As much as possible, look up, not down; look forward, not back; look after others, not just yourself. It’s very difficult to see into heaven when you’re always looking down. Job and his friends spend a fair bit of time looking down, don’t they! So forgive a brief diversion. One of the repeated calls to […]
THE LOWLY JESUS: “I am…lowly” (Mt 11:29). Here are statements made by and about the Lord Jesus during His earthly sojourn that show His amazing humility. As to His career path, they said with derision, “Is this not the carpenter?” (Mk 6:3), but He explained, “I am among you as the One who serves” (Lk […]
“I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies” (Ps 119:125). Verses 129-130 add: “Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” The word “testimonies” is one of eight words used in this psalm to describe the […]
There is today a pale, pathetic, and unflinching interpretation of the blessed gospel, which guarantees salvation as “a financially and socially upgrading experience”; then it finalizes the offer by “a superlative bonus in eternity and comfort world without end.” How different was Paul’s concept of a disciple of Christ! Look at his vivid interpretation: “I […]
CHRIST the TIME REDEEMER: “The hour has come” (Jn 12:23). No one did as much in life as the Lord Jesus. Born in a stable, He opened heaven’s palaces to us. Rejected by His own people, He provided salvation sufficient for every sinner. Living in obscurity, He realigned the whole universe. Ted Engstrom crammed a […]
“For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; for the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall” (Isa 25:4). What is the world’s greatest wall? Some years ago, I stood on […]
Is the Bible to be taken literally? Yes. And no. Like any great piece of literature, there are some literal, some figurative and metaphorical sections. If something is metaphorical, it does not mean it isn’t true; it is true but is being described in a different way. For example, we read about “chains of darkness” […]
CHRIST the CREDIT HOLDER: “We are debtors” (Rom 8:12). In Luke 7, the Lord told a story that declares every sinner in debt to God. Wonderfully, our debt can be paid by the Savior’s death. But Paul explains that there are certain debts we still owe, and are called upon to pay up ourselves, through […]
“Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, ‘Jacob, Jacob!’ And he said, ‘Here I am’” (Gen 46:2). He knows you well, believer. But on only seven occasions do we have it recorded that the Lord called one of His people twice in a row: “Abraham, Abraham!” (Gen 22:11). “Jacob, […]