Jesus Freely Died For Your Sins

Scripture: Romans 8: 31-35

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Scripture Commentary: Jesus died so you can have everlasting life

Do you ever think that because you aren’t good enough for God, He won’t save you? Do you ever feel as if salvation is for everyone else but you? If yes, then these verses are especially for you. God gave His Son for you; Jesus died for you! He isn’t going to hold back the gift of salvation! If Christ gave His life for you, He isn’t going to turn around and condemn you! God will not withhold anything you need to live for Him.

Paul says that Jesus is interceding for us in heaven. God has acquitted us and has removed our sin and guilt. Therefore, it’s Satan, not God, who accuses us. And when Satan accuses us, Jesus advocates in our defense, and stands at God’s right hand to present our case.

No matter what happens to us, not matter where we are, we can never be lost to His love. If we believe these overwhelming assurances, we will not be afraid of anything.

In Christ we are super-conquerors, and His love will protect us at all times.

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Romans Chapter 8

God So Loved You That He Gave His Son

Scripture: John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Scripture Commentary: You are so loved by God that He wants to spend eternity with you

The entire gospel comes to a focus in this verse. For God so loved the world … God’s love is not static or self-centered; it reaches out and draws us in. God loves us so much – to the point of sending His Son to pay for our sins.

What Jesus did on the cross 2017 years ago was for all of us …and for each of us today – yesterday – tomorrow! He accepted our punishment, paid the price for our sins, and then offered us forgiveness and the opportunity to live eternally with Him.

Give yourself to Jesus and learn about eternal life

Some people are repulsed by the idea of living forever because their lives are miserable. If you give yourself to Jesus, you will learn that this life is not what He is offering.

In God’s eternal life, there is no death, sickness, emnity, evil, or sin. If you do not know Christ, you make choices as though this life is all you have. If you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of GOd, then in reality this life is just the introduction to Him and eternity.

Believing means trusting and relying on God

To believe is to put Christ in charge of your life. Believing is both trusting His Word as reliable, and relying on Him for the power to change you into what your heart and soul want to be, which is a servant to Our Lord.

Receive this new life by faith and begin to evaluate all that happens from an eternal perspective. If you’ve never trusted Christ, let this promise of everlasting life be yours. Believe!

God so loved YOU that He gave His only Son!

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John Chapter 3

Be Honest With God and Trust Him in Your Anguish

Scripture: Job 7: 1, 11

Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?(1) Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.(11)

Scripture Commentary: Do not act out in your anguish

Job felt deep anguish and bitterness, and he spoke honestly to God about his feelings to let out his frustration.

How is your relationship with God? Can you talk to Him and be honest?

If you express your feelings to God, you can deal with them without exploding in harsh words and actions. Job referred to his own integrity, not because he was sinless but because he had a right relationship with God.

No one except Jesus Christ has been sinless, free from all wrong thoughts and actions.

Take your troubles to God in prayer

All of us, like Job, need to make some changes in our attitude toward God. We must obey God to the best of our ability at all times and in all aspects of our life.

The next time strong emotions threaten to overwhelm you, express them openly – take them to God in prayer. God will help you gain an eternal perspective on the situation and give you greater ability to deal with it constructively.

Do not forget that Satan will always work to get you to forsake God. Your suffering may not be the result of your sin, but you must be careful not to sin as a result of your suffering.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Job Chapter 7

Lord, Keep My Soul and Deliver Me

Scripture: Psalms 25: 10-11, 18-21

All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.(10,11) Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins. Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred. O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.(18-21)

Scripture Commentary: God, deliver me from evil

We can’t lose when we stay on the path God has set for us. But we know we’re weak, and we fall in times of weakness. This is when we need the Lord to deliver us from ourselves and help us stay on the right road.

We are bombarded with relentless appeals to go in various directions but when you read The Bible, you will find God and help is on the way.

Recognize God for Who He Is

To fear God is to love Him. Recognize God for who He is: Holy, Almighty, Righteous, Pure, All Knowing, All Powerful, and Wise.

When we regard God correctly, we gain a clearer picture of ourselves: sinful, weak, frail, and needy.

We need two powerful forces to preserve us: integrity and uprightness

Uprightness makes us learn God’s requirements. Integrity keeps us from claiming to be upright while living as if we don’t know God.

Vow to consistently walk in the Shepherd’s way.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Psalms Chapter 25

“Have you considered my servant, Job?”

Scripture: Job 1: 8-11

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

Scripture Commentary: Have you been a fair weather believer or do you have the faith of Job?

Satan came to God after roaming the earth looking for those whom he could possibly turn away from God. And God asked Satan, “Have you considered my servant, Job?”

Satan attacked Job’s motives for being faithful to God, saying that Job was blameless and upright only because he had no reason to turn against God. Everything in Job’s life had gone well. Satan wanted to prove that Job worshiped God not out of love, but because God had given him so much.

Satan accurately analyzed why many people trust God. They are fair weather believers, following God only when everything is going well or for what they can get.

God expects you to express your faith even when you’re struggling

Adversity destroys this superficial faith. Adversity, however, strengthens real faith by causing the believer to dig their roots deeper into God to withstand life’s storms.

Although God loves us, believing and obeying Him does not shelter us from life’s calamities. Setbacks, tragedies, and sorrows strike Christians and non-Christians alike. But for the Christian, God expects us to express our faith to the world during our trials.

