"All of life is business with God…" John Calvin
In the first four chapters of the book of Hebrews the author has been exhorting his readers to persevere in the faith of the gospel, gathering his encouragements in the form of arguments for: the supremacy of Christ as the final and best revelation of God, Christ in his humanity being perfectly suited to be … Continue reading God’s Life-Giving Word
Sin whispers, “Is God really good?” Sin suggests, “You can do better than God’s way.” Sin befriends, “God doesn’t have your best interest at heart; I do.” Sin cajoles, “Just this once.” Sin promises, “You’re in control. You’ve got this. Nobody needs to know. You can stop at any time.” Sin deceives. In the Garden, … Continue reading Hold Fast
My husband Jim and I went kayaking last month on Lake Superior with a group led by our daughter Erin. Being a good guide, she gave us a safety briefing before we began. Part of her briefing included the need to stay together. The first morning we went out there was an unusually heavy fog, … Continue reading Don’t Drift
A few weeks ago we went to Wisconsin, along the shore of Lake Superior, for a beautiful week of vacation. The local residents love their lake, and they clearly enjoy the adjectival advantages of living next to North America’s largest lake, which is “superior in magnitude to any of the lakes on that vast continent.”[1] … Continue reading Jesus Christ, Our Superior Prophet, Priest, and King
This is the final "missing lesson" from the series I wrote from the study of 1 John. May the Lord use these faltering words of mine for his own glory as I point to him and his immeasurable love. We come now to one of the most love-saturated passages of Scripture in the entire Bible. … Continue reading Abiding in God’s Love, Lesson 13
Here's the next in the series of "posts that didn't make the transfer" from the lessons in the study of 1 John. This was lesson 11, covering 1 John 3:11-24. These posts are long, because they were written to be more of a book chapter than a blog post. If you have the endurance to … Continue reading The Hatred of Cain and the Love of Christ, Lesson 11
Several years ago I wrote a series on 1 John (based on a Bible study which I also wrote) for our church's women's ministry blog, which I then re-posted here on my own blog. This morning while looking for something else I discovered that I missed one post in the process. It's a few years … Continue reading Christ Our Advocate and Propitiation, Lesson 4
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them;for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them. . . — Hosea 14:9 When I began to study Hosea, I knew that I would discover treasures of God’s love and mercy in this portion of his holy, … Continue reading The Bewildering Magnificence of the Gospel
Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.Take with you wordsand return to the Lord;say to him,“Take away all iniquity;accept what is good,and we will pay with bullsthe vows of our lips.Assyria shall not save us;we will not ride on horses;and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’to … Continue reading True Repentance, At Last
