“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:13) Hope. Seemingly a small word, but to those who have been born again, it is just the opposite; it holds great meaning. There are those in this world who are living without a shred of hope in their lives, simply living from day to day without any expectations of a better tomorrow or a brighter future. But those who have followed the biblical plan of salvation and have God living in their lives, have a reason for hope. Notice what Paul writes in Colossians 1:27, “ To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ” Because of the Spirit of God in our lives, we have hope that we will one day spend eternity with Him. In Paul’s epistle to Titus, he expresses the same sentiment, “ Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and...

Long ago, in the Garden of Eden, there was a tree. This was a special tree that God had placed there for the sole purpose of causing the eater of the fruit thereof to live forever. Adam and Eve were encouraged to eat of this tree and many others. But there was another tree in the garden of which God forbade them to eat. Genesis 2:9 says, “ And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. ” Then in verses 16-17 we read, “ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. ” But the inhabitants of the garden chose to disobey God’s command, and as a result, they faced expulsion from Paradise. (Genesis 3:22-24) Adam and Eve chose to forfeit their right to e...

We have the tendency to focus on the sacrifice of Jesus during the Easter season more than any other time of the year, and understandably so. We talk about the betrayal by Judas, the mockery and humiliation, the pain of the scourging, and the agony of the cross. The events surrounding Calvary are bittersweet to us. There's a sadness because of his suffering, but also the joy and gratitude in knowing that because of his suffering, we can be saved. Many years ago, I heard a song by the band Smalltown Poets* that says: At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree on that beautiful, scandalous night you and me were atoned by his blood and forever washed white on that beautiful, scandalous night Seemingly contradictory terms are used here. Nevertheless, they are true. It's scandalous to be betrayed by a close friend, and it's tragic for an innocent man to be tortured and killed. Jesus knew that he would suffer and die, but he did it willingly because he knew what the result of his ...