The Word Project

24/05/2024

Texas mom Bianca Carrasco vanished in 2016 after telling her coworkers she'd been having an affair.“She was sharing a lot with her coworkers about what was g...

08/12/2023

Free kindle book on Amazon from December 7-11...

Combines two marriage books in one volume: "The Secret to Finding Your Godly Husband," and "The Secret to Finding Your God-given Wife." They serve as a healthy, scriptural guide for the Christian man or woman of any age who seeks the blessing of marriage. There are many non-biblical ways to searc...

04/12/2023

PEACE WITH GOD

Peace with God is very important for the individual person; for me, for you, because we are born in a state of war with God. We are born resisting Him, disobeying Him, rejecting Him, running from Him. We are born as people who love the fallen world of sin. And we know what the Bible tells us about people who love the world.

James 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore. whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Fallen man finds himself in this state of enmity with God. This is very dangerous, because this means that every unredeemed person on earth is only one heart-beat away from eternal woe, with no relief – ever. And all of these people we see walking around living their lives are completely oblivious to the fact that they are teetering on the edge of disaster. Disaster that there is no coming back from.

Peace with God is so vital for everyone. So, when God the Spirit does what only He can do, and He touches a human heart, making it possible for a person to repent and be turned to God, it is the greatest miracle and the most profound moment of that person’s life.

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Therefore, since we have been justified, we have peace with God. Peace with God comes through being justified. And having the peace of God flows from being at peace with God. Because as verse two says, by having peace with God we obtain an entryway into His grace. And in His grace, all the things that were once impossible and out of our reach become reality for us.

This peace with God, this reconciliation with God, also provides us with purpose and with duty – which human beings are built to long for. We are created by God, and one of the things He made us with is a desire to do something that is significant and meaningful. We have an innate desire to be part of something much bigger than ourselves. And being at peace with God fulfills this need we have by giving us a mission. We see this mission in…

II Corinthians 5:17-20 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Having been reconciled to God, we are then given this amazing opportunity to be part of His plan to reconcile others to Himself. We are permitted through grace to participate in the process whereby God makes peace with other human beings. God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ has also given us the ministry of reconciliation. He has given us the message of reconciliation to preach to others. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, appealing to others to be at peace with God – to accept the peace treaty that God offers. We are blessed with the opportunity, the charge, to being the message of the terms of peace from God to fallen people.
Jesus died to bring us this peace. Isaiah tells us in…

Isaiah 53:5 He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities – upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.

He brought peace between us and God, and He paid for that peace on the cross. In Ephesians chapter two we read that we were once far away from God, but Jesus has brought us near to God by His blood, because He Himself is our peace. This peace with God did not come cheaply, but came with a very high price tag – which the Lord so kindly and compassionately paid for us.

Colossians 1:19-20 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

God Himself made peace with us, and that peace was costly. The cost was the blood of Jesus Christ. The cost was the cross. Through His cross, reconciliation between God and man was made, and peace with God became real for us.

FROM "THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT"

In II Corinthians 13:5 we are told to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. In Lamentations 3:40 we are told to examine our ways and test them, and to return to doing things the Lord's way. In I Corinthians 11:28 we are to examine ourselves before we partake of communion, to see if we ...

04/12/2023

https://youtu.be/fs7Kah6wnY8?si=CnjVJzLung_-jgkO

"And they sang a new song, saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for Go...

01/05/2023

Whether people have enough food or not, they are always hungry for something. This world is a world of appetites, and human beings are always searching for some kind of satiation. People are constantly looking to fulfill some desire or another. What sin has done to us as a people is this; it has ...

12/04/2023

"The present age is so flippant that if a man loves the Savior, he is a fanatic, and if he hates the powers of evil, he's a bigot." - Charles Spurgeon

27/03/2023

EZEKIEL'S VISION OF THE DRY BONES - GOD RESTORES HIS PEOPLE TO LIFE

Ezekiel 37:1-6 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed, they very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So, I answered, "O Lord God, You know." 4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord." ' "

Can a people who are defeated, destroyed and bereft of human hope, be restored to life? Can all of life’s damaging and crippling tragedies be overcome with new hope? “Yes, “says the Lord.

The people of God were desolated at the time of this vision. In chapter thirty-six of Ezekiel, God reveals to the prophet that He plans to restore the nation of Israel. They had been broken and taken captive. The nations around them had celebrated their demise and boasted about how they now possessed the land. But the Lord promised that since He was the one who had punished them, He would also punish Israel’s enemies and restore His people to their land, which would once again flourish under His care.

