I remember when I was younger one of my favorite passages that I had marked with my grandfather’s obituary was one that spoke of God being a refuge, a stronghold or fortress in times of trouble.  I guess I marked that passage with his obituary because I remember...

The Pharisees were hateful. They were saying true religious people, righteous men like we are, we shun such vile sinners. That’s what they’re saying. There’s a lot of people in the church today and that’s how they act. Their world begins and ends with people who...

Here we see God promising Jacob as he is leaving the promised land that He (God) will still be with Jacob.  He is not without protection, care, and the blessings that God had promised previously and now restates here. This ladder which Jacob dreamed about is later...

Jesus is teaching that we must love other people, but we are always to love Him more.  Anything that we love more than Him is an idol.  That is why Jesus would say that we are to die to ourselves (take up our cross) and put Him first in everything.  Sometimes this...

Here we see God (Jesus, the Angel of the Lord) wrestling with Jacob. God initiates this fight to bring Jacob to the end of himself. This is not a dream, but a real event and God is showing Jacob that He is in control of all, not Jacob.  This happens right after...

Matthew 11:28-30 is an invitation for all to come to Christ and be saved.  It was originally offered to Israel as they struggled and toiled as we also do in this world’s difficulties.  Trying to live life without Christ is wearisome and hard as all of life’s...

Jesus is not dismissing his family or saying they have no part with Him, but He is saying His true (spiritual) family are those who have trusted in Him as their Lord and Savior.  It is not those who try to do good things, go to church, get baptized or take...

This phrase the Lord was with Joseph occurs 4 times in this chapter.  It is important to note that the reason for Joseph’s success is that this was true. This was not because the Lord randomly chose this man, but because he was faithful in a little and therefore...

In Matthew 13:23 we see the true believer. Jesus described the ones who never wanted salvation, the ones who cared more about riches and things, and the ones who did not want to be persecuted in previous verses. The true believer is one who understands the message,...