You are Free Because of Jesus Jesus did some pretty awesome stuff. Colossians 2:9-19 has some amazing, and truly profound things to say that shed a little light on this. Colossians 2:9–15 (NASB95)9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He…
Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart – Part 2 In part one, I talked about some of the bad beliefs I once held and how they impacted my relationship with Father. We saw that Father is not at all like I had imagined Him. We saw in a parable—a story with a teaching…
Welcome to the New You! Forget what you once were. That has no bearing on who you are now. I can say this with complete confidence. How? you ask. Ephesians 2:4-7 tells us that:God is rich in mercyGod has great love for usEven though we were spiritually dead His great love compelled Him to make…
Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart – Part 1 Proverbs 3:5–6 (AV) 5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. I have had some bad beliefs over the course of my life. From an…
Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart – Part 2 In part one, I talked about some of the bad beliefs I once held and how they impacted my relationship with Father. We saw that Father is not at all like I had imagined Him. We saw in a parable—a story with a teaching…
Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart – Part 3 We have seen that God is not an angry sadistic autocrat in the sky waiting to punish us and make us suffer. We have seen that He is love, and we examined what scripture says we can expect from love. In this final segment…
Ephesians Chapter Five – Part 5 Text in parentheses in Bible quotes is mine. Okay, this section is a big one. Are you ready for all the submit, love, and respect language? You may have heard this taught in some pretty awful ways. Ways that elevate one gender and denigrate the other. I am here…
Ephesians Chapter Five – Part 4 Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” As believers we are always filled with the Holy Spirit. I think what is in view here is a recognition that we are continually being filled by the Spirit. Jesus spoke of…
Ephesians Chapter Five – Part 3 Now we come to a part of Ephesians chapter five that has sometimes been misused. In this part of the letter Paul addresses two states of being—in light and in darkness. Text placed in parentheses in scriptural quotes is mine. Ephesians 5:11-13 (KJV) 11 And have no fellowship with…
Ephesians Chapter Five – Part 2 This section of Ephesians five, taken by itself, might instill doubt and fear. The enemy will certainly use it to that end at every opportunity. As with any scripture passage, it is crucial that we keep in mind its context within the greater book or epistle, and the audience…
Ephesians Chapter Five – Part 1 Ephesians 5:1-2 (KJV) 1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. The enemy would love for us to understand…
Romans 14 – Part Six (The End) We have seen that we are safe at the judgment and that we have freedom. We found that we are not to use our freedom is ways that cause others to speak ill of our faith or that cause others to stumble in their own faith. Now we…
Romans 14 – Part Five We have seen that judgment is the Lord’s purview and that no one will be left out. We have also seen that those who are in Christ are simply ushered into the kingdom. The account they give of themselves is simply that they are in Christ. Jesus is our advocate,…
Romans 14 – Part Four Romans 14:9 “9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” (see Matthew 22:32, Mark 12:27, and…
Romans 14 – Part Three Last time we examined Paul’s use of food that had possibly been used as a sacrifice to an idol as an example of tolerance and how the life of Christ in us prompts us to behave. In this part of our text Paul’s example turns to religious observances. Romans 14:…
Romans 14 – Part Two In Romans chapter fourteen, Paul talks about Christlike interactions with people who believe differently from us or who simply struggle with faith. In this installment we will begin looking into some of the examples he gives. As we do, it is good for us to remember that his culture and…
Romans 14 – Part One The fourteenth chapter of Romans has a lot to say to us as we face this tumultuous world. It speaks to us where we are and calls us to the place we deeply want to be. In John 16:32–33 (AV)Jesus said “32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come,…
Sabbath in the New Testament The idea of sabbath has been contentious in some parts of the Church. In the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament, or Covenant) the Sabbath was a cessation from labor of any creative kind. According to Rabbinic tradition, this included things such as weaving or separating two threads, tying or untying,…
Matthew 28:1–7 (AV) “1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back…
You have been Changed Have you ever just watched a small child? It is not difficult for children to act like children. Little children do not worry about whether they grew enough this week, or where their next meal is coming from, or whether they are actually your child or not. They just go around…
Soul and Spirit Recently my view that a person is a spirit, has a soul, and lives in a body has been brought into question. In the past I have written about this very confidently. Some have pointed out that unless I could show this clearly, I should consider softening my remarks so that they…
What Does God Want From Us? – – Part Three So far in this study we have seen that the Law of God sets the standard of perfection—a standard none of us can possibly meet. We have seen that nothing we do can possibly make us right with God, and we have seen that what…
What Does God Want From Us? —Part Two In Part One we saw that no one is justified by what they do. We saw that Jesus showed that the Law presented the standard of perfection, which is impossible for us to meet. Interestingly, there is another thought about what God wants running through Scripture. Here…
What Does God Want From Us?—Part One What exactly is it that God wants from us anyway? I think a lot of people wish they were certain they really knew the answer to that question. Some might point to self-sacrifice; or “suffering for Christ”. While self-sacrifice is laudable and suffering is bound to happen, as…
Live Love Have you ever sat in a chair, in silence, doing absolutely nothing for an entire day? Do you think you could? One of the most common whiny complaints of children is, “I’m bored.” We’re always looking for something to do. It feels unnatural to us to do absolutely nothing. This innate desire to…
