Historical Posts
Pure Minds – audio
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Most of the time my mind is going in a million different directions.
If you ask me something, and I request some time to think about it and get back with you, I’d better write it down immediately. If not, I’ll forget about it within 30 seconds. I don’t know if it’s the inevitable effects of getting older, or just an easily distracted mind. Or maybe some combination of both.
I suspect I’m not alone.
If Satan can’t get us to abandon Christ, he’ll just make us so busy that the Lord is just another thing on our to-do list.
- Bed made? Check.
- Exercise? Check.
- Kids up and dressed? Check (sorta).
- Quick prayer as I run out the door? Check.
And so the day goes.
Whisper a quick prayer before eating lunch at your desk, and an exhausted Thank-you-for-getting-me-through-this-day prayer before sinking into oblivion to prepare to repeat the next day.
To that kind of mind, my mind and yours, Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
Much of my life I’ve thought that meant that I need to keep my heart clean – keep the garbage and sinful thoughts out – but now I’m not sure that’s exactly right, at least not here.
I think Jesus meant that my heart doesn’t need to get too full – full of distractions, to-do lists, chores, deadlines, stresses.
As one commentator puts it, “The ‘pure in heart’ exhibit a single-minded devotion to God that stems from the internal cleansing created by following Jesus” (Craig Blomberg, p. 100).
A single-minded devotion. That’s what I need. It’s what you need.
Something that’s pure is unmixed, unadulterated. Pure water or pure gold or pure milk has nothing added to it to dilute its value.
Same with us. God wants to fill our hearts with him so that there’s no room for anything else. That doesn’t mean, of course, that we won’t have concerns about work or school or bills. But it does mean that we filter everything in our lives through him.
God doesn’t want just one part of our mind.
He doesn’t want just a little slice of it, but he also doesn’t want the biggest slice. He’s not one of many jostling for a little bit of our time and attention.
He wants it all.
And once he’s got it, all those distractions and worries seem so much smaller.
Once he’s got it, then you and I will see God everywhere we look.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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Does God Care? – audio
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Where is God?
Does he even know what’s going on in my life?
Does he care?
Because he doesn’t speak directly to us, and because we can’t literally see him, It is easy to start thinking he’s not there, or if he is, he’s not particularly interested in the things we’re facing. Especially the bad stuff. Where is he when all that happens?
To those of us who struggle with this – which is probably all of us – Jesus spoke some of the most comforting words anyone has ever said:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29–31
A day’s wage was a denarius, and a penny was 1/16 of a denarius. Since two sparrows were sold for a penny that means one sparrow was worth 1/32 of how much a man would make in a day.
Translation: not much.
Which was Jesus’ point. Sparrows had less value than almost anything in his world, but God noticed even their problems. Adding to the tenderness of the passage, Jesus said that God even knows how many hairs we’ve got on our heads.
In other words, he cares about us. A lot.
Satan tries to get us to think that God is distant, uninterested, uninvolved. But Jesus says that God is infinitely concerned about every struggle, every difficulty, and every hurt.
Sometimes we need to think about God’s love in global terms – “for God so loved the world . . .” – there’s not a spot on the planet that escapes his notice. But we also need to take comfort in the intimate nature of his personal love. He cares about me. And you. And your spouse or kid or mom or dad. Even your grumpy neighbor.
Whenever I see a bird lying on the side of the road, it reminds me of these words from Jesus. God took notice of that little blue jay, wren, or sparrow.
Just think how much he must care about your problems.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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God’s Eternal Purpose – audio
Today is a day (December 25th) that many people wish would last forever. If kids have been good all year, then they just might get that special something they always wanted.
The Preacher recognizes that some things can last forever! Where we will be eternally depends on what we do here and now. The Preacher says, “I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of what is past (Ecclesiastes 3:14-15).”
I. What God has done shall last forever.
A. The mercy of God endures forever (Psalm 136).
B. Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, abides forever (John 1:1-2,14; 12:34; Hebrews 13:8).
