Several months ago, in one of the many biblical articles that I read regularly, the statement was made that we as God’s people should live in the exclamation points of His Word, not in the question marks of life. What a proactive attitude for us to acquire if we don’t already think that way. After I read that, I started noticing some of the places in the Bible where exclamation points have been inserted. I fully realize that none of the punctuation in Scripture is inspired, but some of the passages that will be referenced in this article will resonate the attitude of living in the exclamations of God’s Word. Psalms is perhaps the one book of the Bible where the use of the exclamation point has been utilized more frequently, and maybe rightly so. The Psalms are filled with worship, praise and prayer to God, the Most Excellent Glory. Psalm 32:19 – “Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!” To fear God is to hold Him in the highest reverence and to respect Him and His Word. We must learn to trust God, Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance, throughout our lives no matter what happens. Psalm 38:1 – “O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!” Any sensible person does not want

One of the many definitions of the word “means” that Webster states, is a method used to attain an end. When we understand and know God and His Son as they are revealed in Scripture, we become keenly aware of the fact that they say what they mean and mean what they say. This straightforward approach eliminates the possibility of anyone successfully using an alternate method when divine truth has been spoken. Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35). This is clearly seen in the account of the rebellion and complaining of the children of Israel in Numbers 13. Their refusal to believe what God had said led to the doom of all persons 20-years-old and above. God passed a death sentence on the rebels. He said in Numbers 14:29-30, “The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in” (emphasis added). When the people heard this, they mourned greatly. They went to Moses and said they would go up to the place that God had promised, for they had sinned. In Numbers 14:41-42 Moses said, “Now why do you transgress the command of the LORD? For this will not succeed. Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the LORD

Several weeks ago during my daily Bible reading, the word “prudent” kept appearing, and I realized I had been reading that word over and over in Scripture, but I had given little thought to what it actually means. What does being prudent mean? Vine’s Bible Dictionary defines it as suggesting quickness of apprehension; the penetrating consideration which precedes action. Apprehension as it is used in this definition means the faculty or act of understanding or perceiving. This word “prudent/prudence” is mentioned many times in Scripture. We would do well to examine our lives for quickness of perception and penetrating consideration before we take any action. All of us, who are students of God’s Word, realize that prudence is an attribute that comes from the Word dwelling in us richly. Psalm 119:130 states, “The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” The light that the Word gives is spiritual discernment and comprehension. Who are the simple? According to Vine’s, those of us who choose only what glorifies God are the simple here addressed. Discussed are those who are without evil and who have no harmfulness in themselves. What a mind-piercing, challenging concept—we will be striving to improve in this mindset until death! Speaking of God, Job tells his pitiless friends in Job12:13, 16, “With Him are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding. With Him are strength and prudence, the deceived and the deceiver are His.” Isaiah 5:21 warns, “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and

We have been given the choice of listening to only one of two voices. We are either listening to the voice of God or we are listening to the voice of Satan. There is nothing in between. Contrary to popular opinion or belief, we cannot be listening to both of these voices at the same time. God spoke to Adam and Eve telling them exactly what they needed to know and to do to stay in His divine favor in the Garden of Eden forever. Eve chose to listen to Satan’s lying voice through the serpent. Both she and Adam were soon to learn they had made the most tragic mistake. Neither of them was forced to do what they did, and it was beyond their ability to ever recover from the ramifications of that choice! God always gives us a choice in the things we choose to do or not to do, but we do not get to choose the consequences of our bad choices. When the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedient choice were brought to bear, suddenly Satan the instigator was totally mute. Nothing has changed through the centuries; he is still using the same ploy, and not surprisingly, getting the same results. To his utter amusement, he knows what the horrifying outcome of disobedience will be – separation from God eternally! When God asked Adam where he was, if Adam had been forthcoming in his reply, he would have said, “I am in sin.” Genesis 3:10 states, “So he said,

When we experience suffering for any reason, the apostle Paul speaks of the ultimate comfort that can only come from the divine God. In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, he proclaimed, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble [tribulation], with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” When we experience loss, sorrow and grief, God is the God of all comfort. Second Thessalonians 2:16-17 reads, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish [strengthen] you in every good word and work.” W.E. Vine stated verse 16 combines encouragement with alleviation of grief. God fills us with His peace, joy and comfort as He heals our broken hearts. Psalm 147:3 tells us, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” We must trust God to keep us from falling into total despair. One good preacher wrote, “Friends seek to console—words, hugs, express sympathies; sometimes just a meeting of loving eyes tell the story best—‘I love you and I care for you’—a thousand and one attempts at sharing a burden. Yet, often they all fall so far short. The struggle remains. Faith in God—trust in Him is found to be the most valuable asset

Foolish is defined as resulting from or showing a lack of sense; lacking forethought or caution; trifling, insignificant or paltry. When honestly contemplated, virtually all of us must admit to acting at times in some of these ways. How do we react when we are told we have done foolishly? Can we admit to ourselves when we have done foolishly? Perhaps more importantly, how long does it take for us to at least make the attempt to remedy the ramifications of our foolishness? The Bible records several instances of the statement, “You have done foolishly,” “I have done foolishly” or “I have done very foolishly.” Some of these people in the Word may surprise us in not only who they were, but also in what they did that was so very foolish. The first recorded account occurs in Genesis 31. Jacob had made the decision to flee from Laban, his father-in-law, with everything that belonged to him along with his wives Leah and Rachel and his children to return to his homeland. Laban found out about it, pursued and overtook them. He said to Jacob, “Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing” (vs. 27-28). Consequently, an agreement was reached between Jacob and Laban; Jacob continued on

My husband and I were in the grocery store; I went to the pharmacy, and he went to pick up something else. A few minutes later, he came and asked me if I had gotten a certain item; I said no I had not. In his mind he really believed that he had told me to get that item. He then said he had told me to get it, to which I again replied, no he had not. Two of the women working in the pharmacy heard this conversation, and I said to them, “The One who read minds has been gone a long time.” It took them a second to grasp what I had just said, but when they did, they looked at each other and burst out laughing! How often are we so positive of “certainties” that have taken place only in our minds? Jesus was the only One who was able to read minds. For the purpose of this article, just a few of those will be referenced. Matthew 9:1-7, Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-26 record the account of a paralytic who was brought to Jesus to be healed. All three writers recorded the sequence of events in a similar way. One of the most undeviating points in all three writings is Jesus knowing the thoughts of the people who witnessed the healing. Their thoughts were evil—and He knew it! Matthew 9:1-2 tells us when Jesus saw the faith of those who brought the paralytic, He forgave his sins.

Living a life that brings every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ is not a natural tendency. Being filled with and controlled by the power of the Holy Spirit is not a natural tendency. Dying to self is not a natural tendency. Having a total incompatibility with sin is not a natural tendency. We are naughty by nature. What does it mean to be naughty? In our carnal, worldly state of thinking, talking and acting, we are disobedient, mischievous, improper, indecent, wicked, impish, wayward, badly behaved and poorly self-disciplined. This carnal, naughty nature is fully acknowledged in God’s Word. How long has the human race been naughty by nature? God’s word tells us in Genesis 6:5. “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” This most deplorable state of immorality, shamelessness and vice is further described in Genesis 6:11-12. “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” Does this description hold an all too familiar ring to the world we live in today? R.C. Bell wrote Studies in Ephesians. He stated, “No portion of the Bible draws the contradiction between fleshly and spiritual men more fully, or portrays the depraved, wretched, natural man in more colorful terms than Ephesians does.” He addresses the ‘havoc wrought by Satan in man’s personality.’ He wrote,

What do you do when your whole world is rocked by an unexpected truth that slaps you in the face? What do you do when your whole life is changed in a matter of seconds? Who is it, or what is it, that has you by the throat and is seemingly choking the life out of you? What do you do when you thought that a medical issue had been dealt with and solved only to be told it had returned with a vengeance? What do you do when you are told the only hope is radical treatment and surgery is not one of your options? The Book of Psalms is the answer that God has provided as the spiritual tranquilizer for our lives. Psalms is unique in the sense that it speaks to every human experience – good or bad. However, God’s tranquilizer is too often looked upon as a last resort, if at all. This tragic mistake brings mental anguish upon untold millions as they struggle with the overwhelming traumas. Robert R. Taylor, Jr. wrote Studies in Psalms. In the first chapter under one of the subheadings he wrote, “It is a proper usage of Psalms to go there for strength in weakness, for comfort in sadness, for understanding in times of confusion and for greater faith in times of crippling disbelief.” Under his heading “Points to Ponder” he wrote, “Psalms touches the chords of every emotion of the human heart. Psalms is a spiritual oasis to every soul that hungers

Those of us who have evangelistic courage for the lost and continuing concern for the unfaithful probably have heard the title of this article in defense of their lifestyle choices. When questioned or challenged about accountability, God “knowing their hearts” is often the response. “I know I need to change my life, but God knows my heart.” “I know judgment is coming, but God knows my heart.” “I know I should be in worship every Sunday, but God knows my heart.” “I know I should be reading and studying my Bible every day, but God knows my heart.” I know I should be spending more time in prayer, but God knows my heart.” The remainder of the space that is available for this article could be used in quoting those kinds of statements, but that is not the purpose. If people understood what self-indicting statements they are making, they would not feel so free to use it in an attempt to validate their self-willed, self-seeking, self-serving mind-set. Why? James 4:17 declares, “To him that knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” Do they “know” that? Speaking of God, Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart; I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” How sobering and convicting! We need to understand that Satan too knows the desires and weaknesses of our hearts. He is just

At this time of the year, a great majority of the world will have its thoughts turned to Jesus Christ. For the purpose of this article, the focal point will be on a few of the many eternal truths that God has revealed to us about His only begotten Son. Jesus the Christ, He is the One. Years ago somewhere I read that the center of the entire Bible is Jesus Christ. The writer stated that the message of the Old Testament is, “Jesus is coming.” The message of Matthew through Acts 1:11 is, “Jesus is here.” The message of Acts 1:12 through Revelation is, “Jesus is coming again.” The writer went on to say that if we as readers of the Bible miss that message, we need to go back and read that page of Scripture again. One of the many eternal truths to examine is, Jesus has the name that is above all names. His name “Jesus” fulfilled all that God had in His mind for His Son to accomplish. God’s eternal plan and purpose is the redemption of mankind. The angel told Joseph regarding Mary his wife, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Isaiah 9:6 proclaims, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince

As Christians, living a life of thanksgiving should be as natural for us as breathing. We need to be thankful for life itself. Why? God holds our breath in His hand and owns all our ways (Daniel 5:23). We need to be thankful for our health. Why? Any and all measures of health and strength are ours because it is in God that we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). We need to be thankful for provision and protection. Why? God gives us richly all things to enjoy, and because of Him, we dwell in safety (1 Timothy 6:17; Psalm 4:8). This perpetual mindset is conveyed in Psalm 140:13. “Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence.” First Thessalonians 5:18 is very direct in expressing why we are to constantly be thankful. “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (ESV). Giving thanks in all circumstances is an outgrowth of our faith and trust based on a right relationship with God. Even through the worst times, we give thanks because we understand as long as we live in this fallen, sin-filled and sin-cursed world, “bad” is inevitable. Since “bad” is inevitable, it must be rightly endured. We also give thanks as we realize many circumstances will be bad, but they could get worse! Through the good times and through the bad times, God is good. David declared, “Oh give thanks

Trust defined is “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, of a person or thing; confidence, dependence.” When these descriptive words are used in relation to God, they are to the superlative. For trust to be real in the lives of Christians, we must first understand that we cannot and we will not trust God if we do not know Him. Everything that God wants us to know about Him in order for us to develop trust in Him has been revealed in the Bible. For the purposes of this article, six questions will be addressed and then answered with Scripture. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” All of us who trust in God had to hear, believe and obey His Word. Trust is a result of that decision. Who should trust in God? “The LORD also will be a refuge… in times of trouble. And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You” (Psalm 9:9-10). “Who among you fears the LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely upon his God” (Isaiah 50:10). When should we trust in God? “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (Psalm 56:3). “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8).

