Faith

The Silhouette of Redemption   Exodus 7:3-5 (ESV) “…I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring My hosts, My people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand against E...

There Is a Way Out   Exodus 2:23-3:1 (ESV) “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. Now Moses was keeping the floc...

Genesis 3:15(NIV) “He will crush[b] your head,     and you will strike His heel.”  Genesis 12:1,3(NIV) “The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you…in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 22:1-2(ESV)  God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son,...

John 19:1-6 (ESV) “Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out,...

Genesis 11:9 (ESV) “…There the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.” Deuteronomy 32:8 (ESV) “…He fixed the borders of the peoples     according to the number of the sons of God.”   Psalm 82:6-7 (ESV) “You are gods,     sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die,     and fall like any prince....

We live in a Spiritual World   Deuteronomy 32:8-9 (ESV) “When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,     when He divided mankind, He fixed the borders of the peoples     according to the number of the sons of God. But the Lord's portion is His people,     Jacob (Israel) His allotted heritage.”   Deuteronomy 32:43 (ESV) “Rejoice with Him, O heavens;     bow down to Him, all gods…”   G...

A Covenant-Making God   Genesis 6:5-8 (NIV)  “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled.  So, the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have cre...

The Deliverance of the Heart   Genesis 4:1-2 (NIV) “Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.” Genesis 3:15 (NIV) “I will put enmity     between you and the woman,     and between your offspring and hers; h...

God Knows Best   Genesis 2:8-9 (ESV) "…the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”   Genesis 3:1-13 (NIV) “Now the serpent was more craf...

God’s Original Divine Design for Marriage and Family   Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV) “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.  So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and...

Begin Again   Genesis 1:1 (ESV) “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Psalms 33:6 (NIV) "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,     their starry host by the breath of His mouth.”   Genesis 2:4 (NIV) “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” Genesis 5:1 (NASB) “…On the day when God create...

Law or Liberty?   Galatians is the first letter written by Paul   Jesus +   Paul asks, Is Christianity really “Solus Christus” Christ Alone?   Legalism / License / Liberty    Legalism (3-4)   “In the beginning, God created man in His image and humanity has been attempting to return the favor ever since." - Voltaire    Galatians 5:2 (ESV) “Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision,...

The Father’s Love “The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping men...With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adorin...

Keeping God’s Main Thing Our Main Thing Colossians 1:18 (ESV) “And He (Jesus) is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.” Luke 24:13-32 (ESV) “That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had ha...

The Key that Unlocks God’s Biblical Potential in Your Life   1 Timothy 4:7 (ESV) “Train yourself for godliness;” 1 Timothy 4:7 (NKJV) “Exercise yourself toward godliness.” 1 Timothy 4:7 (NIV) “Train yourself to be godly.” 1 Timothy 4:7 (NASB) “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;” 1 Timothy 4:8 (ESV) “ For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as...

1. God is waiting for you. James 4:8 (ESV) “ Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” Jeremiah 29:12-13 (ESV) “ Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” Proverbs 8:17 (ESV) “I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me diligently find Me.” 2. God is waiting to reveal His glory to you. 2 Cor...

“The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.” – Charles Spurgeon   Why can you have confidence in the Bible?   1.       It is unique to all other books.   2.        Proofs of early manuscripts.   3.        The mathematical probability of messianic prophecies fulfilled in Jesus.   Luke 24:27 (NIV) “And b...

How to Experience the Blessing of God Through the Bible   2 Timothy 3:14-17 (ESV) (Timothy) “Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teachin...

John 15:5 (NIV)  “apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:1:11 (ESV) "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itsel...

I-Spy Truths to Live By 1. God will lead you into difficulty, and He will be with you. John 16:33 (NLT) “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”   Psalm 23 (ESV)   “He leads me.” “You are with me.”  Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)  “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowin...

The Glory of Christmas Part 2 John 5:39 (NASB) “You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me.” Isaiah 7:14 (ESV)“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 7:10-12 (NLT) “Later, the Lord sent this message to Kin...

The Glory of Christmas Galatians 4:4 (NLT) “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.” Luke 1:26-27 (NIV) “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.” Luke 1:28-30 (NIV) “‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’...

The Good News For and Through the Church   The Good News in 4 Phrases    1. God with us .   Matthew 1:23 (NIV) “‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).”   Isaiah 14:7 (NIV) “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel.”   John 1:14 (ESV) “The Wo...

Love Makes All the Difference 1 Corinthians 14:1 (ESV) “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.” 1 Corinthians 12:31 (NIV) “And yet I will show you the most excellent way.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NIV) “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and a...

Gifts of the Holy Spirit   Matthew 16:18 (ESV) “I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”   1 Corinthians 12:1 (NIV) “Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed…”   1 Corinthians 12:7 (NIV) “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”   “A spiritual gift is an ability that is empo...