C. His righteousness and salvation will abide forever (Isaiah 51:6).
D. His kingdom will last forever (Daniel 2:44).
E. The Word of God lives and abides forever (1 Peter 1:23).
II. We cannot add to or take away from what God does.
A. His Word is complete (Revelation 22:18-19; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
B. All of God’s gifts are good and perfect (James 1:17).
III. God requires an account of what is past.
A. Each of us will give account of ourselves to God (Romans 14:12).
B. We will give an account to who is ready to judge the living and the dead (1 Peter 4:5).
C. We will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and will be rewarded for what we have done, whether it be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).
What we do in this life determines our eternal status: if we are faithful to God, we will forever be with Him in Heaven; if we do not obey the gospel or live faithfully, we will enter into eternal death. God has given us eternal gifts to save our eternal souls; will we accept them?
Content by Richard Dillon
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Words – audio
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As a preacher and as human being, I use a lot of words.
That’s probably part of the reason this passage has puzzled – and scared – me. Maybe it’s bothered you a little as well.
But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned – Matthew 12:36–37
I’m pretty sure I use quite a few “careless” words, probably every day. Don’t you?
Maybe an off-handed remark to your spouse or child, perhaps an off-the-cuff comment to a co-worker. Some of our words are carefully thought out, while many, probably most, aren’t. What does Jesus mean?
Did he intend to imply that our innocent small talk is wrong, like when we’re talking about last night’s rain or next week’s game? I don’t think so. It helps to read what the Lord said just before:
Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things – Matthew 12:33–35
Jesus is saying that our words matter because they reflect our hearts. Good people say good things, while bad hearts produce evil speech.
There’s an important implication here: we learn more about our hearts from what we say without thinking than we do by looking at our carefully rehearsed speech. This means that you’d learn more about who I really am by hearing how I speak to people conversationally than you do by listening to this invitation. I’ve reworked the words on this page several times, but my “careless” words—the ones I use in normal conversation—more likely reflect the real me.
What about you? Are your words too critical? Do they build up or tear down? Are they positive or negative?
Our words matter, but mostly because they say something about our hearts. We don’t really fix our speech by learning to speak more nicely and be more honest. Our speech gets fixed when our hearts grow closer to Jesus.
God cares more about what’s inside us than he does about what comes out of us.
So we need to work on our hearts by spending time with the Lord. Loving him more, praising him more, wanting to please him more.
What Jesus said should cause us to think before we speak, but it should especially cause us to ask him to take control of our hearts. That’s where the words, good or bad, come from.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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Obey – audio
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Mark Twain famously quipped, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me; it is the parts that I do understand.”
I’m not sure exactly how he meant that, but in some ways I agree with him. There’s a lot about the Bible I don’t grasp, but I have plenty to do just to work on the parts I get.
Here is one of the parts I do understand: God wants us to do what he says.
You already knew that, of course, but it doesn’t hurt us to be reminded. It’s easy to get lulled into a sense of complacency and forget some of the basics.
James emphasizes this point here, and his in-your-face approach shows how serious he is about making himself clear:
“But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:20-26).
It jumped out at me recently how often God tests people’s faith by telling them to do something that doesn’t make any sense at all.
In Abraham’s case, what God commanded him not only didn’t make sense, but it was also completely contrary to God’s nature. Did Abraham trust him enough to do something sinful? Did he believe in God strongly enough to offer a child sacrifice, a horrible practice he’d turned his back on when he began walking with God? Yes he did. By this point in his life he’d learned just to trust God . . . to do whatever he said.
And that’s a pretty good lesson for all of us – do whatever he says.
It’s not hard to do right when it’s relatively low sacrifice. It’s easy to follow Jesus when the road is smooth. But I think God is interested in something more substantial than that. He wants to know if our faith will lead us to do something more significant than attend church services, smile pretty, and act christianly.
I think he wants to know if we have real faith – genuine, life-changing, God-honoring trust.
