February 2018 – Page 4

Morning Musing: Psalm 130:4

February 12, 2018February 7, 2018Leave a comment

“But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

The fear of the Lord is a poorly understood concept even among His people. This is quite simply because we think about fear only in a single sense: terror. To be afraid of something isn’t good. Thus, while perhaps we should fear the Lord because we’re told to do so over and over and over again in the Scriptures, this isn’t something that ultimately draws us closer to Him. We fear Him so that we’ll do what He says. Once we develop the pattern of doing what He says, then we begin to grow closer to Him, at which point we don’t need to fear Him any longer. The logic here seems just about airtight…and it’s just about completely wrong. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Psalm 127:3

February 9, 2018February 5, 2018Leave a comment

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

During the course of his first campaign for President, Barack Obama was asked a question about his thoughts on sex education in schools. His answer was unintentionally a great deal more revealing than he perhaps wanted of a worldview belief far more common today than it ought to be. On this particular occasion he was asked whether he supported students being taught an abstinence-only curriculum or preferred one that included lessons on various methods of contraception, including abortion. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: James 4:15

February 9, 2018February 5, 2018Leave a comment

“Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)

How do you make plans? How attached to those plans are you? What James offers here is a reminder that all of our plans must be made contingent on what the Lord has planned. All of them. We can strive for whatever we want, but nothing will happen that He does not allow for some reason. The question then becomes: What does God have planned? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 12:7

February 7, 2018February 5, 2018Leave a comment

“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Facing hard stuff is something we all have to do at some point in our lives. It may be a little hard. It may be a lot hard. But in a broken world, hard stuff is part of the journey. The only variable here is how we handle the hard. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Ezekiel 37:13-14

February 7, 2018February 5, 2018Leave a comment

“And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

We serve the God who is in the business of bringing life where it does not exist. He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. Where there is death, He transforms it into life. Read the rest…