Paul by inspiration in Acts 17:24-25 made a most magnanimous declaration to the Athenians about God’s divinity and fundamental nature. “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.” This passage alone lets us know that God needs nothing from us. Paul staunchly proclaimed this eternal truth about God in Romans 11:33-36. “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! ‘For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?’ For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” He told the church at Corinth, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5). If these were the only three passages in the entire Bible speaking of God’s divinity and fundamental nature, they would be enough to let us know that God does not need anything from us! This does not in any way mean that He does not want the very best for us. He demonstrated His ultimate desire for our redemption and eternal life

Virtually all of us have experienced being weak to some degree from a physical stance. Definitions of weak and weakness include fragile, feebleness, lack of strength, firmness, vigor, liable to give way under pressure or strain. This vulnerability can be most aggravating, frustrating and at times frightening. Sometimes, we will seek medical attention to find the cause to rid ourselves of this feeling of helplessness in order to regain our strength and vigor as quickly as possible. Like physical weakness, spiritual weakness comes in all shapes and sizes. When we look candidly at our lives, we all must admit being spiritually weak in some aspect. The proper attitude toward spiritual weakness, in ourselves as well as in others, is spelled out in Romans 14:1 and Romans 15:1 respectively. “As for the one, who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions” (ESV). “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” We are further commanded in 1 Thessalonians 5:14, “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.” A great many of us have heard or read the statement, “One week without God makes one weak.” An email circulated several years ago that said, “Without God, our week is: Sinday, Mournday, Tearsday, Wasteday, Thirstday, Fightday, Shatterday.” What rational person wants this? The focus of this article is choosing to remain spiritually weak. That choice can have the most catastrophic consequences! How tragic when

It has been said that the purpose of life is a life with purpose. The Bible contains the accounts of numerous people who were willing for God to work through them to accomplish His divine plan and purpose. It also tells of all those who were unwilling to submit to God, and they were used despite their obstinacy. None of us will ever be able to interrupt God’s plan and purpose, which is the redemption of mankind through the cross of Calvary. Proverbs 19:21 says, “There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the LORD’S counsel — that will stand.” Speaking of God, Job declared, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You” (Job 42:2). The Old Testament is filled with nobodies who became somebodies when they fulfilled God’s purpose for creating them. Noah found favor in God’s sight, and his life was changed forever. He obeyed God’s commands to the letter when God told him that a great flood was coming to destroy the world. Mrs. Noah and the rest of the family were definitely in support of him in his obedience to God. Abraham was called the friend of God. He left his country and his family at God’s command, and his life was changed forever. Abraham was 75-years-old when God called him. His wife Sarah was by his side, being 65-years-old at that time. God used their attempt to run ahead of His timetable when Sarah’s Egyptian

In April of this year, I had the privilege of being the guest speaker for the first Ladies’ Day program at the Riverside congregation in Kerrville, Texas. The coordinator and I had been talking by phone and corresponding through email for months. It was truly a thrill to finally meet her and all the good sisters that had been working for so long to make the preparations for that day a reality! Their theme, the title of this article, was quite a challenge for me. After much prayer and many presentation revisions, I realized addressing the glory of God and Christ shining through us was monumental. The ways that Deity can shine through humanity are literally countless. W.E. Vine defines God’s glory as the nature and acts of God in self-manifestation. The American Heritage Dictionary defines glory as exalted honor, praise or distinction; renown, adoration, thanksgiving. Psalm 150:2 proclaims, “Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to His excellent greatness!” What are His mighty acts? Creation alone announces the glory of God! The nature and acts of God are affirmed in Jeremiah 51:15-16. “He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heaven by His understanding. When He utters His voice — there is a multitude of waters in the heavens: He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries.” What makes

Job pled and cried for justice and mercy during his intense suffering. In Job 7:1-7 he said: Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth? Are not his days also like the days of a hired man? Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade… So I have been allotted months of futility, and wearisome nights have been appointed to me. When I lie down, I say, “When shall I arise, and the night be ended? For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.” My flesh is caked with worms and dust, my skin is cracked and breaks out afresh. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope. Oh, remember that my life is a breath! Job said this again in verse 16. “I loathe my life; I would not live forever, let me alone, for my days are but a breath.” How long does it take to take a breath? In comparison to eternity, that tiniest bit of time could be an accurate representation of just how short our lives are! Job fully acknowledged God’s control and life giving spirit over every living creature. Then he asked this thought provoking question in Job 12:9-10. “Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?” Elihu, one who reproved Job and his friends, said in Job 34:14-15, “If He should set His

Our Lord suffered incomprehensible agony as He faced the cross. Luke 22:44 gives us a graphic word picture. “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Another vivid description appears in Hebrews 5:7-8, “[W]ho, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” The glorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ followed His suffering. In Matthew 26:42, He prayed, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” Did we get that? Is that facing reality to the zenith? Jesus knew, understood and accepted what it meant to rest His will in the will of His Father! The following passages reveal our Lord’s commitment to God’s purpose for sending Him into the world. Before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples in Luke 9:44, “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” Luke 9:51 says, “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” He said in John 12:27, “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father,

Among numerous eternal truths from Matthew Chapters 5-7, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). This righteousness that Jesus spoke of is found in the Bible only. We have got to spend some time reading the only book that God ever wrote. “Have you not read…?” was a question that Jesus asked several times during His earthly ministry. A familiar slogan for some of us comes from Cracker Jack, “The more you eat, the more you want.” Many of us may remember the TV commercial for Quaker Oats to promote their breakfast cereal, Life. Three little boys are sitting at a table looking at the bowl of cereal. The two older boys are pushing the bowl back and forth between the two of them as they are saying, “I’m not gonna try it — you try it!” Speaking of the youngest boy, one says, “Let’s get Mikey, he hates everything!” To their utmost surprise, Mikey begins to eat heartily the cereal, to which they exclaim, “He likes it! Hey, Mikey!” Do we have memories of foods and drinks that we once hated? Now over time, and tasting, and finally eating, we really enjoy some of those foods and drinks. I remember most vividly my first experience with black olives. I thought they were huge delicious grapes! What a shock as the flavor of that olive connected with my taste buds! UUGGH! It was years before I ever tried them again; now

Matthew 20:29-30 reads, “Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, ‘Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!’” The multitude warned the men to be quiet, but they cried out all the more. Verse 32 says, “So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’” Verse 33 tells us how specific these men were in their request. “They said to Him, ‘Lord, that our eyes may be opened.’” Verse 34 states the Lord’s reaction and the result of their request being granted. “So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.” Luke 17:11-19 gives the account of ten lepers. These lepers’ request of Jesus was very much the same as the two blind men. Verses 12-13 says, “Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’” When Jesus saw them, He told them to go and show themselves to the priest, and as they went, they were cleansed. One, who was a Samaritan, when he saw he was healed, returned and with a loud voice glorified God, fell down at Jesus’ feet and gave thanks. Verse 17 states, “So Jesus answered and

The question was asked in a sermon recently when people hear our names, what is the first thing that comes to their minds? Was it our looks? Was it our money and possessions? Was it our power and position? Was it our education and social status? Was it our stand on politics? What was it that identified us in the minds of others? We were challenged to look at what battles against God that defines us, to relinquish whatever that was and replace it with Jesus Christ. We were called upon to accept heaven’s definition of who we are because nothing else will matter when we come to the end of life’s journey. As I thought later, all I could think about was what identified us as Christians should be our knowledge of and adherence to the Bible as God has revealed it. That is our strength as individuals and as the church. If either of these two factors is missing, our lives as Christians fall into full-blown disarray! Our effectiveness becomes virtually nil. What glee for Satan! Our spiritual identification is daily on display. People in the world are watching; other members of the church are watching; our families are watching; our neighbors are watching. Paul told the church at Corinth, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of God, not on tablets of stone

In recent years there have been TV programs featuring extreme makeovers of face and body. These programs can be thrilling to watch when we see the “before” and “after” transformations. Some family members and friends are virtually speechless with joy and amazement when they see the “new” person emerge from behind the curtain! God wants that kind of change in us spiritually. God wants us to be changed — to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Ephesians 4:23-24 says, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man [self] which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” R.C. Bell who wrote Studies in Ephesians made this statement: “No portion of the Bible draws the contradiction between fleshly and spiritual men more fully, or portrays the depraved, wretched, natural man in more colorful terms than Ephesians does.” We must have the desire to develop that biblically conscious way of thinking that will change our thoughts, words and actions that are contrary to God’s will. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Dying to self is the grimmest and most distasteful funeral we will ever attend. Many of us are in love with ourselves and our self-serving, self-seeking ways and attitudes. What we commonly refer to as The Beatitudes of our Lord in Matthew 5:1-12 are the basic groundwork of the change in our thinking

Vine’s Concise Dictionary of Bible Words defines wrath as “heat, rage, anger.” “Most of the usage involves God’s ‘anger.’ His ‘wrath’ is expressed against Israel’s sin in the wilderness. In God’s dealing with Israel He was jealous of His Holy name, for which reason He had to deal justly with idolatrous Israel by avenging Himself.” Is God a God of wrath? In a word, “Yes.” Is God a God of love? In a word, “Yes.” How do we know this? The Bible answers both questions in the affirmative repeatedly throughout Scripture. Virtually every soul acquainted with Christianity knows what John 3:16 says about the love of God. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” We see it everywhere. We hear it quoted often. How many people know what Romans 1:18-19 says about God’s wrath? “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” There is no question that God is a God of love. This is stated forthrightly in 1 John 4:7-8. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” However, in order for us to have