He wants us to have the kind of faith that obeys even when what God said does not make sense to us. Even when it’s different from what we want to do. Even when it hurts. James’ major point in this section is that there’s no such thing as a faith that refuses obey. That’s a faith that’s dead, which is not faith at all.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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Stains – audio
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We live in the world, and it’s hard to keep it from rubbing off on us.
Sometimes it’s tempting just to escape it, isn’t it? Moving to the proverbial deserted island or to a rural mountain in Tibet doesn’t sound bad at all. Some believers in church history tried that route, retreating to caves, deserts, or monasteries, but it rarely worked well. But tempting as it might be sometimes, God never called us to retreat from the world.
So here we are. We live and work and play in it, all the while seeing daily reminders that it’s a pretty messed-up place. Immorality, violence, deceit, corruption . . . it’s everywhere.
And in the middle of all that we hear commands like this one from James:
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (James 1:27).
Keep yourself unstained from the world, he says.
In the world, but not of the world, as it’s sometimes put (cf. John 15:19). That’s fairly easy to say, but not so easy to practice. What do we do? Part of the answer is we’ve got to recognize what’s going on. We’ve got to see the world for what it is. We need to ask ourselves daily:
- Are there any significant differences between me and my non-Christian friends?
- How are my values different from the world’s?
- Am I becoming more like Jesus or more like the world?
The thing that makes it so tough is that the world stains us slowly, gradually, subtly.
Perhaps you’ve heard the anecdote about boiling a frog. Put it in boiling water, and it’ll jump out. Put it in cold water and gradually heat it up, and it’ll be cooked to death. I’m not sure if that’s true of frogs, but I’m pretty sure it’s true of us.
The world is all around us, and it affects us without our knowledge. We make small compromises, then at some point we’ve changed without even really knowing.
Let’s pray about this today.
- Ask the Lord to make you vigilant.
- Ask him to help you see the small changes the world is trying to make in your life.
- Ask him to work in you through his Spirit to transform you into what he wants you to be, instead of allowing the world to conform you to its image.
Let the Spirit have his way with you.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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Abounding Love – audio
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Some things you just can’t have too much of:
- Ice cream.
- College football.
- Precious kisses from your baby son or daughter.
Of course Paul was not talking about any of those things in Philippians 1, though I doubt he would disagree with me.
Here’s what he says:
“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9–11)
Our English translations struggle to communicate Paul’s emphatic language in this passage:
- “And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more . . .” (NRSV)
- “I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more . . .” (GNB)
- “That your love may abound more and more . . .” (ESV)
The verb “abound” itself is strong, meaning “to be present in abundance,” and the way Paul uses it here means “to keep on abounding”. But then he adds this phrase: “still more and more” (though most translations leave the “still” out).
He could’ve prayed that our love might abound, or that it might “abound more.” If he wanted to add a little more emphasis, he could have asked that it “abound more and more.”
But that wasn’t good enough, so he asked for their love to “abound still more and more.”
I think what he’s telling us is clear: you can’t have too much love.
- Ever felt like your spouse loved you too much?
- Have your kids ever loved you too much?
- Ever felt there was too much love in your life?
Probably not, and Paul says he prays that our love will just keep on growing.
If you’re married, he’s asking God to multiply your love for your spouse.
If you’ve got kids, he wants you to love them more every day.
And of course, ultimately, most importantly, he’s praying that we’ll abound in love for God as we mature in faith that we’ll be obsessively in love with Jesus, that we’ll love the Spirit of God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Paul is praying for something huge for you and me.
And it’s what I’m praying for you as we study together tonight, and what I hope you’re praying for me as well.
Let’s be ridiculously, extraordinarily, overwhelmingly in love with our God.
Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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What Congregations Need – audio
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Commitment to Truth
There is nothing congregations of the Lord’s church today need more than a strong commitment to the truth (Proverbs 23:23). We live in a time in which many congregations of the Lord have abandoned truth for error and God’s way for man’s way – Jeremiah 6:16.
