Tina Turner once sang, “What’s love got to do with it?” I would counter that love has everything to do with it. As we continue to study the Book of James, he mentions the royal law (James 2:8). This law, he goes on to explain, is to love our neighbors as ourselves. In fact, he…
And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. Mark 6:31 What do you do to stay in shape? For me, I try to hit the gym every day. I find it interesting that…
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet…
James begins his letter with the statement, “Count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds.” Not if we meet them but rather when we meet them. He says that if we remain steadfast we will receive the crown of life. In our text from yesterday, James points out that God is not…
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12 Growing up I loved reading. One of my favorite genres was spy novels. I read all of the James Bond novels.…
We all have a past. Some good and some bad. How we deal with our past impacts our future. In the Old Testament, Joseph certainly had a strange and difficult past. He was thrown into a pit by his jealous brothers and then sold into slavery. He was falsely accused of impropriety by the wife…
In the Old Testament, there is a man named Nehemiah. Nehemiah’s story started with a burden. As the people were set to return to Jerusalem, he saw the condition of Jerusalem’s wall and knew the situation was desperate. Without a wall, people returning to Jerusalem after years in captivity would be unprotected and vulnerable to…
Remember the Tina Turner hit song, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” Well, as I read through God’s Word – the scriptures, I find that Love has a lot to do with it. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love… I am nothing…Love is patient and…
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; Colossians 4:2 As we continue our study of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we came to this verse about the importance of prayer. Prayer is one of the primary means by which we communicate with God, both bringing to Him our thanks,…
“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” Colossians 2:9 Sunday we looked at how the church in Colossae was using a mash-up of Christianity, bad Judaism, and paganism in their church. They believed in what Jesus did for salvation, but added to it rules (Judaism) and strange rituals (paganism) to “help” God…