Just as the world can be so beautiful as to give us a glimpse of heaven, it can also be so ugly that it gives us a glimpse of hell. I just got done watching the documentary on the Jewish Holocaust produced by Simon Wiesenthal, who is a holocaust survivor himself. Although I have seen […]
Ephesians 5:15-16-Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Have you been angry or worried about a situation, that when you “get over it”, you feel like you wasted so much time on it, it angers you […]
The way spiritual things work is: Since God has done it for us, now we should do it. NOT: Since God has done it for us, we shouldn’t have to do it. This applies to just about everything except the justification by faith – and by that I mean God has paid for our sins […]
Sometimes, God’s giving us what we want is a display of His wrath against us rather than a display of love. Therefore, we should not always rejoice when we get what we want. In Psalm 78, the psalmist describes how the Israelites spoke against God doubting His power to provide the necessities in the desert. And […]
People perish without the word of God. The word is truly life-giving not only to individual persons but also to nations and people groups. When Russia was under the communist regime, it went through all kinds of atrocities and evil. Millions died of starvation and interrogations. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Russian novelist and historian who lived through the […]
Ephesians 2:12–remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. What can “spark” joy and contentment without anything else changing in a Christians life, is the gratitude we can live with despite […]
We learn obedience through what we suffer. That is one reason why God allows us to suffer. He is teaching us to trust and obey Him. However, this is not the way most of us think. When we are made to suffer, the first thought is, “What have I done wrong?” (or we know what […]
It is heartbreaking when the sons (or daughters) do not follow the faithful ways of their fathers. And it is jarring to read how many sons do not follow the ways of their fathers in the Old Testament. And there is a lesson here…. About the king Hezekiah, it is said, “He trusted in the […]
Psalm 22:2-3–O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. There are numerous opportunities to encourage or try and strengthen people in their faith, given my position. In all cases where my faith […]
Psalm 19:10-12–More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. When I think about what makes a […]