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There are some words used in the Bible that seem to defy analysis and human comprehension because of the breadth and scope of their meaning. They convey concepts that describe spiritual activity in the lives of every true Christian. That is because these are words the Holy Spirit has chosen to reveal to us how God is working in our lives, and to help us cooperate with Him in changing us into the image of Jesus Christ. These words are compacted, but God would have us "unpack" them. In doing so, we see more clearly what He is doing, and what is occuring in us, so as to encourage…  ( Click for more )

"To the woman he (God) said, I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband but he will dominate you" But to Adam He said, "Because you obeyed your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded ‘you must not eat from it‘, cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, but you will eat the grain of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground…  ( Click for more )

"When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him asking for help: "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible anguish." Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this’ and he does it." When Jesus heard…  ( Click for more )

On a television segment a number of years ago, there appeared a man who had suffered a terrible disfigurement. I do not recall what caused it, but I believe I shall never forget him.- He had NO FACE. I had heard of soldiers having their faces blown away in battle. It was difficult to believe at the time I saw him, and even more difficult to describe now after several years have passed.

I will not attempt too much detail, but I do remember this much: from just above his upper lip up to the bottom of his forehead, there was nothing. There was no nose. There were no eyes. There…  ( Click for more )

There is a much different world coming - one developing out of this present world that we all know - a world like no one has ever seen before, or will ever be seen again. One that is not expected, except perhaps by those who are striving to bring it about. However they may see what they do not expect to see or envision. It will be ruled by a one world government; one religion; one world economy. Government, Economics, and Religion. These three aspects of the "new world order", are even now slowly becoming a reality, and beginning to position themselves, eventually to fall…  ( Click for more )

"For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation…  ( Click for more )

What would you consider to be the shortest sermon ever preached?

Some of us have it preached to us several times each day as we travel down the roads of our lives. Actually we have had it preached to us our entire lives over and over again, no matter where we had been or where we were going. That sermon consists, and has consisted of, only one word - "YIELD"! There is another next-to-the-shortest sermon. It is totally compatible and functions with the shortest. It is "KEEP RIGHT"! I think you can readily see that the two go together. Perhaps…  ( Click for more )

"Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage". So goes a lyric of a melody from long ago. It remains true today. Sadly, it is not always so...

Some years ago a statement was made about love which sounded very unusual, even odd, to most. This seems rather bizarre in view of what most of us feel when the word "love" is mentioned. How could (or why should?) love ever be controversial? Perhaps that was what many asked at that time, too.

Most would agree that the word LOVE has been and is one of the most used, misused, and abused, ill-defined, twisted,…  ( Click for more )

"And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine and all that I have" (1 Kings 20:1-4 KJV) .

Here we see an incident in the long…  ( Click for more )

"It's hard to be humble when you as great as I am...I'm humble and proud of it!"

Most of us have heard these humorous statements, or something similiar at one time or another. They usually elicit a laugh or chuckle because they portray the antithesis of humility as we feel we understand it. I have often wondered why they strike us as being funny - could it be that down deep inside us we realize we really ARE NOT humble. Or, that it is absurd to consider that we or anyone else COULD be. This would imply a belief that we somehow DO understand what it is -at least for us.…  ( Click for more )

We have all heard the expression "four letter words". There was a time when "four letter words" were held to be shameful, or at the very least in poor taste. Whether communicating in private conversation or public discourse, they were generally shunned. We all know the ones I’m referring to. The ones once considered vulgar and demeaning to the one speaking them, notwithstanding those to whom these words were spoken TO.

There is another four letter word that has caused much more shame, discouragement, recrimination, and mental anguish perhaps than…  ( Click for more )

"For I never shrank or kept back or fell short from declaring to you the whole purpose and plan and counsel of God." (Acts 20:27 Amplified Bible)

We live in a society of "sound bites", video clips, instant messaging, and a pot pori of various and sundry "lnstants". TV commercials get shorter, with increasing glitz and lightening speed images - all compacted together within a very short time frame, and yet designed to have the greatest emotional impact. Truly, as someone has said, reality is what is perceived. The idea is to provoke us to ACT…  ( Click for more )

During the 1800’s an event occurred that has been called one of the all-time tragedies of American history. It is referred to in this way, not necessarily because it was the largest, but primarily because of the depth of the sorrow and suffering of those involved. Also, it was so tragic because of the seeming cruelty and insensitivity of those who were directly or indirectly responsible. The suffering was so intense that it is simply called "The Trail of Tears". The event concerns the trek of a tribe of American Indians from their normal habitations toward the north…  ( Click for more )

Why should there have ever been sacrifice - of any kind, of anything, ever? Why was there ever a need for such? The word "sacrifice" can strike uneasiness and even fear in many of us depending upon our nature, our circumstances, our experiences. It is a very good question. The simple answer is, God planned it that way. If that seems an over simplification, it is, and it isn't. Most of us do not want to hear that we will need to sacrifice something or for something, or someone, or for a principal, etc. However, many are willing…  ( Click for more )

There is a time spoken of in God’s Word (some consider it a doctrine), that is all too often unknown to some, overlooked by some, and ignored by others. This span of time is referred to specifically, even including the exact duration of time involved. It has often been noted that the Old Testament essentially is ABOUT Jesus Christ. Jesus informed the Jews emphatically of this fact (John 5:39)!

