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Scriptures to Encourage Your Heart: Seeing God

Seeing God Scripture List

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Scriptures to Encourage Your Heart: Seeing God

D.A. Carson writes the following on seeing God. “No one has ever seen God,” John reminds us (1:18). Isn’t that what God said in Exodus 33? “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exod. 33:20). Now John adds an exception: “But the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). Do you hear what this text is saying? Do you want to know what God looks like? Look at Jesus. “No one has ever seen God,” and God in all of his transcendent splendor we still cannot see until the last day. But the Word became flesh; God became a human being with the name of Jesus, and we can see him. That is why Jesus later says to one of his own disciples (as we saw earlier in this chapter), “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Do you want to know what the character of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the holiness of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the wrath of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the forgiveness of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the glory of God is like? Study Jesus all the way to that wretched cross. Study Jesus.1

[Tweet “Here are 44 Bible verses with one common theme: seeing God.”]

For more scripture lists see the following page.
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How to Conquer Prejudice the Jesus Way

Podcast: Light on Life Season 6 Episode 14

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How to Conquer Prejudice the Jesus Way

The negative impact of prejudice on the people of planet earth will never come to light until judgment day. The following is an illustration.

Mohandas K. Gandhi was the leader of the Indian nationalist movement against British rule and considered the father of his country. He is internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolence to achieve political and social progress. Gandhi says in his autobiography that in his student days he was genuinely interested in the Bible. Deeply touched by reading the Gospels, he seriously considered becoming a convert, since Christianity seemed to offer the real solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India.

On Sunday, he went to a nearby church to attend services. He decided to see the minister and ask for instruction in the way of salvation and enlightenment on other doctrines. But when he entered the sanctuary, the ushers refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go and worship with his own people. Gandhi left and never came back. “If Christians have caste differences also,” he said to himself, “I might as well remain a Hindu.”1 How did Jesus handle prejudice and what His message to us? That’s our focus on this weeks Light on Life.

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#S4-034: Why You Can Absolutely Expect Powerful Healing Moves of God [Podcast]

[Tweet “Racism is a demonic spirit of division whose aim is to magnify the God created differences between people.”]

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What Is the Scoop on Holiness, Sowing and Reaping?

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What Is the Scoop on Holiness, Sowing and Reaping

Holiness is connected to the Law of Sowing and Reaping as the following illustration shows. “Because of the natural law of seedtime and harvest, the farmer knows when and what to plant to achieve the desired result. He knows that you harvest wheat if you sow wheat, that you do not sow weeds and reap wheat. God’s moral and spiritual laws work in the same way. You cannot sow sin and reap righteousness, or indulgence and reap health, or strife and reap peace. One cannot sow “the works of the flesh” and reap “the fruit of the Spirit.” But there is a further truth in this law. You reap what you sow in quality, but you reap more than you sow in quantity. From one grain of corn will come hundreds of grains of corn. Applying this ‘grain of corn’ principle in the moral and spiritual realms, it is no wonder that so many lives come to ruin, that the world is in such turmoil, and that uncounted millions of souls stumble on their blinded way toward hell! And all because people live contrary to this benevolent but inexorable spiritual law of God.”1 Sowing and reaping is a God-ordained principle of the Spirit realm. And it extends to all areas including right conduct as we will see in today’s post.

Why Character Needs to Be King in Jesus Followers

[Tweet “Sinning is like spreading a net in the sight of a bird. It is futile.”]

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What Does It Mean to Be Born Again from God?

Podcast: Light on Life Season 6 Episode 13

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What Does It Mean to Be Born Again from God?

Jesus told Nicodemus that unless he is born again, he would not be able to see God’s Kingdom. A particular group of six-year-olds had a different view of these matters. A Sunday school teacher wanted to explain to the six-year-olds in his class what someone had to do to go to heaven. To find out what kids believed about the subject, he asked a few questions. “If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale, and gave all my money to the church, would that get me to heaven?” he asked. “No!” the children answered. The teacher was encouraged. “If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me to heaven?” Again the answer was, “No!” “If I was kind to animals and gave candy to all the children and loved my wife, would that get me into heaven?” Again they all shouted, “No!” “Well then, how can I get to heaven?” A boy in the back row stood up and shouted, “You gotta be dead!”

