Here is the watershed in every life: “if you walk before Me” or “if you turn away” (2 Chron 7:17, 19). God not only hears our prayers, but He answers, too—in this case, 13 years later! Solomon had emphasized the keeping power of God. Thankfully He keeps both His “covenant and mercy” (2 Chron 6:14). That is, when we obey Him, […]
My daughter Moira and I were chatting recently. Music is her native language. She told me an amazing fact—how flowers sing to bees! Let me share it with you. Springtime, after all, is busy bee time. In the Oct 28, 2022 edition of Smithsonian magazine, Sarah Kuta tells about Ellard Hunting and fellow researchers at […]
“Lord, I will follow You, but…” (Lk 9:61). God’s answers are wiser than our asking, His responses fuller than our requests, His delight in hearing us greater than our desire to seek His help. We ask what we think would satisfy our little hearts; He gives what satisfies His mighty heart. He does not give […]
“Unless a kernel of wheat fall in the ground and die, it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit” (Jn 12:24). Undoubtedly, primarily the reference is to our Lord as that kernel of wheat. He originally abode alone in transcendent majesty, seated at the throne of God. By His word the […]
In worship, it’s better to have heart without words than words without heart. But why not both? The climax of Solomon’s prayer is an invitation from a little man on a little planet that’s like a grain of sand on the shore of trackless space. The God of whom he said, “Behold, heaven and the heaven […]
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Cor 2:12). Volvo, the Swedish car company, was dissatisfied with the inefficient lap belt and hired engineer Nils Bohlin to find a […]
“Holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ” (Php 2:16). C.T. Studd, who turned his back on a promising career in England to give his life to worldwide missions, wrote of his early life: “Instead of going and telling others of the love of Christ, I was […]
“I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit” (Isa 57:15). At the heart of Solomon’s prayer were two main ideas: the imminence and preeminence of God. These are expressed in the two “locations,” so to speak, of God: “may You hear the supplications of Your servant and of […]