Something Greater

Contentment in Every Circumstance "The battle against covetousness is a battle against unbelief in God’s promise to be all we need in every circumstance..." Too good to not pass along! www.desiringgod.org/articles/i-can-be-content-in-every-circumstance Photo by Rostyslav Savchyn on Unsplash

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus | Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus... (Eph 1:1) Christ Jesus chose and commissioned Paul Paul was one of Christ's unique ambassadors and delegates Paul's writings communicate Christ's rule, authority and dominion over my life All that Paul wrote was intended by God the Father to glorify himself in me through the work of the Spirit of Christ Jesus Hearing and believing the preaching of Paul's writings is essential for me The commands given by Paul are given with Christ's authority, wisdom, love and goodness Father in heaven, am I consistently eager to be built up through the the words written by your faithful apostles, those early revealers and supporters of the people you called to be Christ's ambassadors and delegates, followers of your Son Jesus Christ? No, I am not consistent in my pursuit of your word. I am distrac...

Three Stages of Sanctification Sanctification, or holiness, may be seen in The Holy Bible in three different contexts or categories: A Moment Realized : Sanctification begins at regeneration A Lifetime Lived : Sanctification continues imperfectly for a lifetime An Eternity Perfected : Sanctification made perfect for all time First Stage: A Moment Realized Our primary desires change, toward God and away from sin Dead to sin, alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:11) Made an instrument of righteous for God (Rom 6:13) No longer ruled or dominated by sin (Rom 6:14) Second Stage: A Lifetime Lived A lifetime of yielding to God's Spirit and resisting sinful desires of the flesh Our master becomes righteousness (Rom 6:18) Daily we offer ourselves in submission to righteousness (Rom 6:19) We are being transformed with ever-increasing glory (2 Cor 3:18) Let us run with perseverance, throwing off all sin that so easily hinders and entangles (Heb 12:1) Third Stage: An Et...

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,...

Ready For The Real Thing | Genesis 1:2-4 Sounds like an advertising slogan. I intended to use it for the title of a sermon. Not sure about it now. But, it does capture a bit of what I feel the Lord is working in, with and around me. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:2-4 (ESV) God wanted the earth to have light. He wanted whatever and whoever that was earthly to have light. Why? Because light reveals what's real. Darkness hides what's real. Shadows distort and confuse. The black of night overwhelms color and form. Gloom depresses. God wants me to see the real thing. Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his na...

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...

Happy Rejoicing | Acts 5:41-42 Peter and the apostles had been imprisoned, interrogated, slandered, disbelieved, minimized, oppressed and beaten by the Jewish High Priest and council of religious rulers. And the apostles left happy. They left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Acts 5:41-42 (ESV) REJOICING: chairo (to be "cheer"ful, calmly happy or well-off; used as a greeting or farewell) "Rejoice" is a good way to translate the Greek word that describes the emotion felt by the apostles after severe mistreatment. The English word derives from the Latin, gaudere (to give joy, to gladden). "Joy" is from the same word, meaning the emotion resulting from the acquisition or expectation of good; gladness or delight. The definition of "joy" includes happines...