1 Well, yes and no. The key is to be born again before ‘you gotta be dead,’ that’s the ticket to heaven. The focus of today’s Light on Life is Jesus statement you must be born again.

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Conscience and the Inward Witness: A Look at the Spirit Led Life

[Tweet “Children of God, children of wrath, two different families, that’s what the Bible teaches.”]

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How to Live Right in a Wrong World

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How to Live Right in a Wrong World

Here are some questions that will help believers in Jesus live right in a wrong world. The source of these questions is Kent Hughes’ Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome. He asks these five groups of questions.

Group one: are we being desensitized by the present evil world? Do things that once shocked us now pass us by with little notice? Have our sexual ethics slackened? Group two: Where do our minds wander when we have no duties to perform? Group three: what are we reading? Are there books or magazines or files in our libraries that we want no one else to see? Group four: what are we renting at the local video stores? How many hours do we spend watching TV? What about adulteries? How many of those did we watch last week? What about murders? How many did we watch with our children? The last group: How many chapters of the Bible did we read last week?1

These are some good ‘living right’ questions to answer. The writer of Proverbs also weighs in on the subject. What does a wise man say about living right? Let’s take a look.

The Fifth Commandment: Parents Exclusive Right to Respect

[Tweet “A friend who tries to pull you from the things of the Lord is no friend at all.”]

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Nicodemus: Is His Life a Positive Example to Follow?

Podcast: Light on Life Season 6 Episode 12

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Nicodemus: Is His Life a Positive Example to Follow?

Is Nicodemus someone you should pattern your life after as an example of a firm believer in Jesus? Is His life a worthy example for you to emulate? Nicodemus has a warm place in many a believers heart because of his association with the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16. But do those warm feelings translate to a picture of a powerful man of God?

D.L. Moody wrote the following. “You know I have an idea that the Bible is like an album. I go into a man’s house, and while waiting for him, I take up an album and open it. I look at a picture. “Why, that looks like a man I know.” I turn over and look at another. “Well, I know that man.” By and by I come upon another. “Why, that man looks like my brother.” I am getting pretty near home. I keep turning over the leaves. “Well, I declare, there is a man who lives in the street I do—why, he is my next-door neighbor.” And then I come upon another, and I see myself. My friends, if you read your Bibles, you will find your pictures there. It will just describe you.”1 Righteous examples are available for us to follow in the Bible. They are like the album that Moody describes. The focus of this week’s Light on Life is the album of Nicodemus’s life as the Word of God declares it. We are answering the question, is he a positive example to follow?

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Just Who Is Jesus to You?

[Tweet “Men who successfully navigate their generation are living letters for you to read.”]

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Why You Should Engage in United Prayer

Podcast: Light on Life Season 6 Episode 11

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Why You Should Engage in United Prayer

The Book of Acts has much to say about the subject of prayer. If you examine the individual accounts where prayer went up to the Lord and you will find a rich storehouse of information. There are instances where a corporate group of believers is seen praying. The early church spent much time together fellowshipping and praying. Let’s take a look at some of these cases and look at some of the common denominators involved in yet another kind of prayer. United Prayer is our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Why You Don’t Have to Be Sick in Light of the Bible

[Tweet “Walking in peace is part of the finished work of Jesus known as Redemption.”]

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How You Can Grasp The Fear of the Lord in Proverbs [Encore Post]

The Fear of the Lord

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Walking in the Fear of the Lord

The Bible has much to say about adequately reverencing the Lord. The term used in the scriptures is ‘the fear of the Lord. Richard Stockton, (October 1, 1730–February 28, 1781), a signer of the Declaration of Independence mentioned the fear of the Lord in his last will and testament. ‘As my children will have frequent occasion of perusing this instrument, and may probably be peculiarly impressed with the last words of their father, I think proper here, not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great leading doctrine of the Christian religion … but also in the heart of a father’s affection, to charge and exhort them to remember “that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”1. Let’s take a look at some things we can do to walk in the fear of the Lord.

