Were the merchants in the Temple there for worship or marketing? I’m sure they rationalized the whole process by saying they were making worship convenient. Many pilgrims were coming from a long distance, and Scripture stated that the animals were to come from the worshipper’s own flock. Deuteronomy 12:6 There you will bringyour offerings of the …
Through His actions, Jesus asked, “Where’s the fruit?” Mark 11: 12 The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in …
I have experienced how accountability makes me better. When we are accountable to someone, we can hear the proper counsel and encouragement when we are honest about our faults. Doing this helps us fulfill the plans the Lord has for us. If we need to correct or be corrected, it should be done with love …
Genuine faith bears fruit. I could see this as the fantastic result of a school friend who came to faith as an older adult. Through coming to faith, he went out of the darkness of sin into God’s marvelous light and became a kinder, happier, and gentler person. If he was a fruit tree, he …
Have you ever been touched by God’s grace, His undeserved love? If you have, how did that change your life? How did that change how you viewed God, who brings light into our darkness? My mother had an expression, “You get a lot further with honey than vinegar.” Romans 2:4 Don’t you see how wonderfully …
Has God broken into your life? I know someone who experienced God breaking into their life during a terminal illness. He was far from God until the Lord broke into his dark world and drew him to Himself. The Lord showed him what was important in life during his illness. In his illness, the Lord …
Praising God during persecution is difficult, but we can with the Lord’s help. Praise is like turning on a light in a dark room. Have you ever noticed that praising God changes the spiritual atmosphere? Instead of complaining when your day isn’t going well, praise God and see how that can change things. As I …
The enemy wants to silence believers, which has happened since the first person gave their life to the Lord. I remember meeting a pastor in Russia a few years ago who spent time in prison for passing out Christian tracks as he brought the Light of Jesus into a dark community. The enemy wanted to …
The spiritual battle is real; I experienced it personally on my first foreign mission trip to Mexico. Our mission team was building a small home next to a house where a young family with three children lived. At lunch, the interpreter told us the woman next door had previously been living with a man involved …
Intercession in our last hour may not be on our hearts until the Holy Spirit prompts us. I remember an older lady in our church who, in the latter part of her life, could not get out due to health reasons. Because of this, she transitioned into being a full-time prayer warrior. Her prayers brought …