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BE IT UNTO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD

"And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word ." (Luke 1:38).   "And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord .   And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." (Luke 1:45-47).   Faith is an essential element of our walk with God.   Without it, it is not possible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).   Before any Christian work, before any ministry, before any sacrifice, there must be faith.   Jesus said, "This is the work of God, that ye believe in Him Whom He Hath sent." (John 6:29).   So, our faith must be based on Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh and on what He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit as He leads us to fulfill that Word.   It is not a vague faith that stabs at some promise hoping that it is God's will; it is a revelation of God's will that is spoken to our spirit th...

CHASTENING

“ For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God ?  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:17,18).   In the above verses, St. Peter writes of a time of judgment that was to start with the house of God, and, ultimately, extend to the ungodly and sinners.  This begs the question: is judgment on the house of God still going on today, and, if so, what does it consist of?    Judgment seems like a harsh word to use in terms of those who know and love the Lord, but Paul sheds some light on the concept in I Corinthians 11:31, 32.  He tells us, “ If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged .  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world .”  So, this “judgment” that the apostles are describing is also referred to as ...

THE KING WHO KNEW NOT JOSEPH

“Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.” (Moses in Exodus 1:8).   “Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.” (St. Stephen in Acts 7:18).   The words of Moses that are cited above were quoted by St. Stephen as he defended himself against those who wished to silence his Christian witness.  Stephen became the first Christian martyr to die for standing up for the truth of the Gospel, following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ his Lord and Savior.  The more I consider these words, the more I am convinced of their relevance to the things we see happening around us in government and in society at large.    Society is breaking down and crumbling all around us, and it seems like no one has the power or the will to stop it.  Aggressors are labeled as the oppressed, and victims are identified as the aggressors.  Right is wrong, and wrong is said to be right.  It should be clear that we cannot fix what we se...