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 he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Shet

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity fo

“Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 ESV) Up until today, we have seen the relevance of Scripture in relation to the miraculous birth of our Savior, Christ Jesus. Today, we will examine Isaiah’s first messianic prophecy, found in today’s text. Isaiah lived approximately 700 years before the birth of Christ. As alluded to, Chapter 7, verse 14 is not Isaiah’s only mes

“After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: 'Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”    And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be

“But God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.    For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:3-5 ESV) Satan lied, humanity fell, and sin entered the world. Man did die, an unseeable death, one of the Spirit, separated from God. But God foresaw t

“But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘T

“But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more w

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.   Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.” (John 17:6-8 ESV) This Advent, a season of profound significance, as we celebrate the com

“He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd, he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house t

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:1-3 ESV) Paul was such a great writer. Having been completely transformed after seeing Christ and hearing Him speak, and onc

“Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.    But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”    Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11 20-25 ESV)  I marvel at the writing of the resurrection of Lazarus. Mainly because the shortest verse of the Bi

“The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (John 10:2-4 ESV)  If you have come to know Christ as your Savior, you know in your heart that He called you. You are His sheep. This Advent, we are called to remember the bir

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” (John 8:12 ESV) On this Advent day, we look at the Gospel of John, in his words, “the apostle whom Jesus loved.” John tells us of one of the many confrontations Jesus had with the Pharisees. Jesus had many confrontations with the Pharisees because instead of leading people to God, as they suggested, they were leading them away from

“So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?    Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Si

The Preeminence of Christ “ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preemi

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to ange

Father,  We cherish the wonderful angelic message to mankind that You sent that first Christmas morning, when a heavenly choir sang its glorious refrain, “Glory to God in the Highest and peace on earth to men.” We rejoice knowing that You gave Your only begotten Son, our Savior, Christ Jesus, to be born into that which He created. Born so that by Your grace He would become the propitiation for our sins, and reclaim that peace between God and man that was lost in the garden, l

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”  5:9-11 (ESV)   In chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians, Paul continues his teaching of Eschatology (the study of end-time events, such as the Rapture, the Second coming of Jesus, the Tribulation, the Great White Throne Judgment, an

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—   that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, be

Merciful Father, On this Thanksgiving Day, we have much to be thankful for and all by Your hand. We thank you for sending your only begotten Son on a mission of redemption, saving Your people from their sins. We thank you for your mercy and your grace, without which we would be condemned. We thank you for your patience with your sinful, rebellious people. We thank You for loving us despite that very same nature and for rejoining us believers in a living relationship with You