God is leading His people towards a time of great blessing.

Genesis 18-19 Abraham lived through tumultuous times. As we read about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, let us not lose sight of where things are going: "Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him" (18:18). When terrible things happen, and we …

Good News for sinners

God's way of righteousness begins with this - He is "just" - and leads to this - He "justifies those who have faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). "For our salvation Christ came down from heaven" (Nicene Creed) - This is Good News for sinners.  As we rejoice in the "for our salvation" message of the Gospel, …

Through it all

"When the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy" (Titus 3:4-5). "He saved us." We do not save ourselves. The Lord saves us. He is our Saviour. Our faith can never be more than a response to his love. Throughout our life of …

The Word and the words (16): Without Christ – we can do nothing. With him – we can do all things.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). "Apart from me you can do nothing" - This doesn't do much for our pride! Jesus hits the nail on the head! He's absolutely right! …

The love of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God

Lamentations 1:1-2:6; Titus 3:1-15; Psalm 119:113-120 “The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against His command” (Lamentations 1:18). “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another” (Titus 3:3). This is the story of …

The problems are great. The Lord is greater.

Judges 18:1-19:30; John 8:12-30; Psalm 60:5-12 In Judges, we read of idolatry and adultery. Into this kind of situation comes the Lord’s warning – “if you do not believe that I am He, you will indeed die in your sins” (John 8:24). There is much resistance to the Gospel. There will, however, be those who …

Faithfulness and relevance: speaking to believers – and unbelievers

"Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people" (Jude 3). Jude writes about "the salvation we share" and "the faith that was once for …

The Lord fights for us.

“The Lord fought for Israel” (Joshua 10:14). This is what we must see in all the conflicts between Israel and the other nations. God is working out His purpose. He is fulfilling His promises. Without this spiritual dimension, the events recorded in the book of Joshua are of no real significance for us today. Keeping …

Salvation comes first, then there is service.

Jonah 2:1-10  "Salvation is from the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). Salvation comes first, then there is service. Before his prayer "from inside the fish" (Jonah 2:1), Jonah was running away from God. He wasn't serving God. Before we can do something for God - serving Him, He must do something for us: He must save us. …

Our sin and God’s salvation

In Psalm 106, we read here about sin and salvation. There is a very realistic description of Israel’s sin - ‘They soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel... They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise... They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the …

More than a feeling

"We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s …

Lord, so often, we’re thinking, “What am I going to get out of this?

Lord, so often, we’re thinking, “What am I going to get out of this? – when we should be thinking, “What can I do for others?” Help us, Lord, when we read Your Word, to take a right good look at ourselves – and to start praying, “Lord, may it be less about what we …