Something Greater

A Psalm of Gratitude For my sin, O God, You have not of me required payment. All of Your justice and sovereignty demand that I be punished to death for my sin against You. Yet upon me You place no punishment. I have been ignorant, willfully ignorant of Your sovereignty over me. I have rejected and quenched Your Spirit as You offered comfort and guidance and knowledge. Yet from me You exact no revenge. God, I have used my hands and eyes and ears and mind to worship myself and my concerns. I have ignored You. I have been satisfied with worshipping and adoring temporary, fleshly, impure pleasure, rejecting the pleasure of intimacy with You. Lord, my mind is double, my heart divided, still loving what the Old Man loves, yet aware of Your greatness and Your superiority. And still You forgive me and withhold your righteous anger. Because of Your Son. Jesus suffered Your angry, righteous judgement and punishment for my sin. For my selfish lust, content to exchange worship of...

My Enemy I often long misunderstood the definition of "enemy". I wrongly have placed the root of "enemy" upon my own feelings. I have thought that an enemy was one whom I hated because of wicked actions done to me. That is wrong. The Greek work for "enemy" means hateful, odious or hostile...an adversary. Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, yet He did not say that they would thus cease being our enemies. Jesus made no guarantee that an enemy would become a friend if we demonstrate love. Whether someone is my enemy does not depend upon whether I hate them or not. Rather, my enemy is one who hates me. Jesus often referred to Satan as our adversary, and Satan hates us, seeking to devour us. Yet, we seldom hate Satan. We usually ignore or disbelieve his existence. He most often successfully deceives us by masquerading as an angel of light. Satan, however, remains our enemy, whether we hate him or not. No, my enemy is not one whom I hate. M...

Praising God And Having Favor "And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Acts 2:43-47 AWE: "Phobos", alarm or fright; from "phebomai" (to be put in fear) PRAISING: "Aineo", to praise God; from "ainos" (a story) and "epainos" (laudation, a commendable thing) FAVOR: "Charis", graciousness; from "chairo" (to be cheerful, calmly happy or well-off) The first, immediate, tangible result of experiencing complete an...

Repent And Be Baptized "Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:37-38 CUT: "Katanysso", to pierce thoroughly, to agitate violently; from "kata" (down) and "nysso" (to prick) REPENT: "Metanoeo", to think differently, reconsider; from "meta" (accompaniment, "amid", participation) and "noeo" (to exercise the mind, or observe) and "nous" (the intellect or mind) and "ginosko" (to know) BAPTIZED: "Baptizo", to make whelmed, fully wet; from "bapto" (to whelm, cover wholly with fluid, to moisten or stain) FORGIVENESS: "Aphesis", freedom or pardon; from "aphiemi" (to send ...