The Destination of the Way
When Jesus said, “I am the way,” He also said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” John 14:6. The destination of the Way is not Heaven, but the Father Himself. The Father is our Creator. We broke fellowship with Him in the garden and hid ourselves. He has been in quest
Joy and Sorrow
Joy and sorrow are not incompatible. Joy and sorrow may be present at the same time. Sometimes joy is to the front and sometimes sorrow. There can be a deep joy even in the midst of tribulation. Jesus admonished rejoicing even in persecution: In your sorrows, hold also to your joy. Jesus was a
Our Future
We cannot get through life without suffering and scars. For the Christian, these do not have the last word. There is future glory and restoration coming for the children of Abba. God has prepared our future and He is preparing us for it now, even as He walks with us. Our future is better
Do Not Lose Heart
“He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart” Luke 18:1 (NASB). We lose our greatest source of energy when we are not in constant contact with our Father. Paul said, “Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.” We stagger under life’s
For the Sake of the Gospel
Jesus suggested the necessity of losing our lives for His sake and the sake of the good news. What cross have I born for the sake of the good news? What have I denied myself of for the sake of the gospel? What have I found for what I surrendered? What have I saved
Two Testimonies
There are two testimonies that the Christian can have. The first is, “Christ was crucified for me.” The second is, “I am crucified with Christ.” In the first, I see what Christ has done for me in His great redeeming work. In the second, I see what Christ is doing in me to shape
Opposition
Do not think for a moment that opportunities do not have opposition nor that favorable developments in your life will not also come with problems. It is the nature of life. It is fiber for character building. Timidity has caused many great things not to get accomplished. Nothing good gets accomplished without overcoming the
Ambassadors for Messiah
God is bringing about the reconciliation of the world to Himself through Messiah. This He accomplished by “not counting their transgressions against them.” He has committed to us this same ministry of reconciliation. It is not our business to hold the sins of persons against them whom God is in the process of reconciling.
The Tenses of the Cross
As you look back at the cross, you see that Christ was crucified for you and that your old self, the body of sin, “was crucified with Him” (Romans 6:6). So by faith you are now to “consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” Romans 6:11 (NASB).
Expose the Idols
The gods of this world are present and active in our culture. They prefer to work anonymously, remaining unnamed. When named, identified and exposed, they lose their cloak of secrecy and most of all their deadly grip on us and the culture. The gods that have hidden themselves in your temple need to be
Embrace Discipline
People avoid discipline because it is not fun. Those who love ease and pleasure do not love discipline. Without discipline we can never grow nor develop. We start with an external discipline from our parents. Now we are to develop an internal discipline that marks us as adults. As Christians, we bring ourselves under
Let There Be Light
It is never healthy to define yourself by what you are against. This puts you in a combative mode. As disciples of Jesus Christ we have found our “Yes”. He is what we are for. His Light shined into our darkness. He broke our slave chains. Light has called us to be light. He
The False Self
Thomas Merton suggests that we have a false self that needs to die and a real self that needs to blossom in the likeness of the Son. The false self betrays God and me. It has a continuous inclination to evil. The false self must die, not so that I can say I have
Honored
Maybe instead of looking at our assignments as duties and obligations, we should look at them as privileges and blessings. It is a privilege to represent Christ, to serve Him, and live for Him. Just think, we are His ambassadors. It is an honor to give our all to the One who gave His
Ever Preparing
Our life in this world is a place of preparation. God is preparing us to serve both now and in the day when His Kingdom fully comes. He is now preparing the inner self to be clothed with a new, resurrected body. He makes us new creations for the New Creation: “new heavens and
Thorns And Suffering
Between Eden and New Creation, we still deal with thorns and suffering. It was no accident that our Lord wore a crown of thorns. The Eternal Son came into a world of suffering, both to express His solidarity with the suffering and to lay the foundation for the full restoration of all things. Meanwhile,
Stars In The Night
A dark world needs light. The Sun of Righteousness has sent us out as stars in the dark. He said, “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:14). Daniel reminds us, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars
Measuring Wealth
Pity the person who measures wealth only by money and possessions. We will never come into a full rest of soul until we are freed from our inordinate drive for a better bottom line. We need to discover that true wealth is more than what we can hold in our hands. It is holding
He Wants Your Love
When Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” (John 21:17), He did not do it out of His own insecurity. It matters to Him if we love Him, because it is so important to our well being. Love is not a touchy-feely something. It is not a mere emotion. It is to feed sheep
Spirit Rivers
Believers are promised rivers of living water flowing into and out of their lives. These rivers are about the flow and work of the Spirit in our lives. Know who He is. Recognize His work. Let Him move you from where you are to where you ought to be. Let His rivers float your
Fully Christian
Christians need to become fully Christian. The problem is that we have redefined what being a Christian is, and that keeps us from it. We have defined being a Christian as one who has merely believed in Christ for salvation, and salvation, is a ticket to heaven. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
Smooth Transitions
I learned to drive a “straight shift” vehicle. To shift gears required perfect co-ordination with the left foot slowly lifting the clutch pedal and the right foot slowly depressing the accelerator pedal. Until this co-ordination was perfected with a smooth transition then there were some really jerky starts and rides. When we become a
Moving On
The many things we failed to do, and now regret, are not wasted. The hurts and injustices that have haunted us have value in what they produce to Christ’s yielded ones. Sometimes we say, “I would like to go back and start over if I could know then what I know now’. Truth is,
Reconciling Sinners
Jesus ate with sinners because love eats with sinners. Self-righteousness cannot eat with sinners, justice refuses, and false piety runs the other way. This nearness of Jesus to sinners was not just something nice you could say about His ministry. This is a revelation of God. We have been told that the holiness of
Reconciling Love
Atonement theories are theories meant to explain how Christ reconciles sinners with the Father; there are good ones and bad ones. In the story of the Prodigal Son, we find the sinner welcomed by the overwhelming love of the father. The father did not need for his wrath, anger, or justice to be satisfied.