A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green

Hebrews

Thinking about Hebrews Christ and His outrageous claims Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (1:1-3) Overwhelmed by Jesus (1:3) The discipline that pays dividends (2:1) Freed from the fear of death (2:5-18) The Humanity Of Jesus (2:7-18) Atonement (2:9-18) There’s not a friend (2) Called to Glory (3:1) Near to the Heart of God (4:14-16) TheContinue reading “Hebrews”

What It Means To Be Alive

The writer of Ezra doesn’t furnish us with any details about the returnees settling into their communities because it’s not relevant to his purposes. We know from 2:64-69 they were prosperous. Haggai 1:3 tells us that they built nice houses for themselves. But we also know that what you have to live with pales inContinue reading “What It Means To Be Alive”

God At The Center

Lena Paahlsson was doing some Christmas baking with her daughters at the family’s farmhouse in central Sweden. After they finished and were cleaning up, she went to the place where she had laid her wedding ring—but it wasn’t there. They couldn’t find it anywhere although they looked everywhere. Feelings of despair and frustration set in.Continue reading “God At The Center”

Building Your Hope

Searching for things online for me is like browsing in a library or bookstore. While I usually get started with a clear, precise idea of what I want, more times than not I end up getting sidetracked by things I find along the way that spark my curiosity. If I don’t work hard to maintainContinue reading “Building Your Hope”

Ezra

A Devotion Worth Imitating (7:11) Building Your Hope God At The Center (1-6) What It Means To Be Alive (3)

The Army And The Armor

There are a couple of things Paul says in Ephesians 6:10-18 that really ought to ring our bell. One is fairly obvious, but I think the other lies below the surface. The truth we’re more familiar with in his emphasis on us relying on the Lord and His power (as opposed to our own). “Be strong in the LordContinue reading “The Army And The Armor”

Stand!

When we consider the picture of the Christian armor that Paul paints in Ephesians 6:10ff, there are a couple of things that can be easily overlooked which are critical to us having an accurate understanding of spiritual warfare. One involves the word “stand” (v. 10, 13-14). It can leave us with the impression of a soldier merely standing thereContinue reading “Stand!”

Spiritual Warfare: Stand!

Paul’s words to the Ephesians concerning “the powers of this dark world,” and “the spiritual forces of evil” (6:12), assume a truth that is much less a part of our world view today than it would have been in the first century. That truth is that there is a spiritual world consisting of evil powers asContinue reading “Spiritual Warfare: Stand!”

Spiritual Warfare: The Triumph Of The Cross

The cross is central to us because it is central to Christ! Jesus blessed Peter for recognizing He was the Christ (Matthew 16:17), then sternly rebuked him moments later when Peter sought to separate being Christ from bearing the cross (v. 21-23). Jesus made it clear—to be Christ-centered you must be cross-centered. But it’s not just theology—it’s biography. We foundContinue reading “Spiritual Warfare: The Triumph Of The Cross”

Spiritual Warfare: Identifying The Enemy (2)

2. Spiritual forces are at work in our world. The New Testament world was filled with demons, evil spirits, and certain people who had supernatural power over such entities. It’s easy to see how it all worked—the demons and spirits possessed people, caused illness, disease, insanity, and even death. The people with power over them cast these demonsContinue reading “Spiritual Warfare: Identifying The Enemy (2)”