THE ONCE IGNORANT BELIEVED! The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. —Acts 3:13-15             There is much in these above verses! Jesus is a Servant (Philippians 2:5-11). The Jews delivered Jesus over to Pilate (John 19:28-32). The Jews denied Jesus in the…

WORKING GOD’S WORK So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. —Nehemiah 4:6 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. —Nehemiah 6:15-16             When God is in the work and people have “a mind to work” His work then great things can be accomplished.  As I have read that…

BEGIN/CONTINUE THE WORK GOD HAS GIVEN YOU VISION FOR! I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.  They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.   —Nehemiah 2:18             It only takes one person whom God has given a vision to stir others to join in the work that God is doing.  Nehemiah was that person and after He shared with the Israelites how God’s gracious hand was on him and what the king had said to him the people were ready to start rebuilding the wall.             The work was divided up with…

YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES! “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.” —Acts 1:8             Have you called on Jesus to be saved from sin, self and Satan to a relationship with God by calling on Jesus?  (Romans 10:13).  If so then “you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the…

GOD’S WRATH “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” —Ezra 8:22             So we have two groups according to this verse.  Those who seek the Lord God Almighty and want to live for Him is one group.  The 2nd group is those who forsake the Lord God Almighty and do not want to live for Him.  God’s good hand is on those who seek Him.  But on those who forsake Him His wrath is against them— “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see…

TEMPLES! And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first…

BE FAITHFUL IN THIS SINFUL, FALLEN, DARK WORLD! Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. —John 19:31-32             Crucifixion was a form of torture and execution.  Man comes up with all kinds of evil.  Horrific as it was, when Jesus was crucified the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies of Jesus…

 OUR FAITHFULNESS OR UNFAITHFULNESS WILL HAVE AN IMPACT “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” —II Chronicles 34:15 “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it before the king. And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes.  —II Chronicles 34:18-19  “Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD,…

HE HELPS US AND FIGHTS FOR US! With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.  —II Chronicles 32:8        We are in spiritual warfare, but we are not in so by ourselves.  No, Jesus said that He is with us until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20) and in Hebrews 13:5-6 we read that God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me?” Those are both quotations from…

TRUTH SPEAKERS WILL FACE OPPOSITION Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” —John 18:23             Now here is the same evil spirit in this verse that is seen in our culture today.  Instead of being able to dialogue differences, people are becoming violent.  So, if a person has a disagreement with another they cannot talk about that disagreement, but instead need to be physically aggressive toward the one they do not agree with.             Somebody can be in the right, but if another person doesn’t like the right position a person…