My 30-year-old younger son recently said to me, “Mom, the older I get the more I realize that all I want to hear is “well done.” I was so impressed that he being so young had come to that conclusive realization in his life — it made me so thankful and so proud! What will happen when Christ returns to reward His servants is depicted in Matthew 25:14-30. “Well done, good and faithful servant…” is what the Lord will say to those who have lived their lives in faithful, submissive and humble obedience to Him. Those first two words of the Lord’s final verdict to the obedient could not have greater eternal consequence and magnitude! Mid McKnight, one of the long time Gospel preachers in several Texas cities, said in a sermon years and years ago, “Anybody can go to heaven that wants to go to heaven more than anything else in the world! And until you want that more than anything else in the world, you are as close to heaven right now as you are ever going to get!” This is the cost to follow Christ! Jesus said in Matthew 10:37, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” To be worthy of Christ is to have an allegiance far stronger than marriage and family ties. To be worthy of Christ is to understand that nobody and nothing comes before allegiance to

Most of us are familiar with the Lord’s commandment of Matthew 6:33. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” In what has become known as the Sermon on the Mount, the teachings of Jesus the Christ are such that we will be challenged by them all of our lives! How do we obey the command of Matthew 6:33? First, to put and keep God first we must come to recognize that God does not and will not ever take second place to anybody or anything! He stated that candidly to the children of Israel in Exodus 20:1-3. “And God spoke all these words, saying: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.” What are some of our modern day gods or idols? The list is practically endless because it could and most times does vary from person to person. For the purpose of this writing, only a few can be mentioned. Some people have family members as their gods. Some have members of the church as their gods. Some have friends and coworkers as their gods. Still others have their money, pleasure, entertainment, jobs, sports, careers, school/college, homes, cars, lands, clothes and on and on we go with the gods and idols of this world! God still says none of those relationships or material possessions can come before Him and

James 2:14-27 tells us in rapid fire succession of the irrevocable connection between faith and works. Despite all voices to the contrary, James 2:17 still reads, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Verse 18 continues the thought, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” James 2:20-22 contains three most thought provoking questions that demand an affirmative answer based in Scripture – not on man’s opinion, attitude or worldview. “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?” James strengthens the divine line of reasoning in verses 23 and 24. “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” Abigail is a most striking example of her faith being justified by her works. We are introduced to this beautiful woman and learn of her outstanding faith and works in 1 Samuel 25. Her husband Nabal was a very rich man, but he was harsh and badly behaved. Nabal had 3,000

What is the power that we give the devil? Some of us give him the power of our love for money and wealth. Some of us give him the power of our love for position. Some of us give him the power of our love for possessions. Some of us give him the power of our love for prestige. The list is virtually endless. There are a lot of ways and means for us to be tempted. We give the devil power in our lives through the world’s three gateways. The devil is on the prowl 24/7 in an attempt to gain a way into our hearts to cause us to sin in thought, word or deed! The apostle John tells us not to love the world or the things in the world. For all that is in the world (1) the lust of the flesh, (2) the lust of the eyes and (3) the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world (1 John 2:15-16). It may surprise some of us to know that every sin we can name falls into one of those three categories. Satan used them with Eve, and through his deception, she fell into transgression. She and Adam lost their paradise home. The whole world was plunged into sin! He used these categories of sin with Jesus Christ and failed miserably (Matthew 4:1-11)! If there were more ways to cause us to commit sin, iniquity, trespass and transgression, John would have told

Virtually every member of the Lord’s church knows exactly what Acts 2:38 says: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” How many of us have ever focused our attention on what Acts 10:38 says? “…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Luke 13:17b says, “…all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.” Jesus speaking in John 8:29 said, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” None of us will ever be able to truthfully make that statement. However, we must understand God is counting on us to go about doing good. His expectation is that our entire lives are lived in righteousness and holiness. Paul tells us we must “…be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:23-24). One of the many definitions of the word “good” in Vine’s Dictionary is being morally honorable, pleasing to God, and therefore beneficial, that which is ethically right and noble. Have we ever given any serious thought to the fact that going about doing good is part of

When our cars, computers/copiers, appliances, etc. break down, we are not always able to fix them. If we cannot put them back in working order, we sometimes will call people we know. If they cannot help us, we may go to a repair shop. In some cases, we may even take or send the product back to the manufacturer for a refund or a replacement. This concept is known, accepted and practiced by virtually all of us in our day-to-day living. God knows and understands more about us than we will ever know about ourselves! We will die not fully knowing what “made us tick”! How many times have we been asked the simple question: “Why did you do that?” or “What made you do that?” and our response is, “I don’t know.” So when our spiritual, emotional, intellectual or physical well being starts to break down, no matter by whom or what, we need to go back to the One who made us! Sadly, for far too many of us, this is a fundamental unknown. We are all ignorant, just on different subjects. To be willfully ignorant of Who God is as He has revealed Himself to us in Scripture, and how it is that He deals with us, could not have a more tragic, eternal outcome! There are countless differences between God and us – between the way He thinks, talks, sees and acts, and the way we think, talk, see and act. Isaiah 55:6-9 makes this profound truth unmistakably

We hear so often how short and unpredictable life is. We need to understand that the only requirement for death is that we be alive. We forget or fail to realize that God holds every breath we take in His hands. In the ESV, Psalm 39:5 reads, “Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!” There is a most sorrowful and disconcerting experience for the faithful child of God. That experience is to be subjected to the funeral or memorial service of a person who was unprepared to meet God! Nothing can be more disturbing as you reflect on the lost condition of that person!The feeling that parallels that agony is to watch and hear those attending these services who are fully convinced the deceased is in the bosom of Abraham! In every sense of biblical faithfulness, those who are members of the Lord’s church understand exactly what the Bible says on the subject of how to get and stay saved. One of the most alarming passages of Scripture that addresses who will ultimately be in heaven is Revelation 21:27. It reads, “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” Diligent students of God’s Word do not misunderstand a passage this plain. Another passage that is penetrating to the core of our spiritual

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments for the children of Israel in Exodus 20:1-17. The time had come for God to reveal to them exactly what His expectations would be for them as His chosen people. The Ten Commandment law was unprecedented. It was the foundation for the 613 commandments that were to follow. These laws would cover the moral, ceremonial, civic and social needs of God’s people. In verses 2-3, God emphatically declared, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.” God told them right then that He would never accept being “next”! When Jesus was asked by one of the scribes in Mark 12:28b, “Which is the first commandment of all?” Jesus answered him in verses 29-30. “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.” Jesus reiterated that God will never accept being “next”! If we are seeking to be pleasing to God, and a worthy disciple of His Son, we must realize that God never comes “next.” God is always first! God does not take second place to anyone or anything! Seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness as Jesus commands in Matthew 6:33 is just that – a command – not a suggestion, a recommendation or

The Old Testament contains the history of God calling His people to repentance. From the dawn of creation, He has been calling the human race to repentance. When He asked Adam where he was, He was extending His hand in compassion. He was giving Adam the opportunity to acknowledge his sin and repent. Instead, Adam blamed Eve; Eve blamed the serpent; the serpent didn’t say another word – he had said too much already – and God punished all three of them! When Cain murdered Abel, and God asked him where his brother was, He was again extending His hand in compassion. He was giving Cain the opportunity to acknowledge his sin and repent. Instead, Cain became angry and defensive and left God no choice but to punish him! Disobedience and rebellion were the hallmark traits of the children of Israel. When God finally had His fill of their foolishness and ingratitude despite all He had done for them, He made them wander in the wilderness for forty years until they all died! Numbers 14 gives the sordid details of the Israelites’ refusal to enter Canaan. The consequences of disobedience and rebellion started with the ten spies that brought back the bad report. Moses had prayed on behalf of the entire congregation. In Numbers 14:19 he said, “Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” Verses 20-23 show just how far

Time management is perhaps one of the most gigantic challenges of the modern race! Many years ago, a sister in the faith gave me two magnets that I have displayed on my refrigerator to this day. One of them says, “Before you go to bed, give your troubles to God. He will be up all night anyway.” The other one says, “God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things — Right now, I’m so far behind, I will never die…” The sentiments of those two statements sum up very well the exclamation we make or hear so often: “You have a lot on your plate!” I recently made that statement to a family member, and she replied, “My plate has turned into a platter!” A short time later, a close friend said, “My plate has turned into a tabletop!” In September 1993, I attended the annual Palomar Mountain Ladies’ Retreat in California. The bookstore that was provided by one of the congregations was one of the features of the retreat that I looked forward to every time I attended. That year, I bought a book entitled, Time Management for Christian Women by Helen Young and Billie Silvey. In the 17 years since then, I definitely find myself in need of reading that book again in its entirety. It is an excellent book, and I thought at the time it was just what I needed to help me get on track in putting first things first. The examples, the personal

It’s that time of the year when perhaps we will be hearing the song with the title of this article as the lyrics to one of the lines in the song. It’s a lot of fun when we are playing make believe with the young ones in our families. Children delight in the world of fantasy, nursery rhymes, stories and fairy tales. They can listen for hours as their imaginations become their reality in a sense. Unfortunately, some adults have that childlike mentality when they begin to give any real thought to their relationship with God. They feel that as long as they have their list of righteous deeds and moral goodness that they check from time to time, they can “remind” God about it, and all is well. They want God to “check” their list, which in their minds assures them when they die they will be saved because all good people go to heaven. They fail to understand that God already knows all of us are naughty by nature and “nice” is not even a Bible word. They have never understood that when a person obeys the Gospel, he or she has been saved for good works, not by good works. First Timothy 6:17-18 says, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share.”

