Under David and Solomon Israel had been a strong and flourishing nation, but following Solomon’s death divisions among the tribes would reach a boiling point and the kingdom would split apart. This was in fulfillment of God’s word to Solomon in 1 Kings 11:11-13. But God gives each person free will and the people in…

Isaiah 28 can be divided into 3 parts: God will punish Ephraim (the northern kingdom-Israel), and save the remnant (Isaiah 28:1-6). God will punish Judah (the southern kingdom) for allying with Egypt but deliver those who trust in Him (Isaiah 28:7-22). God punishes to restore, not to destroy (Isaiah 28:23-29). This Wednesday in our continuing…

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting…

Isaiah 27 is the last chapter in the section commonly known as “The Apocalypse of Isaiah” (Isaiah 24-27). What can we learn from Isaiah 27? The monster of death has been destroyed through Jesus Christ (Isaiah 27:1). Those of us in Christ are part of His fruitful vineyard and He watches over us and guards…

Luke 18:1 Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Jesus’ parable about the persistent widow in Luke 18 is clear. God wants us to continue in prayer, not to weary us, but to exercise us. Like we talked about last week, the more persistently…

To be persistent means to do something unceasingly and continuously. Persistence is a character trait of a faithful Christian. Last week we looked at the power of prayer, particularly group or congregational prayer. And while congregational prayer is extremely important we also must remember that individual prayer is just as important and effective. The bottom…

Isaiah 26 is a song of praise. After redemption there should always be praise. Not only did God come in judgment upon the wicked, but He faithfully redeemed the righteous. For this reason God is worthy of praise. He is the creator and the judge of the entire universe. God is worthy of praise for…

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says we are to “pray continually”. Last week we looked at what makes up an authentic Christian Community: unity, responsibility for one another, and boldly proclaiming God’s Word. A recurring ingredient that enabled the early Christians to do all of those things was prayer. First-century Christians prayed with passion and persistence. Congregational…

The Bible is full of imagery and rich with metaphor. The biblical writers, inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16) and led by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21) used familiar, everyday objects to symbolize spiritual truth. Symbols are quite common in the poetic and prophetic portions of the Bible and much of the book of…

Last week we talked about endeavoring to persevere. The first century church was all about perseverance and that stemmed from a cooperative spirit. Without a group of other Christians to sharpen and challenge on a consistent basis, the individual is prone to drift. The Book of Acts paints a portrait of the early church and…