When we know and obey God, the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom that reaches beyond human perception.
Source: The Foundation of Wisdom
The Foundation of Wisdom | In Touch Ministries Daily Devotions
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Monthly Archives: February 2026
The Power of Words | Beautiful Christian Life
Image Credit: Raphael (1483-1520), St Paul Preaching in Athens (1515); image from Wikimedia Commons.
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Words make things happen. They not only describe and propose actions, but words also bring about action—they result in getting something done. What is known as speech act theory helps us understand how the language of words may be used to result in change and action, and in Scripture we read about how God uses his words to make things happen, to create and recreate.
It is through the words of the Gospel of Christ that a person is changed and is reborn a new creation.
For example, we learn that in the beginning God created by speaking his creation into existence. He spoke and creation came into existence. “And God said…” and light, and the heavens, and the earth, and plants, and animals, and humankind were created (Gen. 1-2). His word brought about all that has been created. Even we can begin to understand in our own rudimentary ways how God’s word results in actions. A parent asking a child to do something results in something happening—an action. A commander issuing an order results in the movement of people and equipment. A judge sentencing a person for a crime changes their status and freedoms. Likewise, God’s word declares and changes people and their state, actions, and nature, especially in terms of the gospel of Christ.
What for Christians is most important to understand about words bringing about a change of state is the gospel. It is through the words of the gospel of Christ that a person is changed and is reborn a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). We can see this happening from the very beginning as the church spread throughout the Mediterranean region after Christ ascended to heaven:
In him [Jesus Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. (Eph 1:13)
It was the hearing of the true word, the gospel, that led to belief and the seal of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Peter writes,
…that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.” (Acts 15:7)
The apostle Paul writes in Romans about how the spoken word brings about faith in those who hear through the gift of preaching:
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (Rom. 10:14)
The power of the Holy Spirit of God working through his word is what transforms a person.
And lest we struggle to understand, Paul makes it even clearer that words bring about faith, and through faith in Christ Jesus a person is saved:
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Rom. 10:17)
The power of the Holy Spirit of God working through his word (1 Thess. 1:5) is what transforms a person, uniting them to Christ Jesus and granting them the faith to believe. Peter could not be clearer when he writes,
You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. (1 Pet. 1:23)
The foolishness of preaching a crucified Christ is the power of God working through his word.
Finally, in our desire to spread the gospel of Christ and be an instrument to bring others to faith, we may be tempted to look to worldly ways, such as thinking we need flashy marketing, promises of a great life (versus our call to a life of suffering), sports programs and facilities, or edgy music to entertain. We may be tempted to forget that it is God’s word that changes people. In fact, anticipating this Paul writes,
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God….Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?…Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Cor 1:18-24)
We need to remember that it is God’s word that makes things happen. It is the gospel of Christ spoken and heard through which the Holy Spirit works to remove a person’s stony heart and makes them alive with a heart of flesh. It is the foolishness of preaching a crucified Christ that is the power of God working through his word. May all of us trust God at his word through faith in Christ and see how he makes those who are spiritually dead to be alive in Christ Jesus forever and ever.
This article was originally featured in Beautiful Christian Life’s February 2025 newsletter, “Words.”
Related Articles:
- Loving Our Neighbor with Our Words
- Speaking Words of Love, Light, and Life with Each Other
- 10 Words Every Christian Should Know (and Be Able to Explain)
- 10 More Words Every Christian Should Know (and Be Able to Explain)
- Aligning Our Feelings with God’s Word
- One Word That Explains Why Your Salvation in Christ Is Secure
The post The Power of Words appeared first on Beautiful Christian Life.
Source: The Power of Words
Reasons for Believing in Eternal Security – Part 2 | Daily Radio Program with Charles Stanley…
“Prayer and the God Who Hears You” | Grace to You on Oneplace.com
For over five decades, GRACE TO YOU has been connecting God’s people like you with verse-by-verse Bible teaching that transforms lives and strengthens families and churches.
Ep. 4 | Dealing With Doubt | Ankerberg Show on Oneplace.com
Are there different types of doubt, or do all doubtful thoughts and feeling come from the same source? What steps does God give us in the Bible to help us deal with emotional types of doubts? Dr. Ankerberg’s guest, Dr. Gary Habermas answers these and many other questions about doubts in a Christian’s life.
