Living in light of eternity

Throughout the Bible the fear of man is often contrasted with the fear of God .  When it speaks of the fear of God, it is not referring to a sinister dread, but rather an awesome honor and respect. And there are great blessings associated with a proper fear of God… The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10) The fear of the LORD leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil. (Proverbs 19:23) Better is a little with the fear of the LORD Than great treasure and turmoil with it. (Proverbs 15:16)  And Jesus is our perfect example.  In John 8:28-29 Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” Throughout His earthly life Jesus lived in perfect harmony a...

  To the person who has never seriously studied the life and death of Christ, it might appear that he was a VICTIM. Nothing could be further from the truth.  At first glance one might think his death was caused by the Jewish authorities- the scribes and the Pharisees.  After they questioned him, the High Priest said, "He deserves death!" (Matthew 26:65-66) Or was it the everyday person?  When Pilate was questioning him, he seemed reluctant to issue a verdict.  Pilate said, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” (Jn 19:4) To that, the crowds said, "Crucify him!" (Matthew 27:23) Finally, Pilate handed him over to be scourged and crucified. (Matthew27:29)  So, who was responsible for the death of Jesus?  Was it the Jewish leaders, the everyday person, or Pilate?  Or was it all three? Upon a closer look, we discover that the suffering and death of the Messiah was a plan conceived in the heart and mind ...

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works , which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.  (Eph 2:8-10)  It is almost too good to be true!   Not only does God save us as a gift of His grace, but He also has designed each of us for a particular purpose.   Through the death of His dear Son, we receive the gift of eternal life by faith.   Soon  we realize He has a certain work for us to do- the good works that He has prepared in advance for us.   As we walk by faith, these good works will manifest themselves to the glory of God and to the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ.   But it is so easy for us to feel inadequate.   How will we ever be able to fulfill the calling He gives us?   Well, good news, we are not the first to feel this way!   ...

It is the Father's good plan for His children to grow toward maturity in Christ.   For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son , so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; (Ro 8:29, NASB95)  We start out as infants in Christ, but over time, as we walk in the Spirit and are fed on the Word of God we progressively become more like Jesus.  There are many benefits as we grow.  We develop spiritual character as we walk by faith….  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal 5:22-23)  But some seem to get stuck at an infantile stage. In writing to the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul calls them "infants in Christ. It seems that they were still in need of "milk to drink, not solid food".   And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to inf...

When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Mt 17:14-21)  In Matthew chapter 17 we find the Lord using the sit...

In Luke chapter 2 we have the awe-inspiring appearance of an angel to announce the birth of the Messiah. I'm sure you are familiar with this magnificent passage: 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  So, when this magnificent angel appears, the shepherds are terribly frightened.   Once he calms their fears, he shares what is the greatest news the heavens have ever announced to this fallen world. The sinners in this world need a Savior, and now they have one. This is extremely good news.   It is a joyous gospel for all people.     After this wo...