But we must never forget that only the truth saves (John 8:32; James 1:18); only the truth purifies the soul (1 Peter 1:22); truth must govern our worship for God to accept it (John 4:24); the truth causes the body to grow (Ephesians 4:15; Acts 20:32).
Evangelistic Emphasis
What did Paul remind the elders of the church Ephesus when he was among them? In Acts 20:20-27, he taught publicly and from house to house the truth of God Word. He was compelled to share and proclaim to them all the counsel of God.
Strong Leadership
Elders in the Lord’s church are always in need of spiritual strength, for their position involves much “work” (1 Timothy 3:1). They face the daunting task of shepherding a congregation (Acts 20:28), which includes many unpleasant activities. If elders are not strong, wolves will come into the flock and devour them.
It takes strength, depth and vigor to be a good example of leadership (1 Peter 5:3), to watch out for the souls of many people (Hebrews 13:17), to exhort and convict with sound doctrine (Titus 1:9), to be available for church members, to visit the sick, to lead in disciplinary matters, to encourage the weak and to warn the unruly.
Salvation: Hear - Believe - Repent - Confess - Be Baptized - Live Faithfully
Content by Harry (Andy) Anderson Jr.Return to the Home Page
Peace – audio
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All of us want peace, but many of us do not have as much of it as we’d like.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6–7)
Paul makes three important points about peace:
Peace comes from God.
It’s the peace “of God,” not the peace “of us.” I think sometimes we miss that point. I find myself believing that if I could just get everything on the outside fixed (less stress, fewer problems, etc.), then I’d feel better on the inside. If I could do it.
But it actually works the other way around. When I accept God’s peace on the inside, his gift, it helps fix the stuff on the outside.
Peace is inexplicable.
It “surpasses all understanding,” which implies that sometimes we won’t understand why things happen the way they do. Because it’s from God, though, it can overcome inadequate explanations.
Peace protects our hearts.
“Guard” is a military term, suggesting that peace “stands on duty to keep out anything that brings care and anxiety” (R.R. Melick, p. 150).
And most of us need that. We live in an anxiety-ridden world that’s overwhelmed by the search for something to get rid of the uneasiness we’ve got in our hearts.
The answer is right in front of us.
Paul urges us to turn everything over to God, accept the peace of Christ, and let him stand guard at the door of our hearts to ward off all anxiety and worry.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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Contentment – audio
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There’s a tendency to postpone contentment, or to explain away why we don’t have it right now.
The condition is so common that it’s got its own street name: the “Greener Grass Syndrome.”
Sometimes the good life is almost within grasp, just the other side of a 5% raise. Or it’s in that house across town, the pretty one with 500 more square feet, the fenced-in back yard, better school district, and less traffic. Yep, I’d be content there, I know I would.
Sometimes it’s got a chronological component.
I’ll be happy when I get these kids out of diapers. If not then, I’ll get it when they go to school. And so on.
At some point, or so I’m told, you live long enough to realize that you should have just enjoyed the good days you had instead of thinking they were just past the next milestone.
That’s why Paul always challenges me. He does not let me sit here and justify my restlessness with feeble excuses about the life I wish I had.
He says it plainly: “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Seriously? How?
The key is in what he writes two verses below, a verse that’s quoted so much it’s almost become a cliché. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
I suppose those words of Paul have been framed and hung on more walls than perhaps any other verse. Everybody can quote them, but do we know what they mean? Contrary to popular opinion, they don’t mean you can do anything you set your mind to, that God will always give you the strength to do whatever you choose. What they mean is right there in the paragraph.
Jesus Christ will give you the strength to be content regardless of what’s going on around you.
Understanding that is crucial. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. No matter how hard you try, you won’t have contentment aside from the power of Jesus.
It’s also true that he’s not going to force it on you . . . there’s an “I can do” part to the verse as well. So where do you stand today? Is your contentment just around the corner but always out of reach?
Paul tells us to stop making excuses, turn our lives completely over to Jesus, and embrace commitment in him.
There’s some pretty bad stuff going on in our world right now, but I suppose it’ll always be that way.
