Category: Bible Study

“They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts.” –Jeremiah 7:24 If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts (see Ps 95:7-8). We can have hardening of our hearts for years, even for generations (Jer 7:26). For centuries, we can ignore God and become progressively worse than our fathers, who were worse than their fathers and grandfathers (see Jer 7:26). The hardening of hearts can be chosen not only by individuals but by nations (see Jer 7:28). Hard and hardening hearts can be generational, epidemic, deteriorating, and international. They can become so hard that we kill God’s prophets,...

“Whoever fulfills and teaches these commands shall be great in the kingdom of God.” –Matthew 5:19 During Lent, we especially try to imitate Jesus when He was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert. There Jesus overcame the temptations of the evil one by using God’s Word. We also should use God’s Word to have victory over temptations. However, to do this, we must deeply believe that the Bible is much more than “the word of men, but…truly is, the word of God at work within [we] who believe” (1 Thes 2:13). We won’t use God’s Word in our...

“Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me Your paths.” –Psalm 25:4 God first taught His ways to His people by giving them His Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1ff). His people lost their way, so God “tried again” (Jer 18:4). He sent them prophets to teach them His ways, and promised to write His laws and ways upon their hearts (Jer 31:33). God’s people struggled to grasp His ways (Is 55:8-9). God’s next step was to send Jesus as a Teacher to teach us His ways and paths (Jn 3:2). Jesus taught us that God’s way is to forgive...

“A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he came out looking for fruit on it.” –Luke 13:6 If we don’t bear fruit, we will be cut down (Lk 13:9) and thrown into the fire to be burnt (Jn 15:6). If we don’t bear fruit by leading others to Christ, we will not live with Christ in eternity. We can be sure of bearing fruit by living in Jesus the Vine (Jn 15:5), and dying to self. “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if...