RIGHTEOUSNESS “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 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. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could…

GOD’S GRACE GOSPEL I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!…

TRUTH For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. —II Corinthians 13:8 Truth… Pilate said, “What is truth?” Today truth is pretty much what someone wants to believe. When people disagree with someone and hear an accusation against them, they want to believe it or do believe that it is true even before the truth is known. People also believe that various lifestyles are true even when these lifestyles go against the science they say they believe! Truth today is a relative term. What is truth to one person is not truth to another. People believe truth to be what they want to believe is…

REAL POWER THROUGH GRACE Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” —II Corinthians 12:7-8 So think about this! Whatever the “thorn in my flesh” was it was there because of Satan and it was there because God allowed Satan to bring this thorn. Was God being mean for doing this? Some people would surely question God on this one. But, God…

SERVE EVEN WHEN SUFFERING! Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in…

HEART FOCUS! Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. —Ecclesiastes 5:15 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. —Matthew 6:19-21 What do I treasure? Where is my treasure? Who is my treasure? Do I focus primary on earthly treasure that I…

REMEMBER! No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. —Ecclesiastes 1:11 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? —Mark 8:18 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? —II Thessalonians 2:5 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know…

THOSE IN POWER When the righteous triumph, there is great elation; but when the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding. —Proverbs 28:12 Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people. —Proverbs 28:15 When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding; but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive. —Proverbs 28:28 When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan. —Proverbs 29:2 When righteous people are victorious and rule, there is great joy, a thriving of the people and much rejoicing. But when wicked people rule they are like a “roaring lion” or a…

STAND! Like a muddied spring or a polluted well are the righteous who give way to the wicked. —Proverbs 25:26 The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. —Proverbs 28:1 Access to clean water is a great blessing. To be able to drink water right out of the tap day after day is something that is taken for granted by many. Millions upon millions live without access to safe, clean water every day. These precious people spend hours each day just getting water for the basic needs of life. So many of these people only have water available from muddied water or…

YOU WILL GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF YOUR LIFE For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. —II Corinthians 5:10 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. —Matthew 12:36 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. —Romans 14:12 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give…