Category Archives: Life
Choices
Haggai 1:7 “Think very carefully about your choices.” (Voice)
Over the next few days, we are going to examine the life choices Moses had to make based on the things he valued which led to the greatness that God had for him. And if we make these choices based on the right values, we too will end up with the greatness that God has for His people. Read the rest of this entry
Place Value
Psalm 40:7-8 “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” (KJV, emphasis added)
Today, we are going to focus on the book David was referring to in our anchor scripture because people often get the concept of the book wrong. As represented in the inserted illustration, the book of my life and your life has three chapters — Chapters A, B, and C. Chapter A is from birth to when you are of age. Read the rest of this entry
Choose Life
Psalm 119:29-30 “Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me and teach me your law. I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.”
Deuteronomy 30:17-19 “But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods, you will be destroyed. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God’s blessing or curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life!” (TEV, emphasis added). Read the rest of this entry
The Right Kind
Ps. 16:3 “And these God-chosen lives all around—what splendid friends they make!” (MSG)
To defeat and overcome fears, the second thing is, I Need To Stop Listening To The Voices Of Fear. We need to stop listening to the voices of fear. Be careful about what you listen to and who you listen to so that you do not become paranoid. Read the rest of this entry
Priority One
John 16:13-14 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.”
Today, we will pick up from our final thought from yesterday which is that Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will tell us things that are not in any book. The Holy Spirit will give us directions that are not written anywhere. There are things that God wants to teach you by Himself. Read the rest of this entry
To Know
John 16:8-11 “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” (NKJV]
As they stood there, at the cross jeering and laughing at Jesus, the Jews could never have imagined three things. Firstly, that the atonement of the world’s sin, including their own, was on Jesus. Like we said yesterday, Jesus took care of all our sins on the cross – past, present, and future. Read the rest of this entry
I AM!
John 15:8 “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”
You have to be fruitful! The mark of a true disciple in Jesus is fruitfulness. John 15:8 “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” (emphasis added). Not just glory, but great glory. Read the rest of this entry
The I AM
John 11:25-26 “Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
Resurrection and Life is not an event or a time. Resurrection and Life is a person. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life, not a theological expression anymore but a living breathing human being. Jesus stood there and Martha was pointing to a future event and Jesus said, ‘I am Alpha and Omega, Read the rest of this entry
The Son!
John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life” (emphasis added).
Jesus says, “those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins…” It is not that these people do not have sins, but Jesus says they will never be condemned for their sins. Read the rest of this entry
Paid
Gen. 22:8 “Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.” (NRSV, emphasis added)
Isaac was a type of Jesus and in today’s scripture reference, Abraham was speaking prophetically when he said, God will provide a lamb for Himself. And that was exactly what happened; even in the time of Abraham, God provided a lamb for Himself. In humanity’s case, it is not the blood of bulls and goats that can make a difference to our sin. It is the spotless Blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, that makes a difference. Totally beautiful! Hesed begins to make a lot more sense; ‘when the person from whom I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything.’ “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” When the person from whom I expect to receive nothing gives me everything!
Let us shift our emphasis to what the Lamb has come to do. John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (NRSV emphasis added). The word “Sin” in this scripture is singular, not plural. It is sin – past, present, and future lumped together, nailed to the cross. Unbelievable! It means that the sin ‘from Adam till rapture’ is nailed to the cross, lumped up in one sacrifice. If this does not get you excited, I do not know what else will. ‘What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the Blood of Jesus.’ In the Old Testament, the concept of ‘atonement’ is the concept of ‘Covering’. In the Old Testament, an atoning sacrifice refers to a sacrifice to cover the sin. But when Jesus came, He became the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, not the Lamb of God that covers the sin of the world. Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
In the New Testament, atonement has the underlining foundation of propitiation. Jesus became the propitiation of our sin. Propitiation is a complex word, complex not in understanding but complex in meaning. Propitiation, on one hand, means to appease the wrath of someone that has been offended. And on the other hand, to restore in fellowship with the person that has been offended. Read the rest of this entry