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 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

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 ESV) This passage from Philippians is a reminder from Paul that God's peace offers you comfort and security amidst life's uncertainties. In a Christian life, just as in a worldly life, there are struggles. Each struggle poses a distinct situation. The difference is Christ does not cause struggles for the worldly; it is the world that causes strugg

16 “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of

“For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,” (Romans 4:2-5 ESV) Remember that there was a strong contingent of former Jewish follower

Heavenly Father, We pray this morning to worship, glorify, and praise you, for you alone have taken a sinner and pulled them from the pit, offering your righteousness in salvation. We submit to Your will Father, and even though we may still sin we pray for conviction by the Holy Spirit setting us back on the course of righteouness. We submit to Your will and design for our lives, placing our faith in You alone, knowing full well that in dark and troublesome times You alone wi

“ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 3:21-24 ESV) Do you remember the “Romans Road to Salvation”? You may have learned this ver

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.” (Matthew 6:7 ESV) We often hear people praying and are “impressed” by their words and phrases. They are so eloquent, and, well, I guess, “religious.” However, it is not our religiosity that God wants to hear; He desires sincere hearts that worship and glorify Him in devotion. Jesus spoke of this very thing in today’s verse. One may know scripture

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” (John 45-46 ESV) In this confrontation, the Pharisees have no idea who Jesus is, although Jesus has been telling them. Jesus uses Moses, on whom the Pharisees pinned their hopes, to show the Pharisees that even Moses wrote about Him. This reinforces the deity of Jesus Christ to the Pharise

“God said to Moses, “I am who I am, And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14 ESV) In the Bible, God is known by many names. There is Yahweh, translated as Kyrios(Lord) in Greek, which is used 600 times in the Bible and means “to be.” Elohim and Adonay are common Hebrew names for Yahweh. Yahweh Sabaoth means the Lord of Hosts. El, Eloah, and the plural of majesty, Elohim, occur over 2,500.1 There are many more names for God in th

“ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) We have reached a time when the elect may feel unwelcome or uncomfortable in the modern church. The modern church has been changing for some time, an

“For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29 ESV) In Chapter 1 of Romans Paul makes his statement “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (1:16) Although this letter

You are the blessed God, happy in Yourself, source of happiness in Your creatures, my maker, benefactor, proprietor, upholder. You have produced and sustained me, supported and indulged me, saved and kept me; You are in every situation able to meet my needs and miseries. May I live by You, live for You, never be satisfied with my Christian progress but as I resemble Christ; and may conformity to His principles, temper, and conduct grow hourly in my life. Let Your unexampled l

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" (2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV) As we conclude Paul’s letter to the believers in Corinth, we see that he tells them in verse 5, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” As with all passages of scripture, to properly interpret what God intended to communicate to us,