Something Greater

The Faith of Abraham Stephen's defense was based upon the faith of Abram, who later was called Abraham. In obedience to God's direct command, Abram left a country in which his family ancestors had lived for generations, to a land completely foreign to him. "Now the Lord said to Abram, - Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV) Abram obeyed, but with great reluctance and procrastination . Still, he obeyed. Yet what was Abram's reward? What happened to God's promise? "God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to...

Expressions of Worship How does the Bible describe worship? Two words, one Hebrew and one Greek, are translated as "worship" in the Bible. In the Old Testament: "I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord." Genesis 24:48 (ESV) WORSHIP: shaha (to depress, to prostrate) Our English word, depress, means to press down, to let fall or lower. It commonly now is used to describe longlasting sad and lethargic emotions. Prostrate literally means to throw down. It describes a person with face on the ground in humble adoration. It can also describe someone utterly exhausted, lying flat on the ground. In the New Testament: "The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:23-24 (ESV) WORSHIP: proskyneo (to fawn or crouch to, to prostrate...

Worship and Blessing When God created the heavens and the earth, vegetation, animals and man, He blessed them and praised them as very good: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, - Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth...God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, - Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Genesis 1:1, 21-22, 27-28 God blessed His creation, and He continually blesses us all , with breath and life and fa...

Repent and Turn Again "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you." Acts 3:19-20 (ESV) Paul reaches the climax of his message to the Jews. He has rebuked them for their sin: they had denied, abused and murdered Jesus, the holy, righteous Ruler of all creation. He revealed the root cause of their sin: ignorance of God's message given through prophets. Now, Paul urges them to make a radical change : REPENT: metanoeo (to think differently, reconsider); from meta (accompaniment, "amid", association, succession) and noeo (to exercise the mind, observe, comprehend, heed); from nous (the intellect, the mind); from ginosko (to know absolutely) TURN AGAIN: epistrepho (to revert); from epi (superimposition, over, upon) and strepho (to twist, turn quite around, to reverse); from trope (a turn or revolution); from trepo (to ...

Only Human "Why do people try to gain salvation through their own merit, rather than accept God's righteousness through Jesus Christ? How strong a role does guilt play in this?" This was the question posed to me. Here is my response. From the beginning, angels and humans have inclined toward rejection of God as their ultimate Authority. God told Adam and Eve that they had for their food every plant in all the earth and every tree of the garden, except one. The serpent deceived Eve, pretending, without actually lying, to believe that God had forbade them any tree in the garden. The serpent's argument was that God's authority over them was arbitrary and unfair. The serpent opened a door into rebellion, making it appear good and delightful and wise, and Eve walked through that door. (Genesis 3:1-6) Adam was beside Eve all this time. He knew that the serpent was pretending. Adam knew that the serpent was usurping authority over God, but he also knew that t...