Tag: Jesus

Stepping into a new life shaped by trust

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MATTHEW JONES

Old and new forms of lighting, IRS Images, 2025

Light has always pushed back darkness, but the way people have lived with light has changed over time. Long before electric bulbs, homes were lit with kerosene lamps. They worked, but they were smoky, messy, and at times unsafe. When electricity arrived, some people resisted it because they could not see the power behind it. Others felt it was too bright or unnecessary. Yet once people accepted it, entire communities changed. Electricity did not simply improve the old system. It offered a completely different way to live.

This picture helps explain how many of us respond when God brings something new into our lives. We may ask for change, but when the change arrives, it often feels uncomfortable. We pray for new chances, and God gives new duties. We ask for peace, and old hurts rise to the surface so that healing can begin. We ask for open doors, and God prepares our hearts before opening anything at all. Growth often feels like shrinking and stretching at the same time. Before God expands our life, He works on our pride. Before He sends us outward, He shapes us inward. Every new season calls for a new version of who we are becoming.

We sometimes pray for joy, and God uses discomfort to expose what needs attention inside us. We ask Him to fix situations around us, and He starts by working on our reactions, habits, and patterns. We pray for purpose, and God sends interruptions that pull us out of our routines. We want His work to fit our old rhythm, but His new work does not sit well with our old ways. There is a pull inside each of us between what feels familiar and what leads to growth. At some point, what is familiar can get in the way of what is fruitful.

This tension is clear in the story found in Mark chapter 2. People questioned why Jesus’ followers did not fast like others. Fasting was not wrong, but the timing was wrong. They were trying to fit a good practice into a moment where it did not belong. Jesus used this to teach that He is the one who defines what is new and when it arrives.

He then gave two images. One was a torn piece of clothing. Sewing new cloth onto an old garment makes the tear worse because the new cloth shrinks. The other picture was of wine skins. New wine was still expanding. Old wine skins were stiff and could not stretch, so they would burst. The lesson was simple: new life from God needs a willing and flexible heart.

Have thine own way, Lord!
Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter,
I am the clay.
Mold me and make me
after thy will,
while I am waiting,
yielded and still.

In these images, “old” does not refer to age but to attitude. Old means unwilling to change. New means willing to be shaped by God. Some people who have lived many years remain open and teachable. Their hearts can stretch. Others, no matter their age, can grow rigid. A rigid spirit cannot hold the fresh work of God because His movement brings expansion. His question to us is simple: If He pours more into us, will we stretch?

Many people can look back and see how God has stretched them through responsibility, challenge, or service. These moments push us toward prayer, toward Scripture, and toward deeper love for others. They form new patterns inside us. When God stretches us, He is not punishing us. He is preparing us.

Jesus does not attach new life to old habits. He gives a new heart and a new spirit to those who receive Him. For anyone who has not placed their trust in Him, the first step is to admit the need for Him, believe in His life, death, and resurrection, and confess Him as Lord. This is how a person becomes able to carry what He wants to give.

For those who already follow Him, there is still a warning. It is possible to walk with Jesus for years and still become rigid if the relationship fades into routine. When prayer becomes an afterthought, the heart grows stiff. Prayer keeps us soft, teachable, and ready. It opens the door for God’s shaping work. It keeps us flexible enough to hold what He wants to pour into our lives.

Practicing simple daily prayer can help with this. A short morning surrender. A pause before reacting. A quiet moment to listen. Praying Scripture. The invitation is the same for all of us: to be willing, flexible, and open. To let God shape us so we can carry what He wants to give.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Victory at the Cross

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AMY TURNER

The book of Colossians teaches that before knowing Christ, people were spiritually dead because of sin. Through Jesus, God brings new life and forgives every wrong. The debt of sin, which carried demands of judgment, was removed when Jesus went to the cross. That moment was not a defeat but a decisive act where the power of evil was broken.

