Helping you grow in God's all-sufficient grace and truth
“Psalm 73 contains one of the most rhapsodic [emotionally expressive] and uplifting passages in the whole Psalter, and, indeed, there is hardly need for anything beyond letting their rhythms and sentiments sink into our souls.” So writes Alec Motyer in
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The Christian life is about walking with God, with our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. But how do we walk with Christ? How do we walk with One whom we cannot see? We walk by faith. In 2 Corinthians 5:7,
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The book of Numbers contains the account of a strange event which took place during Israel’s time of wandering in the wilderness. It is most often referred to as Moses and the Bronze Serpent. Let’s take a few minutes to
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It’s 4:00 a.m. and I’m awake, my body still recovering from jet lag. This is to be expected after teaching Common Issues Addressed in Biblical Counseling in Ukraine, last week. Unexpectedly, however, counseling people with sleep problems generated more class
Continue readingLast week, I spent several days in Psalms 3-7 as part of my study through Alec Motyer’s devotional translation of the Hebrew songbook we know as the book of Psalms. Whether or not all agree that Psalms 3-7 belong to the
Continue readingThis morning, my heart craved some time with the Puritans. Therefore, one volume I pulled off my shelf is The Christian’s Reasonable Service. My post-it note bookmark was in the middle of the chapter on general observations concerning the decrees
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In 1994, I was given Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges. Immediately, I read the first few chapters and set it aside for no memorable reason (Providence had another plan to use it later). There it sat until 2006 when I
Continue readingThis morning, during a time of prayer with a brother in Christ, my heart was blessed by this prayer from Matthew Henry: Give us the grace to believe, for the faith that saves does not come from ourselves, but only
Continue readingThis past Saturday morning, I revisited Lamentations 3:22-25, which has been a significant source of soul food for me over the years. These four verses contain promises and statements about God which are simply amazing in their simplicity and yet
Continue reading“I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts” (Psalm 119:45). This verse struck me a couple weeks back when I was working through Psalm 119. “What does the phrase ‘walk in a wide place’ mean,”
Continue readingIn the past few posts, we’ve been walking through James 1:2-12 and learning how God uses trials to test and grow our faith in order to lead us to greater fruitfulness. First, James taught us that trials test our posture,
Continue readingNothing tests the sincerity of the heart motives behind our prayers like trials do. Why is that? Trials are custom-designed by God to reveal to us the idolatry that remains in our hearts, not so that He may gleefully watch
Continue readingIn his excellent book, Trusting God, Jerry Bridges provides a compelling illustration of the necessary relationship between experiencing trials and growing toward spiritual maturity. He writes: One of the many fascinating events in nature is the emergence of the Cecropia
Continue readingIn Psalm 27:7, David pleads with God to answer him. But what is significant to recognize is that he does not base his request on himself, but on God’s grace and mercy: “Be gracious to me and answer me!” This
Continue readingThis morning, I awoke with the desire to page through a Moleskine journal that I recently filled up; my soul needed to feed upon the workings of the Spirit in my mind and heart in the past—taking in, again, spiritual
Continue readingWhile spending time in Psalm 104, this morning, the study notes in the ESV Study Bible directed me to the Gospel of Mark. In verse 7 of the psalm, the songwriter says, “At your rebuke they fled [the waters after
Continue readingThe society we live in expects life to be trouble-free; there is an assumption that we somehow have a right to an easy life. This mindset is reflected in the answer to a typical question. “What is the number-one question
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One of the most famous portions of the Bible is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which begins with what have become known as The Beatitudes. Each of these snippets of divine wisdom begins with the word, “Blessed,” which actually means
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By God’s grace, I’m a husband, dad, grandpa, and pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Mayfield Hts, OH. I love Christ because He first loved me.
