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James 5:1-6 Christians can become so addicted to money and to achieving a higher level of living that they lose all perspective and forget what they are really here on earth to accomplish. Those who live only for the pleasures of the moment stand under the condemnation of Paul's words of 1 Timothy 5:6 : "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." Many Christians have had the vitality taken from their spiritual life because of their great concern for the things of

Read Galatians 5:13-26 The flesh and the Holy Spirit are contrary one to the other. Their aims and purposes are diametrically opposed to each other. Each one says no to the other. They checkmate each other. This, of course, results in a stalemate for the Christian. This is why the apostle says, "Ye cannot do the things that ye would" ( Gal. 5:17 ). A mistake made by many of us Christians is that we try to gain victory over the flesh by our own will and efforts. But this is th

Read Genesis 25:21-26 Jacob was a miracle child. Abraham and Sarah had waited 25 years for Isaac to be born, and Isaac and Rebekah waited 20 years for the birth of Jacob. Genesis 25:21 , 22 says, "Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord." Rebekah did not know

Romans 15:30-33 The Holy Spirit is a Person because He has emotions. He has the ability to love. Romans 15:30 says, "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me." This teaches us that the Holy Spirit has the capacity to love. He not only influences us to love, but He also loves us. John 3:16 reveals that God the Father loves us. Philippians 2:5-8 describes how

Read John 14:12-17 Each member of the Trinity has a distinct role in prayer. The Father waits at the throne of grace to hear the prayers of us who trust His Son. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Advocate in the presence of God the Father. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is the Advocate in our hearts, teaching us to pray. We can view it from another position. The Holy Spirit in us prepares the case we need to make. Christ pleads that case before the Judge. God the Father, as t

Read Revelation 2:12-17 The Lord knows all about our living conditions, the temptations to which we are exposed and the motives that govern our conduct. He can judge us correctly. This is a factor we must bear in mind with regard to our evaluating another person's actions. We need to know how much the other person has to face and resist before we can be even reasonably accurate in our approving or disapproving of the other person's conduct. Are we sure that if we would face t

Genesis 11:27-32 The trip from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran was not exceedingly hard because they were able to travel northwest along the Euphrates River. Along the river there was grass for their livestock. However, from Haran to the land of Canaan was quite a different type of trip. They would have to leave the Euphrates River and strike out across the desert. This was a real test and was too much for Terah and his family. Besides, God was not going to take Abraham into the

Read Exodus 34:1-4 , 26-35 Moses was changed when he came down from the mountain. Earlier, he had asked to see the glory of the Lord, but when he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of stone, he did not know "that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him" ( Ex. 34:29 ). Moses did not realize that his face reflected the glory of God. This was proof of the closeness between Moses and God, and it revealed to those who saw him that he had truly been in the

Read Romans 8:22-28 Our difficulties in prayer also show up in our lack of power and faith. Of course, if our prayers are selfish, inconsistent and lacking in spiritual understanding, they cannot be powerful. But more than that, they are empty because they are not supported by faith. Without faith we know it is impossible to please God ( Heb. 11:6 ). James told us that the person who prays must "ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea dr

James 5:13-16 The reason for calling the elders was apparently because the sickness referred to by James was a sickness that resulted from sin. The elders were the spiritual leaders of the assembly of believers, and because of the type of problem involved, they--not a physician--were to be called. It was the responsibility of the spiritual leaders to deal with, and pray for, those who had gone astray and as a result had been stricken by a sickness. James did not use the word

Read James 1:26 , 27 When Jesus Christ is really indwelling a person, it will result in true religion. The word "religion" as used in James 1:26 , 27 is not synonymous with the word "salvation." James used it in the sense of an outward expression of that which is inward. The inner faith in Jesus Christ as one's personal Saviour results in salvation; expressing that faith outwardly is one's religion, according to the way James used the word. When one has faith in Jesus Christ

Read 1 John 2:12-17 Ask yourself these questions: What is the purpose of my life? What am I going after? What are my pleasures? What are my practices? What kind of places do I frequent? Could I invite God to look with approval on all that I do and seek for? Worldliness in its final analysis is an attitude of heart toward things and persons. It is the old-nature attitude and can affect every phase of our lives. The word "lust" does not necessarily mean something evil. The cont

