Was your cup filled today? If the words of God had special meaning for you, please share your reflections in the comments section at the end of each post. We would love to hear Christ's impact on you.

"And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.”  (1 Cor. 15:14-17 ESV) Chapter 15 is my go-to teaching on the impo

“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” (John 20:25 ESV) This is the apostle Thomas speaking to the ten after Christ had appeared to them in the resurrection. Where was Thomas in his faith with Christ? Think about it. Thomas was called in the beginning and followed Christ in His ministry. Thomas had seen the miracles, most of them, yet did he have faith in Christ?

“After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spat and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”).   At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak plainly.”(Mark 7:33-35 ESV) The compassion of Christ is repeatedly recounted throughout the New Testament. Matthew 9,14,18, Luke 7 are just a few references to Chr

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 ESV) An amazing statement John has put forth in his first epistle. While we were enemies of God, God loved us. Our idea of love is an emotion we humans may not fully comprehend. The word love itself is a mishmash word. It is a feeling we may have as humans that can be experienced at different levels and means different things to different people. That is why I called it a mishmash or hodge-podge, because it is completely ambiguo

“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.” (Jonah 1:1-3 ESV) There are two Old Testament Books that I see especially i

“And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  (Mark 2:4-8 ESV) Most of us are very familiar with the event where a paralytic’s friends brought him to Jesus. When they got to the house in Capernaum, where Jesus was teaching the word of God. But so many people pressed in

Father God, Today we pray for healing. Lord, heal the hearts of those who are overwhelmed with the world. Help them to know you deep and put their trouble on you whom make all things right. Remove the stress they hold on to and help them to trust in you. We pray for the sick and infirmed that you who healed lepers, the blind, the deaf and the crippled would heal them making them whole in body, mind, and spirit. We pray for the hard hearted that you would heal them and replace

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (1Corinthians 11:26 ESV) Paul continues his teachings in this letter to the “Saints at Corinth” from Chapter 9, where he discusses the use of our liberty as Christians. We are free from the Old Testament Law; it no longer has any authority over New Covenant believers, but that doesn’t mean that we are free to live anyway we choose. As a matter of fact, Paul states in 10:23, 

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV) This verse is from Jeremiah’s letter to those exiled in Babylon. Even though God had exiled the Israelites to Babylon, He still had plans for them. As Jeremiah writes, we know the plans were not for evil. We also know God cannot be evil, as He is completely righteous and holy. Even though the Israelites were banished and now lived

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6 ESV) “Laid the iniquity of us all on Him.” Isaiah’s messianic prophecy of Christ bearing our sins, which He obediently did in an act of substitutionary atonement. Meaning the wrath or anger of God towards our sin was borne by Jesus. The punishment we were to take, He took Himself paying for our sin debt. Amazing, the love and obedien

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5 ESV) Proverbs 3 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture that helps us understand our relationship with and dependence on God. Solomon reminds us that God knows us. He does not merely know of us; no, He knew us intimately, even before He formed us in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139). Every detail of our lives is planned by God, and He uses our trials and tribulations to shap

"Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." I Cor. 6:9-11 (ESV) Paul

Lord God, heavenly Father, You did not spare your only Son, but gave Him up for us all to be our Savior, and along with Him, You have graciously given us all things. We thank You for Your precious, saving gospel, and we pray that You would help us to believe in the name of our Savior, faithfully and steadfastly, for He alone is our righteousness and wisdom, our comfort and peace, so that we may stand on the da

“For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth." (1 Cor. 3:4-6 ESV) Paul starts Chapter 1 by recounting his apostleship, which was being called into question by those “disturbing” the gentile churches. But in verse 2, please notice what he says about the believers who li

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4 ESV) We should rejoice in the Lord unendingly. He should be the greatest source of joy in our lives. In Philippians 4, Paul reminds us that the Lord is our treasure. He also reminds us that the Lord’s peace and protection transcend all things. So, I ask you, where is your mind focused? If one focuses on the world, then one's mind is in the world. Yes, easier said than done, but in our rejoicing in the L

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now, before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:5-6 ESV) The writer of Hebrews emphasized that faith is essential to truly please God and to develop a personal relationship with Him, no

“But   God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”(Ephesians 2:4-6 ESV) But God, what a powerful statement that highlights His intervention in our lives and can be applied to many aspects of God's plan for us. We needed a savior because we could not sa

“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” (Romans 11:6 ESV) A plain and simple statement made by Paul. Rational in thought and concept, biblically supported by Scripture. Yet many have been indoctrinated with the false reality of works-based religions. Something that says, be it rituals, service, or other caveats, you have to earn your salvation. Never has a greater tale been spun. One thing often disregarded in

“Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” (3 John 1:11 ESV) Remember, this Apostle whom Jesus loved was so overwhelmed by the love of God the Father, as shown through God the Son, that every writing we have from him speaks of God’s love. And in his gospel account of Jesus’ ministry here on earth, remember he wrote  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shou