INSIGNIFICANT Sometimes the most seemingly insignificant things can have the greatest impact in our lives, like being a few minutes late to the job interview, and losing the opportunity to impress the potential boss; or speaking words, that we shouldn't be saying, negatively, about someone, and devastating a relationship, that takes months, or years, to regain trust and confidence. Positively, we are perhaps early, or late, from our normal schedule, and we avoid a tragic acci

PICKED Almost everyone has experienced the selection of team members, in childhood sports; choosing sides, and being picked to play on one side or the other. It's always a good feeling to be chosen, because of some skill or talent, or just because the one doing the choosing, perhaps just really likes you. EPHESIANS 1:4 says that, "...He chose us in Him, before the founding of the world, for us to be holy and unblemished before Him in love." MILITARY (Eklegomai) is the middle

EPHESIANS 1:4 says that "..He chose us in Him, before the founding of the world, to be holy and unblemished before Him, in love. SELECTED He selected us out from a mass of choices (eklegomai), before the founding of the world (kataboles). SPECIFIC Previous in time and order, He selected us, for a very specific task and purpose, very selfishly, because He wanted us for Himself, to be prized and valued by Him; and because He chose us, He created a place for us. We were not an a

EPHESIANS 1:5 says that our Father set out the limitless boundaries of our adoption; so limitless, that like the horizon, the closer you get to it, the more it demonstrates that it is ever expanding, and still as distant, and filled with possibilities, as when you first began moving toward it. This adoption occurred because He was, and is, always thinking good things; good thoughts about us, and His passion is favorable toward us. All of these good thoughts that He had toward

STIR UP It seems like much of what I do in study; listening to audio scripture in the car; reading the word out loud; listening to good Kenneth E Hagin teaching, is to stir myself up to pray in tongues. PRAYER It's interesting that the word in the Greek that is predominantly translated as 'prayer; to pray', or its derivatives or root words are used 134 times in the NT, while the next most common word translated as 'prayer' is only used 19 times. In other words, (proseuchomai

EPHESIANS 1:4 speaks of how our Father chose us specifically; uniquely; before any conception of the world was birthed; He was thinking, and speaking only good thoughts about us, and He created the world, out of necessity, for a place to express His goodness toward us. He sees us as holy and without any imperfections. We are, as the sacrificial lambs, the most perfect; the most complete; those in whom there is absolutely nothing lacking. We are always right before Him; close

EPHESIANS 1:9 speaks of the "...praise of the glory of His grace..." LATIN In keeping with a lot of words in scripture, the English word "glory" is not a transliteration of the Greek, (doxa), 1391, but is a transliteration from the Latin word (gloria). GLORY In Rabbinic and traditional rendering, originally "glory " was a reference to 'light; brightness; splendor'; and progressively, the meaning diminished, to encompass anything that caught the eye, whether bright clothing; s

EPHESIANS 1:7, "...in whom we have redemption..." PAWN SHOP "Redemption" is a big, intimidating type of word, but the meaning is fairly straight-forward. When we think of redeeming something, we think of 'buying something back', 'regaining possession of something that was once ours'. In fact, in classical Greek, the most common use of the word is to "redeem" a pledge, such as someone's clothes; cloak; or property, which was left in 'pawn', or 'pledged' with someone. If we thi

TOTALLY SEPARATE The first thing to establish is that tithes and first fruits are two totally separate entities, which you can easily do simply by running through a Strong's concordance and seeing the number of times the two words are used together, in the same passages, obviously referring to two separate offerings. 2 CHRONICLES 31:5 "And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of grain; wine; and oil; and honey; a

THE COACH Most professional team sports have a coach, whose main objective, is to bring out of the players their absolute best performance, so that, they can win games; tournaments; and ultimately, championship events. Frequently, the coach is a former player themselves, but whatever their skill level in being a player, their true gifting is their ability to recognize and develop the untapped talent of each individual team member, to it's highest possible potential, so that e

