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Scriptures to Read St. Matthew 6:16-189 Zechariah 7:4-7 Zachariah 8:18-19 Isaiah 58:3-7 St. Matthew 4:1-4 Acts 13:1-3 Nehemiah 1:3-11 I shared last week about abstaining from evil things. But there is a second side to this issue. Sometimes Christians are to deny themselves of good things. We call this fasting. Fasting was practiced by Hebrews for a long time. But it is also a practice that has come into the Christian Church. Jesus said, "when you fast..." (See St. Matthew 6:16-18.) He here is te...
Scriptures to Read: Nehemiah 4:7-22 II Thessalonians 3: 6-13 Hebrews 3:9-11 Ephesians 4:25-28 Philippians 2:14-18 St. John 6:26-27 St. Matthew 11:28-30 We celebrate "Labor Day." For many of us it is simply a day off from work. But I think it should be more. I know it is a secular holiday, not a spiritual one. Still, I think we can give it a higher purpose. I am thinking about the work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah the Prophet of God. The first thing I see is there...
Scriptures to Read: Exodus 20:1-7 & 23 Deuteronomy 13:1-5 I Corinthians 6:9-11 Acts 17:16-23 Acts 17:24-34 I Kings 14:21-30 Jeremiah 30:1-10 I know we have been looking at Israel's relationship with God. God made His promises to Solomon, the third king of Israel. We have tried to claim some of that legacy by understanding that as the people of God, God continues to relate to His people as He always has. You have likely heard, "History repeats itself." We either learn the lessons history wants...
Scriptures to Read: Exodus 20:1-11 II Chronicles7:11-16 Judges 6:25-32 I Kings 18:22-29 I Kings 18:30-39 Isaiah 44:6-8 & 21-23 I Corinthians 10:1-14 We are looking at Number 4, "Turn from their (our) wicked way." in the list of things God's people are responsible for when they have broken God's covenant with them. Last week we spent time looking at the sins we commit in relationship to our fellow man. It is most certainly a requirement for God's children to live well as they relate to other...
Scriptures to Read: Galatians 5:19-26 Galatians 6:2-10 Colossians 3:8-17 I Corinthians 5:1-6 St. Luke 3:7-14 St. Matthew 5:21-26 Exodus 20:12-17 The II Chronicles 7:14 passage lists four things God's people are responsible for when they have broken God's covenant with them. We have looked at 1. "Humble themselves (ourselves). 2. Pray. and 3. Seek My face. Today we look at 4. "Turn from their (our) wicked way." Certainly this would mean individual and specific sins: acts of disobedience and failu...
Scriptures to Read: Psalm 34:15-18 Psalm 139:15-18 Isaiah 55:6-9 Isaiah 65:24 & Daniel 9:20-23 St. Luke 19:41-44 St. Luke 18:15-17 St. John 14:1-11 In my last "Thought" I lumped together prayer and seeking the face of God. That probably was not fair. Each deserved its own space. Actually, each could well have covered several "Thoughts." I want to reopen the idea of "seeking the face of God." Two stories: A father saw his son earnestly drawing on a piece of paper and was struck by the child's...
Scriptures to Read: II Corinthians 5:11-19 Proverbs 28:13 I John 1:8-10 Psalm 51:1-19 Romans 7:18-25 St. Luke 15:11-24 II Chronicles 7:11-20 From II Chronicles 7:14, the second requisite is for us to pray. How shall we pray? For what shall we pray? It would seem to me that if we are coming to God from a humble position, we should pray for forgiveness with an attitude of genuine sorrow. We have sinned against The Holy God. He is perfect. He has done nothing wrong. We are the ones who have done...
Scriptures to Read: Exodus 10:1-3 & 12:29-31 Deuteronomy 8:1-6 II Chronicles 34:21-28 St. Matthew 18:1-4 St. Matthew 23:1-12 I Peter 5:1-8 II Chronicles 12:1-7 Ever since the 9/11 crisis America faced, there has been one verse that seems to surface with frequency. It is II Chronicles 7:14: "If my people who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their...
