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 16.8-9 observes, here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he
knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right —using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.
This passage has made Christians wonder for centuries. God praises a thief, a liar, an embezzler. What? (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…)
Luke 10.3 warns, On your way! But be careful—this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack.
I find it ironic our God would say, be careful. Our prayers are offered in hopes that we wouldn’t need to be careful, that He would be watching over us to protect us so that nothing bad happens to us. Isn’t that the point of our prayers? Especially, when the prayer and the work is centered around doing His will! (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…)
Judges 13.25 observes, The LORD’s spirit began to control him in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and
Eshtaol.
We all want the red pill, to know and have the power of the spiritual world in order to better engage this world; from the movie the Matrix.
We who know the frustration and defeat of trying to always please God but falling short, so long for the Holy Spirit to strongly come upon us so that we always do what God desires. The Scriptures record at least three men who were overtaken by the Spirit of God: Sampson in this verse, David who was a friend of God and Solomon who had wisdom greater than all men who have ever lived. (more…)
Matthew 28.16-17 observes, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain
Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw Him they worshiped Him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.
Shame, and similarly, fear of what people might think, are two cancers impacting greatly the Church, inhibiting its obedience to the mission assigned by Jesus to go into all the world and make disciples, teaching people everywhere to obey His commands. (more…)
Jeremiah 13.8-11 mourns, GOD explained, “This is the way I am going to ruin the pride of Judah and
the great pride of Jerusalem—a wicked bunch of people who won’t obey me, who do only what they want to do, who chase after all kinds of no-gods and worship them. They’re going to turn out as rotten as these old shorts. Just as shorts clothe and protect, so I kept the whole family of Israel under my care— GOD ’s Decree—so that everyone could see they were my people, a people I could show off to the world and be proud of. But they refused to do a thing I said.
God’s description of Israel is certainly apropos to many in the Church today. We don’t obey God, we do what we want to do, we chase after and worship no-gods. (more…)
Matthew 21.43 observes, This is the way it is with you. God’s kingdom will be taken back from you and
handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life.
The kingdom life is given to kingdom livers. We do not possess what we do not possess. We do not keep by promise what we do not live by faith. The Father expects His children to live as sons and daughters of God. So what does it mean to live a kingdom life? (more…)
Joshua 5.14 observes, Joshua fell, face to the ground, and worshiped. He asked, What orders does my
Master have for His servant?
When we encounter God our response to Him is simple, what would you have me to do? It’s not complicated really. He is God, our Creator, our Sustainer, the One Who brought us into His world and allows us to live upon it. If we chaff at this idea of responding to God humbly and obediently it is because we are poor in at least two areas. (more…)
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