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Widen Your Hearts

"We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians. Our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also." - 2 Corinthians 6:11-13Paul's relationship to the Corinthian church is as a father to his teenage children. As a parent, his heart is open wide. He wants to connect at deep level with the Corinthians believers. But many of the Corinthians are closed off (or partially closed off) to Paul. Paul u...

Cleansing from Defilement

"Because we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God." - 2 Corinthians 7:1Paul is urging the Corinthians to holiness. They are tempted to spend time with those who do not love God. They are being influenced away from Christ. They are blending their Christianity with other things, and the purity of their walk with the Lord is not what it should be. Paul is like a parent urging his teenager t...

Draw Near to God

"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord [Jesus], and he will exalt you." - James 4:8-10The condition for God to draw near to us is that we draw near to him. To do so, we must have clean hands and a pure heart. If our hands are dirty because of sins and our heart is impure because of...

The Wisdom from Above

"Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the humility of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy ...

Faith Apart from Works Is Useless

"But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!' Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works. And t...

The Testing of Your Faith Produces Endurance

"Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For tha...

Are We Giving Up Too Easily?

"Now at Iconium [Paul and Barnabas] entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord [Jesus], who bore witness to the message of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews and some ...

Are We Fulfilling the Work to Which the Spirit Has Called Us?

"Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sail...

Does Every Believer Have a Guardian Angel?

"When [Peter] realised this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, 'You are out of your mind.' But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, 'It is his angel!'...

Breaking the Paradigm

"Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ...

Forgiveness of Sins through Jesus' Name

"So Peter opened his mouth and said: 'Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good ...

How Did Saul's Conversion Happen So Quickly?

"For some days [Saul] was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues saying, 'He is the Son of God.' And all who heard him were amazed and said, 'Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?' But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah." -...

When Do We Receive the Holy Spirit?

"Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit." - Acts 8:14-17 How and when do believers receive the Holy Spirit today? There is a big debate about this question. Do we need an a...

Jesus Standing at the Right Hand of God

"Now when [the Jewish leaders] heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at [Stephen]. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, 'Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' But they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down...

We Will Devote Ourselves to Prayer and to the Ministry of the Word

"Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote o...

You Have Filled Jerusalem with Your Teaching

"And when [the Jewish captain and officers] had brought [the apostles], they set them before the [Jewish] Sanhedrin. And the high priest [Caiaphas] questioned them saying, 'We strictly charged you not to teach in this name [of Jesus], yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.' But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God ex...

Continue to Speak with All Boldness

"When [Peter and John] were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, 'Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathe...

A Prophet Like Me from among Your Brothers

Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand...

God Has Made Him Both Lord and Messiah

"'Brothers, I [Peter] may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we [apostles] all are witnesses. Being therefore...

When the Holy Spirit Has Come upon You

"So when [the apostles] had come together, they asked [Jesus], 'Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?' He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.' And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him ou...

Lifting Up His Hands He Blessed Them

"And [Jesus] led [the disciples] out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God." - Luke 24:50-53 In this last paragraph of the gospel of Luke, the word "bless" or "blessing" is used three times. Jesus is blessing the disciples, and the disciples are blessing God. To be blessed by Jesus' nail-sca...

Remember Me When You Come into Your Kingdom

"One of the criminals who were hanged railed at [Jesus] saying, 'Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!' But the other rebuked him saying, 'Do you not fear God, because you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong.' And he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' And he said to him, 'Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.'" - Luke 23:39-4...

You Have Stayed with Me in My Trials

“You [disciples] are those who have stayed with me [Jesus] in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." - Luke 22:28-30Jesus says these words just after he and the disciples have eaten the last supper in the upper room. He commends the disciples for remaining with him in his trials. Their reward will be great. In Jesus' coming kingdom, they will eat and dr...

She Out of Her Poverty Put in All

"Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, 'Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.'" - Luke 21:1-4How is it this poor widow put in "more"? Jesus must take into account our differing situations when evaluating what we do. Those who have much and those who have l...

The Things that Are Caesar's

"The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on [Jesus] at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the [Roman] governor [Pilate]. So they asked him, 'Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way ...