Joseph Pauls

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink […]

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in

And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ Luke 16:25-27 This chasm …oh I how I feel it in my soul. As a child when I

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone

But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Matthew 16:23 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or

And it shall be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way,     remove every obstruction from my people’s way.” For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,     who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place,     and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Psalms 9:9 Turn to me and be gracious to me,     for I am lonely and afflicted.  The troubles of my heart are enlarged;     bring me out of my distresses.  Consider my affliction and my trouble,     and forgive all my sins. Psalms 25:16-18 For He

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42 What does ‘fellowship’ in this verse mean? What does it really look like? The Greek word translated here as ‘fellowship’ is koinonia meaning fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, and contact. This is not just

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalms 46:1 So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. Ezekiel 33:7 God’s watchmen are those who HEAR His Voice and ‘word(s)’ that are a

Cast me not away from your Presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Psalms 51:11-12 What is real joy? The fruit of the Spirit of joy is not like the feeling of happiness, it is much more than a fleeting feeling. The Greek