May 2014

20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Rev 3:20 NKJ)” This statement was made to the Laodicean church, which had grown very complacent and prideful. It is an invitation to them, an offer of a wonderful privilege. Consider if you were a small-ranking employee at a large company, and one day the CEO sent you an email asking you to join him for lunch next Tuesday. Or if you received a phone call from the chief of staff of theRead More →

Saying “amen” at the end of a prayer or song can be a mindless ceremony that we do not think about. But the word has content, and if it is not to be a “vain repetition” which Jesus forbids, then we need to know and think about that content. “Amen” means “truly” or “surely”. It was originally a Hebrew word which also appears in the Greek New Testament. When Jesus says “Verily, verily” in the old King James (in John 3, for example, translated “most assuredly” in the New King James), he is literally saying, “Amen, amen, I say unto you…” The word “amen” isRead More →

If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. (Psa 130:3-4 NKJ) All the other attributes of God make God worthy of our praise. Only the mercy of God, however, makes it possible for us to truly praise Him. Without God’s mercy, every other truth about God would make Him a terror to me. If someone is my enemy, then it is no comfort or joy to me to think about how great he is. Without God’s mercy, His justice makes Him our enemy. But He is merciful. He is longsuffering andRead More →