EPHESIANS 1:10 speaks of "...the dispensation of the fullness of times.." PICTURE / VIDEO If you have ever taken a picture of yourself or others, with your cell phone or camera, you have captured a moment in time that gives you an impression, but really doesn't tell you much about the person's character; thoughts; ambitions; desires; or life impact. It is simply a "frozen frame" of the individual. However, if you take a video, which is a series of pictures in succession, the

EPHESIANS 1:10 says that God's purpose in managing the whole of creation, was/is to "gather together in one", all things in Christ, whether in the heavens or on earth. ALL THINGS SUMMED UP The phrase in the KJV, "gather together in one", is all one word in the Greek, (anakephalaioo). In Ephesians, the word is actually in the middle voice (anakephalaiosasthai). The word is a compound from (ana), an emphatic, meaning, "again", or "up", and (kephalaion), "sum", or "total", and (

EPHESIANS 1:11 says that "...we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will..." NO LIMIT The word (prohorizo) is dealt with earlier in 1:5, where here again, it is where we get the word "horizon" from, and speaks not of some predetermined, unchangeable destiny, that robs people of choice or determination, but rather of the fact that the unlimited boundaries of the Father's choice for us

EPHESIANS 1:11 says that our names are known by the Father, and He wrote down our names, individually, and chose us specifically, for the boundless inheritance that He has established for us to share in now, that has no limitations or restrictions, only constant increase; expansion; and development. This choosing; calling; inheritance, was displayed for all to see, in the spiritual realm, so that it is known, and established forever, by the effective force of His power releas

WILL There are two words in the Greek that are predominantly translated "will". The one is (boule), [1012,Strongs], and the other is (thelema), [2307,Strongs]. The RSV renders (boule) everywhere, as "counsel". In fact, (boule) is the word used in modern Greek for the parliament; the place for deliberation and decision making. BEST CHOICE (Thelema) specifically relates to "the enacted will" of God, or "His will carried out", which is the result of (boule). (Boule) specifically

EPHESIANS 1:12 speaks of the Father who "...works all things after the counsel of His will.." (PARAPHRASE) "...He produces the results, that He has deliberately decided on, that fulfill His desire...". WORKS The Greek word translated "works" is (energia) [1754, Strong's], from which we get the English word "energy". There is another related Greek word called (dynamis), [1411, Strong's], from which we get the English word "dynamite". POWER (Dynamis) is the latent potential pow

KENNETH HAGIN Many years ago, the Lord Jesus appeared in a vision to Kenneth Hagin and told him, "Go and teach my people faith". His mother was told by the Lord, that she was to name him John, because he would come, like John the Baptist, to prepare the way for the return of the Lord. He was obedient to that heavenly vision, and as a result, there are Rhema graduates and churches, all over the world; teaching faith, preparing people. NORVEL HAYES The Lord told Norvel Hayes, a

WALDO Many parents have spent hours with their children, with the still popular children's book "Where's Waldo". Somewhere on each page, the tiny figure of Waldo has been drawn and colored, amid a couple hundred other figures, that look like, but aren't Waldo. The task is to try and locate Waldo among all the other colored drawings, and hopefully, enjoy the adventurous journey along the way. SENSITIVE Very enviable, are the couples who have spent time with each other, and th

LEGO Many years ago, creative minds invented "Lego"; little toy building blocks, that children and some adults use, to put together innumerable shapes and designs, from varied pieces, to assemble a cascade of possibilities, limited only by the imagination. A person can gather together, all different shapes and sizes, and form something new, and depending on the age of the assembler, something totally unrecognizable, that becomes a boat; a person; a spaceship; or whatever thei

PROVERBS 18:21 says: "Death and life (are) in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof" (KJV) "Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who make it a friend shall eat its fruit" (NAB) "Of life and death, tongue holds the keys; use it lovingly, and it will requite thee" (Knox) "Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit - you choose" (The Message) "Death and life (are) in (the) handle of (the) tongue; and the ones