Go After the Lost I’m sure we’re all familiar with the parable of the prodigal son. We read of a son who wanted his inheritance early, only to lose it all in loose and foolish living. The point of the parable is that God goes after the lost. The parables of the lost sheep and
How’s Your Heart? We don’t just live in a world. A world lives in us. I might leave my home and family when I drive off to work or wherever else I’m going, but I never leave them behind. I carry them in my heart. I carry every friend who makes up my world in
Go God’s Way Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep My commandments always, that it may go well with them and with their sons forever’ (Deuteronomy 5:29) Following God in this life can feel like swimming upstream when all the water is flowing the other way.
Being Fed ‘He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord’ (Deuteronomy 8:3).
Producing Fruit God’s desire has always been to bring His blessing to the nations of the earth. This was a pivotal part of the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:3) and was reinforced by the prophets (Isaiah 42:6-8; 49:3,6) to Israel. But God’s people failed to reach out. They became selfish, sectarian and satisfied. The nation of
Which Light? I read recently about a dear old lady, Eliza Kirk. She lived in London and did something unusual on her 101st birthday. She had every mirror in her home taken down. When asked “why?” she said “I like to think of myself as I was, not as I am.” The Christian can do
We Can’t Earn God’s Love Imagine you have a great emotional reservoir inside you the shape of a heart. And imagine as you grew up, the more you received the stable, caring love from both parents, the more that heart was filled up. If that’s you, then you probably have a reasonable understanding of grace.
The Temple Replaced The detail Matthew uses to make a point in his Gospel is astounding. From the time Jesus enters Jerusalem for the final few days before crucifixion, Matthew highlights over and over that Jesus is replacing the temple as the meeting place between God and man. Old Testament priests had a two-fold calling:
Living With Jesus as Lord ‘Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ …’ Philippians 1:27. Christians don’t believe that Jesus will one day be Lord. They know Him to be the one true Lord now. This is what puts us out of step with the world. It did in Paul’s
Perfect ‘Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation’ Hebrews 5:8,9 These are puzzling verses to many. If Jesus was ‘made perfect’ by His suffering, does that mean He was not perfect
