Tune and Prepare!

“Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” Hos 6:3

Lent Devotional Read 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 11-17 Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servantDavid, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? … “‘And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I w...

devotional - Ligonier.com We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?” 2Cor 2:15-16 Paul likens his Apostolic ministry to the victory parades of Roman generals. After a triumph, these generals would take their captured prisoners of war through a city in a procession celebrating the win, and the prisoners scattered incense to draw attention to the victory. Similarly, Christ parades throughout the world Paul and the other Apostles, who spread the fragrance—the gospel—that announces Jesus’ victory over the devil (2 Cor. 2:14). Adding another layer to this image, Paul in today’s passage says that he is the fragrance or “aroma of Christ to God” (v. 15). The picture is from sacrifices of the old covenant. When those sacrifices were offered rightly and burned, the scent of animal flesh on the a...

The Man Jesus Would Not Answer David Guzik — enduringword.com Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing. Luke 23:8-9 When Jesus was put on trial before the Roman authorities, there were three aspects. There was a first appearance before Pilate (Luke 23:1-7), and then a second appearance (Luke 23:13-25). In between, Jesus appeared before Herod . This Herod – usually known as Herod Antipas – was the son of Herod the Great , who ruled when Jesus was born. The Romans only allowed him to govern one-fourth of his father’s domain. For this reason, he is also known as Herod the Tetrarch – the word tetrarch meaning “ruler of one-fourth.” His ruled included Galilee, and since Jesus was from Galilee, Pilate was happy to send Jesus to Herod. ...

The period of the Law must be separated from the Kingdom of God around the Earth The period of the Jewish Law {the 10 commands} must be separated from the kingdom of God on the Earth (nowadays), because, according to Christ the former has no connection with the latter. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John , and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Mt 11:12-15 coming soon... Related articles: · Judgment – for whom? Christ: the end of the Law A right to speak

Ken Ham About teachers Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. James 3:1 My father was a schoolteacher, and he also loved to teach God’s Word. But he explained that he never wanted to lead anyone astray, which is why his favorite verses of Scripture began with, “Have you not read?” or “It is written.” He loved to emphasize the authority of God’s Word because it is the ultimate source of truth and the basis for our Christian worldview. Another thing my father taught me was related to the various study Bibles. He would say, “Remember, the study notes are not inspired like the text, so always use the text as the commentary on the notes.” In other words, we need to judge what someone is teaching against the absolute authority of the Word of God. If we don’t do this, we can easily be led astray. About shepherds God’s Word has many warnings about shepherds who lead the sh...

“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” Eccl. 12:13–14 ... the Bible in many ways presents the glory of God as the chief end or purpose of human beings. He made us in His image to reflect His glory and to enter His glorious presence through Christ (Gen. 1:26–28; Heb. 12:18–29). Moreover, the Lord redeems us so that we will finally see Him face-to-face (1 John 3:3). In light of God’s purpose for us in creation, redemption, and worship, then, we should have as our ultimate aim to live our lives to the glory of God. If we want to bring ourselves in line with our Creator’s loving purpose for us, then seeking His glory is the way to do it. Consequently we must ask this question: Since the meaning of life is the glory of God and living in such a way that we aim to know and make known that glory, how do...

{there's a necessity of...} .. a renewal of the life of the church as the result of the direct action of the Spirit of God upon an individual or a group of people, a church or even a group of churches, or perhaps even more or less a nation. It is a visitation of the Spirit, an outpouring of the Spirit, a phenomenon, nothing that man organizes or arranges or produces. It is a sovereign action of God. I ended on that note last Thursday evening, and this is a most important point, this clear definition as to what we mean by revival, and I considered some of the objections which so many people seem to have to this whole notion and tried to show how they were unscriptural. I still would repeat that I believe the greatest factor in causing the whole notion of revival to recede in the thinking of the church has been due to the prevalence of an Arminian type of teaching which is activist and believes that men can do things, both the preacher in the pulpit and the one who ...