Scriptures to Read: Acts 15:27-29 St. Matthew 15:8-11 Romans 1:21-27 Romans 1:28-32 I John 3:1-3 II Timothy 2:20-22 I Thessalonians 4:1-8 I wrote July 2 about purity. I want to continue in that vein. I have a continuing burden on my heart. I would like to solicit your help here. I serve on the advisory board of an organization called "My Brothers' Keeper" (MBK). MBK operates primarily in the nation of Romania. It is a multi-faceted work. One of those facets involves a Crisis Pregnancy Center....
Scriptures to Read: St. Luke 6:27-31 St. Luke 3:10-14 Ephesians 4:29-32 Jonah 42 St. Luke 10:30-37 St. Matthew 5:43-48 St. Matthew 7:15-23 We celebrated a national holiday on July 4. We call it "Independence Day." It has a lot of meaning. My dictionary gives 11 definitions for the word. There is one that gives me pause to think: "without restraint." My dad had his own definition for freedom. He said, "The freedom to swing my fist ends where your nose begins." I like my dad's definition better....
Scriptures to Read: Psalm 24:3-6 St. Matthew 5:8 Hebrews 13:4 I Timothy 5:22c I Corinthians 6:15-20 I Corinthians 7:1-10 I Thessalonians 4:1-8 Today, I have chosen to write about purity. Purity partly defined is: "Freedom from filth, guilt, defilement, evil"; also "Clean in every way." I want to focus specifically on sexual purity. This would mean to abstain from or not be involved in either fornication (sexual involvement without being married to the partner) or adultery (sexual involvement...
Scriptures to Read: Ephesians 5:19-20 Colossians 3:12-17 Isaiah 42:10-12 Psalm 40:1-6 Psalm 96:1-6 Psalm 98:1-6 Revelation 5:8-14 I really enjoy music. When there are vocal parts, I want them to be understandable. Of course some operas are in foreign languages, those give me trouble. Other music has words I cannot understand. Those pieces go lower on my lists of favorites. The other day, I heard a hymn that I really appreciated. I had not heard it before but hopefully will hear it again. I am su...
Scriptures to Read: I Thessalonians 5:17 Ephesians 6:18 Philippians 4:6-8 I Timothy 2:1-4 & 8 St. Matthew 26:41 Romans 8:26 St. Matthew 7:7-8 When I was young, I was somewhat baffled by I Thessalonians 5:17: "Pray without ceasing." I could not think how a person could be constantly in prayer, like 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It simply seemed impossible. I also did not believe it was a suggestion but rather a command. God wanted me to pray. I could believe that. I watched adults around...
Scriptures to Read: Jeremiah 29:11-13 Genesis 18:9-14 St. Matthew 19:26-30 Romans 8:26-28 Exodus 15:11-18 Ephesians 1:15-22 Jeremiah 10:10-12 One of the attributes of God is that He is All-Powerful. The term for this is "omnipotent." It is only one attribute of God but an important one. Because He is all-powerful some questions are raised: If God is all-powerful, this means He can do anything, and if He can do anything, why does He not simply stop bad things instantly? If God is good but He...
Scriptures to Read: Proverbs 3:5-6 Romans 8:28 Romans 8:38-39 Isaiah 12:1-5 Psalm 20:5-7 Psalm 37:3-7 Psalm 71:1-5 I write this on May 4. You will likely read it a month later. What will change? I have no idea but likely things will be better or worse. I don’t think anyone had advanced idea of the challenges our world would face so far this year. Certainly the news media has been overwhelmed with the epidemic. We had been hearing lots about world conflict in a host of forms. But when faced with the horror of the epidemic partisan differences w...
Scriptures to Read: Exodus 20:1-7. Leviticus 24:10-17 Isaiah 6:1-8 St. John 4:19-26 Isaiah 29:13 & St. Mark 7:6-8 Psalm 86:8-12 Revelation 5:9-13 I want to share today about something that distresses me to a degree. It is about how we treat God. I am talking about the God of Scripture, known to the Hebrew people as Jehovah or Yaweh. To them the Name of God was so sacred they did not actually say it, only wrote it and even then did not write it as completely as they could have. Moses asks God...
