Category: Personal

Confronting Immorality

Very few things are as devastating as discovering immorality in a marriage. It impacts far more people than the couple. If there are kids, they are thrust into a state of confusion. Extended family and friends don’t know how to proceed, which will often divide churches. Sadly, the offender is often let off the hook because no one wants confrontation. Confronting immorality in the home and the church is difficult but essential.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2 

It is reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

Confronting Immorality

The church has a process for confronting immorality. There were some sexual sins in the church at Corinth that the pagans didn’t tolerate. A man was with his step-mom. Even the thought of that is sickening, yet the Corinthians did nothing. They were arrogant about it. It gave God a bad name and was a sad witness for the church. This should’ve caused mourning and remorse for the sin, but it didn’t. The Corinthians had become calloused to sin. Paul demands that this person be removed from the church and delivered over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.

Feet to the Gospel

The Gospel takes feet for it to get out. Isaiah tells us that those who take the Gospel spread the beauty of Christ. The church needs to mobilize and put feet to the Gospel by being the light of the world. When we bring the Gospel, it spreads peace and good tidings. The world needs this more than anything. We are the delivery system.

Isaiah 52:7
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

Jesus Started It
Isaiah is talking about Jesus here. He brought the good news (Gospel), proclaimed peace and salvation, and encouraged his followers with glad tidings. The Gospel is a beautiful thing. Jesus opened up a new avenue for us to come to God. We can live for eternity because of the salvation he brought.

Prepare the Way

In Medevil times, whenever a king would enter a city or a room, there would be a herald who would announce his coming. People would make way for his vehicle and bow when he entered the room. It was a signal to prepare the people how to act. Before Jesus came, God sent a messenger…

Revive Your Spirit

God has hundreds of promises in His Word. One of those promises is that he looks after those who are humble and contrite. Here in Isaiah, God promises to revive your spirit if you are humble. Everyone is going to get down and need some encouragement. Even the humble and contrite get discouraged. God sees…

Still In Need of a Savior

The more you become an expert in something like music or sports, the more you need to practice to remain at that level. Baseball players take more groundballs and musicians play more scales. One area where we don’t need any practice is being a sinner. Nothing comes more naturally to us than sinning. It constantly…

Jesus Carries Your Sorrows

.When you are struggling, you can have others come alongside you and support you, but they can’t carry your sorrows. Loved ones can surround you, but they can’t feel the pain of your disease. While their love and support make the sorrow easier, it is yours to carry alone. When it comes to your sin,…

Sing for Joy

What fills your heart with joy? Is it your family or friends? Maybe it’s your hobby? Whatever it is, it fills your heart and puts a song on your lips. Did you know that you fill your heavenly Father’s heart with joy? You make creation sing for joy. The mountains break forth into singing because God…

Entering Into God’s Promises

Do you know there are over seven hundred promises from God in the Bible? What’s amazing is that God has kept every one of them. Many of these promises are for you today. Entering into God’s promises takes a step of faith on your part. Are you going to leave what is comfortable and step into the unknown? That is usually what it takes. Today we see Israel was on the cusp of the Jordan river and entering into God’s promises.

Joshua 3:17 “Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.”

This is the second time God has parted the waters for the Israelites. This time they are crossing the Jordan and entering the promised land. They are about to realize all that God has promised them. Notice how it still took a step of faith? Moses was gone, and Joshua was in charge. Can I trust him? On top of that, they had to pass through the Jordan during the flooding season. What if the water breaks away and we drown? When God promises something He will bring it to completion.

Do It Through Faith

The start of a new year brings optimism and a renewed sense of purpose. You want to put away all of the bad stuff of the previous year and replace it with the good habits that will bring needed change. There may be a list in your mind or on paper of all you want to accomplish. It can be easy to treat our faith the same way. You want to do good works for the Lord, and there is nothing wrong with that as long as you do it through faith.

‭‭GALATIANS‬ ‭3:2

“This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”

Galatia was an area in what we would know as central Turkey today. Several churches were started by Paul and Barnabas that saw both great fruit and brutal persecution. The most difficult challenge wasn’t from the persecution but the infiltration of Judaizers into the church. These men brought heavy requirements like circumcision and following the law. The new converts were starting to abandon Paul’s teaching of being saved by grace and replacing it with works. Paul counters that by asking them if they received the Spirit by anything they have done or faith.

Rebuild Your Life

The word “redeem” in the New Testament is a financial term and means “bill paid in full.” It was often used when it came to slaves debt. When that slave worked off the debt, the creditor would stamp “redeemed” on the invoice, which meant his debts were paid in full. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the debt of your sin and stamped redeemed on your heart. You’ve been redeemed to rebuild your life.

‭‭PSALMS‬ ‭78:35

“And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.”

Israel had a pattern of forgetting God and then crying out to Him when they were in a hole where they couldn’t get out. It usually started with sin but then devolved into idolatry. God would get angry and be ready to judge them, and Israel would beg for forgiveness. God would forgive them in His infinite mercy and let them start fresh. Sadly, Israel could never break that pattern. They were sent off into captivity as judgment, and only a remnant returned to the Lord.