Dear Ones: Sometimes we forget that God is the God of all circumstances. This is particularly hard to grasp and remember when difficult and trying times come, especially on the individual level. But to believe that he is sovereign, and that in the “narrowness” of circumstances, and feeling cornered at times, there is this realty: …
Dear Ones: A witness is a person who sees and hears…observes something or someone. On the day of Pentecost, there was a mighty rushing wind. The disciples HEARD. Then there were the “cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” (Acts 2:2-3) The disciples SAW. But what made the disciples…
Dear Ones: There are many things that are true, but are not “realities” to us, because they are not “real” to our senses, minds, and hearts. God has made provision for this with regard to our knowing Him. Think of this…He makes the world, and us. He then comes to live by His Spirit in…
Dear Ones: After the resurrection of Christ, before His ascension, He instructed “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” to tell his disciples to go into Galilee. There was a promise associated with this simple command: “…THERE shall they see Me.” (Matt. 28:10) The Lord at one point spoke to Ezekiel and said: “…Arise, go forth…
Dear Ones: A secret is something that is hidden, unknown, kept privately in the heart and mind. With regard to men, we think it may be great or small, good or bad, long-lasting or short-term. But if we enter the realm of the eternal, and we consider the “secret of the Lord,” (Ps. 25:14), the…
Dear Ones: The clarion is a “shrill, narrow-tubed war trumpet,” which gives a “loud and clear” sound. Why? Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:8, “…For it the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” What is the clarion message throughout Scripture which reveals to us the unchanging ways of God,…
Dear Ones: In the book of Joshua, where we read concerning his old age, and soon departure to be with the Lord, he writes: “…Choose you this day whom ye will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh. 24:15) The context of such a declaration to Israel is the…
Dear Ones: Henry Ironside had a very simple approach to practical Christianity. He said, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” Charles Spurgeon on his death-bed expressed the culmination of a life of preaching, by declaring that all can be resumed in the phrase: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible…
Dear Ones: How expectant are we of God’s intervention in our lives and those for whom we pray? Perhaps the answer lies in the lack of knowledge of God, and of His will and desire. Another reason has to do with knowing the present need as it truly is. When Isaiah penned the words, “…until…
Dear Ones: True Christianity is a very personal thing, and very real. When Jesus tells us that the mystery hidden from all the ages, but now revealed in and to the church is our union with Him by the Spirit, …this is personal. It is not like going to Jerusalem where Jesus “was.” It is…