Archive for the ‘Life Keys’ Category

Death reigned.  Romans 5:14
Death was like a terrible regime that exercised a reign of terror over the human race.  We read about great men of faith—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the others who trusted the promise of God, that one day He would send a Savior, a Deliverer.  But death got every one of [...]

“Jesus… was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” Luke 4:1-2
It is the Spirit of God who leads Christ out into the wilderness.  Christ goes stalking the enemy.  The first step in his public ministry is to confront the enemy and to triumph where Adam [...]

Have you not read how God said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?”  Mark 12:26
If you want to know who God is, you need to know what He has revealed about himself.  All through the Bible, God refers to himself as “the God of [...]

He told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.” Matthew 13:3
We are so familiar with this story that we sometimes lose sight of its power.  So, let me tell you another parable that may help us see the point of Jesus’ story more clearly…    
The Parable of the Bomber
A [...]

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Matthew 3:2
Notice how John the Baptist describes heaven—as a kingdom.  A kingdom is a place under the rule of a king.   To be in the kingdom of heaven, means to submit yourself to the rule of the King of heaven.  But what does John mean when he [...]

“The angel [said], ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God…’” Luke 1:35
Jesus is God
The angel announced to Mary that Jesus would be “The Son of the Most High” and “the Son [...]

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.  Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he [...]

“The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory…”  John 1:14
(This is adapted from of a first-person message by Pastor Colin—in the character of the apostle John)
Why did Jesus come?  Why is His coming important to folks like you, living two thousand years after He came into the world?  [...]

“He… was seen by angels…” 1 Timothy 3:16
When the Bible says Christ was “seen by angels,” it is important to remember that angels are not God.  Angels do not know all things.  They are not present everywhere.  They are not all-powerful.  They are servants who are given power to execute the will of God.
Angels are [...]

“Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.  But as for me, it is good to be near God.  I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.”  Psalm 73:27-28
Notice the order—faith leads to commitment; not the other way round.  If [...]

 
“If I had said, ‘I will speak thus,’ I would have betrayed your children.” Psalm 73:15
The writer of Psalm 73, Asaph, had almost slipped.  He had almost lost his faith, and he’s saying, in effect, “I will not go where my despairing thoughts are leading me.  If I had gone where my confused mind was [...]

“Sin shall no longer be your master.”  Romans 6:14
The moment you came to faith in Jesus Christ, God forgave your sins. He freed you from guilt, from condemnation and from hell, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). That is the beginning of your salvation, but it is [...]

“Keep yourself in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”  Jude 1:21 
The trouble with waiting is that it seems like a complete waste of time.  So we look for something to do while we are waiting.  That’s why there are magazines in the doctor’s waiting [...]

“I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” Revelation 2:4
Jesus spoke these words to the church at Ephesus—a church that was greatly blessed and known for their service, orthodoxy and perseverance.  How can that be?  Friend, it’s possible to serve with great energy and to no longer be about Christ.  It is [...]

“God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body.” Ephesians 1:22-23
Think about what happens when you pick up a pen: The desire of the head is communicated through the body, and members of the body collaborate to fulfill the command.  The arm [...]

“Build yourselves up in your most holy faith.” Jude 20
Jude is talking to believers, to those who’ve embraced the faith, and he says, “You have to build yourselves up in it.”  There will be times when your faith seems low—you feel you’re not growing and you seem to be making little progress.  You ask yourself, [...]

“Father forgive them, they do not know what they re doing.” Luke 23:34
Are you struggling to live with the guilt of what you’ve done?  You can’t forgive yourself, and you can’t see how God could forgive you either.  Come with me to Calvary.  
Jesus has a crown of thorns forced in His head.  He’s nailed [...]

“[Moses] sees the form of the Lord.  I speak to him face to face.” Numbers 12:8
Korah could never accept that.  He was fundamentally opposed to the idea that God would place anybody in such a position.  Korah thought everybody could come to God in their own way…
Why is there only one High Priest? 
“The whole [...]

“It is finished.”  John 19:30
There was only one person in the history of the world who could ever truly say, “It is finished.”  None of us will be able to say that when we die, because none of us are able to say it while we live.  None of us will say to God, “I [...]

“Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother…” John 19:25
It is very striking that, with the exception of John, all of the disciples had fled.  We’re told that around the cross there were four women: Mary, the mother of Jesus; her sister; Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.  With John, these four women [...]

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
The men who nailed Jesus to the cross didn’t feel that they were doing anything wrong.  They didn’t have a bad conscience.  They didn’t feel that they needed to ask for forgiveness.  They were committing the most terrible sin in the history [...]

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.” Psalm 51:1
David knows that God is merciful.  You will never begin to change until you discover the mercy of God.  Think about the prodigal son.  He has real guilt.  He has lost his family’s trust, [...]

“The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.’” Luke 24:46
After He was raised from the dead, Jesus appeared to the disciples and He opened their minds so that they could understand the Gospel.  But what do these words mean for them and for us?  Jesus went on to explain… 
Repentance
“Repentance… will [...]

“Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14
The Lord calls His people to a total commitment—whatever the cost and whatever the outcome.
He is God and I am His servant.  That means that my role [...]

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children.” Deuteronomy 29:29
You cannot have faith without questions for the very simple reason that God has chosen to keep many secrets.  There are certain things God has revealed—that’s what makes faith possible, and there [...]

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” Colossians 3:16
People sometimes say to me, “Pastor, I’ve been in church my whole life and I know how important being in the Word is, but I’m really struggling.  Where do I start?”  Or they’ll say, “I’m a Christian, but I’m really struggling to know the love [...]

Listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes… Instead, you ought [...]

“Through Christ and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.” Romans 1:5
The Gospel always lives in the presence of two enemies—one is called legalism, the other is called antinomianism…
Legalism says: “Obey God’s commands, so that you may believe [...]

“All day long, my name is constantly blasphemed. Therefore my people will know my name… How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news.”  Isaiah 52:5-6
God’s answer to a world that blasphemes His name is a community of people who honor His Name!  Those who know and love the Lord [...]

 “May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.”  2 Thessalonians 3:16
How is it possible to have peace at all times and in every way?  The apostle Paul gives us insight into this when he introduces Christ with the wonderful name “the Lord of Peace.” 
What does that mean?
The [...]

Like a Child Blowing Out a Candle
“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Ephesians 6:12
What lies behind the great struggles of your life?  People are not the problem.  Our [...]

[Christ comes] “to be glorified in His holy people…  This includes you, because you believed.”   2 Thessalonians 1:10
I can see, and begin to imagine, how God’s people will be glorified in Christ.  One day we’ll have a resurrected body like Him.  We’ll have no more pain, sickness or sorrow and a body that’s adapted for [...]

“They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord” 2 Thessalonians 2:9
To be shut out from God’s presence and from His power is to be without hope and without love forever.  This is one of the hardest truths in the Bible.  But here’s something I’ve discovered—the hardest truths [...]

“Turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 30:10
The only way you can come to God is with all your soul. When Jesus said “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden,” he was talking to all that’s in you. What does that [...]

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits.” Psalm 130:5 (NIV)
No smart answers. No trite phrases. No patronizing advice. No exhortations to pull yourself together—just a simple decision and a steady commitment to wait. In our instant culture, waiting on the Lord is one of the hardest things for us to do, but it is [...]

“I will take away your heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV)
Think about it. God says your problem is that the capacities of your soul have been petrified: “You have a heart of stone, but I will give you a heart of flesh.” The question is how does this [...]

If we believe in a God who punishes, we cannot also believe that He is a God who loves.  If we believe that God is love, we cannot also believe that He is a God who punishes. Conclusion suggested by Oct. 7, 2010 USA Today article “How America Sees God”
 If you said this to Moses, [...]

God’s people were slaves in Egypt for over 400 years.  They’d been oppressed by a cruel tyrant who defied God and abused His people.  God said, “Let my people go,” but Pharaoh cared nothing for God, so God came down in judgment and mercy. 
God’s judgment broke the power of Pharaoh, while His mercy protected His [...]

