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“Backsliding” – an Unexamined LifeExamine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test? 2 Cor. 13:5 Remember wise old King Solomon? He began his reign as a faithful servant of God. He prayed an unselfish prayer for wisdom and God answered his request but also gave him wealth and power to go with that wisdom! (1 Kings 3:10-14) But over the years, Solomon made unholy alliances withforeign nations and married daughters of pagan kings then eventually allowed them to build altars to their falseRead More →

THE POWER OF GENTLENESS“A gentle answer turns away wrath.” (Proverbs 15:1) The Gospel of John, records seven “I AM” statements of Jesus: “I Am the Bread of Life”, “I Am the Light of the World”, “I Am the Gate for the Sheep”, “I Am the Good Shepherd”, “I Am the Resurrection and the Life”, “I Am the Way, Truth, and Life”, and “I Am the True Vine”. The Gospel of Matthew adds another “I AM” statement of Jesus, “I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matt.11:30). More than ever, we need to heed Jesus’ call and example of love through humble gentleness. Gentleness is aRead More →

BEHIND-the-SCENES: God is at Work! “Truly, O God of Israel, our Savior, you work in mysterious ways.”Isaiah 45:15 NLT If you are in a season of darkness and uncertainty, when you might feel like God no longer loves you or forgot all about you, take heart… Our God IS at work! Although many times, as the Bible shows, He does his best work “behind-the-scenes”! “Clearly, you are a God who works behind the scenes, God of Israel, Savior God.”Isaiah 45:15 MSG God often orchestrates circumstances in our lives that we cannot perceive, recognize, or comprehend at that moment – Yet we are assured that HeRead More →

Christ at the Center of Christmas Way before the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God had been preparing for this moment! Promise after promise pointed to the day the Son of David would come – a king, an heir to the throne! “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). We mark that moment -when God sent God into the world – with the celebration we now call “Christmas”. Almighty God broke into our universe as a Jewish carpenter, in fulfillmentRead More →

HIS LOVE COMPELS US14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all,and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer livefor themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.2 Cor. 5:14-15 (NIV) A missionary pastor ministering in the mountains of Central Asia was asked by a Christianmagazine for an article on missions. He was asked “Do you like this sort of work?”. His replyshocked the interviewer “Do I like this sort of thing??… No! My wife and I do not like the mud andthe heat and the humidity… weRead More →

Abide in Hope For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have Hope. Romans 15:4 This verse explains the role God intends for His Word to play in our lives: The Word of God shows us story upon story of God’s people, just like you and me, pressing through the hard times, enduring tough seasons and finding encouragement and hope when the odds were against them.  MEDITATE on God’s Word The verse above is an encouragement to seriously study God’s Word – to makeRead More →

Wasted Pain “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 The “unfairness” of life and its troubles are typically felt when God, in His sovereignty, chooses to deepen your maturity through trials. We know that shallow faith will not suffice when conditions threaten you and what you treasure the most. This should not surprise us anymore. Ideally, through your dilemma, your faith in God deepens. It’s true that our growth & maturity mayRead More →

Who Holds the Key to Your Heart? He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow Me.” (Luke 18:22) “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? The rich young ruler came to Jesus with this question, resulting in Jesus’ response in our verse above. Jesus understood this young Jewish checklist-mindset… He first names some of the 10 Commandments… a list that the young ruler felt he had kept well. But then Jesus adds: “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give toRead More →

God is Faithful! “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God”. Deuteronomy 7:9 Years ago, we had a series on “The Immutability of God”, a sermon series that emphasized on the ETERNAL, UNCHANGING and PERFECT nature of God. I remember preparing and learning a lot from my personal studies on this important sermon topic! His faithfulness is an essential component of His very nature – an important subdivision of God’s unchanging character. It is what allows us to know Him as God! For God to be unfaithful would be to act contrary to His very nature. At the very core,Read More →