The Wealth of the Nations

By George Kaufinger

The four Gospels are arranged in topical format, paraphrased, and put in poetic form with helpful comments to assist the reader in understanding the events and circumstances surrounding Christ at that time.

A second, shorter section in verse form gives the authors insight into various situations where the life of Christ is meaningful.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449764814

George Kaufinger

An ordained Southern Baptist Minister who has spent his adult life serving churches and spreading the Gospel. I have always been active in studying and researching Bible history and interpretation. Have also published a thirty day devotional titled, A Gardner Weeds God’s Creation which has been well received. I have served churches in the Northeast and Florida over the last thirty years. In more recent years I have been active in inter-denominational service, ministering and teaching on cruise ships in all parts of the globe. The cruise ship ministry has been especially rewarding and my wife and I have people around the world that contact us with special prayer requests. Loretta, my wife of fifty-seven years, and I have resided in central Florida for the last twenty-two years. We work as a team in ministering to those the Lord puts in our path. During a large portion of my ministry, I served small churches in a bi-vocational capacity. My secular career was spent in banking with a majority of those years managing data processing departments as an officer of the bank. We have two living children and four grandchildren. We lost our oldest child in a car accident.

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Copyright © 2012 George Kaufinger

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-6481-4 (e book)

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All Bible quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.

WestBow Press rev. date: 9/18/2012

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CONTENTS

PREVIOUS BOOKS BY AUTHOR

DEDICATION

A WORD OF THANKS

PREFACE

Section One

John The Baptist

 (Luke 1:5-25)

The Announcement

 (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:26-56)

The Birth

 (Matthew 2:1-23; Luke 2:1-20)

The Early Years

 (Luke 2:21-52)

The Temptation

 (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:9-13; Luke 4:1-13)

Calling Of The Twelve

 (Matthew 4:18-22, 10:10-24; Mark 1:16-20, 3:13-19; Luke

  5:1-11, 27-31, 6:12-16; John 1:35-50, 6:13-16)

Section Two

Calming The Storm

  (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:37-41; Luke 8:22-25)

Peter Walking On Water

 (Matthew 14:22-34; Mark 6:48-51; John 6:19-21)

Coin In Fish’s Mouth

 (Matthew 17:24-27)

Feeding The 4,000

 (Matthew 15:29-38, 16:5-12; Mark 8:1-21)

The Withered Fig Tree

 (Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-14, 20-25)

Catch Of Fish

 (Luke 5:1-11)

Another Catch Of Fish

 (John 21:1-11)

Water Turned Into Wine

 (John 2:1-11)

Section Three

Possessed Man Of Gadara

 (Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39)

Man Who Was Mute

  (Matthew 9:32-34)

Man Blind And Mute

 (Matthew 12:22-28; Luke 11:14-20)

Canaanite Woman’s Daughter

 (Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:28-30)

Boy With A Demon

 (Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43)

Crippled Woman

 (Luke 13:10-17)

Possessed Man

 (Mark 1:21-28; Luke 4:31-37)

Section Four

Man Cleansed Of Leprosy

 (Matthew: 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16)

Centurion Servant Healed

 (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10)

Peter’s Mother-In-Law

 (Matthew 8:14-17; Mark 1:30-34; Luke 4:38-42)

Paralyzed Man

 (Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26)

Power Over Sickness – Woman With Bleeding

 (Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48)

Two Blind Men

 (Matthew 9:27-31)

Healing Of Bartimaeus

 (Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52: Luke 18:35-43)

Deaf Mute

 (Mark 7:31-37)

Man With Shriveled Hand

 (Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-5; Luke 6:6-11)

Blind Man At Bethsaida

 (Mark 8:22-26)

Man With Dropsy

 (Luke 14:1-6)

Ten Men With Leprosy

 (Luke 17:11-19)

Malchus’ Ear

 (Matthew 27:50-54; Mark 14:46-47; Luke 22:50-51; John 18:10-11)

Official’s Son At Caperneum

 (John 4:46-54)

Man At Pool Of Bethesda

 (John 5:1-18)

Man Born Blind

 (John 9:1-34)

Section Five

Jarius’ Daughter

 (Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25; Mark 5:22-24, 35-43; Luke 8:41-42, 49-56)

Nain Widow’s Son

 (Luke 7:11-17)

Raising Lazarus

 (John 11:1-53)

Section Six

Citzenship Requirements

 (Matthew 5:1-12)

Call To Action

 (Matthew 5:13-20)

Correcting Law’s Interpretation

 (Matthew 5:21-37)

Practising Righteousness

 (Matthew 5:38-47, 6:1-24)

Strengthing Our Attitudes

 (Matthew 6:25-34, 7:1-12)

Warnings

 (Matthew 7:13-29)

Section Seven

Our Place In The World

 (Matthew 5:13-16; Luke 6:20-22)

Our Need To Get Established

 (Matthew 7:21-29)

A Changed Life

 (Matthew 9:16-17; Mark 2:21-22; Luke 5:36-39)

Care For Yourself

 (Matthew 13:1-23; Luke 8:4-8, 11-15)

The Need For Testimony

 (Matthew 13:24-29)

Growing A Kingdom

 (Matthew 13:31-41; Luke 13:18-21)

Kingdom Selection

 (Matthew 13:42-52)

Kingdom Available To The Lost

 (Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:1-7)

Kingdom Requires Forgiveness

 (Matthew 18:21-35)

Kingdom Will Treat All Equal

 (Matthew 20:1-16)

Kingdom Requires Obedience.

