Psalm 107.2 declares, let those delivered by the LORD speak out, those whom He delivered from the
power of the enemy.
Who is the enemy? The enemy of all humanity? Death.
Only one God promises deliverance from death to ALL who humble themselves and follow Him. Only one God proved His ability to deliver on His promise by Himself rising from the dead after men were convinced of their killing Him on a cross. (more…)
2 Corinthians 4.2 encourages, by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s
conscience before God.
What do non Christians expect from Christians? Certainly a virtue or morality that is different from everyone else. This would include honesty, compassion, love, hard work, and thoughtfulness. While no one lives perfectly, thus each of us demonstrates our need for God’s forgiveness, those who claim to follow Jesus are expected and even commanded, to live like He lived. (more…)
Hebrews 11.2 observes, for by it the people of old received God’s commendation.
The ‘it’ in this sentence is faith. There is a faith that God commends. In Part I we began to explore the faith that God rewards as we looked at the lives of the hero’s of the faith listed in Hebrews 11. Picking up where we left off: (more…)
1 Samuel 15.22 warns, does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as he does in obedience? Certainly, obedience is better than sacrifice; paying attention is better than the fat of rams.
If you slowly read this verse and soak in it’s meaning, doesn’t it make sense that if there really is a God this is exactly how He would be? Doesn’t it make sense that if there really is a God He couldn’t be fooled by our religion into thinking we were good? Neither would religious activities truly make a person good if the normal activities of their life were evil. Wouldn’t obedience to God seem to make the most sense as to what God really requires? (more…)
Romans 12.2 commands, do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good and
well-pleasing and perfect.
Nearly everyone wants to know God’s will for their life. When thinking about this matter we usually place the onus of our ignorance upon God instead of ourselves. We think because we asked but didn’t hear it’s His fault for not communicating with us. What if He responded but we didn’t hear so He will tell us its our fault for not doing His will? (more…)
Mathew 24.38 describes, in those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark.
I had the recent pleasure of visiting the life size Ark built to replicate the one described in the Bible. God had Noah build an ark for saving his family and an animal remnant from God’s judgement of the entire earth for its rebellion against Him. It’s amazing the size while inside are descriptions and replications for how Noah might have housed, fed, watered and removed the waste of all the animals. (more…)
Judges 14.17 describes, she cried on his shoulder until the party was almost over. Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much. Then she told the young men the solution
to the riddle.
Nagging has a way of wearing us down. That explains why children use it most often because it is so effective at moving their parents to give them their way. God rewards faithfulness and even warns that only those who remain so until the end will be rewarded. Faithful until what end? Ours or the world’s I suppose. (more…)
Judges 3.2 describes, God left those nations simply because He wanted to teach the subsequent
generations of Israelites, who had not experienced the earlier battles, how to conduct holy war.
The idea of holy war is not a very positive one today. While it’s quite an old concept the Muslims have made the idea immensely unpalatable. The Muslim version of holy war involves using women, children and the handicapped, in addition to men without other options for gaining heaven, through the means of suicide, for accomplishing their objectives. Their holy war is the destruction of the infidel or the conversion of the infidel through terror and fear. The god they serve is abusive, terrible and unattractive in every way. Yet holy war predates Islam. (more…)
Acts 5.41 records, they left the council rejoicing because they had been considered worthy to suffer
dishonor for the sake of the name.
The Church was able to grow from a handful of believers in Jesus into a world wide religion because it has been willing to suffer dishonor for the proclamation of Jesus as the only God and Savior of the world. When the Church has lost influence it has been the result of those who profess Jesus as Savior privately being afraid to do so publicly lest they suffer for proclaiming His ways. (more…)
Matthew 22.14 reports, many are called, but few are chosen.
Who God is and Who we think He is are often in-congruent. What we expect God to do or be like often conflicts with how He acts or describes Himself in the Bible.
Bible reading and study is the critical discipline necessary for aligning our opinion of God most closely to the true nature, character and ways of God. Today’s verse is a case in point over Who God really is and what we normally think God is like. (more…)
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