by Pastor Ray Viola | Dec 21, 2023 | Devotionals
The celebration of Christmas is not the celebration of something, it is the celebration of Someone, and that Someone is Jesus Christ. Let’s just take a moment to ponder and wonder at what God did when He became a man. Somehow, in a miraculous, marvelous, mysterious...
by Pastor Ray Viola | Dec 20, 2023 | Devotionals
As we saw yesterday, the very first promise of the incarnation of the Messiah was given in Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” This prophecy of...
by Pastor Ray Viola | Dec 19, 2023 | Devotionals
The incarnation, or human birth of Jesus Christ, was not His beginning. Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, God with us. He is the Uncreated Word Who was in the beginning with God, and was God Himself! This is what Scripture declares to be the blessed mystery of godliness. God...
by Pastor Ray Viola | Dec 9, 2023 | Devotionals
What is denial but the refusal to admit the truth or face reality. It’s a disclaiming of reality or responsibility in some way, shape, or form. In the Christian life there are two kinds of denial – one that is spiritually harmful, and the other beneficial. When we...
by Pastor Ray Viola | Nov 17, 2023 | Devotionals
Leaven is a substance, such as yeast, used as the ingredient in dough or batter to make them rise. In the Scriptures leaven represents an evil influence, be it a lifestyle or a doctrine. We find the first Biblical reference to leaven in Genesis 19:3, where it is...