The INESCAPABLE CHRIST. No one can do as Pilate’s wife suggested, “Have nothing to do with that just Man” (Mt 27:19). Yet it is possible to follow Christ as the Pharisees did—to argue with Him, criticise Him, find fault with Him. Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote: “The magazines of the world carry a constant stream of […]
“Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us” (Ps 90:17). For many years this verse hung by the mirror where we prepared ourselves to meet the day. It often reminded me of another psalm: “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed” (34:5). H.G. Bosch says, “A […]
Amy Orr-Ewing tells of a conversation her husband had with a woman at a wedding reception: “At one point she had said, ‘The reason I am not a Christian is that I am studying English Literature, and I don’t believe that there is a Transcendental Signified, and so I can make the Bible mean whatever […]
Is it just preachers and missionaries who should live by faith? Jesus says “No.” We’re not just saved by faith; we should all live by faith too. […]
Rarely are the right choice and the easy choice the same thing. God’s will is never said to be easy. At the pivot point in Ezra’s prayer, he says, “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this?” (Ezra 9:10). Have you ever been in a situation where you know something has to be done […]
CHRIST of the MIGHTY NAME. “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). His name was given in JOYFUL PROCLAMATION at His birth: “You shall call His name JESUS” (Mt 1:21). Throughout His life it was used in SHAMEFUL DEGRADATION, as it often is to […]
“May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (1 Thess 3:12-13). To be blameless […]
“Our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance” (1 Thess 1:5). Note three aspects to assurance: “the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” (Col 2:2); “the full assurance […]
God’s door is open. He knows the whole story. His heart is toward us. He wants to restore us. Are we ready? The prayer of Ezra (Ezra 9:5-15) plumbs the depths of shame and humiliation as he views the ragged landscape of the nation’s “iniquities [that] have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt…grown up to the […]