While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But…
Consider the Claims of Christ this Christmas: “The Son of Man”
God’s voice was heard coming from heaven at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) God, himself, declared Jesus his Son—the Son of God. But throughout the New Testament Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man—human! Jesus was God incarnate—in flesh. Paul states Jesus, being in very nature God, didn’t…
Consider the Claims of Christ this Christmas
For the next few weeks leading up to Christmas, I will consider the claims Jesus made about himself. Before I became a follower of Jesus Christ, I knew very little about him—despite the fact I grew up in America and thought myself a Christian. The Bible presents four accounts of the birth, life, ministry, death,…
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
A hymn by Horatius Bonar (1808-1899) I heard the voice of Jesus say, ‘Come unto me and rest; Lay down, thou weary one, lay down thy head upon my breast.’ I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad; I found him in a resting place, and he has made me glad….
A Kingdom that Cannot be Shaken
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the…
Love Never Fails
I Corinthians 13:8 begins with—Love never fails. As defined in this same chapter love is: Patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag, is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account wrongs suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, rejoices with the truth, bears all…
Let Us Pray
Recently, a couple friends feeling down asked me to pray for them. Later, as I considered my prayer, I felt dissatisfied. I realized my prayer was misdirected—it focused on their experience. Wouldn’t it have served them better, if I had turned their attention to the awesome, faithful, gracious God we love and serve? Prayers I…
Forsaking Broken Wells
I have to confess I desire worldly success. After years of mothering, homeschooling, homemaking, I’d love to do something ‘significant’ and maybe even get a paycheck. Even though I know better, I’m tempted to believe worldly success will make me feel valuable. I have friends in the homeschool community who would say I have been…
Freedom
…before Christ came…we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children….
a precious cornerstone
So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.” Isaiah 28: 16 (NIV) God speaks through Isaiah, a prophet who lived seven hundred years before Jesus was born, and prophecies…
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