Posts tagged God
You are a Real Thing

I’ve been reflecting on the Bible’s historicity. That is the question of whether the story of the Bible is meant to be read as existing within the same universe, the same timeline, on the same planet, having the same sorts of people, as our lives. The answer, of course, is yes: The Bible is clearly, thickly, meant to be read as historical. All measures of historicity verify this.

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Equipped is Good

Last week’s devotional (“Good is Perfect”) captured was has been such a helpful truth for me through the years. And it’s one that puts us on a much more biblical, practical, realistic, foundation for life with God. See, God didn’t design us to be perfect, He designed us to be useful, “good” for His purposes. The question isn’t, “How can I be a better me this year?” It’s, “How can I be of more use to my Lord?”

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Snip Snip

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch... that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit....4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (Joh 15:1-5)

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The Life of Belovedness

Few places in Scripture give such close attention to the nature of God's relationship with us. We are often admonished to consider the love of the Lord, but here we see what that looks like. And so we encounter God's thoughts toward us, His knowledge and love for us, in detail. And this carries significant implications for how we think about God and how we live as His people.

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The Soul of a Priest

Jeremiah 31 describes a day of redemption. (31:11) It tells of a time when “they shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,” and “I will turn their mourning into joy… and give them gladness for sorrow.” (13) It’s a day when the LORD will “make a new covenant with the house of Israel.” (31) This refers to work of Jesus: “This is the New Covenant, in My blood.”

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Happening to New People

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, 'See! This is new!' It has been already in the ages before us. The author of Ecclesiastes, we should point out, wrote roughly 3,000 years ago. Since then, only one new thing has happened. Only one thing has happened that is truly, genuinely, new. And we call it The Good News.

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Praise Ye the Lord

Psalm 150 is the final psalm.149 reflections precede it. 149 poems, songs, and laments describe the wide variety of experiences of walking with God. They describe God in unique ways. We know Him through the psalms as a fearful God, a strange God, a wondrous God, a tender God, a gentle and loving God, a ferocious God, a faithful God. The Psalms are the variety of the experiences of God.

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Stuckness

Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.
I had said in my alarm, "I am cut off from your sight." But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.
Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!

(Psa 31:21-24)

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