A couple of weeks ago the phrase “hold fast” kept coming to me. It came in the daytime and even in the middle of the night. Finally, I got up at 3:00 a.m. to see where it appeared in the Bible. The first instance was Hebrews 3:6 which reads, “but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.” The…
Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion. To the one who is at odds with God, everyone is an enemy. They have no protector. No one to turn to. They must be on constant watch. In order to defend themselves from who knows what, they must have a weapon always at hand. Everyone they meet is suspect. Is this person going to harm them in some way? Cheat them?…
Acts 16:31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” Sometimes we wonder why bad things happen. When we belong to Jesus, everything has a purpose—even being thrown in jail. Paul and Silas had been brought before magistrates for the “sin” of being Jewish. By this time all Jews had been thrown out of Rome and its territories. Philippi was a Roman outpost. After being beaten with rods, they were…
I John 2:27 And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. The early church had false teachers just as we do today. Those teachers taught that a few privileged people had the inside track with God….
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. The Bible’s definition of faith is “the trust that God exists and that He is the creator and ruler of all things.” The meaning of faith doesn’t stop there. Biblical faith is “a deep conviction, a firm trust God gives to believers, resulting in eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.” As believers, we wait and hope with joy and a full confidence, for this…
John 6:37 (Jesus said) “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” Once we come to Jesus, He will never banish us from God’s family. He will never deprive us of His power and influence in the world. We are His forever and ever. The enemy might try to tell us differently, but we must remember this. Jesus knows him well. He called him a…
John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. Once we come to Jesus, He will never banish us from God’s family. He will never deprive us of His power and influence in the world. We are His forever and ever. The enemy might try to tell us differently, but we must remember this. Jesus know him will. He called him a liar and…
Isaiah 41:13 For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, “Do not fear, I will help you.” Have you ever been faced with a seemingly impossible task? You wonder how this could possibly turn out for the good. As far as you’re concerned you are standing at the bottom of Mt. Everest with the assigned task of climbing to the top in a week. You have no training. No equipment. No possibility…
Have you ever prayed for a thing and waited, and waited, and waited? Have you given up hope of ever seeing that prayer answered? In Bible study, we recently studied the book of Acts. Near the end of the book is a very long account of the struggles Paul had after the Lord told him he was going to Rome to stand before Caesar. After two years he was finally on his way when he was shipwrecked, bitten by a…
Often I hear people doubt the authenticity of the Bible. They don’t understand the role of the Scribe in Biblical times. These men spent long hours every day copying every jot and tittle of every word of scripture on to new scrolls. When they finished, they proof-read each line of each column. If there was one mistake in their new copy, they took a knife and sliced the new copy to pieces because it was flawed. To prove the high…