I've had an Epiphany!

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever.” (Revelation 1:5–7, EHV) Psalm 119:46 Then I will speak of your testimonies before kings, and I will not be put to shame. It was Christmas morning many, many years ago. One of my relatives was attending a University of Wisconsin school and had been taken in by the liberal philosophies of the professors and the evolution evangelized in the biology and science classes she took. She decided that Christmas morning was an appropriate time to challenge me on the truth of the Bible. She argued that there was no way possible for Noah to get all the various species of animals onto the ark. The ark just couldn’t have been big enough. If that story was make-believe, then, she wondered, what other stories in the Bible were possibly made up. I explained that Noah took pairs of every “kind” of animal. I demonstrated that “k...

Daughter of Jairus Joseph Brickey Worship Theme: What are we to think when a baby dies? Or a 12 year-old girl? Or we, at any age, see death looming? ‘Believe only’ Jesus said. Is that ‘just believe’ as if believing is something easy, or minor? No. He means no fear!  Believe only. God calls us away from all trust in ourselves or anyone else to rely only in him and his promises in Christ, our Risen Savior. Old Testament: 2 Samuel 12:11-25 11 This is what the Lord says. Look! I am raising up disaster against you from your own house. Right in front of your eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie down with your wives in the sight of the sun. 12 Because you acted in secret, I will do this in front of all Israel in broad daylight. 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord .” Nathan said to David, “The Lord himself has put away your sin. You will not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have treated th...

Saved by grace Ephesians 2:1-9 You were dead in your trespasses and sins,  2  in which you formerly walked when you followed the ways of this present world. You were following the ruler of the domain of the air, the spirit now at work in the people who disobey. 3  Formerly, we all lived among them in the passions of our sinful flesh, as we carried out the desires of the sinful flesh and its thoughts. Like all the others, we were by nature objects of God’s wrath. 4  But God, because he is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  5  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!  6  He also raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.  7  He did this so that, in the coming ages, he might demonstrate the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  8  Indeed, it is by grace yo...

Matthew 1:16, 17-24   16  Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom Jesus was born (who is called Christ). 18  This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother, Mary, was pledged in marriage to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.  19  Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her. So he decided to divorce her privately.  20  But as he was considering these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  21  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22  All this happened to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:  23  “Look, the virgin will be with chil...

Genesis 3:8-15 8 They heard the voice of the Lord God, who was walking around in the garden during the cooler part of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” 11 God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 The Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the livestock, and more than every wild animal.   You shall crawl on your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 15 I will put hostilit...