We must choose to submit everything we have, including our disposition, to the one who saved us.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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Unspotted – audio
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We live in the world, and it’s hard to keep it from rubbing off on us.
Sometimes it’s tempting just to escape it, isn’t it? Moving to the proverbial deserted island or to a rural mountain in Tibet doesn’t sound bad at all.
Some believers in church history tried that route, retreating to caves, deserts, or monasteries, but it rarely worked well.
But tempting as it might be sometimes, God never called us to retreat from the world.
So here we are. We live and work and play in it, all the while seeing daily reminders that it’s a pretty messed-up place.
Immorality, violence, deceit, corruption . . . it’s everywhere.
And in the middle of all that we hear commands like this one from James:
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world (James 1:27)
Keep yourself unspotted from the world, he says.
In the world, but not of the world, as it’s sometimes put.
If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:18–19)
That’s fairly easy to say, but not so easy to practice. What do we do?
Part of the answer is we’ve got to recognize what’s going on. We’ve got to see the world for what it is.
We need to ask ourselves daily:
- Are there any significant differences between me and my non-Christian friends?
- How are my values different from the world’s?
- Am I becoming more like Jesus or more like the world?
The thing that makes it so tough is that the world stains us slowly, gradually, subtly.
Perhaps you have heard the anecdote about boiling a frog. Put it in boiling water, and it’ll jump out. Put it in cold water and gradually heat it up, and it’ll be cooked to death.
I’m not sure if that’s true of frogs, but I’m pretty sure it’s true of us.
The world is all around us, and it affects us without our knowledge. We make small compromises, then at some point we’ve changed without even really knowing.
Let’s pray about this today.
Ask the Lord to make you vigilant.
Ask him to help you see the small changes the world is trying to make in your life.
Ask him to work in you through his Spirit to transform you into what he wants you to be, instead of allowing the world to conform you to its image.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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Eternal Life is in Christ – audio
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“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:11-13
God gives us eternal life in Christ!
God loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, in whom is eternal life (John 3:15,16; 17:2,3)
Eternal life is in God’s Son.
As John often said, one must believe in God’s Son in order to have eternal life (John 3:36; 6:47). If we believe in Christ, we will do whatever He says (Matthew 28:18). Christ commands us to believe and be baptized (Mark 16:16) in order to be saved. Baptism is what puts us into Christ (Galatians 3:27). Thus, being in Christ we have the Son, and therefore eternal life.
We can know we have eternal life.
There is no doubt of living forever if we do what Christ commands us!
We must continue to believe in the name of Christ.
This idea involves not only having confidence in the Lord, but remaining in the faith. After all, He tells us: “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).”
Content by Richard Dillon
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Hereafter – audio
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“The Hereafter”
Do you believe in the ‘hereafter?’ One lady does. Every time she goes into the kitchen, she wonders what she’s here after! In fact, we all need to believe in it.
The wise man wrote, “Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day; for surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off (Proverbs 23:17-18).” The NKJV uses the word ‘hereafter,’ where the RV and ASV use ‘reward.’ The ESV says ‘future,’ and the KJV ‘end.’
There are three important things to remember regarding the hereafter as the wise man says.
1. Do not let your heart envy sinners.
Do we tend to lose our focus on what God gives us, and turn our attention to the things others have?
Sometimes they obtain it by unethical and ungodly means. The Psalmist wrote, “Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 37:1-3).
The wise man also explained, “Do not be envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; for their heart devises violence, and their lips talk of troublemaking. Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the wicked; for there will be no prospect for the evil man; the lamp of the wicked will be put out (Proverbs 24:1-2,19-20).”
2. Be zealous for the LORD.
Since we know there is a hereafter, we should be preparing ourselves for what is to come. The wise man later wrote, “Happy is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity (Proverbs 28:14).”
3. Your hope will not be cut off.
Recently we studied about the hope that we have through Christ, and now we are assured of them by God’s plans. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).”
To have a hope of peace, we must do God’s will. The Psalmist also wrote, “Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; for the future of that man is peace (Psalm 37:37).”
