First Light

Matthew 16:17,23 “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. . . . But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”

We all know someone who “talks out of both sides of his mouth” or is “two-faced.” What concerns me more is when two different things come out of my own mouth! Isn’t it amazing how often we battle between what we should say and what we do say? Matthew 16 reminds us that there are two different sources for what we say. Read more »

Matthew 15:22 “And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.”

Let me ask you a question: Why should God answer our prayers? There are two basic foundations upon which people come to God: man’s merit or God’s mercy. The devout men of Jesus’ day came to God (while rejecting His Messiah) based on their merits-Jewish, male, Pharisee. However, they did not come to God for salvation because they thought they were good. They did not see their need because they were coming on their own merits. They believed God owed them prestige now and Paradise later because of their goodness. Read more »

Matthew 13:58 “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

It is quite interesting that the Lord Jesus would literally limit Himself according to the belief of the people with whom He was working. Would Christ have done more mighty works than He did if they had believed? Certainly He would have. What was it they did not believe? They did not believe who He was. Read more »

Micah 3:11 “The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, an say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.”

There are two major forces that affect what we do each day. One force is motivation; the other is dependence. Very often what motivates us in the morning is what we depend on at night. If you are motivated by control-controlling your day in every respect-you are going to lie awake at night thinking about all the loose ends from the day. If you are motivated by money, you are going to be very discontent at night. If you are motivated to hear a word of praise from someone, you will spend your night keeping tally of what happened during the entire day. Read more »

Joshua 5:12 “And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.”

Have you ever gone to a day-old bread store? Why do people go to day-old bread stores? Because it is cheap! It is not the best bread; it is the cheapest bread. Is it possible that day-old bread is as good as fresh bread? Possibly, but no one goes because it is “almost as good as”; they go because it is half the price! Read more »

I Thessalonians 2:4 “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.”

In this passage, we see that Paul’s main concern in giving out the Gospel out was his testimony (I Thessalonians 2:3-13). He was interested in how he spoke, not just in what he spoke. The Gospel was the message; Paul was simply the messenger. But how did Paul view the Gospel? Read more »

Philippians 4:5 “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”

Do you know people that are “mood changers”? The moment they walk into a room, the mood changes! Have you ever had a conversation about someone as they entered the room? Instantly, the mood changes (for a different reason). Philippians 4:5 points us to an experience like that: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” Read more »

Philippians 3:3 “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

It is amazing what people do in the innate desire to have peace, know God, and to do something or be something in order to have that peace. On a recent trip to the Philippines, I saw news coverage of a statue that dates back hundreds of years which is worshipped by huge masses of people. The desire to have peace, to know God, and to do something to gain God’s favor spans time and culture. Paul didn’t worship this statue from the Philippines; but before his conversion, all his confidence and boasting was in what he had done, not in who Christ is. Read more »

Philippians 2:25 “Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.”

If you had five words to describe yourself, what would you say? I have actually done this recently, and it is very intriguing! It may seem difficult to describe yourself in five words, but that is about all a person gets on a tombstone. So if you had to pick five words to describe yourself, what would they be? Whether you like it or not, there are five words to describe you! Read more »

Philippians 1:27 “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”

Philippians is a book that focuses our attention on what we do and why we do it. For Paul, the what and the why were both the same. What he was doing was the Gospel; why he was doing it was the Gospel. In ministry, in your church, and in your own life spiritually, you may do everything efficiently, correctly, and well; but you are a failure if God is not in it and you are not “striving together for.” Read more »