In addressing different age levels in the church – this should not be understood in regard to physical age, but as to their spiritual maturity – they are commended for their progress in the Lord, 1 John 2:12-14. This is also an incentive to focus on and to continue in this growing maturing process, and […]
White and black, darkness and light, two of the sharpest contrasts we know. In Bible terminology light speaks of righteousness, and darkness of sin and evil. We cannot entertain both in our life at the same time, though it seems many are trying to do just that! As it is in the natural so it […]
Once again in John 15:5 we see that abiding in Jesus is a fruit bearing position, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.” A friend of mine one time said “As long as you are green you are growing; when you stop growing you are dead.” In verse 6 Jesus […]
In addition to being the only begotten Son of God and the Friend and Redeemer of sinners, Jesus was the greatest teacher to ever walk planet earth. He drew many illustrations from nature teaching spiritual lessons from where the people lived. In John 15:5 He used the grape vine; there are many branches to produce […]
Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Psalm 150:2 The Hebrew word here for “praise” is halal, and means to shine, boast, rave, and to celebrate clamorously. To some this may seem extreme, but that is the directive here: “Boast of the Lord! Rave of Him in His sanctuary.” […]
Looking again at the promise of joy we find a classical verse in Nehemiah 8:10, where the returnees from captivity assemble in the open square and Ezra the priest reads extensively from the law of God with a group of Levites meticulously explaining the meaning. This apparently produced sorrow for breaking the law, and repentance, […]
Praise Invokes The Presence Of God II Chronicles 5:13 – indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the […]
Jesus promised joy to His disciples (including you and me) in spite of the fact that they would be facing many trials and difficulties, even persecutions, and that there would be adverse circumstances in the world in which we live. The key to having this joy is that of knowing Him, and abiding in Him. […]
We may begin the pathway of praise at Genesis 29:35: and she conceived again and bore a son and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore, she called his name Judah… “Judah” means “praise”, and out of this man comes a great tribe of Israel… Jacob speaks important words over Judah, giving him the […]
The Bible says in Philippians 4:7 “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” There is no storm in life so tempestuous that the words and presence of Jesus cannot bring peace into it. The disciples experienced this firsthand in a storm so severe they thought […]