God Wants Our Commitment Not Our Comfort

Matthew 9.13 records, I’m after mercy, not religion. I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.

This ‘harsh’ word from God should cause us to pause and consider the importance of His message recorded for us so that we can know Him and do His will. God in Jesus is warning us, challenging us, seeking to penetrate our worldview so that we reconsider our ways and realign our priorities.

What does it mean to coddle? (more…)

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The Goal Of Christianity

Galatians 4.19 comments, Do you know how I feel right now, and will feel until Christ’s life becomes visible in your lives?

The key phrase here is ‘until Christ’s life becomes visible in your lives.’ This is the goal of God in the development of our character. We are to bear the fruit of the Spirit, doing the work of Jesus, in the way of Jesus, for the glory of God and the welfare of humanity. What does this look like? (more…)

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The Key To A Healthy Church

2 Corinthians 2.9-11, reminds us, the focus of my letter wasn’t on punishing the offender but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church. So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don’t think I’m carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact is that I’m joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us. After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief—we’re not oblivious to his sly ways!

The health of the church is the responsibility of each of the members. The key to church health is each member seeing themselves as having an ownership interest. How does a church remain, become and develop it’s health? By living according to God’s Word. (more…)

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How Hard Are You Working?

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…)

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Does Dishonor of God Really Bother Us?

Ezekiel 9.3-4 describes, the Glory of the God of Israel ascended from His usual place above the cherubim-angels, moved to the threshold of the Temple, and called to the man with the writing case who was dressed in linen: Go through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the forehead of everyone who is in anguish over the outrageous obscenities being done in the city.

How many people would be marked by God today who grieve over the dishonor so prevalent against God in our society? So many grumble about the lawlessness. So many shake their heads at the violence but who is in anguish over the godlessness we see in the news daily? (more…)

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The Best Way For Gaining Influence

1 Corinthians 9.19-23 records, even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

The purpose of the Christian life, the work we are to do, is to win people to Christ in order for God to accomplish His purpose of not seeing anyone perish but for all to come to eternal life. (more…)

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Living as Wise as the Thief

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…)

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The Best Way to Love God and Love Our Neighbor

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…)

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Sharing Jesus With People Can Get You Hurt

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…)

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Receiving God’s Highest Payout

Revelation 22.12-13, records, Yes, I’m on my way! I’ll be there soon! I’m bringing my payroll with me. I’ll pay all people in full for their life’s work. I’m A to Z, the First and the Final, Beginning and Conclusion.

God has a payroll and He pays His people for their life’s work. Haven’t we already been paid for our work? Indeed, we have been paid for the work we have done for men. This is why men work, to receive their pay in order to have and do the things they really want. (more…)

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