John 14.31 reminds us that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what My Father
has commanded Me.
When Jesus was wrapping up His earthly visitation He summarized His work as a world-wide example of love. Love for the Father and love for the people of the world past, present and future was to be how His work is defined.
What did this love look like? (more…)
Habakkuk 2.13-14 asks, has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge
of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
God repeatedly warns us in the Bible that we cannot love God and money because our devotion will always be to one or the other of these two ‘masters.’ Too many Christians dabble in loving both. (more…)
Luke 8.14 explains the seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their
way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
Not too many Christians are happy with the current state of world affairs. Too much violence, too many corrupt people in high places, not enough economic growth and opportunities; unrest seems to be the norm.
What are the issues? The same ones that have plagued humanity from our beginning: selfishness, greed, power. (more…)
1 Chronicles 10:13-14 explains, Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.
Imagine being hand chosen by God to be the first king over His people. Pretty high honor. You would also think the vetting process would have been the best. Yet, like the first man created, Adam, this first king was a failure. (more…)
Proverbs 28.1 describes the righteous (being) as bold as a lion.
When we think of courage we think of near death experiences where some type of threat is about to take our lives but we somehow fight, resist or escape to avoid the intended result. We also think of those who went into such an event knowing they probably would not return and many didn’t. Our soldiers live in this category as do Christians who remain in hostile countries.
Certainly these are accurate descriptions of courage but maybe there is a more mundane description that all of us can and should embrace if we are going to live courageously. (more…)
Colossians 2:6 commands, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in
Him. What makes a person a Christian?
The debate has long raged because unlike all of the other religions, there are no ‘3 steps’ to making oneself a Christian. There are however 3 principles that if not evident in our lives should cause us much concern about our belief that we truly are Christians. (more…)
Ephesians 5:1-2 commands we become imitators of God, by walking in love.
Love is so hard and yet so easy. It is so hard to love others but so easy to love ourselves.
God is love. He loves everyone.
This belief is unique to Christianity and not shared by Muslims or Hindus. This is why they can murder mindlessly and keep people in oppressive Castes. (more…)
Ephesians 1:19 promises His incomparably great power for us who believe.
Power, most everyone wants it but few have ever managed having it well.
God promises power to His people, at least that is what the Apostle prays God’s church would know and understand.
The power God wants His people to experience is the same power that God exhibited when He raised Himself in Jesus from the dead. What is His power for? (more…)
Galatians 5.1 declares it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Freedom to the Apostle, to God, does
not mean the same thing as we use the word freedom to mean.
We use freedom to mean doing anything we want without constraint. This was the freedom our forefathers wanted when they rebelled against God because they didn’t want to submit to His one limitation for their lives.
We continue to want this freedom over our lives; no rules, no constraint, no God. (more…)
2 Corinthians 10:5 proclaims we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against
the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
We are in a war.
This war has been occurring since one man and one woman began living together in the perfect environment of Eden. This war is the war of ideas, the war of truth and lies, the war of trust leading to obedience or doubt leading to self preservation. (more…)
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