Blog: February 2019

During last Sunday’s sermon, I shared some comments by Jerry Bridges about our tendency as Christians to “drift” away from the gospel.  Here’s how he put it:  “If you do not daily appropriate the gospel, you will drift toward a performance relationship with God.”  A “performance relationship”—in other words, the idea that we’re accepted by God based on merit.  That’s our reflex; our fallen human tendency is to slip back into a me-focused mindset!  And to protect against that kind of sinful impulse, and to help us look away from ourselves, we ...

The tabernacle was complete. God now had a place where His glory could dwell without causing the Israelites to fear death. God had given His people laws from the mountain, and He gave them more rules for living and worshiping Him in the tabernacle. These rules are recorded in the Book of Leviticus. The reasoning behind Leviticus can be found in Leviticus 19:2: “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” In Leviticus 17:11, God set apart the blood of a creature as the means for making atonement. This answers the question, “Why did Jesus ...

Having close spiritual friendships isn’t just a nice idea:  it’s essential for followers of Jesus.  We need to give and receive God-focused, faith-building encouragement to avoid being hardened by sin’s deceit­fulness and to persevere with Christ to the end (Hebrews 3:12-14).  Are you in a small fellowship of faithful Christian friends who love and challenge each other like that? God calls us to a rich body life in which we bless “one another”: Greet one another (Romans 16:16) Show hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4:9) Accept one ...

Thirteen of the last sixteen chapters of the Book of Exodus contain instructions for building the tabernacle. The word tabernacle means “dwelling place.” The tabernacle was a portable tent where God met with His people. God wanted to dwell among them. (See Ex. 29:45-46.) Moses had been on the mountain talking with God for 40 days. God wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on tablets. When Moses returned to the camp, he called all of the Israelites together and gave them the instructions God had given him. (Ex. 24:3-4) ...

God is at work in the big things and the little things.  He coordinates the movement of stars (Isaiah 40:25-26), and yet he also remembers every sparrow and numbers all your hairs (Luke 12:6-7).  Nothing is too big or too small for the Lord’s wise, good superintendence. Not to suggest that we always understand how he’s at work for good in the midst of life’s woes.  Joseph must have wondered if God had forgotten him during his thirteen dark years (see Genesis 37:2; 41:46).  But be assured, in his time and his way, the Lord weaves events to ...

God led His people into the wilderness, but He did not leave them there alone. The Lord was with His people. He provided meat, bread, and water. He guided them to Mount Sinai, where He met with their leader, Moses. The Lord came down on the mountain in fire, and He spoke through thunder. The Israelites could not have ignored His presence. But when Moses went up on the mountain and did not return for several weeks, the Israelites felt abandoned. They appealed to Moses’ brother, Aaron: “Come, make gods for us who will go before us because ...

All praise to the God of limitless ability! Here are several Bible texts declaring that “God is able.”  Let this word of hope pour over you.  Read it through—then read it again, slowly.  Ask the Lord to apply this truth to your soul like medicine: Daniel 3:16-18:  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it ...

During my sermon last Sunday, I mentioned that I've appreciated a number of articles from Pastor Steve Fuller (he's serving an international, English-speaking church in Abu Dhabi, UAE). His blog is called Living By Faith, and he provides a number of very practical, readable, concise, Bible-based words of encouragement--check it out (by the way, you'll notice that he hasn't posted recently--this is because he's working on a book). On the front page he has a section called "To Strengthen Your Faith" with a long list of topics below--that's a ...