Marching Forth!

The Bible is God's Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit.  It is a primary means God uses to speak to His people.  Certainly God is not limited in His ability to communicate to those who have ears to hear, and He employs others means to speak as well.  He can speak to us through dreams and visions.  Circumstances of our lives can be open doors which beckon us to take another step of faith.  God also uses others to confirm what we believe God has said to us. Have you ever had an impression you were unsure of whether it was merely a thought in your mind or God was speaking to you with His small, still voice?  I remember when God impressed upon me during prayer He had called me to be a pastor.  Since I had no desire to be a pastor, nor was it a calling I ever imagined for myself, I knew this idea was not a product of my own thoughts.  This idea from outside almost intruded upon my thinking, and it surprised me.  I was not immediately convinced th...

I am so grateful for the wisdom of God in His Word.  It exposes the incorrect and foolish views we have been convinced of.  God speaks the truth, though it may hurt.  Receiving God's truth and aligning our hearts with it is a key step in spiritual maturity.  If you are wondering what truths I possibly could be speaking of, here are three examples of lies we tell ourselves exposed by God's Word. " When I sin, it is out of character ."  I recently read a news article about a man who was caught after he installed cameras in public toilets.  He claimed he wasn't a bad man, but he just did a bad thing.  Quoting the man convicted in the article, " While he understood nothing would make up for what he did to up to 90 women and children recorded by his devices , he hoped it helped that he had never done anything similar and never would again. "It was out of character," he said. "I am a human and have made many mistakes ."  The Bibles says no one...

Let's face it:  the world has never been keen on Jesus or His followers.  But Jesus never painted a rosy picture of what it would look like following Him.  He spoke of denying oneself, taking up your cross, and being crucified!  Jesus bluntly told His disciples in John 15:18-20 :  " If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also ."  But this is not bad news, for God richly rewards those who walk in faith and obedience to Him.  Jesus also said in Luke 6:22-23 :  " Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, fo...

In our discipleship course at Calvary Chapel Sydney, we discussed Matthew 16.  Matthew 16:1 begins with Jewish religious groups who opposed one another united in tempting Jesus:  " Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven ."  The Pharisees and Sadducees in unbelief came to Jesus and demanded a sign from heaven, ignoring the fact Jesus IS the sign from heaven promised in the Law and Prophets.  Not only that, but Jesus provided clear evidence of His divine power, character, and wisdom which accompanied His daily walk.  But as a dear sister said last night, "Miracles do not make believers."  Jesus said of those who will not hear Moses and the prophets, even someone rising from the dead will not persuade them to believe. Matthew 16:2-4 reveals the response of Christ.  " He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; 3 and in ...