Source: Ep. 4 | Dealing With Doubt
5 Attitudes You Should Carry into Worship Service
Discover the transformative power of approaching church services with the right heart posture, moving beyond mere habit to genuine honor and glory to the Lord. Explore biblical insights and practical examples that will enrich your worship experience and deepen your connection with faith.
Why It Feels So Hard to Obey God Today
In a world overflowing with distractions, dedicating time to God can feel like a constant battle against oneself. This article explores practical strategies to minimize these diversions and deepen your connection with the divine, ensuring your faith remains your top priority. Discover how intentional planning, aligning your work with your faith, and seeking God’s help can transform your daily life and bring you closer to Him.
7 Prayers to Strengthen & Repair Your Relationship with Your Family
Family wounds cut deep, and pretending they don’t only makes it worse. These 7 powerful prayers will help you lay down the pain, forgive what feels unforgivable, and fight for healing in your home.
Source: 7 Prayers to Strengthen & Repair Your Relationship with Your Family
None Should Boast | From the MLJ Archive on Oneplace.com
Romans 11:18-22 — Now that Christ has come, what is the relationship between Jews and Gentiles? This is the question Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones seeks to answer in this sermon on Romans 11:18–22 titled “None Should Boast.” Christ Jesus has come and instituted the new covenant – the fulfilment of all of God’s Old Testament covenants. In the new covenant, there is no longer a distinction between Jew and Gentile, for all are made one by believing in Christ and in His death, burial, and resurrection. Paul makes it clear that the Jews have not been rejected in total, but only those Jews who do not believe in Jesus Christ. Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out that it is a mistake to think that the Gentiles are part of the new covenant because of anything they have done. Paul goes on to make it perfectly clear that salvation is always by grace and grace alone. Nothing either Jews or Gentiles can do can ever make them part of the people of God. It is by the grace of God given in His Son Jesus Christ that anyone can know God and love Him. Gentiles have no ground for boasting because it is all the grace of God and not human works or merit.
Source: None Should Boast
What Is a Benediction? | Ligonier Ministries
In John 4:23, Jesus conveys one of the most arresting statements made in Scripture. The Father is seeking worshipers. How is He seeking them? He’s seeking them through the gospel of Jesus. Jesus offers living water (John 4:10, 14), water that purifies and satisfies, even to the likes of this Samaritan woman. All who believe in Jesus are cleansed of sin and consecrated in Christ. As those rescued from sin and falsehood by His initiating grace, we are made worshipers. There is a sense in which believers worship in all that we do. All life is lived to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). But there’s another sense in which worship is a designated activity of the gathered people of God (Heb. 12:28). We assemble according to biblical mandate (Heb. 10:25) and we offer our sacrifice of praise (Heb. 13:15). We enter into His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise (Ps. 100:4).
However, in this worship of God, while we offer our praise for His mercy, God still takes the initiative. He calls us into His presence (Ps. 100:2). He speaks His word of peace in preaching (Eph. 2:17). He sends us out with His blessing (Num. 6:24–26). In the worship of God, we don’t waltz into His royal courts as though we have an inherent right to be there. Like the king with Esther, our God extends His scepter to us. He has called us into fellowship with Jesus (1 Cor. 1:9), and He likewise calls us to come before Him (Ps. 134:1). Imagine that—sinners invited to God’s throne room, sinners welcomed to the heavenly Jerusalem. In this moment of worship, we are caught up to Mount Zion and join our voices in praise with innumerable angels and the spirits of the righteous made perfect (Heb. 12:22–23). Oh, that this moment of heavenly entry could last forever! One day it will (Rev. 21:3–4).
But for now, in this fallen world, where worship is a reprieve and refreshment for weary souls, God not only calls us to enter His presence, but He also sends us out with His blessing. That is the beauty of a benediction. It is literally a “good word.” But it’s not just any good word. It’s the incorruptible word of the faithful God who has determined to bless His people. The benediction is a message to encourage believers contending with all kinds of trouble in the world: God is with you. God will keep you. God’s peace abides upon you.
The pattern of declaring God’s blessing is seen first in the famous Aaronic benediction in Numbers 6:24–26. There Moses is commanded to tell Aaron and his sons to bless God’s people. But the blessing is not from these men. It’s God’s own blessing:
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. (emphasis added)
Thus, Moses is told that Aaron and his sons are putting the Lord’s name on His people.
