After they had evangelized that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, strengthening the hearts of the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith, and by telling them, “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:21-22 Holman Christian Standard Bible ®©) […]
As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So he got up and followed Him. While He was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came as guests to eat with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw […]
It is not likely that Jesus wants to teach you that you need to sell all you have and give the proceeds to the poor through what is recorded in the New Testament of His instructions to a rich young ruler. I suspect, though, that He does want to impart some instruction to you by His Spirit as you listen […]
Not many people are technology-free enough to have a watch that needs to be wound. When winding watches was the norm, though, if you didn’t do it, your watch failed to keep the right time because it stopped ticking. If you carry your lunch to work or school, you have to prepare for having it when you need it. You […]
Having Sharia Law mixed into the fabric of the laws of any nation would make for bad government. Being influenced by the false teachings of Islam can’t lead to a good place. Having people in a government who are surrendered to Yahweh can cause even a generally corrupt government with bad laws to become good government. The opposite is not […]
Jesus instructed His disciples to pray, “Your Kingdom come; Your will be done in the Earth as it is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) Jesus prayed “Father, if this cup can’t pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42) Whoever wrote the letter to the Hebrews (I think Paul) wrote that David, in Psalm 40, was quoting Jesus […]
Consider the last ten years of your life. Many things have happened! What were the most valuable activities you have engaged in? What were the most costly, or wasteful? As Paul wrote to the congregations in Corinth, what we can see is temporary, and what our physical eyes can’t see is the eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). There may be another […]
I just read a pile of creeds. The list included the Apostles’, the Nicene, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan, the Athanasian, the Westminster Confession, the United Methodist, and the creed of Eusebius. The only mention of the Kingdom of Heaven was in one, and it’s statement was to say that the Kingdom is eternal. The Kingdom is pretty close to the only thing […]
He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32 Holman Christian […]
“Now My soul is troubled. What should I say—Father, save Me from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name!” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!” The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken […]