The Holy Spirit came to help believers in their walk with Christ.

Jesus is beginning the ministry He has been called to accomplish. As He enters the temple, He is greatly disturbed by what He sees. He makes a whip, then begins to clean out the temple. Moneychangers, those selling animals for sacrifice had overrun the part of the temple called the court of the Gentiles. Because of this, it hindered or caused them not to be able to worship. Jesus knew this is not what God the Father intended, so He drove those out of the temple who did not belong. What about your life? Are you ready to clean your temple?

I want us to examine the love of Christ. When Jesus walked on this earth, He fully gave of Himself and displayed the love of God. In this passage of Scripture that we have read, we see how Christ taught His disciples, which extends to us, the way we are to live in the love of God.

Since Christ is the head of the church and because of His love for us, the church must exhibit His love. The world we live in needs to know and see the love God has for them. It does not matter how we live our lives if we do not show the love of God. God gave His love through His son Jesus. Jesus gave His love by dying on the cross for all who would accept it. Now, as the church, it is up to us to continue to shine the love of God through the church.

What we need today is a new commitment, a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Commitment carries the meaning of pledging or engaging yourself to something or someone. Today, we need to commit ourselves to Christ by engaging the following aspects of our being: our heart, soul, mind, and strength. This will help us in our encounter with Christ.

Twelve men has been sent to spy out the land. They were sent by their leader to see if the land was as good as it had been told to them. These twelve men represented each of the tribes of their people. They were gone for forty days and came back with a report. Even when people see the same thing, they do not always agree on what they had seen. Some see opportunity, and some see failure. Which one are you?

When do you pray? How often do you pray? Unfortunately, many people only pray when they are in trouble or want something from God. In continuing our series on Encountering God, we can encounter God when we pray.

People like to receive gifts, especially at Christmas. There is anticipation and excitement of receiving a gift at Christmas and of giving gifts. Do you remember the excitement of Christmas as a child? This Christmas, let us focus on the gifts Christ has given us.