Natural Man There is the common proverbial expression that, "People are Down On what they're not Up On". The scriptures say that, "the natural man doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, neither can he know (them), because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). Natural Mind Basically, our natural mind does not understand spiritual reality, and when confronted with the things of God, we reject them, not because they aren't true

People that are scholars or those with a highly selective vocabulary, or especially those dealing in matters of law, or writing a legal document, are careful and precise in the selection of words that they use to convey the exact factual information they want to express. There are 26 letters in the English alphabet, with the potential of over a million words that can be composed, in a language that is constantly evolving and changing, with slang, and borrowed nuances from oth

Everyone has preconceived ideas, even ideologies, which shape their thinking and perception of the world around them and their relationships with people, however, the scripture states succinctly to not be conformed to this world's way of thinking, and the patterns of behavior that they produce, but to think the way God thinks and to embrace His thoughts to produce real positive change, not only in our own lives, but in the lives of all those we interact with (Rm. 12:1-2). Thi

Everyone has entered a room where only moments before, sharp contention, disagreement, harsh words, and vile speech has been dominant, and the very atmosphere is thick with the pungent "aroma" of those hateful, killing words. It is most uncomfortable, and the natural reaction is to retreat and withdraw from the reach of the destructive, distasteful, presence of the evil spiritual condition, thick with its repulsive nature, that has been created. By contrast, entering the pres

Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof" This would seem to be a very ominous, but powerful statement, which, if true, means that what you say, your words, [where 'the tongue' is emblematic, of speech in general], determines your future, and whether your words are producing life, or death to you. The word 'power' actually means 'control', where some translations have "in the hand" of the tongue, or

COMMUNICATION Communication is a big deal; not just what you say, but how you say it. I remember listening to a prominent psychologist speaking about coming home from the office and his wife was all dressed up and ready to go because she thought he had indicated, earlier in the day, that they were going out for supper; which was news to him. He mentioned that you can say things that have similar "literal" meanings, but the "actual" meanings and intentions are almost in total

EXPECTATIONS The story is told of the new frontier family arriving at a small town in their covered wagon, and asking the old timer rocking on the porch, what type of people lived in the community. The elderly gentleman asked them, "Well, what type of people were there where you came from?". The head of the family spoke up and said, " the merchants were dishonest, there was a growing crime concern, you couldn't trust your neighbors, and generally, it wasn't a pleasant place t

Proverbs 4:20 - 27 says: (20) My son, attend to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. (21) Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart. (22) For they are life to those that find them, and health to all their flesh. (23) Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (24) Put away from you a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from you. (25) Let your eyes look right on, and let your eyelids look straight before y

Everyone has a legal right to vote, but not everyone exercises that right. In fact, whether regional or national, in a lot of elections, even getting 60% of eligible persons out to vote, to exercise their legal right, is a 'miracle'! PROVISIONAL Similarly, the provision of being made, "...a new creation [that never existed before]; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17), is available to all, and the Lord is "...not willing that any should

2 Corinthians 8:9 contains these two contrasting characterizations: 1) Extreme Wealth 2) Extreme Poverty "Do you remember the generosity of Jesus Christ, the Lord of us all? He was rich beyond our telling, yet He became poor for your sakes so that His poverty might make you rich" (Phillips). The only moment in time where the Lord Jesus Christ "became poor", was on the cross, where He divested Himself of all wealth and riches, and literally, became poverty, became destitute, t

There is the common maxim that "people are down, on what they're not up on", which seems to reflect the reality that people having limited knowledge, or no knowledge, of a subject, still make a judgment concerning it, based on a total absence of the facts. This seems nonsensical, but everyone has biases, whether they admit to them or not. Based on their environment in which they have lived, and are living, their family history, how they have been educated up to that point, an

Many people have seen a magician perform and watch them use magic words, and pull a rabbit out of a seemingly empty hat, or make someone...

In the morning, "...they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots", or "from its roots" (Wuest; Beck; Rotherham; KJV), [11:20] "FROM" is (ek), 1537, designating the place of origin or the point where the motion or action proceeded from. Change is initiated in the spiritual realm, where there is no apparent visible change, and you can't see it, until the words spoken produce, like the seeds that they are, the physical result of what has been said. When words of faith are utter

"If you don't know where you're going...any road will get you there" Many people pursue career options based on some form of monetary return; job security; company benefits; or some other perceived gain but miss actual fulfillment in what they do, and more often than not, end up toiling in their occupation or profession, for the rest of their lives. Ephesians 2:1 says, "...and you  who were dead in trespasses and sins..." The first thing to note concerning this text is that i

"But you divinely loved ones, building up ourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 20) In the expertise of building construction there is often the mass produced "cookie cutter" builds, which are basically all identical with maybe a reverse floor plan or a different color scheme or a changeup in the color of flooring or cabinets, but otherwise, they are all identical, with very little individuality. However, a custom build is something that is intr

Proverbs 25:1 says, ''These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied out.'' God doesn't just arbitrarily insert commentary on certain portions of scripture, so why does God mention this action taken by Hezekiah? I have encouraged my family to daily read, out loud, the book of Proverbs, because it deals with relationships, in every area, but there's another reason to daily read Proverbs. ROYAL ADVISORS In Nations like Egypt and Israel, as

Proverbs 3:6 says, ''In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.'' The words ''ways'' and ''paths'', are used almost interchangeably in a lot of passages, but they are different in meaning: WAYS - means your main direction in life, or we would say, the course of your life. PATHS - refers to the actual road you are traveling on, on your course of life. It's almost like looking at a road map to see your destination and how your going to get there [becaus

John 3:16, a scripture that most Believers know by heart, says, ''For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son...'' LOVE The word used here for love, is the Greek word ''agape'', a word commonly referred to as ''the God-kind of love''. This definition, however, misses some of the basic meaning of the word, and how it applies to the scripture quoted, and our lives. There are four basic words for ''love'' in the Greek language, and all of them express ''love''

2 Timothy 3:16 contains the famous phrase, ''... all scripture is given by inspiration of God...'' IS GIVEN BY - The words ''.. is given...

Hebrews 11:6 says, '' But without faith (it is) impossible to please (Him); for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and (that)...