I expect that until there is a new earth and a new heaven and a new Jerusalem passing between them, there will continue to be “what’s next” things. What was next to wrestle control of the people of Jesus from the soiled hands of the popes was a movement Luther helped mid-wife. A bit later, the holiness movement was birthed […]
Sitting across from the temple treasury, He watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. Summoning His disciples, He said to them, “I assure you: This poor widow has put in more than all those giving to […]
Reading the Bible a few times is not really a responsibility.It is an opportunity.A privilege, actually. Consider, then, the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed sown […]
Remember my affliction and wandering,the wormwood and the gall.Surely my soul remembersand is humbled within me.Yet I call this to mind,and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s loving devotion we are not consumed,for His compassions never fail.They are new every morning;great is Your faithfulness!“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,“therefore I will hope in Him.”(Lamentations 3:19-24, BEREAN […]
The level at which you worship your Redeemer may release or limit the level at which you can locate His provision and other blessings. The number of times you have been “lost” in awe and in love of Him in the last month may need to be increased this month. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be […]
We are called to be overcomers. Still, John saw some outside the New Jerusalem who did not overcome: “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone […]
Consider some exaggerated extremes of description: Some believers have been convinced that Jesus is coming to pick them up this afternoon and relieve them of their fear and lack of preparation and take them on an eternal vacation. They are hiding from the ever-increasing darkness and evil and listening through the locked front door for the horn of the gospel […]
My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I […]
And you, Philippians, know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that is increasing to your account. […]
Religious people are always upset when Jesus uses unqualified people. Systems of religion are built on passing tests to prove qualifications. Catechisms and memorized theological answers do not prove conversion, though. Changed lives prove conversion. When we are transformed by having our minds renewed by the Spirit of Truth, we become capable of discerning why Yahweh’s desires are perfect (Romans […]