Hunger and thirst

In His Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus said, ”Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). As human beings, it is natural to be hungry and thirsty for physical food and drink. God created us this way. We also develop a “hunger and thirst” for various things that are neither food nor drink.  In this context, Jesus is speaking about “spiritual hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Righteousness is one of God’s great attributes. Righteousness has to do with God’s holiness and character. In David’s Psalm of praise to God, he said “The LORD is righteous […]

God our Creator

The Holy Scriptures, the Bible, begins with God and not with an exchange of views about His existence. Neither does the Bible gives any data to determine how long ago God created the universe. Although there have been some speculation on the subject. The Bible declares. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:1,2). This tells us there was nothing that existed before God created the universe. The text specifically states, “The earth was without form and void.”   William MacDonald makes an insightful commentary […]

Prayer Means Waiting

One of the great disciplines of prayer is “waiting on God for His answer.” God says to us “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” (Jeremiah 33:3). So we pray and God answers our prayers. No time line given when answers will be forth coming. An important point to consider is that God answers prayers in accordance to His will and purpose. In the model prayer Jesus taught His disciples, it  says “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Also, God’s timing must always be […]

The Christian’s God

The Christian’s God is the God of the Holy Scriptures. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16,17).       The God of heaven is He “who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever” (Psalm 146:6). There is no other God. “For I am God and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times […]

Lordship of Jesus Christ

One of the foundational truths of the Christian faith is the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul declared, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). Jesus Christ as Lord we gladly own, now seated on His Father’s throne. Paul also makes it clear that because of the atoning death of Christ on the […]

Be Strong!

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love ” (1 Corinthians 16:13,14). Thus says the Word of God. Christians are being exhorted to “be watchful, stand firm in the faith . . . be strong.” Is has become increasingly difficult in our beloved America, land of the free, to stand in the faith and be strong for God. “Political correctness” is one of the main culprits. Politics, corruption, greed, lawlessness, and confusion appear to be at all levels of society.    One only has to listen to the rhetoric and false promises […]

The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper and baptism are two ordinances or sacraments instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. The Lord’s Supper commemorates the suffering and substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the Cross for the sins of mankind. Baptism on the other hand, is a demonstration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as it pertains to the believer. These ordinances are observed by Christian denotations, usually on Sunday (the Lord’s Day).  Christians around the world rejoice in this wonderful and foundational truth “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, […]

Change for the better

When a person accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior, that person becomes a “new creation.” The Bible states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). A new creation means a new lifestyle that involves changes in our thought processes, speech, actions, behavior, and conduct. We are actually saying ‘good bye’ to the old lifestyle or the “old self.” As the Bible puts it, “seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being […]

Joy or Happiness. Which?

Is there a difference between joy and happiness? Joy and happiness are similar in meaning to some extent. However, there is a distinct difference between the two words. Joy is ‘a confident and certain innermost feeling that circumstances do not change.’ Webster dictionary describes joy as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, or the prospect of possessing what one desires.” Experience shows there is more about joy than this description. Joy definitely does not depend on circumstance, whereas happiness does. Happiness has to do with “external” factors such as people, places, things, status, wealth, possessions, etc. If things work out the […]

“Walk Before Me”

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him. “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly” (Genesis 17:1,2). First of all, we see that God reveals Himself to Abram as “I am God Almighty.” The Scripture also tells us in another place that “God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty” (Exodus 6:2,3). In Hebrew God Almighty means “El Shaddai,” which is one […]