Love, obedience, and worship are powerful concepts — but we must be careful. Given our tendency to focus on some things to the exclusion of others that are equally important, we need to be warned against cutting any of these off from the others.
To those who are willing to come to Him in His Son, ready to trust Him and obey His word, God is willing to grant as much of Himself as can be granted to us right now in our frailty. But we desire more. And much more will be possible, in His time.
Even in Christ, we can’t see and know God as Adam and Eve did. But the hope of Christianity is that, through Christ, what was lost in the Fall can actually be regained. The time comes when those who have truly sought God “shall see His face.”
We should set ourselves the goal of improving our thinking about God a little bit each day. There is no question that our lives will be governed by some sort of thinking about God. The only question is what the quality of that thinking will be.
Consider the concept of “laziness” in regard to spiritual growth. Numerous texts in Proverbs speak of the general undesirability of being a sluggard (6:6-11). But sluggishness is more than a minor character flaw. It can kill us spiritually.
We do not know how to pray as we ought, even to know what to ask for. Here, then, is an opportunity for us to learn humility. We can defer to the Lord and pray for help in our praying. We can pray for Him to do whatever, in His wisdom, He sees best.
God’s goodness is indeed a treasury of wonderful riches. But it was not set up to fund the removal of every little inconvenience from our lives in this world. We need to be careful what we ask for and why. God’s grace is not to be taken lightly.
As the God of truth, God requires that our actions truthfully reflect our desire and that our desire be nothing less than conformity — body, soul, and spirit — to the realities of His truth. We must desire God as sincerely as children often do.
Answers to our questions about God can’t always be found by philosophical inquiry. We have to weave our inquiries into our dealings with other human beings. It is in the giving and receiving of love that truth has its best chance to occur to us.
Christ’s love has a “compelling” effect on us, even before we receive the forgiveness of our sins. It is our recognition of His love and our joyous anticipation of gratitude to Him that move us to respond to the gospel in the first place.
Converted to Christ, we set Him apart as our Lord. But living consistently under that lordship takes time. We must yield our hearts completely to His direction. At our baptism, ...
Jesus urged us to “count the cost” of discipleship (Luke 14:25-33). If we won’t throw the doors open and give God access to EVERY room in our hearts (even the ...
God must be TREATED as holy, with respect for His commandments, but He will also DISPLAY His holiness in His dealings with those who come near — even by punishing ...
There is a link between the CHARACTER of God and the COMMANDS of God. When God has given any instruction to regulate our behavior, we cannot disrespect His WORD without ...
The first thing necessary was for the people to repent of the sins for which they sought God’s forgiveness. So the only preaching that could have prepared them for the ...
In practical terms, a person’s burial and resurrection in baptism marks the beginning of a new life, so much so that it can be said that a new person has ...
We can deplore Israel’s lack of trust when they backed away from God’s command, but do we do any better? When it comes to obeying the gospel of Christ, do ...
If Jesus’ tomb was empty, we must decide whether its emptiness means He was resurrected. And most importantly, we have to decide whether, if Jesus was resurrected, that means “God ...
Psalm 110 is a powerful prophecy of the Messiah — every part of it meshes seamlessly with Jesus Christ. No wonder the New Testament writers saw in David’s words clear ...
The apostles played a pivotal role in the NT period. No one since then has possessed Christ’s authority as they did, and their teaching will always be the benchmark against ...
If it is our pride that is the root of our sin, there can be no deliverance for us if we won’t humble ourselves before our King. But are we ...
The messianic titles in Isaiah 9:6 (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace) are epithets that could apply only to a divine ruler, a King worthy of receiving ...