Because God is holy, as we saw in Isaiah’s vision, He must punish sin. He had punished Israel for their wandering from Him. But He was now encouraging them through Ezekiel, that they would be brought back to their earlier status as a nation. They would return to their homeland and be restored. But being in their desolated condition, this was somewhat difficult to believe.

Maybe it was even difficult for Ezekiel to believe, since we see the Lord in this vision directing His faith-building words to the prophet himself. He asks Ezekiel the question; “can these bones live?” Can the people of Israel, who are like so many dead and dry bones, be restored to normal and prosperous life? Ezekiel’s answer is not one of great faith. He simply says, “O, Lord God, You know.”

Ezekiel doesn’t know if these bones can be brought back to life. I am sure that he hopes it is true, but he does not know. Seeing the utter dryness and deadness of the many bones, does not spark the fire of faith in Ezekiel.

The Lord then instructs Ezekiel to prophecy to the bones. The prophet is to tell the bones to hear the word of the Lord. God will reanimate them, put flesh on them and breathe life back into them. A great miracle will happen. What had been broken, will be restored to health. God assures Ezekiel, and through him, all of the people, that He will indeed restore them to their land and to a renewed life.

If you are one of His own, there is no final and dry desert tomb for you. The Lord will never lose even one of His people. It may be necessary for Him to break His people in different ways. But in this He always has a healing purpose. It might be that their stubbornness will have to be worn down by various afflictions. But in the end, the people of God will always be restored to Him. Again, the Lord will do whatever it takes to bring His people into life with Him.

This vision is also about the ultimate and final resurrection of God’s people. “Can these bones live?” asks the Lord. The answer is yes, and they shall. There will come a day when all the struggles and battles of the people of God will be over for good. On that day, He will raise up all who belong to Him, and bring them to Himself t be with them forever.

John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

From "GOD IS SPEAKING 3"
Free this week as kindle book (March 27-31, 2023)

GOD IS SPEAKING 3 (VISIONS, DREAMS & VOICES) is the third book of a three-part series describing what God has spoken to us through His word, the Bible. In the Bible eras, certain chosen men received information from God through visions and dreams. These great visions and dreams are written out fo...

24/03/2023

We are searching for a man to lead both our worship team and our youth and family ministry. Our worship is blended in style, with a praise band and mix of new and older songs. We take a simple approach to corporate worship, emphasizing the basic elements of worship found in the New Testament: singin...

06/02/2023

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

This verse from Jeremiah has become very popular in the last several years. I have seen it posted dozens of times on various social media pages. It is a comforting thought to know that God has good plans for His people. It is encouraging to know that our Lord has in store for us a hopeful future.

At the time when this was written, though, the people to whom the prophet was writing were experiencing anything but good hope and pleasant thoughts about tomorrow. They had been invaded and taken captive to Babylon where the Lord told them they would be for 70 years.

There are pleasant seasons in life, and there are unpleasant seasons in life. Having been taken prisoners to a strange land, they were feeling pretty shaky about the present and the future. To them, their circumstances seemed so uncomfortable and hopeless that they could not look at their lives with any sense of joy.

The letter from the prophet Jeremiah was being sent to them by God in order to help them to live in their present condition in a positive way.

Sometimes we may find ourselves in a very difficult season. But knowing that God is both Good and Sovereign, we can rest in the knowledge that we are in this circumstance because God is working out something good for us.

Our problem is similar to the trouble Israel was having. They were longing so much for the next season, that they were missing out on living in the present season. But the Lord wanted them to know that even in the present situation there is good to be gained. He said to them...

Jeremiah 29:4-7
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

What should we do when we are in a hard season in life? What should we do when the things we desire just don't seem to be materializing for us?

We should live in whatever season we find ourselves in, trusting that the future is bright in eternity - and that we are currently and always in the hands of a trustworthy God.

We should live. We should build houses and live in them. Keep on living. Plant gardens and eat from them. Keep working hard. Get married and have babies. Be alive in every way. And we should seek the welfare of the place where we find ourselves, because God says in verse 7 that our welfare is in the welfare of the place where we are.

Jeremiah 29:10-11
“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[b] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

The promise from God to them was for 70 years in the future. They couldn't find their welfare in spending all those years wishing they were someplace else.

So lets live where we are today. God's promise is that even now, even in the present circumstance, there are good things to gain, and a good life to live.

22/12/2022

“The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭19‬:‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.

21/12/2022

“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭19‬:‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