Blog Archives

Faith, Light, and Life!

4/30/2013

"3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints"
Colossians 1:3-4

Todays' scriptures point out that we can rejoice in our faith not because we believe in anything, but because we believe in Christ!

Everybody wants to have faith in something or someone who is bigger than themselves, even if it is the ideal person they wish to be. Atheists and agnostics are forced to have faith in themselves or in humanity as a whole. There is an innate desire inside all of us to believe in something.

Rejoicing of God’s goodness, even in bad times.

4/28/2013

"... the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." Job 1:21b

God has given Christians grace so we can rejoice when life gets tough. I could spend a long time telling you about, no doubt. But there are also good times and how you handle the bad times and how you handle the good times is dependent on the type of attitude that you have. There are some people that are just "hunky dory" and smiling and everything’s going right as long as everything is going right. But as soon as something bad happens, they get real grumpy and they start blaming everybody. That’s not the way God wants us to be.

Serving those who cannot serve you.

4/23/2013

"So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink." 1 Kings 17:10

1 Kings 17 teaches us that we are tested in many ways to increase our faith. The prophet of God, Elijah, had no resources for food or water. While the raven fed him for a little while, the water supply completely dried up. God said, “9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath.” (v. 9)

Lord, you want me to do what?

4/21/2013

"And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there" 1 Kings 17:4

There was once a prophet of God who was asked to believe some pretty weird things; the Lord asked Elijah to speak out about the ungodly life style of some of the rulers of the day. In so doing, the Lord used Elijah to prophesy about a drought in Israel. As a result, God told Elijah that He would take care of Him even though there would be no food or water. Elijah was sent to a brook to wait on the Lord, and there – he was told (1 Kings 17:3) that he would drink from the nearby brook and be fed by birds (ravens) who would come by every so often to feed him! Would you wait at a brook and wait for food from the mouth of birds? It would take faith.

Bitterness - A root that must be plucked out

4/20/2013

"Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" Hebrews 12:15

Today’s scripture passage reminds us that when we fail to live in God’s grace, we may allow a root of bitterness to establish itself in our lives. This bitterness could be toward others, toward God, or toward the seeming judgment or punishment God may allow to come our way. Perhaps the circumstances in life did not go the way we wanted; we avoid people or situations because the hurt feelings come back to tell us the others are completely wrong. We fail to forgive others. If we allow that hurt to take root in our lives, it will affect not only ourselves but it will spread like a cancer to our friends and family.

God's Grace: Receiving what you need, not always what you want

4/17/2013

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

God’s grace is His goodness, His direction, His guidance, and His watch care for His children. His grace helps us stop sinning, induces joy, lifts us up in difficult moments, and leads us along His path. Someone once said that grace is “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”.

Diligence in an Age of Instant

4/17/2013

"14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" Hebrews 12:14

In order to remember and take hold of God’s grace, we need a dose of old fashioned diligence. It is not bad to have cell phones, ipods, and kindles; but all this technology sometimes gives us a false sense of accomplishment. Its ‘instant’ nature may also make it hard to discipline ourselves. However, in God’s kingdom – it takes discipline and diligence to following God’s path. We must continually strive, even when our flesh becomes tired and no longer wants to read God’s word or pray.

What If I Am Not Perfectly Holy?

4/16/2013

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" Hebrews 12:14

We are to follow after God’s holiness; as believers in Christ, we are to be holy because He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Since we are to imitate God in all His ways, let’s live in His holiness. This does not mean we look down on the spirituality of other people; instead, it means we think others better than ourselves in all our ways while striving to obey Him. We ought not live holy because it is our duty; instead, we ought to live holy because of what He has done for us. C.T. Studd says, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

Follow the Right Path: Rejoice, Do Not Sulk

4/15/2013

"Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;" Hebrews 12:12

Even in the suffering of Christ on the cross, the Scriptures say there was a ‘joy’ that was set before Him because He was obeying God (Hebrews 12:2). In Hebrews 12, we are told that God may chastise us because of our sins. However, being disciplined by God is a proof that God loves us and wants to develop the character of godliness inside of us; therefore, the writer of Hebrews encourages us to “lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees” (verse 12) which, in our modern day English, means – stop being downtrodden and find the joy that comes about from God’s faithful discipline in our life.

Don’t Go Back to the Old Way

4/14/2013

"For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Hebrews 10:4

Hebrews is a wonderful book of the Bible that teaches Jewish Christians as well as Gentile believers today that we do not want to go back to the old way. Before Christ came to earth, the Jews had focused their attention on works, performing sacrifices, and conducting celebrations in hopes of going to heaven. While some Jews realized they could only live by faith, others were trusting in their works to obtain God. When Christ walked among the Jews, He eliminated the sacrifices and celebrations the Jews had so long after sought. He became the final sacrifice when He died for our sins and, in fact, “resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” (Hebrews 12:4) After all, the blood of bulls and goats (or any other man made way) can not take away sin.