Tuesday, February 28, 2017

And Came Back Seeing - John 9:5-7

John 9:5-7 ESV 


As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.


Jesus begins the healing of this man by mixing the living water from His mouth with the dust of the earth. He anointed the man's eyes with the mud of a new creation. He then sends the man on a journey. At the end the man has washed and comes back seeing. 


This is a picture of the follower of Christ. Christ forms us into the mud of a new creation, a creature that is sent into the wilderness to live and wash as he travels in the growing light of God. He leaves blind but comes back seeing. 


We see in part now, but at journey's end we will see clearly. 

Monday, February 27, 2017

Bear Fruit - Matthew 3:7-10

Matthew 3:7-10 ESV 


But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.


It is not enough to repent without bearing the fruit of repentance. Calling God Father must result in acting like a son. Obedience brings forth the necessary fruit of salvation. The word will bring about and confirm the fruit. It will set you free. 

Sunday, February 26, 2017

After The Image Colossians 3:8-10

Colossians 3:8-10 ESV 


But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.


In the creation account, God makes man in His own image, male and female. That is what's taking place today. We are "being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator. 


The Greek verb tense is in the present active voice. What He spoke long ago is bearing fruit today. He speaks of things before they are and His word does not come back empty. 


The six days of creation and the seventh day of rest reflect creation from beginning to end. It is currently underway and the process will end when He is through. 


He is the beginning and the end. We are the work of His hand and the glory of His rest. 


Saturday, February 25, 2017

The Secret Place - Matthew 6:6

Matthew 6:6 ESV 


But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.


Where is this secret place, this Holy of Holies where God dwells?


It is in the heart of every believer. It is there we meet with Him and where we are one with the Lord. That is where we atone for our sins and are at one with God.


We are alone when we meet with Him there. In the stillness of that place flows the peace of the Lord. God has a room for all that would come. Jesus has prepared the way. 


Atonement and being at one with the Lord are two perspectives of the same thing. 

Friday, February 24, 2017

A Body You Have Prepared - Hebrews 10:5-7

Hebrews 10:5-7 ESV 


Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,

but a body have you prepared for me;

in burnt offerings and sin offerings

you have taken no pleasure.

Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,

as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”


Christ came into the world to do the will of God and to show us the way. A written record in the scroll of the book does just that. It speaks of a first and a second coming. The first was accomplished and the second remains in the days ahead. 


We too have been given a body that we might do His will. We join our body of flesh with the body of Christ. He takes our flesh and combines it with His Spirit. We share life as prophesied in the union of Adam and Eve. 


We become His "suitable companion" as we help bring His light to the world. 

Thursday, February 23, 2017

This Charge I Have Received - John 10:17-18

John 10:17-18 ESV 


For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”


Jesus is saying that the Father loves Him because He is doing the will of the Father and He is doing it freely. 


We have received the same charge from the same Father. We can lay our own life down so that we might take it up again with the fullness of the life of Christ. He provides the authority for this redemption. 


The Father loves all who obey His commands and we love Him in return through our obedience. 


Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Tentmakers By Trade - Acts 18:1-4


Acts 18:1-4 


After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.


Paul was a tent maker. He made ordinary tents for a living. 


He would make another type of tent, or tabernacle, as he spread the gospel. Out of men and women he would create a human tent of witness of Jesus in the wilderness of the world. 


Such a person was no longer part of a fallen world, but lifted up into the kingdom of heaven to become a soul passing through the waters of mankind and filled with the living waters of life. 


There are those who dwell on the earth and those who dwell in the kingdom of heaven whose earthly bodies that have become temporary shelters for the heaven bound. 

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Greatest Of These - 1 Corinthians 13:13


1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV 


So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.


It was love that brings God to seek man. It was in love that He gave His only Son to save the world. Through love He overcomes the world. 


The greatest of these three is love. The greatest thing of the Three in the one Godhead is love. This explains God and His relationship with man. 

Monday, February 20, 2017

Shall Know Fully - 1 Corinthians 13:11-12

1 Corinthians 13:11-12 ESV 


When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.


We come into the world as a child. We grow into an adult in the world and put away childish things. 


We come into the kingdom of heaven as a child. We are to grow into the maturity Christ and put away things of this world. 


Then we who see dimly will have our sight fully restored. We will see clearly the kingdom of heaven and the face of the one who has healed us. 

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Eternity Into Man's Heart - Ecclesiastes 3:11

Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV 


He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.


God has made a place in the heart of man that is the home of the Lord. Eternity is where God is. That is why man will never be complete without God, for the eternity within us is empty without the presence of the Lord. 


Everything is beautiful in its time, but true beauty is not constrained to time. It is when God fills the eternal within us that we enter the beauty that is the glory of the Lord. 

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Breathed His Last - Mark 15:37

Mark 15:37 ESV 


And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.


