The fear of the Lord releases us from the bondage to all other fears. What does Jesus tell us his followers when he wants to calm our fearful hearts? When Jesus wants to calm the fearful hearts of His followers, he tells us to fear God! He says in Luke 12:4-5: “I tell you, my … Continue reading The Fear that Releases Us from All Other Fears
Devotional Thoughts
If You Have Ever Questioned the Practice of Infant Baptism…
Here is an excellent, brief, biblical rationale that answers the question: Why Christians baptize their babies? The Controversy of Infant Baptism
An Increasing View of the Infinite Dignity of Jesus Christ
Thanks to my good friend David Elmore I know of the esteemed Robert Hawker, an evangelical Anglican minister back in the late 1700s and early 1800s. His devotional The Poor Man's Morning & Evening Portions can be assessed here: Poor Man's Morning & Evening Portions Here is a lovely thought of his that I am thinking about … Continue reading An Increasing View of the Infinite Dignity of Jesus Christ
Temptation & the Loveliness of Jesus
The below three quotations remind us of the only real, lasting cure for resisting temptation. To respond to the distorting nature of temptation and sin you must set your affections on the beauty and glory of God, the loveliness of Christ, and the wonder of the gospel: Were our affections filled, taken up, and possessed … Continue reading Temptation & the Loveliness of Jesus
A Prayer to Align Our Hearts with God’s
Lord of the nations, You are pursuing with omnipotent passion the worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshippers for Yourself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. As we prepare to worship You today, grant us to share in Your inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of Your name among the nations. Bring our affections … Continue reading A Prayer to Align Our Hearts with God’s
Anoint Us with Your Gladness
Oh that the Lord might anoint us with His gladness. As we face the modern world with all its trouble and turmoil and with all its difficulties and sadness, nothing is more important than that we who call ourselves Christian, and who claim the Name of Christ, should be representing our faith in such a … Continue reading Anoint Us with Your Gladness
The Marks of a Redeemed Community – Worship Reflections
The below reflections come from studying Isaiah 56:1-8. God wants his gathered people to seek him for Himself, not merely for His blessings, great though they are. He wants us “to minister to Him, and to love His name, and to be His servants” (Isaiah 56:6). Then, he promises to “make us joyful” in his … Continue reading The Marks of a Redeemed Community – Worship Reflections
Welcoming the King on Palm Sunday
There is something exciting about being in a crowd. A crowd came from Jerusalem to greet him… to welcome him into the great city of David as the long anticipated Messiah… the deliverer for whom they had hoped. But Jesus rides into Jerusalem in a manner that shatters the expectations of his people of their … Continue reading Welcoming the King on Palm Sunday
Confessing Our Sin to the One who Restores Bruised Reeds (Matthew 12:20)
Father in heaven, we are those who have been bruised and broken by sin and the fall. We confess that we have bruised others by our harsh and critical words, our anger tempers, our betrayal, and our failed attempts at loving others well. The devil bruises us with his lies. We also bruise ourselves and … Continue reading Confessing Our Sin to the One who Restores Bruised Reeds (Matthew 12:20)
Prayer of Confession – Re. Physical Beauty
Beautiful Savior, You died to make me beautiful. For I was marred and made beastly by sin. Late it was that I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new, late I loved you! I vacillate between a monkish contempt of physical beauty and a worldly addiction to physical beauty. Forgive me where I have … Continue reading Prayer of Confession – Re. Physical Beauty
2Cherish2Commend 