Something Greater

A Devout Life: Part 5 The Source of Righteousness According to 1 Timothy 6:11, righteousness depends upon five sincere, heartfelt, and intentional expressions of the heart, mind and body: Wonder Faith Love Steadiness Courtesy If Paul uses these five expressions to define godly righteousness, and our lives are to live in a manner that is "equitable", to what or to whom are our lives to be equal? What or Whom forms the standards, or the degrees, by which we are to express righteousness? Upon What or Whom does righteousness depend? I'm charging you before the life-giving God and before Christ, who took his stand before Pontius Pilate and didn't give an inch: Keep this command to the letter, and don't slack off. Our Master, Jesus Christ, is on his way. He'll show up right on time, his arrival guaranteed by the Blessed and Undisputed Ruler, High King, High God. He's the only one death can't touch, his light so bright no one can...

Jesus: All Authority And All Power Mark 1:21-34 What has gone before... Mark 1:14-20 - Jesus began his preaching ministry, urging people to repent and believe in the gospel, the good news of God's kingdom. He called four fishermen as his disciples: Simon, Andrew, James and John. Moving on... "And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. "And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are...the Holy One of God. "But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent, and come out of him! "And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, What...

A Real Relationship With Jesus Today's post is written by my wife, Robin Reynolds, taken from a message presented at a recent Healing Hearts Bible study. The message strikes deeply at the heart of what being a Christian is, and I'm grateful for Robin allowing me to post it here. Being a Christian, a follower of Christ, isn't about following a list of rules. It's not about going through the checklist...Did I read my Bible today, did I pray, did I got to church this week? No. It's about our relationship with Jesus Christ. How dare we? How dare we reduce being a Christian to a simple set of rules. How dare we act as if the King of kings and the Lord of lords did not sacrifice His life so that we can have forgiveness of sins, an abundant life, and an intimate relationship with Him? How dare we behave as if this life that He has given us is all about us and our rule-following? Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but it isn't all about us. "Looki...

Contentment in Giving How did Paul describe stewardship? Paul devoted the entire ninth chapter of 2 Corinthians to the subject of giving and generosity, ending it by describing giving to others as a gift from God: "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15 (ESV) The wonderful goodness of giving to others was a gift that exceeded Paul's ability to adequately describe . Today, I want to focus on four elements that makes giving to others a wonderful gift of God. The four elements rest upon each other, forming a triangle with four layers . Our study in God's Word today will explore this triangle, beginning at the top and digging deeper and deeper into God's Word, uncovering what lies beneath, until we see God's grace supporting it all. At the top of the triangle is cheerfulness: "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians...

Our Spiritual Sacrifice The Apostle Peter described the Christian life as being one of offering "spiritual sacrifices" : "You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:5 (ESV) I find myself a bit fuzzy with what "spiritual sacrifice" looks like. After looking a a few (of the many) references to sacrifices, both in the Old and New Testaments, I'm convinced that it means this : Jesus Christ IS our spiritual sacrifice . Lifting Him up, making much of Him, speaking of Him to the world, depending upon Him and delighting in Him as our greatest Treasure are the expressions of the truest sense of "spiritual sacrifice". Giving money to charity, singing to others, spending our time and energy, cleaning the church or sharing our food with the needy is only one degree removed from actual, blood-spilling sacr...

Restoration of All Things "Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago." Acts 3:21 (ESV) HEAVEN: ouranos (the sky, the abode of God, implying happiness, power, eternity); from oros (a mountain); from oro (to rise or rear) RECEIVE: dechomai (to receive, to take or accept) Jesus is physically in heaven, decribed as being in the sky, implying separated from earth and unreachable by mortal humans. Luke described Jesus as being "taken up" (Acts 1:2). Later, Luke said that Jesus had been "raised up", using a different word that means to lift or sail away (Acts 1:9). Being raised up involved being carried upward by a cloud, taken up out of sight. Angels explained to the disciples that Jesus would "come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven". RESTORING: apokatastasis (reconstitution); from apokathistemi (to reconstitute in health, home ...

Faith in His Name "His name...by faith in his name...has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all." Acts 3:16 (ESV) The small church in Jerusalem has exploded into a community of believers following the breath-taking miracle of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Inspired by the Spirit , Peter has experienced a radical change, from arrogant fisherman and spineless coward, to a passionate, powerful pastor and preacher. Peter and John have just seen a man lame from birth healed instantly at their faith-filled command to rise up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Peter preached to the amazed crowd that witnessed the healing, pointing to God as the One Who glorified Jesus as the Holy and Righteous One and the Author of Life , killed by the very people to whom Peter was preaching, raised from the dead by God three days later. NAME:...

Love is From God. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in lov...

A Simple Statement of Faith "Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the...

Pressed Down and Overflowing "Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you." Luke 6:38 (ESV) God rewards those who give. God Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the evil (Luke 6:35). We glorify God when we act, even in small ways, like Him . If we give love to others, especially to enemies, God gives us much more love . If we give mercy, if we withhold biased judgement or condemnation, whatever good we give to others, God will give good back to us . His reward will be multiplied times more that the small that we give. Imagine buying a cup of rice to give to a hungry child. The rice merchant himself is a kind man, and he sees my generosity and compassion. He calls me back to the counter and fills a cup full. Before giving me the cup of rice, he presses it down, settles it down with shaking, pours more rice into the cup, the c...

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...