Blog Entries

Ephesians 1:3,4 - "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." Many people who are doing something significant for God in the world are doing it "without their own resources" because God doesn't want us to depend on our own abilities. Instead, He wants us to be obedient...

2.2 UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION OVERVIEW Much like the last chapter, it supplies Biblical support to this pillar, as well as a brief explanation of it. The verses [ in my copy ] stretch 11 pages. Again, there are headings and subheadings for each verse, and each verse explains its heading. Very easy to follow, yet accurately and completely answering many, if not all, of my questions concerning this pillar. THOUGHTS One of my new favorite book, I plan to use it as a Summer Home Bible Study...

Before I begin, I would like to just say..... WOW! At first, I thought this would be a book where they just dance around the issues; I am overjoyed to say that this is not at ALL the case. Part 2 is SO heavy, Part 2 will be broken into 5 parts itself. That's right; it is THAT GOOD! This is the kind of book that you either love or hate. Part Two: The Five Points Defended: Their Biblical Support 2.1: TOTAL DEPRAVITY OR TOTAL INABILITY OVERVIEW This chapter sealed this book for me as one...

Part One: The Five Points Defined: Their Origin and Contents OVERVIEW A very concise chapter, I especially like the way the authors explain first the history of, and then the differences between the two sects of Theology. There is a very helpful side-by-side chart of the 5 points of both Reformed and Non-Reformed Theology. They do talk about Pelagius and Semi-Pelagianism, and the description is very informative. They then go through to give an in-depth explaination of the difference between...

Matthew 16:18 - "On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Where precisely are the gates of hell? Where does the devil sit in power? The mind is the gatekeeper of the Kingdom of God. It is the place of access, transition, and power. It follows that the gates of hell are set up in people's minds. Jesus made this clear: Matthew 16:23 - But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of...

Isaiah 9:7 - "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end......" How important is increase to God? Jesus once cursed a fig tree for not bearing fruit out of season (Mark 11:13-14)! A man in one of His parables was cast into outer darkness for burying his money and not obtaining an increase for his master (Matthew 25:24-30). When the main goal of our faith is keeping us safe from the devil, our faith becomes inferior to what God expects. Jesus had in mind more for us...

Luke 9:23 - "If anyone wishes to come after Me; he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." When the Cross is alive, it burns up the flesh – dreams of the flesh, ambitions of the flesh – all of the flesh. All of the flesh it consumes. It consumed man's flesh beyond recognition, and so it is with His own. So when the Father looks down, He sees the reflection of His Son, and then there becomes recognition. Let the Cross have its work. Let the grave contain what is...

Luke 10:38-40 - "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"' Many people have their own ideas about what they want to do for God, and this is...

Psalm 50:11,14,23 - "Gather My godly ones to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine. Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High; he who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God." The terms of the covenant are simple: we pledge to thank Him and adore Him in everything; He pledges to...

Deuteronomy 30:19 - "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." Some people seem to enjoy being the victim. No matter what failure or disappointment they have experienced in life, they have convinced themselves that someone or something is to blame This lie is old as Adam. He blamed Eve and she blamed the devil when they messed up in the Garden of Eden....

Romans 12:2 - "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." That word transformed is translated from the Greek word from which we get the term "metamorphosis." It's used in Scripture in two other places - when Jesus was transfigured on the Mount as He spoke with Moses and Elijah - and in 2 Corinthians 3:18. It says, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even...

The Holy Spirit’s desire is that we live every day in the fullness of the Lord, by seeing above and beyond what we can do, and that Jesus would receive glory and honor through His great power that works in us and through us. This is the essence of what Paul writes about in Ephesians 3:20, 21 - "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever...

Psalm 138:7,8 - "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies and Your right hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me." God has promised to revive you in the midst of trouble. He promised to perfect that which concerns you. That means your recovery from your adverse circumstances, from the schemes of the devil, your victory, and all that God has destined for you has been planned out in heaven....

Exodus 4:2-4 - "And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod. And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he did so and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said to Moses, Put forth your hand and take it by the tail. And he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand." Moses' rod became a serpent. A serpent was the symbol of royal and cultic powers. A serpent was placed on the crown of every Pharaoh because it was...

Many Believers live in fear of the powers of darkness. Many are plagued by the spirit of suicide and death, discouragement and depression, sickness, lack, poverty, and failure. Many are caught in the vicious cycle of defeat, circling around the valleys of despair and can't seem to find their way out. Many have been oppressed by the enemy for a prolonged period of time. It's been many years and many seasons of great grief and loss. You've been under such a weight of the enemy you couldn't...