Thoughts from Gary

“T herefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 Over 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Isaiah the prophet spoke these words concerning the conception and birth of the Messiah which were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ.  Believing this is paramount, to believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Why was it important that Christ’s mother was a virgin?  There are several reasons, but first the problem.  The fallen or sin nature of Adam, who rebelled against God, was also passed on from generation to generation to all of mankind to this very day.  All men have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.  That means that all men have been separated from God, who is Holy, yet God loves His creation and has created a plan to redeem (restore us to Himself) all men and women who will believe in His plan.  In order to redeem the fallen human ra...

In the last six articles we have looked briefly at the meanings of the different verses of The Lord’s Prayer.  This line differs from the rest of the prayer, except for the first line, in that it is not a beseeching from God, but recognition of praise to Him.   It is an acknowledgement praising Him and the eternal endlessness of His Kingdom.  It is actually a doxology, which means words that express glory to God, and is usually in the form of a song or hymn that is often sung in conclusion.  Another example would be of the well-known doxology  Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow  which is commonly known as  The Doxology .  Some theologians have argued their opinion that they do not believe that Jesus included this doxology when He taught His apostles this prayer and that it was added by scribes much later.  Luke does not include it in His recording of the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11), but some have said the r...

Some may ask, “Why would I pray for protection from evil or the evil one, when I don’t believe there is such a thing as evil or the evil one?” (aka the devil or satan.)    To that person I would say, I am so sorry that you have become a product of Western secular education!    Ever since the “Age of Reason” took hold in the 18 th   century most highly educated people have denied the existence of evil, evil spirits or the devil as only a superstition carried over from an uneducated, primitive, superstitious past.    They may think of the devil as some old cartoon character that they have seen, where a good spirit and bad spirit whisper competing influences into the human’s ears.    Some might even remember laughing at comedian Flip Wilson’s humorous, “the devil made me do it” shtick, but to them the devil is just something to laugh about.       Their “reasoning” is that all we need to lead us to goodness is to be more reaso...

This can be a confusing part of the Lord’s Prayer… “Do not lead us into temptation…”    To some it gives the connotation that God would actually lead us into temptation but that would be in conflict with James 1:12-15 12:   “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the LORD has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Did you know being tempted is not a sin?    It is giving into the temptation that is. This makes it quite clear that God does not tempt anyone or lead them into temptation but what tempts us is our own evil desire. Clearly God does not tempt us. So what d...

This may be one of the most misunderstood verses in this prayer.    Millions upon millions of people have prayed this prayer sincerely, but have missed the true meaning.    The reason, is that we are eager to ask for forgiveness for our trespasses (sins), but ignore the meaning of the next portion, “As we forgive those who trespass against us.”    As with most all of God’s promises there are conditions.    The word “ as ” brings in a conditional situation as does the words “ but ” and “ if ” that we see in other passages of the Bible.     In this text the Lord offers us His wonderful gift of forgiveness for our sinful trespasses that we have done,   but , on the condition we forgive others for what they have done to us. Later in Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus clarifies this by saying, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.    But if you do not forgive others t...

“Give us this day our daily bread.”  Matthew 6:11 is a very important verse for us to have a greater understanding. It admits our need of God for all our provision, not just for bread.  The temptation, often subtle, when living in a nation like America where food is so plentiful  and there are literally multi-tons of it wasted and thrown out daily, is to develop an independent and self-sufficient attitude of pride and arrogance.  Even the poorest, “down and outer” is eligible for all sorts of welfare programs, food stamps, Christian soup kitchens, shelters, etc.  available for free. The point that Jesus is bringing to us is that we must not fail to recognize God as the source of all our needs.  Even more importantly, is that we would continue to recognize Him as the source of “all good gifts.”  (James 1:17).    Whatever the need we may have, we can have assurance that we can approach God for these things.  Some people ar...

  How often have we prayed “Thy Kingdom come” and not understood what we are really praying?  Wait a minute! We live in a republic not a kingdom. Aren’t kingdoms kind of going obsolete around the world?  No, this kingdom is God’s kingdom, He is the King and of His Kingdom there shall be no end!  Each time we pray this we are praying for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and for Him to establish His Kingdom on earth-as it is in Heaven.  This is very important for us to understand.  For those who are skeptical, consider the accuracy of the Bible.  In the Old Testament there are about 300 scriptures foretelling the first coming of Jesus Christ, which is historically verified.  Now, what are the odds that all of them have come to pass? However, there are over 2400 in the Old and New Testament that speak of His Second Coming and they too will all come to pass.  Thy Kingdom Come soon! The second portion of this verse of the Lord’s Prayer giv...