A sister in the faith recently spoke at the 75th Ladies’ Day program of a local congregation. In her biographical sketch, she stated that her favorite Scripture was 2 Timothy 4:18. This verse reads, “And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!” Upon reading this verse, it brought to mind Psalm 40:11, “Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.” W.E. Vine’s Concise Dictionary of Bible Words defines “preserve” as guarding, protecting and keeping. When those verbs are used to describe the actions of Jehovah God, they express the ability and power of the Father of mercies and God of all comfort beyond what we can ask or think. However, God’s guarding, protecting and keeping us is predicated upon our willingness to surrender our desires, our emotions, our intellect and our will to His divine and sovereign control! What does it mean to be preserved by God? For the Almighty to guard, protect and keep us, some of the things we must do are: Throughout Scripture, the blessed assurance we have of God’s guarding, protecting and keeping us is overwhelming. David expressed his ever-present trust and confidence in God’s power to preserve in Psalm 5:11-12, “But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; let those also who love Your name

In the most forthright way Solomon states in Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, “That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, ‘See, this is new?’ It has already been in ancient times before us.’”  What is he telling us? Nothing is fresh; everything is a repeat performance – just with different faces in a different span of time. Think about lives, events and the activities of this world like a movie. In a movie, we see the title in big, bold letters, and in some cases this title ends with an exclamation point! We then see the names of the stars, co-stars, producers, directors and writers. Then, we see this “with” column and numerous names are listed there. Do we remember or ever mention any of the names in the “with” column when we talk about that movie at a later time? Sometimes we cannot even remember who starred. In this life production of events and activities, God is the Producer/Director; Jesus Christ is the Star; the Holy Spirit is the Writer, and we as human beings are the “With.” Unlike manmade productions, the principles in creation will never change. However, those of us in the “with” column are returning to the dust every few seconds of every day! When one of us, a “with,” dies, God’s world design does not miss a beat; it does not

Several years ago in the ladies’ Bible class, the discussion was that even as adults, sometimes our focus and attention in the assembly is less than God’s expectation to worship Him in spirit and truth. Several comments were made about how difficult it can be also at times to keep our children and grandchildren quiet during worship. When they are very young that is all we wanted them to do so we could truly engage ourselves in proper and acceptable worship to our God. One of our former elders’ wives shared this comment from one of her grandchildren who was three- or four-years-old at the time and had become somewhat weary in the services. Her husband was doing the preaching that day. Their grandson asked her, “Mammaw, is Pappaw through saying words?” She said she almost laughed out loud! Coming from a child that young, virtually all of us would have laughed! Those of us who have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are constantly amazed at the things they say at the most inopportune times! We do all we can to minimize and stifle such comments as best and as fast as we can! The worship services have been the place we have heard some classics: “I’m glad this is almost over!” “I don’t want to stay; it’s boring!” “Can we leave now?” “How much longer?” “I’m out of here!” In Acts Chapter 2 on the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached the first Gospel sermon. Verse 40 of that chapter says,

God gives us life, breath and all things because He is God. God has always protected and provided the best for those who obey Him because He is God. His generosity is unequaled! We are made aware of just how loving, generous and protective God was and is from the earliest existence of mankind. After God created Adam, Genesis 2:15-17 reads; “Then the LORD God put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” Eve, as she was talking to the serpent said, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’” (Genesis 3:2-3). God always allows the most and restricts the least. This is evident in the days of the week that He has given humanity. God has given us six days to do whatever we feel we need to do to make an honest living, taking care of family, socializing, vacationing, etc. However, He has commanded us to worship on Sunday, the first day of the week. What if He had commanded work for one day and worship six

One Sunday night in March of this year, a 19-year-old girl obeyed the Gospel at the congregation where I attend. One of the deacons walked up, and as he put his arm around me, he said, “Forgiveness is a beautiful thing. If you don’t give it, you don’t get it. There are thousands of folks that don’t understand that.” I smiled in agreement and said to him, “Forgiveness is our greatest spiritual blessing because it is our greatest spiritual need, because without it there is no relationship with God.” When we obey the Gospel, our sins are forgiven and our relationship is restored. We cannot be right with God until He forgives us! Romans 5:10-11 says, “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” The Scriptures are flooded with commandments, examples and the actions needed to obtain God’s forgiveness, which results in this spiritual reconciliation. In one of numerous commandments Jesus said, “And whenever you stand praying if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses” (Mark 11:25-26). Until we come to the absolute realization of this divine directive in submissive obedience, we are as close to heaven

Fear is one of the greatest enemies of our faith. Some of the definitions of fear are (1) terror (2) dread (3) horror (4) fright, (5) panic and (6) alarm. This type of paralyzing fear is a tool of Satan, intended to divert our focus away from God and Christ. In the beginning, the emotion of fear was foreign to the first couple. The first time we see the word “afraid” in Scripture is in Adam’s reply to God when asked where he was. Adam answered God by saying, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10). When Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, this act of disobedience was the pivotal turning point in his relationship with the Creator! The ramifications were beyond his calculation! It was time for Adam to be afraid because at that point he knew he had disobeyed God’s one and only commandment to him and Eve! Since the Garden, God has repeatedly commanded His people not to fear and not to be afraid. God told Abram to leave his family and all that he had and go to a land that He would show him (Genesis 12:1). Abram did exactly as God commanded him. The word of the LORD came to him in a vision saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your exceedingly great reward” (Genesis 15:1). When God spoke to the people on Mt. Sinai, they cried out to Moses as they trembled

The Bible is overflowing with passages of Scripture expressing and describing God’s gifts of love that He has extended to us. These passages are superlative in their context. They are unequaled, unrivaled, incomparable, unmatched, supreme, unparalleled, consummate and untouchable. They reveal the relationship God is seeking with His ultimate creation through His Son Jesus Christ. If only we could understand everything God does and allows is because He is God and He is always pursuing our salvation through Jesus Christ! Titus 2:11-13 says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” It does not get any better than that! God has given us life, health, provision, protection, forgiveness and a host of other incomprehensible blessings because He is God! What a different world this would be if we all understood in humility and obedience that every blessing is because of who God is, not because of who we think we are, who we know or who knows us! James 1:17 plainly states, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” God is the eternal source of good; He is forever faithful, and He never changes. It does not get any better than that! Life is

The Lord Jesus Christ exhibited to the ultimate every positive human emotion because He was perfection personified. One of those emotions was His compassion for the ones whose lives He touched. Vine’s defines compassion, “To have pity, a feeling of distress through the ills of others; to suffer with another; to show kindness or assistance.” Webster says it is, “A feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for someone struck by misfortune, accompanied by a desire to alleviate the suffering; mercy.” Compassion may very well be the acid test of our emotions. We are living in a world that now takes a lot to be moved with compassion. It has to be a distress, a calamity of a suffering of some magnitude to get our attention. Some of us have witnessed personally or seen in the media people being robbed, raped, driven over, beaten, murdered, kidnapped, and on and on. Sadly, many of us are jaded to these occurrences. In many cases, not a move is made to render help or even contact authorities! Horrifying as it is to hear and witness these notorieties, in some cases, authorities are present and do absolutely nothing! What has happened to cause such ruthless, callous, cynical and heartless attitudes and actions in our society today? What would Jesus think, say and do if He were to personally visit one of our cities for just one day to witness the lack of compassion? How would He feel when He observed these same kinds of worldly

In 1 John 2:15-17, the apostle solemnly declares, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” Perhaps the best known and most quoted verse in the Bible is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Our Lord continues in verse 17, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” As Jesus prayed for His apostles shortly before His death, He said, “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:14-18). How do we reconcile these passages, which seem out of harmony? The message

The Bible is punctuated repeatedly with who God is and how He deals with us. God has been revealing Himself to His creation and making His expectations vividly clear since the Garden of Eden. Moses was the first to have the question about God’s actual identity answered. God was quick to tell him. Exodus 3:13-14 says, “Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 5:1-2 reads, “Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ And Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.” On the surface, Pharaoh’s response seems irreverent. God being God allows Pharaoh the benefit of his ignorance. God then proceeds through Moses and Aaron to enlighten Pharaoh of precisely who He was. Sadly in Pharaoh’s case, he was not a willing learner of who God is and how He deals with us. Pharaoh’s elevated opinion of his status, power and importance

For those of us who have lived a few years, it seems as though we have just blinked a couple of times and the first ten years of this new millennium are now history! One of the many definitions of time according to Vine’s Dictionary is “a signified, fixed or definite period, a season, any period fixed by nature.” The year 1999 had so many “last” things and times to consider and acknowledge. Now we are referring to that time period as “back in the ‘90’s.” Very early in the year 2000, my husband made this statement to me: “Honey, we have got more time behind us than we do in front of us, so we have got to make the rest of it count.” I remember being ever so thankful to have still been alive in the year 2000. Without a doubt it was a momentous occasion for all of us old enough to appreciate what we were witnessing—the beginning of a new millennium! However, as the year 2000 approached, virtually the whole world was consumed with what was then being referred to as the Y2K Bug. This was the bug in all computer software that programmers had not realized to be a major shortcoming. It was the widespread practice in all computer software using two digits for representing a year rather than all four digits. This year representation between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 1999 could have been calculated as 100 years rather than 1 day. Almost everybody raced around to

God speaks most emphatically through David the Psalmist and declares, “For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness” (Psalm 50:10-12). Do we believe and understand that? Three passages from Psalms of the many in Scripture are meant to give us complete understanding of who owns what. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” Psalm 89:11 says, “The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fullness, You have founded them.” Psalm 104:24 says, “O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions.” Do we believe and understand that? We often sing the song, “This World Is Not My Home.” Solomon, speaking of mankind, states in Ecclesiastes 5:15, “As he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return, to go as he came; and he shall take nothing from his labor which he may carry away in his hand.” Do we believe and understand that? In the life of Job, God first allowed Satan to kill all ten of his children and destroy all of his possessions. He had no understanding of why. Chapter 1:20-21 reads, “Then Job arose, tore his

Even though sin is what separates us from God, is there ever a time when it is o.k. to sin? The way we think, speak and act at times, we may have the idea that most things are not wrong and are certainly not to be characterized as sin. However, we must realize that any and all wrong in thought, word or deed is sin, which breaks and violates God’s law. In God’s sight there are no such things as: sin that is insignificant sin in moderation sin without consequences sin with a palatable name sin that is ever necessary Sin never comes for a mere visit – it comes to take over, to take control and to captivate! Paul tells us, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). Based on Isaiah 59, the nature of sin is to separate us from God, dominate our lives and humiliate us constantly. The power of sin leads us from one sin to another. God’s justice and divine holiness demands that sin be punished and Christ suffered that punishment for us on the cross. “In His humiliation His justice was taken away…” (Acts 8:33a). Jesus suffered the humiliation of being lied about, mocked, spit upon, beaten, slapped and nailed to a cross to deliver our wretched souls from the fires of hell! When we become

What happens to a person who was brought up in a godly family and who ends up “going in the way of Cain?” What happens to a person who was brought up in a family with siblings who remain faithful, but he or she does not remain faithful? What happens to a person who was brought up hearing the truth of the Gospel, but never becomes a child of God? Look to the lives of the apostles. John 17 records how heavily they were on the mind of Christ as He faced the cross. As He prayed for them He said, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word” (John 17:6). “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are” (John 17:11). Then there is Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed the Lord. What does Jesus say about him? “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12). Jesus had prayed all night before He chose the twelve apostles (Luke 6:12-16). Verse 16 says Judas

