Acknowledging Jesus is the Key to Heaven

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…)

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Are You On God’s Payroll?

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…)

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The Great Commandment is Fulfilled by Doing The Great Commission

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…)

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Pursuing Success is Our Nature

1 Chronicles 22.12-13 promises, that’s what will make you successful, following the directions and doing the things that GOD commanded Moses for Israel. Courage! Take charge! Don’t be timid; don’t hold back.

Everyone wants success, or at least the results of success. Fame and fortune, that’s the goal of all humanity. Success is defined by the applause of men and the material possessions we have accumulated. The greater the audience, the more likes, the greater the person. The more stuff, the more adventures, the greater the person. (more…)

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God Wants Our Commitment Not Our Comfort

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…)

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How Hard Are You Working?

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…)

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Does Dishonor of God Really Bother Us?

Ezekiel 9.3-4 describes, the Glory of the God of Israel ascended from His usual place above the cherubim-angels, moved to the threshold of the Temple, and called to the man with the writing case who was dressed in linen: Go through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the forehead of everyone who is in anguish over the outrageous obscenities being done in the city.

How many people would be marked by God today who grieve over the dishonor so prevalent against God in our society? So many grumble about the lawlessness. So many shake their heads at the violence but who is in anguish over the godlessness we see in the news daily? (more…)

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The Best Way For Gaining Influence

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…)

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Living as Wise as the Thief

Luke 16.8-9 observes, here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right —using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.

This passage has made Christians wonder for centuries. God praises a thief, a liar, an embezzler. What? (more…)

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The Best Way to Love God and Love Our Neighbor

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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