A ministry of the Word
I prayed and asked God to teach me the love of Christ. He gave me an incredibly hard day, filled with physical pain and emotional discouragement, and put in my path selfish and unlovable people - I don't think I encountered a single "normal" person today. I'm going to say something that is counterintuitive: I …
This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister. This introduces us to the concept that conduct exposes certain spiritual realities, and prepares us for John’s discourse on the supreme spiritual …
Continue reading "The Children of God vs. The Children of the Devil: 1st John 3:10"
1 John 3:14 (CSB) — 14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death. James 2:14–17 (CSB) — 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have …
Continue reading "“Why’s My Faith So Dead?” – 1st John 3:14 & James 2:14-17"
VERSE 10: The Light Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. This is the second test in John’s apostolic epistle given to believers so that we can verify that Christ is in us and we are in him. In these first …
VERSE 5a: The Love of God Perfected But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. This verse contrasts John’s negative exposition (v. 4) of his second proposition (v. 3) with two positive expositions (v. 5a; v. 5b-6). I’ve divided this verse because it properly presents two thoughts: 5a: …
The Love of Christ Compels Us: Every day I see the Love of Christ revealed in an every expanding scope, as the universe testifies of the every expanding presence of God, I am moved further and further in Christ. Certainly God has chosen to reveal His love through Christ because Christ was the only vessel in …
The first Christmas began with worship as the wise men came to Jesus in a manger and offered Him their most precious gifts. You can read the accounts of Jesus' birth in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2. Just as "Christmas" began with worship, how can we remember the birth of Christ without worship? Even John …
The harvest represents not only the fruit of our labors, but also the seed of our hope. We have a harvest because we labored to plant the seeds of our future in the hope that God would send the rain and provide the sun in just the right proportions that we might gather in due …
"Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God. 'The time has come,' He said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News!'" Mark 1:14-15 Our good news is the Kingdom of God: the Kingdom invitation is “Repent and believe the good news!” In fact, this message of repentance …
The Gospel Declared The gospel has been heralded for many ages in God’s Word and it has been the summation of His revealed will since the beginning. With extreme specificity God declared through His prophet Micah His word saying, “‘But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah (lower Bethlehem), Too little to be among the clans of …
