For God Alone

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5) In this passage, the Apostle Paul points us to what Jack MacGorman calls the ‘marvelous consequences of our justification’ in Christ. Like the Apostle Paul, you and I have been tested and stretched in ways we could never have imagined; but, our Shepherd-Savior who is our all in all of everything leads us on our respective journeys. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still water...

At present, with so much unrest in our world, many yards in our neighborhood are displaying a sign that reads: Hope is not cancelled! In what do you place your hope? We often say things like: I hope you are doing well. Or, tomorrow, I hope to go shopping … or to play golf. Merriam-Webster defines the verb, hope, as follows: to cherish a desire with anticipation : to want something to happen or be true. A second, and archaic meaning is: to trust. As a noun, hope is defined as: desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment. For the Christian, hope is found in the eternal God alone. In Bible study class this past Sunday, we heard an excellent lesson on reverencing the name of God:  You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7) Our Bible study teacher reminded her listeners via ZOOM of the many names of God: Jehovah Jireh (The Lord will provide); Jehovah Raph...

Love the Lord your God with all your heart,  with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37) When Jesus spoke these words to the Pharisee, he was quoting the Shema as found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Every Hebrew father taught his children this bedrock verse from the Talmud. With His reply to the Pharisee’s question, Jesus confirmed that this principle, this maxim, remains at the very foundation for those who would follow Him as His disciple. James, the apostle, reminded us to …  Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8) In the Preface to his book, A Passion for God,* Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr. writes: “To commune with God by faith in deep personal fellowship is the highest fulfillment one can experience. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and I want more.” Years ago, I traveled to Dublin, Ireland a few days before a scheduled mission effort, that I might spend time alone with God in a city that was altogether new to me. ...

Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word; Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard! Tell how the angels, in chorus, sang as they welcomed his birth, “Glory to God in the highest! Peace and good tidings to earth.” Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word; Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard! Fanny J. Crosby, 1820-1915 Fanny Crosby wrote between 5,500 and 9,000 gospel songs. (She used some 200 pseudonyms to preserve her modesty.) Conversion, life transformation, and preservation of the saints are common themes of her texts: Rescue the Perishing; Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine; To God Be the Glory; All the Way My Savior Leads Me; Praise Him! Praise Him!; I Am Thine, O Lord; Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior; Jesus Is Tenderly Calling; He Hideth My Soul; My Savior First of All (I Shall Know Him). The Bible records countless stories of transformed lives in both the Old and New Testaments: ...

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:1-5) We love watching the Sun rise and the Sun set, don’t we? Lately, I have noticed many friends posting their beautiful pictures of the Sun rising and setting than before the Great Sequester of 2020. The rising Sun is the prelude to the promise of a New Day … of new possibilities … of Hope. The setting Sun brings peace, providing a postlude to the end of a long, perhaps hard day of work, even struggle.  Both are gifts to humankind from our gracious Creator. When our two children were young, and they wo...

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier...