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.

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.” (Philemon vv. 3-6 ESV)  As we discussed in the introduction to this very personal letter from the Apostle Pau

“Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” (Romans 14:10-13 E

“ and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,” ( 1 Thessalonians 3:12 ESV) When Christ came in the incarnation, he was hated. Herod hated Him and wanted the Messiah dead. All through the Bible, hate rears its ugly head and is put down by the power of God. Today hate runs rampant. I have never seen so much hate in my lifetime, and it has increased exponentially in the last decade. We see it between the political parties,

“ At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or

“And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him. 9  But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.” (Jeremiah 30:8-9 ESV) This passage from Jeremiah 30 is a reminder that God keeps His promises. God is not a liar; He is all righteous, so when God said He would do something, His will wou

“  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:27 ESV)  God's provision for His children is a source of reassurance. He knows every animal in creation and provides for them. Not one of them will die without His permission. Christ's words in Matthew 10:29, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your

Gracious God and most merciful Father, You have given us the rich and precious jewel of your holy Living Word. We pray the Holy Spirit will open our hearts and minds to Your teachings. We pray that the same Word may be written in our hearts to our everlasting comfort, to further reform us. May we continue to be molded into your own image, to build us up and sanctify us into the perfect dwelling place of Your son Christ Jesus, and increase in us all heavenly virtues. For this,

" Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep."(Acts 7:58-60 ESV) Remember Deacon Stephen, the man “full of grace and power, ”  has had false charges given about his sp

“Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief;   when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” (Isaiah 53:10 ESV) Today, I am probably going to ruffle some feathers. God called Isaiah as His prophet. In doing so, Isaiah wrote several messiah prophecies, all of which Christ fulfilled. Yet despite God’s completed and successful plan of redemption, the Fa

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26 ESV) This promise of transformation, spoken by God to His prophet Ezekiel, is a beacon of hope for all of us, a testament to the miraculous power of God's salvation process. God spoke these words to His prophet Ezekiel. This is part of a message God was sending to Israel. Today, for us, this speaks of the

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1 ESV) If Paul were to ask this question, what would the answer be? While this was a rhetorical question answered by Paul, many of the “Christians” in today’s churches would not answer it in the same way he did. Today, this question causes many to tremble. Grace has been hijacked, twisted, and the power of grace has been lost by a society of Christians who have veered from the true gospel. It

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1 ESV) When Jesus spoke these words, several things had already happened. Peter had denied Christ, as Jesus had professed. Judas had been indicated as the betrayer of the Son of God, and the apostles were told of the Lord’s pending departure. What troubling times. On this side of the cross, we know the outcome; however, the apostles lived what we now read in Scripture. These men had given up every

"And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison." (Acts 8:1-3 ESV) Chapters 8 through 9:31 introduce a young Pharisee Named Saul

Thanks be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the blessings which you have given me; for all the pains and insults which you bore for me. The pain and insults I receive in Your name, which strengthen me in You. O most merciful Redeemer, my friend, my brother, may I come to know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day, month by month, and year by year. Without you, I am an empty shell, but with I in You, and You in me, my cup runneth ov

“And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” (Esther 4:14 ESV) Our story of how God protected His chosen people from destruction throughout the Persian empire continues. Remember th

“ If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22 ESV) Today, many begin to lose their ability to obtain food. The world looks on as the United States government is closed. A laugh to many in other countries, humiliating as an American, and our leaders purposely hurt the very ones they swore to protect. Many are asking why. My answer is consistently the same: this world is in control of Satan. My second response is always from Pr

“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.” (Psalm 23:1-3 ESV)   Practically everyone knows some or all of Psalm 23. You have heard it at most funerals, and we often reach for it in our times of trouble. While this is true, many misunderstand the shepherd's principle in our salvation and daily lives. When we look at the idea of the shepherd in biblical history, many great men like

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.” (Romans 8:1-3 ESV) The eighth chapter of Romans is probably one of the best chapters Paul wrote. The opening verse is very clear on our standing with God upon our salvation by grace through faith in Christ. D. L. Moody pointed out that wh

“It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,   while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.” (Luke 23:44-45 ESV) At the time of the crucifixion in the sixth hour, Luke writes that the sun was darkened. What is interesting is that He used the Greek word ἐκλιπόντος (eklipontos, Strong’s 1587 [e]) which means eclipse. If you have ever seen a total eclipse of the sun, you know it is just like ni

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.…” (Ephesians 6:1-2 ESV) Paul provides us with directions for the Christian household, using a verse that has been misinterpreted by some in the Church for thousands of years. Verse 22 states,  “Wives be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.”  Remember the process we need to go through to understand what the aut