2 Corinthians 5.6 observes, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body
we are away from the Lord.
Paul is speaking about our physical body though he is encouraging us about our future body. Paul reminds us that while we live on earth we are not at home with the Lord. Our true destiny, our true residence, our true happiness, is with Jesus where He is living bodily; with Him forever. (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…)
1 John 4.21 is clear, The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people.
You’ve got to love both.
It is absolutely amazing to me that the Creator has so completely intertwined His command to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, with the command to love our neighbor as our self. This command of God is entirely unique to Christianity among all religions in the world, now or ever. (more…)
James 2.1 commands, my dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious,
Christ-originated faith.
What is the public opinion of Christianity? For too many it is seen as a constraint upon societal behavior. Why is this so? (more…)
2 Kings 13.22-24 records, Hazael king of Aram badgered and bedeviled Israel all through the reign of
Jehoahaz. But GOD was gracious and showed mercy to them. He stuck with them out of respect for his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He never gave up on them, never even considered discarding them, even to this day. Hazael king of Aram died. His son Ben-Hadad was the next king.
The world has no idea how fortunate we are that God is good. Seriously, if God were really evil think of how awful our lives would really be. (more…)
2 Corinthians 13.5-9 challenges, test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along
taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won’t show that we have failed.
In every endeavor where we measure performance we test. From academia to sports to the lab we test in order to determine strength, truth or ability. In Christianity, we tend not to test. (more…)
2 Samuel 16.11-12 describes, my own son, my flesh and bone, is right now trying to kill me; compared
to that this Benjaminite is small potatoes. Don’t bother with him; let him curse; he’s preaching GOD ’s word to me. And who knows, maybe GOD will see the trouble I’m in today and exchange the curses for something good.
David was immensely humble before God. He saw life’s circumstances as being part of God’s plan for his life – whether good or bad. David had received many good promises from God and many great evidences of God’s favor toward him. These things always took place in the midst of trouble and difficulty. (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…)
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…)
Judges 21.25 records, at that time there was no king in Israel. People did whatever they felt like doing.
There really was a King in Israel, the problem is that He was and is invisible. The invisible King, which also really isn’t true, a better description would be bodiless, for His handiwork is everywhere if we have eyes to see.
The bodiless King is slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness which gives the allusion that our sins are being ignored since the consequences for our disobedience are not immediate. All of this: the invisible King and delayed consequences, resulted in everyone doing what was right in their own eyes. (more…)
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