This is a letter that was sent by Jeremiah the prophet to those that were carried away captive to Babylon. The year is 597 BC and 10,000 people have been carried away. This letter is opposing the voices of the false prophets that were telling the people that their captivity would be brought to an end speedily. At the very beginning of the letter Jeremiah makes it clear that the Lord had caused the people of Judah to be carried away captive. He had allowed all this to take place because of the re...
Aug 13, 2016
Esau was willing to sell his birthright for a temporary relief and for the things of this world. Esau gave up being in the line of the Savior for the things of this world. He lost the vision. Esau valued the earth and did not value anything more. We must not become only focused on the temporal life; we must not be over-burdened and distracted by this life. People become so consumed with things of this life; we must not become consumed by the temporary things of this world. We are to be in the wo...
Aug 09, 2016
The proof of the Christian life is in the fruit, not in what we are like we originally come. A person must come in repentance and faith. When one comes to God they are giving up their former ways. One must leave behind their former ways and put them to death. The Gibeonites represent the majority of people before they come to Christ. When we come to Christ God makes us new. We become a new creation. The Christian life is purged and made new by faith. Gibeonites are those who humble themselves an...
Aug 04, 2016
The Psalmist asks the same questions that many Christians are asking today, as the culture is growing increasingly hostile toward God and His created order. In a culture that is growing increasingly hostile toward Jesus Christ and the Gospel. In a culture that is growing increasingly hostile toward Biblical truth and anything related to a biblical worldview. We have reached a point where there is rebellion against every aspect of the will of God and against every truth written in His word. The n...
Jul 31, 2016
The way of life and the way of death are set before us. We are all given a choice and a decision. The way of life is separation from sin and from the world. It is the narrow way that involves surrender. We must live and walk the narrow way. We must enter and remain upon this narrow way; this is the one way of holiness. We must be willing to take this way. It is more than an altar call or an emotional response. Often the true way is lessened so more people respond without counting the cost. So ma...
Jul 28, 2016
Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Keeping the commandments of God are not pushed on us, nor are they something we fabricate ourselves by an increasing self effort. We must keep the commandments by love. The sole condition that enables us to do and keep what God has spoken to us is love. Love is the fulfillment of the law. The presence of love in our heart is the law being actually fulfilled. The biblical definition of love excludes self. It cannot be worked out by us and must b...
Jul 20, 2016
The writer to the Hebrews is calling all Christian forward, he is calling all Christians to leave the elementary principles and go on to perfection! There is no other direction in the Christian walk but the way forward! To move backward is to move toward apostasy. The foundations of the Christian life are repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment. The writer to the Hebrews tells his audienc...
Jul 12, 2016
We must be made ready for the coming of the Lord. We must not focus only on the present and ignore the eternity to come. Be longsuffering, be patient, persevere, and do not be distracted. We are to build up and establish our faith here and now. The blessings of this life are small compared to the blessings of eternity. The return of Christ is drawing near. Be ready at all times to leave this world and enter into rest. We are to wait awake for the Master to come. We must not live in a state witho...
Jul 04, 2016
To bear record means to witness to give testimony, speak well of or vouch for. The great witness to the moving of God upon the Earth and upon men’s souls has always been the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, the human soul is without form and void. It’s empty until the Holy Spirit enters. He brings chaos and ruin into divine order. The Holy Spirit is our helper. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. Every lofty thought, self centered, impure emotion is changed as the Holy Spirit enters a p...
Jun 30, 2016
Jesus and His disciples are on their final journey to Jerusalem. Christ is on His way to die and the disciples walk behind Him, amazed and afraid. Jesus takes His disciples to the side and for the third time predicts His coming death. The first time He had done this Peter had rebuked Him. This is because Peter was unwilling to take up his own cross and follow after Christ. The second time Christ had predicted His death the disciples did not understand but were too afraid to ask Him about it. The...
