One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. —Acts 16:14 “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (II Corinthians 4:6. We put the seed of carrots, squash or flowers into the ground and we can stand there and tell it to grow, but it will not. We cannot make seeds to grow. God does that. We can plant…

Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” —Job 42:1-6 Do we talk about things that we…

Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: “Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. “Will you discredit my justice and condemn me just to prove you are right?” —Job 40:6-8 “Will you discredit my justice and condemn me just to prove you are right?” Will you? When we do not understand why God does or allows what He does or allows, do we tell God what we think should be the right thing He should do? So we think we know more than He does? Are we wiser than Him to guide Him? Those who do not follow God,…

Look, God is all-powerful. Who is a teacher like him? —Job Puny man, what can he do? When compared to God man is less than nothing— “The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing–mere emptiness and froth” (Isaiah 40:17). Again in Isaiah 41:24— “But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; whoever chooses you is detestable” and again in Psalm 62:9— “Surely the lowborn are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie. If weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath.” Now, do you think you and I…

Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him, for he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas, the sorcerer (as his name means in Greek), interfered and urged the governor to pay no attention to what Barnabas and Saul said. He was trying to keep the governor from believing. —Acts 13:7-8 There are those who do not believe the Word of God and they also seek to keep others from believing the Word of God. This is what has largely happened in our public schools here in America. There were those who did not believe the Word of God and…

Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers. —Acts 12:24 Sickness is spread by contact with others. We have seen one of the children get sick at the daycare and then before you know it spreads to other and they there are many sick children. It is because they are in close contact with each other. How does the Word of God spread and impact others? In happens in a similar way as the illustration above. We need to be in close contact with other people and share the Word of God with them that the Word might “germinate” in their lives. In 1st…

And this is what he says to all humanity: The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding. —Job 28:28 How much understanding does our world truly have? Who in fact has understanding in America or any country? Where are the wise men? It is only those who have a “fear of the Lord” and the ones who “forsake evil.” We can see the world’s “fear of the Lord” waning more and more as evil increases. But what the Lord says to all humanity still stands. Where do you and I fit in? We are to forsake evil and do what is good and we…

In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God. One afternoon about three o’clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. “Cornelius!” the angel said. Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel. And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering! Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon…

HATE EVIL & CLING TO WHAT IS GOOD, GODLY The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers. —Acts 9:31 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8Qby8TKLME This is how the early church grew stronger and then by the Holy Spirit’s encouragement the early church also grew in numbers. They had a proper fear of the Lord. “To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech” (Proverbs 8:13). “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD…

Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains. As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the…