When the Lord sent the prophet Jeremiah to preach to the southern kingdom of Judah, He sent him with directions, some of which were expected, some perhaps surprising, but all reassuring. "Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth" (Jer. 1:9). Praise the Lord for His Word! It is God's Word that changes men's hearts. Having His Word is the part we would expect. But notice the next verse: "See, I h

The difficulties we go through as believers come with a promise: that all things work together for good to them that love God. We are familiar with Romans 8:28, and we love Romans 8:28. In the moment, we may not see how all things work together for good, but by faith we know that they do. Overall, God uses the situations in our lives to conform us to the image of Christ. Whatever the ordeal, God is at work sanctifying us. That gives us comfort. Whether the situation is a tria

One of the fundamental traits of manhood is responsibility. Part of what it means to be a man is to take responsibility and to do well with one's duties. In Genesis 1:26-28 God chose to make man, and to make him in His own image and after His likeness. From there, God gave man responsibility: to subdue the earth and to have dominion over everything in it. Responsibility means working. Man was created to work, originally in the Garden, to dress it and to keep it (Gen. 2:8, 15)

When considering a hymnal to sing from as a church, first and foremost, the words we sing must be Scriptural. They should be words of the nature of God, the deliverance of God, the works of God, the faithfulness of God, and the love and goodness of God. They are also songs of testimony about what God has done to save us, to deliver us, to protect us, and to comfort us. The psalmists write repeatedly of what God had done for them and about their fellowship with Him. They are p

O the importance of hearing instruction! Listen to the inspired words of Solomon: “ Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. 2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law ” (Pro. 4:1-2). The instruction of a father is the instructions that a father gives. As a general principle, a child might agree that he should hear and receive what his dad says, but where the rubber meets the road is if he receives a particular instruction

When Jesus died on the cross, He died for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2 says, “ And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world .” Jesus satisfies God’s wrath for our sins when He died for our sins (cf. I Cor. 15:3). Think of that: He died for our sins (plural). How many sins is that? When Jesus asked the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane if it be possible to let the cup pass from Him, He was speaking of th

The Lord wants His churches active in reaching lost souls for Christ. Jesus commanded His church, “ Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature ” (Mk. 16:15). Spread out, into every continent, every country, and every culture and preach the gospel. Preach it to “ every creature .” There are 197 countries in the world today, with a total population of 8.3 billion. They all need to be evangelized. How will they hear? A preacher. How will the preachers get

God has a plan for His people Israel. The covenants that God made in the OT with His people—the Abrahamic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant—are eternal. During the seven-year Tribulation, the Lord will work to redeem His people. In that day, one third of the Jews will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation ((Zech. 13:8). Zechariah 12:10b foretells that the Jewish people will have one last chance to receive Christ when they see Him coming back to sl

None of us can presume our obedience in the Christian life. All of us must fight the good fight of faith. We all have the same adversary. Peter says that our adversary is the devil. “ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour ” (I Pet. 5:8). Satan seeks to destroy us; so, we must restrain ourselves (our thinking, our actions, our desires, our emotions, our speech), and we must be ever vigilant, ever w

When we get ready to eat a meal, the Bible directs us to pray and thank the Lord for the food He has provided, that we are about to eat. Jesus gave us this example when He miraculously fed the 5,000. “ Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude ” (Lk. 9:16). The Apostle Paul echoed these words when he wrote in I Timothy 4:4-5, “ For every creature of God is good,

Natural thinking says that when you give, you have less. But spiritual thinking says that when you give, you have more. The reason is because God blesses giving. Jesus told His disciples that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). Giving is to be by faith. We give because it is right to give. We give because God gives to us. We give because we want to be like Christ. We, first of all, give to God by way of tithes and offerings. The Lord loves a cheerful give

Pastor George Printiss and his wife Elizabeth stood grief-stricken beside the grave of their four-year old son Eddy. The lad had contracted a disease, and within two months he died. The year was 1852; the place was New York City. Just a few months later, Elizabeth gave birth to Bessie, and three months later the infant died. The Lord had blessed Elizabeth with a talent for writing, and following these tragedies Elizabeth set pen to paper and composed the text of “ More Love t

Peter wrote, “ For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls ” (I Pet. 2:25). Lost sheep, without Guide and Overseer, without spiritual protection and nourishment, and without spiritual authority and wisdom, that is what we were before salvation. But praise the Lord, in salvation we are now returned to the One who healed us by His stripes, to live unto righteousness for His glory, under His authority and His direction. What

The Book of Hosea begins with the Lord giving a unique command to the prophet of God: to marry an unfaithful wife, Gomer, who illustrated Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. The three children born to them had unique names: a son Jezreel, “God soweth”; a daughter Loruhamah, “unbeloved, unpitied”; and a son Loammi, “not My people.” The Lord would severely judge His people for their spiritual idolatries. Bad news. The good news is that the Lord, even though He would set His people

Peter exhorted the brethren in I Peter 2:2: “ As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby .” Newborn babies want to grow; it is their nature. In fact, they let their mothers know on schedule when they are ready to eat. Not only does their mother’s milk satisfy them, it also calms them. Mostly, it grows them. Without that regular, designed nutrition, well, we know what happens. Peter applies the analogy to us. Regardless of how long you have

The Apostle Paul struggled with a “ thorn in the flesh ” for quite some time. Some think the “thorn” was an oozing eye problem, but Paul calls it “ the messenger of Satan to buffet me ” (II Cor. 12:7). The “thorn in the flesh” could have been a person who antagonized Paul severely. Each time Paul prayed for the removal, the Lord said, “ My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness ” (II Cor. 12:9). The Lord’s grace is the key to all of our stru

The birth of Christ, as recorded in Matthew, begins with a genealogy. Often genealogies in the Bible get overlooked because the list of names is (by and large) unfamiliar and seemingly insignificant. However, Bible genealogies are part of Scripture, which means that are given by inspiration of God. As a result, they are true, accurate, and purposeful. The purpose of a given genealogy can be deduced from its context and often shows qualification. In Matthew’s case, the genealo

The angels on the night of Christ’s birth left heaven and appeared in dazzling glory to the shepherds, who were watching their flocks by night. The angel of the Lord delivered the comforting message to these lowly men: “ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord ” (Luke 2:11). To give certainty of this newborn babe, the angel went on to tell them how they would identify the Christ-child: “ And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shal

The hymn “ Joy to the World! ” presents its text with a joyful, festive tune, strong in direction and resolution. The triple repetition of the end of each stanza portrays the excitement of an amazing event, the kind of event at which a person might repeat again and again an expression with delight and wonder, for instance, "And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and heaven and nature sing." What is the delight and wonder, the amazement and exciteme

Thanksgiving weekend seems to be the transition between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving reminds us to give thanks—to God. Christmas reminds us about the birth of Christ, which was all about salvation. In fact, the two holidays overlap, and the one seamlessly transitions into the other, teaching us that we should be ever thankful for the birth of Christ and for salvation. The Apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians 9:15, “ Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift .” W