Tag Archives: Light vs Darkness

God Is In The Relocation Business

If you study the Scripture you will find that MAN is not the focal point in human history. GOD is. God made everything. The Scripture opens with:

In the beginning GOD created … (Genesis 1:1)

and ends with:

The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you (Revelation 22:21)

God made us. God loves us. God knows what is best for us. God will be glorified. God will ultimately triumph. God said:

Isaiah 45:5-10 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. 8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it. 9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? 10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?

God is the first cause of all things. God is the Creator of all life. God is. Not us, but God. God is the Source of all life. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15). God’s Will will come to pass. The story of Scripture is that God made us, we rebelled against God, but God pursues us still. He wants to bring us into union with Himself.

John 3:17 God sent His Son into the world not to condemn it, but that the world through Jesus might be saved (my paraphrase)

God is not glorified in a lost world.
God is not glorified when racism abounds.
God is not glorified when people hate – and hurt – people.
God is not glorified when humans try and be God.

We need to relocate our hearts and minds to God…. Continue reading

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The IF Of Salvation

The word “IF” occurs in the King James Version of the Scripture 1,595 times in 1,420 verses. The first use of the word “IF” occurs when Cain was upset that God would not accept his sacrifice. God told Cain:

Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

God was emphasizing to Cain that He expected Cain to bring an animal sacrifice, not the fruit of the field. Had Cain done that, the Lord would have accepted it. God demanded animal sacrifices because, as we later learn in Scripture, these animal sacrifices pointed out that human works cannot permanently cover our sins in God’s eyes. We all needed Jesus Christ as the “Lamb of God” to come and give His life for us. Jesus is “the Lamb without spot or blemish (John 1:29), “Christ our Passover sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Cain refused to listen to the IF of God, and murdered his brother Abel. Cain not only lost the possibility of salvation, but lived the rest of his life a marked man for the evil he did.

IF is used so many ways in the Scripture:
Noah released a dove to see IF the waters were receding (Genesis 8:8)
Abraham by IF gave grace to Lot, allowing him to choose (Genesis 13:9)
IF God found just ten righteous in Sodom, they would live (Genesis 18:32)

Some of the great IF statements come from Jesus. Continue reading

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Being A Sober Minded Christian In A Sin Soaked World

The Roman Empire, much like America today, had given itself fully over to sin. The wages of sin is death. Sin unconfessed, sin renamed, sin justified by humanity, sin is a disease much worse than the Coronavirus ever was. It was sin that brought about a world wide flood in the days of Noah, sin that caused Adam and Eve to leave Paradise.

America shares much with the ancient Romans, as sin is cherished by many in our nation. We are today living in a post-Christian America. As a nation our leaders are making bad decisions, decisions that are not supported by the God of the Scripture. I believe, as Peter believed, that “the end of all things is at hand”. Believing this, Peter exhorted the Church that Jesus loves to

“be ye therefore SOBER and WATCH unto prayer”

Word Study Let’s focus on these key words. Be “SOBER and WATCH”. What do these words mean? The word translated SOBER is the Greek… Continue reading

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A Christmas Light

Why did God send His Son into the world? Because without Jesus, evil is unchecked. The life that rejects Christ as Lord and Savior can become as mean as Herod’s life was. Oh Beloved, this world needs Jesus. Oh Beloved, we all need Jesus. The Light of God led the Wise Men to Jesus. The Light of God beckons you to Jesus. If you do not know Him as Lord and Savior, I pray that this Christmas your focus is not on the presents under the tree … but the Presence of God Who died on the Tree. He gave Himself for you and for me. Trust Him. Believe He gave Himself for your sins. Obey the Gospel:… Continue reading

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Standing Strong In Chaotic Times

So many Christians today have been so bullied by the pagan culture around us that they have compromised with evil, and keep silent rather than be rebuked. The Bible is said to be outmoded, and any who stand up for it’s truths are archaic and against progress.

Today even the state is getting involved in attacks against Christianity. The Supreme Court of the United States should be wholeheartedly endorsing the First Amendment, protecting the rights of Christians to worship. Instead even our Chief Justices have turned a blind eye to state terrorism of the Church. But this isn’t new.

In England prior to the colonization of America the state religion was Anglicanism, and Bible believing Christians who did not agree with the state owned Church of England were persecuted. William Penn, the eventual founder of Pennsylvania, was… Continue reading

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Whose Home Are You?

Those who were “within” the Family of God would be able to understand the parables because the Children of God go to God, and God explains the parables. But those who are “without”, who have not received Christ as Lord and Savior, would not be able to understand the parable. The Apostle Matthew explains why Jesus spoke in parables by quoting a prophet called Asaph (1 Chronicles 25:2), a message he wrote in Psalm 78:2.

Matthew 13:34-35 All these things spake Jesus unto… Continue reading

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What Can I Do When All Is Broken (Covid-19 Sermons)

Our nation will not come back to stability until the Gospel of Christ is heard, shared, and magnified. The solution to the problems that ail us as a nation is spiritual. Let us, like Nehemiah, mourn where we have fallen. But let’s not leave it there. You cannot change the world by staying in the salt shaker. Beloved, we are to get out into the world, and love others as Christ has commanded. We need to be salt and light while we can. These are exciting days. Let’s look to God, relying upon Him and His Word. For a better America. In Christ’s name I pray this. Continue reading

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Being Salt And Light (Red Letters Series #5)

As God the Son sits on the mountain, His disciples sit at His feet. Jesus tells those who follow Him that they must be salt and light to this present world. As Jesus says this, He establishes Himself both as Lord and God over His people. Salt and light have one thing in common: Continue reading

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How’s Your Candle Doing? Red Letters #3

All humans are created in God’s image – even those little babies still in their mother’s womb. These children are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”, just as we are. The unborn have value. People of color have value. All people have value. Letting our light shine is standing up for what is right and Biblical. It is not to go along with the crowd, but to go along with Jesus. Jesus would not have supported discrimination nor abortion. … Continue reading

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Children Of Light (Part 1)

We put off thoughts of the day of our death. Yet the Bible does not hide this unpleasant truth. Though I look upward, and look forward to the Rapture of Christ’s Church, I also know that many have looked for this catching up for over 2000 years, and met the end of this life and the beginning of eternity without it. Of the Rapture Jesus said: Continue reading

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