Good morning! The first four verses of Hebrews 1 are all one sentence that describe Jesus. In summary of those verses, and much of the entire chapter which lays the foundation for the whole book, makes the claim that Jesus is better. Better than what? Better than everything. He is better than angels, better than humans, better than heaven itself. He is not only the Son of God, but God. His blood is divine which is why it was an acceptable sacrifice to God that would cleanse o

Good morning! The sacrifice of Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. This reconciled us to God satisfying the wrath of God when we believe in Jesus. His death paid for us to have forgiveness for our sins. His resurrection paid for us to have eternal life. He was the first resurrection and will resurrect the righteous dead and catch up in the air those who are still alive when He returns (1 Corinthians 15:20-28; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). We are saved by His life. Encourage your

Good morning! I have heard thousands of times over the years the plea for people to make Jesus the Lord and Savior of their life. Sometimes, I don't think people understand what that means nor is it explained well what it really means. For Jesus to be Lord and Savior means to completely surrender all your will, desires aspirations and entire life to Him and let Him rule your heart, mind and soul. You put yourself off and put him on. You crucify your own way of life and let Hi

Good morning! Love is sacrificial. Jesus showed us the greatest example of love that has ever been known by laying down His life for the world. As His followers, we should live a life of service laying down our lives for one another out of genuine love. Loving what Jesus loves shows Him we love Him and shows the world we truly belong to Him. Others will know we are His disciples by our love for one another. Love protects. Are you protective of the church or are you joining in

Good morning! Jesus' love is so overwhelmingly great that is compels us to think, act and live differently. He love is so extraordinary and uncommon that it changes all who encounter and receive it. Have you encountered His love? We were all dead in our transgressions because the law judged us, finding us guilty. The penalty for sin is death, yet Christ died for us, being sinless. So, having died for all, and all being guilty deserving death, yet through Him given life throug

Good morning! In Christ, we have everything we need. In Him, all of life exists and consists. All things were created through Him and for Him. By His blood, we have a greater covenant that goes beyond the extent of the law. The law made provision for sin through a sacrifice of an animal to atone for sin. It was merely buried or covered. But through Christ, the Lamb of God, He not only atoned for our sin, but redeemed us from our sin. It is not just covered, but removed throug

Good morning! With all that's going on in the world right now, it's easy to look away from Jesus and get caught up in all the news reports and cares of this world. But, that will quickly have you living in fear, anxiety, uncertainty, hopelessness, despair, anger or depression. It's important to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and the truth of His word lest we get carried away by the troubles of this world. Many people have put their hope in a president and when he does something

Good morning! I'm glad Jesus is our High Priest and the only one needed as a go-between for us and God. I don't have to trust the integrity of another man to go to God on my behalf for forgiveness. Jesus paid it all. Jesus was the ransom for all sin for all people. He went into the Holy of Holies in heaven and put His blood on the mercy seat to atone for all sin. He stands between us and God as the Mediator. We pray to Him, we trust in Him, we let His blood testify for us whi

Good morning! I don't actively look to sin. But, there are times I get in my flesh and have a moment of carnality. Usually, I instantly feel convicted and ashamed of what I did. I ask Jesus to forgive me, restore me and to strengthen me in my weakness. He is faithful to cleanse me of that unrighteousness and put me back on the path. He is forgiving, but that doesn't give any of us the right to willfully sin just because He is forgiving. We should be careful with what we do, s

Good morning! When a sin was committed, the sinner would go to the high priest with a sacrifice to atone for their sin. The high priest would go into the Tent of Meeting into the Holy of Holies once a year to atone for the sin of all the people. He himself had to be upright before God. He had to do everything right or he would be struck down by God's presence and holiness. Then, there would be a strenuous process to pick another high priest. He would make a sacrifice for his

Good morning! In the United States, today is known as "Tax Day" meaning it is the deadline to file your taxes for the previous year. We may not like taxes, but they are a part of life. It's important to put in godly leaders in office so we are not overtaxed into oppression and corruption. Benjamin Franklin was known to have said, "but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." We all know the certainty of taxes and barring Jesus' return, we will

Good morning! It's hard to find joy in suffering or to see it as a privilege. But suffering for Christ is a privilege and an honor. He needlessly suffered for us in our sin; the righteous for the unrighteous. In doing so, we have forgiveness and eternal life. He suffered many things and to share in His suffering is to share in His life. In Revelation 12:11 it says, "And they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not

Good morning! I remember hearing people being called a fool as a kid. It seemed like a weighty word even back then and yet people threw it around so carelessly. The Bible defines the true definition of a fool as being one who truly believes there is no God. To not believe in God with all the evidence that points to His existence is a hardhearted person. The Bible says they are corrupt and have done such things to have seared their conscience. They have become foolish. Now, we

Good morning! A simple, but profound truth. This simple verse tells us what we deserve and what God offers in place of that. Jesus makes all the difference. Do you believe that? In the Old Testament, God dealt very harshly with sin. He often made death a reality to those who sinned against Him. In a way, Jesus was like God's anger management because He suffered the wrath of God for all sin. God is just, so death is the punishment for sin. But God is also merciful, kind, lovin

Good morning! Many times, people want to put on the full armor of God without applying all that comes before that in Ephesians. The entire book is about spiritual warfare in every aspect of our lives. We need to practice each principle of it before we skip to the end. We need to first understand Jesus as the Messiah. We need to see Him for who he truly is. We need to understand it is by grace through faith we have been saved and not by any works we have or can do. We need to

Good morning! A tree planted by abundant water will thrive in all conditions. It's roots will be deep and its branches full of leaves and fruit. Trees further away will wither in drought and heat. But the tree by the water will sustain in all seasons and conditions. We are to be like the tree planted by the water. We should have deep roots of faith founded in the word. Our source is in the living waters of Christ. Anything rooted in Him will thrive and not run dry. It will be

Good morning! Babies desire milk because they know it has everything in it they need to sustain life and grow. It is the type of food they need and can handle. Some people who are babies in the Lord try to grow too fast and take in the deep things of the word without the foundation. Before you try to understand Revelation or Ezekiel, understand the Gospels and the Epistles to know how to live the basics of life in the faith. Just as you wouldn't give a newborn baby a steak, s

Good morning! The fruit of the Spirit is important for us to have working in and through us to exude godly qualities. It's easy to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled when things are good and trouble free. Anyone can be those things for a little while, but what happens when everything falls apart? What happens stress overtakes you? When tough times come, it can reveal what is truly inside of you. How much love do you have whe

Good morning! Like I talked about yesterday, our greatest temptation is to doubt the word of God. Hope keeps faith alive. Joy keeps you strong even in weariness. Believing helps you to resist the temptation to doubt. Are you filled? God desires to fill you with all hope, joy and peace through faith-believing so that you may abound in the power of the Holy Spirit. Do not be arrogant or be deceived. None of us have arrived to a place where we cannot be tempted. Some things happ

Good morning! Your greatest temptation is to doubt the gospel. Your greatest struggle is to believe everyday that the gospel is true. Many of the disciples lost hope and doubted what Jesus said would happen concerning His death and resurrection. Two men were walking along the road very sad. Jesus appeared to them and started walking along with them asking why they were so defeated. He opened the Scriptures to them as they walked along. Their doubt blinded them from recognizin