(Jesus said) "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the Word that I have spoken to...
"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." (John 15:7 NASB) We read stories about people who prayed for rain, but who forgot to bring their umbrellas in anticipation of the blessing. When we abide in Christ, we...
"That's him," my friend said. "It has to be him." The soft evening breeze at SeaWorld made the concert delightful. The band's catchy and familiar beat never got old, but the members of the 70's band sure did. "After all these years," she said, "who knew he'd be still...
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it." (Genesis 3:6a NIV) What we see and what we hear has a powerful influence on our thoughts and actions, and has...
Why do people become followers of Christ? It is an interesting question. I'm sure that there are as many answers as there are Christians to ask; but I suspect that a predominant answer would have something to do with Salvation. We accept Jesus as our Saviour because...
One man's junk is another man's treasure. Last Thursday we discovered through my 17-year-overdue basement-cleaning process that what is junk in our own eyes is nothing but a diamond-in-the-rough from God's perspective. He doesn't see us as junk; rather, He sees us for...
"These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." (John 15:11 ESV) When I was a young man I had a lot of ego and very little empathy. I thought I knew everything. I looked forward to fame and success. I can even remember...
Coming to the penultimate part of our series on the similarities between Christ the Bridegroom and His bride, the church, today we shall focus on two more areas where we find stark similarities... Persecution... If the Bridegroom was subjected to the persecution of...
In the concluding part of our Series on the similarities between Christ the Bridegroom and the church, His bride, today we come to fourmore areas where we find stark similarities... Transformation... It is the kind of trials and tribulations which the Bridegroom...
"Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." (1 Peter 2:12 NASB) I was preparing to shave my fifty year...