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5
If you love the Lord with all your heart, soul and strength, He’ll have the highest place in your affections, the highest claim on your life and the highest priority over your check book.  If [...]

“You were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD… You grumbled in your tents and said, ‘The LORD hates us…’ You did not trust in the LORD your God.”  Deuteronomy 1:26-27, 32
I’d be asking, “Moses, how did ‘we’ refuse to go up?  I was 12 years old when that [...]

We’re not to think that the Lord was telling Hosea to phone up some dating agency and ask for the lady with the worst reputation.  We may reasonably assume that Hosea had already come to know Gomer, had fallen in love with her and that he was planning to marry her.  Now, shortly before the [...]

This is heady stuff for a bunch of high schoolers.  This is a taste of the high life—food from the king’s table.  Once you get a taste of the high life, it’s difficult to settle for anything else.  This was all part of the king’s strategy. 
Daniel decided not to eat from the king’s table.  I’m [...]

In a vision God picks Ezekiel up and takes him to this grim valley filled with human remains, as if there had been a great slaughter there years ago.  Why would God do that? 
“These bones are the whole house of Israel.  They say our bones are dried up, our hope is gone” (37:11).  The people [...]

The whole Old Testament demonstrates the impossibility of aligning your own heart with the law of God.  So, God says, “I will do what you’re incapable of doing.  I’ll write my law on your heart.  I’ll give you a new heart and I’ll put a new spirit in you.  I’ll change the prevailing disposition of [...]

It can be fun watching the price go up at an auction.  It starts with many bidders, then people begin to drop out as the price goes higher.  But this is staggering!  Selling is usually about the trader arguing the customer up to his price, but here we have Christ arguing the price down!
Come with [...]

The future looks bleak for Job.  He sees nothing good on the horizon.  He might have looked forward to time with grandchildren, but his sons are gone.  He might have looked forward to some travel, but his wealth has been plundered.  He might have enjoyed some quiet years with his wife, but she’s given up [...]

When Job worships Satan is confounded.  The worship of one man in the middle of his suffering vindicates the name of God and reverberates among the angels of heaven.  Satan shrinks back in silence, dumbfounded by the power of the grace of God in Job’s life.
But for Job’s wife integrity was a means to an [...]

God’s people had been living in a foreign land for 70 years, and now 50,000 of them were returning to Jerusalem, but they didn’t know the first thing about the Word of God.  So, God put it on Ezra’s heart to do something about it.
Great expectations
“Ezra opened the book… and all the people stood up.  [...]

I love the honesty of this.  If Baal is God, then the thing you should do is follow Him.  If Allah is God, we should close the church and build a mosque.  If Shiva and Vishnu are God, we should close the church and build a temple.
Nobody has the right to say, “You should be [...]

What you have here is a young lady making a costly commitment of love and loyalty to a rather difficult, bitter older woman.  At the same time she is making a costly commitment to the God of Israel, who has allowed great pain and disappointment in her life.  Love proves itself when it is faced [...]

When the going gets tough, the question becomes very simple.  Is there a God you can cry out to who is able to act and who is able to do something?  These judges were not like our judges today, sitting in a court of law.  They were military leaders who were able to deliver the [...]

God gave Moses very careful instructions for the people.  When the great judgment came on Egypt, God made a way in which all who believed and obeyed could be kept safe.  Every family was to choose a lamb.  They were to keep it for four days, and then they were to kill it.  The lamb’s [...]

Judgment is never God’s final word to the world.  When God cuts sin back, it is always to make room for His saving grace.  Adam and Eve are excluded from the garden, but there is the promise of a deliverer.  Cain is sent out from his family, but then Seth is born.  The flood destroys [...]

Right from the beginning, the human family has been divided in its response to God.  Adam and Eve had two children, and the world’s first brothers set the rudders of their boats in totally different directions. 
A “worldview” is a set of core beliefs that determine how we think on any given issue.  
Two worldviews, one centered [...]

Men find themselves in a relentless battle against evil—always trying to get rid of it,  always finding that it breaks out in another tragedy, another horror, another dictator, another massacre.  Will the man ever break free from his knowledge of evil?
God says there will be an offspring of the woman, someone born into the human [...]

