How Much Do You Really Love Jesus?
John 18.16-17 records,…
John 16.33 records, I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have
suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.
Be courageous. What does this mean for us as Christians? How about, be willing to identify with Jesus before men regardless of what they might do to us, but especially when they persecute us. They persecuted Jesus, Himself God, when He lived among us. Why did they persecute Him? (more…)
Galatians 1.10 asks, am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I
were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Paul identifies the root cause of our problem in the America Church. The culture has become increasingly distant from the person, character and work of Jesus Christ. The culture has now reached the place of hostility toward the Church. (more…)
2 Corinthians 12.9 records, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.
Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.
No one wants to be weak. everyone wants to be strong. We despise weakness and we worship strength. Yet the strongest of all, the greatest display of strength ever, we doubt, we ignore and we make little effort to worship, serve or obey Him Who demonstrated this great strength. What is that greatest of all strengths displayed? (more…)
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…)
Romans 7.19-20 observes, I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not
want to do. Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me.
There are some who claim that as Christians it is possible for us to no longer sin. I do not adhere to this belief. While I have been declared dead to sin and am recognized as such by God, it is not the presence of sin that is dead in me but the consequences of sin that is no longer condemning me and the power of sin over me has been broken. (more…)
Matthew 24.12 describes, because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.
Disobedience to God leads to dishonor of men. It is only the One True God Who commands humanity to love our neighbor as ourselves. The false gods of the world’s numerous religions consistently allow certain groups of humans to justifiably kill other humans. (more…)
Acts 15.4 observes, when they arrived at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles,
and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.
There should be among Christians, an expectation, that the people of God accomplish something of the work of God. There certainly is such expectation by God Himself which will become clear to us on that day when we stand before Him, to be rewarded for the works we have accomplished for His purposes while we lived upon this earth. (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…)