Awestruck by the Sovereign LORD

And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say,“Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.” Deuteronomy 20:8 I find it interesting that Moses, before sending the Israelites into the Promised Land, gives the exhortation, “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 20:1). Let us think about the great, peaceful rest we can have in this truth. From the moment we are redeemed from the slavery of our sin, we are promised residence in the presence of God Himself. As we struggle in this life, we wander in the desert of our sinful flesh and fallen world. Where is our vision? I hope we can say along with Paul that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruit...

Be Thou my Vision O Lord of my heart Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art Thou my best Thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word; I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord; Thou my great Father, I Thy true son; Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one. Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight; Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight; Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower: Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power. "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through th...

In Isaiah 6:1-5, we read: (1) In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. (2) Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. (3) And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (4) And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. (5) And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” I hope that the meaning of this passage permeates your life. Upon seeing God, Isaiah notices two things: God’s holiness . The majesty of God filled the temple, and angels proclaimed the glory the holy God. Often, we think of God as this aged man, sitting on a throne, somewhat...

There are those days that seem hard. Those trying times come crashing at your doorstep, and you think your life will never go well again, that is, if it ever went well. I've been there, and I still have my "hard" days. Many people have had harder lives than I have had, so I'm not going to put forth some sob story, trying to convince anyone of anything. What this leads me to is a difference. If we all have our trials, then what makes the difference? Sure, some people may have more difficult times, but is that really the difference? If so, how do you categorize hardship? It seems too arbitrary. How do you compare pain? Short answer: This emphasis is misguided. Some people are able make tribulations turn toward triumph, and others are entrapped in seeming trivialities. Even in approaching the issue on the issue of triumph, what do we consider triumph? What is triumph? Is it Oprah, after growing up in abject poverty and molested, building an empire? Is it the starving art...

When I was around three years-old, I used to ask my mom to read to me about heaven. She proceeded, like the awesome mom she is, to read from Revelation 21-22. Here we are greeted by a splendid description of comfort, hope, and physical beauty. I was amazed at the precious stones whose names I couldn't pronounce, the measurements I couldn't fathom, and the purity of it all. Over the years, I've rested in the promise of God that my future home is in such a wonderful place. In the past few months, I've reviewed the passages, and I've been startled at what God has shown me. It takes my child-like faith and deepens it to a passionate love for the glory of God. I could expound on each part of the description, but let me just summarize. The beauty described isn't coincidental; it isn't brilliant because God is sustained by it. The reason there is such brilliance is because God is there. "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and sh...