Scriptures to Read: Acts 28:17-22 Acts 28:22-25 Acts 28:25-29 Acts 28:30-31 I Corinthians 3:21-4:2 St. Matthew 25:14-23 St. John 21:15-23 Luke wrote his Gospel so Christ could be seen and known – from birth to ascension. This second book, called "The Acts of the Apostles," is written so it can be seen and known how the Followers of Christ fulfilled the assignment He gave them. We have reached the end of Luke's writing but most certainly not the end of Christ's assignment. That assignment is s...
Scriptures to Read: Suggested Scriptures: Isaiah 35:1-7 Isaiah 35:8-10 Read these Scriptures over and over from various translations Today, Thursday, May 7, 2020, is scheduled to be the National Day of Prayer. I have no idea if it will involve corporate meetings of Christians for prayer or not. As I write, we are still observing measures of quarantine and social distancing. I have not said much to you about the coronavirus and the stress it has brought to our world. But I do want to focus on...
Scriptures to Read: Acts 27:42-44 Acts 28:1-4 Acts 28:5-6 Acts 28:7-10 Acts 28:11-16 Acts 14:8-18 St. Mark 16:15-20 The ship has run aground and been destroyed, but the people have all gotten to shore alive. They have traveled over 500 miles, most of it beyond their control. They were welcomed by the islanders. A blazing fire is built to warm these wet bedraggled people because it is raining and cold. Paul, who always seems to be busy, gathers wood for the fire. A viper that has been in the...
Scriptures to Read: Acts 27:21-26 Acts 27:27-32 Acts 27:33-38 Acts 27:39-44 II Corinthians 11:23-33 Acts 9:13-19 Acts 19:23-31 On board this ship there are soldiers, sailors, prisoners, passengers and who know what all. We do know there are 276 people all together. But also on board this ship, there is terror. They had now been in this storm a long time. They were also hopeless. Into this situation, steps Paul, the prisoner but also a calming presence. He addresses them by saying something...
Jesus had celebrated Passover one last time with His disciples: During the meal, He given them a New Covenant: They were to remember it using bread, representing His broken body and grape wine, representing His blood shed as sacrifice for the sin and sins of all mankind. He washed the feet of His disciples, demonstrating His humble servant hood and His great love for them. He led them to a garden where He asked them to pray. He prayed Himself for three agonizing hours. His request was that God m...
Scripture to Read St. Matthew 21:1-11 & 14-17 St. Mark 11:1-11 St. Luke 19:29-44 St. John 12:12-19 Zechariah 9:9 &16-17 Psalm 118:1-9 & 19-24 Isaiah 62:10-12 I am going to interrupt our study of the Book of Acts for the next two weeks. It is time to remember two special events in the life of Jesus. We look, today, at what is called "Palm Sunday." The Church will observe this on Sunday, April 5. I want to lead your thoughts to what happened nearly two thousand years ago. All four Gospels record...
Scriptures to Read: Acts 9:1-9 Acts 9:10-19 Acts 9:20-30 Acts 22:1-11 Acts 22:12-21 Acts 23:6-11 St. Matthew 9:35-38 & St. John 4:32-38 We closed last week thinking about Paul's hearing the voice of authority. He says he was not disobedient to that voice. Much of Paul's Damascus Road experience is skipped here. We can check it out on our own. It could well be that Paul told more things to Herod and Festus but they are not recorded here. What Paul does emphasize is that he heard the voice of the...
Scriptures to Read: Acts 25:12 St. Matthew 10:16-20 St. Mark 13:5-11 Acts 12:1-5 Acts 12:6-17 Acts 12:18-19 Acts 12:20-24 A "HEART"Y Thank You Dear Friends and neighbors, I give you a most sincere "Thank You" for your prayers and support. I did indeed have "open-heart" surgery on Jan. 13. God blest, heard and answered prayers for a successful surgery. The procedure was projected to be four to six hours and was instead 2-1/2. The valve was successfully replaced. The aneurysm did not need to be...
