Esther 4.16 comments, If I must die, I must die.
One of the heroes of the Bible is the young woman Esther. An oft quoted statement from the book in her memory is ‘perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this.’
The story of Esther is one of tragedy and triumph, of faith and courage, of God’s faithful work behind the scenes when people risk all for His purposes. (more…)
Acts 26.20 records Paul’s message to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do.
One of the knocks on Christianity is how easy it is to be ‘successful’ in the religion, if success is defined as going to heaven. All of the other religions require great effort and sacrifice if the adherent is going to earn their eternal reward but Christianity promotes itself as a free gift only to be received in order to become an eternal member. (more…)
Matthew 20.23 says, I have no right to say who will sit on My right or My left. My Father has prepared
those places for the ones He has chosen.
Men want to be great, and recognized as such, for as long as possible. Imagine being the number two or three person in an eternal kingdom.
Forever recognition of personal greatness. Its sort of what we have in a hall of fame except we can enjoy the recognition without ever dying! (more…)
Matthew 18.3 demands unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never
get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Many people are familiar with this requirement God gives for getting into heaven. The difficulty is understanding what it means.
Some extrapolate that it means we must be pure like little children. (more…)
Acts 13.39 observes everyone who believes in Him is declared right with God—something the law of 
Moses could never do.
The One True God has made entrance into His eternal dwelling place quite easy really: repent, believe and receive. Every other religion including atheism and agnosticism, are trying to accumulate enough good works so that God is forced to accept them. (more…)
Nehemiah 1.11 is the prayer; O Lord, please grant me success today by making the king favorable to
me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me. In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer.
Things were bad in Nehemiah’s day, real bad. The nation of Israel, the people of God, were no longer living free under their own rule but were disbursed and distributed to the nations around them to live as slaves and servants of their captors. But some still had hope in God. (more…)
2 Corinthians 13:5 commands test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you –unless indeed you fail the test?
A new year, a new beginning, a new opportunity for being more and doing more than we have ever done before. What should be our focus as we begin the new year? We instinctively know the answer to this question: God, family and work but not necessarily in this order. Yet this is indeed the order that matters most spiritually, emotionally and eternally.
Before we take a step forward we must assess where we are by looking backward. (more…)
John 14.31 reminds us that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what My Father 
has commanded Me.
When Jesus was wrapping up His earthly visitation He summarized His work as a world-wide example of love. Love for the Father and love for the people of the world past, present and future was to be how His work is defined.
What did this love look like? (more…)
2 Chronicles 16.9 promises the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose 
hearts are fully committed to Him.
This declaration was made by the prophet to the king of Judah who had just exhibited unfaithfulness to the Lord. How was he unfaithful? By not seeking God for help but looking to others to rescue him during his time of need.
Its normal for us to solve our own problems or seek help from others when those troubles are larger than our own resources. This kind of living is defined by God as being wise in our own eyes. (more…)
Zephaniah 1.7 observes the Lord has consecrated those He has invited.
Concern over the end of the world has been a fairly common issue for the people of God. When God lived among us and addressed this issue He said we should be less concerned about when that day will happen and more concerned with being ready when that day does happen.
While we may want to know when Jesus will return we can know if we are ready for His return. (more…)
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