“Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits. Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God….” (1Corinthians 15:33-34). The company of the deceived is hard to penetrate. There is strength in numbers among them. Even God had to come down and confound the language of those who would have built a…
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side” (Psalm 124:1). The possibilities of failure and calamities would have been overwhelming if things had been different. God chose Israel, for no other reason than His love being bestowed upon her. She was protected from dangers and blessed to prosper. The Lord had favored her in opposition to…
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17). The living Spirit of God frees us to give a fuller expression of His will. We are no longer bound to obey His Law as heavy restrictions levied against us, but rather freed inwardly to joyfully give expression to what…
“Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like- minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:1-2). The objective of preaching the gospel is for those who are following to have the mind…
“My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26). As we grow weaker physically, and as time continues to make its mark upon our bodies in completing the story of our lives, we all the more declare the strength of the Lord as being our strength. His strength is…
“Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding” (Proverbs 23:23). The price paid for the truth may be the loss of friends and love ones. It may be the loss of the potential for profit requiring the compromise of our integrity. Our integrity is worth more than the things acquired through dishonest gain. Even…
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7). Our strength against the enemy must not be in our boasting. Many may flex their muscles and consider that they are strong enough to withstand the attacks of the opposition. The chariots of old were status symbols representing the…
“But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4-5). The trials that we face have a far greater purpose than the aggravation and pain that we often suffer. Isolated from God’s intent, some would think that we had been abandoned to face the giants of perplexity alone. It is when nothing…
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). The truth liberates us from the slavery of error. When we are deceived, we end up serving whatever lie we have embraced. But the truth liberates us from the manacles and shackles that would have forced us into conformity to the dictates of the world.…
“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19). The waves of adversity will test the authenticity of our faith. Whether we have placed all our trust in God is proven in trying times. Here we cannot rely upon any other person or thing. We have launched out beyond the banks of secure living,…
Eph 3:8-9 “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through…
“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1Corinthians 2:2-3). The strong language used by Paul was to express how he directed his will to block out all information that would in any way compete with the knowledge of Christ that he had attained. This knowledge would serve as the filter because it…