“Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:8 The seven feasts can be organized into three sections of time. At the beginning of the year, it was the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of First Fruits. The Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately follows the Passover and lasts seven days. In Exodus 12, God commands His people to remove all the leaven from their homes and eat only unleavened bread, or bread made…
Leviticus 23:2 states, “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.” This week, our devotions will cover the seven feasts the Jews were to celebrate throughout the year. These feasts became a beautiful preparation for celebration, reflection, rest, fellowship, and special gathering. I heard a minister liken these feasts to a Thanksgiving dinner in North America. Sure, we eat dinner every day, but Thanksgiving dinner happens only once a year, and there is excitement attached to the day. We spend hours preparing the menu, grocery shopping, decorating, cooking, and baking. Some of us travel for hours in a car or take a flight to be with family and close friends. It is a time we gather together for a special meal. It is a special day that is set apart from other days. This is how the seven feasts of Israel were. They were set apart and scared. The Feast Of Passover The sacred feast of the Passover reminded the Israelite nation of their deliverance from bondage. They were to live out their testimony of being delivered from Egypt…
“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” (Philippians 1:27, ESV) This week we have followed the apostle Paul from his conversion, through a time of revelation and preparation, and then to his missionary travels. Paul had a remarkable ministry and dedicated his life to taking the gospel to the then-known world. But he did not work alone. As we read through Acts and the Epistles, we find so many who partnered with him in ministry. WORKING SIDE BY SIDE Not only do we read of Barnabas, Silas, Luke, and Timothy—familiar names to us—we also learn of Aristarchus, Epaphras, Gaius, Jason, Sopater, Luke, John Mark, Lydia, Priscilla and Aquila. These, and numerous others we have not mentioned, were all “striving side by side for the faith.” But ultimately, the glory did not belong to one man or even a group of believers. First Corinthians 3:6-9 tells us anything accomplished comes from the Lord. “I planted, Apollos watered, but…
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (II Timothy 4:6-7, NKJV) How do we determine the success of our life? Is it by the material things we own? Does it come from our net worth? Or do we judge our success by the number of promotions and accolades we have achieved at work? Do we measure it by the square footage of our home, the car we drive, or the exotic…
All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted. Many of you can probably recite Psalm 23 by heart. It’s often one of the first passages we learn in Sunday School—and that’s a good thing. It’s always wise to hide God’s Word in our hearts. As David wrote in Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” While this psalm may be familiar to many of us, familiarity can sometimes be a problem. We may know the words so well that we stop thinking about what they really mean. So, in this Bible study we’re going to examine Psalm 23 verse by verse. Verse 1: LORD is my shepherd” — This denotes relationship. There is a relationship between the shepherd and the sheep. The dictionary defines “shepherd” as: A person who herds, tends, and guards sheep A person who protects, guides, or watches over a person or group That second definition is what we’ll focus on. The word shepherd is used about 40 times throughout the Bible, and rarely does it refer only to literal sheep. Most often, it’s God referring to Himself as a shepherd to His…
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (II Timothy 3:12, ESV) At times in our walk with the Lord, we become discouraged when troubles seem to plague our every step. We feel we are walking in God’s will for our lives, yet so many difficulties and stressful situations keep coming our way. As a child of God striving to do His will, shouldn’t life go smoother? Can’t the Lord take away these problems? FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE When the Lord walked this earth, He endured many things from those who did not believe in Him or His mission. Nor did He promise His followers that they would have an easy path. Quite the opposite. He warned them of the persecutions they would endure for His name’s sake. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” (Matthew 5:11, ESV) “And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22, ESV) As we read the Book of Acts, we find that the apostles suffered many things…