Read Bible for Yourself

Paying Attention to the Obvious and Responding Sincerely How efficient our living would be if we would hear the voice of the One who made us, loves us and has etched the purpose of our lives in His palms. But is God hearable? The Bible takes on this all important question in a grand way. First, it presents the Framework for Hearing God, Our Tendency to Refuse to Hear Him, How Satan’s Voice Masquerades as God’s and therefore the Steps We Need to take to Hear God clearly. The Framework for Hearing God’s Voice 1. General Revelation Hearing God begins with our acknowledgment that there is God. Everybody who wants to hear God’s voice must first resolve for himself or herself that there is God, and he basis for such resolution is creation, through which God reveals His invisible attributes of immense power. We therefore stand condemned if we resolve in our hearts to worship any created thing rather than the creator or to put the voice of any created being above that of the C...

Jesus exposes the six usual characteristics of empty religion in His encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well, as recounted in John 4. 1. Excuses To the simple request of “Will you give me a drink”, the Samaritan woman disguises her stinginess by citing an age-long viewpoint that would take ages to untangle. How typical of the reasons merely religious people give for not doing good to others! 2. Ascription of Arrogance to Christ's Supernatural Power "Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well...?, she quizzed, when the Lord told her of the living water He is capable of giving. How many times have merely religious people not sought to scorn Jesus' Divinity, infallibility, vicarious death, resurrection, ascension, and His giving of the Holy Spirit and eternal life to those who believe in Him? 3. Flattering Speech “Sir, give me this water so I won't get thirsty...”, she phrased her request as if she had...

Breaking into Mature Christian Service Why did Jesus not just give in to Satan’s temptation at the beginning of His ministry (Matthew 4)? Why was Paul bold enough to rebuke Peter, an Apostle who had preceded him, when he was in error (Galatians 2)? Why did Elisha refuse to heed Elijah’s insistence that he stopped following him on the day of his departure (2 Kings 2)? There comes a stage in Christian development when the person has so matured in the knowledge of the Lord and His work that he clearly distinguishes between the Lord’s voice and other voices and chooses only the Lord’s. That is when he is ready to be used for the greatest impact as a Spirit-Driven servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Until then he is at one of four earlier stages of Christian maturation, namely, Discovery, Dressing, Deployment, and Drawn (all so named for the convenience of using the letter D) DISCOVERY: The person discovers his identity as a child of God, who must live the rest of his life servin...

Jesus Christ is relevant to people of the Earth now mainly because of the issue of sin. WHAT IS SIN? Sin is simply the UNWILLINGNESS TO SUBMIT TO GOD OR HIS WORD. God made us, owns us, and gave us free will to honor Him as loving children, so when we freely choose not to love or obey Him, wishing we are on our own, we sin against Him. That is the sin of the first man and woman, and we their offspring all have been groomed with that nature. WHAT IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN? When we are unwilling to submit to God or His word we automatically forfeit the right to be sustained by God. That is death. Temporarily, we forfeit His care and guidance, set ourselves in conflict against God’s rule and become candidates for God’s judgment. Having forfeited God’s care, everything that follows the order of God then contradicts us (SUFFERING). (Apparently, we are able to control nature to some extent, even though we have sinned, only because God in His grace subjected nature to us, temporarily...

BODY, SOUL, SPIRIT AND INSTRUMENT Main Readings: 2 Chronicles 5:11-7:3 The passage gives us a beautiful picture of what is required for excellence in Christian Music: At the dedication of Solomon’s Temple there was a body of musicians drawn from the Levites, the tribe of priests in Israel. They were charged with handling voices and instruments in order for their song to be heard in clarity as if it was one person that was singing. They presented themselves appropriately and cooperated with one another without discrimination. The sound of their music produced two effects: The glory of God filled the house of God like a cloud, and the priests were so affected that they could not stand on their feet to minister. King Solomon then clarified their presentation with a missionary prayer that reflects God’s purpose to reveal Himself to the world through Israel. Then the glory of the Lord manifested the second time, this time as fire, and the priests could not enter th...