Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. (Phil 2:14-16, NKJV)

 

To live in the modern world is to be bombarded with messages of relentless urgency. “You’ll never find this deal again!” “The stakes have never been higher!” “Apply now, or you won’t get in!” Wave after successive wave of urgency crash upon the shores of our hearts, creating a constant state of anxiety and unrest within us. In many ways, we accept this as the unavoidable reality of the world in which we live and thus resign ourselves to this inevitable fate.

by Ronnie Hewitt

 

The New Testament is filled with assurances of God’s forgiveness to those who have trusted in Jesus Christ. Paul shares a passage of Scripture that shows the contrast between our dreadful condition and God’s love, mercy, and grace in reaching out to us. “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” (Col 1:21-22, NIV)

by Ronnie Hewitt

 

The Apostle Paul draws a gracious contrast between our ruin and God’s remedy. The contrast could not be more bold and complete. Our foolishness, disobedience, and enslavement to all kinds of sinful passions are met by God’s kindness, mercy, and love. Paul declares that the utterly unrighteous are declared righteous (justified) by God’s grace (Titus 3:7). As we said in last week’s article: God’s grace really is amazing.

 

We need to understand that God’s grace does not supplement our good works. Rather, His grace overcomes our bad works, which are our sins. God did this by placing our sins upon Christ and by letting the wrath we so fully deserve fall on Him. Because Jesus completely paid the awfully penalty of our sins, God could extend His grace to us through complete and total forgiveness of our sins. The extent of His forgiveness is vividly portrayed for us in the Old Testament.

Read more…

The Old Testament vs The New Testament
• God is just (Deuteronomy 32:4; 1Peter 3:18).
• God is righteous (Deuteronomy 32:4; 2Thessalonians 1:5; Revelation
15:3).
• God is compassionate (Isaiah 30:18; Matthew 9:36; James 5:11).
• God is faithful (Deuteronomy 7:9; 1Corinthians 1:9; 2Thessalonians 3:3).
• God is gracious (Deuteronomy 34:6; Psalm 116:5; Ephesians 2:8).
• God is merciful (Joel 2:13; Luke 6:36; James 5:11).
• God is impartial (Deuteronomy 10:17; Romans 2:11).
• God is good (Ezra 7:9; 1Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 143:10; Mark 10:18).
• God is loving (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 25:6; 1John 4:8; John 3:16).

• God is holy (Psalm 99:9; Psalm 22:3; Psalm 51:11; 1Peter 1:16; Revelation
4:8).
• God is jealous (Deuteronomy 4:24; James 4:5).
• God is patient (Psalm 86:15; Nahum 1:3; Romans 2:4; 2Peter 3:9).

 

In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. (Ephesians 1:7, NIV)

 

By the grace of God, you and I are promised forgiveness every time we repent. We never have to question whether or not we have been forgiven. Every drop of Jesus’ blood proved God’s commitment both to justice and forgiveness. By the powerful sacrifice of Jesus, you and I have received reconciliation to a holy God, which is the greatest accomplishment of God’s continual forgiveness.

 

I recently saw an interview with a professional football player where he was asked about a dropped pass. I was glad they asked him about it. He is paid a lot of money to catch passes. He is a professional. He is not supposed to drop passes. I have seen athletes who blame the passer, the weather, or whatever other excuse they can come up with. I have even heard athletes say it is no big deal to miss one pass – no one catches everything. This athlete said he should have caught it, he was going to work harder in practice, and would concentrate even harder so he would never drop another pass. I imagine he will drop another one at some point in his career, but I sure liked his attitude.

 

For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. (Luke 8:17, NIV)

 

To try to live in secrecy before God, man, and yourself is to live in darkness. That is not how God made us. We were made to be fully known. We were made to be open and vulnerable. It’s only in the place of living fully known that we can truly receive the depths of God’s love for us. It’s only in being fully known that we discover who we really are and the extent of our need for God. Read more…

 

Reading the title of this article, you’re probably thinking you don’t need an article like this. After all, you probably don’t have a carved stone statue in your house, and you’ve never traveled to Asia and purchased a totem or some other representation of a false god. So why would a conversation about idolatry be of any importance to you, right? However, believe it or not, the most common warning about sin in Scripture does not deal with lying, gossip, adultery, stealing or murder. The most common sin in all of Scripture that we’re told to avoid, reject and move away from is idolatry. And that’s not just Asherah poles in the Old Testament. In fact, in the New Testament, 1John 5:21 says, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.” So apparently idolatry is still trying to work its way into our lives and distract us from worshipping and obeying God.

 

In Jesus’ discourse in the sermon on the mount (Matt 5:3-12), He gives a picture of the characteristics that should embody each child of God. We call these “the beatitudes.”

 

Each of the “Beatitudes” begin with the word “blessed.” The basic meaning of “blessed” is happy. However, blessed in a Biblical sense, has a much deeper meaning than what we tend to give the word in our English language. You see, “happiness” comes from the Old English word “hap” which means “chance or luck.” Therefore, happiness happens when happen-stances happen to be happy. In other words, happiness as we know it, only exists when the circumstances surrounding our lives are in our favor. But when we use the word “blessed” as the Bible speaks of it, we are speaking of a spiritual joy and a satisfaction that lasts regardless of conditions, which carries one through pain, sorrow, loss, and grief. The word “blessed” is the source of the word “beatitude,” and it means “a privileged recipient of divine favor and spiritual prosperity.”

 

All nations have their heroes. Their lives play an important part in the education of the people, either for good or for bad. The world knows the power of example; our youth read about them and desire to be like them.

 

God knew first of all the power of example to instruct the human heart. We have in the Bible a long list of heroes, who won the victory by faith. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews contains a list of such heroes.