Judgement / obedience

Remaining in God’s Love Part 2

John 15.9-10 warns us to remain in Jesus’ love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love,image just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

If I must remain in God’s love am I not working my way to heaven, the antithesis of orthodox Christianity? Of course not for we cannot even know God until He reveals Himself to us. God must draw us to Himself for us to have a relationship with Him. In addition, He must supply the power and Person we need to remain in that relationship. (more…)

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November 10, 2015
Judgement / obedience

Remaining in God’s Love Part 1

John 15.9-10 warns us to remain in Jesus’ love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, imagejust as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

It seems odd to hear God command us to remain in His love. We presume that we just always remain in His love without effort or thought on our part. After all, God so loved the world He gave Himself in His Son to reconcile us to Himself.

Why then would I need to remain in His love since He already loves me? Indeed God loves everyone but the experience of His love occurs only in a relationship with Him through Jesus. (more…)

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November 9, 2015
Judgement / obedience / Titus

Why We Need to Read the Bible

Titus 1.16 observes they claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, A Call to Worship and Obediencedisobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

How can anyone know God? Conversely, if there really is a God doesn’t it makes sense He would want us to know Him?

Assuming God would want us to know Him then the answer to how can we know God is simple: read the book He has given to us describing Himself and His requirements for us. Simple enough, but which one? (more…)

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November 2, 2015
heaven / Judgement / money

Building Heavenly Treasure Part 2

1 Timothy 6.19 promises, in this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for imagesthe coming age. God encourages us to create and store treasure for ourselves in heaven. Think of it as the ultimate retirement savings account.

To earn heavenly treasure we have to think in the economics of heaven. We also have to choose which priority we will live for: short term this life existence or long term eternal life existence.

God warns us we cannot love money and God: we will focus on accumulating either the treasure of this world or the treasure of the world to come. In the passage today God lists additional means for us to accumulate heavenly treasure besides working at reconciling people to Jesus as Savior of the world. (more…)

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October 28, 2015
Prayer

Aligning our Prayer with God’s Purpose

Matthew 26.39 records, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, My Father, if it is possible, imagemay this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.

The goal of our prayer should be for the wisdom and strength to do God’s will. True prayer seeks God for the resources to do God’s will because doing His will always exceeds our resources.

God promises to always be with those who do His will because we need Him to complete His will. (more…)

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October 27, 2015
heaven / Judgement / obedience / Theology

Truth Hurts

2 Thessalonians 2:10 observes, they perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.image

Truth hurts. Most of us don’t really like the truth because it has a nasty way of disagreeing with the way we want things to be.

Truth is not swayed by our will or wishes; it doesn’t change because we cry or scream. We become deceitful and lie in order to create an illusion of truth so that we get what we want.

God says He is truth. (more…)

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October 21, 2015
evangelism / obedience

End Times or Bad Times?

Matthew 16.4 describes a wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given itimage except the sign of Jonah.

There are many in the Christian camp who believe we are close to the ‘end times.’

This belief has been prevalent in Christianity since its inception almost, the Apostle Paul discusses this issue in his letter to the Thessalonians who seemed to have quit working so they could stand around and watch for Jesus to return. Paul rebuked such behavior. (more…)

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October 16, 2015
Christian Living / heaven / Judgement / obedience / Theology

Believe, Receive and Cleave to Get to Heaven

Colossians 2:6 commands, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in imagesHim. What makes a person a Christian?

The debate has long raged because unlike all of the other religions, there are no ‘3 steps’ to making oneself a Christian. There are however 3 principles that if not evident in our lives should cause us much concern about our belief that we truly are Christians. (more…)

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October 14, 2015
Christian Living

God Wants to Give Power

Ephesians 1:19 promises His incomparably great power for us who believe.image

Power, most everyone wants it but few have ever managed having it well.

God promises power to His people, at least that is what the Apostle prays God’s church would know and understand.

The power God wants His people to experience is the same power that God exhibited when He raised Himself in Jesus from the dead. What is His power for? (more…)

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October 1, 2015
Christian Living / heaven / Judgement

What does Freedom Really Mean?

Galatians 5.1 declares it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Freedom to the Apostle, to God, does imagenot mean the same thing as we use the word freedom to mean.

We use freedom to mean doing anything we want without constraint. This was the freedom our forefathers wanted when they rebelled against God because they didn’t want to submit to His one limitation for their lives.

We continue to want this freedom over our lives; no rules, no constraint, no God. (more…)

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September 29, 2015