Christian Living / faith / obedience

The Key to Serving God

Exodus 6.30 records Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh imageslisten to me?”

Moses is certainly one of the great saints but he wasn’t flawless. Moses began serving God the way most of us do; he measured his ability by the size of the task and counted himself inadequate.

If we are serious about God, His will and His work, we find it daunting. If we are honest about ourselves we find our capacity to obey His will and complete His work beyond our current assets. (more…)

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February 23, 2015
evangelism / heaven / Judgement

Are WE on a Mission?

Acts 20:26 comments I am innocent of the blood of any of you.images

The Apostle Paul understood completely his mission to tell others about God’s offer of a pardon to all of humanity through Jesus His Son for all the evil humanity has ever done against God. Paul remembered the warning God gave to the prophet Ezekiel about failure to not warn Israel of approaching judgment.

God intended to hold Ezekiel accountable for faithfully declaring His command to repent lest the people perish without opportunity to make amends with God. Paul understood that God, by entrusting His message to His people of forgiveness through Jesus, held the same expectations for Christians as He had for Ezekiel. (more…)

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January 20, 2015
Christian Living

Happiness or Joy

Acts 16:34 describes he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God.image

What’s the difference between being happy and having joy?

I would suggest happiness is a result of circumstances and joy is the result of attitude. Feelings tell me whether I am happy or not but conviction tells me I have joy.

Interestingly, God promises joy but not happiness. (more…)

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January 16, 2015
evangelism / Judgement / obedience

Drawing a Line in the Sand

Matthew 12:30 observes whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Meimage scatters.

On occasion in the gospels, Jesus, God Who has become man, throws down the gauntlet and demands we choose sides. This passage is one of those times when Jesus invites us to separate ourselves into wheat or chaff.

What does it mean for us when God demands we choose but we refuse to even engage the discussion? (more…)

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January 12, 2015
Christian Living / Judgement / money / obedience

Pursuing Treasure

Matthew 6:19 commands ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.’images

When God lived among us He said, ‘do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth.’ We need to read that again slowly, thinking carefully about His words. God said, ‘do not store up treasures on earth.’

Yet most of us ignore Him. We are like the Israelites we read about in the Bible who constantly ignore God’s commands so we find ourselves shaking our heads at their disobedience and subsequent negative consequences. (more…)

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January 6, 2015
Christian Living

Our Gift to God

Matthew 2:11 records they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincenseimages and myrrh.

The Christmas story ends with pagan god believers giving gifts to Him Who is the One True God.

As we prepare for a new year, what gift will we who love God offer Him?

At one level, we are free from the burden of having to come up with some sort of elaborate offering to appease our God. Our God is not so vain that He requires gold, silver or any other material thing for He Himself needs nothing from anyone. (more…)

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January 2, 2015
Christian Living / evangelism / obedience

God’s goal for 2015

Malachi 2:6 describes he passed on to the people all the truth he got from me. He did not lie or cheat; he walked with me, living a good and righteous life, and turned many from their lives of sin.images

In this description of one of God’s favorite people, Levi, He is describing the role of the priest. At least among the Protestants, the belief is held that all Christians are now priests. The tribe of Levi has been replaced with the Spirit filled people of God who walk by faith and obedience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. (more…)

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December 29, 2014
Christian Living

Being a Good Example

John 5:17 records “My Father constantly does good, and I’m following His example.”images

Whoever claims to live in Christ must walk as Jesus did the beloved Apostle John wrote in his first letter to the church. How did God the Son walk? He followed the example of God the Father.

How should we as the children live? We should follow the example of God the Son. Simple really but not easy for the requirement of putting others first before ourselves is immensely difficult and to know what Jesus did we must be students of Who Jesus is.

God in Jesus set before us the example of seeking God the Father diligently through the Scriptures and through prayer. (more…)

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December 15, 2014
Christian Living / obedience

True Love

Revelation 2:5 Think about those times of your first love (how different now!) and turn back to Me again and work as you did imagebefore; or else..

While we all have felt love we all know that love is doing more than feeling.

In romantic love the feelings are overwhelming and they cause us to do many acts of good toward the one we love. When those feelings diminish over time too often the acts diminish as well sometimes resulting in a termination of the relationship.

God describes love in a couple of different ways. (more…)

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December 11, 2014
Christian Living / Prayer

Why Pray?

Luke 18:1 declares Jesus told His disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must imagekeep praying until the answer comes.

Prayer is a mystery to most of us and therefore a difficult thing for us to consistently engage. On the one hand we think God knows everything so why should we pray?

Because God told us to pray doesn’t help us become more motivated to pray, we need a more compelling answer to our question. Because God modeled a life of prayer doesn’t help us either, we tend to dismiss some of Jesus’ activity because He is God and we don’t believe we have any chance of measuring up to Him anyway.

So why pray if God already knows everything anyway? (more…)

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December 5, 2014