Friends, today is Ash Wednesday on the church's calendar. It starts the season of Lent that is a forty-day preparation period for Easter Sunday. Count back forty days from Easter (excluding Sundays) and you will arrive at this Wednesday… exactly seven weeks before Easter. This forty-day period corresponds to Jesus’ forty-day fast in the wilderness … Continue reading Ashes on Ash Wednesday
Advent Week #2: Relinquishing Riches To Make Us Rich
We all have difficulty relinquishing things that we cherish. I still remember my first ten-speed bicycle. It was a fully equipped, Schwinn beauty that I received as a Christmas present. Not long after I received it, I allowed a friend to borrow it for a quick ride. She proceeded to get hit by a car … Continue reading Advent Week #2: Relinquishing Riches To Make Us Rich
Prayer of Confession of Sin – Philippians 2:1-11
Holy and gracious Father, You have a most scandalous way of rescuing proud people: The One who possesses real authority to assert His rights lays them aside to humbly serve and die for us. We beseech Your forgiveness for our pride which has destroyed our ability to truly love and care for others. We confess … Continue reading Prayer of Confession of Sin – Philippians 2:1-11
The Powerful Benefits of Communion
What benefits should you expect to receive when you celebrate the Lord's Supper? 1 . Right reception of the Lord’s Supper has a “humbling” effect on the soul. The bread and wine serve as emblems of Christ’s body and blood and remind us of how sinful sin must be! 2 . Right reception of the … Continue reading The Powerful Benefits of Communion
Praying Scripture | Revelation 5
A. Preparation: Pray and Read Through Your Passage Record your prayer for God’s help. Father, you are the enthroned God of heaven who rules over all. Jesus, you are the slain Lamb whose sacrifice purchases our redemption. Speak to me as I unburden my heart in your presence and answer you from your Word in … Continue reading Praying Scripture | Revelation 5
Why We Need the Book at the End of the Bible
How easy it is to become distracted, depressed, angry, and frustrated when looking out at our troubled and fallen world. The Apostle John in the book of Revelation offers us another alternative. It is to worship: “To quicken [your] conscience by the holiness of God,to feed [your] mind with the truth of God,to purge [your] … Continue reading Why We Need the Book at the End of the Bible
Jesus Initiates A Wake Up Call to His Church – Revelation 3:1-6
What are the leading factors that cause spiritual decline and demise in the lives of professing believers? 1. Lack of watchfulness (Rev. 3:2). Carelessness about one’s body is ofttimes fatal to it; and unwatchfulness over the heart breeds spiritual decay. 2. Spiritual sloth (Ecclesiastes 10:18 - Through laziness, the rafters sag;because of idle hands, the … Continue reading Jesus Initiates A Wake Up Call to His Church – Revelation 3:1-6
How to pray Scripture? A Guide through Revelation 3:1-6
1. Preparation: Pray and Read Through Your Passage Record your prayer for God’s help. Open up my eyes to the fair beauty of you my merciful Lord who comes to wake up a church full of hypocrites so that we might enjoy an intimate, eternal companionship with our Lord. Send the reviving wind of your … Continue reading How to pray Scripture? A Guide through Revelation 3:1-6
A Guided Prayer of Confession from Proverbs 6:16-19
"There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him:” Haughty eyes (Where and when have I looked down upon others—pride of race, face, place, and grace? Where and when have I possessed an exaggerated sense of my own opinions and interests, and a diminished awareness of the needs of … Continue reading A Guided Prayer of Confession from Proverbs 6:16-19
God’s Overarching Purpose in Your Rescue
God’s purpose is to make us like Himself - holy and pure. Ephesians 5:25-27 -- "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any … Continue reading God’s Overarching Purpose in Your Rescue
