“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21
Jesus was born into a Jewish family. His name in Hebrew is yeshua. Its root word means salvation. It is derived from yehoshua—joshua in English—which includes the abbreviation of God’s sacred name—yah (jah in English). Thus, it means God’s salvation. Continue reading Jesus-Emmanuel-What’s in the Name?
Recently a Facebook friend asked me about Matthew 10:34-35. She said that she has read these Scriptures several times and needed a better understanding of it. Her specific question: “Is Christ speaking of Himself?”
Jesus is speaking: “For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” Continue reading Four People the World Does Not Know
In His final post-resurrection appearance, Jesus issued “the Great Commission” to His followers to take His Gospel to all the world: “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).
“He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). Notice He did not say: “He who believes not and is not baptized shall be damned,” because only believers were baptized!
The emphasis is on believing — not on being baptized. The point is: Only believers are candidates for baptism. Continue reading Water Baptism – Believe & Be Baptized
I remember as a girl in Sunday School singing this song, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world: Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in His sight”” It’s hard not to love children; although there are some people who are evil toward children, and they are controlled by the nature of the evil one. But this simple song contains a greater and absolute truth: No matter what color, all men are one blood.
This is what the Bible states: “God has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us” (Acts 17:26-27). Continue reading All Men Are One Blood—But Not One Spirit
It is not a hunger strike to force God’s hand or to get one’s way.
It is a spiritual weapon to be coupled with faith and prayer. It gives earnestness and urgency to our prayers. In the same context in which the Lord taught the disciples how to pray, He also taught them how to fast (Matthew 6:1-18). In this discourse, Jesus spoke of private fasting, and He said that such fasting done in private, and not to be seen of men, brings public rewards.
There are also corporate fasts, in which a group or a church or even many churches may band together to sanctify a fast. There are many instances of this in the O. T., and these reveal various purposes for such fasting:
Continue reading FASTING: Its Purpose & Power