Each day our gracious Lord bestows upon us countless blessings, and we tend to either miss them entirely, as in we enjoy them without even thinking about enjoying them, or to enjoy them without thinking about the Lord who gives them, as in we’re not consciously thankful to God for them. We don’t give much thought to our heartbeat throughout the day. It works, and we don’t really think about it. Similarly, it’s easy to experience and enjoy many things throughout the day without giving...
Author - Jonathan Shirk
What gives you confidence in life? What comforts your heart in life? It’s quite common for people to draw their confidence from what they do or accomplish or produce. Do you ever do that? People often work very hard, achieve success, and then feel confident about themselves based on the level of success they’ve achieved. Their confidence and comfort are tied to their attainments. I struggle with this. Think about it. Don’t you feel like life is more fulfilling and brighter when...
Along with the Apostles’, Nicene, Athanasian, and Chalcedonian Creeds, Belgic Confession Article Eight is insightful commentary on the Trinity. We need a clear doctrine of God today, a clear doctrine of the Trinity. Why? Well, in order to rightly know God, love God, and praise and glorify God. We won’t get very far in knowing, loving, praising, and glorifying God if we have idolatrous and errant conceptions of Him. Throughout history, there have been soul-condemning heresies like...
Dear brothers, sometimes leading God’s covenant people is very difficult. Sometimes, doing the right thing makes people mad, even when you are trying to love, serve, and care for them well. Dr. Douglas Stuart offered this helpful leadership quote in his commentary on Exodus. He was addressing Exodus 2 and Moses confronting the Hebrew who was beating his fellow Hebrew. “This is in the nature of leadership: the best attempts to help are sometimes faulty in themselves, yet even when...
“A smiling world is worse than a frowning one. She saith, ‘I cannot smite the man low with my repeated blows, I will take off my mailed glove, and showing him a fair white hand, I’ll bid him kiss it. I will tell him I love him: I will flatter him, I will speak good words to him.’ John Bunyan well describes this Madam Bubble: she has a winning way with her; she drops a smile at the end of each of her sentences; she talks much of fair things, and tries to win and woo. Oh...
As Christians, we love God, and we want to hear from Him, to know His will, and to know that He loves us, is with us, and is guiding us through this difficult journey of life. We want His reassurance. Communication with God is essential to our confidence and comfort. And Christians are divided on how we hear from God today. Some Christians believe that God gives new and direct revelation to believers today. They believe God speaks directly to believers and reveals new things that the Bible...
Why do you believe what you believe and live the way you live? You make decisions every day that affect you and others around you. Your beliefs shape those decisions, and your beliefs are shaped by some authority, an authority that you listen to. Isn’t that right? If you had a brain tumor and needed surgery, you’d be very interested in what Dr. Bartolome Oliver thought because, with over 47 years of experience, he’s probably the top neurosurgeon in the world. If Dr. Oliver spoke...
After Jesus rose from the dead, he spent time with two disciples on their way to Emmaus. You can read about it in Luke 24. They didn’t recognize him for a long while, but as he walked and talked with them, he taught them about himself from the Scriptures. What Scriptures? Luke 24:27 says, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” The New Testament hadn’t been written yet. Jesus used the Old Testament to...
Sometimes our loved ones live their lives in unbelief, and then they die. Did God regenerate their heart and grant them faith before their last breath? Did they confess (perhaps silently in mind or heart) Christ before their heartbeat for the last time? We don’t know. We do know that every unbeliever who dies in their sin and misery apart from Christ will be condemned and suffer forever in hell. However, we also know that God can save and rescue right up to the time of death. We know that...
When addressing the question of the signs of the Holy Spirit, J. I. Packer wrote: “What then are the signs that Christ’s self-effacing Spirit is at work? Not mystical raptures, nor visions and supposed revelations, nor even healings, tongues, and apparent miracles; for Satan, playing on our psychosomatic complexity and our fallenness, can produce all these things (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:9ff.; Colossians 2:18). The only sure signs are that the Christ of the Bible is acknowledged...