If I am only a pilgrim on this earth, then I must not place my ultimate hope in anything this earth can give. When we remember that our true home is with Christ, we are less likely to let the things of this earth capture our hearts in idolatrous ways. When we love something more than the Lord, that thing has become an idol. We begin to live for it, trust in it, and look to it for satisfaction, security, or identity. Oh, how easy it is to hold too tightly to earthly things. Before we know it we can find ourselves clinging to our jobs, our pleasures, our children, our relationships, our money, or countless other good gifts, rather than clinging to the Savior who bought us with His own blood. Remember, good gifts make poor gods.
Mortality, Accountability, and the Glory of Eternity
Scripture teaches us to pair the reality of death with the promise of resurrection. Our mortality brings clarity and accountability to our daily lives, but the promise of glory brings hope, courage, and endurance. No matter how bleak today may seem, no matter how painful suffering may be, and no matter how dreadful death may appear, glory is just around the corner.
God Sees You As Righteous...But It's Not Your Own
Since the fall of man, humanity has continually tried to climb the “spiritual mountain.” We all know this instinct. It is the idea that man can somehow work his way back up to God’s holy standard. We think that if we just do the right things, and enough of the right things, then God will regard us as good, worthy, and deserving of blessing, heaven, eternal life, or whatever else we hope to receive from Him.
Jesus Died for You
Now we turn to the truth that stands at the very center of human history: Jesus died for you—and if you know Him, God has promised to do good to and for you (Rom. 5:6–11; 1 Pet. 3:18; Rom. 8:28–39). This truth draws our attention to the cross and helps us understand what Christ has accomplished for us.
God Loves You
When we talk about God’s love, we often think about it primarily in terms of its impact on how we feel. Thinking about God’s love often brings comfort and hope. These are good responses, but they become dangerous if we begin to think that God loves us because we are lovable. In reality, God loves us not because we deserve love, but because God is love (1 John 4:8).
God Exists
Two simple words, yet nothing is more fundamental. God is real. He is not imaginary or symbolic. He is not the creation of culture or of the minds of men. He actually IS! While Scripture never states this exact sentence, the reality of God’s existence is assumed and proclaimed everywhere. The Bible opens not by arguing for God’s existence but by declaring it: “In the beginning, God created…” (Gen. 1:1). God is simply there—eternal, self-existent, and unquestioned.
10 Big Truths
Life is often like a storm. Sometimes the storm is violent and severe, raging all around us with swirling winds, rain, and hail. Other times it subsides and seems only to loom in the distance. Either way, the only way to ride out the storm and make it through is to have something sturdy, steady, solid, and immovable to hold onto. We need a constant. We need something (or Someone) that keeps us grounded and on course amid the chaos. In life, the only true constants are the Lord and the truths of His Word. They never change and provide the steady cord to which we can cling. The storm may rage, the winds may buffet, and the rain may beat down, but God and His Word will never move, change, or fade away (Isa. 40:8; 1 Pet. 1:22–25).
The Forgotten Sin of an Entitled People
As I was doing a bit of research on the Thanksgiving holiday for this month’s article, I came across the proclamation of the First Continental Congress, issued on November 1, 1777 — the first national proclamation for a Thanksgiving Day. In it, the Continental Congress called upon the governing bodies of the United States to set aside Thursday, December 18, 1777, as a day of thanksgiving and praise. This proclamation reflects the very themes we’ve just considered. Throughout our nation’s history, the date of Thanksgiving has shifted, but even in the earliest days of our republic there was a clear and unmistakable call for the people to acknowledge their dependence upon God and His gracious provision.
A Paradigm for Faithful Waiting
In Luke 2, we are told about two faithful believers who have been waiting to meet the coming Messiah. In obedience to the Law, Joseph and Mary circumcise Jesus and present him at the temple in Jerusalem where Simeon and Anna are both serving the Lord. The interactions between Jesus’ family and these two believers showcase four attitudes that enable us to wait well on the fulfillment of God’s promises.
