Contemplations
The Eternal Comfort of Forgiveness
“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty;...
Unparalleled Humility
“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” (James 4:6) In a world that applauds ambition and self-promotion, the call to humility stands as a radical counterpoint. Nevertheless, Romans 12:2 urges me not...
The Beauty of Graceful Speech
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” (Ephesians 4:29) Song of Solomon 4:3 likens the bride’s lips to “a thread of scarlet” and her speech to something...
The Everlasting Embrace of Christ
“And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.” (Jeremiah 32:40) The assurance of salvation, anchored in Scripture and secured in the...
The Lord of Heaven and Earth
“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” (Acts...
The Folly of Clinging to Sin
“And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:43-44) In this passage in...
Eternal Judgment and Present Grace
“And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:42) The doctrine of eternal punishment is one of the most dreadful truths revealed in Scripture. Christ Himself speaks often concerning the final judgment of the...
Mercy That Still Calls the Hardened Heart
“Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and...
Saints Who Warn a Perishing World
“He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.” (Psalm 50:4) The coming judgment of God is one of the most sobering realities in Scripture. We are told that heaven and earth themselves will be summoned as witnesses before the...
The Glory of the Gospel
“For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” (1 Thessalonians 1:5) The gospel of Jesus Christ is the appointed means through which God...
The Frailty of My Heart
“When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.” (Habakkuk 3:16) The holiness...
Grace That Draws
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) The grace of God is... and must of necessity be... the hub of salvation because fallen man possesses neither the inclination nor the wherewithal to save himself from sin....
God Who Makes the Impossible Possible
“But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.”...
Christ Exalted
“But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:13-14) God the Father assigned the...
Strength for the Soul
“And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand...
Trusting God’s Ways
“The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.” (Psalm 37:13) The prosperity of the wicked has long troubled the hearts of God’s people. When we see those who oppose Him appear secure, successful, and unshaken, it can seem as though righteousness...
The God in Whom All Life Exists
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” (Acts 17:28) The dependence of all creation upon the Creator is constant, absolute, and universal. Every breath and every movement of every...
Fleeing Idolatry
“Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.” (1 Corinthians 10:14) In his first letter to the believers at Corinth, Paul urges them to flee idolatry because it is a direct affront to the living God, as it transfers the honor due Him alone to something created....
Glory and Peace
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:13-14) The birth of Christ was first announced to a group of shepherds by a multitude of...
The Sin of Unbelief
“And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?” (Numbers 14:11) God’s people witnessed with their own eyes the hand of judgment on Egypt with every...
Confessing Our Unbelief
“But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 13:18) When God brought His people out of Egypt, He did not lead them by way of the most direct route to...
God’s Counsel Stands
“There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.” (Proverbs 19:21) Man is continually planning. He considers what he will do, how he can secure his future, how he will avoid trouble, how he can achieve success, how he...
Joyful Deliverance
“For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12) This beautiful promise in Isaiah was first given to the people of...
A Distinction with a Difference
“God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” (2 Peter 2:4) God created a multitude of celestial beings, known as angels or “messengers” in Scripture, to serve His...
God’s Unsearchable Greatness
“Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.” (Psalm 147:5) Psalm 147:5 reminds us of the vastness of God’s nature—His strength, wisdom, and presence extend beyond anything we can grasp. When we pause to consider who He is, we come to...
The Promise of Belonging
“And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.” (Romans 9:26) Romans 9:26 is a beautiful demonstration of God’s mercy, love, and grace in action, “And it shall...
The Mountain of Myrrh and Hill of Frankincense
“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.” (Micah 4:1) What a treasure of hope is found in this...
Perseverance in Prayer
"And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee." (Luke 11:7) In Luke 11, tucked between that familiar passage we refer to as “The Lord’s Prayer” and the equally familiar...
Christ Be Magnified
"What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." (Philippians 1:18) The gospel proclaims Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah, the One in whom every prophetic promise...
