This text is famously known as THE SCHEMA, “The Hear”. SCHEMA is a mashing together of two significant ideas: Hear and Obey. There is no word for just “Hearing” alone. So, when Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey me, he was implying SCHEMA.” It is interesting to note that in chapter 5, immediately before the SCHEMA was the giving of the Ten Commandments. For thousands of years, Jewish peopl...  Read More

Has it ever occurred to you that our God never gets tired? Ever? But sometimes we do! We sometimes find ourselves worn down by the “worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things”. One writer has called it “hurry sickness.” Another has called hurry as the “pain that people applaud.”And yet in this passage, God’s Word promises us the capacity to soar like an ea...  Read More

“More than conquerors.” This section of scripture is all about God’s Everlasting Love. Paul makes it abundantly clear: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Have you ever considered the gospel fact that God is for you? So when you are suffering under the suffocating fear of failure, remember who is in your corner: the King of the Universe. Thank God for the victory you have in Christ. LORD, ...  Read More

If we wish to experience the breakthrough of freedom, and if we wish to never again place ourselves under the “yoke of slavery,” the apostle Paul says in this text, “STAND FIRM.” This is not a suggestion; it is an imperative! And it is not an isolated command in scripture. In I Corinthians 16:13 Paul says, “Be watchful, STAND FIRM in the faith, act like men, be strong.” In Philippians 1:27 he says...  Read More

In this text, Jesus is in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount, filled with the radical beliefs of kingdom living which often times feel “upside down” — You die in order to live. You become humble to become great. You turn the other cheek to the one who has hit you. Here, Jesus is saying something radical about the nature of forgiveness. Forgiveness is taking someone off the hook of your hurt! For...  Read More

Our text describes in detail a Spiritual Armor. Every day we need to put it on as we head out the door, because there is an enemy that wants to assault your heart with lies about who you are.  One interesting word in the text is this: SCHEMES. The devil has an elaborate SCHEMATA, a detailed battle plan with your name written in the heading. He has a plan to attack your flank or to ambush you at a ...  Read More