The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
God’s Promise of the Seasons
Yesterday our calendars marked the beginning of summer. I find it amazing that even after all this time since creation, the world still revolves and the seasons still change. Of course God did not just set things in motion at creation to walk away; He has continued to interact with our world and its people through the ages.
Living where I do, at the juxtaposition of two major mountain ranges and the high desert, the…..
Fact, Not Feeling
When Jesus Christ promised “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” in Matthew 28:20b, He didn’t qualify it with various circumstances under which He would not fulfill the promise. Likewise in Hebrews 13:5b, “for He has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you”, there is no mitigating circumstance under which the promise will not be kept.
John 14:27 also gives us an unconditional promise: “Peace I leave with you, my…..
Blessed Quietness
One of my favorite hymns growing up was “Blessed Quietness”. The lyrics reflect absolute trust in the fact of salvation, the presence of the Comforter (i.e., the Holy Spirit) making “the trusting heart His home”, and the resulting fruit of righteousness that grows in each believer. It is the third person of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) who indwells us at salvation, bringing the peace and joy promised in Scripture…..
O Death, Where is Thy Sting?
There are times that Dan and I talk honestly and unafraid about death. One of those times was on September 29 when we received the call from Dan’s doctor telling him that five tumors were found in the PetCT scan done the day before. A later biopsy revealed them to be metastatic melanoma. Since November Dan has undergone bi-weekly immunotherapy infusions, the side-effects of which have become devastating. Frequent, unproductive coughing and digestive issues…..
Psalm One Revisited
This week I was reminded of the short but comprehensive view of the servant’s heart found in Psalm 1. It is an Old Testament passage that crosses directly over into New Testament righteousness:
“Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD and in his law…..
Jude, the Servant of Jesus Christ
Jude is the final epistle of the New Testament to start with reference to being “the bond-servant of Jesus Christ”. He also calls himself the “brother of James”. The author of Jude, then, was also the half-brother of Jesus. Jude does not directly cite his family relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead he connects himself with the leader of the church at Jerusalem who happens to also be his brother James.
Little is…..
Peter, a Servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ
I think that Peter understood service in the kingdom of God better than any of the other apostles. But his understanding was incomplete until after Jesus arose from the dead. Peter served Jesus as he would have attended to the needs of any earthly master, even to the point of fighting for Jesus’ life in the Garden of Gethsemene. Then Peter failed Jesus during His trial when he lied about not…..
James, a Servant of God and of Jesus Christ
James was another epistle writer who called himself a servant. In his case he called himself “a servant of God and of Jesus Christ”. He could have said he was “James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ”. But he didn’t. He could also have introduced himself as “James, the lead pastor of the church at Jerusalem”. But he didn’t.
Can you imagine growing up in the same household as Jesus? Sometime during…..
Paul, a Servant of God
In Romans 1:1, Paul identifies himself as a “servant of Jesus Christ”. Likewise, he identifies as a “servant of God” in Titus 1:1. James, Peter, and Jude followed suit with identification as “a servant of God” in James 1:1, 2 Peter 1:1, and Jude 1:1. The New Testament contains a great deal of information about being a servant of God. It must be stated that “servant” and “slave” appear to be synonymous in biblical terms.
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Habitual Prayer
For the Christian, the Bible makes it clear that we are to walk by faith, recognizing that whatever happens to us is by God’s permission and for His glory. Psalm 84:11-12 says, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts in You.”
That trust extends to our human…..