Faith and hope are important, but without patience all is lost. Since the beginning, many have put their faith in God, and some even their hope. But few have had the patience to wait until He is ready to make all things beautiful . . . in His time.
As we near the end of life, there are some unique difficulties to be dealt with. But the years of our greatest maturity should be the culmination of what we have learned and done. Autumn is not the downside of spring — it is the fruition of spring.
We need to see time as a resource over which we’ve been made stewards. This treasure has been committed to us with the understanding that we are to use it to the best advantage, and that we will eventually have to give account for our stewardship.
We need to aspire to more than comfort in this world. The really good things almost always lie outside our comfort zones, and they involve risk. But a life with no risk is a life with no accomplishment, so let’s quit putting such a premium on safety.
We often have to make a hard choice: when others are falling by the wayside, do we keep going or join the crowd and give up? The hardest thing to endure is the sight of those around us not enduring. We must finish the race, even if we run alone.
As we faithfully enter into the various assignments the Lord has for us, we should expect to be assailed with sorrows and uncertainties. It is perfectly natural to respond to the difficulties of our duty like Jeremiah: with a broken heart.
In addition to knowledge, we need courage. Fighting on the Lord’s side is not for the fainthearted. And we must understand: courage does not mean not being afraid; it means that we go ahead and do whatever needs to be done, despite our fear.
Shouldn’t our minds be attracted to the wealth of God’s wisdom? We should be fascinated by it, pulled in by its power and majesty. What right-thinking person could get a glimpse of God’s wisdom and not be moved to meditate upon it and contemplate it?
We must deal realistically with the fact that the day of our death is coming. Too often, it just doesn’t seem real. “So teach us to number our days,” Moses prayed, “that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” May our own death be real to us — right now.
The main issue here is evangelism, and the question is whether our reputation is helping or hurting the gospel. “What other people think of me is becoming less and less important; what they think of Jesus because of me is critical” (Cliff Richards).
There is no damage to our souls that Christ cannot repair. But He will not be manipulated by fake repentance on our part. If we expect His forgiveness and help, ...
In Christ, we may come confidently before God’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16), but we had better not come with anything less than a no-strings-attached commitment to change our ways. ...
God should be more than a “maybe.” Our hearts must be inclined to Him. We must fix their minds on Him. We must — and here is the main idea– ...
The man in Psalm 10 is doing what Satan wants us all to do: manage our own lives. And that pride is what led us onto the downward slope of ...
Sometimes holiness requires physical separation (and we are foolish if we don’t understand this). But with or without physical separation, holiness requires that our principles, our values, and our decision-making ...
As God went through the land in judgment that night, the people of Israel waited, trusting the protection of God’s promise: “When I see the blood, I will pass over ...
God’s word tests our character. There can be no salvation for us if we won’t humble ourselves before God, and it is in our attitude toward the commandments of God ...
By taking upon Himself the death that was our due, Christ satisfied the law’s demand, making it possible to forgive us and treat us as if we had not sinned. ...
Ask yourself how you’d feel if you lived during the Roman Empire and found out that the person described in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 had been born in Judea and was now ...
Jacob said that Judah would be a “lion.” It is no coincidence that Jesus is described in Revelation 5:5 as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of ...
To be a “saint” is to be “separate.” A saint has accepted God’s call to be redeemed from sin — seeking salvation, he has obeyed the gospel. But since not ...
If we’re in Christ, the result of God’s justification is that we are “heirs.” Eventually, we will hear Christ say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the ...