How do you respond to the trials in your life? Do you ask God, “Why me?” or do you say, “Use me!”?

God is never caught by surprise by our troubles

The conversation between God and Satan teaches us an important fact about God: He is fully aware of every attempt by Satan to bring suffering and difficulty upon us.

While God may allow us to suffer for a reason beyond our understanding, He is never caught by surprise by our troubles and He is always compassionate. God’s love for us is truly immeasurable.

Think of how God has lifted you, your family and loved ones out of harm’s way, even when you were in darkness. God’s love is true and unchanging.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Job Chapter 1

Good and Evil Are Part of Life

Scripture: Job 2: 4-5, 9-10

And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.(4-5) Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.(9-10)

Scripture Commentary: Shall we only receive good at the hand of God?

Satan held the opinion that Job was faithful only because of God’s blessings. When calamity strikes, there are many people who question God’s goodness and justice. Satan is working hard to get you to curse God. Good and evil are part of life, and you will receive both.

Don’t give up on God because He doesn’t give up on you. Faith in God isn’t a guarantee that you’ll only receive good, and lack of faith does not guarantee that you will be beset by troubles. If this were so, people would believe in God simply when times are good, and to get rich.

God is capable of rescuing you from suffering; however, He may allow suffering to come for reasons you can’t understand. Satan’s strategy is to get you to doubt God. He may inflict physical and mental suffering to get you to denounce God.

Place your faith in God; don’t be fooled by Satan. Everything won’t always be good. You will be tested in life to see and feel the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ at work in you and for you.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Job Chapter 2

God Didn’t Send Jesus to Condemn the World

Scripture: John 3: 17-18

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Scripture Commentary: Jesus was sent into the world to save us

God sent His son Jesus Christ into this world for our sins, to die for us to give us a direct path to God. And still there are people who reject Him.

Some people look for points of disagreement so they can sow seeds of discord and doubt. Some people are repulsed by the idea of eternal life because their lives are miserable. They have rejected Jesus because they think the next life is an extension of this life.

What does it mean to be born again?

John 3:3 says, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

When we are born again, it is not of the flesh but born again of the Spirit. We accept Jesus as the Only Begotten Son of God, believing that He died and rose on the third day and went to heaven to His Father.

To believe is to put your trust and confidence in Jesus. If you have never trusted Christ, let this promise of everlasting life and believe in Christ.

Read the Entire Chapter:
John Chapter 3

God Is A Very Present Help in Trouble

Scripture: Psalms 46: 1-3

(To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.) God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

Scripture Commentary: Don’t be afraid because God is always present

The fear of mountains or cities suddenly crumbling into the sea as the result of a nuclear blast haunts many people today. But the psalmist says that even if our present day world ends, we need not fear.

In the face of utter destruction we can have a quiet confidence in God’s ability to save us if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior. It seems impossible to consider the end of the world without becoming consumed by fear, but the Bible is clear.

God is our refuge even in the face of total destruction. He is not merely a temporary retreat; He is our eternal refuge and can provide strength in any circumstance.

Take time each day to be still and exalt God

War and destruction are inevitable, but so is God’s final victory. At that time all will stand quietly before the Lord Almighty. How proper it is then for us to be still now, reverently honoring Him and His power and majesty.

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Psalms Chapter 46

The Wicked Find No Favor With God

Scripture: Ezekiel 18: 24

But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

Scripture Commentary: Sooner or later, wicked people are punished

A typical childish response to punishment is to say, “That’s not fair!” In reality God is fair but when we sin, we have broken the rules. It is not God who must live up to our idea of fairness; instead, it is we who must live up to his.

God is the God of love but He is also the God of perfect justice. His perfect love causes Him to be merciful to those who recognize their sins and turn back to Him but He cannot wink or ignore those who willfully sin.

Wicked people die not only physically but also spiritually. God takes no joy in their deaths. He would prefer that they turn to Him and have eternal life.

Step forward in faith and work to live up to God’s standards

If you renounce your life’s direction of sin and rebellion and turn to God, He will give you a new direction, a new love, and a new power to change.

Don’t spend your time looking for the loopholes in God’s law. Instead, live up to God’s standards. You can begin in faith, trusting in God’s power to change your heart and mind. Then determine to live each day with Him, and by being attuned, you will feel the strength of His love for you.

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Ezekiel Chapter 18

The Bible Helps You Enter God’s House

Scripture: Mark 13: 34-37

For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Scripture Commentary: The keys to God’s house are His Words, The Bible.

Jesus has left us with the keys to His Father’s House. The keys are His Words, The Bible. His footprints are on the ground, in the sand and on the floor.

Our role is to be the porters, the gatekeepers, Christ’s servants. Are you a servant for God? Or are you a self-serving person?

The gatekeeper or doorman is the one who is spreading God’s Gospel. It’s the person who is trying his/her best to live a Godly life.

Prepare for Jesus’ return

We don’t know, as God’s servants, when the Master will return. We plan for events in our lives such as births, weddings, home purchases, and car purchases.

But are we preparing for Jesus? Our Lord has gone to prepare our rooms. What are you doing to prepare for the journey?

When God has given us another second, minute, hour, day, we are to give thanks and go about spreading His Gospel to as many people as possible.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Mark Chapter 13