Because we are assured of a hereafter, we do not need to pattern our lives after sinners. Instead, we need to have a zeal for the LORD so our hope will not be cut off. A wonderful example of one who has learned how to do this is found in Psalm 73:1-28.
Content by Richard Dillon
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Do You have the Holy Spirit – audio
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There is a lot of uncertainty today about having the Holy Spirit. Some people claim they have it, yet others do not feel they do. How can you tell if you do or do not have the Holy Spirit?
Read Jude 1:17-21. Jude describes characteristics of those that do not have the Spirit, and then refers to his fellow Christians as those that have the Holy Spirit.
Those that do not have the Holy Spirit are “sensual (Jude 1:19),” or those that think of only earthly things. They often cause division because they seek their own well-being, and not of others or of Christ. Paul says they are ignorant (not learning Christ), having a blindness of heart (Ephesians 4:17-20).
Jude says faithful Christians have the Spirit (Jude 1:20-21). First, Christians receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; Romans 8:9,11; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 John 4:13) through baptism. As they continue to grow in the faith, the Spirit helps them grow in the knowledge of God’s Word (see Colossians 2:6-7).
Why should one want to allow the Holy Spirit to dwell within? As Jude says, we must continue to pray in the Holy Spirit (Jude 1:20). Sometimes we know we need something, but do not know what. We may think we know what we need, but do not know how to ask. The Holy Spirit helps in this way by making “intercession for us with groaning that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26).” If we have the Spirit, God will answer our unspoken prayers!
Content by Richard Dillon
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A Legion of Lessons
Text: Luke 8:26-39
Legions of Lessons
Lessons on Authority: Jesus has all authority on heaven and earth.
Jesus Christ has the power of God (Luke 8:29). This is one of the first lessons we need to learn. He has all authority on heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18). Paul described Christ as the “power of God (1 Corinthians 1:24; Romans 1:3-4).”
Many people come to see Jesus and what He has done (Luke 8:34-37). People are interested in learning more about Christ! It is our job to lead them to Him; what they do with Him is up to them. We need to be teaching lessons about Jesus with our actions and words.
The Samaritan woman led many to Christ, and many believed either by her words or their own witness (John 4). Thus, we need our own faith to come to God through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 11:6).
Lessons on Disciplesip: Jesus taught how to be His disciple.
After he was healed, the man wanted to follow Jesus (Luke 8:38). This man begged to do what Jesus had begged others to do. When Jesus first called His disciples, He said: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matthew 4:19).” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him! Later, Jesus taught lessons on how to be His disciple. We must deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). He is our Good Shepherd; as His sheep, we hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:27). To truly follow Jesus is to be His servant (John 12:26).
Lessons on Who Jesis is: Jesus is God and the Lord.
Jesus denied the man’s request, but instead commanded him to “return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you (Luke 8:39).” He went his way and widely proclaimed all Jesus had done for him. Think about it. Jesus told him to tell what God did, and he told what Jesus did. Is there a contradiction? Mark’s account tells us that Jesus told him to proclaim what the Lord did, and he told what Jesus did (Mark 5:19-20). There is no contradiction! Jesus is God and the Lord. This man obeyed Jesus exactly as he should (Philippians 2:6, 9-11). We need to do the same.
Salvation: Hear - Believe - Repent - Confess - Be Baptized - Live Faithfully
Content by Richard Dillon
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Draw Near to God
I cannot imagine what it will be like to be in God’s presence, but I am pretty sure it will be the best thing about heaven.
- What will it feel like?
- What will He look like?
- What will it be like?
I want that, but I’m not ready for it yet. People can’t be in the presence of God, not actually, not yet. We couldn’t survive it.
Whenever God revealed himself to people in the Bible, even in some kind of limited way, he spelled out the things they must do to be ready… and not die.