Jun 23, 2016
There is a personal nature to Resurrection Sunday, yet people make it a self-indulgent holiday. We live in the time of an ego driven and entitled society and many Churches have followed the culture. Christians are to have a personal identification with the cross. The same path that Christ walked on we are to walk. We are called to deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily, and follow after Christ. We are like Simon of Cyrene, compelled to carry the cross and share in the sufferings of Christ. Chri...
Jun 16, 2016
Gethsemane is a place of great mental and spiritual suffering. To suffer is to go through an experience. Each disciple will face a similar test as Christ faced. All Christians must remain united with Christ through sufferings and experiences. One must despise self and follow after Christ. Jesus warns those who want to run from their Gethsemane that they cannot be saved. We must give up our rights to ourselves and die to ourselves. Christ did not want to suffer as He did but He said, “not My will...
Jun 09, 2016
Jeremiah looks out over the moral desolation of the Kingdom of Judah and comes to the conclusion that the deplorable moral condition of the land was because of the prophets. Unlike these false prophets Jeremiah had seen the LORD, he knew the LORD and he knew the holy words of the LORD. The people had become spiritual adulterers, the LORD had removed His blessing and the pleasant places had been dried up, and a curse had come upon the land. The corruption, defilement, and pollution of the prophet...
Jun 02, 2016
We are overwhelmed by disappointments and trials but we must hope in the LORD. We are called to move forward and progress by faith. We must not lose heart in our jobs, relationships, and ministries. We must not become cynical. We must learn to live by faith. People want everything now, but the road of faith is a long road. There will be constant changes and challenges on the way. We must not lose heart; we must remain walking by faith. Do not lose heart; the purposes of God will come to pass. We...
May 26, 2016
We can become slaves of worry and fear if we give into them and come under bondage. Bondage is the result of giving ourselves to something. We must trust in Christ now to be free! Do not remain in bondage to your heritage and the way that you used to believe. Jesus came to people who were willingly bound. Christ has come to free you from all bondage. Are you willing to depart from the thoughts that you are in bondage to? Set your mind towards what you have heard that is true. Don’t let these thi...
May 19, 2016
This word from the Lord came to Jeremiah during the eleventh year of the reign of King Zedekiah. It was the year 586 BC, the last year of the Kingdom of Judah. Later that year the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar would burn Jerusalem and destroy the Temple. The siege had already begun. The Lord reminds Jeremiah that no matter what the situation is God is omnipotent, sovereign, and the governor of the universe. Nothing has happened that the Lord did not allow. Nor will anything happen that the Lord...
May 12, 2016
We have no say in the way God deals with us, His ways are perfect although we may not understand. We must trust Him and walk by faith. Do not seek an easier way for the flesh. This would lead us away from God. We face uncertainty to teach us that God is faithful. Our trials are for our good and for our betterment. God has a purpose for our trails. He uses them for healing and restoration. Trials are used by God to reach deep into our hearts. God desires to refine every part of us. Trials are ord...
May 05, 2016
What is the purpose in suffering and trials? Suffering means to undergo an experience. All Christians will experience a continual baptism into Christ and will die to self. We will go through hard times but He will be with us to teach us. We will suffer for God’s sake and undergo many experiences. This how we will further be made into His image. Patience in suffering brings about His work in our lives. It costs to learn to persevere. How can we endure? We must fall back into the arms of grace. No...
Apr 28, 2016
There is a time when the people of God have an open door set before them and they could cross over and enter in. God sets an open door before every generation. This open door is the finished work of Calvary. We can no longer draw back! We must press on and possess the land! God has opened the door to maturity, strength, and faith. Now is the time to enter in by faith! The way has been opened; the Accuser of the Brethren has been cast down. Do you want to be made well? God had brought the people ...
Apr 21, 2016
Bless the Lord. The word bless as applied to God, means to praise, implying always a strong affection for Him as well as a sense of gratitude toward Him. This love arises from one who is walking in humility and in faith, one who acknowledges the work of God and does not ascribe anything to self. If we do not realize and acknowledge what God has done, we will not be able to whole heartedly bless Him. We need to acknowledge that God is the One who does the work. As we bless God and see Him moving ...
