CHRIST the COURAGEOUS: “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20). I just read an incident about John Calvert, an Englishman among Fiji savages. The king’s daughter was ill, and Calvert was asked to provide medicine. But as she improved, the medicine men became involved. So Calvert stopped treatment, saying any improvement would be claimed for […]
“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” (Col 4:2). I recall hearing a musician say about his practicing what I could say about prayer. After a day missed, I know; after a few days missed, my wife knows; more than that, others know. Richard DeHaan gives this illustration: In one region of […]
Won’t God accept everyone, provided they are sincere? Sincerity is certainly important with God. In fact, insincerity is a sure way to be rejected by Him! But mere sincerity is not enough. It is possible to be sincere, but sincerely wrong. Remember the false prophets of Baal at the Battle of the Gods on Carmel. […]
“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator.” —Louis Pasteur As with Psalm 103, in Psalm 104 the psalmist bookends his thoughts with the same call to action: “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” (vv 1, 35). This time he adds, “Hallelujah!” Before we see what the psalmist thinks we should […]
CHRIST the FRUIT-BEARER: “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). The heart is often parched and dry. But Jesus can sweetly soften. “He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, like showers that water the earth” (Ps 72:6). […]
“You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (Jas 4:2-3). Why pray? Doesn’t God know everything? Doesn’t He do what He wants anyway? R.A. Torrey suggests these reasons: Because there’s a devil, and by prayer we […]
Russian Jew Rabbi Joseph Rabbinowitsch fled from the pogrom there in 1881 to Palestine, intending to found a colony. One of his relatives had given him a New Testament because he recommended it as “one of the best guides to the Holy Land.” One day as he climbed Olivet and looked over the Kidron Valley […]
It’s great when we meet someone eager for the gospel. REALLY great when we discover the Lord is right there with us. […]
“Have a blest day,” says the world glibly. But only the believer knows the secret of having one. As we turn to the well-loved Psalm 103, we first notice that it ends as it begins—with repeated calls to “Bless the Lord” (vv 1-2, 20-22). The name “Lord” (Yahweh), the One we are to bless, occurs 11 times in the […]