When we as Christians try to talk to some people about their half-hearted relationship with God, and how they need to have faith in His ability to take care of them, they respond sometimes by saying, “Faith won’t pay the bills!” This statement on the surface sounds reasonable enough; therefore, they feel justified in their state of unfaithfulness to God. However, it reveals a faith in one’s self and not a reliance on God. Faith won’t pay the bills? Oh, but it does! It depends on what kind of faith is being referenced! There is a vital distinction that must be made between natural faith and trusting faith. Every day all rational people engage in activities exercising natural faith. We take medicine, drink water, drive our cars, and hundreds of other things exercising natural faith. We take medicine exercising natural faith; we don’t know all the ingredients that are in the pills, but we believe they will make us feel better, so we take them. We drink water exercising natural faith; we don’t know what is in the water, but we believe it is safe, so we drink it. We drive our cars by faith; we believe that they will take us to our destinations, or we would not get in them. People exercise natural faith in their abilities to work and make money to pay their bills. Most people believe they can do the job they were hired to do; otherwise, why would they go to work? In taking

In one of my devotional Bibles, this statement is made about the control God has over His creation. “The human race operates and all activity occurs within the predetermined parameters set by God.” Passages that declare this are throughout the Bible. Psalm 33:8-9 makes the universal supremacy and sovereignty of God perfectly clear. “Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Paul proclaims in Acts 17:26-27, “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” God made all things and controls all things in order to show us that we must be constantly seeking Him. God said through Jeremiah, “Am I a God near at hand, says the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?’ says the Lord; do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the LORD’” (Jeremiah 23:23-24). We are currently living during a time when some are not too sure that God is still on the throne in control of everything and everybody. Those of us who believe

In a conversation with a sister in the faith, she expressed her frustration in trying to get people to see, understand and obey the truth of the Gospel. She said this is especially difficult when the religious convictions that they hold are so strong, even though those convictions cannot be validated in Scripture. She talked about how people can be shown Scripture after Scripture; they can read Scripture after Scripture; they can hear Scripture after Scripture, yet they remain in unbelief! Then she said, “It’s just like trying to pull a tooth that’s not loose!” I had never heard it put quite that way, but it started me to thinking about what God’s Word has to say about such an attitude. There are at least three R’s in unbelief – resistance, rejection and rebellion. The tragedy of unbelief appears time after time in the Bible. This was especially true of God’s chosen people. In spite of everything God had done for the Israelites and promised them, they refused to believe the truth He presented right before their eyes! Speaking of their unbelief, disobedience and ultimate rebellion, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:5, “But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.” Hebrews 3:17-19 says, “Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in

One of the ministers in the brotherhood that my husband and I have known since the late 1970’s writes to us from time to time. His letters, if you can call them that, are not the typical ones relating what’s happening in his family or his travels as a minister or things of that nature. They are mini sermons, and we have told him they should be put in a book, and that he really needs to write before the Lord calls him home. He has thought about that to some degree, but to date, there is no book in the works as far as we know. In a recent letter, one of the thoughts he comments on is, “I want you to be first, after me.” When my husband read that sentence to me, I was intrigued by the concept, so this article takes shape around that premise. We live in a world that is bombarded with the promotion of self-interest. We naturally tend to focus on ourselves rather than on others. After all, the Bible says, “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church” (Ephesians 5:29). The higher calling for us as Christians is to seek balance in the fact of that truth against “me, myself, and I.” During His earthly ministry, Jesus had to deal with this problem of “me first” among His apostles regarding who would be first or who among them would be

We live in a microwave–“make it happen” yesterday society. Virtually all of us have experienced having to be patient and to wait when it was the last thing we wanted or felt we needed to be doing! I will share three such nerve racking occasions. My husband and I waited for three hours to receive a service. When it finally became our turn, we were told we had been directed to the wrong line. The service we needed could have been taken care of two hours before then! I waited in a drive-through pharmacy for one hour when there were only four vehicles ahead of me! I waited 35 minutes on a plane and watched at least 15 planes leave before we were finally cleared for take-off! We are thrilled beyond words when God answers us within minutes or even seconds. What about those times when we are left to be patient and wait for hours, days, months and sometimes even years? It is hard to be patient and wait, especially when we do not understand what God is doing. Sometimes, we lose sight of Who our God and Father is and how He deals with us. We forget that He can and will respond to us with something far better than we ever imagined at times, if we have the faith to be patient and to wait. Job 14:14 says, “If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my

The words of Jesus, in His conversation with the Jewish leader Nichodemus in John 3:16, is perhaps the most well known and most quoted verse from the Bible. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Unfortunately, the words of Jesus as He continues in John 3:17-21 are too often ignored. In the religious world today, we are hearing more and more that all you have to do is believe in God, take Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior and you will be saved. Is this the truth according to Scripture—really? Is there a passage or passages of Scripture that say belief only is all that is required or imply belief only is all that is required to be saved—really? The way God dealt with His people in the Old Testament is something to behold. Those of us who are attentive to God’s Word are keenly aware of the fact that His commands were not only to be heard and believed, but also to be obeyed. Carefully following the commands was the expectation, and in many instances, any deviation from obedience to those commands was met with immediate death! Many of us are familiar with the immediate death of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:1-7 when they offered profane fire before God, which He had not commanded them. God had told Aaron their father how incense was to be burned on the altar in Exodus

The “righteousness of God” is a phrase that occurs numerous times in Scripture. How many times have we read the phrase “moral goodness?” The vast majority of people have mistakenly equated their moral goodness with a definite and clear passage to heaven. The statement was made that mass murders and murders of children and the like would go to hell, but God was just going to give the rest of us a “stern talking to.” Nothing could be further from God’s divine plan of salvation for our redemption than our moral goodness. What is this fatal flaw in the thinking of so many people? Perhaps more than anything else it is the misguided notion that God is a God of love and He is not going to do anything to hurt anybody. Where in the Bible does it say that? We don’t seem to understand that we begin to sin against God as adolescents, so accountability to Him looms early in our lives. Shortly after Noah and his family came out of the ark, God said in Genesis 8:21b; “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.” Psalm 25:7 reads, “Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.” Proverbs 20:11 tells us, “Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does

We have recently been informed that the United States has a 1.2 trillion dollar deficit! This amount of money in any economic sphere staggers the mind in grappling to comprehend the grave significance of that dollar amount! However, the value of a single soul, the eternal aspect of mankind created in the very image of God, cannot be calculated in dollars and cents! How do we know that? Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” We could never have enough money or get enough money to buy back our souls once they were irrevocably lost! What did Jesus want all of us to understand? In the sight of God, all the bail out money is cheaper than the value of one soul! Take the 1.2 trillion dollar deficit, multiply it by any dollar amount, and one soul is still worth more! Nobody knows what the world is worth, so nobody knows what one soul is worth. It would not matter if we did know; one soul is priceless! It does not matter if the soul resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or Skid Row; in the eyes of God both souls are of equal value because Jesus Christ died for us all! Some of the words that describe valuable are “expensive,” “costly” and “priceless.” Immortality is the value that a soul has that causes the value of this world and the things in it to pale

The Bible is without parallel in its scope and eternal message for our lives and the unalterable destiny of our souls. We have heard for years that the Bible is the number one best seller. According to one source, the Bible tops the best seller lists every year. World sales of the Bible are more than 100 million every year! From a personal perspective, this fact reveals several most frightening truths. (1) For untold millions the Bible is a book just like any other book or it has become a mere text book; something to be analyzed and scrutinized like a historical document. (2) It is in countless homes on a bookshelf gathering dust or used as a decoration on a coffee table. (3) For the vast majority, the thought that the Bible is to be read and obeyed has never invaded the privacy of their thinking capacity. For them divine Scriptures are simply words on a piece of paper! Those of us who are faithful members of the Lord’s church know all too well that the Bible, the Word of God, is the center and core of our existence! However, there are times even in our lives when we allow doubt, fear, worry, guilt or any other number of negative emotions to creep into our thinking and weaken our faith. It is at these times that God’s Word for us can become mere words on a piece of paper! Our faith or belief in Scripture is our passageway to God. Our faith or

Most of us can remember some of our life experiences that have caused us to cringe in guilt, vexation and embarrassment. Most of us would give almost anything to recall that moment in time to decide and act differently! Several years ago, a visiting preacher to a congregation asked the question, “Have you ever messed up and your ‘make up’ never quite measured up to your ‘mess up’?” At another Gospel meeting at the same congregation, the visiting preacher read the poem, “The Land of Beginning Again” by Louisa Tarkington. The one preacher told about an opportunity that he let slip through his fingers when asked to preach the Gospel to another village of lost people on a missionary trip. He decided he didn’t really have the time to go to another village on that trip. When he returned the following year, he searched long and hard to find the man who had asked him to come and preach in that village, but he never found him! The other visiting preacher read the poem, “The Land of Beginning Again,” and it begins by describing this wonderful place: “Where all of our mistakes, and all of our heartaches, and all of our poor selfish griefs, could be dropped at the door like a shabby old coat and never put on again.” The body of the poem addresses the greatest injustice, all the things we intended to do but forgot—little praises unspoken, and little promises broken. Perhaps the greatest line in the

How many times have we heard that statement? How many times have we said, “I had no choice?” We always have a choice! The only question to be answered is this: Are we willing to accept personal responsibility for the choices we make no matter what? It is those mind-numbing, life changing consequences of our choices that are sometimes almost impossible for us to face and handle! When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them the freedom of choice. Since He placed them in the Garden of Eden, the human race has been confronted with making choices between right and wrong, good and evil. We make choices every day God gives us. Some of the choices we made when we were younger are affecting our lives to this day! Some of the choices we are presently making will impact us until our lives end! We begin to make some of these major life directing choices early in life. We make the choice to graduate from high school or college. We make the choice to struggle through those years of high school and college for several years, or we make the choice to drop out of high school or college and struggle, in many instances, for the rest of our lives. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 7:8; “The end of a thing is better than its beginning; the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” Making the choice to stay in school is not an easy one, especially today with all the pressures

I wrote the article “Account for Life” for Gospel Gazette in January of this year. That article was based on some of the minister’s remarks made at the funeral of a sweet sister who went to glory in November of 2007. At that service, one of the relatives of the deceased made this comment to me, “Marilyn, I have always liked you because you keep it real; you always know where you stand.” I called and asked her exactly what she meant by that comment. She sent me a note; this is what she said. “That means you are the same and you change not in any situation. You are a nice person and appear to be a godly person. Someone will always see the good traits in you and will always speak good words concerning you. Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light shine that men may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ Marilyn, continue to do this. Be encouraged.” Her remarks about me always being the same, brought to mind a statement a relative had made years ago. She said, “Marilyn, there’s one thing I have always liked about you; no matter how long it has been since we have seen you, you are always the same.” Years before that a good sister in the faith said to me, “Marilyn, we always know where we stand with you; we may not like it, but we always know where we stand.” These three women never met. They did

