Encouraging words from the Bible

What is the key to follow God wherever and whatever He likes? Lets have a look at the life of Abraham in this video....

Encounter the GOD OF GLORY / Acts 7:2-3

There are people who think they are "in the faith". Occasionally they pick up the Bible and occasionally they talk to God - but only when they feel the need. To "recharge their batteries," they like to attend some kind of Christian event. These are religious people, but they are missing the crucial point…

BEING BORN AGAIN - A MUST ?! / John 3:5-8

Timothy is best known for the two letters Paul wrote to him. His name means "honor God" or "honor of God" and indeed, he corresponded to this. We find his name a few times in Acts as well as in various letters of Paul. All the references taken together provide a good picture of this faithful and devoted servant of the Lord.

Timothy - a young servant / Acts 16:1-2

A Nazirite among the people of Israel was someone who made himself especially available to his God, to live only for Him, to serve Him. At that time, God was looking for a willingness of the heart and He is still looking for that today. He likes to awaken and keep alive in us the desire to be totally at His disposal and to serve Him gladly.

A NAZIRITE OF GOD / JUDGES 13:3-5

In the New Testament, we read five times about  "complete joy". Each time the same word is used in the basic text, but each time in a different context. Today we want to reflect briefly on these five biblical passages and how we can still enjoy this complete joy in our days.

Fullness of JOY / Complete JOY / John 15:10-11

In Paul's letters we read three times about his testimony to believers that they had first faith in the Lord Jesus and second love for all the saints. Twice Paul writes it to an assembly: Ephesus (Eph.1,5) and Colosse (Col.1,4). But once also to Philemon. Today we want to think about what we can learn from it for us.

FAITH and LOVE / Philemon 1:5

We all have established habits in our lives - good and bad ones. Habits are the things we do without much thinking: they are natural for us. Good habits bring us joy while bad habits often bring us distress. They easily become characteristic of us. The Lord Jesus had only good habits in His life. Today we want to learn from the good habits of the Lord Jesus.

4 habits of the Lord Jesus - Luke 22:39 / Luke 2:42 / Luke 4:16 / Mark 10:1

We have read or heard about many answers to prayer, but in our own lives we realise that we don’t experience it enough. So we ask ourselves the question: why?

ANSWERED PRAYERS / Part 1/2 / Mark 11:24-25

God has given us His Word to reveal Himself and to speak to us. The different ways in which the Word of God works is made clear by various images used in Scripture. Today we want to think about the Word of God as the two-edged sword in 4 points.

The Word of God - a two-edged sword / Hebrews 4:12

At the end of his life Joshua addresses the people of Israel with a final message. We want to learn from this in 5 points...

But as for me and my house we will SERVE the LORD / Joshua 24:14-15

Job speaks these words in the most difficult trials. They are words of faith—words that show a deep conviction that he could not have known in his time, but that God revealed to him. Let's take a closer look at some parts of his statement.

I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES / JOB 19:25-26

The people of Israel went from Mara to Elim. There the situation was completely different: no bitter water, but twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. It was a place in the desert where they could refresh themselves and find rest. This oasis was a foretaste of the land of Canaan. Therefore, it is worthwhile to reflect on what Elim means for us today.

Elim - refreshment in the desert / Exodus 15:27

A place in the dessert, that has a great encouragement for us. From bitterness to sweetness, something we probably all desire. This is possible if we put the tree/wood into the water. The cross is the supreme expression of God's love for us. When we bring that into our circumstances, the circumstances lose their bitterness.

Marah - from bitterness to sweetness / Exodus 15:23-25

In this verse, an image is taken from everyday life to apply to our relationships with one another.  A cutting tool needs to be sharp to cut properly.  If it is dull, or blunt, you can no longer use it properly or you have to use more force. How can it be sharpened? The answer is in this video...

Iron sharpens iron / Proverbs 27:17

Peter's house probably looked like any of the other fisherman. Yet, there was one significant difference: the Son of God entered Peter's house, revealed His glory there, and made it a place of blessing.

Fever - and the perfect doctor / Mark 1:30-31

Two disciples are on the way from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  Dejected, they talk about the events of the last few days.The Lord knew their hearts and turned to those hearts. He speaks to their hearts and turns slow hearts into burning hearts.

A burning heart / Luke 24:32

We have already seen that God sees into our hearts, that we naturally have an evil heart, and that by believing in Jesus Christ, we receive forgiveness of our sins and get a clean heart.  Today we want to consider especially the pure heart.

