“Immediately” after Saul of Tarsus became a Christian, “he preached the Christ…that He is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20). This wasn’t just something that he went around saying to other people. Verse 22 states, “Saul…confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.” Those who did not believe in the deity of Jesus were stirred, amazed and confounded –…

There is great power in prayer. Prayer can truly “avail much” (Jas. 5:16), but it cannot save an alien sinner from his sins. Consider the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.  Saul would later call himself the “chief” of “sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). Was he saved from his sins by praying? In Acts 9, Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus. Jesus told Saul to “go…

There is no better part of your day (don’t even try to argue against this!) than when you get to read your Bible! Thus, reading it should be a principal part of each day. But, we must do more than merely run our eyes over lines of text. We must take time to understand it. The Ethiopian eunuch was reading from Isaiah 53, but Philip…

How shameful that some have tried to suggest that the church of Jesus Christ was founded upon Peter! When Jesus said, in Matthew 16:18, “You are Peter,” his name is from the Greek petros, which is “a stone that might be thrown or easily removed.” But, the “rock” on which Jesus would “build” His “church” is the Greek petra, which is “a mass of…

In one of the lengthier psalms, David extolled all that the Lord had done for him. The Lord “saved” him (Psa. 18:3), “heard” him (18:6), “flew upon the wings of the wind” for him (18:10), “thundered from heaven” for him (18:13), “took” him (18:16), “drew” him out of danger (18:16), “delivered” him from the enemy (18:17, 43, 48, 50), “supported” him (18:18), “delighted”…

The word “worthy” means “having worth or value; of commendable excellence or merit; deserving attention, respect, admiration.” Read those words one more time. Then think about the words of Psalm 18:3 – “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.” Our Lord is WORTHY to be praised! There are many reasons for that, but note the ones that David emphasizes in…

When faced with challenging situations in life, it is a good practice to ask, “What would Jesus do?” An even better practice is to ask, “What did Jesus do?” When considering what Jesus actually did, consider also what Jesus did not do. When Jesus was put on trial and even while He hung on the cross, Jesus was “mocked” (Matt. 27:29, 31, 41), “treated…with…

The epistle of First Peter was written to first-century Christians, who were dealing with pressures and persecutions from non-Christians. It was truly a “fiery trial” of their faith (1 Pet. 4:12) that they were facing. How could they deal with these “various trials” (1:6) and overcome them? The book is filled with imperatives, as Peter provides direction to defeat the devil’s efforts (5:8), but his…