All equal on judgment day All people are equal in God’s family. No one is insignificant. Are you significant Do you ever feel like you are insignificant? Big name ministries, musicians, or authors may seem more important to you than your life. Will they receive a greater reward in heaven? Let’s see what the Bible says. It has the final say. It is clear. Simple. We learn in John 14 Jesus said that those who love Him will be loved…
Only an encounter with our Creator can calm the restlessness of our inner being. Not just any emotional fulfilling experience, but a true encounter with the Ineffable One. The Forever One. The Holy One we can’t comprehend. The only all-important experience of a believer is an encounter with God. A life-transforming encounter where life is never again the same. Where we have been completely undone. Any hope in self is destroyed and Jesus becomes, of necessity, everything. Then, and only…
Is it possible to live with joy in our darkening world? One of my favorite passages in the Bible is found in Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year…
Our ability to trust God is based on how well we know Him. Do you have a friend that you completely trust? Some of us are blessed with such a person in our life. Others not. That trust is based on knowledge of their character. You trust them because you know them, right? It is the same with God. We can only trust Him if we know Him. Our level of trust is based on how much we know Him….
Jesus goes on in John 15 verse 7 to tell us what a privilege we have when we pray if we do abide in Him. We will be able to ask what we will and The Father will do it for us. Could that explain why many prayers aren’t answered? We are not abiding (keeping His commandments) in Him. In verse 10 He goes on to explain “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love, just as…
Bearing fruit pt.4 A warning This topic of abiding in Christ has its example in the life of Jesus. John 15:10 Jesus says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”KJV And He warns us in verse 6 what will happen if we don’t abide (keep His commandments) in the vine. We will be cast off. Into the burn pile. Discarded. That doesn’t sound…
Bearing Fruit – pt. 3 How? Jesus tells us in John 15:4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” NKJV Abiding in Christ is simply going about our normal everyday lives aware of His presence and living to please Him. In verse 9-10 Jesus encourages His disciples to abide in His love. “If you keep my commandments, you…
Let’s go to the beginning John 15. John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” So we see right away as branches we get all our sustenance from Jesus the vine. All our nourishment from Him. All our abilities come from His life in us. Now we move on to verse 2. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may…
This is part one of a four part series this week. Short, quick thoughts each day on bearing fruit. John 15:8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. NKJV Did you know you have a calling from God? It is very simple, and yet impossible in our natural abilities. Contrary to what some Bible teachers and writers would tell you that God wants to fulfill your dreams, bless your plans…
This past Monday God gave me a special gift. It didn’t seem like it at first. It seemed like a big inconvenience. We lost power at about 6pm. Our supper meal, sweet potato and black bean chili, was staying warm in the crockpot and the cornbread had just finished baking. So all was good in that respect. There was no storm. No freezing rain coating the power lines. No strong winds to take down trees that would break power lines….