by Ray Viola | Jan 19, 2025 | Devotionals
Man is by nature filled with pride and self righteousness. When you talk to the average person about going to heaven, the usual response is, “I am sure that I am going to heaven because I have never murdered anyone or…..” You know the rest of the story. But God sees...
by Ray Viola | Jan 18, 2025 | Devotionals
The Scripture declares that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5) You and I are presently living in the long night of the age of “former things” (Revelation 21:4). Tears, sorrow, crying, pain, and death are common to all of us....
by Ray Viola | Jan 17, 2025 | Communion Messages, Philemon
In a very private and personal letter, the Apostle Paul writes to the beloved Philemon to receive back a runaway slave, Onesimus, who had since come to faith in Christ. Reminding Philemon of his debt to Paul and seeking the same grace for this fugitive, Paul paint a...
by Ray Viola | Jan 16, 2025 | Lessons from the Old Testament
In the Book of Esther, we are introduced to a man by the name of Hamaan. He is a man who embodies everything that a follower of Jesus Christ is not to be. Hamaan has hatred and prejudice in his heart towards a Jew named Mordecai because he refused to bow down to him...
by Ray Viola | Jan 15, 2025 | Lessons from the Old Testament
The Name of God is not mentioned a single time in the book of Esther; but the invisible hand of a God is very much at work in her life on every single page. There is a tendency to think that if I am not experiencing an “in your face” encounter with The...