It is God’s will for His children to be filled with His joy! Jesus Himself though being “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (literally pains and sickness – took upon Himself everything sin had bequeathed on us) Isaiah 53:3, was anointed “With the oil of gladness” even above His fellowmen, Hebrews 1:9. The […]
Lifting five words from Ephesians 4:15, “speaking the truth in love.” What we speak and how we speak it have a tremendous impact on those to whom we speak. Our words according to the apostle should have two elements, truth and love. First we must establish what truth is; in general it is anything that […]
In Matthew 5:11-12 Jesus spoke of those who would be reviled, persecuted, and falsely defamed because of following Him. He said when this happens you are blessed, indicating that you are fortunate and well off! He then went on to say, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so […]
In Luke 9:10-17 the disciples see a crisis but Jesus sees an opportunity. The disciples tell Jesus to send the multitude away to purchase food and find lodging, but Jesus says “You give them something to eat.” The available food was very scant, but when placed in Jesus hands He gave thanks and blessed it, […]
We live in a broken world filled with sadness, suffering, pain, and uncertainty; Jesus said “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” John 10:10. So how do we coordinate the two and experience this abundance in the midst of the brokenness? First we must be confident […]
On more than one occasion the Apostle Paul had been imprisoned for the gospel he preached, but on no occasion do we find him sitting there in despair and gloom. Remember in Acts 17 he and Silas conducted a prayer and praise service in a jail cell at Philippi with their feet fastened in the […]
As we tread the path of life if we become distracted by the surroundings and take our eyes off of Him who is the object of our faith we find ourselves becoming weary and even fainting, and perhaps becoming like God’s people in Isaiah 40:27 saying, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my […]
We are living in times of great darkness upon the earth, times like are described in Isaiah 60:2, “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people …” While this chapter gives Israel hope of restoration from captivity, it also embraces Messianic and Eschatological times. Darkness speaks figuratively of misery, destruction, […]
In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus taught His disciples – and He teaches us – not to worry about life’s needs. To be certain He is not teaching a Christian welfare state where His followers do not work and just expect everything to be handed to them; indeed the Bible teaches the exact opposite, “…if anyone will […]
When we see the beauty of the world all around us, the flowers that bloom, the grass that grows, the sun that shines, the stream that flows, the birds that sing, the animals that roam, the fruit of the ground, and the people that populate the earth, we remember that all are the handiwork of […]