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The Software of the Soul ( April 3, 2025) “ For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? ” (Matthew 16:26) When we look at another person that we know, we immediately recognize them by their external physical features with which we have become familiar. But do we see them for who they really are? Certainly not! The real you cannot be seen or touched because it is not physical. The real you and I are not characterized by mass (in my case, a few pounds too heavy) nor mortality. The real you is what is loosely referred to as the soul or spirit which has no mass and is immortal. When we view someone, we see only their physical body or the outer s tructure , in which their soul is temporarily housed. To use computer terminology, the human body serves as our temporal hardware. The soul, on the other hand, is the software that continues to exist after our body dies. “ And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rat...
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“ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) An Almighty God of grace and goodness has promised to answer according to His providential will and perfect timing the prayerful petitions of those who trust and rely upon Him. But we must pray in faith with confident expectation, persistence, and patience. In His heralded Sermon on the Mount Jesus commanded His followers to pray continuously, asking, seeking, and knocking while awaiting God’s response expecting to receive, find, and enter. First, we must humbly “ask” God, expecting to receive the desired outcome of our prayer. Jesus’ brother James, a leader of the early church at Jerusalem, said, “ you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend  it  on your pleasures. ” (James 4:2-3) Christians must ask God for what we want, repeatedly if necessary. In making our requests, we must ask th...
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   “ Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12) A cornerstone of Christian doctrine is the necessity of bloodshed for the release from the guilt and penalty of sin. “W ithout shedding of blood there is no remission. ” (Hebrews 9:22) This biblical principle dates back to the dawn of creation when an innocent animal’s shed blood, in which is the life, was required to obtain skins that God fashioned into garments for Adam and Eve when they became aware of their nakedness after sinfully eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. God’s act of mercy and love despite mankind’s rebelliousness against Him predated the system of animal sacrifices for the temporary atonement of sin that was deeply ingrained in the culture of ancient Israel, pointing to the cross and the ultimate, sinless sacrifice of Jesus Christ! The crucifixion of Christ was ...
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“ J esus answered them… These things I have spoken to you, that   in Me you may have peace.   In the world you w ill have tribulation; but be of good cheer,   I have overcome the world.” (John 16, 31, 33) One of my favorite lines in classic literature opens Charles Dickens’ famous novel A Tale of Two Cities with a striking contrast . This literary masterpiece begins with the catchy phrase, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times .” That profound statement seems to me to be especially applicable to these tumultuous and freighting times in which we live, especially from the perspective of Christians who seek to spread the good news of the gospel of salvation in a dark, sinister world that is rapidly rejecting God and the truth and wisdom of His Word. The magnitude of the moral decay, death, disease, and destruction that define modern culture is appalling to many of us. Despite facing perhaps ‘the worst of times’ that my generation has ever witnessed, we ...
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  “A nd be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but   gives grace to the humble.”” (1 Peter 5:5)                    An abomination that God hates, pride is the pathway to destruction and despair! Arrogant attitudes and haughty hearts can bring promising lives and lofty dreams crashing down in dismal defeat. A prime example is the selfish pride that prompted God to cast Satan out of heaven. The highest of all angels and the most beautiful of God’s creations, Satan (Lucifer) demonstrated his all-encompassing pride and his self-exaltation in a series of “I will” statements . “ I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:13-14) Satan seeks to puff up human pride in order to bring about our fall from the grace that God gives those who are humble at heart. Pride certainly went before Satan’s fall, ...
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  “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) We all know how frustrating it can be when we receive a gift or buy a product that requires assembly. The manufacturer clearly directs us to “Read the directions!” However, trusting in our own understanding rather than the expertise of the maker of the product, we usually toss this enabling information aside and ignore the step-by-step instructions. Unfortunately, we often have to learn the hard way that we would have been much better off if we’d taken time to read the directions! To draw a spiritual parallel, sadly, many of us do the same thing when it comes to God’s Word. We ignore the directions of life that come directly from the Giver of life! We fail to depend upon God and seek to do it our way. To...
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  “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:10) “If I could save time in a bottle…” wishfully pondered the late pop singer Jim Croce in a classic 1970s song. That lyric line speaks of the reality that time is a fixed resource that can slip away before we realize it’s gone. Thus, we should seek to be good stewards of each of the fleeting moments with which God blesses us each day. The brevity of life demands that we seek divine guidance in order to make the most of every opportunity to love and serve God and other people. Reflecting on our Christian lives, all of us have faced hardships and trials that God often uses to test our faith and help us to grow spiritually. Nevertheless, we’ve all been richly blessed by a gracious God who loves us more than our human comprehension can grasp. Our earthly lives are indeed a vanishing vapor, but God has promised believers that by faith in Jesus Christ, we c...
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