Thoughts on Christ and His Word

In 1Kings 21:17-29, we see a picture of salvation. The Prophet Elijah is sent by God to rebuke King Ahab for his sins. This is similar to us preaching the gospel to somebody where we, in a sense, rebuke them for their sins and the Holy Spirit starts to work in that heart. Now it's up to the person to respond. King Ahab responded in humility and faith. For which he received the mercy of God. When a sinner responds in humility and faith in Christ they too receive Mercy and Grace which leads to Salvation. But if the Sinner rebelles and does not receive Christ then he remains in condemnation. (John 3:36)The key is that we have the freedom to choose humility and faith because God has first worked in our heart to move us to repentance.  Or we can reject the Holy Spirit and remain in condemnation.

Jacob was a deceiver. He tricked his father Isaac into believing he was his brother Esau by wearing his coat. By this act of deception he stole his brothers blessing. (Genesis 27) BUT, after many years Jacob was deceived by his children when they showed him Joseph's coat which they had covered with blood and asked him if that was Joseph's coat.  Jacob concluded that a wild animal had devoured Joseph, just like his kids had planned. (Genesis 37) Jacob the deceiver had become the deceived. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  Galatians 6:7-8 NKJV

All godly leaders want to know and feel that God is on their side. That God's wind of Grace is blowing under their wings.  But why would God raise up leaders? So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. 2 Samuel 5:12 So God raises up leaders, blesses them, so that they can work for the good of the people and lead them to better places.

God's holy sovereignty means he is in control of everything. God's holiness means he is set apart from sin and evil. Does God's holiness limit God's sovereignty? The answer is yes. For the Bible says that there are things that God cannot do. God cannot lie. God cannot be tempted by evil therefore he temps no one to do evil. So it's clear that while God is all-powerful and sovereign his holiness limits that attribute. So the idea that God causes evil in the world (as in God causing a man to rape an 8 year old girl) is ridiculous. All evil comes from the evil one, everything good and every perfect gift comes from the God of Heaven. So when we look at man's free will and responsibilities we see that God does not need to control everything including man's will. God gave Adam and Eve the ability to choose right and wrong, to obey or disobey. This ability to choose does not violate God's Sovereign control of everything. In his sovereignty he decid...

Picking a Marriage Partner is no joke.  It is the single most influential decision a person could make that will direct the course of their life for the rest of their life. This is why God forbade intermarriage with the women of the land they were to conquer - because these women would lead them to idolatry.  And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same. Exodus 34:16 Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods Deut. 7:3-4 And this is exactly what happened. They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. Judg 3:6 Thus God has always been against His children marrying unbelievers.  That's why even in the N.T. God commands His children...

1. Opposition provides an environment  for spiritual growth. 2. Opposition is normal. Hopler - Heroism in Bad Circumstances -Esther 4:16a - Mobilize people in prayer for a breakthrough in difficult situations. -Esther 4:16b - Act courageously to meet the need of the moment. -Esther faith as seen in the previous 2 points  lead to great victory for her people.  Esther 9:2

⊙ Leaders need to care deeply about the mission and goals of the church (Neh. 1:4) ⊙ Leaders need to confess their sins and the sins of their people (Neh 1:6-9) and lead their people to confession and repentance (Neh 9:1-3) ⊙ Leaders need to be people of prayer, showing their dependence on God (Neh 1:4-11; 2:4; 5:19; 6:9, 14); Praying against the enemy (4:4 6:14). ⊙ Leaders need to conquer their fears and attempt great things for God (Neh 2:1-3) ⊙ Leaders have clear goals and a plan to achieve them (Neh 2:6-8) ⊙ Leaders make a realistic assessment of where they are right now (Neh 2:13-16). Leaders make periodic assessments in order to monitor where they are at at any given time (Neh 4:10). Then they tweak or change their plans accordingly (4:10-23) ⊙ Leaders communicate the vision/goals and the plan to achieve them (Neh 2:17-18). They must clearly and passionately communicate why this vision or goal is important (Neh 4:14) and encourage th...