The article entitled, “Check Up for Church Members,” was in a recent church bulletin. These questions were adapted from that article. How many morning services would we have if everyone stayed home when I do? How often would there be Bible classes if others would attend only when I do? How much Christian instruction would the children of my community receive if other parents would pay only as much attention to it as I do? How many neighbors would be invited to services and welcomed if others would invite and welcome only as many people as I do? How many prayers would be offered for the minister, my neighbors and the church if others would pray only as much as I do? How many statements would be made about Christ if others only spoke out for Him as much as I do? What kind of church would the church be if every member were just like me? Another article entitled, “What If…,” was in a church bulletin several years ago. These were some of the questions asked: What if everyone knew what you know about the Bible and studied it as much or as little as you do? Would they know what one must do to become a Christian and then remain faithful as a child of God? Would they (like you) be maturing and growing spiritually, or would they be on a decline? What if everyone sang during worship as you do? What if everyone sought to be involved in the Lord’s work (or escape

There is no such thing as (1) an optional command, (2) sinning in moderation, (3) it ever being necessary to sin, (4) an insignificant sin or (5) a right way to do wrong. However, the Bible gives us example after example of people who tried the best they knew how to behave in an “acceptable” sinful manner. This is painfully apparent in the account of Solomon, his son Rehoboam and Jeroboam. God has told us repeatedly this cannot not be done and remain pleasing to Him.     The Bible says when Solomon was old and his many wives turned his heart after other gods, his heart was not loyal to God. “Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods, but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded” (1 Kings 11:6, 9-10).     Because of his continued rebellion and disobedience, God told Solomon that He would tear the kingdom away from him and give it to his servant, but not while he was alive; however, He would tear it out of the hand of his son. God told him, “However, I will not tear away the whole kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of

Solomon said in Proverbs 25:26 (NKJV), “A righteous man who falters before the wicked is like a murky spring and a polluted well.” To falter is to hesitate, waver or fall in action, intent or endurance. Murky means dark, gloomy and cheerless, obscure or thick, as with a mist. Polluted is to make foul, contaminated or tainted.     These definitions are perfectly all right depending on what they are describing. However, they should never be used to describe children of God! The righteous faltering before the wicked today is just as contemptible! How can a murky or gloomy, cheerless Christian have the Word of God dwelling in him richly? If our lives, through a lack of faith, have become polluted or tainted, we have fallen down and compromised our spiritual integrity before the wicked who are all around us!     Hezekiah, king of Judah, learned the lesson of standing with conviction before the wicked in one of the hardest ways during his reign. Second Kings chapters 18 and 19 give us the account of the circumstances of this sad event. His loyalty and steadfastness to God was commendable until the pressures of his commitment to God were brought to bear.    Second Kings 18:1-6 tells of Hezekiah’s ascent to the throne of Judah. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, held fast to the Lord, did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments. Verse 7 says, “The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled

In a sermon I heard years ago, the minister made the statement that our lives are being constantly bombarded by life itself. He said, “Visualize your life as a glass filled with water.” Then he asked, “What do you do when your glass is bumped? What spills out?”     The question was certainly a thought provoking and challenging one for me—one I have thought of often over the years. It is a question I have asked many times in Bible classes I have taught. One good sister told me it struck a chord in her, and we need to be extra careful of what we put into our glass whether it is spiritually based or worldly. What are we putting into our glasses?     As surely as we are breathing, our glass will be bumped and battered by life every day that God gives us. Sometimes, we do not know just how to react. So, the question becomes how are we responding to this bumping. Why do we respond to any adverse situation the way in which we do? What is the first thing that comes out of our mouths when this glass bumping involves our family, our congregation, our friends, our job, our health, our city, our school or our country?     We need to make a contract with our lips because we will not have time to filter what comes out of our mouths when our glasses are bumped! Solomon states most pointedly in Proverbs 4:23: “Keep your heart with all

Have you ever been in the place of being forced to acknowledge that what you had in your mind would never be? How did you respond to that situation upon that realization? Were you made better or bitter? Did you learn anything from it for future experiences in life? Did you ever come to the understanding and acceptance that only what God wants and has in mind really counts? Psalm 115:3 says; “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” That settles any controversy regarding who controls everything and everybody!     In the prophet Ezekiel’s time, God’s people were practicing idolatry in a most rampant manner. As a result, God told Ezekiel to tell them: “What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, ‘We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone.’ ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you’” (Ezekiel 20:32-33). God continues in verse 38 by saying, “I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” Apparently, the people did not realize how displeased God had become with their behavior. He plainly told them that their idolatry was not going to be tolerated. This flagrant disobedience they had

A minister preached a sermon recently from Jeremiah 2:1-13. Some have called Jeremiah the “weeping prophet” because God’s message that he preached to the people of Judah was utterly rejected. As a result, of their rebellion and disobedience, the 70-year Babylonian captivity was inevitable.     Jeremiah reminded them of their once covenant relationship with God. God told Jeremiah, “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holiness to the LORD, the first fruits of His increase’” (Jeremiah 2:2-3a).     Moses had told the children of Israel of their coveted status with God when he said, “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6).     Israel’s relationship with God in the beginning was one of kindness and unfailing devotion. Israel was God’s love. From this relationship, God was getting them as His prized possession! The Israelites loved God dearly and God loved them in the same way!     Then, the unthinkable begin to happen; they begin to fall into idolatry and apostasy! God told Jeremiah to ask them, “What injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, have followed idols, and have become idolaters?” (Jeremiah 2:5). Then, God pronounced this condemnation: “For My

According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, “choice” means to be chosen out by reason of suitability; selected. Its special significance is to select by the act of taking, rather than by showing preference or favor; taking for oneself, as of a choice made by God.     In the third month after the children of Israel had been delivered from Egyptian bondage, God sent Moses with a very special message to them. He said, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine” (Exodus 19:3b-5).     God instructed Moses to tell Israel just how vital their relationship with Him was to be. “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him” (Exodus 19:6-7).     God gave Moses further instructions regarding this divine selection process. Israel became the choice of God because He had set His love on them. Moses commanded the people to remember the LORD their God and all He had done for them. “For you

Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” Salt has purifying, preserving and antiseptic qualities. In the Lord’s teaching, it is symbolic of that spiritual health and vigor essential to Christian virtue and purity that counteracts the corruption that is in the world.     How “salty” are we as Christians? Do our lives reflect our Lord with those purifying, preserving, antiseptic or cleansing qualities? How “salty” are our hearts, our speech, our example and our influence?     How “salty” is our heart? Our heart reveals what goes on in the core of our being, the source from which everything flows. Solomon said, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7a). We are the products of the way we think. In speaking to the Pharisees on one of many occasions, Jesus said, “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).     God’s Word is the only power that can save and transform us, but the orientation of our hearts is a human choice. We not only have to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, but we must also change the source of our thinking. “With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from

In November of 2007, I attended the funeral of my childhood minister’s mother. This minister was my main spiritual influence regarding Scripture from the time I was 13 until I finished high school. My family came to love and appreciate him immensely! He died in 1999.     His mother was a faithful member of the church; she was 98 years old when she went to glory. I told several of my relatives that I was there because of him; they all understood. My first cousin who is a minister conducted the funeral service. One of the comments that he made several times during her eulogy was, “We are going to account for the life.”     I have heard many lessons and sermons and sat in numerous Bible classes, and I cannot remember ever hearing our ultimate answering to God put in those words. As I have thought about that over the past several weeks, it has caused me to look more closely at what God’s Word has to say about us “accounting for the life.”     We have got to come to the realization that God did not create us and give us a span of life to do as we please. Have we ever given any thought why we were born on the particular day, time and year in which that occurred? God being God had a specific reason for giving us life at that precise moment in time. God created us with vision, plan and purpose. First Corinthians

How can we know the will of God for our lives? How can we know we are doing God’s will? How can we know that through God’s will all things work together for good?   Our God being the all knowing, all powerful, all seeing and ever-present Jehovah has answered that question for us! The first step to knowing God’s will is to have an understanding of who He is. The prophet declares to us in Jeremiah 9:23-24, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord exercising loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord.’”     In the Bible, every time we see the phrases “according to the will of God,” “by the will of God,” “for this is the will of God,” “the will of the Lord” and “if the Lord wills,” we need to stop and take note of the passages in which those phrases appear. Mark it down, God’s will is revealed there! God’s expectation is for us to make His will our will all the days of our lives.     We need to understand God hears and answers our prayers according to His will. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears

Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, a utopia, the ideal of all places. Everything was perfect and beautiful. The words fear, guilt, shame, sorrow, pain, sickness, death or any other negative emotion or experience was a complete unknown. What they had was every physical comfort that could be imagined, and above all, they were in total fellowship and communion with God.     This divine relationship with their Creator came crashing down around them when Satan entered their world and they begin listening to and believing him. When sin entered their perfect world, nothing was ever the same! After Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit, God called to Adam and said, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). If Adam had been forthright in his answer, he would have said, “In sin.” I John 3:4 states, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”     If we would only wrap our minds around how loathsome and repugnant sin is to God, the first steps in understanding the totality of His divine holiness and purity would be ours! “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).     Sin cannot and will not dwell in God’s presence because there is no sin, no evil, no tempting and no deception in Him at all. Adam and Eve had destroyed their perfect relationship with God! The way God loves us will

In recent years, we have become familiar with the statement, “They are in denial.” That means someone is refusing to accept the harsh reality of an inescapable truth. In seeing ourselves as we really are in relationship to God, the attitude of being self-righteous and self-justifying puts us on a collision course with him and spiritual peril is inevitable. This attitude of willful rebellion has been with us since the dawn of creation.     God’s chosen people were no different in spite of all the manifestations of his love, mercy, grace, goodness, provision and protection. The accounts of their rebellion are legion–so many! In the final book of the Old Testament, Malachi has the message from God to Israel that condemns their unfaithfulness. He, like all the other prophets, named sins and named the sinners.     The Lord Almighty declares the glaring sins of his people. Each time they denied their sin and responded with a “yet you say” question loaded with sarcasm, contempt and defensiveness. Israel had grown weary of God and keeping its covenant relationship.     The people no longer believed that God loved them. Malachi 1:2 says, “I have loved you, says the Lord. Yet you say, In what way have You loved us?” Because God had destroyed Edom Esau’s descendants, because of willful rebellion, Israel was certain God could not possibly still love them; after all, Edom was their “brother.”     Next, Malachi 1:6 God says, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master, If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a