One Necessary Component You Need for Spiritual Growth in God

[Tweet “The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil, pride, and arrogance per the book of Proverbs.”]

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Here’s How You Can And Should Pray About Worry

Podcast: Light on Life Season 6 Episode 10

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Here’s How You Can And Should Pray About Worry

The Bible instructs us to pray about worry. Why? Worry is a sin plain and simple. God is all out against His children worrying. A child does not worry all day long whether his house will be there when he gets home from school or whether his parents will have a meal for him that evening. Children do not worry about such things, because they trust their parents. In the same way, we as Christians should trust our heavenly Father to supply what is best for us.1 How do you pray about worry? That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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One Necessary Component You Need for Spiritual Growth in God

[Tweet “Walking in peace is part of the finished work of Jesus known as Redemption.”]

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Why Learning from a Foolish Man Leads to Growth

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Why Learning from a Foolish Man Leads to Growth

The Word of God says that you can know a foolish man by his words. Once, a man said, “If I had some extra money, I’d give it to God, but I have just enough to support myself and my family.” And the same man said, “If I had some extra time, I’d give it to God, but every minute is taken up with my job, my family, my clubs, and what have you—every single minute.” And the same man said, “If I had a talent I’d give it to God, but I have no lovely voice; I have no special skill; I’ve never been able to lead a group; I can’t think cleverly or quickly, the way I would like to.” And God was touched, and although it was unlike him, God gave that man money, time, and a glorious talent. And then He waited, and waited, and waited, And then after a while, He shrugged His shoulders, and He took all those things right back from the man, the money, the time and the glorious talent. After a while, the man sighed and said, “If I only had some of that money back, I’d give it to God. If I only had some of that time, I’d give it to God. If I could only rediscover that glorious talent, I’d give it to God.” And God said, “Oh, shut up.” And the man told some of his friends, “You know, I’m not so sure that I believe in God anymore.”1 There are lessons to learn all around us ripe for the picking. In this weeks blog, we are going to take a look at some instruction that we can gain from looking at the ways of fools.

Becoming The Good Man God Wants You To Be

[Tweet “One outstanding trait of a foolish man is that he always has his mouth in motion.”]

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Why You Need to Tell God You Will Do Anything He Asks

Podcast: Light on Life Season 6 Episode 9

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Consecration: Why You Need to Tell God You Will Do Anything He Asks

“Will you please tell me in a word,” said a Christian woman to a minister, “what your idea of praying the prayer of consecration?” Holding out a blank sheet of paper the pastor replied, “It is to sign your name at the bottom of this blank sheet and to let God fill it in as He will.”1 This is an excellent illustration of what consecration is. Today’s Light on Life focus is this area of consecrating yourself to the will of God and a type of prayer that you can pray in this area.

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Why It’s Important to Spend Time Talking to God

[Tweet “Following God’s plan for your life should be what you are all about.”]

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25 Wisdom Ways to Embrace As a Jesus Believer

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25 Wisdom Ways to Embrace As a Jesus Believer

Wisdom is the main thing according to God’s Word. But many confuse wisdom with knowledge. One seminary student writes the following. “When I was a seminary student I recall hearing of a man with a Ph.D. who ran an elevator in a downtown Louisville, Kentucky, office building. Just before my oral examination for the same degree the faculty examining committee failed to pass a philosophy student. I was concerned, thinking the faculty committee was getting tougher. I asked one of the professors why they failed to pass the man. He said the student was able to answer all the questions about the philosophy of others, but he had no philosophy of his own. Both the elevator operator and the student had knowledge; neither had wisdom.” Dr. George Cross, a former president of the University of Oklahoma, said, “The reason universities are called storehouses of knowledge is that the freshman bring so much of it to the campus and the seniors take so little of it away.” Knowledge is a mental accumulation of facts. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge properly in the ordering of one’s life.1

Just Who Is Jesus to You?

[Tweet “The Bible lays out for us in detail what are the characteristics of those who are wise.”]