The scripture explains that rulers and authorities of darkness were disarmed and shamed openly. Satan and his demons did not succeed at the cross. Some may think that victory for Christ only came with the resurrection, but the truth is that Satan’s downfall was sealed the very moment Jesus gave His life. What seemed like loss was actually the destruction of the enemy’s power.

The cross is where Christ’s sacrifice ended sin’s claim and exposed the weakness of evil. The resurrection later revealed this victory fully, and the crushing of Satan happened when Jesus died for humanity.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

Hebrews 2:14

No One Knows the Day or Hour, yet another Prediction About the Rapture

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DAVID INGRAM

You don’t see my name on the website too often. Mostly because so many others are better at saying things that need to be said. But today, I’ll make an exception.

Matthew 24:36 makes it clear that no one knows the day or the hour of Christ’s return. Matthew says that not the angels in heaven, nor even the Son, but only the Father. This truth is a direct warning against those who claim to predict the timing of the Second Coming. I realize that some don’t use the word “rapture” because it’s not in the Bible. I think we all know it refers to Jesus’ return, so let’s hold that debate for another day.

When a South African pastor, Joshua Mhlakela, insists that the Rapture will take place on September 23 or 24, 2025, he places himself in direct contradiction to the very words of Jesus. Any attempt to put a date on such an event is not only speculative but also unbiblical, since Scripture emphasizes readiness at all times, not countdowns to a specific day.

Mhlakela’s so-called “divine prophecy,” shared on YouTube and in his interview with Centtwinz TV, reveals a troubling pattern: presenting certainty where the Bible gives none. Scripture consistently reminds believers to be watchful and prepared because Christ’s return will come suddenly and unexpectedly, “like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). By fixing a date, Mhlakela misleads his audience into placing their hope in his personal claim instead of in the sure promises of God. This not only undermines biblical authority but risks damaging faith when his prediction inevitably fails, as all such predictions have in the past.

The responsibility of every preacher is to point people to Christ and His Word, not to their own revelations. In Matthew 24, Jesus stresses the importance of faithfulness, watchfulness, and endurance, not of prediction-making. By claiming to know what the Bible says cannot be known, Mhlakela shifts attention away from the gospel and onto himself.

Could Jesus come back today or tomorrow? Of course! Does Mhlakela have a prophecy from God? Well, the verse above says no one knows the day or hour. Mhlakela says he’s narrowed it down to two days. This is something we’ve heard from many mislead preachers in the past including Edgar Whisenant back in the 1980’s and Harold Camping in the 1990’s.

Christians are urged to measure every teaching against Scripture and to reject messages that contradict its clear truths. Isn’t the call of Christ not to chase dates but to live faithfully and expectantly every day, ready for His return at any moment?

Jesus Is the Way the Truth and the Life

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AMY TURNER

Jesus is described in many ways throughout the Bible. He is known as Christ, Lord, Saviour, the Son of God, and the Son of Man. He is also called the Alpha and Omega, meaning the beginning and the end. Other names include the son of David, the great king, the lamb of God, and the lion from the tribe of Judah. These titles reflect different parts of who he is and what he came to do.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes seven statements that begin with “I am,” where he reveals more about himself. One important statement is found in John 14:6, where Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus does not just show the way to God. He is the way.

Through Jesus, people can know the truth and receive life that never ends.

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:12

Jesus Christ’s Authority Over Life and Death

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FLOYD ROGERS

It’s my understanding of Scripture that everything in history is moving toward one final purpose. The purpose is to bring glory to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. He reigns over everything: in heaven, on earth, and even beneath the earth. One day, at the time God has already decided, Christ will return. No one will be able to slow down or hurry this moment. It will happen exactly when God has planned.

When that day arrives, Jesus, who now sits at the Father’s right hand, will appear in the sky. There will be a loud command, the voice of an archangel, and the sound of God’s trumpet. At that moment, those who have died in faith will rise first. Then, those who are still living will be taken up to meet the Lord in the air. From that point on, they will be with Him forever.

Jesus holds authority over both life and death.

and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Revelation 1:18