"I will give you the treasures of darkness." Isaiah 45:3 Is not this a strange expression? "Treasures of darkness!" How can there be darkness in the City of Salvation of which the Lord the Lamb is the eternal light? The expression does not mean that the treasures themselves are darkness, but that they were hidden … Continue reading The Treasures of Darkness
Our sin is staggeringly heinous! We are finite beings who have sinned against an infinite God. This means each of our transgressions, and we have many, are worthy of infinite wrath. We are prone to wander, and even as believers, we have defiled ourselves more recently than we would like to admit. John Owen once … Continue reading Lay Your Sin-Soiled Hands on the Head of Jesus
Meekness is one of those qualities we understand, but it can be difficult to articulate. So what does it mean to be meek? In general usage, we relate it to being humble, patient, gentle, and kind, but as with all of the beatitudes, there is a spiritual element that we must not miss or we could go astray.
"Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know Him!" Hosea 6:3 The expression, "press on," implies that there are many difficulties, obstacles, and hindrances in a man's way, which keep him back from "knowing the Lord." Now the work of the Spirit in his soul is to carry him on … Continue reading Press On to Know the Lord
If you want to see every one of God's standards for communication violated, spend a few minutes on Twitter. All you have to do is read what is being posted about the trending topics. Sometimes the topics themselves are violations of God's word.
"I will heal your backslidings." —Hosea 14:4 Wandering again! And has He not left me to perish? Stumbling and straying on the dark mountains, away from the Shepherd's eye and the Shepherd's fold, shall He not leave the erring wanderer to the fruit of his own ways, and his truant heart to go hopelessly onward … Continue reading I Will Heal Your Backslidings
No matter how we try to read the story of Samson, from a literary perspective, it is a tragedy, and like all tragedies, we must take heed.
This Saturday, February 9, I lost a friend to a motorcycle accident. I met Henry just over 16 years ago working in admissions at Trinity Law School. He came to talk to me because he was interested in attending law school. The day I met him he walked in with the same exuberant smile that … Continue reading In Loving Memory of My Friend, Henry J. Maruyama
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards. Hosea 2:14-15 "Therefore" has a strangely beautiful connection in this verse. God's people had been grievously backsliding. He had been loading them with mercies; they had been guiltily … Continue reading Utterances of Love in the Desert
"Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens." -Lamentations 3:41 Prayer is the spiritual pulse of the renewed soul; its beat indicates the healthy or unhealthy state of the believer. Just as the physician would decide upon the health of the body from the action of the pulse, so … Continue reading The Spiritual Pulse of the Renewed Soul
The Fight of Faith 