Do not let your heart envy sinners

Pastor Kent Hughes recounts the fable of two men who lived in an ancient city — one was envious while the other was covetous. The ruler of this city sent for the two men and offered to grant each of them one wish. A small difference arose, however: he would grant the first man exactly […]

God: worthy (alone) of glory

A few of years ago, popular author John Gray (Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus) released a new book: How to Get What You Want and Want What You Have. His thesis? “When you do your best, God does the rest.” In one place he reportedly writes, “Regardless of your particular orientation [of […]

Boasting in the cross

We are people of the cross. The cross is the source of our spiritual life. It is the reason for our hope. It is the foundation of our victorious living. Paul says it this way: “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which […]

Faithful men and a faithful God

“And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,…” (Heb. 11:32-33; NASB) One man had a weak faith. One was a weak […]

The door is open

Normally my office door stays wide open because I enjoy having people stop in and visit for a while. However, on occasion a project demands my full attention, so I close my door. For a number of years, that closed door would periodically burst open, and people would come running into my office, yelling loudly […]

But God…

“But Daaa-dddddy” ranks as one of the all-time great whines. “But God” ranks as the all-time great hope. Think about it. Can you conceive any dilemma for which there is no possibility of intervention from God? Can you conjure up the image of any burden that God is inadequate to carry for you? Can you […]

Wisdom is calling

Does not wisdom call, And understanding lift up her voice? (Prov. 8:1) Scripture (particularly in Proverbs) says that the fool is the one who chases the adulterous. The fool is the sluggard who is too lazy even to feed himself. The fool is the one who rejects correction and instruction. The fool believes himself always […]

How to read Scripture

Scripture not only testifies to its own authenticity and reliability, but it also tells us how to read and understand and delight in it. For example, Proverbs 3 offers four directives for the kinds of attitudes we are to cultivate as we read Scripture: Cultivate a desire to remember and know Scripture (vv. 1-4). Read […]

Jacob, deceit, and grace

This morning I read again the story of Jacob (meaning, “supplanter,” Gen. 27:36). He came out of the womb grasping his brother’s heel, and he spent his life grasping for things that were not his or manipulating circumstances so that they would be to his favor and liking. If you want your brother’s birthright, it […]

Two pictures of God’s grace

How vast is God’s grace and how shall we describe it? Two pictures from my Bible reading this morning demonstrate the amazing grace of God, the first from Isaiah: “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money […]

Who is like God?

This morning I read this question that the prophet Micah directed towards God — “Who is a God like You?…” (7:18). The prophet further went on to define the character and nature of God — He is a God “who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession.” What […]

John 3:16

Martin Luther called this verse “the gospel in miniature” because there was a sense in which the entire story of the Bible is expounded in it. Just two weeks before he died, he repeated the text with evident ecstasy and added, “What Spartan saying can be compared with this wonderful brevity? It is a Bible […]

Jeremiah, destruction, and Christ

This morning I finished reading the last few chapters of Jeremiah — prophecies of the destruction of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Elam, and Babylon. And then the account of Judah being taken into captivity in Babylon. With all the words concerning the judgments of God and then that judgment being demonstrated against His own people, […]

Seven times a day I praise You

How much praise of God is “enough?” Will we praise morning, noon, and night? Will we praise in between each of those time slots of worship? The psalmist contemplates the worthiness of God to be praised — His ordinances are righteous — and concludes, “seven times a day I praise you” (119:164). He is not […]

How suffering is good

Suffering is good. Now there is a statement that is sure to raise a few questions in the minds of most readers and thinkers. Yet the Scriptures affirm that the varied kinds of suffering endured by believers really are for their good and for God’s glory. A few examples: Suffering from sin teaches us the […]