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.

“Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.” (Psalm 41:9 ESV) David wrote Psalm 41 expressing his grief over betrayal. In the Psalm, David often wrote of the troubles of his life and his need and trust in the Lord. We all experience betrayal, and it is never easy, especially when it is someone closest to us. Did Judas Iscariot betray Christ because of Satan’s influence alone, or did God choose Judas for this very task? There are

“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” (Matthew 26:26 ESV) In reading an article of ancient architecture, I was taken by the authors revelations.1 There is a difference between eastern Christianity and western Christianity that is not based on interpretation, but on focus. If one were to look at the basilicas of eastern worship, one would find the pictures of Christ are o

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;” (Luke 6:37 ESV) This piece of scripture is one that most people know, however, often get wrong. In this scripture Christ tell us we are not to judge, in the Greek, κρίνω means decide or hold a view. But here is where we often get confused. We are not to judge or condemn others, yet we are also called to restore each other. Christ also told us, “Pay attention

“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:8-10 ESV) Four verses in Romans typically make up the “Romans Road to salvation”. Romans 10:9 is the fin

My God, I feel it is heaven to please You, and to be what You would have me be. O that I were holy as You art holy, pure as Christ is pure, perfect as Your Spirit is perfect! These, I feel, are the best commands in Your Book, and shall I break them? Must I break them? Am I under such a necessity as long as I live here? Woe, woe is me that I am a sinner, that I grieve this blessed God, who is infinite in goodness and grace! O, if He would punish me for my sins, it would not wo

“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17 ESV) God holds all things together, yes, He does. All through Scripture, we see providence at work. Though men and women schemed, God’s plans go on as he intended. We see the many attempts of the enemy to stop God’s plan of salvation through Christ and within the line of David. The first example of the enemy's attempt to stop the lineage of Christ was in Genesis. The enemy used Cain for his e

“But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.” (Romans 9:6-8 ESV) In chapter 9, Paul clearly shows us God’s sovereignty and that we, as new covenant believ

“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. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit

“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