Scriptures to REad: Acts 23:11 Acts 23:12-15 Acts 23:16-18 Acts 23:19-22 Acts 23:23-30 Acts 23:31-35 Isaiah 11:6-9 Paul had been warned, wept over, and pled with not to go to Jerusalem because it was known trouble, perhaps including arrest, chains, and death awaited him there. Still, he felt a tremendous desire to go and celebrate his Hebrew heritage as a Christian. We have found him in a riot, rescue, – riot, rescue, – riot, rescue, situation. He depended on his Roman citizenship to get him out...
Scriptures to Read: Acts 22:24-25 Acts 22:26-29 St. John 16:31-33 Hebrews 12:1-3 Acts 21:37-40 Acts 16:35-39 Philippians 2:12-18 It seems Paul's whole life is filled with troubles and sorrows, conflict and contention. He lists the challenges he faced in II Corinthians 11:23ff. We see just a couple of examples in our Scripture studies here. He is the center of a near riot through no fault of his own. Those who accused him were mistaken in their assumptions. Almost immediately he is taken...
Scriptures to Read: Acts 21:37-40 Acts 22:1-3 Acts 22:4-11 Acts 22:12-21 Acts 22:22-23 St. Matthew 7:1-6 St. Matthew 23:33-39 Way back on Nov. 21 I said: "We will pick up this portion of Scripture next time (Lord willing)" This is the time we pick it up. The passage is Acts 22. Remember, Paul had come to Jerusalem to bring a gift to the Jews suffering famine, from the congregations Paul had planted among the Gentiles on his missionary journeying. Paul was attacked by a mob who had seen him in...
Scriptures to Read: Romans 5:8 Romans 6:23 Isaiah 7:14 St. John 1:1-5 & 12 St. Matthew 7:28-29 Daniel 3:20-25 Revelation 5:11-13 "Why do you suppose adults don't play with 'Jack-In-The-Boxes'"? The answer is obvious: grown-ups know exactly what will happen when the handle is turned! Now stop for a moment and consider if you know anyone approaching their relationship with God in that same manner. They read the Bible, attend Church and pray, expecting their "God-In-The-Box" to do exactly the...
Scriptures to Read: St. Luke 1:46-56 St. Luke 2:1-7 St. Luke 2:8-12 St. Luke 2:13-14 St. Luke 2:15-20 Galatians 4:4-7 Revelation 4:11 & 5:11-14 Vance Havner, a well-know gospel preacher of yesteryear, said that verse gave him great confidence when facing troubles and trials. He said, "It didn't come to stay, it came to pass." The phrase is actually used in Luke's Gospel alone more than three dozen times. It basically means "In the sequence of events." Often the phrase will indicate some...
Scriptures to Read: St. Luke 1:26-38 St. Luke 1:39-45 St. Luke 1:46-56 Isaiah 7:14 & 9:2-7 St. Matthew 1:18-25 Philippians 2:5-11 St. Luke 2:25-38 Our second couple is not yet married when we meet them. They are what we might call "engaged." The Israelite system differs from ours in a number of ways. We might call theirs an "arranged marriage." Many times the couple did not do the choosing of each other, parents did. As simply as I can: There is the engagement when first agreements are made....
Scriptures to Read: Genesis 3:1-7 Genesis 3:8-13 Genesis 3:14-15 & Romans 16:20 Genesis 3:15-19 Isaiah 7:14 & 9:2-7 Genesis 17:1-9 Genesis 22:1-14 We generally observe Christmas on Dec. 25. Of course there are those who stretch it a bit and celebrate "Orthodox" Christmas that lasts into January. We also know there is a broadening time when we sing carols, see decorations, have special activities related to Christmas so it is more than a one-day affair. There is something good and exciting about...
Scriptures to Read: Psalm 92:1 Psalm 100:4 Psalm 107:1 Ephesians 5:20 Colossians 4:2 Psalm 8:1-9 II Peter 3:9-15 This should be Thanksgiving Week. I hope you will take some time to express thanks. Of course it is great when you give thanks to people who love you, serve you, bless you, minister to you. But I am more concerned that we take time to give thanks to God. I'd like to see us express our thanks in two ways. First, give thanks to God for what He has done for us, and for what He has given...
