2 Corinthians 13.5 challenges, test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do
you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless you fail the test.
What does it look like to see Jesus Christ in us? The simple answer seems to be that His character and His purpose would be demonstrated by us if He truly lived within us. So what did His character and purpose look like? (more…)
Luke 6.26 warns, woe to you when all people speak well of you, for this is the way their ancestors used
to treat the false prophets.
Most people would think God wants us to be the kind of people that others speak well about. Most Christians strive for this type of ‘witness.’ Indeed, no one should be able to say to those in Christ that we do things that Christ would not do. Those who claim to be Christians must live as Jesus did. (more…)
Matthew 10.22 promises, you will be hated by everyone because of My name. But the one who endures
to the end will be saved.
This section contains one of God’s most stern warnings to us about His expectation from us to serve Him as witnesses of His work in the world through Jesus the Savior. He reminds us that we are to share Him with others but warns that in sharing Him we will suffer for Him, for even those in our own household will reject the Lordship of Jesus. (more…)
Matthew 2.16 remembers, Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew
into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.
The age old question of why bad things happen to good people is never answered satisfactorily to those suffering. The Bible has a clear explanation but men find it unpalatable for it makes men responsible for all the suffering in the world that has ever been. (more…)
Revelation 22.12-13 promises, I’m on my way! I’ll be there soon! I’m bringing my payroll with me.
I’ll pay all people in full for their life’s work. I’m A to Z, the First and the Final, Beginning and Conclusion.
What will God pay men for? What is the product or service of which He is interested? Is He not God, the Creator of all things and thus the owner of all things? (more…)
1 Chronicles 28-9-10 commands, Solomon my son, get to know well your father’s God; serve Him with
a whole heart and eager mind, for GOD examines every heart and sees through every motive. If you seek Him, He’ll make sure you find Him, but if you abandon Him, He’ll leave you for good. Look sharp now! GOD has chosen you to build His holy house. Be brave, determined! And do it!
This is Old Testament language to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as our self by going and making disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded us, beginning with our own household. (more…)
Matthew 9.13 records, I’m after mercy, not religion. I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.
This ‘harsh’ word from God should cause us to pause and consider the importance of His message recorded for us so that we can know Him and do His will. God in Jesus is warning us, challenging us, seeking to penetrate our worldview so that we reconsider our ways and realign our priorities.
What does it mean to coddle? (more…)
1 Corinthians 15.58 invites, don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident
that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.
This is our mission, the Great Commission. We are to conduct this mission with our whole heart, throwing ourselves into this work, knowing that eternal reward awaits when we face our God and give account for the life we lived on this earth. (more…)
1 Corinthians 9.19-23 records, even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I
have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!
The purpose of the Christian life, the work we are to do, is to win people to Christ in order for God to accomplish His purpose of not seeing anyone perish but for all to come to eternal life. (more…)
Luke 12.8-9 commands, stand up for Me among the people you meet and the Son of Man will stand up for you before all God’s angels. But if you pretend you don’t know Me, do you think I’ll defend you
before God’s angels?
One of the evidences for the truth of Scripture, that the Lord alone is God and that Jesus is the God-Man, the only Savior of the world, is the difficulty we have in identifying with Him before men. (more…)
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