The fiction: Trying circumstances, instability within or without, personal failure, weakness, a lack of spiritual discipline, temptation, and the devil can separate us from God. The fact: “Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of You we are being put…
Tag: Jesus Christ
The Only Truth I Know
Simon & Garfunkel “I stand alone without beliefs. The only truth I know is you.” —Paul Simon, “Kathy’s Song” Paul Simon wrote the above lyric for a woman. “Kathy’s Song” is a love song par excellance. Yet every time I hear this line from the song, I cannot help but think of the Lord. Over…
The Unknown Within
“I watched the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He rested on Him. I didn’t know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One you see the Spirit descending and resting on—He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!”…
The Cross and the Departure of Glory
A deep sense of grief permeates Ezekiel’s account of the temple’s destruction. The loss felt by the Lord is poignantly expressed when He says, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain” (Ezek. 9:7). Defile the temple? Defile the place chosen out of all creation as a dwelling for God? Why should the…
The Divine Field of View
Our eyes are positioned in front for a good reason: It allows us to focus. Having two eyes on the same side of the head is the reason we have depth perception and can examine things in detail. My friend, Derrick, and I were discussing this over coffee. We were talking about eschatology and the…
You Might Be a Legalist if…
You might be a legalist if: You’re trying to be a good spouse, parent, child, sibling, etc. Appearances are everything. You’re afraid of making mistakes. You might be a legalist if: A person is made unclean by what goes into them (Mark 7:18-23). You’re afraid to make decisions when the Holy Spirit gives no…
The Holy of Holies in Action
The following is an entry from my journal written in December 2007. *** Sometimes I worry that I’m not with the Lord enough, that He is always shoved out by circumstances. Today, the Lord is again telling me to trust Him. As I was trying to pray, He said, “Can’t you see how much striving…
Wonderful Things in Your Law (Part 3)
Please read Part 1 and Part 2 before continuing… Appearances, Appearances We have been saying that the law is fulfilled by two aspects of our relationship with God—us in Christ and Christ in us. Yet these manifest differently, and have different appearances, outwardly speaking. This contributes to our collective confusion about the place of the…
Another Scary Verse from Hebrews
http://vimeo.com/9654814 “For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries” (Heb. 10:26-27). This is one of those passages that most of us would like to wish away. Until…
St. Francis Wasn’t a Sissie
Francis of Assisi Francis of Assisi is known for giving it all. His father, a wealthy merchant, demanded Francis relax his zeal for Christ or renounce all claims to his inheritance. Francis answered by removing his clothes and returning them to his astonished father. This attitude marked the rest of Francis’s life. I have always…
The Voice of One 