Meet Lord

It is sometimes a disconcerting truth for many Christians that even though we belong to God through faith in Christ, we still seem to experience the same problems that plagued us before we were saved. We often become discouraged and bogged down in life’s cares. The fact that both the Old and New Testaments address this problem the same way indicates that God knows problems and worries are inevitable in this life. Thankfully, He has given us the same solution He gave in both Psalms and Peter’s letter. “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall” (Psalm 55:22), and “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).  Contained within these two verses are several amazing truths: God will sustain us, He will never let us fall, and He cares for us. Taken one at a time, we see first that God declares both His ability and His willingness to be our strength and support—mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He is able (and best

 "Now glory be to God, who by  his mighty power at work within us is  able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of               infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes."  Ephesians 3:20 (LB)  "If a dream comes from God, it will be so big in your life that you  can't do it on your own. If you could do it on your own, you wouldn't  need faith."  Faith is like a muscle: it can be strengthened. It can be weak or it  can be strong, depending on how much you use it.  How does God build your faith? He uses a very predictable pattern that  we will look at this week; and, if you understand it, you can  cooperate with  him in developing greater faith. It's like when the   father, seeking help from Jesus for his son, said, "Have pity on us  and help us, if you possibly can!" (Mark 9:22 TEV)  Jesus replied, "What do you mean, 'If I can'? . . . Anything is  possible if a person believes.&q

 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not  waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of  the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. . . . Their loyalty is  divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything  they do." James 1:6, 8 (NLT)  "Faith is a verb. It's active and not passive. It's something you do."  After God gives you a dream, the next step for building your faith is  decision: God challenges you to do something about your dream.  Nothing is going to happen to that dream until you wake up and put it  into action. You've got to make the decision: "I'm going to go for  it!" For every ten dreamers in the world, there is only one decision  maker. A lot of people have dreams but they never get to Step Two—  making the decision to trust God and follow their dream.  James says, "But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all.  Whoever doubts is li

    All of the passages in the four gospels which relate the narrative of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem utilize the quotation from Zechariah 9:9. They regard the triumphal entry as a fulfillment of prophecy. "Behold your King is coming to you." Was this just a caricature of kingship that took place on that day? Was this just a mockery of misunderstanding taking place on that day? I do not think so; I believe that by the inclusion of this passage in the gospels, God is indicating that Jesus really was King. It is important for us to understand what it means to consider Jesus as King.     In order to do so we need to take a broader look at Scripture as a whole and consider what God's intent was for Kingship in reference to the people He had created. When God created man it was His intent that He should reign as Sovereign, as King and Lord, in their lives and in their society. God intended to rule and control individually in the hearts of mankind, and col

JESUS CHRIST I. Biblical references to Jesus Christ     A. All of Scripture has reference to Jesus Christ          John 5:39 - "the Scriptures...these bear witness to Me"          Luke 24:27 - "He explained concerning Himself in all the Scriptures"          Luke 24:44 - "all the things written about Me in Moses, Prophets, Psalms"     B. Some references to Jesus' Deity          1. Pre-existence - Jn. 1:1,2; 17:5; Phil. 2:6; Col. 1:17; Rev. 1:8          2. Creator - Jn. 1:3,10; I Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16          3. Sustainer - Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3          4. Source of life - Jn. 5:26; 11:25; 14:6; 17:3; Rom. 6:23; I Jn. 5:12          5. Revealer of God - Matt. 11:27; Jn. 1:18; 14:7; II Cor. 4:4; Heb. 1:3          6. Son of God - Mk. 1:1; 9:7; Lk. 1:35; Jn. 1:34; 10:36; Rom. 1:4          7. Identified as God - Jn. 5:18; 10:30; Phil. 2:6; Col. 1:19; 2:9; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8; I Jn. 5:20          8. I AM - Mk. 14:62; Lk. 22:70; Jn. 8:24,58; 11:25; 14:6; 18:5

Let’s look at how the Bible describes love, and then we will see a few ways in which God is the essence of love. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a). This is God's description of love, and because God is love (1 John 4:8), this is what He is like. Love (God) does not force Himself on anyone. Those who come to Him do so in response to His love. Love (God) shows kindness to all. Love (Jesus) went about doing good to everyone without partiality. Love (Jesus) did not covet what others had, living a humble life without complaining. Love (Jesus) did not brag about who He was in the flesh, although He could have overpowered anyone He ever came in contact with. Love (God) does

If you lived isolated on an island in the middle of the sea, then perhaps your private sin would not affect anyone but yourself. However, since the maxim is "no man is an island," there is a good chance that you have a family or at the least friends and acquaintances that you come into contact with on a continual basis. All of them will be affected in some way by sin because sin has consequences (Romans 6:23). That is a principle that follows the pattern laid down at the creation. Everything created has a seed from which it propagates itself after its "kind" (Genesis 1:11, 21, 25). In other words, you do not plant corn and expect to harvest beets. You cannot “plant” sin—even in private—and not expect to reap a harvest of consequences. And consequences have a way of spilling out over everyone and anyone that comes into contact with us because of another principle called "association." This means that those around you can be blessed or hurt by association w

According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” There are two Greek words which are translated “new” in the Bible. The first, neos, refers to something that has just been made, but there are already many others in existence just like it. The word translated “new” in this verse is the word kainos, which means “something just made which is unlike anything else in existence.” In Christ, we are made an entirely new creation, just as God created the heavens and the earth originally—He made them out of nothing, and so He does with us. He does not merely clean up our old selves; He makes an entirely new self. When we are in Christ, we are “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4 KJV). God Himself, in the person of His Holy Spirit, takes up residence in our hearts. We are in Christ and He is in us. In Christ, we are regenerated, renewed, and born again, and this new creation is spiritually minded, whereas the old natur