What Shall I Render

Born of the water and the Spirit, we enter the kingdom of God. The Spirit leads us, as children of God. The Spirit brings life, freedom, peace, and confidence, not fear!

The kingdom brings a relationship that the law of Moses could not. Children born by the suffering of the Son at the cross and born by the authority of the Son as King (Matt 6:5-9; Heb 2:5-13; Isa 8:11-18).

The relationship between a good shepherd and his sheep is comparable to the relationship between a good king and the people of his kingdom. Good shepherds and kings provide, protect, and lead their sheep or people.

Sometimes in Scripture the kingdom names the realm or the territory of a king one/some might enter or from which one/some may be cast out (Matt 5:20; 7:21; 18:3; 23:13).

Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. . . . The ever increasing glory of our transformation into the likeness of His Son comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

The work of God in His Son is nothing less than glorious! 2 Cor 3:17-18

When anyone gives you a gift of love, the best thing you can do is willingly and humbly receive it. God has given the greatest of gifts! It would please Him, if we would just be willing to receive His gifts! (Matt 5:14-16; Col 1:10-14)

Humility can seem as problematic as picking up mercury. If we will choose to hear the gospel message and believe it, humility will be a natural response to God's power and grace. Humility is required to find the blessing of the kingdom.

The Holy Spirit of God is a person of God. If we seek the purpose of God in His Son for our lives, then why would dismiss the purpose of God for His Spirit in our lives? We must not be ignorant of His Spirit within us!

Catching what God has done for us in Christ will help us understand the nature of the kingdom and the joy we can have from it (Mt 5; Ps 126).

We can trust the mercy of God toward us in His Son, like all God's redemptive activity; it is based on His Sovereign power and authority.

God is eternal. Therefore He is powerful and sovereign. His sovereignty is displayed in His story of redemption.

The kingdom is the purpose of God to bless those who will accept it. Holding to human expectations kept the Jews from understanding and most from accepting Him as King and so, from the blessings of His kingdom.

God has demonstrated His concern for man and His power to give life to the dead in the story of His Son.

God raised Jesus to immortality, He cannot die again. What does that do for us? Hope, assurance, freedom, and eternal life must come from somewhere. The resurrection of Jesus proves the faithful source of these things!

An anthem to God's king for the joy and gladness found in His kingdom (Psalm 45).

The kingdom brings us freedom from the worries life on earth can bring us! (Heb 9; Ps 37; Matt 5)

The blessing of the kingdom is found by those who humbly seek and value it! Self-righteousness and arrogance will miss it and forfeit what the blessing that could be theirs (Matt 5:3; Lk 18:9-14; Rev 3:14-22).

Jesus explaining the kingdom to the Jews of His day, even those who praised Him as the Son of David, and even His apostles could not understand the nature of His reign and rule as King. No one understood it, until the Holy Spirit brought the truth of it to the apostles on Pentecost, just as Jesus had promised them.

The reign of Christ is within us, the reign of grace in righteousness (Lk 17:21; Rom 5:21; Matt 21:1-45).

Worship the Son, God's King, and find refuge in Him (Psalm 2).

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col 1:13-14).

The call of the kingdom, is a call to live in Christ's reign over sin and its effects. It is a His call for us to live under His reign and rule. We must answer the call of the gospel to live in His kingdom.

The King is calling. It is our choice to answer the call of His kingdom.

Blessed is the man, who does not fall away on account of Me - Jesus (Matt 11:6). Some people miss out on the kingdom, because Jesus does not satisfy their fleshly expectations and desires. He reigns as King for God's purposes, not man's!

God made Jesus to be both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). We are to pursue His Lordship over our lives, trusting in Him, not our own achievements (Matt 7:21-23).

Jesus claims to be the Gate. He is the only Way to salvation (Matt 7; Jn 10; Acts 4:12).

Jesus warns His disciples against calling Him Lord, but refusing heartfelt submission and obedience (Matt 7:21-23).

What do we hear from God's commands? Do they lead us to perform and trust in our performance, or are they supposed to lead us to know Him and remember Him? (Rom 2:4; Eph 6:24; Rev 2:4)

David takes us through feeling forgotten, defeated, and cut off or ignored by God, and declares his solution - Psalm 13.

Apart from law, sin is dead, and we are free (Rom 7:8; 6:14; 8:1-2).

We need to be careful of the context of truths we hear about anything, especially sin (Jn 8; Rom 3:9-20; 1 Jn 1:8). As long as Jesus is the Son of God, there is good news, and it is always about Him!

God never gives commands to sinners, as if them having moral laws could redeem them. Christ sent His Son as our redemption (Eph 1:7). His redemption goes beyond our souls and reaches our relationships. His commands come to us to express and reflect our redemption in our relationships (Eph 4-6).

God's command to put on the armor He offers is not a collection of our human effort. It is a call to understand, focus on, and depend upon what He has done for us in Christ, our Lord (Eph 6:10; Isa 59:17).

Delight yourself in the Lord. He is faithful. He will be your stronghold in time of trouble (Ps 37; Eph 6:10).

It takes faith to live in this world; everyone has faith in something or someone! The question is: Where do you choose to put your faith?

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power (Eph 6:10).

In these last days, God has spoken to us in His Son. Ephesians is filled with God's message in His Son (Heb 1:2; Eph 1-3, 4-6).

God's purpose is to save and transform us by His love.

God's love is not just a fact, it is the dynamic power of His purpose in us and for us.

Finally be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power (Eph 6:10).

The cross of Christ brings special blessings to marriage, when we seek to be wives and husbands by faith in Christ. (Eph 5)

We cannot save ourselves or give eternal life. We can listen to God, who is eternal, and let Him change our thinking about us saving ourselves. (Eph 1-4)

We live like we think. We can join the world in the futility of its thinking, or we can be made new in the attitude of our minds, by the truth we were taught about Christ. We can think and live as children of light (Eph 4:17 - 5:8).

A story about faith in Jesus as the Christ, our only hope.

God's love is powerful to save us, transform us, and equip for living a lives of love, reflecting Him to others and bringing Him glory. (Eph 3 - 5)

We hear what we listen for! Are we listening to hear His message in His Son? God's message changes everything, just like snow (Isa 1:18; 55:1-13)

In Christ, our lives are filled with, marked by, and strengthened in what God has done for us in Christ's victory over evil, sin, and the grave (Eph 3, 4).

The Love of God is revealed in the Bible, but we must listen to the message if we want to know His love and the salvation and purpose it brings to us. (1 Sam 3:9-10; Rom 8:31-39)

God's love, eternal life, and His Holy Spirit are bound together in His redemptive purpose for us in His Son.