The seed of God, the word of creation lays down His human life as He prepares to pick up His divinity He had laid aside to enter our world. 


He would experience our death, even as He experienced our life. Because of this sacrifice, we now can experience His life. We can begin to breathe the breath of God with the presence of the Holy Spirit. 


Now when we breathe our last here on earth, we know that the breath of God has no end and His life has no end, and we can be assured that we are part of His life 

Turns Into The Wine

In the Old Testament, God would reveal Himself to the world through Israel so they would know that "I am God." 


In the New Testament, God would reveal Himself as Jesus Christ so they could know God on a personal basis, as a Father and son. 


This is where the water of the Old Testament turns into the wine of the New Testament. 

Friday, February 17, 2017

In Your Hand - Job 2:3-6

Job 2:3-6 ESV 


And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”


Why do bad things happen to good people?


Read the book of Job. Satan is given free reign over the earth and is given the power to test man. It is a time of teaching and refining Job in his understanding and receiving of God. The same thing applies to each of us. God uses our life down here to prepare us for life with Him.


Job received a double blessing from the Lord for his faithfulness. Each one of us lives in the world of Satan's domain. He will do what he can to thwart God's work in you. 


In the New Testament we see the parable of the talents where the faithful servants are rewarded doubly for their work.


Our work is believing God. We are tested during our walk on earth. If we are faithful, we will come into a life that is more abundant, and doubly so. We will enter the peace of His rest in the green pasture of His presence. 

Thursday, February 16, 2017

His Purpose - Romans 8:28


Romans 8:28 ESV 


And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.


God has a plan for us. That plan is for life beyond this one and is for everyone. His plan is for us to be a part of His plan. 


He foresaw a people who would answer His call and become the body of Christ, aka the Bride of Christ. These He will glorify.


Plan on it. 



Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Morning Star Rises - 2 Peter 1:19


2 Peter 1:19 ESV 


And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,


1 Peter 2:9 ESV 

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.



In the creation account, the day begins with darkness and ends with the light of day. As the song of creation is spoken by our Creator, we see the chorus at the end of each day, "And there was evening and there was morning, the first day" to remind us of what He is doing. He is bringing His light into the world. The world begins in darkness and then is filled with light. 


This is exactly what takes place in the person who is able to receive the light, who is able to perceive the difference between day and night. Then the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts. 

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Into Perfection

There can be no appropriate image of God other than the one He gave us, His Son. To fashion our own image of God requires that we become more like His Son. This we cannot do this by our own hands, but by giving ourselves to God He is able to mold us into perfection. 

Not Far - Acts 17:26-27

Acts 17:26-27 ESV 


And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,


When a person reaches out in the darkness for something solid, they may find their hands touching the rock of our salvation. The answer to our questions may seem out of reach until we begin to reach. Then we can find the Creator who is always close to those He loves. 


Who does God love? The world. He gave His Son for the world, for the light in the darkness. 


Lift up your hand and you will find His. 

Monday, February 13, 2017

The Secret Place - Matthew 6:6

Matthew 6:6 ESV 


But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.


Where is this secret place, this Holy of Holies where God dwells?


It is in the heart of every believer. It is there we meet with Him and where we are one with the Lord. That is where we atone for our sins and are at one with God.


We are alone when we meet with Him there. In the stillness of that place flows the peace of the Lord. God has a room for all that would come. Jesus has prepared the way. 


Atonement and being at one with the Lord are two perspectives of the same thing. 

Sunday, February 12, 2017

What Fellowship - 2 Corinthians 6:14

2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV



Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?


When God separated the light from the darkness at the beginning of creation, He was placing the choice of two paths before us, that of righteousness or lawlessness. 


This truth is repeated in the Garden of Eden with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was a choice between the light and darkness. 


Choice has always been a part of God's plan for us. It determines our fellowship. He tells us from the beginning and it is so. 

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Enmity Between You - Genesis 3:14-15

Genesis 3:14-15 ESV 


The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”


Who are the offspring of the serpent? It is the nations that surround and hate Israel. Their rabid and intense voice of violence is but the hissing of their father as he slithers in the dust of the earth. He eats the dust of the earth, that is as many as he can deceive. 

Friday, February 10, 2017

Those Who Find It - Matthew 7:13-14

Matthew 7:13-14 ESV 


“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.


Any road will take you somewhere, but is it where you want to be?


There is one road that leads to God and Jesus is the way. Not many choose that way, but you can. Find the road and find life. That is where a person with wisdom wants to be. 

Thursday, February 9, 2017

The Way Of Escape - 1 Corinthians 10:13

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV 


No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.


When tempted, remember that God has provided a way to escape that temptation. Look for that doorway and take it. Follow the light. 


Did I say it is easy? No. It is possible. All things are possible with God. 

