Devotionals
A daily word of encouragement, exhortation and edification, drawn from the Scriptures.
Beware of Covetousness….Merry Christmas?
Luke 12.15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. The advent season is that time of year when Christians are to focus on the meaning of the birth of Jesus...
The Comings of Christ Jesus
I recently read a phrase that caught my eye and pricked my heart. “Don’t let Christmas distract you from Christ.” Bear in mind that the exact date of Jesus’ birth is unknown. There are a lot of different themes and traditions that are going on in our culture this time...
From Birth to the Throne
Christmas time is a message that primarily focuses on the birth of Christ, and His first coming. But, we can never forget that the birth of Christ and His Second Coming are inseparable doctrines of Scripture that are equal components of the gospel message. Today we...
Emmanuel, God With Us
We have entered into that time of year that is known in orthodox Christendom as the advent season. The word advent means coming. Christmas is the time when Christians celebrate of the first coming of Jesus Christ into this world to die for the sin of the world, and...
Blessed Are The Meek
The prophet Isaiah declared that The Spirit of the Lord GOD was upon Jesus Christ because the LORD had anointed Him “to preach good tidings unto the meek” (Isaiah 61:1). Scripture declares that it is the meek who receive the engrafted word, which is able to save their...
“You Shall Be Witnesses Unto Me”
This passage of Scripture from Acts 1:8 is our Lord’s guarantee of power and the thrust for evangelism. The purpose of the Holy Spirit, directly or indirectly, is to testify of Jesus. When the Holy Spirit is active in our lives, the fruit of His work is a good witness...
Agape In Everything
In our studies we find out that gifts and sacrifices without agape amounts to nothing. The fruit of the Spirit is love that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. This “love from above” enables us to exercise faith. This love unmasks hypocrisy. However, we...
The Perfect Path
“As for God, His way is perfect.” For the disciples of Christ it is always good to pray, “Lead me in the way everlasting.” To harmonize our steps with His Word is a very wise thing to do. You see, opposites in the Kingdom of God are costly in their differences. The...
On Sunday Morning. Be the church, just don’t go there.
Hebrews 10.24-25 reads: And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Today is the...
Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit
The Beatitudes are a description of a disciple of The Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:3-12). They are a description of Christian character which is the fruit of abiding in Jesus Christ (John 15:1-16). As we ponder this list, it does not take long to discover that God’s...
Following Him
Matthew 13:54-58 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and...
The Living God
Thirty times in Scripture, God reveals Himself as "the living God". Fifteen times, in fact, in each Testament. When He uses the word "living" to describe Himself, He is conveying to us that He is active in the present tense or, simply put, "I AM." He is actively full...
Dealing With Self-Righteousness
Romans 2:1-3 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou thatjudgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them...
Jesus Cares For You
God told His people Israel that He would gather them from the Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt one by one. Those words "one by one" reveal the personal love and attention that God displays toward His people, not just as a nation, but as individuals. One of the...
That None Should Perish
That none should perish but have everlasting life is the perfect will of God. Of course, this does not mean that none will perish for the twentieth chapter of Revelation tells us otherwise. There we read that "anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into...
Don’t Live For Yourself
The saddest person, the loneliest person, the most unfulfilled person is the individual whose life orbits around one thing - self. How empty, how sad. To live for the pleasure of self is an indication that one is truly dead. The only way to be freed of self is...
How To Grow In Grace And Maturity
Proverbs 9:7-9 He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself. Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach...
The Healing Touch of Jesus
Mark 5:34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.” I love to read the gospels and “see” how Jesus ministered His healing touch to those who were in humanly impossible situations. As we move ahead in...
Redemption: The Heart of the Gospel
In Romans 5 verse 8, Paul writes that the love of God is being demonstrated for us in that while we are yet, or still sinners, Jesus Christ died for us. Charles Spurgeon wrote: “The heart of the gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the...
The Gospel Is Not Good Advice, It’s Good News!
Hebrews 9:11-12 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the...
Jesus The Redeemer and Revealer of The Father
John 1:18 (NLT) No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God,... has revealed God to us. An interesting revelation is found by studying the life of Jesus as it is given to us in the four gospels. When we read the gospels there is a tendency to only...
Living Faith
When Barnabas visited the church at Antioch, he saw the grace of God and was glad. (Acts 11:22,23) Obviously, for the grace of God to be visible, their faith was alive and evidenced by good works. Remember how the four men brought their hurting friend to Jesus? The...
Open Our Eyes, Lord
2 Kings 6:15-17 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with...
The Truth About Temptation
The early days of the church saw the emergence of many strange and dangerous doctrines. Many of the epistles were written to expose and correct some of these false teachings. James is no exception to the rule. There were those who were saying that God was the source...
Saving Faith Is Visible
At the end of this wonderful epistle, our dear brother James talks about the importance of honesty in our dealings with one another (James 5:12), what to do when you are afflicted or merry (v. 13), and who to call when you are sick (vv. 14,15). He also touches upon...
Patience And The Last Days
Five times we are going to hear James referencing the virtue of patience in our study this morning (James 5:7,8,10,11). He uses it in the context of living in the last days (James 5:3,8). (1 Peter 5:7). When Jesus gave His last days discourse as recorded in Luke’s...
Glorious Reconciliation
I never tire hearing the gospel message. I look forward to Communion services in a very special way, because of how the Lord has used them so many times to get my heart refocused on the eternal and off the temporal. As we read today about Paul’s heart in reaching the...
Not of This World
Philippians 1:1-2 Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s letter to the Philippians...
Divine Counting
This morning we begin a study in the book of James. Every single chapter and verse is tailor-made to challenge us in our faith. Brother James is writing to the Jewish believers scattered because of their belief that Jesus (Yeshua) is their Messiah (James 1:1). So he...
Faith – Dead Or Alive?
Saving faith is a faith that is in the heart, not just the head (Romans 10:8-10). It indeed is vocal about what it believes, but it is not just a bunch of words with no fruit or evidence of new life (1 Corinthians 4:19,20). James tells us today that believing in God...
Rejoice!
Philippians 4.4 4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Too often the Christian loses sight of this most important truth. We seem to find ourselves regularly in the slough of despair. I cannot always rejoice in the circumstances, but I can rejoice in...