"strive lawfully". Put simply - don't get disqualified. When the writer was young he belonged to an athletic club and well remembers an occasion when running the last leg of a relay race. He took the baton well down in the order and to his surprise noticed that the runner in front was cutting inside ... Read more
"they may forget, yet will I not forget". We live in a world where anything can happen. Who can tell what a day will bring forth? The strongest may weaken and the straightest bend. Put all your eggs in the safest basket and you run the risk of losing them all in one jolt. It ... Read more
"Give, and it shall be given unto you". These words are part of Jesus' 'Sermon on the Plain' - a lengthy discourse recorded for us by Luke in his Gospel. Like the Sermon on the Mount it contains injunctions that are difficult to put into practice, such as loving your enemies, turning the other cheek ... Read more
"if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners". Justification by faith does not allow the believer to continue in sin. If it did, Christ would become the administrator of sin. Christ paid the penalty for my sin and by believing I receive the gift of eternal life offered ... Read more
"Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever". This was God's promise to David in relation to the accession of his son, Solomon, to the throne. It was, however, a promise with conditions attached that Solomon could not or would not keep, to be constant in keeping God's commandments. The law of the Lord conveyed ... Read more
"It is the Spirit who gives life". Without the Holy Spirit, the church is like a club, the Bible is antiquity and the Christian life the mere adoption of high ideals. The Holy Spirit makes the church the Body of Christ, the Bible the Word of God and the Christian life a life in the ... Read more
"Neither did". The rot set in on the premise that if enough fall, failure is not so bad after all. Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali all joined the "neither did" failure club. They didn't drive the enemy out of the territory God had given them. It's an insidious evil, this comparing ourselves one with the ... Read more
"all my fears". Many will think they could compete with the Psalmist in the list of their fears. But it is not how many, but how terrifying your fears are. It is not really important how well-founded your fears are: fear causes pain and pain is unpleasant and can in extreme instances become unbearable. The ... Read more
"Each day has enough trouble of its own". Without our adding to it, that is. Some unnecessary troubles include everybody else’s problems, troubles that threaten to break tomorrow, dreamt-up troubles, illusions, misunderstandings. God will give you strength to solve today's problems, overcome today's difficulties, resist today's temptations and triumph over today's evil. Jesus' teaching was: ... Read more
"bind this line of scarlet thread in the window". It's a line that ran through the Old Testament from the time that animals were slain to provide covers of skin for Adam, down to the daily sacrifices offered in the Temple in Jerusalem. It broke out into a fountain at the Cross of Calvary when ... Read more