1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful[a] in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Spiritual Blessings in Christ 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with … Continue reading
As we come to the close of Hebrews I wanted to do a recap of the entire book to give us a better understanding of these final words. We have learned that Jesus is superior to the angels and the prophets – God announced his superiority. Because of his superiority we need to pay attention … Continue reading
Chapter 6 spoke about the surety of God’s promise He gave about Christ; “you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”. God swore on oath to it by 2 unchangeable things: Himself, and His Name. Now the writer helps us understand a bit more about this man Melchizedek who resembles Christ. For this Melchizedek, … Continue reading
5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? 7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him … Continue reading
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by … Continue reading
A couple weeks ago I did some research through the scripture to understand what Heaven will be like. What I found was encouraging and has helped me to understand some other passages of scripture that I had previously read, but that now stand out, as I have been reading through the books of Corinthians. This … Continue reading
While walking through the valley of Aijalon, through olive groves and beautiful landscape, we came upon a large hill with no trees on it. This is Tel Gezer. A ‘Tel’ is a large pile of hundreds and even thousands of years of building and tearing down of a city on top of itself. Each time … Continue reading
Jesus is Tested in the Wilderness At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. – Mark 1:12-13 Matthew 4 Luke 4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After … Continue reading
1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For … Continue reading
Waw 41 May your unfailing love come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your promise; 42 then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word. 43 Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws. 44 I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. 45 I will … Continue reading
English Standard Version (ESV) Dead to Sin, Alive to God 6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into … Continue reading
English Standard Version (ESV) Peace with God Through Faith 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith[b] into this grace in which we stand, and we[c] rejoice[d] in hope of the glory of God. … Continue reading
The Boy Jesus at the Temple 41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware … Continue reading
The Escape to Egypt 13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the … Continue reading
The Magi Visit the Messiah After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, … Continue reading
Romans 3 (ESV) God’s Righteousness Upheld 3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let … Continue reading
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he … Continue reading
Introduction: The book of Romans was written by the Apostle Paul between 57 – 58 AD. During this time, Paul was in transit from Corinth to Jerusalem to deliver the gifts that the gentile churches had put together to help the poor Christians in Jerusalem. Romans contains the oft-cited ‘Roman’s Road’ verses that can be … Continue reading
We are all familiar with the Sermon on the Mount (found in Matthew 5) and those famous lines Jesus says at the beginning which we now refer to as the ‘Beatitudes’. But have you ever actually thought about what each of those means? When translated directly from the Greek there is an amazing rush of … Continue reading
A prayer of David. 1 Hear me, Lord, my plea is just; listen to my cry. Hear my prayer— it does not rise from deceitful lips. 2 Let my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right. 3 Though you probe my heart, though you examine me at night and test me, you will find that I have … Continue reading
