What Shall I Render

The patience and humility of our King should inspire us to depend upon and trust our King! (Matt 11, 12; Isa 42)

We can fall into playing spiritual Whack-A-Mole with sin in our lives. This will rob us of the joy we have in the peace Christ brings us, the peace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ. Without that guard, we can lose our joy!

Just as the apostles were sent to preach the good news to the towns and villages of Israel, we also go out in vulnerability, as sheep among wolves. It is very important for us to know and remember the value of the gospel.

David's psalms bear witness to much of what we have in Christ Jesus as a reality: God's Holy Spirit, God's presence, God's forgiveness, and God's credited righteousness.

God has the power to give life to the dead, to make streams of water flow in the desert, to keep us strong to the end, to guide our lives for His glory!

God's call to us is to come to the Son. In Him we find the Way, the Truth, and the Life; In Him, only, will we find rest for our souls. (Matt 11:28-30)

Jesus is God's solution for people's sin and faithlessness, and that is good news!

The Spirit of God has from the beginning in Genesis been doing what brings life according to God's purpose. He, now, works for God's purpose in God's covenant related children, by God's own promise (Acts 2:38, 39; Eph 3:16; Jn 6:63; 7:37-39 et al.).

Trying to fit the redemption of the kingdom into a system of human performance is a waste of time and a rejection of Christ's redeeming blood (Matt 9:14-18).

Arrogance, self-righteousness, seeks to diminish salvation to a checklist of rules accomplished by human effort. This mentality will keep us from hearing and receiving the message of salvation. The rich young man in Matt 19:16-30 stands as an illustration of a checklist mentality.

What tax collector expects a rabbi, much less the Messiah, to call him to "follow Me"? Which of the disciples wants to be seen with a known tax collector as a part of their group? If a tax collector gets a personal invitation to follow Jesus, and receives a purposed designation as a apostle of the Christ, what hope will that afford tax collectors and sinners, even today?!

As Fathers, we face the God-given responsibility to protect and provide for our families. This pressure serves well to point us to the Faithful Father, who will provide for us as we seek to imitate Him.

The LORD, YHWH, had proven His authority and His enduring love to save, deliver, and rescue. Jesus is the fulfillment of God's power to keep His promises (Psalms 107; Matt 8).

The Holy Spirit brings the message, the truth about salvation in Him, and as a result of God's promise in His Son, we have God's love within us, by His promised Holy Spirit (Jn 14, 15, 16, 1 Cor 2:9-10; Acts 2:38, 39; Rom 5:5; 1 Cor 13).

Jesus shows Himself to be the fulfillment of God's salvation to those who cry out for His help (Psalm 107:23-32; Matt 8:23-27).

Jews of Jesus' day were icons of privilege turning to entitlement! As a result, most of them missed the opportunity of participating in the spiritual feast of the kingdom (Matt 8:1-22)

Christ, the Messiah, was a fulfillment of God's promises both to David and Abraham, as the Son of David and the Son of Abraham. The coming of the Christ is a main part of God's purpose in ancient Israel. This was their privilege, as God's covenant people.

The Apostles were eyewitnesses of the death, burial, and resurrected Christ, but their testimony does not merely rely on their understanding or interpretation of these events. The Holy Spirit promised to them by Christ brought them the testimony, all truth regarding the Son and God's work in Him. (Jn 14-16, 17; Acts 1, 2).

A place of fellowship, life, and freedom, has been prepared by the Son, in the Son.

God's purpose in Christ is to restore fellowship with sinful man. The Apostles were eye witnesses of the fellowship the Father had with His Son as He lived among them. The message given these apostles by the Holy Spirit now brings us into fellowship with them, with the Son, and so, with the Father (1Jn 1:1-10).

The thing we believe is sure and certain, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God's purpose in Christ was a mystery, it was a hidden secret, until the Holy Spirit revealed it to the Apostles (Jn 17:20; Eph 3:1-5; 1 Cor 1:18; 2:9-16).

The Holy Spirit's work in bringing the message to the apostles (1 Cor 1:18-2:16; Eph 3:1-5).

Always living by the power of an indestructible life, Christ, our High Priest is able to save completely those who come to God through Him!

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). He is the immutable foundation we are to dig deeply, find, and build upon (Matt 7:24-27).

There are plenty of actions commanded in the kingdom, but it always calls us to value the spiritual reality of Christ's reign within and for us.