Roots by the River

“For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:34b-37). “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:6). At several points in my life, I have been conscious of speaking words that were not gracious. Apparently, my heart had not been stored with good things, or the overflow would have been gracious words. I want to store my heart so full of good that the overflow will be always good.   Written November 1988. This post coordinates with tomorrow's reading in the To the Word! Bible Reading Challenge . If you are not in a daily reading plan, please jo

This post is an excerpt from The Lordship of Jesus Christ by Bill Pape. The Devil defies God to deliver His people. He attacks God through the Christian, which is the only way he can attack God. Deliverance is by referring the whole matter confidently to the Lord. [When the Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem and demanded surrender, saying that God could not deliver the city] Hezekiah, in effect, prayed, “Hear what the enemy is saying about You, O Lord.” The king frankly admitted that the enemy had had considerable success, but he saw equally clearly that the glittering victories over nations and their pantheon were not due to the greatness of the kings of Assyria, but to the littleness of the gods of the conquered peoples. “They were no gods, but the work of men’s hands” (Isa. 37:19). The prayer that began with a declaration of the greatness of God and continued with an exposure of the real nature of temptation now admits that human effort cannot devise a method of countering such a

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-5, 9-14). This is the Christmas story according

In the book of Isaiah, several chapters stand out in my memory. One of them is chapter five. Here are a few verses from it. It is God’s rebuke to Israel, 700 years before Jesus’ time on earth. “Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit,     and wickedness as with cart ropes,  to those who say, ‘Let God hurry;     let him hasten his work     so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel—     let it approach, let it come into view,     so we may know it.’  Woe to those who call evil good     and good evil, who put darkness for light     and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet     and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes     and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine     and champions at mixing drinks,  who acquit the guilty for a bribe,     but deny justice to the innocent.” (Isaiah 5:18-23) These verses apply to the United States today. Verses 24 and 25 describe the judgment

In the summer or winter Olympics every two years, we watch men and women making “every effort” to win a medal. Regardless of the event, this means the ultimate in mental and physical effort. The Bible tells us several times to make “every effort.” This is not the same kind of “every effort” that occurred in the Olympic games. How do we know? The difference is described in two portions of Scripture: “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to” (Luke 13:24). “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Galatians 3:3). In Luke, we are to make every effort to enter. Those who try are not able to enter. In Galatians, we began by the Spirit, but cannot finish by human effort. It is foolishness! We see that every effort is not human effort. It is not by trying. Every effort is a spiritual event, a grace and faith event. It is different f

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David…to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days” (Luke 1:68-69, 74-75). This is part of Zechariah’s prayer when John, Zechariah’s son, was named. This part of the prayer is about the LORD Jesus. The second half of the prayer is about John. Notice the last portion quoted: “to enable us to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.” This is loaded and amazing. We are enabled to: ·        Serve Him ·        Without fear ·        In holiness ·        In righteousness ·        All our days This redemption, this salvation, is not just for everlasting life; it is present tense (all our days). It is service without fear. It is service with holiness. It is service with righteousness.