Joseph, aroused from his sleep, “took to him his wife and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.”Luke’s gospel account of the nativity proceeds from the decree “that went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered” in their own birth city (A census). Joseph, from Bethlehem,

“My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me” (Psalm 63:8).The psalmist says here that he will be careful to follow the Lord close. We must be mindful never to do anything that would cause us to stray from Him. The world and its offerings can easily cause us to drift away from Him.In the Old Testament, we see that Daniel and his three friends

What Is Happening in This Two-Fold Letter to the Ephesians? The apostle Paul discusses this notion of being angry but not sinning in a letter to the church of Ephesus, which he wrote while in a Roman prison. That alone can bring gravity to his belief on being angry but not sinning, as he was placed in prison for proclaiming the truth of Jesus Chris

A particular struggle for Americans is that forgiveness requires admitting God’s control over our lives. We should not take revenge, because vengeance is the lord’s (Deuteronomy 32:35). We should not judge, because ultimately God will judge everyone (John 5:28-29). So, forgiveness demands a posture of humility where we remember we are not masters o

Paul also encouraged the godly conduct of the church, by addressing their need to persevere. The church has an obligation to Christ to live godly lives even when facing great opposition. The impact of the Gospel is often amplified through persecution and suffering when believers hold fast to their faith. The Apostle took great care to encourage Tim

The Facts of Mortality “And he told them this parable: ‘The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You

Start evaluating everything in your life by asking yourself the question does this take me closer to Jesus or further away?If you want God to intervene and stop the bleeding, you must make the decision to get to Jesus – no matter what the cost and what obstacle must be overcome.3. You've Got to Say It“For she said, ‘If only I may touch His clothes,

Clearly not, although at face value it seems to. Too many other verses in Scripture tell us that salvation comes through faith, not childbirth. (Mark 16:16, Luke 7:50, John 5:24, Acts 10:30-31, Romans 10:9-10, Ephesian 2:8-9) Some suggest that this verse is referring to a woman being saved from dying in childbirth. Others suggest that this refers t

How Should We Love Our Neighbor? Jesus taught us how to love our neighbor when He responded to a lawyer’s question in Luke 10:25-37. First, He sums up the entire Old Testament law in two statements: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Then, in a striking parable about a Jew and a Samaritan, He

God expects growth. As demonstrated in the parable, it’s not enough to preserve what God gives us. The slave with the one talent learned the hard way. Whatever God gives us: material wealth, skills, knowledge, spiritual gifts, etc. He expects us to use and develop in such a way to increase our effectiveness in serving His kingdom.God judges fairly.

1 Kings 19:1-3 tells us why Elijah the prophet ran for his life. Ahab told Jezebel that Elijah had killed some prophets of Baal. Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah and promised to kill him by the next day at the same time. Scripture says that Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel that came before him (1 Kings

Remarriage after Death The simplest situation to deal with is if one of the parties in the marriage dies. When this happens, then the vow that was taken has been fulfilled and the remaining partner who is alive is no longer bound to the terms of the marriage. Remember the oath was to last as long as you both shall live. Consider what Paul said in 1

4. God Fulfills His Promises“God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, ‘What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation’” (Genesis 21:17-18).God made a promise to Abraham to

Why Did Moses Disobey God?The passage doesn't directly say something like, "Moses had gotten pretty ticked off with how much the Israelites complained—and they complained a lot—so he decided to strike the rock instead of speak to it." But in essence, that was the case.Moses had grown frustrated with God's people. At every turn, they questioned him,

As we pray, we should not expect the Lord to humbly submit to our every whim and desire. God is not a genie or a magic lamp that we can run to when we want something. Here is where we must be able to differentiate a need from a desire. James gives us great insight on this when he says under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:“Where do wars and figh

How to Pray: Practical Ways When it comes to a “how to” for prayer, the possibilities are endless. Below are some ideas for you to think through and experiment with. As you’re trying out new ways to pray or seeking to overcome obstacles in your relationship with God, consider that what you most need is to find a way to pray today. You don’t need to

Avoid easy extremes. Nuance is hard, so when we find we have to avoid one thing, we tend to swing really far into the other direction. In this case, it would be easy to assume that the problem is possessions, take vows of poverty like monks, and see money as inherently evil. However, Jesus staged the parable of the rich fool as a warning about idol

For Faith, Hope, LoveJesus, Make us grateful. Give us eyes to see what it is that really makes us blessed, and forgive us when we allow our gratitude to extend only to those blessings which can be measured in “likes.” For we know that when all else fades, faith, hope, and love remain (1 Corinthians. 13:13). In Your Name, Amen. - Katie Harmon The Lo

We not only need God, but we need him on a daily basis. We find him through prayer, through the reading of Scripture, and through the regular fellowship with believers.John 6:35: "Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."Jesus doesn't mean this in a lit

The first is the intellectual element of repentance as “a change of view, a recognition of sin as involving personal guilt, defilement, and helplessness."“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” Romans 3:20 ESV.Knowledge of sin, as powerful as it is, may include fear of pu