Month: July 2017

It is impossible for any human speech to express the full meaning of this delightful phrase, “God is for me.” He was “for us” before the worlds were made; he was “for us,” or he would not have given his well-beloved son; he was “for us” when he smote the Only-begotten, and laid the full weight of his wrath upon him –he was “for us,” though he was against him; he was “for us,” when we were ruined in the fall–he loved us notwithstanding all; he was “for us,” when we were rebels against him, and with a high hand …

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Sometimes the best way to strengthen trust in God is remembering times He’s been faithful in the past. Lamentations 3:22-23 22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Our heavenly Father is always faithful to keep His promises. We can be certain of this because He made them based upon His unchanging character and His Son Jesus Christ. (See Heb. 6:13-14.) Many times over the years, I have been the beneficiary of God’s faithfulness to His Word. For example, Romans 10:13 …

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1 Kings 17:2-6 2 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 3 “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. 4 Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.” 5 So Elijah did as the Lord told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. As we read those words and try to imagine the original setting, we begin to see …

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The Role of The shepherd In chapter 34 of the book of Ezekiel God is using a familiar illustration of the “shepherd” and his “sheep” to describe the leaders and the people of the Nation Israel. The Bible frequently uses this terminology to refer to the spiritual leaders with responsibility over a group of people (Psalm 78:70-72; Isaiah 44:28; 63:11; Jeremiah 23:1-4; 25:34-38). Their primary role was to guard the nation like a shepherd would guard his flock. Every society needs a recognized and well-ordered leadership for its own safeguard and prosperity. God chose elders, priests, kings and prophets to …

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Cut Down to Size 1 Kings 17:2-6 2 And the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, …

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The circumstances that trigger despair may be unavoidable, but how we respond is a choice Habakkuk 1:2 2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! Do you ever feel stuck in discouragement? If so, you are not alone. At some point, everyone experiences dashed hopes. Disappointment—an emotional response to a failed expectation—is the normal initial reaction. But allowed to linger, it can turn into discouragement, which hovers like a dense cloud. When that’s the case, there is no sense of joy or contentment, …

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1 Kings 17:1 17 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. God keeps His promises. It’s a major part of His immutable nature. He doesn’t hold out hope with nice-sounding words, then renege on what He said He would do. God is neither fickle nor moody. And He never lies. As my own father used to say of people with integrity, “His word is His bond.” When you …

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The crucifixion was an event that can never be duplicated and will never need to be repeated   By Charles F Stanley The cross is the heart of the Christian life. The crucifixion is the divine transaction that saves us. Only the blood of Christ can cleanse us from sin and reconcile us to the Father. Although the Jews and the Romans viewed the crucifixion as the execution of a criminal, God saw it as the perfect atoning sacrifice that allowed Him to justify sinful mankind. Christ’s sacrifice surpassed all the previous sacrifices (Heb. 9:24-26). The Old Testament priests entered …

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By David A. DePra What is the gospel? — what is the true good news of God? The good news is wrapped up in a PERSON – a Person, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The good news is that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to do for human beings what human beings could not do for themselves. And what was that? God sent Christ to deliver us all from sin through His death on the Cross, and He sent Christ to usher in a new creation through His resurrection. He sent Christ to die and be raised so that …

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The godly are tempted and tried. That is not true faith which is never put to the test. But the godly are delivered out of their trials, and that not by chance, nor by secondary agencies, but by the LORD Himself. He personally undertakes the office of delivering those who trust Him. God loves the godly or godlike, and He makes a point of knowing where they are and how they fare. Sometimes their way seems to be a labyrinth, and they cannot imagine how they are to escape from threatening danger. What they do not know, their LORD knows. …

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Pete Garcia For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 1 Corinthian 15:22-25 It’s amazing to me (but not surprising), that there are so many views out there on the study of Eschatology (study of last …

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1 Kings 16:29-17:1 29 Ahab son of Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him. 31 And as though it were not enough to follow the sinful example of Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to bow down in worship of Baal. 32 First Ahab built a temple and an altar for Baal in …

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Christ is the interpretation of all the Bible. To know Christ, is to understand the Bible. Men like Peter and Paul knew the Bible, but they did not understand it until they knew the Lord Jesus. We first know the Lord Jesus, and then we take Him back into the Bible, and He is the interpretation of the Bible. Therefore, we cannot really understand the Bible until we know the Lord Jesus. That results in this: that the Bible is really a Person, and not a book. The Bible is a Living Person, and not a dead letter. Because this …

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