Monthly Archives: December 2010
a calm and quiet soul
Psalm 131. I have a busy day today. There are lots of things that I could be worrying about — lots of things that I could be occupying myself with. But here I stand. I wait on God to feed … Continue reading
these who cause divisions
Jude 17-23. Jude warned that Satan intends to disrupt God’s people from within. True believers must overcome this strategy by remaining strong internally and by reacting correctly to external ungodliness. Remaining strong = “keep yourselves in the love of God” … Continue reading
a moment of clarity
Isaiah 38:9-20. Hezekiah was not known for his consistency. But his illness had taken him close to death. He called it being consigned to the gates of Sheol (10). He was probably 39 when he was taken ill, and expected … Continue reading
to be like a tree
Job 14:7-15. Job is depressed by the limitations of his mortal life. He imagines what it would be like if he were like a tree. Even after it is cut down, there is hope that the stump might sprout again … Continue reading
life only in Christ
1 John 5:10-12. It is a serious thing to reject God’s testimony about Jesus Christ. To Reject the gospel that Christians proclaim is to accuse God of lying. The Gospel can be simplified to this: God has given eternal life … Continue reading
Posted in conditional immortality, eternal life, faith, resurrection
Tagged 1 John 5
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test the spirits
1 John 4. Jesus predicted that false prophets would predominate in this age. John said that they had already arrived and set up shop during his time. He encourages skepticism, and commands his readers to test the spirits to see … Continue reading
true or false?
1 John 3:4-24. By the time John wrote his letters, he had to draw a distinction between true believers and false. False prophets had begun deceiving the church, and false Christians were present in the churches. John asserted that true … Continue reading
upside down worldviews
Isaiah 29:15-16. The people would not inquire of the LORD nor listen to his prophet. Their worldview was upside down. They were God’s creation, yet they regarded him as the thing created. Listen, secular humanists and Marxists! They were made … Continue reading
a strange deed
Isaiah 28:21-29. The prophet predicted that the LORD was going to do a strange deed. “For (says Wesley) this work of bringing total destruction upon Israel, was contrary to the benignity of his own nature, and the usual way of … Continue reading
keep walking, keep confessing
1 John 1:1-2:6. John uses present tense verbs (denoting continuous activity) to describe the true believer, but mostly aorist tense verbs (denoting simple action in past time) to describe the spiritual impostor. The true believer keeps Christ’s commandments, and keeps … Continue reading
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