Month: July 2020

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Devotionals

CREATOR OF THE WORLD AND THE WORLDS

July 31, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

CREATOR OF THE WORLD AND THE WORLDS

“By whom also He made the worlds.”

Heb. 1: 2, A.V.

“It was through Christ that God ‘made the worlds.’ The One who took Adam’s place and was ‘appointed heir,’ is the Creator of all things. In making the world God used the Son as His Intermediary, not as one uses a tool, but as fellow worker.”

“That Christ is Creator indicates a division of activity among the members of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit has His work to do; so has the Son, and so has the Father. In the plan of God He who was to be man’s Redeemer [if and when he falls] was also the Creator.”

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Devotionals

THE FATHER APPOINTED CHRIST AS ‘HEIR OF ALL THINGS’: WHY? HOW?

July 30, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE FATHER APPOINTED CHRIST AS ‘HEIR OF ALL THINGS’: WHY? HOW?

“God. . . .hath in these last days. . . appointed heir of all things.”

See Heb. 1:1,2, A.V.

“God spake ‘by His Son,’ should rather be “IN His Son,” according to the original. For “the same God who formerly spoke IN the prophets has now spoken IN His Son. This places Jesus in the prophetic line as One of the prophets and messengers of God.”

“The Son is said to be ‘appointed heir.’ Some have taken this to mean that the time will come when the Father will ‘resign’ His throne and ‘relegate’ Himself to a secondary, and the Son will take over the kingdom permanently.”

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Devotionals

HOW AND BY WHOM DID GOD SPEAK?

July 29, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

HOW AND BY WHOM DID GOD SPEAK?

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers [early patriarchs] by the prophets.”

Heb. 1: 1, A.V.

“As the original reads, God spoke IN [rather than by] the prophets, which suggests that God did not use these prophets as mere mechanical instruments, as one does in blowing a horn [or trumpet], but that while the Lord spoke, human lips framed the words and clothed them in human language.” Andreaaen, The Book of Hebrews, p. 45.

Another apostle states the same truth in these words: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were MOVED by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. 1: 21 (See verses 19,20).

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Devotionals

THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

July 28, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

I am seizing this opportunity to focus on the book of Hebrews, so strangely ignored and neglected by mainstream Christianity. I am under solemn obligation to call the attention of the spiritual Hebrews to the “two-edged sword” messages given “whether they will hear or whether they will forbear!” It is my prayer and hope that you will “hear” and not “forbear.”
So away we go!  Hebrews 1:1-3, A.V.

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the WORLDS: who being the brightness of His [the Father’s] glory, and the EXPRESS image of His person, and upholding all things by the WORD of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Heb. 1: 1-3.
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Devotionals

DO CHRISTIANS TODAY UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLES OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND LIBERTY?

July 27, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

DO CHRISTIANS TODAY UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLES OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND LIBERTY?

Maybe not. Because the brothers James and John, two of the first Twelve disciples did not, even after they had the special privilege together with Peter to witness the transfiguration! See Lue 9: 28- 36, 51-56 first.

“James and John, were GREATLY ANNOYED at the insult shown to their Lord. They were filled with INDIGNATION because He had been insulted by the Samaritans whom He was honoring by His presence. They [James & John] had been with Him in the mount of transfiguration, and had seen Him GLORIFIED by God, and honored by Moses and Elijah. This manifest DISHONOR by the Samaritans, should not, THEY THOUGHT, be passed over without marked PUNISHMENT.”

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Devotionals

OUR INDIVIDUAL STANDING BEFORE GOD

July 26, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

OUR INDIVIDUAL STANDING BEFORE GOD

“And He said to them, you will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal Yourself!’ Whatever we have heard in Capernaum, do also here in Your country. Then He said, ‘Assuredly [verily, verily, KJV], I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his country.’”

Luke 4: 23,24, NKJV. (Read verses 16-30).

Then He added, “But of a truth I say unto you, There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; and to none of them was Elijah sent, but ONLY to Zarepath, in the land of Sidon, unto a WOMAN WHO WAS A WIDOW. And there were MANY LEPERS IN ISRAEL in the time of Elisha the prophet; and NONE of them was cleansed, BUT only Naaman, the Syrian.” Luke 4:23-27, R.V.”

“By this revelation of events in the lives of the PROPHETS, Jesus met the questionings of His hearers. The servants whom God had chosen for a special work were not allowed to labor for a HARDHEARTED and UNBELIEVING people.”

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Devotionals

JESUS’ CHILDHOOD: THE ONLY PERFECT EXAMPLE OF CHRISTIAN CHILDREN

July 24, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

JESUS’ CHILDHOOD: THE ONLY PERFECT EXAMPLE OF CHRISTIAN CHILDREN

“And the child grew, and waxed in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the GRACE of God was upon Him.” “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”

Luke 2:40,52, A.V.

“The childhood and youth of Jesus were spent in a little mountain village [not in a palace, castle or gated community]. There was not a place on earth that would not have been HONORED by His presence. The palaces of kings would have been privileged in receiving Him as a Guest. But He PASSED BY the homes of wealth, the courts of royalty, and renowned seats of learning, to make His home in obscure and despised Nazareth.”

“Wonderful in its significance is the BRIEF record of His early life [Luke 2:40 quoted]. In the sunlight of His Father’s countenance, Jesus increased with wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man….”

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Devotionals

WHAT TO EAT THE HEAVENLY MANNA MEANS.

July 23, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

WHAT TO EAT THE HEAVENLY MANNA MEANS.

“Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Matt. 4:4; cf. Deut. 8:3, A.V.

Jesus said, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” Find time, with all the downtime afforded by this pandemic crisis, to prayerfully read John chapter 6.

“The life of Christ that gives LIFE to the world is IN His Word. It was by His Word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His Word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people witnessed that ‘His Word was with power.’

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