David: Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. (Ps. 30:5) Paul: Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory […]
Read More Weeping in the nightThe account of the adulterous woman at the beginning of John 8 has created no small amount of interpretative challenges. Two questions will help us sort out some of the basic issues and facts. 1. Why are there brackets around this story? The story (7:53 – 8:11) is bracketed because there is a question whether […]
Read More Those perplexing brackets in the BibleChrist is the division point of history, marking the transition from B.C. to A.D. And Christ is the division point between men. What individuals believe about Christ will either unite them together or separate them from each other. This is exceedingly clear in John 7. The half-brothers of Jesus, having seen His life and ministry […]
Read More Christ, the dividing lineI wish this were not true, but it is. There is an inevitability to sin. All men will sin because all men are fleshly and even those who are redeemed have not yet been finally redeemed. Our own natures will eventually produce sin. We are enticed by our own lust, James says (1:13-14). In that […]
Read More Avoiding the two woes of temptationComparisons are virtually always a bad idea (I’d say “always,” but I was taught that it’s always bad to say “always”). Inevitably, we favor ourselves in our comparisons and we fail to be objective in those comparisons. Even in the church, it’s tempting to offer comparisons that are unfair to the ones compared. For example, […]
Read More Don’t miss the obvious, and…There are a number of ideas about David’s circumstances in Psalm 27, but no one is certain what actually was happening to him. But one thing is certain — he was tempted to despair. Notice all the different phrases he used to indicate the oppression he was under: fear (vv. 1, 3), dread (think “panicked […]
Read More When you are in troubleTwo sentences prepared my heart for my Bible reading this morning. First, while reading Thomas Watson (reading a Puritan immediately after awakening is good and enlivening for the soul), I came across this sentence: “A man may be carnal while he is doing spiritual things…He delights in hearing [the Word of God] but it is […]
Read More “It is good for us to be here”After writing this morning that Jesus cares for us, I came across the blog post, “He is Able to Sympathize” by Erik Raymond: When I read a passage like the one above [Heb. 4:15] I am driven to the gospels to analyze the context of some of the days within the context of Christ’s earthly […]
Read More He cares — another demonstrationPhilip Yancey recounts the words of a man with leprosy who visited Dr. Paul Brand, who had done much research on that disease: “When I got to Vellore, I spent the night on the Brand’s verandah, because I had nowhere else to go. That was unheard of for a person with leprosy back then. I […]
Read More He caresI was not a particularly good test taker in school. I didn’t care for them (I’d say I hated them, but we’ve taught our children not to use the word hate in that kind of context, so I refrain). I would much rather write a paper — or several papers — than take one test. […]
Read More Taking a testIt’s just one tiny sentence at the end of a story, but it’s the key to understanding the story. After Jesus healed the Syrophoenician’s daughter of the demon and healed the deaf man by touching him with His saliva (Mark 7), along with other unnamed miracles, the crowd declared, “He has done all things well…” […]
Read More He does all things wellNot all obedience is obedience. If you have children, that statement is often easy to validate. Children will begrudgingly say, “sorry” when they’ve sinned, with little evident demonstrations of remorse or repentance. Children will fulfill a task (e.g., cleaning, chores, homework), all the while grumbling about it, so the job is done, but with all […]
Read More When obedience is not obedienceSelf-examination is always good in the life of the believer. In Psalm 26, David articulates a number of areas of his life that reflect his integrity before the Lord. These assertions are a good place for the believer to ask questions about his own life with God and Christ: Is the overall character of my […]
Read More Self-examination questionsJust because something is easy to say does not mean it is easy to do. So it is easy for Jesus to say, “Your sins are forgiven.” It’s far more difficult to actually absolve one of the guilt before God that is incurred by sin, which was exactly Jesus’s point and claim in Mk. 2:5-12. […]
Read More Do not be afraidJesus: And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For […]
Read More Denying self and following Christ
Words of Grace 