 (Matthew 21:28-32)

Kingdom Centered On The Son

  (Matthew 21:33-45; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19)

Kingdom Requires A Dress Mode

  (Matthew 22:1-14; Luke 14:16-24)

Kingdom’s Coming Will Be Foretold

  (Matthew 24:32-35)

Kingdom Requires Watchfulness

  (Matthew 24:42-51)

Kingdom Requires Preparation

  (Matthew 25:1-13)

Kingdom Expects Fruit

  (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27)

Kingdom Expects Unselfish Service

  (Matthew 25:31-46)

Kingdom Growth Will Occur

  (Mark 4:26-29

Forgiveness Begets Forgiveness

  (Mark 14:1-5; Luke 7:36-50)

Serve All Men

  (Luke 10:25-37)

Persistent Prayer Pays Off

  (Luke 11:5-10)

Remember The Poor)

  (Luke 12:13-21)

Stay Prepared

  (Luke 12:35-40)

Our Time Is Limited

  (Luke 13:1-9)

Pride Results In Humbling

  (Luke 14:7-14)

Answer The Master’s Call

 (Luke 14:15-24)

Cost Of Discipleship

  (Luke 14:25-33)

Rejoice When The Lost Is Found

  (Luke 15:8-10)

Father Rejoices Over The Found

  (Luke 15:11-32)

Use Wisdom In Spreading The Gospel

  (Luke 16:1-15)

No Escape From Hell

  (Luke 16:19-31)

Service Is Our Duty

  (Luke 17:7-10)

Justice Will Be Awarded

  (Luke 18:2-8)

God Honors The Humble

  (Luke 18:9-14)

Section Eight

A Brother Who Offends

  (Matthew 18:15-20)

Encouragement

  (Matthew 10:26-33; Luke 12:1-12)

Lack Of Acceptance

  (Luke 4:14-30)

Nicodemus

  (John 3:1-21)

Repentance

  (Matthew 12:38-42; Luke 11:29-32)

Samaritan Woman

  (John 4:1-42)

Sin, Faith And Duty

  (Luke 17:1-10)

Testimony About Jesus

  (John 5:31-47)

To His Critics

  (John 5:16-30)

Many Woes

  (Matthew 23:1-36)

Miscellaneous

  (Matthew 11:20-24, 12:22-37; Mark 3:23-30; Luke 11:14-28)

Bread Of Life

  (John 6:1-69)

Section Nine

Holy Spirit

  (John 14:26, 16:7-11)

Use Of Jesus’ Name

  (John 14:13-14)

Protection

  (Matthew 14:28-33; Luke 12:4-12)

Necessities Provided

  (Matthew 5:25-34; Luke 12:22-32)

Healing

  (Matthew 8:17, 10:1; Mark 3:15; Luke 9:2)

Forgiveness

  (Matthew 6:12, 9:2, 5; Luke 5:20, 6:37, 11:4)

Answered Prayer

  (Matthew 7:7-11, 21:21-22)

Doing The Impossible

  (Matthew 17:20; Mark 9:23-24)

Never Left Alone

  (Matt 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:21)

The Return Of Jesus

  (John 14:1-3)

The Final Week Preparation

  (Matthew 23:34-39, 26:31-46, 56; Mark 9:1-10;

  Luke 19:41-44; John 11:1-16, 12:12-19)

Section Ten

Triumphant Entry

  (Matthew 21:1-11, 23:37-39; Mark 11:1-11;

  Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19)

Jesus Demonstrating His Authority

  (Matthew 21:12-22; Mark 11:12-24; Luke 19:45-48; John 2:13-17)

Olivet Prophecy

  (Matthew 24:1-42; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-36)

Outsmarting His Foes

  (Matthew 21:23-27; Mark 11:27-33; Luke 20:1-8)

Jesus Anointed

  (Matthew 26:6-16; Mark 14:3-11; John 12:1-11)

Judas’ Flaw

  (Mathew 26:14-16; Mark 14:10-11; Luke 22:1-6; John 12:4-6)

The Passover Meal

  (Matthew 26:17-35; Mark 14:12-31; Luke 22:7-34; John 13:1-26, 36-38)

Assuring The Disciples

  (John 14:1-14)

Announcing The Comforter

  (Luke 11:13; John 14:15-31)

The Illegal Trial

  (Matthew 26:57-75, 27:1-2; Mark14:53-72, 15:1;

  Luke 22:54-71, 23:1; John 18:13-29)

Before Pilate

  (Matthew 27:11-26; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-25;

