I had an “aha” moment as I read a chapter from JI Packer’s “Knowing God“.
Salvation comes, not as someone comes to “accept Christ”, but rather as someone comes to be accepted by Him.
This turns on its head a lot of our evangelism training by showing our need for being accepted, rather than being in a position to accept Him.
That may not seem like much to you, but it was eye-opening to me just now.
The writer of Hebrews compares Jesus and Moses in today’s Bible reading in Hebrews 3. Most Jews of the day – and religious Jews of today – look to Moses as an authority on the Jewish religion. And rightfully so! The writer praises Moses for his faithfulness. But he points out that as good as…
Paul seems to condemn himself in today’s Bible reading. He tells his readers to not judge, but he seems to do that very thing as he progresses through Romans 2. So what’s going on? Jesus told his followers to not judge, lest they also be judged. (Matthew 7:1) But Jesus doesn’t say, “Don’t judge” in…
Last week, we looked at what happened when the seals were removed from the Scroll and God’s judgment began to be executed. It was bad. In today’s Bible reading, angels blow trumpets and more calamity is hurled at the earth. Without the context of the rest of the Bible, these actions sound cruel, both to…
A few days ago, I used this graphic and I feel that today’s devotional demands that I re-use it. Today’s Bible reading discusses this very thing in Galatians 4. In Galatians 4:6–7, Paul brings out the fact that believers are not servants; they are sons. There is a tremendous difference between the responsibilities of a…
We begin reading 1 Timothy in today’s Bible reading. Paul reminds Timothy that he should teach people not to teach false doctrine or pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. Why? Because they “promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan which operates by faith”. (1 Timothy 1:3-4, CSB) Paul refers to Timothy as his “true…
As a pastor, I receive emails from time to time asking me to complete a survey in exchange for a copy of an ebook. I completed one of those surveys this morning. To be honest, I really didn’t like my answers! Today’s survey questions asked about my prayer life: How much time do you spend…
