Subscription Lists

Quoting Jesus: “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” (John 10.28-30).

The dispute was over whether or not Jesus, the Man who stood robed in flesh before them, was more than a mere man. There was no argument that He…  ( Click for more )

The word if isn’t always conditional; sometimes it affirms a rule. For instance, I might say, if we heat the water to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, it will start boiling. In this sentence and in the past tense, it has the same meaning as the word since. Since we heated the water to 212Fahrenheit, it started boiling. There is no maybe about it; the rule is preceded by the word if and it forms a positive affirmation of fact.

Paul was beyond the questioning stage when he wrote these lines: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He…  ( Click for more )

Many years ago I used to hear my father talk about memory gems. Being only four or five years of age and being named Jim did not help me to comprehend what he was saying. To me gem sounded an awful lot like Jim! Since that time, however, I have learned a bit about memory gems. Today’s message involves a classic memory gem from the Bible.

“O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” (Jeremiah 10.23). I ask you to pay special attention to the phrase, “It is not in man…” These words were…  ( Click for more )

"Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash…  ( Click for more )

I remember a sermon or an article by Franklin Camp that was entitled Sorrow That Could Have Been Avoided. That message was based on today’s focus text. There is sorrow in every person’s life at one time or another, however sometimes the sorrow which we experience is “self-inflicted” sorrow. Such was the case in the account which you are about to read. However, in this case the sorrow that could have been avoided was brought on by the lack of only one thing. Sometimes one thing stands between us and happiness or success. Consider this reality in today’s…  ( Click for more )

The Bible is often called The Word of God. This designation sets it apart from all other books and writings. It is not generally called A Word of God, again setting it apart as unique and unlike all human productions. If this book consisting of 66 books and 1189 chapters merits this descriptor, i.e. The Word Of God, there must have been some very special processes involved in its production and its preservation. Today's message will deal with one of the important processes that make the Bible totally unique.

Speaking specifically to the twelve apostles as they were being sent…  ( Click for more )

Ten plagues were needed in order for God to force Pharaoh's hand into releasing the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. Today's message will focus on a statement made about the 8th of these plagues. It is a remarkable statement and one which must have come for one of two sources. It either came from an all-powerful God or someone who should be given no credibility whatsoever. You can be the judge.

“Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land--all that the…  ( Click for more )

“‘I [Jesus] am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.’ Therefore…  ( Click for more )

Clean? “Who says so?” Consider the following paragraph:

“The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, ‘Rise, Peter; kill…  ( Click for more )

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Ephesians 3.14).

The point of this devotional message is not to look at the things for which Paul prayed on this occasion. Rather, it is to look at the phrase “I bow my knees…” and some of the implications of this phrase. The point of the phrase is not to depict a sanctified position of prayer, but rather to indicate the sanctified attitude of prayer displayed by Paul. This does not deny that Paul literally bowed his knees in prayer, for that seems to be the case –…  ( Click for more )

It is safe to say that almost everyone trusts in someone or something. A skeptic might say that he trusts in no one, but chances are good that his mistrust is not as universal as he would have us believe. He may not believe in [trust in] doctors, politicians, lawyers, preachers, and a thousand other entities that he names, but chances are far better than even that he really does trust in someone. God spoke to His people through Hosea and observed the following: “You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your…  ( Click for more )

“And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10.11-14).

The book of Hebrews contrasts two great systems, both of them authored and authorized by Almighty God. One of them, the first covenant, was inferior to the other in as much as it was designed…  ( Click for more )

Two haunting questions had arrested the mind of Habakkuk. They were: 1) How long do I have to wait before You [God] will heed my call for help and avenge my cause? (see Habakkuk 1.2) And 2) Will You [God] use a more wicked person to discipline a righteous person? So distraught was he for an answer that he dared to confront God and stand on a watchtower awaiting a response from the Lord (see Habakkuk 2.1). The answer came and it is the pivotal point of Habakkuk's 3 chapter book. We will examine that answer and its implications.

