Heart as Source of Action

John Ritenbaugh, reiterating that some successful wars have been fought without weaponry, affirms that the most successful battles have been won by words, with the adversary (the prince of the power of the air) convincingly and deceptively persuading the e. . .

John Ritenbaugh, reiterating that the entire world is under the sway of Satan the devil (I John 5:19, Revelation 12:9, Ephesians 2:1-3), warns us to analyze and evaluate everything that enters our minds from the contaminated, mendacious media sources, medi. . .

Sin and human nature affect everyone in society—from king to commoner—but God has covered sin from every angle in the sacrifice of His Son, fulfilling Leviticus 4-5.

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 highlight the Bible's attitude toward death, particularly its insistence that we allow the reality of death to change our approach to life.

John Ritenbaugh, cuing in on Romans 8:31-39, cautions us that the study of Ecclesiastes, a work composed by a highly gifted man, was intended for those mature in the faith. Even those with God's Spirit find the book to be difficult, and discover that life . . .

When speaking with a new client, career counselors, after getting all the pertinent information on job history and the like, will often ask their clients, "Now, what do you really want to do? Where is your heart?" ...

One of our greatest enemies lurks within us, poised to bring disaster upon us if we allow it to take control. This devious enemy even hides its motives from itself.

All the medieval 'seven deadly sins' could be categorized as a facet of lust. God designed us to have proper desires, just as His desires are always proper.

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) is responsible for influencing the Zeitgeist (dominant spirit or mindset of the time)pulling us away from God and His commandments. Our heart at the time of conversion is in. . .

Charles Whitaker, beginning with a potpourri of examples from lexicographers on the definition of the word mind, treating the concept as a verb, adjective, and noun, and mentioning that the King James translators render some twenty Hebrew words and eight G. . .

Humanity finds itself inhabiting a world that is the place of restraint for untold numbers of malevolent spirits, all of whom hate God and desire to destroy mankind. John Ritenbaugh reiterates that our human nature reflects these spirits' attitudes, and th. . .

We tend to put matters behind us once we are finished with them, but we cannot afford to do this with the lessons we learn from the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Human will is not sovereign in the body, but is just another servant, functioning according to the information it receives. We choose according to desires.

"You are what you eat" is a common expression, yet Jesus teaches that actually we are what we think. Even so, we are not always what we think we are.

Our natural carnal human nature (our heart, Jeremiah 17:9) is committed to values that are destroying us spiritually. These are values derived from family, religious, and cultural traditions?old wine that cannot go into new wineskins. Conversion involves i. . .

Though Satan influences, the choices an individual make are totally his own, even for those without God's Spirit. We sin when we are drawn away by our own desires.

Everyone is out to acquire as much as possible for himself. The tenth commandment, however, governs this proclivity of human nature, striking at man's heart.

The Tenth Commandment: You Shall Not Covet

Bill Onisick, warning us that we are continually in danger of being deceived by our hearts and carnal nature, a nature which distracts us from following God, though we go through the motions, cautions us to not practice hypocrisy before Almighty God. Most . . .

God gave Adam and Eve a neutral spirit and free moral agency; they chose the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, predisposing their offspring to sin.

John Ritenbaugh explains the significance of the eye, clear vision, and light metaphors in Matthew 6:22-23, stating that the eye represents understanding (as the metaphorical eye of the heart) while the light represents truth. It is not enough to have know. . .

If church members are to grow in grace and knowledge and be zealous in producing fruit to God's glory, they need to have their priorities in the right place.

David Grabbe, focusing on the prospect of a new pure language found in Zephaniah 3:8-9, takes issue with the naïve assumption that the blemishes of a language derive from syntactic, morphological, or phonetic considerations, but instead from the depths of . . .

Bill Onisick suggests that if we inculcate the mission statement found in Deuteronomy 6:1-5 (known as the Shema), we will have a high certainty of life and a huge chance at success. If we get this one thing right (loving God with all our heart, soul, and m. . .

King Jehoash (or Joash) of the southern kingdom of Judah did what was right in God's sight, but only while Jehoiada the priest was alive. ...

We become what we think about all day long, so ruminating on carnal thoughts brings death. Conversely, meditating on the right things leads to eternal life.

It is difficult to find pockets or places of peace on earth today. The world longs for tranquility, freedom from mental anxiety, and cessation from strife.

John Ritenbaugh, reminding us that Jesus handpicked the twelve apostles for a specific work, notes that there is a strong possibility that God has also handpicked each one of us to fulfill a particular role in the Body. Like an engineer on a building proje. . .

James Beaubelle, acknowledging that our annual, self-inflicted review of self can be humbling and even painful, reminds us that God's called-out ones have a measure of control over their carnality which those remaining in the world lack. We also have the a. . .

Coveting begins as a desire. Human nature cannot be satisfied, nothing physical can satisfy covetousness, and joy does not derive from materialism.

We must not allow the cares of the world, its pressures or its pride, to crowd God out of our thoughts, bringing about abominable works or evil fruits.