I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. John 15:1 NIV This statement is another of the many times that Jeus uses the language “I am” in the gospel of John. The Lord’s word evokes our Father God’s words spoken to Moses from the burning bush in Genesis. Jesus’ choice of words reveal...
But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 WEB Our willingness to sacrifice for others is the proof of our love. Love, in a godly sense, is not an outpouring of emotion or mere words. Love is active and always seeking to benefit...
I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 WEB With these words, Jesus describes the only way to live a fruitful, productive Christian life. Saying, “I am the vine,” Christ reveals himself as the source...
Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. Acts 1:4 WEB Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he made this statement to his disciples concerning ‘the promise of the Father.” After his death and...
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. Luke 10:38 NIV The story given in Luke’s gospel about the time when Martha opened her home to Jesus and his disciples is brief and yet full of meaning. The name Martha is not...
The third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. John 2:1 WEB In chapter one of his gospel account, John gives a description of the divinity of Jesus and then moves to describe the Jewish leadership’s questioning of John the Baptist and his practice of baptizing. The...
Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him. James 1:12 WEB James begins his epistle addressing it to the twelve tribes of Israel scattered among the nations. In his introduction, he...
He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. Luke 13:10 WEB If you are familiar with Christian testimony, you likely have heard instances of healing and unsolicited acts of kindness received by those who seek the truth of God. In this portion of chapter thirteen of Luke’s gospel,...
Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8 WEB Whether it is secular or based on a particular theology, our bias can lead us into false conclusions. For this...
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord...
Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:33 WEB The love commanded by God is full of grace. God loves us in spite of our failings with an active love that the Greeks called “agape.” This love is...
He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Luke 24:44 NIV Jesus is the focal point of God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. Because of sin, man is separated from...