  John 18:28-40, 19:1-15)

The Crucifixion

  (Matthew 27:27-56; Mark 15:16-41; Luke 23:26-49; John 19:16-37)

The Burial

  (Matthew 27:57-66; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42)

Section Eleven

Resurrection Day

  (Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18)

Section Twelve

The Road To Emmaus

  (Mark 16:12-13; Luke 24:13-35)

Appearance To Ten Disciples

  (Luke 24:36-45; John 20:19-23)

Appearing To The Eleven

  (Mark 16:14; John 20:24-31)

Appearance At Galilee Sea

  (John 21:1-25)

The Ascension

  (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark16:15-20; Luke 24:46-53; John 20:30-31)

The End

Section Thirteen

A Beautiful Picture

A Simple Story

An Old Story

A Troubled Mind

Believing Jesus

Bible Outline

Christmas

Destiny

Facing Death

Grace

John’s Gospel

Prayer

The Bible

The Preparation

Who Am I

A Final Appeal

PREVIOUS BOOKS BY AUTHOR

A GARDNER WEEDS GOD’S CREATION-This is a thirty day devotional using the author’s gardening experience and the insights he received regarding God and living the Christian life. (It may be obtained by contacting the author directly.) His e-mail address is [e-mail]

DEDICATION

This book honors my wife, Loretta. It was her continuous encouragement and helpful suggestions that caused me to continue to work, when I was having doubts as to whether it was accomplishing what I had in mind. More importantly, after having completed the rough draft, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and two weeks later with leukemia. Over night my world fell apart. There followed a period of 10 months during which I could not mentally, physically or emotionally work on this book to edit, rewrite, and add the finishing touches. During that period of time, Loretta not only was my wife but also my nurse, friend, encourager, and prayer warrior. Doctor after doctor told me it was very important to have a positive attitude. Without Loretta being there constantly by my side I’m not sure I would have succeeded in that goal. It was a faith struggle and at times my faith suffered badly. Loretta always had an encouraging word and did her utmost to lift me up and point me again in the right direction. Later when I started to develop a desire to write more poetry, I wrote the following poem to express my love and appreciation.

A WORD OF THANKS

Just a very hearty thank you,

To the girl I did woo,

For a most wonderful life,

As my friend and my wife.

Through sickness and through health,

She contributed to our wealth.

Working hard at various jobs,

That didn’t pay her gobs.

When I became sick,

She was there very quick,

Caring as best as she knew how,

Living up to her wedding vow.

In the morning she does sing.

Filling the air with a joyous ring.

Not only in the good times,

Nor to make any dimes.

Three children she did raise.

All to her honor and praise.

Instilling in them the need,

To give their best to the deed.

My shyness she did waylay.

She did it without delay.

Teaching me to reach out,

To those who were round about.

She was there by my side,

Wherever we did abide.

Not only in the rich place,

But wherever was our space.

She stays in touch with all.

Through writing, email or call.

Her banter is a string,

So to each other we do cling.

So Lori I say thank you.

For doing what you do.

For others making life better,

Even if only writing a letter.

There is a special group we want to remember. During my illness there were prayer warriors around the planet who where bombarding Heaven twenty-four hours a day requesting my healing. Needless to say, knowing they were there praying did a lot to keep me from falling into depression and just plain giving up. Loretta and prayer warriors this book honors you as my way of saying thanks.

PREFACE

The world’s wealth is in plain view.

But the world has no clue.

It looks at it with a blind eye.

And decides it is a big lie.

It is of course the Word of God,

Toward which the world gives no nod.

It’s of more value than the world knows.

Helping us to defeat all our foes.

It gives us promises that are great,

If our sins we do berate.

Precious promises that we can trust.

They certainly will never go to rust.

With this volume it’s my desire,

For God to set the world on fire.

To give to us some common sense,

For the world’s thinking is way too dense.

Jesus is the answer to the problems of man.

If only His Word we would not ban.

He came to us from Heaven above,

To show us God’s tremendous love.

Wake up old world from your sleep.

You’re over your head way too deep.

Receiving and sharing God’s great love,

Will cover your problems like a glove.

Section One

The Four Gospels

John The Baptist

 (Luke 1:5-25)

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Important to the Israelites was the religious laws.

They had to be kept without any flaws.

The priests were broken into groups.

Each in turn served as the laws troops.

Zacharias a priest in one of the groups,

Was a faithful servant preventing the law to droop.

Chosen by lot he daily the incense would burn.

There came a special day when doing his turn.

An angel appeared to him in the holy place.

Announcing his wife Elizabeth would have a happy face,

For she would give birth to John, a special person on earth.

He would be anointed with the Holy Spirit at his birth.

Zecharias doubted the angel and ended in a tangle.

He was made mute and not a word could he mangle.

He and Elizabeth were well along in years.

This was a way the message was made clear.

When he conveyed the message to Elizabeth by written word,

She immediately began to praise the Lord.

For five months she stayed inside worshipping God.

She had previously felt rejected and more worthless than a rod.