All posts tagged: God

In Christ Alone

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I will not boast in anything No gifts, no power, no wisdom My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. On Christ the solid Rock I stand All other ground is sinking sand On May 28, 1972, the Duke of Windsor, the uncrowned King Edward VIII, died in Paris. On the same evening, a television program recounted the main events of his life. Viewers watched film footage in which the duke answered questions about his upbringing, his brief reign, and his eventual abdication. Recalling his boyhood as Prince of Wales, he said: “My father [King George V] was a strict disciplinarian. Sometimes when I had done something wrong, he would admonish me, saying, ‘My dear boy, you must always remember who you are.’ ” It is my conviction that our heavenly Father says the same to us every day: “My dear child, you must always remember who you are.” The record shows in Colossians: He is my all in all! 1:14 in Christ we have redemption 1:16 in Christ all things were created …

One song that messes up all my idol pursuits

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Little children, keep yourselves from idols… Somebody once said that an idol is not necessarily the statutes that we physically set up to worship, but those things we set up in our hearts to take first place above our devotion to Jesus. Anything that competes for first place in one’s life is an idol. I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold The challenge Jesus vs King of a vast domain: Which would you rather have? I expect to hear a resounding – ‘JESUS’ But I warn you, it is very challenging… I hope you can see the challenge in the following: I’d rather be His than have riches untold – who doesn’t appreciate a bit of Benjamin? Everybody does. I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands – who doesn’t fancy a good-looking villa in the city or country side? I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand. I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause – who doesn’t like the number of likes on their posts going up, the number of followers increasing, a little …

Persevere: Don’t throw your away confidence

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In 1866 an amateur geologist noticed some South African children playing with a glistening rock. Intrigued, he asked the children’s mother if he could buy it. She said it wasn’t worth anything and simply give it to him for free. Later when he examined it more closely, his hunch was confirmed, it was a diamond. He calculated its weight at 21 carats. Are you a young christian thinking that your new-found faith is worth nothing? Have you given up trying to find a new church for your family because of the bad experience you had in your last church? Are you being tested and tried by some problem and it seems like God is nowhere to be found? Are you thinking about ending your marriage because the situation still looks hopeless? Please don’t give up. Don’t throw away your confidence, for there is great reward in store for you. If you’ll just persevere and not give up, there is a crown of glory awaiting you. You have in you something that money can’t buy – something worth more than 21 carats, …

Why does God approve war and violance in the OT?

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Frankly, parts of the Old Testament are sometimes difficult to accept, especially as they relate  to God’s character. Take his command to King Saul of Israel: “Now go, attack the Amalekites  and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women,  children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys” (1 Samuel 15:3, TNIV). Camels and  donkeys? Children and infants? Or how about this statement regarding Israel’s destruction of  Jericho at God’s prompting: “They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword  every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys” (Joshua 6:21,TNIV)? Is the God of the Old Testament a lover of war and destruction? Is God a warmonger who  arbitrarily takes out his frustration? Reading certain passages, one could get this impression. This issue presents quite a challenge for Christians who have come to believe that love is the defining attribute of God. Even more so, these passages often propagate the doubts of non-Christians who are skeptical of God …

How to maintain a teachable spirit

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Value your listening and reading time at roughly ten times your talking time. This will assure you that you are on a course of continuous learning and self-improvement. — Gerald McGinnis President and CEO of Respironics, Inc. It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.— John Wooden Hall of Fame Basketball Coach As long as you’re green, you’re growing. As soon as you’re ripe, you start to rot. — Ray Kroc Let the wise hear and increase in learning,and the one who understands get guidance. – Proverbs 1:5 teachability… teachable… capable of being instructed or taught… The great value that the book of proverbs seeks to instill in a person is teachability, the willingness to grow in wisdom no matter how far long a person already is… the willingness to grow… the willingness to be stretched beyond where you are… the wilingness to be taught… the willingness to learn new things… the willingness to listen and learn from people who may not hold to your school of thought or philosophy… here are some things …

Ono = Oh No! I am not coming down!

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ONO = Oh No! Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Have you ever noticed, when you finally make up your mind to obey God, live for Him, follow the Spirit’s lead, that’s when all hell suddenly breaks loose against you? I have come to realize that when you focus on living for God and doing His work, the enemy seeks relentlessly to get you off track. This the case with Nehemiah the governor and rebuilder of the wall of Jerusalem. He and his compatriots were knee-deep in fulfilling the work the Lord had given them. But to get them of track Sanballat and Gehsem decided to throw everything, every trick in the book, to get them off track. Our enemy also, would use all the dirty tricks in the his books to take us out of the game, slow us down, …

7 Questions for those who do not like their leaders

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And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord… Nehemiah 3:5 During the time of Nehemiah, the Persian Empire had reached its greatest extent, engulfing nearly the entire Near East. In 539 b.c. the Persians under Cyrus the Great defeated the Babylonians and absorbed the lands of Israel and Judah (known as Beyond the River) into his empire. The next year he allowed the people of Judah (now called Jews) to return home and rebuild the temple of the Lord. Several waves of returning Jews continued to resettle in Judea, and Nehemiah was granted permission to rebuild Jerusalem’s ruined walls around 445 b.c. Little by little, God began renewing his people in the land, to carry out what he promised to Abraham. God in his mercy raised up Ezra the priest and teacher, and Nehemiah the governor, to lead his people in the hard work that this renewal requires.  Nehemiah will encounter some serious opposition to the work, but before the rebuilding of the city wall became a full-fledged conflict …

Jesus Paid it all! In case you forgot

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Jesus Paid it all! In case you forgot! Thy Strength indeed is small Find in Him thine all in all Rest from all thine striving Cease from all thine trying Nothing can thy do to save thine soul Salvation is free – paid in full Praise the One who paid your debt Jesus paid it all don’t ye ever forget Written by Walter Bright

The Power of Meditation

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What is Meditation? Meditation is an act of focusing one’s thoughts upon something to get a deeper insight or understand of that thing. It is allowing one’s thoughts to ponder or muse or in some instances turn a thought over and over in the mind as if chewing on a piece of meat to soften it before we can swallow it. It can either mean to think upon God, His word, or his works. In our context today it means thinking and reflecting upon God’s word with the goal of internalizing and personalizing eternal truths in order for them to affect our lives to the glory of the Father. This goal is usually attained through our keen observation of the text we are reading, our careful interpretation of what the text means and our humble application of  that text to our lives. Scripture References And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by …

How about a list of Dos and Don’ts?

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You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires Romans 13:9-14 I often hear people say, “christianity is not a list of do’s and don’ts – it’s all about one’s relationship with God.” I agree. I agree …