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...
Each Christian has at least one spiritual gift that he or she must use to the glory of God and the building up of the church. We are stewards; God has entrusted these gifts to us that we might use them for the good of His church. He even gives...
God’s purpose in our redemption is not simply to rescue us from hell, as great a work as that is. His ultimate purpose in our salvation is that for all eternity the church might praise God for His grace (Ephesians 1:6, 12, and 14). If God has an eternal purpose...
Obedience to God’s Word is proof of our love for Him. There are three motives for obedience: We can obey because we have to, because we need to, or because we want to. A slave obeys because he has to. If he doesn’t obey he will be punished. An employee...
Psalm 145 was written with one purpose in mind: to praise the Lord. Notice that there are no requests and no confessions of sin in Psalm 145. It is pure praise! Just listen to the psalmist as he speaks to the Lord! “I will extol [exalt] Thee I will bless...
What really is “legalism”? It is the belief that I can become holy and please God by obeying laws. It is measuring spirituality by a list of do’s and don’ts. The weakness of legalism is that it sees sins (plural) but not sin (the root of the trouble). It judges...