When we enjoy God’s gifts as he created us to, they will not compete with Christ for our affections; they will take us in hand and, like a godly friend, say, “Let us go to the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1). God made us to wrap our arms around a spouse, or fill our... Continue Reading

In an effort to seem original or deep, our chase for applications can dodge the undeniable thrust of a passage of Scripture. We approach the gold mine with a shovel and end up buried under a pile of nuance. It’s worth re-orienting ourselves. Peter has urged us to consider two directions (inward and outward) as well as three spheres of... Continue Reading

Being stiff-necked makes for a bad patient, a refusal to listen to the doctor. What is the treatment? Stiff neck cannot be cured in this life, but it can be managed under the care of the Holy Spirit. The primary treatment is a regimen of humility. Humility counters the malignancy of pride that is the... Continue Reading

The believers who grow in grace and become those who have clean and pure consciences and are pure and holy before the Lord. They have attained this by the grace of God as they cooperated with Him by meditating on His Word and obeying Him in their walk by faith. We have seen the purpose... Continue Reading

At the time, I babysat to earn money. One of my favorite families was a young couple; both the husband (a doctor) and the wife were really sharp. One night, after paying me, they invited me to church. I was stunned—people this smart actually went to church?   As early as grade school, when I... Continue Reading

What if you look back, like my friend, and all you see is a graveyard of buried dreams, an egg that never hatched, great things that never came, years that passed as a sigh? What do you do when the life that should have been finally escapes the rearview mirror?   “I have nothing to... Continue Reading

This day—the day of salvation, the day of praise and thanksgiving for rescuing them through their rejected king, the day of lavish feasting—is the day Yahweh made (Ps 118:24). They have much reason to rejoice and be glad, for their God has had the last laugh against their enemies.   Perhaps you’ve heard that this... Continue Reading

In Eden, the Lord walked with and talked to His image bearers. But after they followed Satan’s lies and rebelled against Him, they hid when the Lord showed up. Prayer was, in the most radical way, hindered.mBut God made a promise of grace after He announced judgment on the devil, Adam, and Eve.    Our... Continue Reading

In the midst of this madness, a man lay asleep in the stern of the ship. Not just any man, but the Son of Man himself, the one who created all things and sustains all things with his word. There he lay, asleep, doing nothing to fix the problem or comfort the distressed sailors. Perhaps... Continue Reading

Since the Garden of Eden, uncounted numbers of God’s image bearers have earnestly inquired of their Creator – and of each other – in an incessant and seemingly interminable quest to find the definitive answer to the dilemma of human suffering. But in reflecting on why humankind has persisted for so long in contemplating such... Continue Reading