“Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
The psalmist is almost certainly talking about the lying lips and deceitful tongue of another person here, but if you’ll indulge me for a minute, let’s run in a slightly different direction. You have perhaps prayed for God to deliver you from the trouble caused by another person, but how about the trouble caused by…you? Read the rest…
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Do you read the Bible? You obviously do at least a little bit since you’re reading this. Reading the Bible is pretty enormously important, but not by itself, as James makes clear here and throughout his letter. If we do not also “do” the Bible, it has profited us exactly nothing. Read the rest…
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
These are some incredibly powerful truths here. Let’s treat them in order. Read the rest…
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…” (ESV – Read the chapter)
This is a rather jarring beginning to a letter. Count it all joy when you experience trials. Really?!? ALL joy? How? Why? Read the rest…
“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Battling sin is a task for today. We live in a world of doing the hard stuff later and the fun stuff now. Battling sin isn’t fun. It’s hard. It’s dangerous. It brings guarantees of success, yes, but also of pain. And yet it is a task we cannot put off until tomorrow. We must tackle it today. Read the rest…
The Nexus 