A pure heart / Matthew 5:8

The heart is a human being’s most vital organ, because as soon as the heart stops beating, the person is dead. As important as the human heart is for our body, it is also vital for our spiritual life. We don't want to deal with the physiological side of the heart, rather what God shows us in His Word about our heart. In the Bible we find various words in the original text that are translated "heart". Let’s have a closer look at this!

The Heart - Introduction / Proverbs 4:23

In the first eight verses of Revelation we have some introductory thoughts, before John sees the vision of the Lord's judicial glory and the future.  In these verses 7 titles of the Lord Jesus are given to us.  When John begins to mention the titles of the Lord Jesus in verse 5, it immediately leads him to worship.  May the Lord warm our hearts as we study Revelation 1: 8.

I am the Alpha and the Omega / Revelation 1:8

Today we want to think briefly about the birth of our Lord Jesus. It is a wonderful thing to remember that God became man and that this man, Jesus Christ, came to earth to die on the cross of Calvary. But when did His birth take place? Let’s think about this for a moment by referring to Luke 2: 10-12 
 
 And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I announce to you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people; for today a Saviour has been born to you in David's city, who is Christ [the] Lord. And this is the sign to you: ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger. 
 
It is relatively easy to explain that this birth could not have taken place at the end of December – or even, as originally celebrated, at the beginning of January. One could hardly think that winter would be the time for a census to be carried out (cf. Lk 2: 1-7), which would involve long journeys throughout the Roman Empire. 
 
There is a second clear indication of the approximate date of the Lord’s birth. For this we have to look at Zacharias, the husband of Elisabeth and father of John the Baptist. We know from 1 Chronicles 24: 1–19 that David divided the ministry of priests into 24 consecutive divisions. These 24 priest classes were put into service once a year for two weeks. 
 
Zacharias belonged to the division of Abia (Lk 1,5), whose service was eighth in the sequence (1 Chr 24,10). Since the Jewish year began in the month of Abib or Nissan (cf. e.g. 2 Mo 13.4; 5 Mo 16.1) - that is roughly our March / April - Zacharias had his two-week service in about the middle of June. That means that Zacharias probably came home at the end of June, so the angel's appearance must have been at the beginning of his ministry (cf. Lk 1:23). 
 
His wife Elisabeth became pregnant immediately after his service (Lk 1:24), i.e. at the beginning of July. Thus, John the Baptist was born around the middle of April. When Elisabeth was six months pregnant (Lk 1:26), the angel Gabriel came to Mary - that is, in December - to announce the birth of Christ to her. The birth of our glorious Lord would therefore have taken place nine and a half months later - in October of the following year. So our Savior was probably born in October - not December or January if we follow this account in the Gospel of Luke. 
 
It is important for us Christians to hold on to the actual biblical report. Ultimately, the specific date - we don't know exactly anyway - is not certain. But it does seem that Jesus was born in October or around that time. This also fits in wonderfully with a model that we find represented by a festival called the Feast of Tabernacles which took place in Israel in October. 
 
This feast of tabernacles may first remind us that the Lord Jesus came to this earth to live here. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with the Father) full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14). In fact, the word “dwelt“ literally means in the original text: tabernacled or camping. The Creator of the world camped here on earth as a human being - beginning with the feast of Tabernacles. 
 
Doesn’t this explain why there was no room in the inn? It was the Feast of Tabernacles on which all the Jewish people had to go to Jerusalem (Deut. 16: 13-16). Therefore all inns in the vicinity of Jerusalem would have been occupied. We also know that this festival is to be understood as a reference to the 1000 year kingdom, in which the peace of God through the person of the Lord Jesus will reign here on this earth. 
 
The birth of the Lord Jesus is one of the most significant events this world has ever experienced. It was never intended by God to provide a means for family celebrations or to increase the sales volume of retail businesses. But it was intended by God to touch the hearts and consciences of men. May our hearts be softened whenever we think of the way our Saviour came into this world.

Today we want to think briefly about the birth of our Lord Jesus.  It is a wonderful thing to remember that God became man and that this man, Jesus Christ, came to earth to die on the cross of Calvary.  But when did His birth take place?  Let’s think about this for a moment by referring to Luke 2: 10-12

 And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I announce to you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people; for today a Saviour has been born to you in David's city, who is Christ [the] Lord. And this is the sign to you: ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger.

It is relatively easy to explain that this birth could not have taken place at the end of December – or even, as originally celebrated, at the beginning of January.  One could hardly think that winter would be the time for a census to be carried out (cf. Lk 2: 1-7), which would involve long journeys throughout the Roman Empire. 

There is a second clear indication of the ap

Encouraging words from the Bible Videos