Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
Our walk before Him should be one of repentance that is centered in a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart.
God knows that we cannot be perfect. He knows that we are going to sin. He deliberately left us with our flesh intact. Why? He uses our struggles with it to humble us. We hate our sin if we have been regenerated. We hate what God hates and love what God loves. Therefore, we must... Continue Reading
Forgiveness and Satisfaction Symbolized in the Lord’s Supper
We come not only for forgiveness, but also for satisfaction in Christ.
It’s our mistake, therefore, to assume that in the Lord’s Supper Jesus is only referencing his cross and the forgiveness of sins with the wine and bread. Of course, being the Passover and the night of his crucifixion, the cross certainly is the emphasis—especially since Jesus’s cross for forgiveness is the crux of the Christian... Continue Reading
What Does Godly Encouragement Look Like?
Don’t underestimate the impact your encouragement might have in someone’s life.
There is something extraordinarily powerful when encouragement comes in person. When’s the last time you went out of your way to seek someone out to offer them a word of encouragement in person? Jonathan could have sent a messenger to Horesh, to relay a word to his friend, but he did not. He made sure... Continue Reading
Interrelated Revelation
The history of the world and the church, geography, politics, economics, personal interactions, and psychology are necessary ingredients so as to appreciate what God says in Scripture.
“While the revelation of God in creation and providence is incapable of leading us to salvation, given the presence of sin, it is still necessary in order to understand special revelation. The two elements interact, so much so that neither is complete without the other. As we need Scripture rightly to appreciate general revelation, so... Continue Reading
What Is That To You? You Follow Me
The Lord has a distinctive path of discipleship for each of his children.
The comparison game always leads to pride or disappointment. We either think more highly of ourselves than we ought or we wallow in self-pity. Sometimes, we find ourselves asking God: “Why does he get to have that ministry and I don’t?” “Why can’t I have that gift?” “Why can’t my church look like that church?”... Continue Reading
Lights for God’s Glory
If we persevere in doing good, even under persecution, we will overcome evil with good.
What a great responsibility we bear when we take the name of Christian! Baxter reminded Christians that “The world will judge of the scriptures by your lives, and of religion by your lives, and of Christ himself by your lives!”[7]. Who is adequate for these things? Yet remember that what the world needs to see... Continue Reading
Prince of Peace
Into the midst a tornado-alley of troubles and trauma, Isaiah injects a vision of final calm.
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in... Continue Reading
Christian Thinking
The whole of the Christian life could be described as simply learning and then continually remembering who we are and what we have in Christ.
It is by setting our minds on eternity with God that we are strengthened to live for God in this life. Christ promises the persecuted church at Smyrna, “be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” And yet, it does not take persecution to struggle to be faithful. No one... Continue Reading
Out of Egypt (Matthew 2:15)
God’s pattern is clear: He always ultimately delivers his people. Not even death can get in the way.
Matthew is identifying a pattern, a way that God tends to work. It’s a pattern, that takes place with Israel in the Exodus, and one that’s repeated in the life of Jesus. If we learn this pattern, it will help us when we face it as well. There’s a trajectory that’s repeated so many times... Continue Reading
The War Within
By God’s grace and through the faith which overcomes the world, the true believer will battle against indwelling sin until the day of glory.
There are, as it were, two conflicting natures at war within us, the flesh against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh (Gal 5:7; Rom. 7:15–23). Doing right is possible to the Christian, but it will not come easily. There can be no laidback attitude if one is to resist the devil, the world,... Continue Reading