Peter, in his first epistle, addresses people who because of their commitment to Christ are suffering various trials and rejection by their fellowmen, with such opposition that in 4:12 he refers to it as a “fiery trial”. Yet in spite of all this Peter takes note of, and thus encourages them to continue in their […]
A path is a place that is worn by footsteps, or a trail; it is a walkway for people on foot, a line of movement, and also a course of conduct or procedure. Psalm 16 11 says, speaking to God, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; […]
In Jeremiah 2:13 God portrays Himself as “The fountain of living waters”. The problem is that the people to whom He is speaking have “hewn out for themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.” People still do this today; I ask you, have you tried everything this world placed before you trying […]
In Genesis 2:9 we are introduced to two trees “The tree of life” representing the life of the Spirit, and “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” representing the life of the flesh with its “passions and lusts” Galatians 5:24. Adam, the man God “made… upright” Ecclesiastes 7:29, obviously refused to eat from […]
Peter, that famous Apostle, the one whose confession of faith is the bedrock and pillar of the Church as seen in Matthew 16:16-19, later wrote to the Church in his first epistle 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises […]
Jesus warned His followers that as they faced a hostile world they would also face persecutions, imprisonments, and be brought before rulers for His Names sake, (see Luke 21:12). He had already told them in Matthew 5:11-12 that under such circumstances they should “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.” In Acts 16 Paul and Silas find […]
Peter loved the Lord very dearly, yet in a moment of weakness he stumbled. Jesus in that wonderful foreknowledge of God knew this would happen and warned Peter in advance, adding, “I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail” Luke 22:31-32. What a wonderful thought that if we stumble in a moment […]
In Romans 8:26-28 the Apostle teaches us about the Holy Spirit helping us in our weaknesses. The Greek word here is Parakletos meaning someone who is an intercessor, comforter, helper, advocate, and/or a counselor. Outside of the Biblical setting it is technically an attorney who goes to court on behalf of another. Jesus uses 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 […]
We are invited to “come, behold the works of the Lord” in Psalm 46:8-9. As we do so we note that He does many “great things” Psalm 126:3. Today we will focus on two aspects of His works. The first thing we see in Psalm 46:8 is that He makes “desolations” (Hebrew ruin or consternation) […]