Month: June 2018

The Character of a Good Soldier

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Our faith grows when we anchor ourselves in God’s power, extend His grace to others, and endure hardship in His name. The Character of a Good Soldier 2 TIMOTHY 2:1-3 1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. In 1 Timothy 6:12, Paul calls on believers to “fight the good fight of faith.” …

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In God We Trust, Or Do We?

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Tuesday, June 05, 2018 Steve Schmutzer   I often tell the class that I teach each Sunday, “What God repeats, we should revere.”  It’s my way of reminding all of us that we need to pay special attention to those elements of God’s Word which are divinely restated. I’m not suggesting there’s a formula at play here – as in the more something is repeated the more important it is. After all, “born again” is only mentioned three times in the Bible (KJV), and that’s a pretty crucial concept! “Rapture” emerges only as an English derivative of an obscure Latin …

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God’s Say-so

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God’s Say-so He hath said . . . so that we may boldly say . . .Hebrews 13:5-6 My say-so is to be built on God’s say-so. God says – “I will never leave thee,” then I can with good courage say – “The Lord is my helper, I will not fear – ” I will not be haunted by apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s say-so. I will be full of courage, like a child “bucking himself up” to reach the standard his father wants. Faith in many …

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“Trust Me”

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“Trust Me” 1 Samuel 17:48-51 48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no …

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He that loveth not knoweth not God.” 1 John 4:8

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He that loveth not knoweth not God.” 1 John 4:8 The distinguishing mark of a Christian is his confidence in the love of Christ, and the yielding of his affections to Christ in return. First, faith sets her seal upon the man by enabling the soul to say with the apostle, “Christ loved me and gave himself for me.” Then love gives the countersign, and stamps upon the heart gratitude and love to Jesus in return. “We love him because he first loved us.” In those grand old ages, which are the heroic period of the Christian religion, this double …

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The Father’s Good Gifts

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We can rejoice in God’s answers to our prayers because we know He has our best interest in mind The Father’s Good Gifts MATTHEW 7:7-11 7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give …

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BE LIKE JESUS

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1 JOHN 4:17 ________________________________________ “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. ” BE LIKE JESUS Try as you may, you cannot find a more influential person in all of human history who has affected mankind as much as Jesus Christ has and does. There are no religious founders among men who can boast of having brought to the world the compassion and care that Jesus has. None can say as He did, “…whoever lives and believes in Me shall …

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John 8:3-7

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Many commentaries try to determine what Jesus wrote on the ground as if after two thousand years something would still be left in the dust to decipher. However, in the Greek text, the emphasis is not on what he wrote but on his finger. Of the 613 commandments God gave to Moses, 603 were written on parchment with the pen of a man, the other ten were inscribed onto tablets of stone with the very finger of God (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10). One of the ten commandments was the law against adultery. The emphasis on the finger implies that Jesus, …

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The Blessings of Inadequacy

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When we need help, we learn how to draw near to God, trust Him, and rely on His power The Blessings of Inadequacy 2 CORINTHIANS 3:1-6 1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? 2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. …

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“The Battle Is Mine”

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“The Battle Is Mine” 1 Samuel 17:40-47 40 He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine. 41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to …

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Timing and Weaponry of Invasion Ezekiel 38:1-39:16

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Israel is a land brought back from the sword (38:8). After 1900 years, 46 invasions, and the War of Independence, the Land is Jewish again and free from foreign domination. This nation is gathered from many nations and peoples (38:8, 12). The Jews in Israel today come from 80–90 different nations. The continual waste places are now inhabited (38:8, 12). The Israelis today are rebuilding the ancient places and turning them into modern towns and cities. They dwell securely (38:11, 14). This has often been misconstrued as meaning a state of peace, but this is not the meaning of the Hebrew …

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