If the twenty-four elders of Revelation typify the people of God in heaven, then we must ask, “Why should God’s people praise God the Creator?” If the heavens are declaring the glory of God (Psalm 19), why shouldn’t God’s heavenly people join the chorus? Creation bears constant witness to the...
The mystery of human suffering will not be solved completely in this life. Sometimes we suffer simply because we are human. Our bodies change as we grow older, and we are susceptible to the normal problems of life. The same body that can bring us pleasure can also bring us...
In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus used the illustration of the eye to teach us how to have a spiritual outlook on life. One truth presented in that passage is this: We must not pass judgment on others’ motives. We should examine their actions and attitudes, but we can- not judge their...
It is good to lay the foundations of faith in childhood and youth. For some Christians, the “golden years” are really “leaden years” because they wasted their youth and did not lay solid foundations of faith. This does not mean that an older person who has missed his opportunities to...
A Christian doctor had tried to witness to a very moral woman who belonged to a church that denied the need for salvation and the reality of future judgment. “God loves me too much to condemn me,” the patient would reply. “I cannot believe that God would make such a...
When the Prophet Nathan told King David the story about “the stolen ewe lamb” (2 Samuel 12), the king became angry—but at the wrong person. “Thou art the man,” said Nathan (v. 7), and David then confessed, “I have sinned” (v. 13). In the garden, Peter was slow to hear,...
Our minds control our bodies, and our wills control our minds. Many people think they can control their will by “willpower,” but they usually fail. This was Paul’s experience as recorded in Romans 7:15-21. It is only when we yield our wills to God that His power can take over...
At the close of an important speech to Congress on January 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt shared his vision of the kind of world he wanted to see after the war was over. He envisioned four basic freedoms enjoyed by all people: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom...
God becomes our Father when we trust Jesus Christ as our Saviour, but He cannot be to us a Father unless we obey Him and fellowship with Him. He longs to receive us in love and treat us as His precious sons and daughters. Salvation means we share the Father’s...
One of the marks of a true servant of God is his honesty and integrity: he practices what he preaches. This does not mean he is sinlessly perfect, but that he sincerely seeks to obey the Word of God. He tries to maintain a good conscience. A conscience can become...