The devil’s lie is that God’s commands impede our happiness; they are, in fact, His portals to blessing. Psalm 81 is a duet! The first five verses are sung by the psalmist, but verses 6-16 are sung by God Himself, with the psalmist joining in on the last verse. Let’s celebrate God, he says! “Sing aloud […]
CHRIST OUR COVERING: “As many of you as were [immersed] into Christ have put on [enduo, been clothed with] Christ” (Gal 3:27). Christ covers the well-dressed saint with glory (His revealed character) to illuminate the darkness: “Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light” (Rom […]
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David” (2 Chron 6:4). Signor Prochet of the Waldensian Church tells of a long drought in north Italy. One little congregation arranged a special meeting to pray for rain to save the crops. […]
J. Hudson Taylor, gospel pioneer to China, though raised in a Christian home, remained ignorant of what it meant to become a true believer. He tried to “make” himself a Christian, but after failing in his attempts, he grew skeptical. He writes: “The inconsistencies of Christian people, who, while professing to believe their Bibles, were […]
CHRIST’S PRECIOUS BLOOD: “This is My blood of the new covenant…” (Mt 26:28). C.H. Spurgeon writes: “A gentleman has purchased a very expensive sword, with a golden hilt and an elaborate scabbard: he hangs it up in his hall, and exhibits it to all his friends…The precious blood of Jesus is not meant for us […]
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16). How different the believer’s invitation to the high priest’s of old. Not one chosen man, but any and all of us. Not with fear and trembling, but with assurance. […]
Educator John Dewey (1859-1952), co-author of the Humanist Manifesto I, declared, “There is no God and there is no soul. Hence, there are no needs for the props of traditional religion. With dogma and creed excluded, then immutable truth is also dead and buried. There is no room for fixed, natural law or moral absolutes.” […]
CHRIST the LIFE of LIFE: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God” (Gal 2:20). The promise of life, the only life worth having, is in […]
“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other” (2 Thess 1:3). An 1871 painting by John Everett Millais titled Victory O Lord! hangs in the Manchester Art Gallery. It powerfully depicts […]