Scriptures to Read: Acts 21:27-31 St. John 16:1-7 St. John 16:8-15 Romans 9:1-5 Romans 9:6-13 St. Luke 23:13-18 Acts 7:51-59 The plan to absolve Paul of false accusations backfired. His Nazarite vow brought him to the Temple, perhaps more times than normal for worship and prayer. Nearly at the end of the vowed time, he was in the Temple and suddenly some Asian Jews grabbed him and made accusations against him. The accusations: This man teaches against the Jewish people. He teaches against the La...
Scriptures to Read: Acts 21:17-26 Galatians 4:4-11 Romans 4:1-4 Romans 4:5-12 Romans 4:13-19 Romans 4:20-15:2 I Corinthians 9:19-23 Paul has arrived at Jerusalem at long last. His first days were delightful. He was able to give reports to the Church Leaders in Jerusalem of the wonderful works God has been doing through Paul and his traveling companions. They in turn spoke of the thousands that were now part of the Church from Jewish heritage and still here in the Jerusalem/Judea area. But a...
Scriptures to Read Acts 21:1-9 Acts 21:10-16 Acts 9:10-17 Acts 11:25-29 St. John 13:31-38 St. Luke 22:27-34 Acts 1:7-11 Indeed the journey continues, but we have now moved on to Acts Chapter 21. The deadline of getting to Jerusalem in time to celebrate Pentecost is getting closer. Paul has used a combination of land and sea travel. He knows about how long things normally take and felt the land journey would save time, give opportunity to visit with friends from the churches he has established...
Scriptures to Read Acts 20:26-31 Acts 20:13-25 Acts 20:25-27 Acts 20:29-38 St. Matthew 7:15-20 St. Matthew 7:21-23 II Peter 2:1-5 As I said in my last week's "Thought," "It is not realistic to love people and fail to give warnings about dangers they face. Paul warns of danger coming from three directions. First there is danger around you. It does not take great insight to see there are those around the Church that are filled with hatred, jealousy, bitterness and countless other emotions that...
Scriptures to Read Acts 20:13-21 Acts 20:22-28 Acts 20:25-27 Acts 20:29-38 Ezekiel 3:17-21 Ezekiel 33:1-9 II Corinthians 5:7-10 & Revelation 20-11-15 The farewell to those loved ones from Ephesus is pretty emotional. Paul freely tells them he does not expect to see any of them ever again. Is he right? Whether he is on not, it is what he believes and he wants to be clear there is no man's blood on his hands or conscience (see verse 26). Perhaps he is remembering passages from Ezekiel. God had cal...
We have been thinking about Paul’s journey to Jerusalem. He had originally intended to get there in time to celebrate Passover (Resurrection) but had been delayed. The new target date is Pentecost. Note Paul had abandoned the legal system of Israel but still kept some of the special events that were part of it. He knows he cannot be saved by keeping the Law but only by accepting God’s grace. We might also do some of this. Some things from our childhood and growing up years, we are glad to put...
Scriptures to Read Acts 20:7-9 Acts 20:10-12 Ezra 3:10-11 Ezra 8:21-23 Nehemiah 8:1-3 Nehemiah 9:3 & 26-27 II Chronicles 7:12-22 I think I would like to compare some of what happened in the New Testament Church with what is happening in the U.S. Church today. Perhaps this is not fair since we live in a totally different world. Sports of today are different. Business of today is different. We no longer have slavery of the kind the New Testament age had. The world is radically different. Many of...
Scriptures to Read Acts 20:1-6 II Corinthians 2:12-17 I Corinthians 16:1-7 II Corinthians 8:1-7 Romans 15:25-29 Acts 20:2-3 Acts 19:21-22 Acts 20:1-6 does not seem to have much in the way of teaching/preaching material. So, we might be tempted to skip over this small section. But when we combine these verses with things gleaned from the letters Paul wrote, we can find some interesting things. We now know Paul has solidified his plans and he is going on to Jerusalem. His hope was to get there to...
Scriptures to Read: Acts 19:23-27 Acts 19:28-31 Acts 19:32-34 Acts 19:35-38 Acts 19:39-41 St. John 14:1-6 Exodus 20:1-6 We resume our study of the Book of Acts. Paul is in Ephesus. He has had both success and persecution. He wants to go to Rome. He also wants to complete his journey to Jerusalem as well. There is no title to the Church at this point. So it is known by many as "The Way." There is good reason for this. When people join the Church, becoming followers of Jesus Christ, they have...
