Perfectly Imperfect Together

(Philemon 4-21) We are Onesimus in this letter. We are slaves to sin and death. After trusting his life to Jesus and receiving the powerful saving grace of Jesus, Onesimus was changed forever. Much like Paul interceded for Onesimus, Jesus intercedes for us at the Throne of God. God saves us through His powerful grace and grace is love that pays a price. Jesus paid the price. In and through Jesus,...

In 1 Timothy 1 & 2, Paul remembered his life before Jesus and shared the testimony of the power of Jesus grace and mercies working in his life. Because Paul shared what Jesus had done in his life, others were impacted and transformed for eternity, bringing honor and glory to God. We are all called and commissioned to share the Gospel, testify of the power of Jesus and how He has impacted your...

In 2 Thessalonians 1, 2, & 3, we are encouraged to press on in the work of the Lord - don't become idle. We need to stand strong, stand firm, and remain unwavering in faith as we continue to spread the Gospel message of salvation to the world around us. Jesus is radiated and glorified through our lives when we live a lifestyle of surrender and worship before the Lord. Jesus is returning. W...

In 1 Thessalonians 3, 4, & 5, Paul spoke words of encouragement and encouragement is critical. Encouragement brings life to a person's soul. Paul encourages us to live our lives pursuing Jesus and His holiness. As we do, God will grow our faith and sanctify us for His glory and our good too. He encourages us to be ready for Jesus' return. Jesus can return in any moment - like a flash -...

In 1 Thessalonians 1 & 2, Paul encourages us to testify to others with the Holy Spirit's power and passion as we share the truth of Jesus to the world around us. The power of Jesus changes lives now and for all eternity. It's not about you or me or how well we can articulate a message. It's the passionate boldness of sharing the truth of Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit with...

In Colossians 3 & 4, Paul reminds us we are loved by Jesus. We are loved by the Creator of the cosmos. We are loved by the one and only true and living God Almighty. We are loved more than we can comprehend. The enemy will try to lie to us and try to get us to believe we are not loved, not worthy, and helpless. The Word of God proves every lie of the enemy is nothing but a lie from the pit of...

(Colossians 1:15-2:3) The way we live bears fruit of what we truly believe. God is not human so He cannot lie. We serve a Holy God and that means He cannot sin. Everything God has ever said is absolutely true. If we truly believe God cannot lie and all His promises are true, it should affect how we live our daily lives. God wants us to experience a true and real relationship with Him, fully and wh...

In Colossians 1 & 2, we are reminded that sometimes in this crazy world we live in, where truth so easily becomes blurred, we need to stop and re-set. We need to refocus and realign our vision back to Jesus. We need to pray continually and go to God's Word to strengthen and grow our faith and the truth of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Jesus created everything. He holds all thin...

In Philippians 3 & 4, Paul testifies of how Jesus has transformed his life. His life goals now consisted of knowing Jesus personally, experiencing the power of the resurrection of Jesus, and partnering with Jesus in the mission of saving souls for eternity - even if it means suffering and death in this temporary world. He stayed laser focused on Jesus through every hardship and victory he expe...

In Philippians 1 & 2, Paul wrote to the church in Philippi with joy and gratitude. He encouraged them to continue pursuing Jesus, heart and soul, and keep living in humble love and unity together as one body glorifying God's great Name. He encourages us that no matter what happens in this life, we can and should give all glory to Jesus. No matter what happens on this temporary earth, we ar...

(Philippians 1:12-30) When life gets hard, we need to trust God. We need to pray and invite God into the problems we face. We need to get on our knees before the Lord and trust God with every outcome. We need to ask God for His help, His comfort, His joy, and His peace. We need to praise His glorious Name for all the good things He has done for us. With the power of the Holy Spirit within us, we c...

In Ephesians 5 & 6, Paul reminds us what it looks like to live a lifestyle of surrendered worship before the Lord. He reminds us we are to pursue Jesus, heart and soul, imitating the example He gave us when He came to earth for us. We are to walk in the Love and Light of Jesus as a fragrant offering of worship to the Lord. We are to selflessly think of others. Turn off the "selfy" mo...

