The Divine Purpose for Pain
One of our directors recently went to Turkey to check on our partners who have been affected by the terrible earthquake there. Let me say from personal experience, when you see devastation like what they are currently living in, the overwhelming human loss and suffering, there are images and memories that will never leave you.…
Live in His Presence
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NKJV). We become what we observe! The focus of our attention spreads its influence all through our…
Safe from Judgment
The blood of Christ cleanses from all sin; it is our atonement. First of all, it is our security. It is God’s way of securing to himself a people ready for a full deliverance. Remember that on the night of the Passover the Israelites were safe but not yet delivered. They still had to face…
The Mighty Hand of God
“Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power; your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces” (Exodus 15:6, NKJV). Even though some Christians know they are forgiven and safe, they lack a sense of power against the flesh. They have not come into the knowledge of ‘full deliverance’ from their…
The Path of Surrender
God begins the process of surrender by knocking us off our high horse. This literally happened to Paul. He was going his self-assured way, riding toward Damascus, when a blinding light came from heaven. “He fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’” (Acts 9:4,…
The ‘Gospel’ of Man’s Glory
When Martin Luther talked about a ‘theology of glory,’ he wasn’t talking about the glory of God or when believers honor and exalt the Lord. Luther was talking about man-made glory which focuses on the self. It’s a mentality of “I’ll make something of myself. What humanity lost in the garden, I can recover by…
Carrying a Thorn in Our Side
Paul wrote two moving and fascinating passages that I want to look at here. “You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first” (Galatians 4:13, ESV). “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this [thorn], that it should leave me. But he said to me,…
God Delights in You
The Holy Spirit gave David the key to deliverance from his sorrows. David could say, “The reason God delivered me is that I am precious to him. My God delights in me!” “He also brought me out into a broad place; he delivered me because he delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19, NKJV). In Song of…
Sharing in Christ’s Great Goodness
“If you ask anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14, NKJV). We show the measure of our Christ by what we ask in his name. We are told to ask large and to expect great things. We show forth the greatness of Christ by the greatness of our requests. We have so…
Giving Thanks Always
“Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20 NKJV). We are all pressed down by problems and distress, but Paul has given us the answer when he tells us to “do it unto the Father.” The great preacher John Calvin said that singing…