“Consider the sower who went out to sow. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it. Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, an

“No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:16–17).   I’m not an expert on wineskins, but in ages-past wine wasn’t kept in fancy bottles with corks. Grape juice was stored in goat-skin pouches. As the

“Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapse

The Holy Spirit is at work around us and resides within born-again believers (1 Corinthians 3:16). Though Almighty God needs no assistance, He chooses to use created beings to accomplish His mission. He doesn’t need us, but He uses us. And again, though He could do it without their participation, God uses angels. These created beings serve at Divine direction and are engaged at His discretion.   The Bible indicates that there are some angels who are superior to others. For in

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens” (Ephesians 6:12). There is a battle raging around us. It’s unseen, but it’s real.   Just as the devil attacked Jesus with temptations and tests, the evil one and his demons are waging war against us. But take heart, we are not alone in this struggle. Angels fight on our behalf for right and r

Angels are messengers and servants. The Bible also reports that angels carry out God judgment… always justly and often harshly.     God’s judgment upon the disobedient Egyptians came in the form of ten plagues. The tenth plague was the death of the firstborn. On the dark night of the first Passover, “the destroyer” (Exodus 12:23) visited every home except those marked by the blood of the substitutionary Passover lamb. The New Living Translation calls “the destroyer” (CSB) t

Jesus told a story about two lives, two deaths, and two hereafters … it’s sometimes called “The Story of Lazarus and the Rich Man.” According to Jesus, Lazarus was pitifully poor. The rich man was loaded. Both died. The rich man went to Hell while Lazarus went to Heaven.   Some think that this is a parable… a fictitious story illustrating a simple lesson. I tend to believe that the story Jesus told was factual. Both men actually lived, died, and went into eternity.     Jesus

The anonymously written book of Hebrews makes the compelling argument that Jesus is better! Jesus is better than the Old Testament’s priests and prophets… His sacrifice is better than the sacrifice of sheep and goats… Jesus is better.   The author begins his letter by arguing that Jesus is better than the angels. (The first century Jews had a very high regard for angels.) Jesus “became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs … Are t

Are angels real? Are they at work in our world, or are they a Bible-era phenomenon? We know that angels are messengers, envoys from Heaven, delivering God’s message to people like Abraham, Gideon, Elijah, Peter, and others. But angels are more than just messenger boys, aren’t they?   The Bible clearly says, and it seems obvious, that forces of evil are at work in our world today. “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, ag

The last book of the Bible, “The Revelation”, is a look into the future… God revealed to John “what will take place after this…” (Revelation 1:19; 4:1). God revealed the future, and John recorded it for us to read and study. The Revelation is God’s revelation to us.   In chapters four through nineteen, we read about the destructive judgments that will befall the earth during the seven-year tribulation period. In chapter twenty God reveals details about the millennial reign o