JESUS, FRIEND of COMMONERS: “And the common people heard Him gladly” (Mk 12:37). James Hastings writes: God often uses minnows to catch salmon. It may be the consolation that He gives to the ungifted, that they should be the means of bringing to Jesus the eminently useful. Andrew did a good day’s work when he […]
“I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.…Give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil” (1 Ki 3:7, 9). This is the humility God loves to exalt. The Lord was pleased with Solomon’s request since “God […]
C.S. Lewis writes about his years as an atheist: “My argument against God was that the universe was so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man doesn’t call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe […]
You want rain? Elijah-like, talk to the God who made the clouds, because the clouds aren’t listening. The Lord makes two final appeals concerning Job’s interaction with the inanimate world. He asks, “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that an abundance of water may cover you? Can you send out lightnings, that they […]
CHRIST our BRIDEGROOM: “Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!” (Mt 25:6). You remember when the unnamed servant came to woo a bride for Abraham’s “only beloved son”? He showed Rebecca a sampling of Isaac’s wealth since, as he said, “to him he has given all that he has” (Gen 24:36). Would […]
“I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed” (Jonah 2:9). We are glad God always keeps His promises. Is it any surprise that He wants us to do the same? Jonah, although a bit banged up in the process, finally followed through. God’s insistence on being […]
On a trip to the Pacific coast, D.L. Moody heard of a stagecoach driver who was on his deathbed. He “kept moving one of his feet up and down, saying, ‘I am on the downgrade, and I cannot reach the brake.’” Moody continued, “As they told me of it, I thought how many were on […]
“God’s promises are like the stars: the darker the night, the brighter they shine.” —D. Nicholas How many stars are in the observable universe? Astronomers guess about 200 billion trillion. Actually, “the host of heaven cannot be numbered” by us (Jer 33:22), though God has named them all! Yet at their creation, we read just five words: “He made the […]
CHRIST the DIVIDING LINE: “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity” (Eph 6:24). “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed” (1 Cor 16:22). Alexander Maclaren tells “about a minister who preached a very elaborate course of lectures in refutation of some form of […]