Ebenezer Family Church

The fundamental problem with the religious elite was pride. They were quite happy to receive praise and glory from one another, but when their Messiah comes in the name of the Father, they do not receive Him. Their own law should have convicted them of their wickedness. However, they were satisfied in their own "righteousness"

We often use this fancy title "The Damascus Road Encounter" to describe what actually happens in the hearts of people when they first come to faith. Our encounters may not be as dramatic as Saul's was, but our hearts and lives become changed forever. Let's learn some lessons from this narrative!

Let believers ask their Master for wisdom. Let the Lord be your primary source of wisdom. It's not good keeping Him to one side as a mere advisor. But it is good to be submissive servants asking freely and receiving generously from Him!

The Father bears witness about the Son. The Jews did not actually have love for the Father or any desire to please Him. That's why they rejected Jesus, the Word of the Father in flesh. If they truly knew the Scriptures, they would have found Jesus for the Scriptures point to Him

The courage of Stephen to stand up for Christ's truth ultimately led him to become the first Christian martyr. The reality of persecution is all around us. However, the record of Stephen teaches us that we too can face persecution with boldness and confidence in our Lord!

Trials of faith produce wholesome perseverance. God is perfecting our faith: making it complete in every part. If we have an eternal mindset, we can have full confidence (and joy!) that every trial and temptation is an opportunity to grow and grow!

What we see here is somebody so dependent on the divine will that He can do nothing of Himself. Jesus is somebody so in tune with the truth, that He can confidently claim to be the subject of this witness. If only the religious elite managed to kill their pride, they would have responded to the truthful witness.

Being proud is being puffed up with a whole lot of nothing. Today we look at three examples of pride issues in the Bible, as well as a story from Winnie the Pooh!

God asks Job a really tough question: "Will you make me guilty to justify yourself?" We best not play "god" with God! He is good, holy, and in charge of all things. Let's revere Him that way!

Jesus says the hour is coming and is now when the dead will hear His life-giving voice. He is speaking of the spiritually dead: they are given new spiritual life from Him. Those who are made spiritually alive will also be physically resurrected to the fullness of salvation at the end of time.

What we see in the case of Ananias and Sapphira's dishonesty about their offering is the sin of hypocrisy: trying to act more spiritual than we really are. God's response is a swift and decisive action to completely remove this attitude from the Early Church.

In the time of Judges, everyone did what seemed right to them because there was no king. Was there really no king? Or were they simply looking for an earthly substitute for God Almighty? Let's remember that we have a king and He has told us what is right!

When Paul speaks about love in 1 Corinthians 13, he's referring to the very specific agape love. This kind of love flows only from the Father and is demonstrated perfectly through the Son. Why would we want to replace it with something else? Why would we not take it seriously?

Why do we live peaceably with others? Because God has shown us mercy. We no longer stand up for our selfish and sinful and worldly positions, because we have surrendered to a good and holy God. He will deal out justice as He sees fit!

If we want to know what Jesus would do in a situation, we must know who Jesus is. He is our perfect example for everything in life, but we must make the effort to truly know Him!

It is very easy to rally behind your cause or opinion and attack all those who stand against you. If there is no issue of biblical righteousness, Paul gives us this simple instruction: "as far as possible, live at peace with everyone". Let's choose peace as much as we can in our interactions with one another!

Stop giving your money to "healing" ministries. God, in His sovereign will, can and does choose to heal people. But He has no obligation to heal you and no amount of "seed" sown to any pastor or church will make it happen. Let's have a look at what this miraculous healing performed by Peter and John actually teaches us!

Why do we need to know about the Israelite's land inheritance? Maybe it doesn't apply to us, but it applies to God because it's in His inspired and inerrant Word! It shows that He kept His promises to the Israelites.

As we celebrate Fathers' Day today, let us have a look at the person of Joshua. There are important lessons fathers can learn from the life of this great Israelite leader!

At the end of John's third epistle, we see three simple and practical steps to living the Christian life: live peaceably, be hospitable, and follow good examples. Imagine what the Church could be if everyone managed to get these three little things right!

The day of Pentecost marked the beginning of the Church age. There are a few things that we can learn from this event and what it meant for the birth of the Church. What a blessed thing to know that the Holy Spirit has been active in the Church since that special day!

Diotrephes is a good example of a bad example. Too often we blame everything and everyone else for our sins, but at the end of the day it's a problem of pride and wanting to be first. Let's ask God again to humble us before Him!

Jesus says that He does nothing unless He sees the Father doing it. This is perfect submission and obedience. At the same time, He says the Father loves the Son and has given all authority to Him. We know the Father because we know the Son. Do you know God because you know Jesus?

Something that we often overlook is the ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It marked an end to His earthly ministry, but there is a lot more to it that we neglect to think more deeply about. Let's have a look at some things we can learn from this glorious event!

Jesus identified with the Father by identifying His work with that of the Father. What we see here is a perfect demonstration of humility and submission. May we too be faithful servants of God by doing His work!