A benediction is as though God stamps us afresh with the word that He is our God and we are His people. You see, this good word is not a prayer—an offering up our desires to God for things agreeable to His will. Neither is it a doxology—our eruption of praise to the God of our salvation. A benediction is God’s assurance of His promises. It’s God expression to us of His favor.
Now, that favor does not come automatically. We are blessed because Christ was cursed for us. His outstretched arms on the cursed tree received the blow for our sin. He tasted death for us (Heb. 2:9). He took God’s unmitigated wrath, and He satisfied the justice of God for all who believe in Him. He Himself is our peace (Eph. 2:14). By His blood we draw near. We come to the Father by faith in Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18). And as we look to Christ and rest in Christ, God’s good word of blessing attends to us.
When Jesus ascended to heaven, our Great High Priest lifted up His hands in blessing (Luke 24:50). And when the church assembles to worship, in like manner, the last action of the service is one of divine blessing. The minister, as the ambassador of Christ, the man through whom God is making His appeal (2 Cor. 5:20), stands with outstretched arms and conveys God’s good word. In the New Testament, there are numerous benedictions—and strikingly, sixteen of the twenty-one epistles end with a benediction. Furthermore, the Bible’s last word is a benediction: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (Rev. 22:21). In other words, the Apostolic pattern was to send the saints out with God’s blessing. From the liturgies of Justin Martyr in the early church to Bucer, Calvin, and Knox in the Reformation, to the Westminster Directory, down to the present, the church has seen this biblical pattern and closed its services with God’s good word to His people.
What an encouragement it is to hear the triune God send us out assured of His love, grace, and abiding fellowship (2 Cor. 13:14). We are pilgrims eyeing the better country (Heb. 11:16), and the Lord is saying His goodness and mercy will pursue us all the way home (Ps. 23:6).
Source: What Is a Benediction?
02/27/26 He Fights for You | Chuck Lawless
Deuteronomy 1-3
The Lord is our warrior, and the battle is His—not ours. How often we forget that truth!
In today’s Old Testament text, we read of God’s words for Joshua as the people prepared to enter the land: “Don’t be afraid of them [all the kingdoms], for the Lord Your God fights for you” (Deut 3:22). Don’t fear, the text says, because the Lord fights the battle. When the One who is with us is also the One who fights for us, you and I need not fear at all. We have victory not because of who we are, but because of who He is.
Consider these potential applications of this text:
- When money worries consume you, don’t be afraid. The Lord is with you.
- When it seems the darkness is winning, seek God in prayer. He will fight for you.
- When God calls you to a task you’re certain you can’t do, lean into Him as your warrior King. His is the victory.
- When you deeply fear the spiritual condition of someone you love, don’t give up—instead, turn to the One who is still changing lives.
Let God fight for you today. When He does the fighting, victory happens.
Source: 02/27/26 He Fights for You
How Can I Prepare For My Journey To Heaven? – Part 2 | Pathway to Victory
download(size: 25 MB )
None of us can know for certain how much time we have on Earth. Some of us will live to a ripe old age. Others may be called away sooner. How should we live each day, knowing that it might be our last? Dr. Robert Jeffress explains what we can be doing now to prepare for our journey to Heaven.
Source: How Can I Prepare For My Journey To Heaven? – Part 2
Honest Doubts and God’s Hidden Purposes | Running To Win on Oneplace.com
Do you believe faith can endure even when miracles do not come? Our faith is not in our circumstances but in God. In part four of this interview, Pastor Erwin Lutzer reveals how to move beyond requests to find deep fellowship and security in God’s hidden purposes. Let’s learn to trust a Father who hears your cries even when He says “no.”
February 27 – Resurrection power | Reformed Perspective
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 15:56-57
Scripture reading: 2 Kings 13:20-21; 1 Corinthians 15:35-58
Skeptics of the Bible find 2 Kings 13:21 to be another fanciful story. But to those of us who know the resurrection power of Christ, there should be nothing surprising about that verse.
The unique experience of the corpse coming to life points us to the certainty of our bodily resurrection and assures us that death holds no victory for those whose faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ. But this unique account also portrays the gift of everlasting life given to everyone who by God’s grace encounters the Man of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, through saving faith in Him alone
Elisha was a type – or foreshadow – of Christ. Chapter by chapter we read how he was called the man of God. He was a foreshadow of the true eternal Man of God, the eternal Christ who took on human flesh, Jesus. And we know that spiritual life is given to all who have faith in Christ, just as physical life was given to the dead man thrown into Elisha’s tomb. As Jesus said, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will” (John 5:21).