When the Old Testament scriptures do refer to Jesus, it is many times connecting Him to this SPECIFIC period of time. That period of time is a thousand years - called by most Christians…  ( Click for more )

The Not Said According to the book of Ecclesiastes, there is time for everything under the sun. The older I get, the more the word time seems to mean. Solomon said, in summary, all that should be said, all that is important to life and living. He left nothing out that needed to be said. He was not attempting to orchestrate by omission, but to emphasize by being concise. For the subject he is addressing, there is no “not said”. What he said was the conclusion of the issue altogether (“all has been said” - “let us hear the conclusion of the matter").…  ( Click for more )

“Think how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents the world of wrong doing among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence - and is set on fire by hell” - James 3:9-13 (NET), Empires have risen and fallen by a few words! A life can be destroyed or damaged irreparably just by a few words. Words wound and afflict, or sooth and heal. Relationships can be crushed and turned to sorrow and regret in an unguarded moment, by just a wrong word. Words can lead to other…  ( Click for more )

This week will pick up where we ended last week, by examining the subject of closeness. Closeness was mentioned as we ended as the real issue of our life in Christ, and His life in us. God has always had a relationship with that which was originally created in His image. Mankind has been so blinded to their Creator’s interaction with it that they in general do not know Him, or even believe He exists. God’s Word has a one-word description of this condition (Psalm 14:1). And yet, with all this being so, He still loves them to the uttermost (John 3:16; 13:1). The disciples…  ( Click for more )

There are many ways to define and evaluate what is described as faith - great, little, selective, momentary, abiding, general, specific - each a gift of a measure of faith by grace for the time ("you will tread upon serpents", "drink deadly things", etc.). Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter had faith without doubt and this must have pleased Jesus. Peter gave up for Jesus all he was, and all he had at the time (Matthew 14:28-31)! However, temporary great faith suddenly became little.…  ( Click for more )

We hear much today about sovereignty, but little about providence. Perhaps that is because of the real meaning of each.. Sovereignty has the meaning of complete independence, hence nations refer to themselves as “sovereign”, as do kings, and even other lesser mortals. Providence is sometimes taken to mean something that occurs without an apparent reason or cause, but something good that is believed to be fate, or of the supernatural - not necessarily of God. However, only God fits the ultimate meaning of both. He the ultimate combination of sovereignty and providence.…  ( Click for more )

You have heard it. It is true. Every event, conflict, or problem in your live and mine - and the world - is spiritual at its core. Things may seem otherwise, at least at first. But by digging a little deeper, and by thinking about the issues, they all seem to have to do with attitudes, states of mind, and thought patterns when all the dust settles. When we really think about it, it is a spiritual problem. Mostly, spiritual problems are “people problems”. The problem with the “problem” is that spiritual things are invisible. What we see is coming from something…  ( Click for more )

Why can’t others understand what you are going through? Why can’t others empathize with you in your circumstances, difficulties, troubles and trials?

We are tempted to wonder at times if there is anyone in the whole wide world who would understand, even if we tried to explain it all. Most of the time perhaps, we prefer not to explain or to tell anyone - except God, hopefully. Even when we do try to share a difficult situation, we can get a gaze that tempts us to want to ask, "is there anyone there"? Does anyone know what I’m talking about, or understands…  ( Click for more )

Sometimes, within families of several children, a parent, no matter how they try, cannot manifest a perceived impartiality. Children internalize this is bias (real or imagined), and often it as internalized as a lack of love, or as not being loved as much as other children. This can lead to an array of problems. There can be scars that last a lifetime. As any parent knows, this is almost always not true. However, can family love actually be qualitative and quantitative? Is love within God’s family this way? Is God’s love this way? To understand, we must turn to God and…  ( Click for more )

How many times have we heard someone exclaim, "Oh! I need a rest..."! In an effort to claim tongue-in-cheek sympathy, someone may comment, "well, there IS no rest for the wicked (quoting a passage from scripture), and the righteous don’t need it!". It may or may not be a joke, depending on the people and circumstances. It seems so often, no matter where we go or who we encounter, we hear "I’m just - tired", or as I heard recently, "I need a vacation!". Vacations are seldom long enough. It is said that it requires at least two weeks…  ( Click for more )