Contemplations

 

Is Christ My Lord?

“Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.” (1 Timothy 6:15) The recognition of Jesus as “My Lord” is far more than a mere label. It is a profession of faith that defines my life and informs my...

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The Universal Dominion of God

“The LORD looks from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their hearts alike; he considers all their works.” (Psalm 33:13-15)   God has ultimate dominion and power...

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Has the Lord Done It?  

“Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6) It is God that inflicts judgments on the children of men, especially his people when they are wayward. Where did the fall...

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Am I Connected with God?

“When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.” (Deuteronomy 32:8) God does a good deal of dividing and separating in the Bible in...

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What Will My Voice Sound Like in Heaven?

“And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.’” (Revelation 15:3)  The contextual passage surrounding this verse in...

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How Much Do I Love God?

“I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.” (Psalm 18:1)  Can you echo this same commitment to love the Lord as the psalmist, knowing it comes from the depths of your soul? If so, your love for God will evidence itself in life – not perfectly, but consistently day in and...

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Which Way Will You Go?

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)  This passage in Matthew is found in the discourse of Christ known as the Sermon...

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The Great Physician Who Saves and Heals

“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)  The Great Physician came into the world that he might save such as we are, sick and broken with sin. For a sinner cannot enter the kingdom of heaven apart from the cleansing, healing power of...

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Christ is Our Life

“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:1-2) ...

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Can I be Perfect in God’s Sight?

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” (Hebrews 6:1)  A Christian who never matures beyond the initial experience of repentance...

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Can I See Into Eternity?

“Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.” (Job 26:6) As Job so clearly states in our text, the reality of hell is in full view in God’s omniscience. And had he so chosen, he could have laid it open and exposed to our view as well. But aside from...

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Do I See God Daily?

“By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” (Heb. 11:27)  Moses as mediator of the Old Covenant was one chosen with whom God interacted on a more intimately personal level. God spoke directly to...

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Does God Care About What I Do?

“Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for...

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My Unchanging Lord!

“For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)                The prophet Malachi proclaimed to the nation of Israel that they were guilty of breaking covenant with their God. He pronounced that the priests had grown...

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My Portion Forever

“Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart fail: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26)  What did the psalmist mean when he referred to God as his portion in...

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How is Christ Worthy?

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev. 4:11) What qualifies someone as being “worthy?” Generally speaking, a person is considered “worthy” – meaning they...

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Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!

“And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were afraid. And he said unto them, Be not afraid: You seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here,” (Mark...

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From Secret Faith to Bold Service

“And after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there also Nicodemus, which at...

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Blood and Water

“But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water,” (John 19:34).  Of primary concern to the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day was observing the Mosaic law, especially as it related to the Sabbath. As the Ten...

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The Rocks Respond

“And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,” (Matt. 27:51-52).  In the 24th chapter of Joshua we read of...

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Your Will, Not Mine

“For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” (James 4:15)  By default, we tend to make plans for our future and fill our calendars with activities and schedules without regard to certain realities of life like the sovereignty of...

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Creation Responds to its Maker’s Death

“And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour,” (Luke 23:44).  There are many instances recorded in Scripture where elements of nature responded to direct commands of God and God’s people contrary to their natural...

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The Heavens Declare

“And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst,” (Luke 23:44-45).  The enemies of Christ, those scribes and pharisees that wanted him...

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Cover of Darkness

“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour,” (Matt. 27:45).  Our Lord was crucified at about the third hour of the day, or nine in the morning. There he hung, in plain sight of all those who surrounded him, so there could be no...

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It Is Finished

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost,” (John 19:30).  There is no way to comprehend everything Christ was experiencing in that moment when he breathed his last words, “It is finished.”...

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A Bitter Drink

“They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink,” (Matt. 27:34).  It was customary for Roman soldiers to offer someone about to be crucified vinegar wine mixed with a bitter herb intended to dull the senses for...

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Christ’s Care of His Mother

 “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home,” (John 19:26-27).  The...

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The Passover Lamb

“Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified,” (Matt. 26:2).  God executes everything perfectly according to his divine plan and eternal timetable. So it is no mystery that the events of Christ’s suffering...

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The Ugliness of Golgotha

“And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink,” (Matt. 27:33-34).  When all the filters of modern Christianity are removed...

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