After the Israelites left Egypt, God met them at Sinai to give them his law, but he couldn’t just “come down” and talk to them. He told Moses to consecrate them for two days, let them wash their clothes, and be ready the third day. And then he put limits concerning how close they could come to the mountain where God would reveal himself. But, get too close and die. Break through the barrier to try to get a glimpse of God… and die. It was a serious matter.
That’s the way it’s always been. We can’t come close to God because of our sins. We’ve got to be cleansed to enter God’s presence.
That’s why verses like this one are fascinating: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8a).
Us? Close to God? How?
Through Jesus, of course. He cleanses us, makes us holy, and grants us access to God.
Remember the temple veil being torn in two pieces during the crucifixion? That veil had always symbolized a barrier between a sinful people and a holy God. When Jesus died, he tore the barrier down.
But what James puts right after he tells us to draw near to God is interesting: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:8–10)
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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Living Epistles – audio
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Be a Living Epistle – 2 Corinthians 3:1-3
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It’s Not Just Love – audio
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Colossians 2:1-3
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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Love Your Neighbor
Love your neighbor. It just sort of rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?
It’s such a nice thought, and pretty much everybody agrees that we ought to do it. But, do we? Of course we do, or at least we think we do. We know Jesus commanded it. We know we are supposed to love everyone.
James apparently thought it was a big deal. He wrote, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well” (James 2:8).
You may remember that James is writing this in the context of how Christians should not treat the rich better than the poor, but he is quoting something that had been a part of God’s will for a long time (cf. Leviticus 19:18).
We also know that Jesus placed this commandment at the essence of a relationship to God (Matthew 22:39-40).
But what is it? What does being loving look like? More importantly, how can we know that we are doing it?
As you probably know, it is something more substantial than having warm feelings toward people we already like. It actually does not have much to do with how we feel about people, especially the ones who are already kind to us.
Here are a few questions that’ll help us explore it.
- How do we treat the grumpy, stay-on-your-own-lawn-and-keep-to-yourself neighbor?
- How do we respond to the grocery store check-out trainee who took twenty minutes to scan the three things we wanted to buy?
- How do we treat the spouse who often does not really deserve to be treated well (or so we think)?
- Are we good to the people who are different from us?
– The ones who are different ethnically?
– The guy who is incredibly socially awkward?
– The girl whose past is immoral?
– The ones who are below (or above) us on the lower-middle-upper class spectrum?
Our faith is not really tested much by asking how we treat the people who are kind to us. Like Jesus said, everybody does that, even people who don’t believe in God. We learn about our love for neighbor by looking at how we treat everyone else.
Here’s what we know: We need to work hard at loving people, because there is amazing consistency on this point from the beginning of the Bible to the end.
Walking with Christ means loving the people around us – all of them, regardless of what they look like, how they act, or what they have done.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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Prayer
Maybe you have occasionally wondered if there is any point to prayer. Does it work? Is God listening? We doubters ought to go back and reread James. Here’s James 5:16 in a few different translations:
- The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working (ESV).
- The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (NKJV).
- The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much (NASB).
- The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective (NRSV).
James apparently thought prayer worked, and you and I ought to believe him. He gives this example:
“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” (James 5:17–18, NKJV)
Perhaps we think that of course God answered prayer back then, but we live in a different time: a more hands-off age. But that thinking does not work. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests God ever stopped hearing and answering prayers. Do you believe that?
A “non-answer” from God might be a couple of things:
It could actually be that He is not answering because I am walking outside of his will (and therefore not a “righteous” pray-er). For example, Peter wrote that a man who is not treating his wife well will have an impotent prayer life. (1 Peter 3:7)
It could also be that what we are asking is not according to his will; if so, we might not like His answer anyway. I have begged Him for things He later showed me that I didn’t need.
And it could be that He is already in the process of answering our prayers, but He is doing it according to his own timetable. Remembering that He exists outside of time helps us work through apparent delays. He knows the end from the beginning, and some things just don’t need to happen right now.
But does he answer? Absolutely. The prayer of a child of God who pours out his / her heart to Him is powerful and effective. Believe that, and then pray accordingly.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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