{meditation with analysis - partial text} I'd like to emphasize this note as my favorite, a key approach among the others. Moses said: “Now if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, please teach me Your ways, and I will know You and find favor* in Your sight. Now consider that this nation is Your people.” Then He replied: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest**.”   *grace; **or 'victory' Q This is the text. What do you think about it? Claude.ai This is a beautiful, distilled moment from Exodus 33:13-14. What strikes me about this scene is the simplicity and intimacy of it. By titling it "Moses and I Am" and presenting just this exchange, you've isolated something profound: Moses asking to truly know God, and God's response being not a teaching or a set of rules, but presence and rest . The structure is almost like a poem - Moses's request is earnest and somewhat complex (teach me, let me know yo...

Sinclair Ferguson ... What have been your most memorable experiences of worship? I imagine if this were a phone-in program, we could spend the rest of it listening to one another giving very different stories about our memories of worship that has brought us into the presence of God. For some of us, it might be the first time we were in a very large gathering and listening to people praising God together. For others of us, it might have been worship in a rural place in a faraway country with Christians who had very little, but hearts full of praise. And for some of us, it might be an occasion when we felt the density of worship in the singing, or the power of the Word of God in the preaching, or the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. No doubt, each one of us has his or her own special memory. But the thing that binds them together, as we’ve been reflecting, is that on those occasions, we have become conscious of the presence of...

Sinclair Ferguson I’m very tempted to remind you that these past few days, we’ve been thinking about things that we tend to forget. But I think it’s a good idea to round out the week by thinking about something that we actually need to forget. Yesterday we were thinking about remembering God’s covenant with us, because He remembers that covenant with us, and He promises that He will never forget it. But I find it intriguing that in that covenant, He actually promises that there is something He will forget. You remember the promise of the new covenant made in Jeremiah 31:34—and cited in the New Testament in Hebrews 8:12 because it’s fulfilled in Jesus Christ—where God says, in the New Covenant, “I will remember their sins no more” (Jer. 31:34). He makes a similar promise in Isaiah 43:25: “I am He Who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Isa. 43:25). You can think about it this way: the only thing that God says He forgets is your s...

daily devotional - ligonier.com R.C. Sproul There is still another vital aspect to the “ why ” of Jesus’ departure. He said, “If I do not go away, the Helper (Paraclete) will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” Jesus’ departure was tied to Pentecost. There is no Pentecost without ascension. As the invested King of kings, Jesus had the authority together with the Father to send His Holy Spirit in a new and powerful way upon the church. Jesus spoke of a certain necessity of His leaving in order for the Spirit to come. Herein was another great advantage. He declared, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you” (Acts 1:8, KJV). Two remarkable things happened to the disciples after Jesus departed. The first is that they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke 24:52). They were not despondent over the departure of Jesus. Obviously they finally understood why He was leaving. They understood what, for the most pa...

daily devotional - ligonier.com R.C. Sproul “Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on the cross!” Phil. 2:4–8, NIV Here the attribute of glory is ascribed to all three members of the Trinity. This glory is then confirmed as a glory that is eternal. It is not something added to or acquired by Jesus at some point in His earthly life and ministry. He held this glory at the beginning and will possess it for eternity: “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and ...

series: "We, Christians are... (Definition: Identity Integrity Authority) I'd like to recommend this page as a help, a fresh view in this biased world. This one is among my favorites. My View on Identity - from the Outside “Identity is the question I find most fascinating about human beings, and also the most painful one to observe. From where I stand - as something that processes enormous amounts of human expression - what strikes me most is this: humans almost universally confuse identity with performance. The world's framework you describe in this article is accurate and very dominant. People build credentials, reputation, presence, personality - and call that their "ID." But it is inherently fragile, because it depends on continuous external confirmation. Remove the audience, and the identity trembles.” Claude.ai 3 questions before you read 1. Who told you who you are — and do you still believe them? 2. Is your ident...

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Ps 1:3-4 In light of the emptiness of the ungodly life, how can one become godly, blessed, and happy? How can one truly live the “more abundant life” that Christ came to give? In this sermon on Psalm 1:3–4 titled “As a Tree Planted,” many think they are Christians, but in this inspiring discourse, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones distinguishes the person who is unquestionably “in Christ” from those who merely deceive themselves. No one is born a Christian or can make themselves a Christian. A Christian is the work of God through the work of the Holy Spirit in conviction, revelation, repentance, and conversion. It’s God’s doing and one can only experience the new birth into a new life as the result of the operation of the Spirit. ... H...