We, who have been called out of darkness by obedience to the Gospel into the light, have been created for the glory of God. Speaking of God, Isaiah 43:6-7 says, “Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”     The apostle Paul tells us, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). We are told by the writer of the Book of Hebrews, “But without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).     Have you ever had the unfortunate experience of someone trying to talk you out of your faith and purpose? This can be so discouraging and exasperating! Our Lord knew all about it because it happened to him constantly during his earthly ministry; it began with Peter.     Jesus had asked his disciples who the people were saying he was. Peter makes that most noble confession that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. Matthew 16:21 says, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”     Matthew 16:22 says, “Then Peter took Him aside and began to

Myopia is defined as nearsightedness or shortsightedness, lack of foresight or discernment. Physical myopia can cause some long-term damage if it is not properly treated. Myopia from a spiritual standpoint will be detrimental to the saving of our souls if not biblically corrected.     For those of us who are involved in Bible studies that focus on conversion, we may have heard this statement: “I just can’t see that!” It is another way of saying, “I don’t believe that!” Why are we sometimes put off or taken back when people say that? Usually our first reaction is to take it personally. We forget that our lives are our story, but the story is not about us! “Not unto us O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy and because of Your truth” (Psalm 115:1). God works his purpose for us according to the counsel of his will—not ours.     God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have different functions in the Godhead, but their plan, goal and aim is and always has been our salvation. We as human beings are simply the recipients and the messengers of God’s revealed plan for our redemption. Jesus Christ is the hub of that redemptive plan. The Holy Spirit is the Helper Jesus promised who would guide us through the Word as redeemed sinners. They each have a divine response to, “I just can’t see that!”     When the truth from God’s Word has been

If we have been in this world for any significant length of time, we soon learn life is full of trials, temptations, set backs, disappointments, frustrations and heartaches. There are also times when we experience joy, happiness, peace, fulfillment, contentment and pleasure.     We have no problem whatsoever enjoying the latter; it is the former that causes us perhaps to start asking the question, “Why is this happening to me?” When we know how God deals with us, then we will know how to deal with any of life’s situations, good or bad. We will know if it is a test from God to strengthen us or a temptation from Satan to destroy us. Hebrews 12:7-8 says, “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.” Do we really have the faith we need to deal with life as it comes?     God blesses us in countless ways daily, and we should be thanking him daily, realizing all of our sufficiency comes from him. Sometimes, God also will allow great suffering into our lives in order to gain our attention so we can understand what is really important in life. Sometimes through a trial of testing, God takes our lives in a direction we may not understand or even initially be ready to accept.     So how do

God takes us and makes us what he wants us to be when we bow to him in submissive obedience. We are who we are because of God and the work we have allowed him to accomplish in our lives. Paul told the church at Philippi to “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do according to His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12b-13).     When God called Abraham and told him to get out of his country and go to a land he would show him, Abraham was a nobody! What had he ever done for God? At the time God called him, his name was Abram. When he became what God made him, God changed his name to Abraham. He was a nobody who became somebody when he gave his life to the LORD!     In the course of time as the relationship between God and Abraham developed and flourished, God told him to take his son Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice. Notice the extent of this man’s obedience. “So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him” (Genesis 22:3). Abraham obeys without questioning God, informing Sarah or looking for a way out of God’s command

In May 2006, my article was published, “When Our Bodies Begin to Betray Us.” I had no idea I would be writing a follow-up to that article because of a rather frightening personal experience. We do not know from one second to the next what is going to happen to us! This is a direct quote from the May 2006 article. “When our bodies begin to betray us and we ignore or deny that betrayal, we pay in pain and suffering! Our bodies never tell a lie about our true physical condition. We must make some adjustments as we advance in years and experience other changes in our physical condition.” On February 7, 2007, at the ripe old age of 57, and at the whopping weight of 107, I suffered a mini-stroke! I had none of the risk factors, but I had several of the symptoms of a stroke. I was soon to learn that mini-strokes are just as dangerous as full blown strokes and no symptoms are ever to be ignored. I had ignored the symptoms I experienced the week before! According to the healthcare professionals, the risk factors for a stroke include obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, family history of stroke, not exercising, alcoholism and smoking. The symptoms of a stroke include nausea, a sudden severe headache, dizziness, blurred vision, numbness, pain and weakness. In my case, I had the symptoms of numbness, pain, weakness, and I also experienced tingling in the right side of my face, arm and leg. I learned the medical

We can all relate to situations in our lives when we thought things could not have gotten any worse, but they did. We need to remember, no matter how bad something may be, it could always get worse! The ultimate worse for any of us would be eternal separation from God! God is the one standing between Christians and Satan to keep trials, tribulations, upsets disappointments and set backs from overwhelming them. God said, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15). David said, in speaking of God’s care and protection, “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; do not forsake the works of Your hands” (Psalm 138:8). After God called Moses to be the deliverer of the Israelites, God told him before he ever stood in Pharaoh’s presence with that divine demand that Pharaoh was not going to let the people go. God had said, “But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand” (Exodus 3:19). Pharaoh’s exact words were, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2). When Moses stated God’s demand again, Pharaoh told his taskmasters that Moses and Aaron were keeping the people from their work; they were making them rest from their labor because they

When I was growing up being the oldest of seven children, we often heard this statement from our mother: “Your head is just like a flint rock!” There were many times she had to keep repeating what she wanted done, when she wanted it done, and how she wanted it done. Sometimes she would be referring to others having this head like a flint rock, but most of the time she was talking about us. I have no idea if my mother ever knew this statement she made, in the years we were growing up, was based in Scripture. The prophet Jeremiah faithfully proclaimed the divine condemnation of rebellious Judah for 40 years. He was opposed, beaten, isolated and imprisoned for his efforts. As Jeremiah speaks of the rebellion of Judah he says, “O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return” (Jeremiah 5:3). In the Book of Zechariah, God gives him a series of messages for Israel. He reminds them of how God had rebuked their rebellion, their empty ritualism and past disobedience, being the cause for which they were scattered among all the nations like a whirlwind. God said through Zechariah, “But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. Yes, they made their hearts like

In what is commonly referred to as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7:21-23 he teaches on the true and acceptable way to enter the kingdom of heaven. He states it is not enough to say, “Lord, Lord,” we must do the will of his Father in heaven. He further states many will say they have prophesied, cast out demons, and done many wonders in his name. However, the bottom line will be, “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:23). To be rejected is to be refused, discarded, eliminated, thrown out or denied. How did Jesus mean a person could practice lawlessness? It means the deliberate defiance and rejection of the known will of God, and the substitution of the will of self. To be pleasing to God, we must conform to his will in thought, action and purpose. Jesus asked this most pointed question in Luke 6:36, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” Jesus was the first person in the New Testament to tell us about the existence of hell. A person told a member of the church that if there is such a place, it will be only for the mass murderers and the like. The rest of us will just get a “stern talking to”! In view of what the Bible teaches us about heaven and hell, can we even imagine that kind of thought being seriously entertained?

Around 9:00 a.m. on New Years Day, the phone rang and it was one of my relatives wishing my husband and me a happy new year. He said he had thought, “I will call somebody I know does not have a headache!” Then he made the comment some would not remember what they had done or who they had done it with! Of course we laughed, but it is too sad, but oh so true! The question was asked on one of the news channels that morning, “Did you make it till midnight?” Unfortunately, countless thousands did not. They were here at midnight New Years Eve, and some were here after midnight, but many never saw 2007. We can only guess at the number of people in the world who did see 2007 and who did experience a headache to some degree for any number of reasons. The two reasons at the top of the list were most likely drugs and alcohol. Webster defines a headache as “a pain located in the head, as over the eyes, at the temples, or at the base of the skull”; “an annoying or bothersome person, situation, activity, etc.” Drugs are mind altering and alcohol is intoxicating, and they are two of Satan’s most powerful weapons leading to physical ruin and too often death. Proverbs 23:29-35 paints a very graphic and horrifying picture of this sinful behavior. Who has woe? Who has sorrows? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has

From time to time we read in newspapers or magazines, or we see on the news that someone has died from starvation. What makes this a newsworthy event is the person died rich! Often times, hundreds or sometimes thousands and thousands of dollars are discovered where they lived and in their bank accounts. With people dying all around the world from starvation, we naturally wonder how anyone would allow himself to die in such a way when it was all so unnecessary! We have questions such as, “Were they mentally ill?” “Were they being forced to live that way against their will?” “Were they gripped by some fear of ending up in object poverty?” Whatever their “reason,” sometimes it still leaves us wondering about their rationale. When God brought the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage, he gave them commandments, instructions, guidelines, rules and laws to govern their lives and behavior. In Deuteronomy Chapter Four, Moses gives them a summary of God’s covenant. “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess” (Deuteronomy 4:5). “And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day? Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of

We as Christians are very aware of the fact that our faith and obedience to God is our lifeline to him. First John 5:4 says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith.” However, there are times when we act like God is no longer on the throne and in complete control of everything and everybody! How do we know he is in total control? “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness” (Psalm 50:12). Our problems come and overwhelm us when we begin to doubt who God is and what he can do! In David’s confrontation with Goliath, Goliath cursed David by his gods. David said to Goliath, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel

My husband Joseph and I met in May 1970 in San Diego, California. We were both in the Marine Corps at that time. We were married two years later. The first 6 years of our marriage were rocky because of our religious differences. Our marriage was solid, but we could not discuss religion at all without the discussion erupting into a terrible argument! We had virtually no understanding of each other’s religious backgrounds. We finally decided avoiding religious conversations was the best thing to do. One of my biggest disadvantages in dealing with this problem was I had never been taught that it was wrong to marry a non-Christian, even though I was “brought up” in the Lord’s church. My unfaithfulness to God at the time further compounded this problem. I was totally unaware of the passage in 2 Corinthians 6:14 which states, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” I was soon to learn that ignorance of God’s Word does not eliminate the consequences of disobedience. I would reap what I had sown; I would have to return to God in humble repentance; and I would have to learn from God’s Word how to deal with this problem. One of the most difficult passages of Scripture for me to embrace by faith was 1 Peter 3:1: “Likewise you wives, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word,

