Devotionals

Falling to the temptation to be “conformed to the world” (Rom.12:2) rarely had such an immediate judgment as it did when the newly inaugurated King Jehu set up a sting operation, and called together all those who wanted to continue in the status quo of worshipping the false god Baal. In his ruse...

When we read the word “love” in the Bible we should always be careful to remind ourselves that it bears little resemblance to what passes for love in today’s world. When the people of our culture speak of “love” they are usually referring to something that impulsively springs from feelings of happiness, warmth, attraction, affection or pleasure. But the Bible uses the word...

God spoke to a spiritually declining nation through the prophet Amos, predicting a terrible disaster which was fast approaching the borders of Israel. It was not an earthquake, flood or storm, but rather it was the worst kind of calamity that could ever befall a people. His forecast called for...

To maintain a proper view of God we have to work to regularly affirm God’s sovereign and authoritative role as the King and Shepherd of our lives. We cannot think accurately of God without consciously adjusting our view of ourselves. If God is the exalted Director and Guide, then we must purpose...

It seems that almost daily we Christians have to endure a new barrage of attacks against the Christian faith. Tirades on websites, new books pitted against the Bible and angry dissenters continually grabbing microphones and keyboards to unleash their latest arguments against the Christian God.

While their presentations are delivered in intellectual terms...

If God is not just, God is not good. If God does not respond justly to the unrighteous decisions of his creatures, then God cannot be holy, good or righteous. In the same way earthly judges cannot be good while perverting justice in their courtrooms, the perfect Judge cannot be perfect if he ignores sin. His perfect love does not negate...

We live in a “noisy” world. It seems that every waking hour is filled with an onslaught of clamoring sights and sounds that relentlessly bombard our eyes and ears. Around the clock, something is always vying for our attention. New Testament times weren’t as different as you might think, particularly for Jesus. Luke records that he had to...

Whenever we study the Bible we have to do our best to let the text speak for itself. The goal is to excavate God’s message, ascertain God’s values, and comprehend God’s perspective. We may have many ideas and expectations about what we hope to uncover and what we wish to find, but the Bible has to be approached with...

A.W. Tozer was right when he observed that “a low view of God is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us.” It makes sense that our specific view of God will determine the quality of our Christian life. If we view him as casual about sin, then we probably won’t care much about it either. If we...

Ask any police officer (or watch any reality Cops show) and you’ll see just how creatively we humans can string together a list of excuses for any and every deviant behavior. From the inner-city streets to the therapist’s couch we have become experts in rationalizing why we do what we do, and why what...

Unwittingly we often come to church expecting to hear the preacher affirm what we already know and commend what we already practice. And for the growing Christian that is sometimes the case. But more times than not, the word of God forthrightly preached will in some way and to some extent...

The society in Israel had become compromised, corrupt and forgetful of God. Ezekiel was God’s mouthpiece to point out to them just how far they had regressed into worldliness, and what the divine consequences of that regression would be. Of course not everyone...