Why Is Jesus Called the Messiah? When Christians call the Savior “Jesus Christ,” they are really saying “Jesus the Messiah” or “Jesus the Anointed One.” Christ is not His last name! Christ is His title, meaning He was sent by God, divinely appointed, to be the Deliverer and King of His people.The disciples were “slow to believe” all the prophets ha

Jesus said “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). and “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). In His unity with God, Jesus reveals the Father to us.If we focus on Jesus, we will know the love, compassion, and safekeeping of God our Father.Jesus has made known the character of God the Father through His life on earth and particul

Matthew 25:31-43 gives us a description of this moment:“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. The people of every nation will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right but the goats on

As he trained up Timothy, a rather young and shy fellow worker to be a pastor, Paul encouraged him that speaking God’s Word was an essential part of his duties.“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching" (1 Timothy 4:13).The Benefits of Bible StudyI was told many times about how vital knowing God

Contentment and generosity are in direct conflict with greed. Many public ministries have been undermined by sin that had at its source a greed for money, fame, attention, power, or the favor of people over God’s favor.Greed is dangerous because, like a snake, it can be subtle and silent but deadly. Colossians 3:5 equates covetousness with idolatry

A Prayer for IdentityLord, help ____________ to think before they speak or act and to remember they represent You.When our children remember who and whose they are, they will be equipped to represent your family and the family of God well. When they don’t know or are unaware of their identity in Christ, they will sway with every wind of popularity,

What Does Scripture Say about the Heart? When you think about the human heart from a physical perspective, the heart is central to life. Your entire life is a byproduct of a beating heart. One of the ways they check to see if a person is still alive is by checking their pulse, which is proof of a beating heart and evidence of life.To put it another

“Aha!” say the adoptionists. “Jesus wasn’t adopted as God’s son until after his baptism!”Without even arguing over whether “son of God” is present in the earliest manuscript of Mark 1:1, there are clear problems with this argument. For one, Mark is the shortest Gospel, and it only talks about Jesus’s ministry. Based on the Gospel of Mark alone, you

Instead of ridiculing people who keep Christ in Christmas, he applauded the efforts to bring awareness of Jesus during Christmas and sharing God’s love with so many who desperately need it.While the New Testament doesn’t require that we celebrate Christmas every year, I certainly see nothing wrong with the church’s entering into this joyous time of

King Eglon was one of the Moabite rulers during the time of the judges. After God’s deliverance from the Mesopotamians by the hand of Othniel, Israel enjoyed 40 years of peace (Judges 3:9-11). However, after the death of Othniel, the Israelites rebelled against the Lord and once again invoked His wrath (a common theme in this book). This time, the

Praise God! I may give to the church or the poor or otherwise of my time, money, or material goods, and it might feel like a loss. The truth is that to me, it is gain. The same goes for any giver who understands this idea.Why is this understanding important to God? He doesn’t want mindless simpletons. He is training us to rule and reign with him. W

Hannah went home, and “in due time” (1 Samuel 1:20), she gave birth to her son Samuel. On the next annual trip to the Tabernacle, Hannah did not go. This was out of the ordinary, but she said she would wait until “the boy weaned” (1 Samuel 1:22). In response, Elkanah said, “Whatever you think is best...Stay here for now, and may the Lord help you k

What Does 'I Never Knew You' Say about Us?This hard truth tells us that we are unrighteous. When people say everyone is going to heaven regardless of what they believe, this is a lie. This is hypocrisy. It is sad to know that people assume heaven for everyone when Scripture is serious that Jesus is the only way. This should tell us the significance

When you’ve done all that you can humanly do about your circumstance, and it’s still hopeless, but then something suddenly changes, and you know that you know that you know – only God could have caused that to happen. That’s a miracle!“And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the c

“Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28).We should also have a repentant heart before we take communion. One of the reasons to pray before you take communion is to give God an opportunity to reveal any sin that you may have been harboring in your heart. Communion is a wonderful

The way the Edomites chose to live cost them their civilization, a stark reminder of the seriousness of the Lord, and His just and righteous judgment. “Archaeologists have found no Edomite records or literature,” Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary of the Old Testament explains, “Material remains from the Middle and Late Bronze Age a

What Happens during Parousia?When Jesus steps onto the scene a number of things will happen.First, he will come on the clouds (Revelation 1:7). Every eye will see him. Worldwide, everyone will know that he has arrived, and many will mourn (Matthew 24:30). Trumpets, likely the shofar, will alert us to his presence.Zechariah 14:4, according to GotQue

What Did Jesus Mean When He Said 'Do Not Worry for Tomorrow Will Worry about Itself'? Early in the book of Matthew, Jesus had just begun his ministry after being baptized (3:13-17) and being tempted by Satan in the wilderness (4:1-11). As he engaged in preaching, he drew people to him, including his disciples (4:18-22), but also crowds of people de

1 Peter 2:1-3 tells us that hypocrisy is part the old man that needs to be cast aside. By craving the spiritual milk of the word, we will grow up into salvation and thereby be more consistent in our lifestyle. Are Christians Hypocrites?Yes. But we shouldn’t be. The only One who was never hypocritical is the Lord Jesus. He was always consistent insi

Where in Scripture Does God Create the Sabbath and Why? From the very beginning, we see God laying the groundwork for what He would eventually put in place. In Genesis chapter 2, we see a foreshadowing of what was yet to come:“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He