Acts 14.22 reports, strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by 
telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”
When we preach the gospel we promise people their lives will get better not harder. We want success in our ask not commitment to our offer. We get people to pray with us but few walk with us. We are doing it wrong. (more…)
Hebrews 1.8-9 describes, God the Father saying to the Son, You’re God, and on the throne for good;
Your rule makes everything right. You love it when things are right; You hate it when things are wrong. That is why God, Your God, poured fragrant oil on Your head, marking You out as king, far above Your dear companions.
This country was founded by people who were seeking a place to worship God as they believed best, free from government rules and regulations, in order to live lives pleasing to Him. So many came and so many worshiped Him in so many different ways. The one common denominator among them was their focus upon Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Daniel 9.15-17 laments, Master, you are our God, for you delivered your people from the land of Egypt
in a show of power—people are still talking about it! We confess that we have sinned, that we have lived bad lives….We know it’s our fault that this has happened, all because of our sins and our parents’ sins, and now we’re an embarrassment to everyone around us. We’re a blot on the neighborhood….Act out of Who You are, not out of what we are.
Daniel read God’s word so he could know God’s will, then he prayed for God’s people to be restored to God’s will as described in God’s word. Daniel understood from God’s word that God’s people were disobedient to God’s will which explained their current calamity. (more…)
Joshua 4.23-24 observes, Yes, GOD, your God, dried up the Jordan’s waters for you until you had 
crossed, just as GOD, your God, did at the Red Sea, which had dried up before us until we had crossed. This was so that everybody on earth would recognize how strong GOD ’s rescuing hand is and so that you would hold GOD in solemn reverence always.
Holding God in solemn reverence always. What exactly does that mean? It certainly means honoring Him. How do we honor God? (more…)
Exodus 19.5-6 describes, the whole Earth is Mine to choose from, but you’re special: a kingdom of 
priests, a holy nation. This is what I want you to tell the People of Israel.
We all want to be chosen. The more important the person who chooses us the greater the feeling of significance to us. The most important person of all is God. To be chosen by God is the greatest feeling of all. (more…)
Mark 15. 37-39 observes, Jesus, with a loud cry, gave His last breath. At that moment the Temple curtain ripped right down the middle. When the Roman captain standing guard in front of Him saw that He had
quit breathing, he said, This has to be the Son of God!
Christians recognize the significance of the temple curtain being torn down the middle. The curtain was used to separate the holy of Holies from the holy place. The priests went daily to the holy place but only annually into the holy of Holies. It was in the holy of Holies that God ‘dwelt’ being present in the ark of the covenant that existed there as the reminder of God’s law and God’s judgement. (more…)
Mathew 12.30 observes, this is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on My side, you’re the
enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.
The universe is at war. We see the minor conflicts of man against man. God sees the major conflicts of devils against angels and devils against men who war against God and His servants. This war is greater because its casualties are greater. (more…)
Jonah 2.8 observes, those who worship worthless idols forfeit the mercy that could be theirs.
It appears offensive to some for others to claim that there is only one God in the universe. It makes sense that only one God exists. If there were two gods wouldn’t they battle it out to see who really was GOD? The definition of the word assumes supremacy over all.
Religion is the access point to God. False religions lead to false gods. Offense occurs when a person’s religion is deemed false. (more…)
Psalm 101.8 describes, each morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land, and remove all 
evildoers from the city of the LORD.
David was a man deeply committed to the ways of God. At least initially. His commitment was so serious that God described him, ‘as a man after His own heart.’ For God to consider a man like Him in desire, will and way is the greatest compliment anyone could receive. Yet, David imploded. (more…)
Matthew 24.12 observes, because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold.
It’s hard to do good when everyone else is doing wrong. Its hard to do good when everyone else seems to be advocating doing bad.
Our hearts and minds are shaped by someone or something. If we saturate ourselves with Bible reading, listening, memorizing and meditating we will think about things more like God thinks about things. If we listen mostly to the radio, internet and television while attending public schools and working in a secular environment we will think and thus act, more like those around us. (more…)
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