The Lord’s Certain Coming
“And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.” (Romans 9:26) Romans 9:26 is a beautiful demonstration of God’s mercy, love, and grace in action, “And it shall...
The Cancelled Bond
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." (Colossians 2:14) In this passage in Colossians, Paul presents our guilt of sin using the image of a written bond...
The Sin That Contemplates Harm
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."...
The Riches Of His Goodness
"Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" (Romans 2:4) Every blessing received from the hand of God is an expression of His goodness. His patience with sinners,...
Receiving God’s Word as Written to Me
“And as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16) Scripture is not a...
How to Tell the Difference
“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4) The third chapter of this first letter of John to the church is characterized by antitheses: the sinfulness of the Christian versus the sinlessness of Christ...
The Sovereign Mercy Of God
"For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." (Romans 9:15) Fallen man possesses no claim on God’s favor, for all have sinned and stand justly condemned before His holy law. If God...
God’s Promises at Work for Our Good
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) The promise of Romans 8:28 is a comforting and powerful reality, assuring us that no matter what we face, God is...
Christ My Substitute
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) The glory of the gospel shines most brightly in the work of Jesus Christ as the sinner's Substitute. Every descendant of...
Partakers of the Divine Nature
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:4) Through the exceeding great and precious promises of the gospel,...
Born Again by God and Believing by Faith
“Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” (John 3:3) Jesus answers the curiosity of Nicodemus with words that hold the key to eternal life: “Except a man be born again, he...
Renewed in the Spirit of the Mind
“And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” (Ephesians 4:23) Christians are often thought of as those who believe certain truths, participate in religious ordinances, and maintain an active connection to a local church. And while doctrine and worship are essential,...
Confessing My Discouragement
"I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots." (Song 1:9) Believers tend to judge themselves more by their present struggles than by Christ's gracious work in them, forgetting that every grace they possess has been freely given by...
Through Christ Alone
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Though the world wants to promote the notion that all religions lead to the same destination and that sincerity...
The Threefold Witness of Christ
“This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.” (1 John 5:6) The apostle John presents one of the most comforting and glorious testimonies...
Christ – King Over All Nations
"When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, 'Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.'" (Acts 11:18) Acts 11:18 marks a major turning point in the life of the early church—the realization that Christ died...
Laboring Faithfully Until Death
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:19) The sentence pronounced on Adam in Genesis 3 reveals the bitter effects of sin on...
Truth that Takes Hold of the Heart
“For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” (2 Corinthians 13:8) One of the most remarkable evidences of God's saving work in the soul is the change He produces in a person's relationship to truth and sin. Before conversion, our heart may be...
The Conquered Dragon
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” (Revelation 12:9) Scripture continually reminds us that the Christian life is a spiritual battle. Behind the visible affairs of nations, controversies,...
Those Who Fear God
"Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and His days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:" (Ecclesiastes 8:12) The prosperity of the wicked can present a difficult hurdle for our faith. Those in...
The Wrath From Which I Must Not Hide
"Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them." (Psalm 21:9) Psalm 21:9 declares the certainty of the Lord’s vengeance on the enemies of Christ and His kingdom. Though the...
The King Whose Enemies Cannot Stand
"The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath." (Psalm 110:5) Christ, the Mediator and King of His church, never stands alone in the execution of His royal office. As He sits at the right hand of the Father in glory, the government of...
The God Who Cannot Deny Himself
"If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." (2 Timothy 2:13) The faithfulness of God rests entirely in His own unchanging nature. He is faithful because faithfulness is His very being. He cannot cease to be what He eternally is. Therefore,...
Our Incomprehensible Portion
"Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: He is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: He will not afflict." (Job 37:23) God is an incomprehensible being. He may be truly known because He has revealed Himself, yet neither man nor angels...
The Greater Glory of the Gospel
"How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?" (2 Corinthians 3:8) God’s law, written and engraved in stones, possessed inherent glory because it came directly from God, revealed His righteousness, and declared His holy will. Yet it was also a...