“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed until the  day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)   The word grieve means to distress. To do something that would cause God the Third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit anguish would be detrimental to salvation. The Holy Spirit is God. He enters into our body at the time we commit to Jesus. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have of God? And you are not your own

“But avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions, and strivings about the Law, for they are unprofitable and vain.” (Titus 3:9)   Here is a mandate from Paul as he lays out some foundational truths for church leaders in his letter to Titus. As Paul continues, we see why he made such a request. Foolish questions, genealogies have no value in Christian life and lead to division and strife among the brethren. Genealogy was a big thing to the Jews back then. It was mo

“For of Him and through Him and to Him are  all things; to Him be glory forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:36)   This was Paul’s closing verse in his letter to the Romans. What exactly does it mean? The key word “of” denotes origin. Jesus is the origin of all things. “Jehovah has made all for His purpose; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.” (Proverbs 16:4) The Godhead, which is the Father, the Son Who is Jesus and the Holy Spirit were all present at the beginning of creation.

“For Jehovah's portion is  His people. Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 32:9)   Most simply is that the Israelites belong to the Lord. He chose them. “For you are  a holy people to Jehovah your God. Jehovah your God has chosen you to be a special people to Himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6) God was not known to many in the ancient world except to the direct descendants of Adam and Eve and their descendants. Thro

“I will also stretch out My hand on Judah and on all the people of Jerusalem. And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, the name of the idol-worshipers, with the priests, and those bowing to the host of heaven on the housetops, and those bowing, swearing to Jehovah, also swearing by Malcham; and those drawing back from Jehovah, and who have not sought Jehovah, nor asked for Him.” (Zephaniah 1:4-6)   During the reign of King Josiah, the sixteenth king of Judah, a

“...so that the trial of your faith (being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire) might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” (1Peter 1:7)   This verse is a part of a seven-verse long sentence. It is a continuation of the previous verse which is explaining why the Lord in His mercy has given us birth and given us the hope of being resurrected with Christ. (1Peter 1:3)   “Wherein ye greatly rejoic

“The eternal God is your  refuge, and underneath are  the everlasting arms. And He shall throw the enemy out from before you, and shall say, Destroy!” (Deuteronomy 33:27)   Moses knew his time leaving this earth was imminent. “And Jehovah said to Moses, Get up into this Mount Abarim and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel. And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people as Aaron your brother was gathered.” (Numbers 27:12-13) In chapter 3

“Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so  walk in Him,” (Colossians 2:6).   How did we receive Jesus? Most of us didn’t know the Bible. We didn’t know the how nor why Jesus saved us. If we were not brought up in a church, we never even heard of salvation and that we needed to be saved. We didn’t know the cost of salvation to Jesus. What did we know? We knew that we needed a change. We might have thought it was peace and looked everywhere for it. It might have

“No weapon that is formed against you shall be blessed; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is  the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness is  from Me, says Jehovah.” (Isaiah 54:17)   In the previous chapter, Isaiah prophesies about Jesus the Messiah. The description is detailed and for us who know Him, it unmistakably describes Jesus. Then chapter 54 describes the covenant Jesus executed. Remember that th

“And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may overshadow me.” (2Corinthians 12:9)   Paul had an affliction of some kind. It’s unknown if it’s physical which seems to be the majority of the consensus, but it may not have been. He prayed about it and asked the Lord three times for it to be removed. In our verse Paul tells us the answer to His

“And the Lord said  to him, Arise and go into the street which is called Straight and inquire in the  house of Judas for one  called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying,” (Acts 9:11)   The Lord was talking to Ananias of Damascus in a vision. There are a couple of things here in this one verse which we will explore. This verse is also part of the next one, but we’ll concentrate on this one. Ananias has a vision. God speaks to Ananias through the vision. And Saul of Tarsu

“Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon the beloved and fellow laborer, and to Apphia the beloved, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house.” (Philemon 1:1-2)   Paul sends greetings to Philemon, to others known to be associated with Philemon and to the believers who probably congregate at his house from himself and Timothy. It’s believed that at this point, Paul is unable to pen the letter himself and has Timothy pe

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19)   Jesus spoke to His disciples about how the world hated them. The world loves its own. “For if you love those who love you, what thanks do you have? For sinners also love those who love them.” (Luke 6:32) The world does not love its enemies. When Jesus tells us to love our enemies, He is telling us

“For faithful is the Word, for if we died with Him , we shall also live with Him .” (2Timothy 2:11)   In other translations this verse begins “It is a faithful saying.” The Greek word that was translated faithful means trustworthy, trustful, sure and true. It is a sure thing. It is a true thing that if we died with Jesus, we would live with Him.   The key phrase begins with the word “if.” Paul is reiterating something that he more than likely repeated many times. Timothy spen

“You looked for much, and behold, little! And when you brought it  home, then I blew on it. Why, says Jehovah of Hosts? Because of My House that is waste, and you, each  man runs to his own house.” (Haggai 1:9)   This was post-exile. The people had returned to Judah and had spent their time, energy and money on rebuilding their own homes. But they were not concerned about the rebuilding of the temple. “So says Jehovah of Hosts, saying: This people says, The time has not come,

“Then Jesus said to the Twelve, Do you also wish to go away?” (John 6:67)   Jesus had just declared to His many followers that He will live in them and them in He if they partake of His body and drink His blood. (John 6:56) Of course they were understanding this in earthly terms and had no spiritual understanding. The Bible tells us that many left Him. (John 6:66) Today, many also leave because they don’t understand spiritual things and get offended as these followers did. Th

“For the love of Christ constrains us, judging this, that if one died for all, then all died;” (2Corinthians 5:14).   Paul explains why he preaches to persuade men to repent. (verse 11) The love of Christ constrains us. By “us” he means the disciples of Jesus. To constrain means to impel, force or drive. And that he was. He was driven to persuade through his teachings. And it was because of the love of Christ. Jesus said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not wor

“And I, brothers, could not speak to you as to spiritual ones, but as to fleshly, as to babes in Christ.” (1Corinthians 3:1)   What are babes in Christ? They are new believers who may not have any knowledge of what the Bible says. A babe in Christ may not know how to behave like a Christian because their soul (mind, will and emotions) has not yet been transformed by the Word of God or because they haven’t been obedient in what the Lord has shown them in the Bible. They may sp

“And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. Nothing is  better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines. And Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any border of Israel, and so I shall escape out of his hand.” (1Samuel 27:1)   When Saul pursued David to kill him, I imagine that it was a desperate time for David. And when we get desperate, we forget God’s promises to us. We panic and always think the

“Jesus said to them, Come, break fast. And none of the disciples dared to ask Him, Who are You? knowing that it was the Lord.” (John 21:12)   Some background information. This happened after the resurrection. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdelene (John 20:11-18) then to the disciples who were shut in because they feared the Jews (John 20: 19-23). Eight days later Jesus appears to them again. This time Thomas is with them (John 20: 26-29) Then Jesus appears to them by the sea while