Roots by the River

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12). We know this command applies to us today because the Great Commission says, "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." We are to be taught to obey , and we in turn are to teach to obey . The command here is to "rejoice and be glad." My personal experience in contact with other Christians is probably wider than most Christians, but still limited. Keeping this in mind, I know very few Christians who count themselves blessed when they are insulted and falsely accused of evil because of their stand for Jesus Christ. I do know Christians who get angry and want to fight back. Let us make decisions now that will determine right actions if and when this occurs.   Written July 1990. T...

The last sentence in Ezekiel is, “And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE." What a wonderful name for a city! Jesus, when he came to earth as a baby, fulfilled the prophecy recorded in Matthew 1:23: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel (which means 'God with us’).” Then in Revelation 21:3, there was “a great voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God himself will be with them.’” Finally, we have the promise in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you." At least three of these texts are speaking of God's close relationship with His church. They speak of His faithfulness in His imminence. Thank God!   Written November 1990. This post coordinates with today's reading in the To the Word! Bible Reading Challenge . If you are not in a daily reading plan, please join us at Toth...

In the last few days,* my time with the Lord has been in the Psalms. Psalm 145 made me pay attention this morning. Here is part of it: "Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness” (vv. 3-7). “They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made” (vv. 11-13). Notice that no one can fathom God's greatness. That is an ...

“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” (Isaiah 5:20). This has been going on since Isaiah wrote this in the eighth century B.C., and probably before. However, now in universities across the land it has reached pandemic proportions. And Christians are involved. It started out with euphemisms where bad actions (sins) were described in words that sounded not so bad: adultery = having an affair, promiscuous fornication = sleeping around or sexually active, male homosexual = gay. These words that were once not so bad have now become good, and political correctness has made those people who are critical of homosexuals into the bad guys. In other words, evil has become good and good evil.   Written March 1994. This post coordinates with today's reading in the To the Word! Bible Reading Challenge . If you are not in a daily reading plan, please join us at TotheWord.com . We wo...

"And they began to accuse him, saying, ‘We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.' So Pilate asked Jesus, 'Are you the king of the Jews?' 'Yes, it is as you say,' Jesus replied” (Luke 23:2-3). The accusation against Jesus was a combination of truth and falsehood. Jesus did not oppose paying taxes to Caesar, nor did He subvert the nation. However, He was the Christ, a king. Pilate picked up on the truth, and Jesus confirmed it. Jesus was crucified because of truth, not because of lies. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:11-12). Persecution against Christians may be justified by lies, but it happens because of the truth.   Written October 1991. This...

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 14:11). This truth is also found in Philippians 2:3-11: "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and th...

  Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied of Jesus. “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 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 1:68-75). Notice he came to rescue us and enable us . This enabling was so that we could serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. Isn’t it wonderful that He empowers us to be holy all our days? This post coordinates with today's reading in the To the Word! Bible Reading Challenge . If you are not in a daily reading plan...

“We write to you about the Word of life, which has existed from the very beginning: we have heard it, and we have seen it with our eyes; yes, we have seen it, and our hands have touched it. When this life became visible, we saw it; so we speak of it and tell you about the eternal life which was with the Father and was made known to us. What we have seen and heard we tell to you also, so that you will join with us in the fellowship that we have with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:1-3). “And we have seen and tell others that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever declares that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he lives in God” (1 John 4:14-15). This is the Christmas story in 1 John. It is wonderful in itself; however, the Incarnation is not the only truth here declared. Notice verse 2: “so we speak of it and tell you about the eternal life”; verse 3: “we tell to you also”; verse 14: "and tell others"; verse 15: ...

“In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (John 16:26-27). In recent years, I have found that “Christians” have views of the Father that are foreign to Scripture. These views are so awful that the same people ignore the Father and put all of their focus on the Son. This focus is not so that they can come to the Father but so that they can come to the Son only. These are evangelical, trinitarian Christians. However, their views of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are so different in character that it would be impossible to have these three be one deity. Here is a suggested exercise. Go through the Gospel of John and mark every reference to the Father. I think it will be surprising to you, both in how many references there are and what they say. Remember at this Christmas time that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son,...

This post is taken from the booklet An Invitation, Not a Challenge , by Everett Wilson, brother of Jim Wilson. Nothing We Can Do So in verse 21 Paul stops talking about our earning and starts talking about God's giving. He takes us from a miserable Monday in February to Christmas morning, in one leap. On workdays, we earn; on holidays, we give and receive. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. In this righteousness apart from the law, God intends to set us right, not put us in the wrong. While law establishes justice in the world through rewards earned and punishment deserved, this righteousness apart from the law is a transforming gift. We are set right by God, not by anything we do or say or pray. There is nothing we can do. The alarmed response to that assertion comes faster than a speeding bullet. "Now wait a minute. There is too something we can do. We can believe. The next verse says that t...