How to Fight When You Fail
When you fail, fall on him. He won’t resent your repeated returns to his throne of mercy.
Micah shows us that even at our very worst, there remains a God in heaven who will not reject repentant sinners. “Look to him,” Micah says — “the sooner, the better!” Satan loves to tempt you, trap you, and then taunt you with your guilt. He loves to watch you wallow in the mire of your... Continue Reading
Love & Believing the Best – Refresher
Love errs on the side of believing a favorable reality.
I wonder how our relationships might change if we gave each other as much grace, leniency, and benefit of the doubt as we do ourselves? When it comes to others, we are proficient prosecutors, even, and especially, when we do not have all the data. When it comes to ourselves, we are pervasive permittors, believing... Continue Reading
Why God’s Election Gave My Wife Comfort as She Entered the Hospital
Unconditional election is not mainly a theological debate. It’s not tertiary to our hope.
She entered the hospital—and the trial of trust it brought—she could know that she was chosen, that she was on God’s side, that she was saved, not because God saw anything commendable in her (if that were the case she’d have to keep being commendable), and not because he foresaw her faith, but strictly because... Continue Reading
Christ is Your Heaven
In heaven we will not see Christ from afar, but see him for he is and as he is.
God could have created worlds upon worlds and no matter how glorious those worlds would be, they would be dim in comparison with the glory of Jesus Christ in heaven. The glory of Christ will fill heaven. A crack in a heavenly wall looking into the face of your savior ought to be enough for... Continue Reading
Do Not Miss the Wisdom of Ecclesiastes – It is helpful every day!
God wants our observations of the world – and of our lives individually – to bring us from a place of pride to humility.
As we trust God, we learn to better obey Him. Obedience is hard when we realize that it may not turn out the way we want it to turn out. It is hard when we are frustrated. Obedience is hard when we do not understand God’s greater plan. Yet, we must obey Him. We recognize... Continue Reading
God Is Good and Just When He Punishes People
We, who’ve committed crimes against God our whole life, get the chance to be pardoned for what we justly deserve to pay for.
If He were to render our judgment, we’d all be doomed. If He faltered in His responsibility to punish us—criminals—He shouldn’t be commended for it. He would be a deficient God, one who can’t be trusted to do what is right. Even though I’d be included in His judgment, I would still have to acknowledge... Continue Reading
Three Family Graces
The Jesus of Scripture, the true and living Christ, meets us in our weakness with tenderheartedness. We too ought to be tenderhearted to one another.
The tenderheartedness of Jesus leads on to the forgiveness of God. At the very heart of the Christian faith is the fact that God forgives us of our sins through the death of Jesus and makes us willing and able to forgive those who sin against us. We are to be a people quick to... Continue Reading
Spiritual Warfare (1)
Satan has three primary tactics he employs: accusation, deception and temptation. We combat each of these through standing in Christ.
What does it mean to stand? It is helpful to recognize that “stand” is to Paul what “abide” is to John, recognizing that apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). In view is union with Christ and the outworking of that union. That explains the language of Paul throughout Ephesians that speaks of... Continue Reading
Tried with Fire: Teaching a Lesson
Our sufferings are never wasted, pointless, or futile.
In John 10 Jesus taught an important lesson about the nature of the Church. In doing so, He wanted to use an object lesson. That object lesson involved a blind man who would be healed and then subjected to some bitter hours of recrimination. This man was already made to suffer for Jesus before he... Continue Reading
Grace for What Is, Not What If
God wants us to live today — to trust Him today.
God gives grace for what is, not what if. His grace is abundant in real-time challenges, but if we ask Him for comfort and assurance for what might happen, we may be disappointed. We can choose to imagine possible futures that feed either fear and insecurity or a false sense of control, but we should... Continue Reading