Text: Romans 6:1-14This section of Paul’s letter provides a powerful insight into our salvation.We are saved because God has united us to the work of Christ (v.5). The things Jesus accomplished are ours, and our water baptism symbolizes spiritual baptism – union with Christ. This passage is not instructing us about the method of baptism.[…]
Text: John 3:1-15Giving birth to a child, is something that is decided by parents, not by the child. That principle must be applied to spiritual birth as well. God is the one who decides whom He will give new birth, spiritual birth, salvation. We have nothing to do with that decision. Some think, if a[…]
Text: Matthew 19:16-30This passage teaches that there is nothing a person can do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. He does not mean crawling through a very small gate. Jesus means the hole on a sewing needle, and if[…]
Text: Zechariah 3:1-10The prophet Zechariah was writing to God’s people after they had returned from exile. They started to rebuild the Temple, but they became more interested in their own houses and eventually stopped the Temple construction. Yahweh then sends Zechariah to encourage the people to build. This vision of Joshua (not Moses’ aide) shows[…]
Text: Joel 2:1-17The Prophet Joel spoke this perhaps in the middle of the 800 B.C, about Israel and Judah; they were separated from each other, they were still in the land, but they were drifting away from Yahweh. In the passage for today Joel preaches that the people must repent, or they will be destroyed[…]
Text: Ezekiel 37:1-14The LORD (Yahweh) gave His prophet a vision of an amazing thing God was going to do for His people. Israel had been cast out of the land by God; destroyed, exiled, scattered by the nation of Babylon. Their rejection of Yahweh as the only true God proved they were dead spiritually. Then[…]
Text: Ezekiel 36:22-38Ezekiel writes to God’s people in their exile. In the passage just before today’s reading, Yahweh reminds His people that they profaned His name. They had abandoned worship of Yahweh and worshipped false gods. So, He cast them out of the land and dispersed them among the nations. We might expect Him to[…]
Text: Jeremiah 32:36-44The passage for today is closely related to the one we considered yesterday, regarding the heart. Jeremiah is looking to the future when God will make a new covenant (a gracious relationship in union, based on oath, sealed by death) and He will always do good to His people, not like His removal[…]
Text: Psalm 51:1-19 King David loved Yahweh from his youth. He worshipped God and obeyed Him. However, on a certain day, when he should have been leading his soldiers in battle, David stayed at home and committed adultery. In a bid to cover up the sin, matters took a turn for the worse. It ended[…]
Text: Psalm 23:1-6 This psalm is probably the most famous one of all. It is even considered to be one of the greatest poems of all human history. Psalm 23 helps us understand something about the nature of God and of His relationship with His people. The first four verses sweetly describe God as a[…]