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Marriage Counseling: A Letter

Dear Friend, Thank you for listening to us. We both love you, and as I said we’ve been friends for a long time and have agreed with each other about many things. I am grateful for the friendship. You are right when you say I do not understand the hurt you have gone through for the last twenty years. I understand it in words, but not in experience. I have listened to you of your desires in marriage and of all the effort you put into the marriage. When I have talked to your wife, I have talked to her about her. It has been difficult to talk to you about you, at least on the subject of marriage. You have insisted on talking to me about her. 1. The last few years, you have been very angry and accusative toward your wife. Even if all of your accusations are true, your continued anger is unrepentant, unforgiven sin. You need to repent. 2. This anger has been building up for years, even though you were doing things a Christian husband should do. 3. In Luke 17:3, we have Jesus’...
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Identifying Godless Chatter

“Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge” (1 Timothy 6:20). We are bombarded with “godless chatter” every day. In university towns like the ones we minister in, we are immersed in it. In all of this, there is some of God’s truth. People hear the part that is truth and consequently do not recognize the “godless chatter” for what it is. This makes the godless chatter even more dangerous. Nevertheless, Timothy was instructed to turn away from it. There are three ways to discern godless chatter: 1.      Know the wisdom of God very well. “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” ...

The Lord Your God Is with You

“The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)   This is one of the great verses of God’s character expressed toward us. Most of us know that He is with us, that He saves us, and that He loves us. But there are two additional expressions which cause me to wonder: “He will take great delight in you.” That ought to help any Christian with a “poor self-image.” God delights in me greatly! “He will rejoice over you with singing.” Most of us love to sing praises to Him with joy. Here it tells us that He also sings with joy over us. There is grandeur, wonder, and awe portrayed in Revelation 5:11-14 where a hundred million plus angels and every creature everywhere sing “to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.” That is wonderful, but it is far more wonderful that God will sing with joy over me. This post coordinates with today's read...

A Famine of the Word

There is a frightening prophecy in the book of Amos: “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it’” (Amos 8:11-12). I have no idea whether this prophecy was ever fulfilled in the past. If not, it is, of necessity, still future. It certainly is not in the present. In this world we have places where the Word of God is very accessible. The supply is greater than the demand. There is a famine in the midst of plenty because people are not reading the Word. There are places where the Word of God is not available at all. People do not know it is not available. They are in a famine and do not know that they are in a famine. There are still other places where there is a famine and people know it. They are eager for Bibles. T...

Therefore

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:1-5). “That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, f...

Slow to Anger and Abounding in Love

One of the great God’s great self-declarations was given by Him to Moses on his second trip up the mountain in Exodus 34:6-8: “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.’” We see here the truth that upset Jonah: “But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:1-3). God was not angry. Jonah, however,...

What the Bible Says About Giving

“Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ …Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:19-21, 23-24). “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. C...