heaven / obedience

Who is Going to Heaven?

Matthew 22.14 reports, many are called, but few are chosen.

Who God is and Who we think He is are often in-congruent. What we expect God to do or be like often conflicts with how He acts or describes Himself in the Bible.

Bible reading and study is the critical discipline necessary for aligning our opinion of God most closely to the true nature, character and ways of God. Today’s verse is a case in point over Who God really is and what we normally think God is like. (more…)

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July 12, 2017
Christian Living / evangelism / obedience / Uncategorized

Are We Focused on God’s Interests?

Matthew 16.23 observes, He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.”

What are God’s interests? Do we really believe God has interests? Do we think those interests are simply that we be good?

The size of our god will determine the belief we have in that god’s interest in our life and in the world. If our god is small, distant and aloof, then that god will have only a minor interest in the world and what is going on. If our god is small then he will only be concerned with our moral behavior, setting the standard at our doing our best to be good. (more…)

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July 6, 2017
Prayer

How Can We Pray More Effectively?

Matthew 6.8 observes, your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. So why pray?

Knowing everything is an integral character quality for being God. Since God knows everything why should I pray? The God-Man, Jesus the Savior, makes this observation. So why pray?

We really can’t help but pray. We will pray. Everyone prays. We don’t have to live long on this earth before realizing we need someone greater than ourselves to be in control and to gain control of this world. In our darkest hours all people pray. (more…)

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June 27, 2017
Judgement / obedience

What We Do Proves What We Believe

Matthew 3.8 commands. produce fruit that proves your repentance.

To the religious, to those who think they are approved by God, to those who know they are ‘right’ theologically; God says, ‘produce fruit that proves your repentance.’ This command is offensive because we like to be measured on our knowledge and intentions rather than the result of our actions.

Indeed, this command was offensive to the religious leaders who first heard it. (more…)

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June 23, 2017
evangelism / obedience

God’s Marketing Department

Deuteronomy 18.18 promises, I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command.

This promise has already been literally fulfilled. It is one of more than 300 promises Jesus fulfilled making Him the unequivocal option for Messiah the Jews have always longed for. However, what this promise communicates and what Jesus communicated, is that God is committed to using people for marketing His Personal reality and His ultimate destiny for humanity. (more…)

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June 13, 2017
heaven / Judgement / obedience

What Does God Want? LOVE

Deuteronomy 10.12 declares, what does the LORD your God require of you except to revere Him, to obey all His commandments, to love Him, to serve Him with all your mind and being.

Repeatedly the Bible makes clear what we must do if we are to pass successfully the judgement to come. So many assume they will argue with God about His standards upon meeting Him face to face in order to justify their behavior while they lived upon the earth. How ludicrous. God holds all of the cards. Why should He change His standards upon meeting us? (more…)

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June 6, 2017
Theology

Jesus is God

John 14.9 records, the person who has seen Me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Jesus is the only ‘prophet’ Who claimed to be God. It was this claim that made Him so hard to believe in by those who lived with Him during His three years of ministry. All of us would no doubt similarly struggle were a friend we had known for 30 years suddenly leave his skilled trade to enter ministry claiming to be God. It really wasn’t until His resurrection from the dead that the disciples finally ‘believed.’ (more…)

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June 1, 2017
heaven / Judgement

What’s the Worst That Could Happen?

John 5.14 records, after this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, lest anything worse happen to you.”

What could be worse than being paralyzed for 38 years? What could be worse than living in a prison while watching everyone else around you enjoy freedom? Jesus found this prisoner and asked him if he wanted to get well. (more…)

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May 23, 2017
Judgement / obedience / Prayer / Suffering

Christianity is a Marathon and not a Sprint

Hebrews 10.36 encourages, you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised.

Endurance is one of those qualities we admire in others but struggle to manifest in ourselves. We see the marathon runner and we marvel at their endurance then say they are crazy to train then run that kind of distance. We hear the testimony from the mountain climber and wonder what it would be like to stand on the top of the world only to hear of the cost and dismiss it as too hard.

Endurance is modeled by the few but desired by the many. (more…)

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May 6, 2017
obedience

The Purpose of Our Lives

Ecclesiastes 12.13 concludes, having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion: Fear God and keep his commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.

The Bible’s version of the wisest man in the world summarizes his study of the human condition with these words from Ecclesiastes. To summarize Solomon, the chief purpose of humanity is to fear God and obey His commands. Not very sexy. Not very exciting. Not really about me and my wants, needs or desires. Why might this be true regardless of how it makes me feel? (more…)

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April 25, 2017