I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7 Finished – God is not interested in you just crossing the finish line. Do you know that? Do you know that getting to heaven is not the goal, that dying “saved” is not what this race…
I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7 Good Fight – Wouldn’t it be nice if we could be as bold as Paul is as he describes his life? Could you say to the world that you have fought the good fight? Do you…
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Hebrews 12:11 Peaceful Fruit – Is God interested in your happiness? Sometimes it doesn’t seem so, especially when we are in the midst of discipline. Then…
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Hebrews 12:11 Sorrowful – Ever been thrown for a loop? This English idiom describes what it feels like to be battered by experience. It’s not very…
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when he cried to Him for help, He heard. Psalm 22:24 Despised – David’s psalm is only one description of the most despised person to ever live. Isaiah completes the picture in chapter 53. …
But You, O LORD, be not far off; O You my help, hasten to my assistance. Psalm 22:19 Help – Psalm 22 is famous because Jesus recited its pregnant opening from the cross. Of course, He did not have to remind His audience that the rest of the psalm is a tale of vindication for…
But seek first His kingdom, and His righteousness Matthew 6:33 Seek – God does not play “Hide and Go Seek.” No matter what the world says about the invisibility and absence of God, He is clearly seen by anyone who knows where to look. In fact, He goes out of His way to make Himself…
Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7 Cheerful – September is the usual month for sermons on stewardship. Congregations look over the shortfall in the budget. They finish the estimates for the new year. Then there…
They are new every morning. Lamentations 3:23 New – Don’t you love this verse? Of course, you have to read the last part of the previous verse to know that it refers to God’s mercies. His lovingkindnesses are new (hadash) every morning. The Hebrew might also mean “refreshed.” When you woke up today, did you…
Whether it is good, or whether it is evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send you; so that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God. Jeremiah 42:6 Our God – A strange thing happens when you move from verse 5…
