God is…

John tells us that Jesus Christ came to explain the Father (Jn. 1:18). That is, Jesus came to expose or exegete God; He came to give an accounting and revelation of the Father (and at the same time also revealed His own nature and character, Jn. 10:30). Only the Son, who has the very nature […]

Is death reason to doubt God?

This morning I read this sentence from J. I. Packer: “It has become conventional to think as if we are all going to live in this world forever and to view every case of bereavement as a reason for doubting the goodness of God.” And then I read this sentence from Jesus (John 11:14-15): “Lazarus […]

Sin speaks

We are familiar with the truth of 2 Corinthians 4:7 — “…the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” But reading that verse, we might wonder, “Christ is so […]

Pictures of Jesus

M’Cheyne wrote, “Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely. Such infinite majesty, and yet such meekness and grace, and all for sinners, even the chief.” Reading Scripture is always because of its value to transform us and sanctify us (2 Tim. 3:16-17). […]

Learn much of Jesus

For two and a half months, we’ve been reading each weekday in the Gospels. What shall we do with all this talk of Jesus? Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely. Such infinite majesty, and yet such meekness and grace, and all […]

Jesus and money

Entertainer Sophie Tucker reputedly said, “From birth to age 18, a girl needs good parents, from 18 to 35 she needs good looks, from 35 to 55 she needs a good personality, and from 55 on she needs cash.” And on another occasion she suggested, “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. Rich is better.” But […]

A complaint against Jesus

We may not admit it, but we like to complain. We are not unlike the Israelites, who escaped from the unjust wrath of Pharaoh and then complained that they didn’t have leeks, garlic, and cucumbers to eat (Num. 11:5). We complain about colds and cold weather — grumbling against God’s sovereignty in various sufferings and […]

Counting the cost and finishing well

In my childhood and early teen years, I was an active baseball card collector. (I still have something around 30,000 cards inhabiting my closet.) One of the things that I would like to do with fellow card-collecting buddies was trade cards. I always tried to be strategic in my trading, and since one of the […]

Stories of grace in unusual places

Tell someone you have a story about grace and they will immediately think you received an unexpected financial gift, a couple struggling to get pregnant finally is with child, or estranged friends were finally reconciled. Jesus also told many stories of grace. But some of those stories didn’t immediately sound so gracious, like the two […]

Praise is becoming

One of the most common commands in Scripture is, “Praise the Lord” (or some derivation of that imperative). The follower of God is to give worship to and find joy in God in all things and at all times. Sometimes, the God-follower is simply commanded to praise God, and on other occasions, as in Psalm […]

Do you believe this?

I believe it was Mark Twain who once said, “It is not what I don’t understand about Scripture that concerns me; it is what I do understand that concerns me.” There indeed are passages that are difficult to comprehend; but there are a great many more passages that are clearly comprehended. But do we really […]

Remember the character of God when you pray

All it took to capture the disciples’ attention was for Jesus to pray. They heard Him pray, and when He finished, the immediate response was, “Lord, teach us to pray…” (Lk. 11:1). Something about the manner of His praying evidently made them realize the deficiency of their prayers. And they wanted to pray with greater […]

What makes you happy?

What makes you happy? Many years ago, Charles Schultz suggested that, “Happiness is a warm puppy.” The little book by that title contained many similar kinds of suggestions of the identity of happiness. Whether you care for warm puppies or not, one thing is certain, there is something you are pursuing that you believe will […]

The Good Shepherd

One Saturday afternoon while running errands, I noticed that one of my care tires was almost completely flat. I was not too far from the tire store, so rather than taking the time to change the tire, I slowly made my way to the shop. There was a long line and wait leaving me mildly […]

Who sinned?

In A View from a Zoo, Gary Richmond tells about the birth of a giraffe: The first things to emerge are the baby giraffe’s front hooves and head. A few minutes later the plucky newborn calf is hurled forth, falls ten feet, and lands on its back. Within seconds, he rolls to an upright position […]