“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21 ESV). Writing while imprisoned in Rome, the apostle Paul expressed his readiness to die and be with Christ, while also recognizing the need to remain for the sake of sharing the gospel. In chains or not, living or dying, the apostle
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord” (Isaiah 55:6-7 ESV). Isaiah urged his people to seek and call on the Lord with a sense of urgency. For there would
“For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isaiah 52:12 ESV). Isaiah had prophesied that Judah would one day be taken captive by Babylon, but now he speaks of a time
“I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God” (Isaiah 49:4 ESV). Isaiah penned this as the Israel’s response to His appointment as God’s Messiah. For it would find its fulfillment some 700 years later in
“For building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13 ESV). In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he described the church
“Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed” (Isaiah 45:1 ESV). Nearly 200 years before his birth, Isaiah prophesied the coming of one named “Cyrus”
“Set forth your case, says the Lord; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them” (Isaiah 41:21-22 ESV). The idolatry of today is not unlike that of Isaiah’s day. Explanations of
“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” (Psalm 66:18-20 ESV). Have you ever felt as if your
“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14 ESV). Paul said that the Judaizers, those who insisted that believers must adhere to the Mosaic ceremonial law and be circumcised, “boasted”
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13 ESV). Our liberty in Christ is not license to sin. Receiving His righteousness we have been set free from the external law written on stone tablets and received