This passage, along with many others, reminds us that the Lord is the author and giver of life, both spiritual and physical, for which He is to be forever praised!
Suggestions for prayer
Thank God that even in the valley of the shadow of death we need fear no evil (Psalm 23:4) because death has been swallowed up in victory through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
Rev. Ted Gray grew up in a Christian family but lived a meaningless life of futility apart from the Lord for many years. After professing faith at age 30, and later completing seminary, he has had the privilege of serving Orthodox Presbyterian churches in Oregon and Florida and a Christian Reformed Church in Vermont. For the past 15 years, he has served as pastor of First United Reformed Church in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.
Source: February 27 – Resurrection power
Who was Nicodemus in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org
Why did he meet Jesus at night? The Gospel of John paints a mysterious portrait of Nicodemus in the Bible, a powerful Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin who risked his esteemed position to seek out a controversial teacher. He was the first to hear the revolutionary truth that a man “must be born again” (John 3:3, ESV), setting the stage for the beloved promise of John 3:16. From this cautious midnight interrogation to his bold defense of Christ before a hostile ruling council, and ultimately his arrival with 75 pounds of burial spices alongside Joseph of Arimathea after the crucifixion, his actions spark a compelling debate. Was this wealthy Jewish leader a genuine, secret disciple of Jesus, or just a conflicted investigator? Watch to examine the biblical evidence and decide if his final, silent act at the tomb was actually his ultimate declaration of faith. In this video, pastor nelson answers your question: Who was Nicodemus in the Bible?
*** Source Article:
https://www.gotquestions.org/nicodemus-in-the-bible.html
*** Recommended Book:
The Parables of Jesus Paperback
by James Montgomery Boice
https://amzn.to/4laDNNt
*** Related Got Questions Articles:
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Good Samaritan?
https://www.gotquestions.org/parable-Good-Samaritan.html
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Mustard Seed?
https://www.gotquestions.org/parable-mustard-seed.html
What is the meaning of the Parable of the Rich Fool?
https://www.gotquestions.org/parable-rich-fool.html
Don Veinot: Christianity in the Age of Re-Enchantment | Stand Up For The Truth Podcast
Mary welcomes back seasoned apologist Don Veinot of Midwest Christian Outreach to talk about “sycretism” and why the majority of evangelicals embrace it to some level or another. What is syncretism? Is it those dreadful “Co-Exist” bumper stickers, or something more sinister? Syncretism is the mixing of one faith/belief system with another, it is mixing two things that aren’t supposed to go together. Accepting parts of each, but denying the whole. But the gospel cannot be divided and conquered to make us more comfortable. However, syncretism is the natural, meaning carnal, response to the Gospel. Some reject the Gospel completely. Others want to accept only part of the Gospel, merging specific aspects of it to fit their own ideas. We give quite a few examples, some of which might surprise the listener. Then we look at deconstruction – what it is and isn’t. One would hope that the one that is disappointed with orthodoxy on any level actually looked deeply into what Christianity actually teaches and then made a sober decision. Or is it emotional, a response to either God or man letting them down? A fundamental hour with Don.
Stand Up For The Truth Videos: https://rumble.com/user/CTRNOnline & https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgQQSvKiMcglId7oGc5c46A
The post Don Veinot: Christianity in the Age of Re-Enchantment appeared first on Stand Up For The Truth Podcast.
The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 4 (Revelation 17:9–18) John MacArthur
For details about this sermon and for related resources, click here: https://www.gty.org/sermons/66-62
Source: The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 4 (Revelation 17:9–18) John MacArthur
The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 3 (Revelation 17:7–8) John MacArthur
For details about this sermon and for related resources, click here: https://www.gty.org/sermons/66-61
Source: The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 3 (Revelation 17:7–8) John MacArthur
The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 2 (Revelation 17:1–6) John MacArthur
For details about this sermon and for related resources, click here: https://www.gty.org/sermons/66-60
Source: The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 2 (Revelation 17:1–6) John MacArthur
The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 1 (Revelation 17:1–6) John MacArthur
For details about this sermon and for related resources, click here: https://www.gty.org/sermons/66-59
Source: The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 1 (Revelation 17:1–6) John MacArthur
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