Roots by the River

“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). You would think this should not be a difficult piece of advice to follow. The voice of God thundered from Sinai in the second command: “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6). Within the month, the people of Israel were busily building an idol, a golden calf. It did not last long. Rachel, Jacob’s wife, stole her father’s household gods. All of the sons of Jacob had idols. “So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.’ … So...

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). God commands us to obey Him. If we do not keep His commands, He has the ability to forgive us. It is either obey or confess, and He has made provision for both. Christmas is coming up soon. We can think of it as a time of giving or as a time of getting. The basic expression of love is giving . The basic expression of selfishness is getting . If you think of everyone according to God’s commands, we are to love the Father, we are to love our neighbors, we are to love the brothers, we are to love our enemies—and the conclusion is that we are to give to these people we love. We are to give for whatever is the highest good of the person we are giving to. We are not to give in order to get; we give because t...

I would like to draw attention to a few scriptures about our enemy and our relationship to him. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Ephesians 1:18-21). “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ...

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke 16:10-12). Stealing is a common characteristic of the natural man. It is sin (Exodus 20:15), and in most states and nations it is also a crime. When we think of it as crime, then we are grateful that we have not been caught. When we think of it as sin, we know that we are always caught. Most stealing is not through burglary or hold-ups or shoplifting. It is being dishonest in very little and being dishonest in much. Crime is measured in petty larceny and grand larceny. Petty larceny is a misdemeanor, and grand larceny is a felony. The penalties are proportionate to the crimes. Sin is also measured in size; however, the size...

Merry Christmas! When Jesus came to this earth, He did not come alone. He was attended by a multitude of the heavenly host. How many this is we do not know. It was a lot. “And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying [not singing], ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased’” (Luke 2:13-14). There was a similar event recorded in Revelation, also about the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God. “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb b...

St. Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Philippians 1:21-24). “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). I am not anticipating going to be with the Lord imminently, but it will not be in the distant future.* I am ready to go. This readiness has nothing to do with merits; I had none and have none. “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us thr...

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Galatians 1:3-5). “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). These two verses give us the reason for Christmas: ·        to rescue us from this present evil age ·        to redeem those under the law so that we might receive the full rights of sons Rescue, redeem, receive, from “the present evil age” to “full rights as sons.”