“But the fruit of the Spirit is…faith” Galatians 5:22 KJV. Many of the newer versions use faithfulness instead of faith; the original King James translators separated faith and faithfulness which come from two different Greek words, their definitions however being very compatible, perhaps even complementary, with each other. Faith and faithful are distinguished by only […]
Today we are continuing to look at love as a fruit of the Holy Spirit: this love has its roots in the Lord Jesus Himself of whom the Bible says “having not seen you love” 1 Peter 1:8. First and foremost this is a reciprocal love that goes back to Him, as in 1 John […]
We know that Jesus bore a heavy cross for you and me, a cross that should have been ours, see John 19:17; apparently because of His physically weakened condition He could not continue to bear it alone, so they compelled Simon of Cyrene “to bear it after” him Luke 23:26. While He paid the full […]
In Luke 19:11-27 we understand the people “thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately”, a false assumption that looked for an earthly kingdom overlooking the fact that a spiritual kingdom had to be established first. Jesus being in the vicinity of Jerusalem, Israel’s capitol, was apparently fueling the false expectation among the people that […]
We say that salvation is free, and so it is, for “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23. However there is a cost of following Jesus, or discipleship, of which He lays out the facts in Luke 14:25-33. First, to hate one’s life and family does not mean […]
Weather you view the story in Luke 16:19-31 as a parable or an actual event the “bottom line” remains the same. Material wealth in itself should not be viewed as a sign of God’s favor and blessing, neither should the lack thereof, in itself, be viewed as a sign of His disfavor or judgment! God […]
In response to a question regarding religious observances in Matthew 9:16-17 Jesus speaks two parallel parables portraying the old covenant with the new, the old life with the new. The old forms of religion, which in this case was ritual fasting suggesting to us somberness and mourning over the brokenness caused by sin, but now […]
In Luke 24 we are told about two of Jesus followers (who were not of the twelve Apostles) going to Emmaus on the day of His Resurrection. They were downhearted and perplexed because they believed He was the Messiah, but three days earlier He had been crucified, and now on this morning some from 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; […]
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 […]