Roots by the River

Three months before Jesus was born, Zacharias, filled with Holy Spirit, said about Jesus: “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us...to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.” Isn’t that wonderful?

Dear Friends,

Christmas is a time of year when we are reminded of how God miraculously intervened in history on our behalf. He accomplished this through the birth of His son, Jesus Christ, and His subsequent life, death, and resurrection. This is what the prophet Isaiah says about this child:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
(Isaiah 9:6-7)What an encouragement this passage is! If we are in need of guidance, we can call upon our wonderful Counselor. If we cannot overcome a temptation or sin, we are servants of the mighty God who will overcome. If we grow faint in our…

This is what the Apostle Paul prayed for new believers:

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light” (Colossians 1:9-12)

We believe this was a prayer inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore answered by God. Let’s enumerate the requests:

• Fill you with the knowledge of His will
• Through all spiritual wisdom and understanding
• That you may live a life worthy of the Lord
• And may please Him in every way
• Bearing fruit in eve…

“No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him—the ransom for a life is costly; no payment is ever enough—that he should live on forever and not see decay…. But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself” (Psalm 49:7-9, 15).

This is a wonderful expression in the Old Testament of God’s redemption as opposed to man’s inability to redeem. Please consider the following and become students of the Old Testament:

“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come” (1 Cor. 10:11).

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful tor teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).


Join the #keepthe…

Here is a book recommendation. This is the abridged autobiography of a high-caste Hindu woman who received Christ through reading the New Testament. She was orphaned in her teens and widowed with a baby girl at 23. In 1896, during a severe family, Ramabai toured the villages of Maharashtra with a caravan of bullock carts and rescued thousands of outcast children, child widows, orphans, and other destitute women, bringing them to the shelter of Mukti and Sharada Sadan. A learned woman knowing seven languages, she also translated the Bible into her mother tongue—Marathi—from the original Hebrew and Greek. Her work continues today, a memorial to her life and path.

CCM published this book about 20 years ago and has just completed a new edition. You can read more here.

“He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (Acts 11:24).

This is speaking of Barnabas. The preceding verse tells us that “he was glad and encouraged them all.” In chapter 4, we find that Barnabas’ name means “son of encouragement.” We also find that he “sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.” When he was with Paul, he was not the chief speaker (Acts 14:12), although in Acts 14:1 we see, “There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.”

Barnabas was good, full of the Holy Spirit, full of faith, glad, encouraging, generous, and unashamed to speak the gospel. The result was that great numbers were brought to the Lord. If we are not seeing great numbers turning to the Lord, it may be that we are lacking the other characteristics which were in Barnabas’ life.


Join the #keepthefeast Bible Reading Challenge here. This post coordinates with today's r…