Job in the Old Testament may be the most beautiful poem in all of antiquity. Job was a righteous man who, from a human perspective, did not deserve to suffer. He lived a blameless life and followed God’s laws to the letter. Job is an alternative narrative to the precept “you reap...
It is easy to see why Moses became frustrated with the Hebrew people. They were so hard-hearted and weak in their faith that Moses lost his patience and became angry with them. Yet every time Moses shifted his focus away from God, it cost him. When he sought to help his people by taking matters...
Even when we can not sense God’s work, take courage that He is! It can be tempting at times to give up on God’s people! We are so imperfect and can be so sinful, yet we are His people. Samuel had thoroughly warned the Israelites of the dangers in appointing a king over...
God’s truth never restricts you; it always sets you free! But typically our reaction to God is that he is restrictive. Are you discouraged? Is there a sense of bondage in a particular area of your life? A lack of victory over a certain sin? A harmful addiction? It is possible that...
If you ever feel that you are so insignificant that God does not care about you or that He does not want to listen to your prayers, you will be encouraged by Romans 8:32. There, we are assured that our heavenly Father loves us unconditionally. There was nothing so precious to Him that He would...
One of the paradoxes of the Christian life is that God’s gifts often require effort on our part. God brought the Israelites to the Promised Land and told them He was going to “give” it to them (Num. 13:2). This sounded great to the Israelites until they realized that, with the...
God’s people are His preserving agents for a world that is corrupted and degenerating because of sin. Cycles of destruction and violence upon humanity are at work in individuals as well as corporate masses. Christ came to create a new humanity. Your life is designed and commissioned by...
Throughout His ministry, Jesus relied upon the Holy Spirit to direct Him as He made crucial decisions and faced relentless opposition (Mark 1:12). Centuries earlier, Isaiah had described what the Spirit’s presence would mean for the Messiah. The Spirit would give Jesus the knowledge of the...
Does God give second chances to those who have failed Him? He certainly did so for Peter. Peter had proudly announced that he was Jesus’ most reliable disciple (Matt. 26:33). Yet Peter not only fled with the other disciples in the moment of crisis, but also blatantly denied he even...
Some things must die in order to be productive. Certain seeds will not germinate into a plant unless they freeze during the winter. Death is now a new beginning for a new life. Jesus had faith that His death would bring salvation to the world. His resurrection was...