I had a conversation yesterday with a friend regarding the perpetual unhappiness of everyone. He spoke of his children and how they want one more dress, one more pair of shoes, just one more. He even spoke of his millionaire friend who wants just one more million. Why is it that we’re never happy with what we have? Why is it that we always place happiness, not in what we have, but in the very thing we still lack? Continue reading “Are you unhappy?”
Are you forgiven?
I’ve long enjoyed the Private Thoughts on Religion by Thomas Adam. It is arguably the most heart-piercing and soul-humbling book in print. His words reach the depths of the soul in a way that other writers do not. In fact, I don’t know of any other book that puts words in my soul’s mouth like his. Consisting of private reflections from his notes and diaries (published after his death), it’s a window into my soul’s wrestlings to confront my own sin, to live honestly before God, to live by faith in a sense-driven body and world, and to walk holily before God in all I do. I’d like to share with you what I read today. Continue reading “Are you forgiven?”
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Do you complain?
Why do we always complain when things don’t go the way we want them to or think they should? Is it because we infallibly know that something is wrong and God should fix it, or is it because we simply don’t believe that the way things fell out is the way they’re supposed to be, or is it because we simply don’t like the way things are? Continue reading “Do you complain?”
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Soul-sickness
We’ve got pills for everything! There’s a pill for every sickness, a dose of something or another for every discomfort. Given what stocks the shelves in your local pharmacy, there’s practically no reason to be sick today, no reason to be uncomfortable. Just to go the pharmacy, get what you need, and in no time you’ll be right as rain. And that’s just what we do. The minute we feel a sickness coming on, we’re off to the pharmacy for Vitamin C, Zinc, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, &c. No time to waste; no time to be sick; we can’t afford to be down. I’ve often wondered why we don’t treat soul-sickness the same way. Continue reading “Soul-sickness”
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Living under God’s eye
The motto of R. C. Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries has become famous: Coram Deo. It’s a Latin phrase that means before the face of God. The idea is that we’re to live and carry ourselves as before His face or under His eye. Our lives are to be lived as those who know that He looks on. Well enough. But is this not doing one’s work by way of eye-service, which Paul condemns in Col 3.22? Continue reading “Living under God’s eye”
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The Duties of Parents and Children, Col 3.20-21
This is an excerpt from the close of my sermon yesterday on Col 3.20-21. Paul says parents are not to provoke their children and children are to obey their parents in everything. I pray it blesses your own life and the life of your family. Continue reading “The Duties of Parents and Children, Col 3.20-21”
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How to live in light of the truth of God
Over the last two posts I’ve explained that the Christian is a man with the saving knowledge of God and, further, that he applies that knowledge. Are you such a man as that? Here are some helps to being such a man, helps to living in the light of the knowledge of God. Continue reading “How to live in light of the truth of God”
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The Christian applies the knowledge of God to his life
I made the point yesterday that the Christian is a man with the knowledge of God. But that’s not all. The truth of God is a living truth, a truth that begets life. Mere knowledge of God, even knowledge of God’s truth, isn’t an end in itself. Rather, a true and saving knowledge of God’s will is the foundation of Christian character and conduct. Continue reading “The Christian applies the knowledge of God to his life”
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The Christian is a man with the knowledge of God
What’s the relationship between Christian life and Christian doctrine? Can a man be a Christian without knowing God in a saving way? Of course not. But can a man have a saving knowledge of God and not live a life that accords with it? Again, of course not. Christian life and Christian doctrine are not only inseparably connected, but vitally connected. Continue reading “The Christian is a man with the knowledge of God”
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What are you living for?
Each of us lives for something. We labor and strive every day and throughout our whole lives to get somewhere, to gain something, to move beyond where we are, to add to what we presently have. And whatever that thing is for which we live, it shapes our lives and deeply affects the decisions we make every day. In a real sense, it governs us. We’re enslaved to it. We’re driven by it. It preoccupies us. So what is it for you? What are you living for?
Continue reading “What are you living for?”