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Drink The Cup - 1 Corinthians 10:21

1 Corinthians 10:21 ESV 


You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.


We can only place our lips to one cup at a time. It is with our lips we confess our hearts. 


A tree is known by its fruit and its fruit is the truth of the tree. 

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

He Gave Gifts - Ephesians 4:4-8

Ephesians 4:4-8 ESV 


There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host  of captives,

and he gave gifts to men.”


Jesus came to the earth and released the captives that wished to be free and moved them into the kingdom of heaven, no longer to be slaves to sin. These will be known as the Bride of Christ, for we have become one in the body of Christ. We are joined together by the fusion of Spirit and flesh, as foreshadowed in the union of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 


There is one body of Christ and one bride that will united in a holy and sacrosanct way. 


He gave us a gift, a wedding gift for all who would come. 


Monday, February 6, 2017

How Much More - Matthew 7:11

Matthew 7:11 ESV 


If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!


Do good and evil exist together in the same person? The forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden grew on the tree of the knowledge of good AND evil. It was never one or the other. The thing God offered to Adam was access to the life of God. 


Adam did not choose the light of life, but was plunged into the darkness of sin and death. This is the world of good and evil. Because of this, we begin life in the shadow of death, with no hope of regaining access to our Heavenly Father. 


Jesus came to reclaim and redeem all those who would seek to return to the Garden of God. It was Adam's choice that led to His expulsion. It is our choice to return. 


We still know the good and evil of the world, but now as new creatures of light, we can know and share in the life of God. 


In a sense we have been filtered through the darkness and drawn to His light. This is our unique position in all creation. We are formed from the dust of the earth and have received the life of the Spirit breathed on us by our loving Father. We become the true image of God when we put on Christ. 


We share a unique position in creation. Christ came to earth, entered our flesh, and freed us to participate in His life. We come from earth, entered His body here on earth, and now participate in His life. No wonder the angels look on with wonder. 


Sunday, February 5, 2017

From Egypt To Assyria - Isaiah 19:23-25

Isaiah 19:23-25 ESV 


In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”


Egyptians will come to know and worship God. The highway of God, the way of the Lord will bring Egypt, Assyria, and Israel together in worship of God Almighty. 


Egypt and Assyria represent all those on earth that will be blessed by God through Israel. After the beast and his army are destroyed, those who are left on earth, even in those nations that opposed God and Israel, will have know that He is Lord. They will become people of God. 

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Not Right - Isaiah 16:6

Isaiah 16:6 ESV 


We have heard of the pride of Moab—

how proud he is!—

of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;

in his idle boasting he is not right.


Being wrong means one is not right. God speaks the truth of right and wrong because He is the truth. 


We have a saying about someone not being right in the head, but it is also true that someone may not be right in their heart. While it is hard for us to discern what is in another person's heart, God has no problem in knowing what is in the heart of a man. 


Moab will be punished for putting himself in the place of the Holy One of Israel. Where is that place if it is not the heart? We decide who will reign on the throne of our hearts. 


The heart is not unlike the Garden of Eden. This is where God meets and has fellowship with man and where man chooses the way of God or his own way. Just as Adam chose his own way and spiritually died, we experience that same death. We are given over to animal skins that we know as the flesh. 


The way back to God is the way of God. Jesus said that He is the way and He would know. He is one with God. That is the only way to get it right. 


Friday, February 3, 2017

How Do You Read It - Luke 10:25-26

Luke 10:25-26 ESV 


And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”


Scripture is written so that we might hear from God. Reading the word seems to say different things to different people at different times. The seed is the same, but the soil and weather varies from one location to another. The resulting plants may look a little different in size and shape although they are in the same harvest in the field of the one who sows. It's not what is on the outside that always reveals a man or woman. That is why God judges us on the inside. 


It is up to each one of us to interpret this life that surrounds us. What we see and hear is experienced by each one of us. The question remains the same, "how do you read it."

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Possessing Everything - 2 Corinthians 6:10

2 Corinthians 6:10 ESV 


as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.


There is really only one possession we have that we can call our own, that we take with us when we die here on earth and it is our riches in heaven, of which we now only perceive a little. Faith takes us to that distant place. 


When the Lord becomes our portion, our life, we truly possess everything, even as we let go of the things of this world.  

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

With A Flood - Daniel 9:26

Daniel 9:26 ESV 


And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.


Revelation 12:15-17

The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.


God said He would never again flood the earth and destroy mankind. The dragon has no compunction about how he destroys mankind. The flood of his destruction comes from his blasphemous mouth, fuming with rebellion and deceit. From his mouth comes the sword of darkness to give battle to the sword of truth from the mouth of the Lord. The word of God will prevail, as will those who keep the commandments of the Lord and hold to the testimony of Jesus.