Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. You've been a Christian for a while now – years, maybe decades. At times you've found yourself longing for a perfect heart, one where you continually live in the Spirit, you're unfazed by temptation, you never have to struggle with the flesh, and where it's a joy to always obey God immediately because you love Him so much. You know God wants you to be holy (1 Peter 1:15), but sometimes you wonder why He doesn't make you perfect right now. You know when you reach eternity God will have completely removed your sin nature, but why not now? What purpose does …Continue reading →
The Old Testament contains various “types” of Christ – people who reflected what the Messiah would be like, but I think the one person who foreshadowed Jesus the most was Joseph, the son of Jacob. Here is a list of similarities I’ve found: Similarities Joseph Jesus Both are first-born. Genesis 30:22-24 (of Rachel) Matthew 1:25 (of Mary) Both are shepherds. Genesis 37:2 Matthew 2:26, 26:31John 10:11 Both are the most loved of their fathers. Genesis 37:3 Matthew 3:17, 12:18 Both were prophecied to be rulers. Genesis 37:5-11 Daniel 7:13-14Micah 4:7,5:2Psalm 2 Both Joseph’s and Jesus’ brothers were jealous of them, and did not believe them. Genesis 37:4-5, 11 John 7:3-5, 15:18-19 The prophecies that Joseph would rule his brothers (the …Continue reading →
Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding. – Psalm 47:6-7 Do you remember diagramming sentences in grade school? The teacher would write a sentence on the blackboard and you would have to pick out the subject, verb and object. For example: Jack throws the ball. “Throws” is the verb. It describes what is being done in the sentence. “Jack” is the subject because he is the one doing the action. “Ball” is the object. The action is being done to it. Very simple, you say. But when we first learned how to diagram sentences, we would sometimes confuse the subject and …Continue reading →
(I'm sure I posted this earlier, but it disappeared. Here it is again. I originally wrote this for fadingman.dtjsoft.com.) Introduction And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV) When I read these verses, I picture someone who has just been given long-awaited rulership over a kingdom. Now, as king, he gives his first command to his subjects …Continue reading →
If you fit into the Monday-through-Friday work week category, then you're probably familiar with this mindset: The first day of the week on the job is the hardest. You have to settle back into the daily-grind. The end looks so far away, but you determine to make there. As each day passes, the goal slowly draws closer and hope rises. By Wednesday, things definitely look brighter. You permit yourself to think of the weekend and what you've got planned. Then the big day arrives: Friday. Just a few more hours and then… the weekend! Rest! Play! Do whatever you want to do! This is the way normal people think. If you spend Saturday and Sunday looking forward to getting back …Continue reading →
(This is the second part of a study in Job. The first part is available here.) Introduction Socrates once said “The unexamined life is not worth living.” We do a lot of things without seriously considering the reasons why we do them. If we gave what we did some thought, we might not do some of the things we do… or we might do them with greater passion. You and I worship God. But have you ever asked yourself why? Why do I worship God? “I worship God because He gives me everything I need for life: my food, my clothing, a place to live, my health, my family, my friends, my freedom, …” These are very good reasons to …Continue reading →
The Bible is an evangelistic book, revealing God to us, our need for reconciliation to Him, and the means by which it happens. This reconciliation comes about only through the will, wisdom and power of God. The gospel is the good news of what God has done for us through His Son Jesus Christ, accomplished to bring about this restoration. The gospel has taken many forms through the centuries. Indeed there are many ‘gospels’ promoted today. Some are incomplete forms of the true gospel. Others are no gospel at all, speeding people along the broad road to destruction (Galatians 1:6-9). It’s easy to see why people get confused when receiving different answers to the question ‘What must I do to …Continue reading →
"You are my friends if you do what I command you." – Jesus How does what Jesus said sit with you? Are you okay with a friend who makes demands? …whose friendship is a condition based on submission to him? Is that true friendship? Is it love? I'll admit, I've had difficulty understanding what Jesus said here. It appears His love is conditional, offered on the basis of works. I have to earn His favor somehow, or He won't be my friend. This doesn't fit in with my understanding of Jesus from other parts of the Bible. If you've had problems with what Jesus said here, it's time to take another look. Here it is in context: "If you keep …Continue reading →
The twelve disciples just came back from an exhausting mission trip. Jesus had sent them out into the villages to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom and call people to repentance. I presume this took several weeks in that they also spent time healing the sick and casting out demons. As each day ended, they would spend the night in someone’s home. Now that they were all together again, Jesus called His tired and hungry disciples to come away from the crowd to get some much needed rest. But it was not to be… And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had …Continue reading →
For let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus, who subsisting in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, having become in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, having become obedient until death, even the death of a cross. Philippians 2:5-8 (Green) The journey of the Son of God from heaven to earth can be described in one word: humbling. The One who created all there is and holds everything together became a helpless baby. Even if Jesus were born into great royalty, it would be a mind-boggling descent from where He …Continue reading →
