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Showing posts from January, 2014

What's next?

This ends Kathy's almost a year of posts about life with Jesus.  It will be a while before she is ready to start posting another series.  So in the mean time I will try to use this space.  For one thing I can post my weekly sermons here, and then whatever other random, but hopefully inspired, thoughts occur to me to share. In addition, we would love to know who has been regularly reading these posts.  Please send us an e-mail to: gjdbois(at)hotmail.com Pastor Greg Du Bois

362. Keep Studying!

2 Timothy 2:14 - 4:5 Key Verse: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His Kingdom, I give you this charge:  preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.” 2 Timothy 4:1-2 First of all, I apologize for selecting such a long passage of scripture for my final day in this series. I am convinced, however, that what Paul says here is so important that I couldn’t break it down any further. Paul is giving final instructions to a young man that he has discipled, since they met in Derbe. ( Acts 16:1 ) Paul is in prison in Rome, and will soon be facing the death penalty for Christ. Timothy is a pastor who must carry on without any further guidance from Paul after this letter. Paul is warning Timothy of the hardships he will face. They are no different than those we face today as disciples of Christ. There will be those

361. Share the Hope

Isaiah 52:7-10 Key verse:  How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7 Wow!  Have you ever been told that your feet are beautiful?  Evidently, if you believe the good news that we have been learning about for this past year, and share it with others, in God’s eyes, that’s just how you look, not only to Him, but to those with whom you are sharing. Why wouldn’t you share?  Do you share recipes, fashion tips, why not share the best news of all with those you love the most? Remember Jesus Great Commission and promise?  “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 surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  ( Matt. 28:19-20 )  His mission is our mission and what a friendship you can

360. How It Ends

Revelation chapters 21-22 Key Verses:  “Behold, I am coming soon!  My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the City.”  --Revelation 22:12-14 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.  They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  --Revelation 21:3-4 When I was in elementary school, back in the sixties, teachers would sometimes use film strips to help teach a lesson.  A film strip was not a movie.  It was a very long strip of developed film that was run through a projector which projec

359. What His Rule Will Be Like!

Isaiah 11:1-10 & Isaiah 35 Key Verse:  “Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash around His waist.” Isaiah 11:5 One can’t help but think of the Garden of Eden when reading these passages from Isaiah.  What Isaiah describes must be how it was originally intended to be. How wonderful that the God of Hope gives us the hope that, in time, it will be that way again. When Christ our King sits on the throne, He will rule with true justice. He will not need to depend upon witnesses or even His own eyes and ears because He knows all truth and will judge accordingly. When He judges, we will all know that His judgments are right. We will be able to have complete trust in His decisions for they will all be fair and right. And life will be as it was intended to be in the beginning. The lion will lay with the lamb. The child will lead the beast without fear. The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the lame will walk free from crippling conditions. The nee

358. King Solomon? Or King Jesus

  Psalm 72 Key Verse:  “Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.  Praise be to His glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory.  Amen and Amen! Psalm 72:18-19 Did David write this Psalm for his son Solomon, or for the one to come, the promised Messiah?  Way back, somewhere in the first couple of weeks of our journey, we explored this supposed mystery. Nathan had come to David to prophesy that David’s throne would last forever through his prodigy. We talked about how it could have sounded as though Nathan were talking about Solomon, the son of David, who would reign after David “slept with his fathers.” We examined how many of the statements Nathan made couldn’t have applied to Solomon, but only Messiah. The same is true now, in this Psalm. I t would appear that this Psalm was intended to be presented at Solomon’s coronation.   In the heading it is entitled:   “Of Solomon.”   It begins with asking God to “endow

357. Our Charge in “I Am”

1 Peter 1:13-21 Key verse:  “Just as He who called you is Holy, so be holy in all you do.” 1 Peter 1:15 Our reading for today stands as a good summary of all we have been through together in this past year. We have seen how God, who existed before the foundations of creation itself was laid, existed for all time.  He chose a people and became their Father. He called them to “Holiness,” or “set apartness,” but they either could not or would not do so.  He became guide, protector, shelter, refuge, strength and wisdom, but they couldn’t understand.  So, He became like them, taking on human form to set an example that they couldn’t deny. Now, in Him, we have all we need, as His adopted, chosen children, if we respond to His call and obey Him.  Can we become Holy?  Can we become set apart?  Why would the command still be given if it couldn’t be achieved? Does God ask us to do the impossible without Him? “Just as He who called you is Holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is

356. Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing

Numbers 14:40-45 ,  Psalm 127:1-2 ,  John 15:1-9 Key Verse: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in Him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 In the wilderness, the people were slow to understand how important it is to be in the Lord’s Will and how necessary it is to set aside our own. God had blessed and approved the plan to send out spies from the Children of Israel into enemy territory. God watched over those who were spies. He blessed and protected them and allowed them to bring back proof of the goodness of the land. However, ten of those men did not recognize the Lord’s blessing of protection. Instead of proclaiming the goodness of the Lord, they talked about the inability of man to conquer the good land that the Lord was promising to them. Rather than trust the words of Joshua and Caleb, the people saw their own frailty and listened to the doubters. This became a pivotal event in the history