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"I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Acts 9:16
Recent Entries
Making Sense Of It AllJanuary 30, 2012
Where are things headed? Is there rhyme and reason to the endless cycle of summer, fall, winter and spring? Is there a plan in place, or is randomness the explanation?
Suffering Saints
January 25, 2012
We get nervous thinking about it - suffering for the sake of Christ. How necessary is it, and what does it produce in us?
George Herbert on Prayer Meetings
January 21, 2012
Prayer Meetings are a thing of the past. Or so it seems. What has been lost? Maybe more than we realize.
When Fear Is Good
January 7, 2012
NO FEAR, we are told. And the point is well taken. But fear can be healthy, at least when it comes to eternal matters.
Happy, Happy, Happy
January 4, 2012
The declaration of independence holds up the pursuit of happiness as a right. Did you ever consider the reading the bible might be the one source that will never let you down?
The Twelve Signs Of Grace
December 22, 2011
Self-examination is not easy to do. The tendency is to let ourselves off easy. But examine we must, for eternity is at stake.
"Ouch!!"
July 22, 2011
Spiritual pride is hard to detect. Jonathan Edwards gives some tips. The process can be painful, but necessary.
Life's Wear And Tear
July 8, 2008
Late in life, from a prison cell, Paul sends a second letter to his young disciple Timothy. "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus." Whether Timothy was soft, and getting involved in civilian affairs, we are not told, but Paul wants him to live in such a way as to be pleasing to his commanding officer. And as much as Paul wanted to be proud of Timothy, surely the officer he had in mind here was not himself, but the Lord Jesus, our Supreme Head.
Paul had it rough, no question. At his conversion, he was told that suffering would be part of the deal. But who could have imagined how this would actually play out?
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own people, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? 2 Corinthians 11:24-29
How amazing that Paul could then turn around, and while admitting that outwardly he was wasting away, at the same time inwardly he was BEING RENEWED day by day. Furthermore he suggested that his LIGHT AND MOMENTARY TROUBLES were actually accomplishing something - an eternal glory that far outweighs them all!! 2 Corinthians 4:16,17 Wow! Now that is an amazing perspective, is it not?
In the face of the day-to-day, and being pushed and shoved by life's buffetings, John Newton offers a benediction that is like a drink of cool water on a hot day:
May the Lord, by faith, give us an abiding evidence of the reality and importance of the things which cannot yet be seen: so shall we be enabled to live above the world while we are in it, uninfluenced either by its blandishments or its frowns; and, with a noble simplicity and singularity, avow and maintain the cause of God in truth, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. He who we serve is able to support and protect us; and He well deserves at our hands that we should be willing to endure, for His sake, much more that He will ever permit us to be exercised with."
Paul had it rough, no question. At his conversion, he was told that suffering would be part of the deal. But who could have imagined how this would actually play out?
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own people, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? 2 Corinthians 11:24-29
How amazing that Paul could then turn around, and while admitting that outwardly he was wasting away, at the same time inwardly he was BEING RENEWED day by day. Furthermore he suggested that his LIGHT AND MOMENTARY TROUBLES were actually accomplishing something - an eternal glory that far outweighs them all!! 2 Corinthians 4:16,17 Wow! Now that is an amazing perspective, is it not?
In the face of the day-to-day, and being pushed and shoved by life's buffetings, John Newton offers a benediction that is like a drink of cool water on a hot day:
May the Lord, by faith, give us an abiding evidence of the reality and importance of the things which cannot yet be seen: so shall we be enabled to live above the world while we are in it, uninfluenced either by its blandishments or its frowns; and, with a noble simplicity and singularity, avow and maintain the cause of God in truth, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. He who we serve is able to support and protect us; and He well deserves at our hands that we should be willing to endure, for His sake, much more that He will ever permit us to be exercised with."
