“He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.” Colossians 1:28 Paul was not content to see people born again. He took the responsibility of leading them on to maturity. He moved them from infancy to infantry. Spiritual babies have great…
“Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” John 14:23 Christ promises that He and His Father will come to dwell in those who hear and believe His Word, and that He will send to them…
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And…
“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” 2 Timothy 1:13-14 Alone in prison and abandoned by many of his friends, Paul fondly…
“This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17 The Hebrew for “Redeemer” is also thought of as “arbiter” and “witness”. In light of the…
“The earth is filled with your love, Lord; teach me your decrees.” Psalm 119:64 God’s Word of love is like the sun, filling and brightening everything it touches. In light of God’s mercy, the world might still hear an echo of God’s description of Eden (“God saw all that he had made, and it was…
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6 “Start children off” is a Hebrew phrase that has the sense of “dedicate.” “The way they should go” could refer to the moral route or to the career path of the child….
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice…” Psalm 95:6-7 The word “bow” is synonymous with worship toward God or respect and…
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household…” Ephesians 2:19 Paul was arrested and imprisoned in AD 58 to protect him from a Jewish mob in the temple. Paul spent a year and a half in prison in Caesarea and two years under…
“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:4-5 The Greek word we interpret as “member” can also be interpreted as limb or…