"I will pray the Father … he will give". Completion is only effected when you receive. Shortly after saying this, Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'. It was a symbolic and prophetic act. Jesus must have come to be attached to His disciples in a special way. He did not ... Read more

"my kindness shall not depart from thee". God will not stop loving His children. If His love reached them when they were away from Him, it is inconceivable that it will desert them when they turn to Him. God will not begin a work He is unable to finish, not disinterestedly turn away to do ... Read more

"one of these little ones". Jesus warns about the seriousness of harming innocent children - the deserved punishment being a millstone round the neck and thrown into the sea. He said that a young child - presumably one who has not yet attained the years of moral responsibility - has the protection of a guardian ... Read more

"strive lawfully". Put simply - don't get disqualified. When the writer was young he belonged to an athletic club and well remembers an occasion when running the last leg of a relay race. He took the baton well down in the order and to his surprise noticed that the runner in front was cutting inside ... Read more

"they may forget, yet will I not forget". We live in a world where anything can happen. Who can tell what a day will bring forth? The strongest may weaken and the straightest bend. Put all your eggs in the safest basket and you run the risk of losing them all in one jolt. It ... Read more

"Give, and it shall be given unto you". These words are part of Jesus' 'Sermon on the Plain' - a lengthy discourse recorded for us by Luke in his Gospel. Like the Sermon on the Mount it contains injunctions that are difficult to put into practice, such as loving your enemies, turning the other cheek ... Read more

"if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners". Justification by faith does not allow the believer to continue in sin. If it did, Christ would become the administrator of sin. Christ paid the penalty for my sin and by believing I receive the gift of eternal life offered ... Read more

"Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever". This was God's promise to David in relation to the accession of his son, Solomon, to the throne. It was, however, a promise with conditions attached that Solomon could not or would not keep, to be constant in keeping God's commandments. The law of the Lord conveyed ... Read more

"It is the Spirit who gives life". Without the Holy Spirit, the church is like a club, the Bible is antiquity and the Christian life the mere adoption of high ideals. The Holy Spirit makes the church the Body of Christ, the Bible the Word of God and the Christian life a life in the ... Read more

"Neither did". The rot set in on the premise that if enough fall, failure is not so bad after all. Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali all joined the "neither did" failure club. They didn't drive the enemy out of the territory God had given them. It's an insidious evil, this comparing ourselves one with the ... Read more