God rewarded Job. For what? For speaking rightly of Him, while his companions had not spoken rightly of Him. Now in what did Job speak rightly of God? The writer of Hebrews commends to us the 'patience of Job'. In what was Job patient? Job certainly did not endure suffering without complaining about it, for …
Continue reading Job: Patience in Faith – Demanding the Goodness of God
“God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son... this is the testimony He has given us concerning His Son: whoever has the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. Little children, I am writing these things to you who believe in …
Continue reading Ask Not About Assurance: Know the Son (Thoughts on 1st John)
“If we died with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.” “But do not worry about what you are to say or how you will …
Some people think that one should never ask God “Why?” about anything. Others seem to be very interested in asking God “Why?” about all kinds of things. Asking God “Why?” is not necessarily doubting His goodness or His love. It depends on why you are asking “Why?” and on what you are asking. Sometimes, asking …
Continue reading Asking God “Why?” and Declaring His Goodness
To be poor in spirit means to recognize that we are creatures. This may well be a description of repentance, for sin began when Satan told Eve that if she ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil she would be like God and she and Adam ate the fruit. But, it is because we are creatures that we are poor in spirit, that we are beggars who have nothing to bring but need, and this is a most blessed state, for it is God's delight to fill our need – which can be satisfied by nothing less – with Himself, with love, with blessing. His desire is to continuously fill continual need with continual blessing. It is a very blessed thing to be a creature, to be poor in spirit.
Sometimes, people wonder whether faith comes before regeneration or the other way around. Other times, people trust in and look to faith, or what they think is faith, instead of God. I believe that all these issues (and maybe more besides) stem from a misunderstanding of what faith is. “Now, faith is the confidence of things not seen and the assurance of things hoped for.” That’s from Hebrews. In 2nd Corinthians, Paul writes, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, for what is seen is passing away, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Meanwhile, on earth, faith is our seeing of God, faith is our living on God. Faith is walking in the Spirit, instead of in the flesh. The vision is eternal life; seeing it is faith. For now.
Enthralled By Love 