Something Greater

Temptation | A Brief Word Study | A Prayer | James 1:12-16 (Notation in parentheses refers to Strong's Greek Dictionary) James 1:12-16 (KJV) Blessed ( G3107 - supremely blest, fortunate, well off, joyful, rewarded, happier ) is the man that endures ( G5278 - to stay under or behind, remain, undergo, bear trials, have fortitude, persevere, abide, endure, take patiently, suffer, tarry behind ) temptation ( G3986 - trials, testing, putting to proof by experiment, experience of evil, solicitation, discipline or provocation, adversity ): for when he is tried ( G1384 - approved, tested, acceptable ) he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted ( G3985 - tested, tried, trapped, endeavor, scrutinize, entice, discipline ), "I am tempted ( G3985 - tested, tried, trapped, endeavor, scrutinize, entice, discipline ) of God": for God cannot be tempted ( G551 - tempted, tried, temptable ) with evil,

A New Folder - An Illustration of Faith | Hebrews 12:2-4 The image above is an illustration of faith. It's a reminder of how in one way I've expressed my faith...faithfully. It's evidence of my confident expectation that I'll continue to express my faith next year. Today is December 31, 2017. It's about 9:00 am. I'm not feeling especially well now...struggling with symptoms of a head and chest cold...head heavy, runny nose, tired, sneezing and coughing. But I'm working on next Sunday's podcast . I've recorded and posted an audio podcast weekly (nearly weekly...life sometimes happens and I've skipped a few weeks here and there). It's a podcast of me reading aloud four different passages from The Holy Bible, based on the Common Revised Lectionary. I started the podcast in 2016. My first post to SoundCloud was for Sunday, March 6, 2016. It's no longer available on SoundCloud because I have only the free account, which limits my pos

Isaiah 11, Part 2: Fearing the LORD Isaiah referred to fear of the LORD as something admirable. Isaiah 11:3 (ESV) His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, FEAR: yir'a "yir-AW" (fear or moral reverence); from yare (to fear, to revere; to frighten) The root word of "fear of the LORD" is a word meaning an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat (The New Oxford American Dictionary). "Fear" comes from an Old English word meaning calamity or danger. Adam feared punishment after disobeying God's command regarding the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 3:10). Jacob feared the loss of his wives after tricking Laban (Genesis 31:31). The Israelites feared pain and injury from serpents, scorpions and desert (Deuteronomy 8:15). Rather than describing someone running away

Psalm 11: The Lord Is In His Holy Temple (To the choirmaster. Of David.) In the Lord I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. Psalms 11:1-7 (ESV) WHAT DO YOU THINK? To whom is David speaking when he says, "You"? A person? A devil? A circumstance? What modern foundations of or life, speaking politically a

Caulkers: Fastening Onto God 1 Samuel 30:6 I am easily discouraged, easily frustrated and easily disheartened. David also felt overwhelmed by discouragement, distressed by circumstances of loss and weakness, or confused about what to do and where to go. He often felt pain from circumstances that were allowed and orchestrated by God. Recently I read of an instance in which David responded to a horrendous experience of loss and violence by "strengthening", or fastening, himself in God: "David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God." 1 Samuel 30:6 (ESV) David's small army had been on the front lines of war, away from their homes for three days. During that time, Amalekites had raided their hometown of Ziklag, burning it with fire and taking captive the women and all who were in it. David and his men re

Saved to Serve Acts 9:8 What has gone before... Saul, "breathing threats and murder", traveled to Damascus to rout Jewish Christians. His mind and heart were engorged with lust for violent, crushing punishment of people he regarded as traitors to Judaism, idolaters of a false god. The writer of the Book of Acts described Christians as ones "belonging to the Way", reminding all of us to see our life as a road, with many changes in terrain and direction, but leading to a greatly desired destination. Midway on his chosen road of retribution, Saul was brought to his knees with physical blindness and spiritual clarity. The Jesus he had sought to grind into forgotten history was suddenly very real, and very persuasive. Moving on... Blind, perhaps confused, probably frightened and emotionally spent, Saul seemed near death: "Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into

Baptism of the Holy Spirit What has gone before... Simon the Magician was a big fish in the small pond of Samaritan mystics , but that all changed when Philip came to town. Now it was Simon's turn to be amazed. "But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed." Acts 8:12-13 (ESV) Philip's preaching transformed Samaria . Moving on... BELIEVED: pisteuo (to have faith, to credit or entrust); from pistis (persuasion or credence; conviction of truth or reliance upon; constancy); from peitho (to convince by argument, whether true or false; to pacify or conciliate; to assent to or rely upon) Philip preached about the kingdom ( the royalty, rule and realm ) of God and the name (history, teaching, reputation and fame) of