “kingdom of heaven is like” (Matthew 13). L...

In this message that Jesus shared with the crowd and His disciples in Luke 8, He gave the parable of the Sower, the Seed, and the Soil. So far, we have learned that Jesus was emphasizing that it is important how we hear and receive the Word of God (vv. 4-15), and how we hear and share the Word (vv. 16-18). When we share the Word of God is like turning on a light in a dark room (v. 16). I was telli...

In Luke 8:18 Jesus makes a statement that is repeated five times in three of the Gospels. Today I want us to look at the truth and see how we can apply it to our lives. “ Therefore take heed how you hear . For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him" (v. 18). Three of the times that we read this statement in the Gospels i...

But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart , keep it and bear fruit with patience. Jesus is bringing this message to a great crowd of people who have gathered outside the city of Capernaum and He uses a parable to teach them a special lesson about receiving, sharing, and obeying the Word of God. For the past several days we have been...

In this parable that Jesus told in Luke 8, He makes it very clear that the proof of salvation is fruit and not merely hearing the Word or making a profession of faith in Christ. There might be many roads that “lead to Rome” but there is only one road that leads to heaven. Jesus claimed to be the only way. In John 14:6 He said, “I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but...

Jesus begins this message to the “great multitude” and His disciples with a parable that He called in Matthew 13:18 “The Parable of the Sower”.  But it could also be called "The Parable of the Soils." The seed without the soil is fruitless, and the soil without the seed is almost useless. The human heart is like soil: if it is prepared properly, it can receive the seed of the Word of God and produ...

We believe that when we get to Luke 8 that Jesus is about a year and a half into His three and a half years of earthly ministry. It appears that most of this ministry of teaching and preaching, healing and miracles, calling the twelve disciples took place near the city of Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. In the first three verses of chapter 8, Jesus is going to all the cities...

Today we will finish our study on Psalm 22. Remember when we started looking at Psalm 22, we said that Psalms 22, 23, and 24 form a trilogy on Christ the Shepherd. In Psalm 22, the Good Shepherd dies for the sheep (John 10:1-18).  In Psalm 23, the Great Shepherd lives for the sheep and cares for them (Heb. 13:20-21).  And in Psalm 24, the Chief Shepherd returns in glory to reward His sheep for the...

The first 21 verses of Psalm 22 give us a powerful prophecy of the Good Shepherd suffering for the sheep! In those verses we can clearly see the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual suffering of Jesus as He hung on the cross, and during the last three hours of darkness He experience His own Father forsaking Him as the wrath of God was poured out on Him for our sins!   The suffering and death...

David is writing this Psalm and he is personally crying out to the Lord for help in a very desperate time in his life.  But at the same time, we can’t help but see that much of what David is saying and praying for could not be actually happening to him personally. David is describing Someone dying by crucifixion. In David’s day the punishment of death was carried out by stoning.  Crucifixion was s...

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were...

The Shepherd of our Souls Psalm 22:6-11 “But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, "He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!" But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast...

Today we begin study and meditation on Psalm 22. This Psalm has been rightly called by many commentators, “The Psalm of the Cross”.  We know that this Psalm was written by King David but as to when he wrote it or the conditions under which he was when it was written, we have no idea and can only speculate. This Psalm stands above all the other Psalms when it comes to the prophesies concerning the...

“Your hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You. You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; The LORD shall swallow them up in His wrath, And the fire shall devour them. Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth, And their descendants from among the sons of men. For they intended evil against You; They devised a plot which they are not...

“The king shall have joy in Your strength, O LORD; And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! You have given him his heart's desire, And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah For You meet him with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head. He asked life from You, and You gave it to him-- Length of days forever and ever. His glory is great in Your sal...

“Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God. They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright. Save, LORD! May the King answer us when we call.”   In the first five verses the people prayed for the ki...

Psalm 20:1-5  “May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; May He send you help from the sanctuary, And strengthen you out of Zion; May He remember all your offerings, And accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah May He grant you according to your heart's desire, And fulfill all your purpose. We will rejoice in your salvation, And in the name of our God we...

A Psalm of Thanksgiving Psalm 100 “Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the...

David’s entire life involved conflict.  When he was a shepherd, he was fighting with lions and bears. As a teenager or young adult, he fights a giant named Goliath.  He becomes a commander in Saul’s army and leads men into battles day after day. When he flees from Saul for ten years he daily is in danger of losing his life hiding in caves and in the wilderness. Now David is king of Israel with an...

Tuesday November 26 Dear Friends, Starting today, and for the next seven to eight days, I will not be able to do a new pastor’s chat each day from the Gospel of Luke. I will be away from my office in Sneads Ferry NC and will be visiting with family and friends in the Roanoke VA area for the Thanksgiving Holidays. During this time, I will continue to post a series of chats that I did a couple years...