Luke 3 | So This Is Your Good News?
Many of us would say that John 3:16 is one of our favorite Bible verses. But you really should consider Luke 3:16. This verse contains some great news, but it comes with a twist. Have you ever gotten a piece of good news that didn’t seem so very good when you first heard it? Most things in life that are truly beneficial to you carry a high price tag. That is what it’s like when John promises that Jesus will…
Luke 1: 5-25 | Words of Hope
Luke’s gospel begins with several stories intended to describe the circumstances of Jesus’ childhood (1:5-2:52). In this gospel, Jesus is presented as the universal Savior. Though it is an historical account by Luke’s own admission, what he includes is carefully selected, and the stories come as a series of doubles. The account of Zechariah is not merely a story of a couple whom God blesses with a child in their old age. It is a story that sets the stage…
2 Cor. 11-12 | Bragging Rights
By: Garner Fritts Have you ever met someone who brags all the time and places themselves on a pedestal? They want everyone to know how much they are worth, how intelligent they are, how gifted they are or any other number of human achievements. Some of these braggarts invoke the name of the Lord while promoting themselves. What is even worse, there are many people who admire those types of people and hold them in higher regard than the so…
Live to Give
I have a saying that I use with my family whenever they thank me for doing something for them. I say, “I Live to Give”. Although I have expressed this sentiment sarcastically at times, I really do try to live out this motto as much as I can by the grace of God. As a parent you often wonder if what you’re doing makes any kind of impact on your children. Are they getting it? They see the best and…
II Cor. 6:1 | Working Together with Him
I have both worked together for the Lord, as well as worked together with him. I definitely like working together with him better. The two are worlds apart. When you work for someone, you may not know specifically what he or she wants. You just do your best to try to please that one by working hard at various tasks that you hope will be acceptable. But when you work with someone, they are in the lead and you are…
2 Cor. 4 | Our Wounds Are Part of Our Wholeness
I am always amazed and amused when I read the way Paul describes the traumatic events that happened in his life in 2 Corinthians chapter four. Later in the letter, he recounts his beatings, dangers, shipwrecks, his being many times on the razor-edge of death, the betrayal, sleepless nights, hunger, and cold exposure that accompanied his service to Jesus. Any one of these experiences might send the best of us into a downward spiral of post-traumatic stress. But Paul calls…
2 Cor. 1 | Help for When You Hurt
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Cor. 1.3-5 Someone once said the main task of the preacher is “to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”. At times, it seems Christians require both. Following…
And Now The Rest of the Story
By: Barry Cochran, Guest Blogger As I grew up, one of my favorite radio commentators was Paul Harvey. I can remember coming home from school and entering the house, my mom had the radio station on and we would sit down and listen to his news broadcast. My favorite was when he would do “the rest of the story”! Here he would start off by giving the story (typically of a famous person) and would leave out key elements such…
The Active Work of the Holy Spirit
Today’s Bible reading is 1 Cor. 12. It’s all about the active work of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead, eternally existent and active in the earth, especially in the lives of believers in Jesus Christ. In fact, he comforts, guides, teaches, sanctifies, empowers, gifts, and ministers through believers. He is active in creation, redemption, and carrying out the purposes of God on the earth.…
Written For Our Learning
“Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (I Cor. 10:11). All of the instruction Paul gives to the church at Corinth in this chapter is taken from the Old Testament. Drawing from its rich history, he makes parallels between the story of the Exodus and the subsequent wilderness wanderings and the Christian life. Paul is indeed right to do so for…