THE CROSS IS TO KILL HOSTILITY! …reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. —Ephesians 2:16             What can kill the hostility between individuals, people groups, tribes and even nations? It is the cross and all that was done there by King Jesus. If there is hostility between parties, then is the cross understood?   Is it being applied? I think not.             We need the understanding of what Jesus did at the cross to reconcile people from “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).  Are you being hostile toward a tribal group, a language group, a people group…

TRUST HIM! In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will… —Ephesians 1:11 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. —Romans 8:28              God “who works all things according to the counsel of his will” and “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” All things mean just that— “all things.” So take heart! Whatever is happening in your life God is working it…

WE HARVEST WHAT WE SOW!  Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. —Galatians 6:7-10             What is your harvest looking like? What are you sowing? Whatever it is you…

I AM FREE! For freedom Christ has set us free… —Galatians 5:1  For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” —Galatians 5:13-14              I am free! Jesus has set me free! He has set me free with purpose! He has set me free to serve others. He has set me free to love others. I am not to use this “freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.”             So how am I doing with my freedom? How am I…

WHERE MY FAITH IS PLACED The righteous shall live by faith. —Galatians 3:11             “For we live by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7).  “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).   “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17). “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because…

READY FOR THE COMING JUDGMENT For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low. — Isaiah 2:12 And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. —Isaiah 2:19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_gBpvihKcQ&list=UUf1NPIFOBwzTLVQiEDnq4Cw               God is a God of love— “God is love” (I John 4:8).   But God is a God of wrath and judgment as well to all who are against Him— “But those enemies of mine who…

BY GOD’S GRACE YOU ARE! But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone. —Galatians 1:15-16             God had a plan for Saul in His timing as He does for us (Acts 17:26).   He drew him to Jesus as He did us (John 6:44). And so it is with others who have not responded to Jesus yet but will. They will respond by our taking the message to them as our Father works in us…

DO A SELF TEST! Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. —II Corinthians 13:5-8             This is a test… but it is a self test. Is…

HIS GRACE IS ENOUGH! So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I…

BE READY TO MEET HIM! The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. —Ecclesiastes 12:13-14             What is the duty of man to God? It is obedience. This is an obedience out of love for God and love for people (Matthew 22:37-40). It is not obedience out of an attitude of “I have to” but out of a grateful heart of “I want to, I desire to.” It is not a drudgery in obedience, but a joy to be obedient.…