Roots by the River

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Reconciliation

“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach , not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:23-26). “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation : that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors , as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God . God ...

Victory in Christ

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57) “As I have already said, the first twenty-five years of my Christian life I lived in utter ignorance of this simple truth. I can never forget the 14 th of August, 1910, when the scales dropped from my eyes, and I saw that Christ was my life. Christ was my victory . I wasn’t bothering about the theological questions that have been discussed to the entanglement and defeating of so many Christians…. How God does things…is His business, not mine. But I do know that God does this thing; and I know it not because of any experiences of victory God has given me—blessed though some of them have been, and beyond anything I dreamed possible—but I know it because God says so . I don’t know it by looking at my own victories, or at the victories of others. I don’t know it because of any present experience or consciousness of Christ that I have. I know it because the Word of God says it. He says,...

An Anchor for the Soul

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). We know that faith and love remain. We have had our doubts about hope . Perhaps it is because we have placed a 21st century definition on hope . For instance, we may say something like, “I hope so,” meaning, “I wish it would happen, but it probably won’t.” To us, hope is wishy and doubtful. That is why it doesn’t sound like it belongs with faith and love. In the Bible, hope is not wishy; it is a sure thing. “God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure ” (Hebrews 6:18-19). “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for...

Recognizing 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, we are immersed in it. In all of this, there is some of God’s truth. People hear God’s 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: 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” (1 Corinthians 2:6-8). Know the enemy “…in order that Satan might not outwit...

Infinite Riches of Grace

“How much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” (Romans 5:15). This is the cure for the trespass and the death that entered the world through Adam. Notice that it is the grace of God and of the one man Jesus Christ. Notice, too, that this grace and gift both overflow to the many. This agrees with verse 20: “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more...” Isn’t that wonderful? If some little kid threw a mudball and hit a white sheet hanging on a clothesline, the housewife would not take a little soap and water to wash out that amount of mud. She would use much more soap and water and wash the whole sheet. That is the way with the grace of God. God uses more than enough. His love has no limit; His grace has no measure. His pow’r has no boundary known unto man. For out of His infinite riches in Jesus He giveth, and giveth and giveth again. -Annie Johnson Flint This post coordinates with toda...

Keeping His Promise

Here are some thoughts on the character of God. “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore” (Hebrews 11:11-12). “They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation’…. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:4, 9). The first passage has to do with God’s promise to Abraham when he was 100 years old, because Abraham knew that God was faithful and would keep his promise. God kept his promise! The second passage has to do with the promise of Jesus to return to Earth. He gives us the reas...