Over and over in the book of John, it speaks of remaining.  The disciples left John and remained with Jesus (John 1:39).  We are to remain in His word (John 8:31).  And whoever remains in Him, will bear much fruit (John 15:5) as they remain in His love (John 15:9) while those who do not remain are like a branch that withers (John 15:6).  John 15:7 (BSB) says, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask…..

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In John 8:37 (MEV), Jesus says to those who claimed to be Abraham’s seed, “I know that you are Abraham’s seed.  But you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.” Word hear is the Greek word logos, Strong’s #3056, and it means giving expression of a thought.   Those who claimed to be Abraham’s seed gave no thought of Jesus and their deeds reflected this.   Jesus goes on to say that the thoughts that controlled their…..

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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were created through Him and without Him nothing was created that was created.” (John 1:1-3) The earth and all that is in it was birthed through words.  “Let there be…” was the start of life.  These words had power to form creation.  Jesus is the Living Word.   He has lived out the Words of…..

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“Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body is full of darkness. Be careful, then, that the light within you is not darkness.” (Luke 11:34) What do you have your eyes on?  What do you value?  As this verse notes, we need to be careful then what we set our sights on and hold in high regard.  What we value…..

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 “For this people’s heart has grown dull.  Their ears have become hard of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I should heal them.   But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” (Matthew 13:15-16, MEV): Jesus was speaking here about the people of God, and why He had to speak in parables.  He was…..

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One author writes, “It’s true that we measure what we treasure.” [1]  When we focus on measuring certain results, we begin to align with them and order activities around achieving these results.  They become a priority in our activities.    Seeing improvement in them gives us a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.    Based on this, John Maxwell and Rob Hoskins note that it is important to think well about what we are measuring and what results we are seeking.   We want…..

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Usually a prophesy will give you glimpse into your life with something going on or something God is inviting you into in the future.  It is not the full-length version of step-by-step action steps and thoughts along the way.  Rather, it is the summarized down version so that you can understand and by faith,  align your expectations and life with the plan of God.   Daniel received a prophesy like this about end-times.  It is in quotes to signify that it…..

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In Philippians 4:13 Paul said, “For I’m trained in the secret of overcoming all things, whether in fullness or in hunger.  And I find that the strength of Christ’s explosive power infusing me to conquer every difficulty.” In many cases, apathy and complacency are ways that people opt out in going into battle. They may see it as too hard and lose faith before even entering in to it. This is because they are looking to obtain the victory in…..

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“Cursed be he who does the work of the Lord negligently and cursed be he who keeps back his sword from blood.” (Jeremiah 48:10) Jeremiah was speaking this work against Moab who was at ease.  They claimed to be mighty and strong warriors but had never been in any battle.  Doing the work of the Lord negligently here means that they were superficially and not genuinely making peace.   They were great at creating a superficial peace by overlooking issues and…..

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What is peace?   At the time of Jeremiah, people thought they had all the answers and were enjoying the good life.  They loved that the riches were flowing and life was easy.  Income was coming in as the harvest was plentiful and people were eating more than their fill.   Indulging and overabundance were common.  The church (assembly) of the time was preaching the prosperity gospel.   They were telling the people that peace was for them.  They could tip their hat…..

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