No matter how much I struggled, there was no relief. I could not win the fight. At the time, none of it made any sense. Who or what was this enemy anyway? All I saw was wave after wave crashing upon me. I fought and fought but to no avail. At first, I was resolved to win, but the battle continued, the … Continue reading When God Contests His Children
In this, you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. - 1 Peter 1:6 Those two little words, “if necessary,” contain a world of truth. In the prior verses, Peter has just informed us of our glorious salvation in Jesus and the new birth he has … Continue reading If Necessary, You Have Been Grieved
When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment. -John 16:8 Where the Holy Spirit is, there will always be deep conviction of sin and true repentance for it. It is His special office to convict of sin. He shows the exceeding holiness of God. He teaches the exceeding corruption and … Continue reading The Conviction of Sin is a Gift
What a poor, uncertain and dying world is this! What a wilderness in itself! Without the saving knowledge of Jesus, how dark, how desolate it is! It does not appear to us thus, before we were saved because we were then in a state of enchantment, the magical lantern blinding us with a splendid delusion! … Continue reading This World’s Splendid Delusion
You have done all the evil that you could. Sure, there is more you could have done, but you pushed your sinning as far as you were comfortable. There were still certain family and societal structures in place you were afraid to defy. Even in sinning, cowardice can hold sway. In it all, you polluted … Continue reading Returning to God After a Time of Sin
God, who is revealed to us in the Bible, is not diminished when we deny his existence; we are. Think for a bit about this very moment of your life. Right now, your mind, without a sound, is receiving communication from my mind, and I made this communication silently as well. Of course, the same … Continue reading If God Does Not Exist Neither Can We
Futility. That is what every attempt at rebellion against God entails. Every railing of sin, every shaking of the fist in His face, results in the same thing: nothing. We serve an unchanging God, and nothing can diminish His perfections. For I, the LORD, do not change. – Malachi 3:6 Thomas Brooks once said, “If … Continue reading Finding Joy in the Immutability of God
Theodore Roosevelt was coming home from Africa, where he had been hunting big game. When he boarded the ship at an African port they rolled out the red carpet for him. The crowds gathered on the dock and applauded him. When he boarded the ship he was given the finest suite on board. All through … Continue reading Roosevelt and the Lonely Missionary
The Lord is my present help and salvation. Though we are troubled with poverty, shame, or any other affliction, God is our salvation and help. If you are in trouble, God is deliverance; if you are persecuted by malicious enemies, God is your castle. Who is a rock, except our God? I call upon the … Continue reading If You Are in Trouble, God is Deliverance
The world considers preaching to be foolishness, but God has ordained that preaching be the primary way of proclaiming his word. There has never been a great awakening of the people of God that was not preceded and accompanied by great preaching. By it, he confounds the wise. In this short clip from a sermon … Continue reading The Foolishness of Preaching