Remember that God is Spirit.  He is invisible to the human eye.  Yet right at the beginning of the Bible we read about God “walking in the garden” with Adam and Eve.  Why would He do that?  The Invisible God makes Himself visible and comes to the man in such a way that there can [...]

I was summoned for a mission to visit a country girl in her early teens, “There is a young woman to whom you must give this message,” I was told.  “It is the most important announcement we have ever made.  The future of the world hangs on it.” 
When I heard the message I was to [...]

I have a marvelous story to tell you.  I had a ring-side seat for the greatest event that has ever happened in the history of the world.  Of course, you know that I was the one who was pledged to be married to Mary.  I knew that she was the one for me from the [...]

Why did Jesus come?  Why is His coming important to folks like you, living two thousand years after He came into the world?  I’d answer that question with one word—“life.”
 My life was a shadow
All of us are looking for life.  But we don’t quite know what it is that we are looking for.  We have [...]

When the Bible says Christ was “seen by angels,” it is important to remember that angels are not God.  Angels do not know all things.  They are not present everywhere.  They are not all-powerful.  They are servants who are given power to execute the will of God.
Angels are created beings with finite knowledge.  The Bible [...]

Evangelicals have always stressed the wonderful truth that we are justified by faith.  We have rightly placed great emphasis on justification by faith and not by works.  But we have not always had a good grasp on what faith actually is.
Hebrews 11 gives us a long list of the heroes of faith, men and women [...]

God calls you to a life of obedience through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  God calls you to find in Christ what you do not have, to receive from Christ what you cannot offer, to accomplish through Christ what you cannot do.
 The two enemies of the Gospel
The Gospel always lives in the presence of [...]

Faith prays—that’s what faith does.  Prayer is the fruit of faith.  And God has given astonishing promises regarding prayer: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14).
What does it mean to pray with faith?  I want to show you [...]

If I asked you to draw a picture of sin, what would you draw?  You could draw an arrow missing a target.  That’s what sin is—falling short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  You could draw a clenched fist.  Sin is rebellion against God (Hebrews 3:16-19).
There is another picture you could draw, a man [...]

You may think that the humanity of the Son of God is a truth you know well.  Here’s a test to help you see how well you grasp this great truth: Do you pray?  And when you pray, do you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ knows what your life is like?  Do you think [...]

“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven, but whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”  Matthew 10:32-33
Jesus makes it clear what He says about us then, is intimately tied to what we say about Him now.   As I read this, [...]

Matthew tells us that they left their nets and followed Him (4:20).  What did the disciples gain from three years of following Jesus?  What will we learn from following Jesus that will make us effective in bringing people to Christ?
A new interest in people
These men lived in a world of fish and boats.  But Christ [...]

When you move towards Jesus, the great question is: What will He do?  Is He there for you?  Is He ready to receive you?  Or will He drive you away?
When you are on the way
“Whoever comes to me…” John 6:37
Jesus knows our doubts and our questions as we move towards Him.  Who is He talking [...]

A promise is only as good as the trustworthiness of the person making it.  How do we know that if we come to Jesus, He will be able to give us rest?  The credibility of Jesus’ promise rests on His capacity to do what He says.  I want you to see why Jesus is able [...]

The son gets his money and goes to live as far away from his father as he can.  Then he squanders his money in wild living, and Jesus says, “There was a famine in that country and he began to be in need.”  So, he got a job feeding pigs.  The irony was that the [...]

What is a broken heart?  If you have broken an arm or a leg or some other bone in your body, you will know exactly what David means when he talks about a “broken heart.”  What’s it like when you break a bone?  You experience great pain, and you feel pretty useless sitting on the [...]

Will your theology bring you confidence when you are in prison?  What kind of peace will your testimony give to you when you are in trouble?  Are your answers able to fill you with joy, as you endure a long and difficult trial?  We will see the answers more clearly if we think about what [...]

Ever feel overwhelmed by life’s choices?  If mature Christians differ in their approach to life, how will I ever put my life together with wisdom?
Paul speaks of two kinds of wisdom—the wisdom of this age (v6), and God’s secret wisdom (v7).  There are two distinct ways of putting your life together. It is important to [...]

