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.

“The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him.” (Proverbs 23:24 ESV) The greatest act we can do for our children is to act as godly Christians. They will emulate our love and compassion for God and those around us. Our children pick up our traits that they see every day. A child raised around violence and profanity will be a man or woman of violence and profanity, and the vicious chain will continue in that lineage. God displays His trait

“For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” (Romans 7:5-6 ESV) So many Christians have misunderstood chapter 7 of the Letter to the Romans over the years. While I agree that if I were to take chapter 7 on its own, I mi

My Lord, my God, You are all pleasing to me, and I am grateful for your adoption as my children. You love me despite my irrational and sinful nature. It is pleasing to me to pursue you in my everyday life. I long for you, and my passion for you grows every day. My prayer and communion with you nourish me. My life as your child is enriching, and in my deepest soul, I pray not to grieve or offend you, holy righteousness. You are my God, my Lord, and my friend, and I long to be

“By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:2 ESV) Some folks just don’t understand grace. They seem to think that if eternal life is a gift, it is cheap and of no value. They feel that if being “justified” before God doesn’t cost me anything, then I can’t possibly appreciate it. They have bought into the “I need skin in the game” concept before receiving God's forgiveness. They misunderstand the whole passage from James 2:17: “Even so faith, if it h

“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) In the Book of Genesis, we read of God's design for creation. We read of the expanse, the land, the seas, life found in the seas, on the land, and the design of His image, man, then woman. Genesis is quite amazing in that everything we are and became in the garden, lived through in the expulsion, and the defining rules of our life

“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. (Hebrew11:6 ESV) How simplistic yet direct a statement from the writer of Hebrews. The writer captures the simple truth of faith, for faith is the key to unlocking the door to salvation. Without faith, we are at enmity with God; He will not look upon us and our sins, for He detests sins, and His wrath against them is great.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV) Can your mind even come to terms with this piece of scripture? Christ is God, the incarnate God, 100% man, 100% God. Sinless, holy, and so pure without blemish, and yet, Jesus became sin. He did not know sin as He had never sinned and never did sin as some falsely teach. Sin was impossible for Him even in the incarnation. He is God. If you to

“God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.” (Habakkuk 3:19 ESV) The prayer of Habakkuk in his last chapter of writing reveals to us the justice and protection of the Lord. In chapter 1, Habakkuk makes two complaints before the Lord, to which God answers. First, Habakkuk sees the failure in the law and asks God why He does not respond. God tells Habakkuk that He is working in the world and that Habakkuk does not see,

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” (Psalm 23:1-3 ESV) Most of us have memorized Psalm 23 and recite it when we are having difficult times in our lives. That is exactly what David did. Not only in Psalm 23 but in many of David's Psalms, he writes of his faith, trust, and devotion to God. This opening verse of Psalm 2

Lord Jesus, give me a deeper repentance, a horror of sin, a dread of its approach. Help me chastely to flee it and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Yours alone. Give me a deeper trust, that I may lose myself to find myself in You, the ground of my rest, the spring of my being. Give me a deeper knowledge of Yourself as Saviour, Master, Lord, and King. Give me deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in Your Word, more steadfast grip on its truth. Give me deepe

“And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was cruci

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1 ESV) We have peace with God. Many do not want to hear or believe in the wrath of God, but it is critical that we all know God demands justice from every single sinner. That justice will take place by the sin being borne by Christ for those who come to faith in His finished work, or by the sinner in hell. Hell is not a threat; it is a truth. Hell exists, and C

“And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.” (Mark 15:25-28 ESV) In one sense, Chapter 15 of Mark is one of the saddest and darkest chapters in Scripture. It talks about what happened to the very Son of God who knew no sin but became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. What happened to Jesus just w

“ Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God.” (1 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV) June is a month when many choose to get married. Perhaps it is the temperate weather, not too hot, not too cold, and not

“What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies?For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” (Habakkuk 2:18-20) The Book of Habakkuk has a gospel lesson for all o

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1 ESV) After spending Chapter 4 explaining that we are justified before God by our faith in His Son, not by our works of righteousness, Paul starts Chapter 5 with “THEREFORE.” Like any good Bible student, we know that whenever we see

Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Your mind in Your Word, of neglect to seek You in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless You that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit in

“And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” And when they had sung a hymn, they went out

“And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”(Luke 11:2-4) Each day, each of us should be spending time in prayer. It is our time alone with God. In an earlier message, I talked about what we pray for and how we are not to pray (Matthew 6:7, Ephesians 6:18). While it is good to pray for o

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV) Where do we begin? We begin lost in the world, totally depraved, and unable to save ourselves from our sin. Recognizing our broken state can inspire humility and a desire for God's mercy. Where does the Bible tell us this? Paul tells us in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of G