Most of us remember growing up to or hearing the song “Running on Empty.” I want to apply that song title to a spiritual application. Let’s visualize a person who has a car, wants to drive it, but never puts gas in it. You know that we will find that person somewhere stranded with the car out of gas. We read in Matthew 25 about The Parable of the Ten Virgins, five who were wise and took their lamps also with extra oil. However, the other five were foolish in that they only took what oil was in their lamps. The bridegroom delayed, and so they all slept. When they awoke, their lamps were out. The five foolish were “running on empty” while the wise were able to go into the marriage feast. There is a warning for us. Let’s be prepared to serve God at any time. God gives us ways to refuel and recharge so that we do not have to run on empty. Let’s encourage one another so that we don’t run out of spiritual gas.

When we think of God’s power, we think of the power to speak things into existence. We do not comprehend such power. Man has tried to duplicate it somewhat with technology, only to fall short over and over again. For instance, with the iPhone, man speaks and Siri searches, but Siri doesn’t always get it right. Samsung phones have Bixby voice, but once again it falls short of what God can do. However, let’s look at the first command in Scripture. “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (Genesis 1:3 NKJV). That was the first time any being was recorded as speaking, and it was the voice of Almighty God. Continuing to read the Genesis account of creation, we find, “God said… and it was so” (Genesis 1:9). Similarly, Psalm 33:9 records, “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” God in the flesh had the power to speak things done as well. That’s right; I’m talking about Jesus. One such occasion pertained to the blind man at Jericho. “So Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ The blind man said to Him, ‘Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road” (Mark 10:51-52). Lastly, God the Holy Spirit speaking through Peter told the lame man at the beautiful

As another Independence Day rolls around, it is time to reflect on exactly what that means. In the realm of spiritual things, it means that God gave us certain freedoms. He gave mankind the freedom to choose whom he will serve, freedom of how to serve and so forth. One of the most near and dear freedoms that we have in this land is the freedom to worship God without persecution. Let us remember not to take that freedom for granted. People died so that we might have this dear freedom, and Christ died to save our immortal souls. Does it matter to us that Jesus left Heaven and came here to live as one of us? Does it matter to us that He lived a perfect, sinless life here? Does it matter to us that Jesus sacrificed Himself for us on the cross so that we could have this independence and freedom from the slavery to sin? “Yes” to all of the above; they matter. The real question, then, is “How much does it matter?” Does it matter enough to put Jesus Christ first in our lives (Matthew 6:33), to study His Word (2 Timothy 2:15), to pray always (1 Thessalonians 5:17), to take the Lord’s supper on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7), to give on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1-2) and to walk in the light (1 John 1:7)? Does it matter enough to be faithful to death (Revelation 2:10)? Let’s

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:19-20 NKJV). When we read Revelation 3:19-20, we are faced with a question, “Why do we have this picture of Jesus knocking on the door to get back into the church?” Were these people Christians? Yes, they had been added to the church, which means they had heard (Romans 10:17), believed (Hebrews 11:6), repented (Luke 13:3; Acts 3:19), confessed Christ (Romans 10:9-10) and been baptized (Acts 2:38-27). Therefore, they had obeyed the plan of salvation. What was wrong? Let us examine all seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2-3 and note what was wrong with each one. The church at Ephesus was a hard-working congregation. It was good at spotting false doctrine, and it was good at teaching, but Jesus told them, “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent” (Revelation 2:4-5). They had stopped loving. Every command our Lord has given us is based on love. “Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in

A very wise man gave some very good advice to a young preacher of the Word of God. The wise man was the apostle Paul, and the young preacher was Timothy. The advice was given in 2 Timothy 2:15. What was said was simple, yet profound, short, yet deep in meaning and best of all, it still applies today. The advice was this, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Let us closely examine this advice. Step one here that Paul gave Timothy, and that we need to follow also, is that we study. Study is also translated as give diligence, be diligent. It is the translation of the word meaning be diligent or earnest. Secondly, he was to study to “show thyself” – meaning to present. He was to present himself as distinguished from others. This means that studying and presenting oneself is the responsibility solely of each individual Christian. No one can do it for you. Thirdly, he was to study to show himself “approved unto God.” Approved by God, literally comes from a word meaning tested by trial. This stands in opposition to being reprobate and condemned. Fourthly, we are to be workman, workers in God’s kingdom. Fifthly, we are to work as to not be ashamed. This means that we are to do work that we are not to be ashamed of, as opposed to being deceitful workers. Sixthly, he told him to

All too often, we make the mistake of becoming intimidated right out of doing the Lord’s work. Why do we make such a mistake? What leads us to thinking we cannot do the Lord’s work? Firstly, many have fallen into the habit of thinking that ‘the Lord’s work’ is difficult and requires many talents (kind of like the one talent man). Then, we end up hiding our talent and not using it, so we lose the talent. Truth be known, a person with only one talent can do the Lord’s work. Secondly, we live in a culture that believes that only elders, deacons, preachers and Bible class teachers are the ones appointed to do the Lord’s work and the rest of us are to be spectators. God makes the point over and over again in Scripture that each one of us shall give an account of himself to God. Let’s realize that we are all God’s servants, and we each need to do our fair share or our part in the kingdom of God. That is why in 1 Corinthians 12, the church is likened to a body. That great chapter makes the point that the foot is no less a part of the body than the hand or the head. The seemingly less important body parts have purposes, and also the seemingly less important church members have their places in the church of God. Thirdly, there are those who believe that we cannot learn to do the Lord’s work,