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Alms, Prayer, & Fasting 6:1-18 Our daily bread v.11 We’ve briefly looked at the first three of six petitions referencing God’s name, kingdom, and will. Now we’re going to look at our need for bread, forgiveness, and victory over evil. Daily bread comes first. If there is no bread there is no life. I’m no […]

Alms, Prayer, & Fasting 6:1-18 “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done” v. 10 (Part 2) The Kingdom is where God’s “will” is done — “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. The omniscient Father who sees all, factors what he sees into his sovereign rule. This is why “God willing” […]

Alms, Prayer, & Fasting 6:1-18 “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done” v. 10 (Part 1) Jesus couldn’t have been clearer in expressing there purpose of his ministry: “I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God…because that is why I was sent.” (Lk. 4:43). The “Kingdom” was everything. In one sense this […]

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 13:8 “For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” The key verse occurs in the context of a challenge from Paul to the Corinthians that they “examine” themselves to see if they are “in the faith” (v.5). They are to “test” and see if “Christ Jesus is […]

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul continues reviewing his credentials. “I must go on boasting” says the NIV (v.1). “There is not a lot to be gained by this”, Paul says, “but now I’ll take about some of the spiritual credentials […]

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 11:29 “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?”” Paul continues his boasting in verse 16-33. In so doing, he is reminding the Corinthians of his credentials (as compared to false teachers who are undermining Paul’s credibility).  What does […]

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 10:17 (NIV) “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” Generally speaking, most of us disapprove of boasting. We don’t like boasters because they seem either bent on putting us down by exalting themselves or, on the other hand, too hungry for our approval. In both cases it’s a pain. doubly […]

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 9:6 “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” Before he became president of the USA. Woodrow Wilson was president of Princeton University. I read recently of an occasion when he spoke to a group of parents. “I get many letters form […]

Key Verse: Corinthians 8:12 “For if there is a first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.” I think most of us have heard or read about ministries that “never ask for money”. Usually this observation is made with a muted condemnation […]

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” One day, while pastoring in Jerusalem, I was visited in my office e by a young man with a stricken conscience. He had done something very wrong and, in our Sunday […]

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18 “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” To fully appreciate any Scripture reference, it is […]

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” I call it “The New Year’s syndrome”. Every new year, people make resolutions. “I’m going to eat less”, or “I’m going to watch less television”, or “This year […]