Have you ever wondered “Who is God?”  Moses must have.  Growing up in Pharaoh’s palace in Egypt, Moses learned about the Egyptian gods—Osiris, Hekt, Apis and Ra.  One day Moses saw a fire resting on a bush.  All other fires go out when they have exhausted the available fuel.  A candle only burns until the [...]

Men were migrating eastward, and as they did, an idea was born for a magnificent project.  They had developed a marvelous new technology, bricks, and this had opened up a wonderful new world of possibilities: “Now we will be able to build higher than we ever thought possible before, so let’s build a tower right [...]

God continued to reach out to man, even after Adam and Eve were excluded from the garden.  God did not abandon people or lose interest in them.  All the way through the Bible we find God reaching out to save people by grace, and through faith in Jesus Christ.
God’s grace comes through warning
“I am going [...]

A good basketball team will spend hours working on their plays.  They will also study the opposition’s plays so that they can work out an effective defense against them.  Satan used all his best plays in his first game in the garden.  Once we learn these plays we will be able to detect them and [...]

Imagine yourself at a theater for the first performance of a new play.  The curtain goes up, but the stage is empty.  Then the author walks on and introduces himself to the audience.  He tells you who he is, why he wrote the play, and what it is about.  He walks onto the stage without [...]

Joyful, spontaneous, faith-filled prayer is a distinguishing mark of a Spirit-filled church.  These three questions will help you see why prayer is so central to our life and ministry.
What are we up against?
What do you think we’re up against? If you think the church’s great challenge is ignorance of the Gospel, “People just don’t know [...]

Come with me to Calvary. Jesus has a crown of thorns forced in His head. He’s nailed to the cross. As that cross is lifted up, Jesus says, “Father forgive them,” releasing forgiveness to all who would receive it from Him. Are you struggling to live with the guilt of what you’ve done? You can’t [...]

Jesus is sleeping in a boat with his disciples when a storm sweeps in. They wake Him and He rebukes the wind. When the waves have settled and the lake is completely calm, Jesus asks them why they were so afraid. The disciples say, “You’re absolutely right, we shouldn’t have panicked. We won’t do that [...]

Asaph is a godly leader who’s in the middle of such a dark time that, looking back on it, he says, “My feet almost slipped” (Psalm 73:2). In other words, he almost lost his faith. What do you do when you’re going through something like that? How do you persevere?
Notice what Asaph says, “I won’t [...]

Your calling is to a life of loving loyalty to the God who loved you and gave Himself for you. The first commandment calls you to a natural response of gratitude to the grace of God in Jesus Christ. 
Cultivate your affection for Him
“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3
Positively, this means thinking [...]

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2-3
Notice what God says before He gives the first of the 10 Commandments to His people on Mount Sinai. He does not make His appeal on the basis [...]

None of us have seen God. He is invisible. We cannot see Him or know Him directly. But we can see what He is like, rather like looking at a reflection in a mirror. We can see the image of God, even if we cannot see God himself. 
The law reflects the image of God. It [...]

Why would anyone who had found freedom in Christ want to turn back to the law? Why would anyone let themselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery?  Why would anyone want to be under the law?
Relationships of law have clearly defined limits. That’s why we have contracts—to limit our liability. Relationships of love [...]

Notice the past tense—this is what you were. Many Christians live their lives in fear, as though they are still slaves. Are you more aware of what God still needs to do in your life, or of what God has already done?  
What does Paul mean when he tells Christians they were slaves? A slave [...]

This is a crucial question:  How do you receive the Holy Spirit? How do you receive the new life that comes from above? Not by the law! The law cannot impart life! But by believing what you heard—the Gospel of Christ crucified.
There is no such thing as a Christian who does not have the Spirit. [...]

The word “justified” belongs to the law courts, where a person is pronounced “not guilty” and cleared of all charges before the law. The opposite of justified is “condemned.” These two words point us to the last day when God, our Creator and Judge, will pronounce His verdict on our lives—either “justified” or “condemned.”
Nobody wants [...]