In Ephesians 3 & 4, Paul knelt before God the Father and prayed. He prayed for Christ followers to be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit. He wanted us to understand and comprehend just a glimpse of the depth of God's great love for us and be filled with His fullness. Paul cared about the spiritual health of others, he pressed in and pressed on, and he got on his knees and crie...

In Ephesians 1 & 2, we are reminded that God sent Jesus into the world for us to offer Himself as a sacrifice for us to free us from sin and bondage. He came to offer us a free gift for us to receive. Every good thing we have in life is because of God the Father. He pours out goodness for us out of His great love for us. He wants good things for us and hates sin because it destroys every part...

In Galatians 5 & 6, we are reminded that Jesus came to set us free allowing us to live in His Spirit, not the fleshly desires of our sinful natures. We are free to live a lifestyle of pursuing Jesus desperately and bear His fruits of goodness to the world around us. This doesn't mean we are perfect, it means we live a repentant surrendered lifestyle of pursuing Jesus desperately with all o...

(Acts 27:13-44) When life gets tough, the enemy tries to feed us lies in an attempt to get us to abandon God and lose hope. We have to stand on God's promises and know that God never fails. His love never ends. He has us safely held in His hands, no matter what is going on in life around us. Things may not always turn out as we expect, but God's plans always have our eternal best and the e...

In Galatians 3 & 4, Paul continued to emphasize that Christ followers are saved by faith alone and we live by faith. This faith comes by hearing the Word of God and believing God at His Word. There are no favorites in the Kingdom of God. When you repent from sin and commit your life to Jesus, you are His. You belong to His eternal family. We walk forth in the power of His Spirit, His grace, an...

In Galatians 1 & 2, Paul reiterated the true Gospel Message of Salvation. He reminds us to stand firm by abiding in Jesus and to keep our eyes, hearts, and minds laser focused on Him. Paul teaches us to live in, boast in, and thrive in the powerful saving grace of our Lord and Savior. Paul didn't try to please people, he pursued Jesus passionately and was desperate to accomplish his will o...

In 2 Corinthians 12 & 13, we learn that faith that tested can't be trusted. God allowed a thorn in Paul's life to help keep him humble and fully dependent on the Lord. We need to live in the Lord's powerful grace every day. We need to live in the power of the Lord and His strength, not trying to do life on our own or in our own strength. We need to take our hands off and let the Lo...

(Acts 24:22-25:12; Acts 26:24-32) Once we repent from sin and turn to Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are covered by His Blood. We are covered by His redemption. We are covered by His love. There is no sin under the sun that hasn't already been dealt with by the power of Jesus' Blood. It's up to us to entrust our hearts and lives to Him and let Him take it all, faithfully trusting tha...

In 2 Corinthians 10 & 11, Paul reminds us we are in a spiritual battle every day and we need to stay armed with the Armor of God. We need to be intentional about how we send the time God has given us on this earth so we are not distracted and pulled away from God's will and plans for our lives. We need to pray continually. We need to mediate on His Word. We need to spend time with our Almi...

In 2 Corinthians 8 & 9, Paul teaches us what gracious giving looks like. We are quick to pay when someone hands us a bill and pay our mortgages because we promised to pay them, but when it comes to reaching people and saving souls for eternity, people tend to shrink back. We are commissioned to reach souls and save lives for eternity. Our houses and collections will fade away, but eternity is...

In 2 Corinthians 7, Paul encourages us - sinners saved by the powerful grace of God - to continue forward learning how to live under the guide, direction, and counsel of the Holy Spirit within us in faith - not by works. We live as broken vessels before the Lord with His power radiating within us. As we do, we radiate His glory to the world around us and testify of His power in our weakness. We ne...

In 2 Corinthians 5 & 6, Paul challenges us to walk by faith, not by sight. Faith is complete 100% wholehearted trust and confidence in the Lord God Almighty. It requires us to let go of control - take our hands off - and let God lead knowing He is all knowing and has our eternal best in mind. It doesn't mean we won't have to walk through holes here and there. It does mean that we walk...

(Acts 23) Jesus is Alive! He helps us as we testify boldly for Him to others. Just as Jesus stood by Paul, He stands by us. Jesus is with us, even if we don't always realize it or see it. We have to know and believe this - it's a promise - He is with us. We are never alone. We can have courage in and through every circumstance because we know that Jesus is with us. It's a promise we can count on a...