If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.      Romans 8:11 We can have resurrection life now, not just after we pass from this life. His Spirit dwells in us now, and gives us the power to change our lives. We can move from a life of dead works, we all th...  Read More

Colossians 1:15-2015 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is...  Read More

"Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.”Psalm 29:1-2 ESV“Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show ...  Read More

We all know it. Life is hard. We suffer loss of all kinds. Terrible things happen to us, to our loved ones, and in the world around us. Sin and death create pain that can be overwhelming, and for these things the world has no sufficient answers    But consider the following verses that speak of suffering and difficulty:                  Romans 8:18-27                               For I consider t...  Read More

When we suffer, we instinctively look for escape—and in many cases, that is right and good. But Christ shows us something deeper. In the garden, He prayed that the cup might pass from Him—the cup of God’s righteous wrath against sin. Yet, when the moment came, He did not run.  Read More

“Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”The Lord is go...  Read More

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.Galatians 5:22-23            As a Christian, the fruit of the spirit as described here in Galatians is something we should all want. If you're like me, it can also be quite difficult at times to attain, or if we do attain it, something happens a...  Read More

John 1:14“14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”John 9:31-32“31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”In a world where the truth seems to be both increasingly avail...  Read More

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”Romans 11:33-36 ESVYou can never overestimate God. His ...  Read More

Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."                The words of this verse are from Jesus as he spoke to His disciples right before He was taken into Heaven. In context, this verse is speaking of being witnesses for Christ, but it's clear that we will only ...  Read More

Matthew 9:36“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”Compassion is an emotion that moves us toward others. The word comes from the Latin compati, meaning “to suffer with.” True compassion does not remain distant or detached. It draws us near to those who are hurting and stirs us to care for them.Jesus is compassion...  Read More

Everlasting to everlasting. The thought of the being with no beginning and no end spirals our minds doesn’t it? Yet this is the very nature of God.  Read More

Being led by the Spirit is similar to "walking with God," which is an active participation. Being led is more of a passive action, a submissive dependence on the Holy Spirit.  Read More

Ultimately, obedience depends on who is being obeyed. For the Christian, our highest concern is obedience to God (Acts 5:29). And if we want to see perfect obedience, we look to Christ — who submitted His will, His life, and His death to the Father.   Read More

True sovereignty involves both the right or authority to rule and the power to exercise that right. When we proclaim God to be sovereign over all, we are proclaiming these two things simultaneously!   Read More

Have you ever felt guilty for doing or saying something wrong? I know I have. That prick of your conscience comes from the Holy Spirit, which was sent into the world on the day of Pentecost, and is quite capable of letting us know that we're on a path that is not in alignment with God's will for us. The Spirit "convicts" us, then we have a choice to make. Do we repent (change direction), or do we continue on a path of sin?   Read More

Biblical humility is not self-deprecation or weakness. It is a truthful, sober understanding of oneself before the Lord. For Christ—who is the Lord—humility meant the voluntary veiling of His divine glory (not the surrender of His divinity) in the weakness of human flesh. If anyone could claim visible glory, it was Him. Yet He “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.”   Read More

What does it mean to say God is ‘Holy’? We use the word regularly in song to praise the Lord, and the angels call out perpetually to one another proclaiming it To be ‘holy’ in it’s simplest understanding is to be set apart and pure. The Lord is the pinnacle of what it is to be holy.  Read More

The third verse of "Silent Night" continues to marvel at the birth of the Savior of the world:Silent night! Holy night!Son of God, love's pure lightRadiant beams from thy holy face,With the dawn of redeeming grace,Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!This song verse starts with the bold declaration that Jesus is the son of God, which was an incredibly controversial statement during ...  Read More

If you remember from Part 1, this beautiful carol—when sung in Latin—forms a backward acrostic that spells the phrase “ERO CRAS,” meaning “Tomorrow, I come.” That short line captures the answer to the longing that runs through the whole hymn. Each verse names Christ with a different title, and each title unfolds a facet of who He is—and why His coming matters.5. “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”And ranso...  Read More

The second verse of "Silent Night" marvels at the birth of the Messiah, the Savior of the world:Silent night, holy nightShepherds quake at the sightGlories stream from heaven afarHeavenly hosts sing ‘Alleluia!Christ the Savior is bornLuke 2:8-14 tells us of the shepherds who were told the good news of Jesus' birth:"8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over t...  Read More

Let’s continue working through these stanzas. 5. “O Come, Thou Day Spiring, come and cheer,”Our spirits by Thine Advent here;Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,And death’s dark shadows put to flight. The word “Oriens” means “rising” and often refers to the “morning star,” the bright star that appears just before the sun rises. After the darkness of a long night, the appearance of the morning star...  Read More

"Silent Night" is a well-loved and favorite Christmas hymn. It was written by Joseph Mohr in 1816 and first performed on Christmas Eve in 1818 at St. Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. The church's organ was broken that night, so the song was sung to guitar. From there, the song spread across Europe, and during a Christmas truce in 1914 during World War 1, soldiers from bot...  Read More

Mild he lays his glory by,born that man no more may die,born to raise us the sons of earth,born to give them second birth.“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Phil 2:5-7I doubt I could r...  Read More