Resurrected Savior, Ready Saints
The resurrection is the victory of Jesus over sin, death, and the devil (Heb. 2:14-18). The resurrection is the downpayment that secures the remainder of Jesus’ work until the end of the age (1 Cor. 35-58). The resurrection also anticipates the ascension and eventual return of Christ. In Acts 1, as Jesus ascends to the right hand of the Father in heaven, angels appear and promise, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). It’s not that He “might come” but that He “will come.” For centuries, Christians have debated the nature of Christ’s return but not whether He would return. The eventual return of our Lord is a fundamental doctrine of the faith—an essential element of orthodox Christian belief. Jesus’ ascension is not a final farewell, but a “wait until I return.” Christ has been raised, so we will be likewise raised. Christ has ascended on high, so He will also return in power and glory to rescue God’s children and punish the wicked. We are waiting in the between time of those realities. The question then becomes, “What do we do while we wait? How do we wait well?”
The Most Precious Time of the Year
We often say that “Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.” Yet, for believers, Easter truly is the most precious time of the year. While at Christmas we rejoice in the love and grace of the Father in sending His Son, this sending makes little sense without the wider context of Easter. Easter tells us the “why” of Christmas. It is through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross that the Cradle is made important. Jesus was incarnated as a man to live as a man to die as a man to save mankind. Easter is the central event in human history and in Christian belief, for it demonstrates to us the saving work of Christ on our behalf. It is by His death on the Cross that God satisfies His wrath and judgment towards our sin (Rom. 3:21-26). Christ takes our place so that we can have His.
Salvation Trumps Suffering
Pain, evil, and suffering do not win the day. Perhaps we struggle to believe that God has good reasons for allowing such things. Perhaps we struggle to hold onto the goodness and love of God in the present moment. This is precisely the point when we can comfort ourselves and others with the future promise of God. One day there will be no more tears or pain or death. God will himself comfort us for we shall see Him face to face.
Doubt Your Doubts
Suffering Reveals Who God Is
What we mean by this is that suffering reveals things about God and His character that we wouldn’t know or experience otherwise. There are certain aspects of God’s character that would be unknown apart from an experience of evil and suffering. How would we know that God is compassionate if we never had a need? How would we realize that God is both just and justifier if there never was the evil of sin? How would we experience the comfort of God if we never felt loneliness, pain, or grief? How would we know that God as healer if there were no hurts?
Suffering is Soul-building
Pain Is a Megaphone
“Pain insists on being attended to.” What an insightful statement. Pain is something that cannot be ignored, and God knows it. We are lulled into a deception about our own sinful condition, but God uses pain and suffering to wake us from our stupor—“to shout” to us. In other words, God allows for suffering and evil to get our attention so that He might draw us back to Himself. For in reconciliation with Him is the promise of healing and the wiping away of every tear.
When the Problem of Evil Gets Personal
Knowing why God allows suffering and pain won’t make me feel any better. It’s been said before that Job still had to face empty seats at the family dinner table even though he discovered (to some degree) that God had been doing a great work in his life even through his difficulty and grief. Asking why won’t lead me to an emotionally satisfying place, but it can lead me to a fruitful discovery nonetheless. Asking why leads us to some discovery about ourselves and our God that can lead us into a deeper relationship with and love for a God infinitely bigger, wiser, and more majestic than I can imagine.
Knowing Why Won't Make You Feel Better
“How can a good God who loves me allow me to feel do depressed and despairing? Why would He allow me to experience such terrible pain and suffering? Have you ever heard someone ask a question like this? Have you ever asked a question like this yourself? I’d venture that most of us have at least thought something like this even if we never put words to it. When we face difficulty and pain, our first inclination is typically “Why God?” Why do bad things happen to good people? Simply put, there are no “good people.” But we can take it a little further than this. This question has often come on the lips of Christians who know God and understand the gospel. They know that they aren’t a good person but a sinner saved by God’s grace. So, let’s take the question a bit further, “Why does God allow suffering and difficultyfor His children?” That might be an even harder question.
Every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday
This month we are approaching Easter Sunday which we often call Resurrection Sunday, for it is a remembrance of that first Easter Sunday on which Jesus Christ our Lord rose from the grave. While it is good and right for us to celebrate Easter each year, perhaps we also need reminding that every Sunday is a resurrection Sunday. Indeed, each Sunday that we gather is a continued celebration of the Risen King and of our expectation of His return to rule and to reign forevermore.





















