Don’t Be a Slave to Sin

In the same way, count yourselves dead in sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Romans 6: 11-14

Commentary:

“Count yourselves dead to sin” means that we should regard our old sinful nature as dead and unresponsive to sin. Because of our union and identification with Christ, we are not longer obligated to carry out those old motives, desires, and goals. So let us consider ourselves to be what God has in fact made us. When we were under the law, sin was our master – the law does not justify us or help us overcome sin. We have a new start, and the Holy Spirit will help us become, in our daily experience, what Christ has declared us to be. Without Jesus we would have no choice, we would have to apprentice ourselves to sin. The results would be guilt, suffering, and separation from God. Thanks to Jesus, we can now choose God as our master.

A Bad Day isn’t a Bad Life

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillars, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord you God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

Joel 2: 25-26

Commentary:

When we go through this walk in our lives, we are encountering many things. A young man was going to commit a serious mistake, he dialed what he thought was his home phone number. But instead it was his best friend. He told his friend what he was going to do. His friend told him he was just having a bad day and not a bad life.

We go through these ups and downs for a reason. If life was always good you might feel like you don’t need God. When things are bad and we call on God for help. The helps us find our way out of it it’s a wonderful feeling to know how God has helped you. In these two verses God through Joel is saying if you repent, and live a Christian life he will save you. God’s intentions are to heal and to save.

Jesus Freed Us

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions, that were under the first testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 9: 13

Commentary:

When Jesus went to the cross and died and was raised from the grave. The need for sacrificing animals was removed. As well as the need for someone to ask the Father to forgive our sins. In the Old Testament this was done once a year by the high priest for the people. But Christ, through his death, freed us from the slavery of sin forever. His sacrifice is infinitely more effective than animal sacrifices. With the dead of Christ there is no point in returning to the sacrificial rituals. Christ shed his blood for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to experience spiritual death and eternal separation from God. Jesus is our source of life, not death. With what Jesus did for us, death has no hold on us. We are free.

Trust God Instead of Yourself

Thus saith the Lord; cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and taketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

Jeremiah 17: 5-7

Commentary:

Do you do for yourself, for others, or for God? What do you trust? In these verses the Lord is writing about those who trust in themselves and those who trust in Him. If you are like the people of Judah and trust in yourself then you are like a waterless tree – barren and unfruitful. In contrast, those who trust in God flourish like a tree planted by water. In times of trouble, those who trust in human beings will be impoverished and spiritually weak. But those who trust in Jesus Christ will have abundant strength, not only for themselves, but for the needs of others. Are you satisfied with being unfruitful, or do you, like a well watered tree, have strength for the time of crisis and even some to share as you bear fruit for the Lord? Plant yourself in his pool.

Faith Has Greater Worth Than Gold

Scripture: 1 Peter 1: 3-7

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Scripture Commentary: Our faith has greater wealth than gold!

Do you need encouragement? Peter’s words offer joy and hope in times of trouble, and he bases his confidence on what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Our faith has greater wealth than gold!

We’re called into a living hope of eternal life. Our hope is not only for the future. Never-ending life commences when we trust Christ and join God’s family. No matter what pain or trial we face in this life, we know that it is not our final experience.

Christians can look forward to a family inheritance in the eternal city of God. God has reserved the inheritance; it will never fade or decay; it will have no stain of sin. The best part is that you have an inheritance if you have trusted Christ as your Savior. Place yourself in the Hands of Jesus Christ and see His glory.

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1 Peter Chapter 1

Know God’s Truth

Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, the Lord saith it; albeit I have not spoken? Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God. And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.

Ezekiel 13: 7-9

Commentary:

We today have false prophets before us who are telling us words not of God. They are seeking popularity and speaking for God. The words they say are to make people happy and tell them the lives they live are okay with God. When these people say you may marry man to man or woman to woman, this is not God’s words. Read Romans 1: 25-28 – God says to this false mind, “God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.” False people do not care about the truth, but we – the children of God – know the truth. All we have to do is go to his word in the Bible. The Bible is God’s word and we can not twist it to fit anything else.

Recognize God’s Work in You

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the last of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.

1 Corinthians 15: 2-9

Commentary:

Churches contain people who do not yet believe. Some are moving in the direction of belief, and others are simply pretending. The Good News about Jesus Christ will save us if we firmly believe it and faithfully follow it. Paul had been an enemy of the Christian Church even to the point of capturing and persecuting believers. Thus he felt unworthy to be called an apostle of Christ. He knew that he had worked hard and accomplished much. But only because God had poured kindness and grace upon him. True humility is not convincing yourself that you are worthless, but recognizing God’s work in you. Because Christ rose from the dead as he promised, we know that what he said is true – he is God. Because he rose, our sins are forgiven, as he forgave Paul’s he will forgive yours. Put yourself in the hands of Christ and trust him.

Learning From Adversity – Isaiah 30: 20-21

Scripture: Isaiah 30: 20-21

And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner anymore, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Scripture Commentary – Learn from Adversity – Discover What the Lord Wants to Teach You

When the people of Jerusalem departed from God’s path, he would correct them, as he will correct you today. The Lord gives us the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but he promises to be with us to guide and teach during difficult times. God expects a lot from us, and many times following him can be painful but he always acts out of his love for us.

To learn from adversity is challenging. The next time you are going through difficult times, try to learn what God wants to teach you. Look at the beginning of your hard time and then look at how far the Lord has taken you. See the love he has for you. God shows his love by patiently walking with you through the hard times. When you hear his voice of correction, be willing to listen and follow it. God’s voice is the voice of love for you.

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Isaiah Chapter 30

To Know the Gospel is Different From Living it

Today

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow? What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do, but doesn’t do it, sins.

James 4: 13-17

Commentary:

It is good to have goals, but goals will disappoint us if we leave God out of them. Do not make plans as though God does not exist, the future is in his hands. Christians make great claims but are often guilty of belying them with their actions. Professing to trust God and to being his people, they cling tightly to the world and its values. Possessing all the right answers, they contradict the gospel with their lives. It is not enough to talk the Christian faith, we must live it. What good is it if we claim to have faith but have no deeds? Genuine faith will inevitably produce good deeds.

God is trying to tell you something?

Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of A-mit’-tai, saying, “Arise, go to Nin-‘e-veh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.” But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tar’-shish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Jop-‘pa; and he found a ship going to Tar’-shish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tar’-shish from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah 1: 1-3

Commentary:

We know the story of Jonah and the fish, but what is God telling us? God told Jonah to do something, and he did not. What is God telling you to do? Are you listening? Jonah did not like the Assyrians and did not want them to receive God’s mercy. Are their people in your life you – for whatever reason – dislike, and you will not pray for them? If so, you are not doing what God tells you to do. Because of Jonah’s disobedience, God has shown us how he took non-believing sailors and made them believers. Jonah was in the fish for three days, Christ was in the grave for three days, and when they both came up they preached the Word. God wants us to be concerned for all his children, the ones that are saved and especially the lost ones.