CHRIST the YOKE-SHARER: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Mt 11:29-30). “The reason why His yoke is easy…is that every necessary major step forward in the […]
“Save, Lord! May the King answer us when we call” (Ps 20:9). NOW magazine recounted the story of a believer who shared the gospel with a flight attendant at London’s Heathrow airport. As they parted company, the young woman said, “Here, take this,” and placed the book she had been reading in the flight attendant’s […]
How serious are we in our praying for the lost in our city, in our workplace, in our family? John G. Paton, intrepid missionary to the New Hebrides (Vanautu) wrote in his autobiography about the strategic impact of his father’s prayer life: “I have heard that, in long after-years, the worst woman in the village […]
In Psalm 30:5, sorrow is viewed as an overnight guest, but the next morning joy moves in to stay. The 30th Psalm, a prayer, is a study in contrasts. But first there’s a play on words. “I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up” (v 1). Of course, “extol” means to lift up as well, […]
CHRIST the RESURRECTED ONE: “In our thinking we must not leave Christ on the cross; for God did not leave Him there. He ‘raised Him from the dead,’ and set Him on the throne, and made Him Lord of all. With what a rebound did the “energy of the might of God’s strength” (Eph 1:19) […]
“A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not […]
“Your own mouth condemns you, and not I” (Job 15:6). The concept of evil is nonsensical if there is no God. If everything just evolved from nothing, it’s as foolish to say a rotten man is evil as it is to say a rotten apple is evil. If I am only biology, then I am […]
“Storms help to make the sailors sturdy, and trials help to make Christians strong in faith.” —C.H. Spurgeon The first three lines of Psalm 29 are labeled Climacteric Parallelism. The idea is that the lines repeat, but at each step they move you towards a climax: “Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones,” but what should […]
CHRIST, GOD’S ANOINTED (Ps 2:2). In his book, The Names and Titles of Christ, Francis Derk explains: Anointing in the OT symbolized the giving of the Holy Spirit and solemn consecration to the service of God. It was performed on the three offices of the theocracy: Prophet, Priest and King…In the fullest sense it was […]