Since we are all students of God’s Word until we die, we need to make absolutely sure what we are “quoting” from time to time is actually in Scripture. There are statements we have heard perhaps virtually all of our lives, and taken for granted were in the Bible, when in fact they are nowhere to be found. How many of the following statements can be found in the Bible? “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”“Money is the root of all evil.”“God helps those who help themselves.”“As long as there is life there is hope.”“Spare the rod and you spoil the child.” “Honesty is the best policy.” None of these statements can be found in Scripture! These are just a few of many such statements that we hear and accept as biblical. For the purpose of this article, the six mentioned above will be addressed. The Bible does not say, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” It does say, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). The Bible does not say, “Money is the root of all evil.” It does say, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed away from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10). “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will

Who was the first person to ask this question? Pharaoh the ruler of Egypt asked Moses this question when he was told to let God’s people go. “And Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go’” (Exodus 5:2). Pharaoh really was ignorant of who God was when he asked this question and made this defiant statement. God proceeded to give him, in the words of one of our brotherhood preachers, “a 10-lesson correspondence course” in who he was! The 10 plagues sent on Egypt told and showed Pharaoh exactly who God was! Because of the continued hardness of Pharaoh’s disobedient heart, it cost him his life and the lives of many other Egyptians. One may ask, but why did this happen to Pharaoh since the Bible says, “God hardened his heart?” God’s Word must be rightly divided and spiritually discerned before biblical understanding is possible. Every time God would send a plague, Pharaoh said he would let the people go and each time the plague was removed, he refused. All of the Egyptians were not hardened. Pharaoh’s servants saw the “handwriting on the wall.” They said, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” (Exodus 10:7). When we read and understand the entire account of the children

Comfortable is defined as being at ease, contented, relaxed, happy, easy, calm, comfy and well off. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus is doing anything but addressing our comforts. God, Christ and the Holy Spirit are much more interested in our character than they are in our comfort! In this judgment scene, Jesus tells us about a separation that is going to be made based on the lives we have lived. To the ones on the right Christ will say, “…Come, you blessed of My Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you you six times in these verses. Let’s face it; we are going to have to come out of our beds, our lounge chairs, our recliners and our hammocks to meet the expectations of these verses! Somebody else’s problems and needs are going to have to come before our rest! When we are made aware of a need or a problem, getting on our computers and emailing somebody else is never going to suffice! When we are made aware of a need or a problem, getting on the phone calling somebody else is never going to be acceptable! Sending a fax regarding a need or problem to somebody else in no way relieves us of responsibility! Some of God’s commands we may

When we think of the words “general” and “specific,” what are some of the definitions that come to mind? To think or speak in general terms is to be vague, broad, uncertain, universal and indistinct. To think or speak in specific terms is to be exact, precise, detailed, explicit and definite. In Matthew 6:9-13 and in Luke 11:1-4 we have what is commonly referred to as the model prayer. In Luke 11:1, one of the disciples of Jesus said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” The Lord’s teaching in both Matthew and Luke is general in nature and gives us the manner and pattern for prayer. Since we do not know what to pray for as we ought, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us (Romans 8:26). As Jesus prayed in the entire chapter of John 17, he is most specific as he lets his requests be made known to God. He prayed for himself, his apostles and all believers. Our Lord is without question the perfect example of a life lived in complete awareness of God and demonstrated that in his prayer life. Jesus always prayed specifically! Luke 6:12 says, “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” Verses 13-19 tell us the next day Jesus chose the twelve apostles, and they are listed by name. One of the many lessons we can learn from

Many of us make the same resolutions every new year. We resolve to do something to better care for and maintain our bodies. We mean well, but somehow after several weeks or in some cases a few days, our enthusiasm and determination is gone. Since we are God’s main concern and his attention is always upon us, we should not be surprised that his Word has the insight we need regarding how he created us. He has made it abundantly clear to us that our physical bodies are of a temporary nature and existence. In Psalm 39:4-5 David said, “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.” James says it this way, “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). Psalm 89:47-48 reads, “Remember how short my time is; for what futility have You created all the children of men? What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?” The frailness of our bodies and the brevity of our lives is expressed in Psalm 90:10-11; “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of

When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees regarding the words that came from their mouths, he said, “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:34-37). What are the idle words that we speak? These are careless words, ineffective words, worthless words, better left unsaid words, words said behind a person’s back but not to his face! Gossip is also defined as idle talk or rumor especially about the private affairs of others. It is all the “they said,” “she said,” “he said,” “somebody said,” “nobody said,” “everybody said” and “anybody said” words that we use daily! Paul admonishes us about all such talk when he said, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Colossians 4:6). He told the church in Ephesus, “Let no corrupt communication proceed from your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). The wise man Solomon said, “Keep your

Part Two In follow-up to the article in January 2006, several more commonly asked questions about God and his word will be addressed. We live in a world that is bombarded daily with teachings and philosophies based on the commandments and doctrines of men. However, the bottom line is, whether we believe it or not, whatever the Bible says on any issue–that settles it! “I know what the Bible says about hell, but don’t you think hell is the grave?” What does the Bible, the Word of God, say? “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14-15). That settles it! “I know what the Bible says about truth, but don’t you think truth is relative because truth cannot really be known?” What does the Bible, the Word of God, say? “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever” (Psalm 119:160). “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). That settles it! “I know what the Bible says about righteous living, but don’t you think situation ethics dictate morality?” What does the Bible, the Word of God, say? “Do you not

How many times have we heard this question? Perhaps we have been the one asking the question! What is it that we are really saying by asking this question? What we must understand is, if God said it, that settles it whether we believe it or not! For the purpose of this article, five common religious questions will be addressed followed by what the Bible–the Word of God–says. “I know what the Bible says about creation, but don’t you think the theory of evolution has some merit?” What does the Bible the word of God say? “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You” (Jeremiah 32:17). That settles it! I know the Bible says I must be baptized to be saved, but don’t you think all you really have to do is believe or have faith only? What does the Bible the word of God say? “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned’” (Mark 16:15-16). “And the scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:23-24). That settles it! I

In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus makes it very clear that God did not create any “no talented” people! To understand the impact of the parable of the talents, we need to see God as our Master and we are slaves who belong to him! “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Since God is our Creator and we belong to him, he has the absolute right to have expectations of us! In the parable, the master gave to “each according to his own ability.” Each slave was given exactly what he could handle. To give five talents to the one-talented man would have been overwhelming, and to give one talent to the five-talented man would have been no challenge to him whatsoever. What is the lesson Jesus is teaching? We will either use the talents/abilities God has given us or they will be lost and/or forgotten–use or lose–that is the message! What was the problem with the one-talented man since he didn’t squander, waste or embezzle the talent that had been entrusted to him? His sin was his failure to use what he had been given! Why didn’t he use what had been given to him? First, he states his excuses for doing

In the biblical accounts addressed in this article, every time this question was asked, someone’s life or well-being was in jeopardy or moving into harm’s way! The very first time this question is asked, God is talking to Eve following her disobedience. “And the LORD said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate’” (Genesis 3:13). Eve did not possess the mental capacity to comprehend the gravity or the ramification of what she had done! When she ate of the forbidden fruit and shared it with Adam, the whole world was plunged into sin! “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1 Timothy 2:14). The second time this question is asked, God is talking to Cain after he had killed Abel. “And He said, ‘What have you done?’ The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). As a result of this first murder, God cursed Cain and told him he would be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. A bum on the run–what a price he paid for what he had done! The third time this question is asked, Pharaoh is talking to Abram. Abram had been directed by God to get out of his country and go to a land that he would show him. Abram obeyed God, and he left Haran with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and all their possessions. They journeyed to

While reading Psalm 50:1-2, I was struck by David’s request for forgiveness. He asked God to blot out his transgressions, to wash him thoroughly of his iniquity and cleanse him from his sin. Scholars tell us this is the Psalm David prayed after his sin with Bathsheba. In any case, it made me look more closely at David’s prayer regarding the different ways we disobey God. This passage points out we disobey God by our transgressions, our iniquities and our sin. According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, these words are defined as follows: Transgression = To rebel, to revolt; an absolute breaking away from; living an apostate way of life. Iniquity = To bend, to deviate from the way; to do wickedly; consequence of an unrighteous act that passes through the generations. Sin = To pass beyond the limits set by God, to miss the mark, to be guilty of hostility toward God, to cross over a boundary. In Psalm 19:13 we read, “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me, then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.” Vine defines presumptuous sin as “not dreading or shunning through fear, to be very bold, shameless and irreverent daring.” In the model prayer of Matthew 6:9-15, Jesus uses the word trespasses when asking for forgiveness. He said, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your

Several years ago I was listening to a sermon tape by one of the ministers in the brotherhood, and he made the statement every time the phrase “but God” appeared in Scripture, the situation completely changed! His statement captured my attention, so I started making a concerted effort to notice the many “but God” passages. Several of these dramatic “but God” passages will be noted from Scripture. When God is involved, the word “but” becomes magnanimous! When Isaac was born, Sarah saw Ishmael scoffing; so Sarah told Abraham to cast Hagar and her son Ishmael out because he would not be heir with her son Isaac. Abraham was very displeased because Ishmael was his son as well. However, Genesis 21:12 changed everything. “But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called’” (emphasis added). God gives Abraham further assurance that the situation was under control when he told him, “Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed” (Genesis 21:13). God can take our worst mistakes and make them work to his honor and glory. When Joseph’s brothers sold him into Egyptian slavery, they were more startled and perplexed than words could say when they were brought face to face with him years later! After their father Jacob had died, they

The short answer to this topic is, “She has virtually none.” The “long” answer to the realm of woman’s authority can be found in Titus 2:3-5: “The older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.” These three verses are the only scriptures in the New Testament that give women any authority whatsoever! Please notice this realm of authority is confined to one woman to another woman. Why is that? The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11:3, “But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” This passage puts women in position number four of God’s divine order, the order being God, Christ, man and woman. Why are women in position number four of God’s divine order? After Adam and Eve had sinned having succumbed to the devil’s lie and deception, God pronounced his punishment on the three of them. Genesis 3:16 reads, “To the woman He said: I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 2:13-14, “For Adam was

criptures to Study: Mark 12:28-31; John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 13; Ephesians 4:1-3; Book of 1 John The love verse: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30). To love the Lord your God with all your heart is to love him with all your emotional being. To love God with all your mind is to love him with all your intellectual being. To love God with all your soul is to love him with all your spiritual being. To love God with all your strength is to love him with all your physical being. The love chapter: 1 Corinthians 13. “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). The ultimate test for us is our love for God and others. If we really want to test ourselves to determine if our love meets God’s expectations, we need to put our names every place the word “love” is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13. What a sobering, mind tilting and challenging concept! The love book: First John. John was known as the apostle of love. The word “love” is mentioned 36 times in the Book of First John. He impresses our minds with the fact we are to “love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1