Dear Ones: There is a wonderful verse in Isaiah, which makes a most remarkable declaration. “But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham MY FRIEND.” (Is. 41:8) God calls Abraham His friend. What a most extraordinary reality, that a man could be the friend of the Eternal God. …
Dear Ones: “Time” is finite…has limits, length, and is a gift. Also, it must be said that “time” belongs to the living. As such, the “living” should have a very clear assessment of the value of time, and the opportunity that it affords us. Isaiah writes: “…surely this people is GRASS. The grass withereth, the…
Dear Ones: In this life of faith in Christ, there is a most essential act and attitude of faith that we must be careful to practice and live, a life of thankfulness. The Psalmist tells us that we are to, “…enter His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.” (Ps. 100:4) Why does…
Dear Ones: It was over five hundred years between the coming of Cyrus, the King of Persia, on the historical scene, and the arrival of Timothy, the Apostle Paul’s “son in the faith.” Cyrus was a man who had not only a sense of “destiny,” but the conviction that God had intervened in history in…
Dear Ones: Is it possible to go forth in the full assurance of God’s guidance and provision? The author of the book of Hebrews wrote, with regard to our drawing near to God, that we were to do so with “a true heart, in FULL ASSURANCE OF FAITH.” (10:22) How can this be? How are…
Dear Ones: Is it difficult to surrender one’s life to Christ? No. It is impossible…that is, without the grace and intervention of God. This is why Nicodemus was so astounded at the declaration by Jesus, that a man must be born again, born of the Spirit, to enter the kingdom of God. No amount of…
Dear Ones: Where do we live? I do not refer to a physical address. There is a old hymn, written by A.I. Waring, in which he writes: “In heav’nly love abiding, no change my heart shall fear; And safe is such confiding, for nothing changes here.” The Psalmist wrote: “He that dwelleth in the secret…
Dear Ones: As far as I know, there has been but one Pentecost, when the Spirit came, and the prophecy of Joel was fulfilled. On that day, there was a “sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind.” (Acts 2:2) In John’s gospel, the Lord Jesus speaks of the wind: “The wind bloweth where…
Dear Ones: How little, and clouded, is our vision of the goodness of God. It is very difficult for us who look towards heaven “…through a glass darkly,” to perceive the greatness of the goodness of God. And yet, when the Lord created the world, all that He did was declared to be good…even “very…
Dear Ones: The problem is NOT with the Great Shepherd. It is with the sheep. It has been said that in the 23rd Psalm, the great discovery by David was not that there was a Shepherd, but that he was a sheep. Coming to grips with what this means is essential if the great Shepherd…