In effect, Habakkuk had asked, “God are you…  ( Click for more )

Job probably lived during the patriarchal period of biblical history, yet some of his insight far exceeds the “ordinary” knowledge of the time. Today’s message treats one passage where he spoke things that were impossible to know except by Divine revelation. Consider the following text: “Your hands have made me and fashioned me, An intricate unity.” (Job 10.8a; NKJV).

Some translations almost totally miss an important part of this verse. They truncate the wording to read things like, “Your hands shaped me and made me” (NIV) or, “Your…  ( Click for more )

Life is truly full of surprises. One of the things that we see frequently is the “weird bounces” that life takes. Another way of saying this is expressed in the saying, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” This was much of Solomon's opine in the book of Ecclesiastes. Things that he wanted to be, planned for, and worked to achieve just didn't work out. This, according the The Preacher was vanity. In his most troublesome moments, he would say, “All is vanity!” One such expression of surprise from his pen reads, “I have seen servants…  ( Click for more )

“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius!’ And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, ‘What is it, lord?’ So he said to him, ‘Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon…  ( Click for more )

“Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons. The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armorbearer, 'Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and abuse me.' But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword…  ( Click for more )

“After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, 'The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.'” (Luke 10.1-2).

Some of the most beautiful vistas are made picturesque by the contrasts they contain. A brilliant moon against a black velvet sky, poverty in the midst of opulence, and superior intellect in a family of average Joe's, all of these stand out…  ( Click for more )

A shadow is real, but it is only a representation of something else (the substance). A shadow may reveal some things about the object it represents, but it does not reveal everything. By looking at a shadow I might be able to tell the approximate size of the individual casting it, but I could not tell the color of the eyes, or the breadth of the nose, or a thousand other details that only a face to face view would reveal. Shadows are spoken of in Scripture; today’s message will treat one of these shadows.

The Hebrews writer penned the following: “For the law, having…  ( Click for more )

Who is God? This question cannot be answered definitively and completely by any man. However, simply because we cannot understand all that He is does not mean that we cannot understand some of who He is. Today’s devotional will reveal a small part of who God is and how He yearns for His creatures to hear His voice. Today’s focus text is taken from a protracted prayer and confessional under the urging of Nehemiah. We learn much about God from this passage; read and consider!

“Therefore You delivered them [the nation of Israel] into the hand of their enemies, Who…  ( Click for more )

“So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.” (Genesis 9.29).

There are ten generations from Adam to Noah. The vast majority of these ten generations are documented in Genesis 5 and conclude with the death of Noah as noted in today's focus text. Between Genesis 5 and the death of Noah in Genesis 9, the story of the flood is chronicled. In the ten generations that are mentioned in these passages, the phrase “and he died” is repeated again and again. In fact, “and he died” appears nine time in Genesis 5 and Genesis…  ( Click for more )

“And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.” (Genesis 9.28).

The passage just quoted is taken directly from the New King James version (1982) of the Bible. It also reads exactly the same in the King James Version of 1611, and the American Standard Version of 1901. Other versions may have the wording a bit different, but the substance is exactly the same. The bottom line of this biblical verse in each version is simply this: Noah continued to live for an additional three hundred and fifty (350) years after the end of the flood.

For some people,…  ( Click for more )

Sometimes things just don't add up. When we look at all the supposed facts, something is amiss and it causes us to reassess what we knew (or thought we knew). Today's message contains a passage in which an occasion similar to the above took place. Consider it carefully with me.

“So they [the Pharisees] again called the man who was blind, and said to him, ‘Give God the glory! We know that this Man [Jesus] is a sinner.’ He answered and said, ‘Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.’” (John…  ( Click for more )

Just read the following biblical passage.

“While He [Jesus] spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.’ So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. …When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, ‘Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.’ And they ridiculed Him. But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand,…  ( Click for more )