To cultivate the habit of thankfulness towards Him has the equal and opposite result of crowding out ingratitude. Thank Him right now for His blessings; and be sure to include the difficult circumstances that are in your life.
Read MorePublic preaching was not allowed, but he drew listeners in private homes and public gardens. As the numbers of listeners continued to grow, it was deemed safer to meet outside the city. A secluded cave was chosen . . .
Read MoreBeloved, times of testing are ahead. You may be in the midst of a fiery trial even at this moment. Make sure that your focus is only on Jesus.
Read MoreIt was quite evident that the church hierarchy were closing in on the reformers, but Calvin was not ready to give up hope that France as a nation would come to the light. Sadly, every door of labor as a teacher or preacher closed in his face. He saw that any open proclamation of Bible-based beliefs was a direct and quick path to the stake.
Read MoreBerquin, having dressed himself in goodly raiment, was paraded through the crowded streets of Paris on a rough tumbril. People remarked of the unclouded joy and peace on his face.
Read MoreNever underestimate the power that God exerts through a single soul who steadily looks to Him. Love for Him brings a response of obedience to His leading. Your will to be pleasing to Him, readily aided by His grace, has a supernatural drawing power . . .
Read MoreGod’s Word, the Spirit-breathed Word, goes forth with power to breathe life into a dying soul. Each of us has the choice to believe on that power and claim it in a daily walk with Him. How readily He dispenses His grace to those who will receive it!
Read MoreJacques Lefevre’s writings were quietly circulating about France seven years prior to Luther’s famous nailing of his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg. A few years later he published a translation of the New Testament in the common tongue of France.
Read MoreAt one point, while the king was away, Princess Margaret opened the palace for daily preaching at the same hour each day. Thousands from all classes would attend and listen. When the king returned, instead of forbidding the assemblies, he ordered two churches of Paris opened for Protestant preaching.
Read MoreFrom the beginning of this world’s creation, the privilege to choose obedience to God was given as a gift from Him. But Satan craftily projects two opposite extremes into the world, one being that obedience is totally unnecessary, while the other extreme paints it as burdensome, unreasonable, and encumbered with added, unbiblical rules.
Read MoreIf the fledgling Reformation, after achieving a measure of success, had compromised by consenting to procure favor with the world, it would have forfeited the power of God in favor of the power of man, moving away from the true faith which it proclaimed and making sure of its own destruction.
Read MoreBut, like so many since that time, the imperial party looked only upon that which can be seen. Their confidence was in the cause of the emperor and the pope, which was strong, while that of the Reformers seemed weak.
Read MoreGod faithfully engineers our circumstances so that we are brought to the point of making distinct choices—in short, testing. It is the enemy of God who works to blur distinctions in order to deceive us and lead us to failure and ruin.
Read MoreAt the time of the church’s compromise with paganism that began under Constantine’s rule, there were stalwart Christians who did not accept the influx of pagan practices. These faithful believers were the direct extension of the original, Apostolic Church.
Read MoreWhile we can look back into the lives of those who led the charge in the Reformation and find fault or shortcomings, we cannot charge them with failing to act upon that light which the Spirit of God had made clear to them.
Read MoreCaptivated by the countenance of peace on the face of the one who had been pronounced eternally damned by the church amid the tortures of the flames, he could not help but contrast the faith and courage manifested on the martyr’s face with his own inner despair—and all this while living a life of total obedience to the church!
Read MoreThe knowledge of God’s beautiful plan to provide hope for the future was set firmly into place, right beside the announcement of the death sentence for Adam and Eve . . .
Read MoreAt the time that one dies, the direction he has chosen for his life will be irrevocable.
Read MoreEach of us must remember, especially as we enter into the season of celebrating “Immanuel, God with us”, that the one hundred percent victory-after-victory over the temptation to sin that Jesus won was won as a human.
Read MoreThe sight of the ark of the covenant in the heavenly temple should be seen—even more so than the earthly copy of the past—as a comfort and a sure reminder that God is on His throne, seated upon His eternal law which stands, even though our subtle and crafty enemy has worked through deceived men in an attempt to alter it.
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