Scriptures to Read: Genesis 1:15-20 Genesis 3:17-24 Genesis 4:2-7 St. Matthew 11:28-30 Isaiah 40:28-31 Isaiah 55:1-7 Isaiah 55:8-13 We have just celebrated "Labor Day." It is not exactly a world-wide holiday, but it is celebrated in a number of countries. For us, it is simply a day, set aside to relax and rest. Some consider it the last of the summer holidays. We have opportunity to give thanks for our work and the income it provides. As I think about our work, I ask, "Is it a blessing or a curs...
We are excited by the fact the Word of the Lord was being accepted more and more. This was in part because the people were sharing their faith and the things God was doing for them, and in part because God was allowing miracles to be done. But as the Church was growing, so was opposition to the Church. Ephesus was a place where there was much evil and the battle between good and evil was fierce. It was the place where the Temple of the Goddess Diana, or Artemis, was located. The Temple was...
For about three months Paul was able to preach and teach about Jesus as Christ in the synagogue of Ephesus. The NIV Translation says then some of them became obstinate. A mental picture came into my mind. I pictured a young dairy animal being led around the ring in a demonstration of showmanship. Everything was going well until something possessed the animal and it began to shake its head and hold back. It went on to prance sideways and resist anything the leader attempted to do. Scripture says...
If you were to watch the assembly of a present-day church, you would likely see babies being carried in and perhaps old people coming in with walkers, canes and wheel chairs. As it should be, the church is comprised of all age groups. In the same way there are people at all stages of spiritual development. Some need spiritual milk for they are babes in Christ. Some crave spiritual meat. They are hungry and eager for solid spiritual food. We can judge the natural age of church folk but we can...
The score was tied. It was the bottom of the ninth inning. One man was on base. A good hitter was at the plate. Suddenly, there was a power outage. The TV went dark. The radio was dead. The game had been very exciting to that point, but it was not over. The next day, Apollos talked about what he knew, hoping someone would tell him how it all ended but nobody did. He was excited as he talked about what he knew, but the story was incomplete. That is a bit of what it was like for Apollos in Acts...
Scriptures to Read Acts 18:18-23 I Corinthians 1:1-9 Ephesians 1:3-9 Ephesians 2:4-10 Deuteronomy 33:13-17 Judges 13:3-7 Judges 13:11-20 We come to section of Scripture that is a bit unusual. Paul has been very strong in his teaching that salvation is not through keeping The Law, though The Law has merit. Salvation comes through believing in Jesus Christ and what He has done on the Cross of Calvary. One of Paul's most frequently quoted passages of Scripture in our day and age is "For by grace...
This next small section in the Book of Acts will hopefully be interesting to you as it is to me. As we look at it, hopefully we will be able to decide what is God's will in the whole thing. When we decide that we can work on what is God's will for us. I have said it multiple times. Paul started preaching in the Jewish synagogue. He frequently had some success. Often, before long, opposition was organized against him. Once that happened, hostility solidified and persecution began. Paul was often...
Scriptures to Read Acts 18:1-11 Genesis 15:1-4 Genesis 26:22-25 Exodus 14:13-16 Joshua 8:1 & 10:8 & 25 St. Luke 1:30-35 St. Luke 2:10-14 "Fear Not." These are some of the most wonderful words ever spoken by God or His Son Jesus Christ. They are usually spoken when the human heart seems to have so much to fear. God does not want His children to live in the fear that can be likened to terror. Of course there are times when this terror is just the right thing; if we are faced with great danger, it...
Paul has completed his effort in Athens. I am certainly not one to rate his success or failure. Every Evangelist would like to reach more people. But every soul that comes to Christ is a great victory. Paul goes on to Corinth. Corinth was a large city of some 200,000 at that time. It was known for its wickedness. It is not a city for the fainthearted to preach in. Paul began as usual with ministry and preaching in the synagogue. There are some interesting sidelights: First he made early contact...
