Ephesians 2: 8 & 9, Romans 6:23 "Grace Through Faith"

            “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith –and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

            The world places a good deal of worth on our works –how well we do in school, in our jobs, whether or not we are moral people—trying to tell us that these things will make us successful, will provide meaning to our life. However, living a good, moral life isn’t enough. Romans 6:23 says plain and simple, “For the wages of sin are Death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” No matter how hard we try to be moral, our good works will never be good enough. God’s outlook on good works is completely different from our own. Instead of good works being the cause of our salvation, He desires for it to be the effect of our salvation. Good works will not get us into heaven –only faith in God’s grace is sufficient.

1 Corinthians 6:12 & 19, Luke 16:13 "One Master"

            “’Everything is permissible for me’, but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’, but I will not be mastered by anything.”

            We all have things in our lives that tempt us, whether it is junk food, television shows, money, or a certain group of friends. While sometimes these things may not be bad in and of themselves, it is when they begin to have mastery over us, consuming our thoughts and actions, that these things become a problem.

The church in Corinth had been quoting and misapplying the phrase, “Everything is permissible for me,” as a way to justify the sins they were committing. Paul’s response was to remind them that not everything they did was beneficial and that they should not allow anything to have mastery over them.

While junk food is fine in moderation, we should not let our eating habits become unhealthy because 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Did you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in your whom you have received from God? You are not your own…” And while money itself is not inherently evil, Luke 16:13 tells us that, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” So do not let your temptations draw you away from the service of God. He is the only Lord we need in our lives.

1 Peter 1:6 & 7 "Refined by Fire"

            “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that you faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

            It is easy to claim to have faith when that faith has never been tested. We go through life wishing we never had to face anything difficult, but the truth is, life is not perfect and neither are we. If we were perfect, there would be no reason for us to face trials because we were already perfect. Since we are not perfect however, we must face trials in order to grow. Just as gold is refined by fire, so our faith is refined by the trials we face in our lives. But where gold will perish, faith never will. Trials test our faith so we will know our faith is true.

1 Peter 5:8 "Foothold"

            “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

            Like lions target the most venerable members of a herd of animals for attack, so the devil targets us at our weakest points. Though that one curse word we mutter when we stub our toe on furniture in the dark may not seem like a big deal at the time, the devil is lying in wait for us to show the slightest weakness so that he can strike. We must be ever vigilant, always alert to the weaknesses in our lives that the devil can exploit, ready to deflect his attack while we overcome our weakness with God’s help. We must be self-controlled, solid walls, unwilling to let the devil have a foothold in our lives.

Revelation 1:1-3, 2 Peter 3:8 & 9 "A Day Like a Thousand Years"

            “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he say –that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”

            Many people do not understand why God would have bothered to say that things would “soon” take place, or that the “time is near”. It seems strange to us that nearly 2,000 years have passed since John wrote Revelation, yet the events he prophesied have not yet come to pass. However, we live in constant anticipation of His coming because we do not know the day or the hour of His return –we only now that God calls it soon. So let us always be alert and ready for the Lord, serving Him faithfully until the time of His coming.

            “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Acts 11:18, 1 Timothy 2:3-4 "Prejudice"

            “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

            “This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

            God does not have any kind of prejudice. He does not reserve His love for any one type of person. Each one of us was created by Him –no matter what our skin color is, what language we speak, how smart we are, or what clothes we wear. Each of us is a child of God, connected to each other by our faith in Him. It can be easy to fall into the trap of prejudice, but when you look at a person, do not look at their outward appearance. Look at their heart.

1 Corinthians 1:8 "Staying Strong"

            “He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

            We know this life will be difficult and that we will encounter many hardships and struggles along the way. Sometimes it is hard to press on and continue His work when we know that we will suffer here on earth and will not receive our reward until we get to heaven. But God promises that He will keep us strong until the end so that we may stand before Him blameless. It would be impossible for us to stand blameless before Him on our own strength. Time and hardships chip away at our resolve. Only His strength is enough to keep us strong until the end.

Proverbs 10:28, 2 Corinthians 4:18 "The Seen and the Unseen"

            “The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.”

            What is it that we have to look forward to after we die? The Bible tells us that, as Christians, when we die, we go to spend eternal life in heaven with our Lord. In heaven there is no pain or suffering, no more tears, just pure joy. Because we know this world will not last, our eyes are fixed toward the hope of heaven. The wicked, however, have their eyes fixed on earthly things and earthly desires. Their hopes and dreams are dependent on this world –a world that will eventually pass away, along with all their hopes.

            “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”