Apr 18, 2016
David had many external enemies, but he had many internal enemies as well. Each of us faces these enemies everyday and they seek to steal our crown. The Devil works through impressions of the mind. We are not to listen to the Devil as Adam and Eve did. Disobedience will exclude us from Heaven as it did to our first parents. We must not do what we want instead of obeying the Lord. We must turn and live to a place of grace, joy, and goodness. God calls us back again and again. We must believe and ...
Apr 14, 2016
In this chapter the prophet speaks against the idolatry at the altar in Bethel. He announces that the idolatrous worship is about to come to a violent and sudden end. And no matter where the people may try to hide they will be unable to escape the judgment of the Lord! God has determined to set His eyes on them for harm and not for good. This is because they had refused to obey the Lord and instead had lived in perversion and wickedness! They had lived this way in spite of all the Lord had done ...
Apr 06, 2016
Joel is most likely the earliest of the Minor Prophets. He prophesied during a plague of locusts. God raised up Joel for a reason, to call the people to repentance. He called upon the people to make a decision. He preached to the people to keep and follow the command to love the Lord. All Christians must be fully resolved to keep God’s commandments. Respond when God speaks! Turn to the Lord with all your heart, humble yourselves and repent for withholding any part of your heart from the Lord. We...
Mar 30, 2016
The background of the Christmas story is a time of of darkness, silence, suffering, oppression, and bondage. The people of Israel were under the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire under the authority of King Herod. But in those days God was at work. God always keeps a remnant even in the darkest of times. Mary and Elizabeth were among the remnant of their time that God was using to fulfill His purposes. Both of these women were being used in God’s plan, design, and purposes for the salvation of...
Mar 23, 2016
The heart of God is restoration and revival. Isaiah is speaking of a time of darkness. When the people of God have been carried away into captivity. But in the midst of this God has a remnant, their captivity will end and their Messiah will come. Great breakthroughs come after times of great darkness. There is a time coming when God will move for the glory of His Name. There is a promise of restoration. Arise and be established! Isaiah is speaking the heart of God to the people. He will not rest...
Mar 16, 2016
The prophet addresses a people who have been speaking harsh words against the Lord. They had begun to focus on the immediate and obvious results of their obedience to the Lord. They had kept His ordinances; they had walked as mourners before Him. Yet they saw no profit in it! They looked around and saw the sinful as more prosperous and blessed than themselves. It seemed as if the proud were blessed and those who did wickedness had been raised up. But Malachi notes that the Lord listens to those ...
Mar 09, 2016
The selflessness of Paul is staggering to read and so is the evidence of his identification with the cross, his personal ideology, how he viewed his life and purpose, and his complete and consistent surrender to the will of God. It stands as a staunch challenge to all in the professing world of evangelicalism. It stands as a challenge to a generation of professing Christians who understand devotion in a shallow way. Paul’s sacrificial existence makes much of modern Christianity look like a joke....
Mar 02, 2016
Before one can understand the rest of God they must know the One who gives the soul peace. Christ offered rest to people under an oppressive government and dead, formalized religion. People became overcome by the world. Jesus calls us to come to Him for rest. The disciples lived under a burden of fear in the storm. Their surroundings caused them fear and they did not trust in God. We must have faith enough to overcome our dread and anxiety. Without faith it is impossible to please God. We must t...
Feb 24, 2016
The treasure that Paul writes about here is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The life changing power of the Gospel is the only hope for any person and the only hope for this fallen world! The treasure of the Gospel is placed in earthen vessels to prove and illustrate that the power is of God and not of the vessel. The treasure is placed in vessels that are insufficient, but God makes them sufficient by His power. This is to show that the excellence of the power is of God and not of us. The weaker the...
Feb 17, 2016
The message of Christ is still misunderstood by those who claim to be Christians everywhere. The joy of a disciple is not based on circumstances but on likeness to Christ. As a woman is in labor pains before the death of a child so is the disciple who is having Christ birthed in them. This produces holiness and likeness to Christ. Those who go on by faith through sanctification have a similar “near death” experience. Each believer is brought to sanctification and fullness of joy by continuing on...
Feb 10, 2016
