Archive for December, 2019

VerseD: 1 John 2:6

whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
1 John 2:6, ESV

How did Jesus walk?

He loved the lost, rebuked the religious haughty, and served all to the point of death.

Go and do likewise.

This Sunday at Church: Share the Gospel

I think of my brother and sister who responded to an altar call because dad and a couple friends went forward. Or my sister-in-law who still refuses to believe. Our many friends who “knew” they were Christians because they grew up in the Church.
Only a few of those mentioned have turned and repented. They only did because of someone asking them about their relationship with Christ and sharing the Gospel.
It is not just the outside world that needs the Gospel. We do, too. And besides, Jesus warned that many who say “Lord, Lord” will be rejected in the last day. (Matthew 7:22-23)

Daniel

SLIMJIM's avatarThe Domain for Truth

This Sunday at Church I want to encourage you to do the following:  Share the Gospel.

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VerseD: Titus 2:11-12

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age
Titus 2:11‭-‬12, ESV

In a world that tells us to “just do what feels good,” God simply says to do what is good. And He helps us with the Holy Spirit.

Preparing Your Heart – The Second Week of Advent 2019

Once again, this series is a re-post from five years earlier, with some additions by me.

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It is now the second week of Advent! (See last week’s devotional thought here and here.)

Again, Advent is a time to remember our Lord’s first coming as we look forward to His imminent return.

So, let us prepare hearts for encountering the Lord!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

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.
John 1:1-14, ESV

It is important for us to remember that God’s people, the Israelites, those who painstakingly preserved the written Word of God and pursued righteousness, failed to recognize Him when he came to them quite literally in the flesh.

Jesus said just three chapters later, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4:23). Our culture today is largely spiritually dull, even in many churches.

Ask yourself, “Would I recognize God if He approached me today?” Seek His face in prayer, Bible reading, and the fellowship of believers. Ask God to reveal Himself to you. Too many missed Him the first time around. Seek the living Lord! Have faith that He is returning soon!

“For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 16:7b, ESV

VerseD: Matthew 23:11

The greatest among you shall be your servant.
Matthew 23:11, ESV

We should not seek power or authority in the Church. We should be loving each other through service and helping each other.

VerseD: Matthew 5:8

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Matthew 5:8, ESV

When we believe in Jesus Christ and His atoning work of His crucifixion, death, and resurrection, we are given His purity.

Believe in Jesus, and we will see God face to face one Glorious Day.

VerseD: Isaiah 26:9

My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
Isaiah 26:9, ESV

When God ordains calamity and strife, the wise see His reproof and grow closer to Him. It is easy to grow complacent amidst blessing.

Seek God continuously.

VerseD: Matthew 6:3

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing
Matthew 6:3, ESV

We help others for love’s sake, to glorify God, not to get attention or rewarded.

Love God by loving others.

Bible Contradiction? Should we follow our own hearts?

Context.
I thought to myself reading the “contradictory” verses, “But the second half of the Ecclesiastes verse quantifies following your heart with being judged by God …”
Of course, Jim addressed that.

Daniel

SLIMJIM's avatarThe Domain for Truth

For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Should we follow our own hearts?

Here are the two answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:

We should follow our heart and eyes.

Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.” (Ecclesiastes 11:9)

We should not follow our heart and eyes.

It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot,” (Numbers 15:39)

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool…

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VerseD: Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8‭-‬9, ESV

All it takes is faith, believing God came in the flesh, lived a sinless life, died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins, and rose again bodily from the dead.

Believe in Jesus, and be saved.