Ephesians 4:3-7 The unity referred to in Scripture is a spiritual unity of everyone within the Body of Christ; that is, all who have received Him as personal Saviour. This means that our unity must always be based on the truth of the Scriptures, which tell who Christ is and what we are in Him. Any unity that compromises the teaching of the Scriptures regarding Jesus Christ is not a unity that has God's approval. However, the ecumenism of our day seems far more concerned about

Colossians 3:5-11 In Colossians 3:10 , 11 Paul revealed three truths about those who have put on the new man. First, they have a divine nature. Each person who trusts Christ as Saviour has "put on the new man , which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" (v. 10). It is not just that a person wants a new nature--he has a new nature. We translate our position into daily living as we say yes to Christ and no to sin. Second, those who have trusted Chri

Read Colossians 1:13-19 Christ existed prior to all creation. He is "the firstborn of every creature" ( Col. 1:15 ). From the original language of the New Testament, this phrase is literally "firstborn of all creation." The Greek word translated "firstborn" does not mean that He was the first one born; rather, it emphasizes priority and sovereignty. He existed before anything was ever created. This truth is obvious from verse 16: "For by him were all things created." He had t

Philippians 4:17-20 Philippians 4:19 cannot be understood apart from the preceding verses. Some Christians have claimed verse 19 but have not met the conditions of the preceding verses; therefore, they are unwarranted in expecting God to keep His promise of verse 19. And when they see that God has not fulfilled what they consider to be a promise, it can make their lives a shipwreck. Thus, it is very important to understand the context of verse 19. We will never realize the t

1 John 4:7-21 The apostle did not say, "Try to create and produce love." He said, "Let us love." In other words, we are to release that love. Some may protest and say they cannot love certain people. That is true from the natural standpoint, but we are not dealing with natural love. It is divine love, the love with which God loved us when we were unlovable and our sins had separated us from Him. God, as to His nature, is love. And this love is shared with the believer. It has

James 3:13-18 It is significant that the characteristics James first listed for godly wisdom are purity and peaceableness. These two have an important relationship. An individual is made pure through faith in Jesus Christ, and this establishes peace between God and himself. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Once this peace has been established through a vertical relationship between the believer and G

Colossians 2:10-15 Realizing that all of the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is then awesome to consider that we "are complete in him" ( Col. 2:10 ). We are filled with His fullness. Notice it does not say we ought to be complete in Him; it says we are complete in Him. Of course, believers are to constantly grow in the knowledge of Him as they progress from babes in Christ to those who are spiritually mature. But the completeness e

Genesis 14:10-16 What should be our attitude when a brother is taken captive by the things of this world? Some have a distorted concept of separation. W hen they see a brother fall into sin, they shout it from the housetops and publish it in their magazines. This is not what Christ instructed. Galatians 6 tells us what our attitude should be toward a fallen Christian brother. The Apostle Paul exhorted, "Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, yo

Galatians 4:19-31 The lesson God has for us in Galatians 4:19-31 is that we cannot ever fulfill the commandments of God by our own human efforts. They can be kept only as we accept Christ as Saviour. Then, through the indwelling Spirit, the life of Christ is fulfilled in us. The bringing of Ishmael into the world was all of man's planning. God had nothing to do with it. That which is of the flesh displeases God, and He will not accept it. Ishmael was a child born after the f

1 John 5:14-21 We do not always know whether a Christian's sin is unto death; for that reason my own suggestion is that we should be sure to pray for such a person if we are in doubt. If we see that God is not going to answer, it could be that the person prayed for has committed a sin unto death. But I will continue to pray for such a person until the Spirit in some way makes it plain just what has happened in his life. I believe that the sin unto death is a deliberate sin of

Read Romans 6:1-10 After an individual is justified by faith in Christ, he discovers that he still has a sin nature. This gives him trouble, and he finds himself committing sins that he does not wish to commit. Soon he may become a believer who is dominated by sin. What does God do about this? The solution to this problem is our identification with Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection. In this identification God sanctifies, or makes holy, the justified individual (a sin

Read Romans 3:9-18 Romans 3:18 is not speaking of a reverential fear of God that a person has who recognizes Him as the great Potentate of all ages and as the Almighty God we serve. Rather, this verse refers to those who have no concern for the existence, character or attributes of God. They do not think that God merits any thought at all. They completely fail to recognize their accountability to Him. People's basic problem--the root cause of all their trouble--is that they