Jesus. The Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Ralph’s testimony of God’s goodness. He went from sheriff, to marine, to Navy corpsman, to finding peace in Jesus.
I’ve never seen death. I’ve barely experienced it in my life. Ralph saw death regularly. He became hardened to it. As a police officer and member of our armed forces, he experienced all sorts of things I only see in movies.
Read Ralph’s story:
From Marine, to Sheriff, to Navy Corpsman, to Christ-follower.
Check out Ralph’s website here.
Was Jesus just a good man or was He actually God? John 1:1 says He is God.
Jesus lived, breathed, walked, and talked on this earth. According to Scripture, Jesus was a man.
Scripture also tells us that Jesus is God.
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:1-5 (ESV)
Can we be sure that the “Word” referenced here is Jesus? Of course! Look at verses 14-15.
1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
1:15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'”)
John 1:14-15 (ESV)
Check out our article which goes into much greater depth.
Psalm 19 is about God. We can know of HIm through nature and through His holy Word.
In November, I went to the Oregon Coast and beheld the most unbelievable sunset.
It made me think of Romans 1:18-20, where Paul says that everyone is without excuse, because God’s attributes shine through clearly in nature. I think David must have been watching a similar sunset when he wrote this Psalm, because he says about the same thing.
1The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.Psalm 19:1-4 (ESV)
We don’t need to physically hear God’s voice thundering out of the sky or see Him levitate someone to believe He’s real. We can look around and know.
The second half of the Psalm talks about the Bible. David didn’t have the entire Bible, but what he did have satisfied him. The Bible spoke to him of God, just like nature spoke to him of God. We have God’s entire Word, so we should never complain. If David found rest for his soul in the limited portion of God’s Word he had available to him, we should find complete and total satisfaction knowing that God’s mysteries have been revealed to us.
David knew that in God’s Word life and contentment could be found. We rely on our “progressive” universities filled with all-wise professors, our enlightened media, and the latest scientific advances for our wisdom. Well, scrap all that crap. God’s Word contains all we need for life and contentment.
7The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple;
8the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9the fear of the LORD is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether.
10More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.Psalm 19:7-11 (ESV)
Read B’s Christian testimony of God’s mercy and love.
God has a way of chasing us down. He pushes and pulls and draws us gently (or not so gently) toward Himself. As people with free will, we can resist, but why would we?
Yet we do.
B avoided God for years, but eventually answered His call.
Will you avoid Him? And for how long? He’s calling.
Keep your focus always and 100% on Jesus.
Bible study. Choir. Music. Sunday School. “Christian” activities often overshadow our relationship with God. Busyness trumps our relationship with the God of the Bible.
If the relationship is dead, the rest is meaningless.
Read our article entitled Focus on Jesus here.
Our God radiates beauty. This poem reminds us of the God we serve.
Work sucks. School sucks. I don’t feel well. My throat hurts. I’m tired. It’s raining. Everything seems ugly and irritating.
Why? When my mind focuses on the things of this world rather than the beauty of God, everything seems drab and uninteresting.
Mark’s poem reminds us of God’s beauty. His creation, His mercy, His guidance . . . without God, life lacks meaning.
Lakendra’s Christian testimony.
Meeting God’s high standards for holiness seems impossible. But thankfully, He doesn’t expect perfection. If He did, I’d definitely be struck by lightning.
Read Lakendra’s story of realization – that God loves her no matter what.
Satan wanted the body of Moses but God decided to hide the body. Huh?
It’s fun getting questions from readers, because you never know what they might ask. This one threw me for a loop . . . so I sent it off to Tim (which I do frequently) and he gave it his best.
The question was this:
What did Satan want with the body of Moses? And why would God want to hide Moses’ body?
Psalm 18 gives us some insight into David’s thinking.
I find five easy divisions in this Psalm.
This Psalm reminds me that God isn’t always peaches and cream. He love us, yes, but He can be destructive, angry, judging.
7Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
8Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9He bowed the heavens and came down;
(N) thick darkness was under his feet.
10He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
11He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
thick clouds dark with water.
12Out of the brightness before him
hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
13The LORD also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
14And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
15Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
Psalm 18:7-15
I think I’d rather be on His good side.
On another note, I don’t fully understand how David could say that he was blameless and pure (Psalm 18:20-24), unless he wrote this Psalm before the Bathsheba incident. Maybe David just understood that God’s forgiveness surpasses any sin. Forgiven sin, like an expunged crime, vanishes – never to be remembered.
My favorite verses are 20-27. If we live righteously, we can expect God’s favor. Haughty and crooked people should have no expectation of salvation. As Christians, we should live as David describes in verses 21-23. And then, as we strive to serve God, He makes us righteous (Psalm 18:24), which is something only He can do.
21For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22For all his rules were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from my guilt.
24So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
Psalm 18:21-24 (ESV)
The rest of this Psalm David rejoices in how he pounds his enemies into dust, and I appreciate him sharing such things, but I’m not sure that we, as Christians, should follow his example in this. If anyone disagrees with me, I’d love to hear about it.
The 400 years between the writing of Malachi and the beginning of the New Testament are called the Silent Years. But was God really silent?
The 400 years between the writing of Malachi and the beginning of the New Testament are often referred to as the “Silent Years.” The term could be based on Amos 8:11-12, where Amos prophesies about a famine of hearing the Word of God. But was God really silent during this time?
Check out the new article, The Silent Years, to get a little insight into this subject.