by Christopher S. Esty on July 6, 2010
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” – Matthew 23:37-39 KJV
I have noticed a growing trend in people placing greater emphasis on looking for signs of the times than in looking to Jesus Christ. As a result of this, some have arrogantly assumed that those who are less adept in understanding prophecy are not as close to Jesus as they should be. Listen, you can know prophecy and not know Jesus at the same time, thus having an intellectual assent to the truth, but not a meaningful relationship with The Way, The Truth, and The Life. [continue reading…]
by Christopher S. Esty on June 19, 2010
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” – Psalms 51:10 KJV
“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” – Psalms 51:7 KJV
“thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21 KJV
Do you sometimes get discouraged because your thoughts tend to wander off to places where you know God doesn’t want them to be? If so, you aren’t alone. For sin is a problem for all of us. And as long as we live in a sinful world we will be tempted to do things that God doesn’t want us to do. Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t overcome temptation. It just simply means that we need to be aware of the fact that just because we are tempted to sin, that doesn’t mean we’re guilty of sinning. For one can’t be guilty of sin unless they do what temptation calls them to do.
“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” – James 1:14-15 KJV
People tend to think more about sin than they do about Jesus, and thus they spend more time focusing their attention on the ‘sin problem’ than they do in looking to its Solution. Indeed, they are missing the point to their purpose in life. For when they ought to be thinking about Jesus they’re thinking about themselves instead. Our purpose isn’t to think about how bad we are, but to experience how good God is. If we aren’t doing that then we really aren’t living life to the fullest. [continue reading…]
by Christopher S. Esty on June 13, 2010
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:13-14 KJV
It’s not for us to seek to prosper in this world, but to prosper in Jesus Christ. Just because things don’t appear to be working out in ways that you had hoped they would, that doesn’t mean God isn’t working to bring about changes within your life to usher you into a brighter future. There’s a tendency to base our judgment of quality of life on what we see in the present. But we mustn’t forget that we haven’t reached the end of our journey yet. In other words, things won’t always be as they are. Our experience will ultimately get better, as long as we continue to believe in Jesus Christ. [continue reading…]
