From the class “Christ is Everything to His Followers.” Parts adapted and expanded from Dr. Buck Oliphant. Parts also used at Belhaven University, evangelism, pastoral counseling, and prison ministry. When the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, …
Asking, Seeking, Knocking
Jesus said: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or …
Ascribing Praise to Jesus (Part 2)
Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. (Psalm 29:1-2) Great for the Soul “Ascribing” praise to Jesus means that we worship, glorify, adore, and speak well of Him to ourselves and to others. Harold Lindsell …
Kaspar’s Experiment: Christian Joy and Contentment
To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy–to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 24-25) One practical way to remain cheerful in Christ, as we live …
Made Like the Returning Jesus
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The world does not know us because it did not know Him (Christ). Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when …
The Bible’s Cleansing Power
Jesus makes us holy, making us clean by washing through His word. Christ prays: Make them clean by your true word and keep them for yourself. Your word is true. (paraphrase of Ephesians 5:26; John 17:17) Christ by His Holy Spirit changes us as we prayerfully meditate on His Holy Scriptures. We teach “Bible in 90 Days” in prison and …
Jesus in the Old Testament
When Christ came into the world, He said: Here I am—it is written about Me in the scroll—I have come to do Your will, My God… To the Jewish leaders, Jesus said, You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to …
Giving Others the Benefit of Doubt
Surely the human mind and heart are deep, mysterious, unsearchable, and complex. (Psalm 64:6 paraphrase) Christ-like Love Christian mercy includes giving people the benefit of doubt and not making assumptions about them. Various Scriptures lead me to this conclusion: “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out….For who knows a person’s …
Walking in Christ’s Light
You have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life….Happy are the people who know how to praise you, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face….Jesus said: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have …
Jesus, My Strength and Shield
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I give thanks to Him in song. (Psalm 28:7) I used this Scripture with a couple in counseling and they asked me to write down my thoughts. It’s an expanded meditation on a single verse that might …