Many Christians complain that God doesn’t speak to them when they’re in need of guidance. For some reason they have forgotten the first and most basic way God leads His children—through His written Word!
Read MoreTag Archives: Psalms
Don’t Take It Easy
Last fall one day at the church, I spotted a visiting gentleman who was shaking hands with a half-dozen folks he’d never met before. Then he looked at me, and with a grin and a twinkle, he whipped out his hand. It was a hand you could strike a match on, toughened by decades of rugged toil.
Read MoreCrucible of Crises
God’s Word is filled with examples of those who believed God and “commenced prayer.” David certainly did. “I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm” (Ps. 40:1–2).
Read MoreTwo Questions
Comparing the acts of forgiving and forgetting, I think forgetting is the tougher assignment. Why? Because forgetting is something shared with no other person. It’s a solo flight. All the rewards are postponed until eternity . . . but how great they will be on that day!
Read MoreCan We Really Ever Forget?
A question flashes through my head as I write these words: can our minds actually allow us to forget? The way God has made us with that internal filing system we call “memory”—it is doubtful we can fully forget even the things we want to forget.
Read MoreForgiving and Forgetting
“I’ll forgive . . . but I’ll never forget.” We say and hear that so much that it’s easy to shrug it off as “only natural.” That’s the problem! It is the most natural response we can expect. Not supernatural. It also can result in tragic consequences.
Read MoreHow to Make Forgiveness Happen
There is enough in the past few days’ worth of devotionals to keep us thinking (and forgiving) for weeks. But there are a couple of specific applications that need to be considered. First, focus fully on God’s forgiveness of you. Don’t hurry through this. Think of how vast, how extensive His mercy has been extended toward you, like David did when he wrote “Hymn 103.”
Read MoreGod’s Forgiveness of Us
When on the cross Jesus Christ paid in full the penalty of our sin, God’s wrath was expressed against Him—the One who took our place. God was therefore satisfied in the epochal sacrifice . . . allowing all who would turn, in faith, to the Son of God to be totally, once-for-all, forgiven. Christ’s blood washed away our sin. And from the moment we believe in Him, we stand forgiven, relieved of guilt, before a satisfied God, thereby freeing Him to shower upon us His grace and love.
Read MoreA Mighty Fortress: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Recently, I led a tour through the ancient city of Jerusalem. Early one morning, I looked out across the skyline and read Psalm 46. You may know the first verse by heart: God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. I thought of how God had shown Himself strong […]
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