Roots by the River

Here are a few favorite verses of mine. “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4-6). “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).  “In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame unt...

“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:17-19). "And you are to love those who are aliens." If we were to characterize all of history in all nations, it would be, "Hate the aliens." God's directions are contrary to the world's. On the whole, Christians do not hate aliens. They just ignore or avoid them. That is saying that neither do Christians love aliens. Please pray for an opportunity to love an alien.   Written August 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 would love to have you reading with us.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). Somehow, we have known that faith and love remain. We have had our doubts about hope . Perhaps it is because we have placed a 21 st -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” (Heb. 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, w...

Example and imitation are not just the best means of teaching and learning: they are commanded in Scripture. “Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2-3). “Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Corinthians 4:16-17). “Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:32-11:1). “Don't let anyone look down on yo...

“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought…What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:10, 12-13). This appeal is followed by information on the divisions in the church. These divisions were not on theology or ecclesiology. The quarrels simply were about loyalties to teachers . To our knowledge, the teachers were even in fellowship with each other. These loyalties were sins and were to be repented of and forsaken. They were the cause of the divisions, the disunity. Today, such loyalties are still one of the major causes of division in the church. However, today loyalty is a good word; it is considered a virtue. When it comes to following teachers, however, l...

“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him” (1 John 3:18-22). There are two expressions in these few sentences, one seemingly disturbing, and the other reassuring. They are “whenever our hearts condemn us” and “if our hearts do not condemn us.” The second expression is the reassuring one. It is connected with confidence, answered prayer, and obedience. It is wonderful to be in a state where our hearts do not condemn us. However, with some of God’s people, the disturbing expression seems to be true more of the time. They have hearts that condemn them. There is something else, howeve...

One of the questions I have asked individuals over the last several years* is, “Do you want to be godly?” The question is probably counter-productive. The answers are hesitant, preceded by looking around the room. When the answer is yes, it is because that is supposed to be the right answer. Here are a few verses for meditation: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). It does not matter what the definition of “perfect” is. Whatever it is, it is “as your heavenly Father is perfect.” “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:15). The same reasoning follows this command. It is because God is holy. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children” (Ephesians 5:1). We are to imitate God in love and forgiveness. “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). “For those God foreknew he also predestined t...

“The gifts and sacrifices offered were not able to clear the conscience” (Heb. 9:9). “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God” (Heb. 9:14). ''Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22). “Just as a man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him” (Heb. 9:27-28). “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). The first verse tells us of the inadequacy of Old Testament sacrifices. They were a shadow, not the reality. They did not work. The next three verses tell us that the death of Christ is effective in: ·        clea...

It has been several years since I taught on this subject. It is time for another reminder. If you are a normal, moral person, that is, not into drugs, sex, or alcohol, you are probably still guilty of stealing and lying. Today will be about stealing—not bank robbery, but just taking things that are not your own. This is described in Leviticus 6:1-7. Pay attention to the text. “ The Lord said to Moses: ‘ If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the Lord by deceiving a neighbor about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen, or if they cheat their neighbor, or if they find lost property and lie about it, or if they swear falsely about any such sin that people may commit—when they sin in any of these ways and realize their guilt, they must return what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found, or whatever it was they swore falsely about. They must make restitution in full, add a fifth of th...