Hope for Today (English)

Psalm 1 If you’re a godly person, you have a favored position because of your delight in the Lord. I’m reminded of the words of Jesus in John 14:23. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.” There’s no greater joy than having the presence of God Almighty living within you. The True and Living God, the God of the Bi...

Psalm 1 As some of you already know, Heralds of Hope is celebrating our 50th Anniversary in 2018. As we look back over those 50 years we can clearly see the hand of God’s blessing on the ministry. On the other hand, as we look ahead, we have many questions about the future. Our Board of Directors is looking to God for wisdom and direction as they actively plan for the next 50 years of ministry for...

1 Corinthians 10:23-33 One of man’s most outstanding gifts is reason, intelligence. No other creature has this capability. Some can be trained, but they lack initiative. This ability makes us vulnerable because we can make wrong decisions. We need directives. We need help. By our very nature, every decision is couched with moral consequences. From this, there is no escape. I insist, my friend, tha...

1 Corinthians 10:16-22 Eating together is the crown of fellowship. For many, the family table holds precious memories. In my parental home, the family always ate together-breakfast, dinner, and supper. We each had our place at the table, and we never ate without a prayer by my father. The table was our meeting place. I realize that different cultures have different customs. But a meal together as...

1 Corinthians 10:1-15 Life is a struggle to survive. I am talking your language, I know. We all know life is an uphill struggle. We are always rowing against the current, as it were. We cannot relax. If we relax, we go down. So life is a continual struggle. We have our physical problems. We are plagued by all kinds of ailments, migraine headaches, lower back pain, cancer, and the like. We have our...

1 Corinthians 9:19-27 Surely only the foolish or lazy would not plan or hope to win. It seems incredible that anyone would simply plan to lose. Whether in business, sports, or everyday life, the idea is to win, to come out on top. Most people do it for financial or personal reasons. In the field of religion, especially Christianity, the central drive is to win others. Christianity is an evangelist...

1 Corinthians 9:1-18 HIS PERSONAL COMPENSATION 6 Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working? 7 Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? 8 Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Tho...

1 Corinthians 9:1-18 I suppose there are thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of vocational possibilities. The job market is flooded with all kinds of opportunities. Some are noble jobs, jobs for the benefit of society. Some are detrimental to society. Not all positions with the highest salaries are noble and uplifting for mankind. In past generations, the ministry was highly honored. Theolog...

1 Corinthians 8:1-13 According to Genesis 1:30, when the human race was created, God gave them “every green herb” for food. In fact, all creatures ate only herbs or vegetables. Meat was not in the diet at that time. In Genesis 9:3 the Scripture states, “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb I have given you all things.” That was after the Flood, after Noah’s...

Marriage is the most intimate and most serious of human relations. It is God’s plan for the welfare of mankind. When God brought Eve to Adam, he said, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife” (Genesis 2:24). The word cleave in this text means “to be super-glued, joined, welded together,” with the idea of no separation. Today there seems to be a laxity reg...

1 Corinthians 7:17-24 Contentment is a wonderful attitude to maintain. At the same time, lethargy is a curse. Lethargy means “I do not care, whatever happens, is okay.” We somehow have to get into balance the idea of aggressiveness and contentment. What we really need is to capture the thought, Be all you can be where you are . Few people, if any, live up to their potential. Psychologists tell us...

1 Corinthians 7:10-16 In every man and every woman, God has planted the desire to mate. It takes twelve or more years for children to develop sexually and generally much longer to mature emotionally. The proper sexual relation at physical and emotional maturity is between male and female, and it needs to be controlled. Of all creatures only man has naturally uncontrolled sexual impulses. In the an...

Marriage is the first human relationship recorded in the Bible. It is found in the second chapter of the first book of the Bible. The Lord God knew that one lone man was socially incomplete. Of all the animals Adam had named, none was found to be his equal. He needed someone unique to stand beside him. God said, “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:24). God acted on that thought and cre...

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 We are in an era of great trauma, particularly in the ethical field. Definitions of ethics are critical, especially today. The history of our country has a different record, however. A couple of centuries ago the great New England theologian Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He had definite boundaries. He knew where the absolu...

1 Corinthians 6:1-11 It is quite obvious to every observer that we live in an orderly universe. While there may be occasions of unusual circumstances like the weather, yet the universe is orderly. So too the human family is to be orderly. In the days of Noah, God established human government. He said man is responsible for man’s conduct. Government is intended by the Lord God to restrain the natur...

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 What does it involve to be a Christian? Is it possible to live right in a society that is largely wrong? By what standards are we to assess conditions? Some years ago a well-noted Episcopal theologian, standing on the platform of a college in Pennsylvania, made this statement: “There is no rule book.” So he argued that we get our ethical principles from the people around us. H...

1 Corinthians 5:1-8 By inclusiveness, I mean “no holds barred,” no exclusion. Today the word pluralism probably fits as well as any. I raise a question by the Holy Bible, Is anyone to be excluded from the church, or are all embraced as welcome? We often see on the church bulletin boards, “Everyone Welcome.” Now, what does that mean? Are there any scriptural standards for membership in the church?...

1 Corinthians 4:16-21 No one lives without some sort of discipline. Even the most immoral person lives by a standard. During the sixties, many restraints were cast aside. But those who longed for freedom actually were led into a type of bondage that, so to speak, bound them “hand and foot.” What many failed to understand is that no one is totally free when following the lust and dictates of the fl...

1 Corinthians 4:10-15 Unredeemed human nature has not improved over the centuries. Even within the body of Christ, unredeemed human nature appears and causes dissensions, sometimes even divisions. It was so in the early days of the church, and the apostle Paul wrestled with it. From his day to this, some in the so-called cause for purity have stirred up the church. Of course, when truth is threate...

1 Corinthians 4:6-9 Some years ago, there appeared a new twist to understanding the conversation Jesus had with a man of the law. The account is recorded in Mark 12:28-33: And one of the scribes came, and having heard them, reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments i...

1 Corinthians 4:1-5 Too many people delight in avoiding responsibility. “Don’t blame me. It’s not my fault,” or “I will take responsibility for myself, never mind.” It seems to be engrained in the human personality. If you are acquainted with the Bible at all, you know that in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, the account is given of Eve and Adam disobeying God and their responses when He face...

1 Corinthians 3:18-23 The United States Space Center was excited when the probe to Jupiter entered what scientists thought is Jupiter’s atmosphere. Perhaps by now, they have a report. They anxiously awaited the electronic transmission of whatever data the probe might find. For centuries men have pondered the universe. Centuries ago the Lord called Abraham out under the open sky and said to him, “L...

1 Corinthians 3:10-17 The disciples gathered on the Day of Pentecost to pray. According to the account in the book of Acts, they were not really expecting to experience what came upon them that day. But the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them as prophesied by the prophet Joel and confirmed by the words of Jesus. When that took place, the disciples began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance....

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 The church is really a voluntary community. It is quite different from a country. A citizen of a country normally is born a citizen. He becomes a citizen involuntarily. Not so in the true church! To be a member of the church requires a choice. During the Reformation Period, the Reformers agreed between themselves that whoever was born in a Roman Catholic country would automatic...

1 Corinthians 2:11-16 Our minds are somewhat like an unfathomable lake. No one has yet been able to measure the depth of the human mind. Philosophers have reasoned without conclusions. They have tried to determine how we think, but no one seems to know. Scientists have researched the relationship of the brain to thought processes. They also have no conclusions. Intelligence and reason set us compl...