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…)
1 John 4.21 is clear, The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people.
You’ve got to love both.
It is absolutely amazing to me that the Creator has so completely intertwined His command to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, with the command to love our neighbor as our self. This command of God is entirely unique to Christianity among all religions in the world, now or ever. (more…)
Hosea 4.8 observes, you can’t tell the people from the priests, the priests from the people. I’m on My
way to make them both pay and take the consequences of the bad lives they’ve lived.
One of the major doctrinal shifts that came out of the Reformation is the empowerment of all Christians to live and serve God as priests – the priesthood of all believers. This teaching throughout the New Testament and modeled by God in Jesus whose twelve disciples were not from the religious class but from the working class, was finally implemented during the Reformation after a long hiatus beginning around 300AD. (more…)
1 Corinthians 3.1-3 observes, I’m completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and
with God. You’re acting like infants in relation to Christ, capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I’ll nurse you since you don’t seem capable of anything more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything’s going your way?
Selfishness and self-centeredness are the signs of immaturity in the Christian life. Immaturity runs rampant in the Church. We are hard pressed not to find an overabundance of selfishness and self-centeredness among those who claim Jesus as Savior. (more…)
Hebrews 13.16 observes, God takes particular pleasure in acts of
worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.
Following Jesus means living where He is, following Him to where He goes, and being with Him where He is active. God is not occupied with or limited to temples, though He may visit on occasion, rather He is a friend of sinners. (more…)
Matthew 5.14-16 teaches us, God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a
city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
God is not a secret to be kept. A popular song echoes this refrain. The key to sharing Him with others is living as light-bearers and being transparent before others. (more…)
John 3.3 records Jesus replying, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he
cannot see the kingdom of God.”
In the 1970’s the evangelical Christian Church spoke much about being born again. So much, that those words began to create negative emotions toward the Church and it’s Christ. Yet, being born again or born from above or being born of the Spirit is what God in human form, Jesus, stated was required for entering into His eternal dwelling place. Why? (more…)
2 Chronicles 12.14 observes, he did evil because he was not determined to follow the LORD.
This past weekend I noticed some friends on Facebook taking a quiz that determined whether or not they would get to heaven. They all succeeded to earn their hoped for destination having their good deeds outstrip their sins by more than ten fold. No doubt this quiz was meant to be fun but it reinforces a couple of subtle but widely held beliefs. (more…)
1 Peter 4.2 observes, he spends the rest of his time on earth concerned about the will of God and not
human desires.
The focus of the Christian is to be the same focus as Jesus Christ the Lord. That focus is upon doing the will of God regardless of result or cost.
As humans we begin our lives self-focused. Everything is about us from infancy. The child portrays this truth early and often. We never evolve from this focus if we do not lose our lives by giving them over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This is why He observes that, unless we lose our lives for Him and His mission, we cannot keep them for eternal life. (more…)
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