I heard a message yesterday on the radio from Pastor Chuck Swindoll while I was sitting in my truck. The message was on the "Beatitudes", the Sermon on the Mount given to the people by Jesus. The message addressed how "blessed" one can be if we truly live our life in full contentment focused on our Savior, Jesus Christ. The word "blessed" is stated nine times by Jesus, (Matthew 5: 1-12) but I loved how Pastor Swindoll defined what "blessed" means: "The lasting joy and/or peac

The Book of Second Peter, chapter 1, reminds us that God is the One who provides us the power we need to live our life in Christ. The way He does this is by giving us the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Peter goes on to remind us that God has given us "exceedingly great and precious promised" that will help us live a life of "godliness", so that we may share in HIs divine nature. Read the following: 2 Peter 1: 2-4 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of

Our world around us is constantly changing and not for the better. If you look at our family values from fifty years ago or even twenty years ago, what we may have chosen not do in our behavior then, we seem to do today. As the world's standards and influences change, so do we. Living together outside of marriage was looked down upon fifty years ago. That kind of relationship was done in secret. We were embarrassed to let our family and friends know we were living together ou

As our lives are bombarded with the forever constant lies of this "world system", we the "Bride of Christ, the Christian church", are in turmoil everyday wondering what our outcome will be. But the hope we have as the Church, our future and destiny has already been fully determined and established by our God and Savior, and that is Jesus Christ. Revelation 19: 1-2 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and

As I read through the Book of Leviticus, I am reminded of the many sacrifices that were made on behalf of the people of Israel by the High Priest on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis. These sacrifices were made for the sins that were committed by the Israelites intentionally or unintentionally by the people. There were different types of sacrifices for the different types of sins committed. Depending on the type of sin committed, a different type of animals was to be used s

In today's message in "Our Daily Bread", I am reminded in the Book of Isaiah that God is always with us. He will not leave us or abandon us. It is we who abandon God during our everyday circumstances. During our busy lives we go about doing the things we need to do such as going to work, taking care of our family, and building our financial security. All this is good, but where is God in our busy lives? It is not until the bottom falls out from underneath us that we cry out

As I read the story of Moses and the people of Israel as they left Egypt to go to the Promise Land, that God had promised Abraham, I am amazed at the relationship that Moses had with God. Moses communed with God daily, speaking with Him about the problems he was having with the people of Israel. The people of Israel were a very difficult group of people. God at many times called them a "stiff-neck people". “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a st

In the Book of Matthew beginning in Chapter 5: 1-11, Jesus proclaims those words in His Sermon of the Mount. And in the Old Testament, the very first Psalm also states: "Blessed is he" who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. What I did not understand in reading those words of Jesus, is that the statement of: Blessed Are Those" is not a state of "wishful thinking" or to "invoke a blessing" from God. It is a "state of mind" in one's life. These words recognize an "exist

As little children, we are so trusting and believing in our parents to provide and protect us. But as we grow older, we begin to lose that innocence of trust. We begin to think we can do things by ourselves. We say to ourselves: "I can take care of myself now". There lies the problem as we become "children of God". God wants us to have that "child-like" trust in Him as we did as little children to our parents. Matthew 18: 3 (NIV) And He said: “Truly I tell you, unless you cha

This is a question many Christians ask of themselves. We know that our "salvation" is not based on the works we do. We are saved through "Faith" in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, in what He did on the cross for us. Through His death, He paid the penalty of our sins for us. We are not able to save ourselves. Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Our salvation is a free gift of God that we receive by our faith.

I have read the following verse in Matthew many times over the years, but I never fully understood its full meaning. But as the Lord is continually teaching me what true surrender means, one can apply the following verse to come to mean that we must completely surrender everything in our lives before we can enter heaven. Matthew 7: 13-24 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.14 But small

I was reminded this past Sunday by a visiting pastor at our church, that the battle we struggle with daily, is a "Battle of the Heart". Whether we want to admit it or not, there is a spiritual battle all around us, all the time. Our battle is not against each other. There is a constant battle going on for our soul. God created us to have a relationship with Him. But the only way to have that relationship is to come to recognize that our salvation is in His son, Jesus Christ,

In reading today's "Our Daily Bread", in the book of Genesis of chapter 22, I was reminded of the story of Abraham and his son Isaac. God was going to test Abraham in his faith and the promise God gave Abraham about becoming the "Father of many nations". Abraham knew that Isaac was going to be his first and only son from Sarah. But God now was telling Abraham to go and offer up his son as a burnt offering to Him. Genesis 22: 1-2 (NKJV) Now it came to pass after these things t

THE FOLLOWING IS A SELECTION FROM THE BOOK ABSOLUTE SURRENDER: "Christ said, when He spoke about the Holy Spirit: 'The world cannot receive Him', (John 14: 17). The Apostle Paul said: 'We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is of God', (I Corinthians 2: 12). What is the great want in every Christian worker...The spirit of the world going out, and the Holy Spirit of God coming in to take possession of the inner life and of the whole being. I am sure

The depth of the question above is overwhelming beyond comprehension. I experienced this in my personal life as a Christian that I stated in the book "Salvation To Surrender...A 35 Year Journey in Finding True Rest". That sin was the sin of molestation place on me when I was a young boy at the age of four or five years old and how it affected me until the Lord released me of the power of that sin upon my "full and absolute surrender to Him". But the impact of other people's s

As we come into this Christmas season of 2020, there are so many of us that are hurting and struggling with so many issues in our lives, such as money for rent, food to eat, even gifts for the kids. All these things are important to us and our heavenly Father knows this as well. The greatest gift we can give to ourselves and to our children is the gift of Jesus Christ, our Savior. He is the reason for this season. He suffered for us to give us His "Gift of Grace", for the for

Psalm 23 (NIV) 1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goo

The question above is a very profound question to ask ourselves as Christians. So many of us, as Christians, want to do God's work for Him, so off we go moving forward starting to work for God through our own power, thinking that God has blessed our mission. But there lies the problem. It is not our work for God to do. It is God's work to assign to us to do. It is God's church, and He is the Commander of His army. God has His own plans with regard to His kingdom. It is God wh

As I was reading in the Book of Ephesians, I was amazed at what the Apostle Paul wrote to the people of Ephesus...To remind them of the power that was within them because of their faith they placed in Jesus as their Savior. Paul states that their eyes may be enlightened of the hope to which they were called in Jesus. And that the power that is available to them, through the power Holy Spirit, is the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at the right hand

Circumcision was a covenant God gave to Abraham and to the future Israelite people to show God's commitment and promise to His people. This act was an outward sign of the flesh, but God's purpose was for us to become circumcised of the "heart"...for us to give up our "fleshly desires" to Him and come to worship with our whole heart. Genesis 17: 10-11 10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shal