Roots by the River

Men and women also talk differently. We are enough alike that we can communicate with each other—sometimes. After being married to my wife Bessie for more than fifty years, I still have difficulty understanding her. When Bessie uses a pronoun, the antecedent might have been given two weeks ago. And I sit there trying to figure out what this pronoun is referring to. Bessie uses lot of pronouns, but only one verb. It’s the word do in different forms. “Will you do the baby?” I have to figure out whether this means feed the baby, change the baby’s diaper, put the baby down for a nap, or give the baby a bath—all of these are communicated by do the baby . It helps if you have extrasensory perception! Occasionally, I’ll figure and figure and figure, and then I’ll guess wrong. This is not a fault in Bessie; it is just a difference in how we communicate. Men, have you ever asked your wife, “Is anything wrong?” and she says no, so you go merrily on your way…only to find yourself living in a ...

  This is a multi-part series. Installments will be posted each Monday and Wednesday. Men and women are different, and their differences are not just physical. It is important to be aware of a few basic areas where the sexes differ from each other, as failure to recognize these can cause unnecessary problems in your marriage. First, men and women think differently. This is part of how God made us. Generally speaking (buckle up, because there are many generalizations coming in this paragraph), men think analytically, and women think intuitively, although sometimes women can do both. Women have multitrack minds and can juggle many issues at once. Women are more likely than men to think in circles, and consequently are more prone to anxiety. Women are also more likely to think emotionally rather than logically. The problem comes when men think that women are being illogical or not thinking right because they are thinking differently ; or when women assume that a man’s analytical thin...

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us!” (John 3:1). “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart” (Psalms 36:5-10). Our prayer for you is that you would experience the fullness of God’s love in your own life and be able to share that love with others. Praise God for His faithfulness! 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 hav...

  This post was written by Bessie Wilson. “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’” (Matt. 18:21) We know Jesus’ answer: “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (v. 22). The King James renders this “seventy times seven.” Regardless whether it is seventy-seven times or four hundred ninety times, it is obvious that Jesus put no limit on the times we are to forgive. Then Jesus recounts a remarkable story. It pictures a servant’s enormous debt which was canceled because of the mercy of his master. But it also pictures the minor debt which this same servant would not cancel towards a fellow servant. Not content with choking him, he also put him into prison. The other servants soon informed their master of this cruel behavior. The master withdrew his cancellation of debt and turned the servant over to the jailers “until he should pay back all he owed” (v. 34). Jesus’ words at the conclusion of ...

He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. (Proverbs 14:26) We all know little children who run to their mother or father when they are hurt or afraid. As the children get older and leave home, they should have a fortress they can run to for refuge. Do you have that kind of fortress, a secure one? This post coordinates with tomorrow's reading in the To the Word! Bible Reading Challenge . If you are not in a daily reading plan, please join us at biblereading.christkirk.com . We would love to have you reading with us.

When I was a little boy, I thought I would stay that way forever. It did not happen. Here I am still thinking I will stay this way forever. It is not happening.* Here are a few of my favorite verses in Scripture: “ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. ” (Acts 4:12) “ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ” (2 Corinthians 4:4) “ The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments. ” (1 Corinthians 2:14-15) “ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through...

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20). “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:3-4). God’s part is past tense: “All authority has been given to Jesus... His divine power has given us...” And present tense: “I am with you always...” With the past and present actions of God, our belief and obedience is simple and assured. Notice that we are to teach o...

“Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith” (Romans 1:5). “I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:17-18). “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things” (Ephesians 3:7-9). Paul, here, is not speaking of saving grace but of preaching grace . This grace was given to him to: ·        preach the unsearchable riches of Christ ·  ...

The Bible is not a book that humanists can adjust to; it is too extreme. The humanist wants to be good now and then and here and there. He would like to do “random acts of kindness.” However, a Christian must be kind to everyone (2 Timothy 2:24). The humanist is worried that someone might have low self-esteem. The Bible says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Romans 12:3). “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2). Unfortunately, many Christians like the humanist standards and approach more than they like the biblical standard. In fact, we hear them judge the text of Scripture in the light of the humanism of our society. That is easier than judging society in the light of Scripture. You might say that if people are doing that, then they are not Christians. That would be a normal conclusion excep...

In our ministry, there are doctrinal differences, but no strife—nothing beyond good discussions. As in too many places, there is sin in our local churches. We see a desire of the elders in different churches to lovingly confront and rebuke those in known sin and to take church action in discipline, if necessary. Pastors of several of the believing churches in our area have been meeting weekly for years to sing and pray for revival. There is a real love for the brothers. I would like to encourage you to: 1. Keep short accounts with God (1 John 1:5-10). We would rather say it in terms of John 1:7: “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.” 2. Love each other (John 13:34-35). 1 Peter 1:22: “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.” 3. Galatians 6:1: “Brothers, if some...

Since the summer of 1949, my favorite Scripture has been Psalm 91. I escaped death three times in the first year of the Korean War. I have trusted the promises of this Psalm. Recently, I have noticed the different persons in the Psalm. Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord , “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you   from the fowler’s snare   and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers,   and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side,   ten thousand at your right hand,   but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes   and see the punishment of the wi...

This post was written by Bessie Wilson. As Christians, we can say with the Scriptures that temptation is something that our Lord provided for. He did so in the Lord’s prayer. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13). Prayer accompanied by our obedience will keep us out of a lot of areas of temptation that some of us are fooling around with. “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” (Prov. 6:16-19 KJV). A proud look . The NIV renders this “haughty eyes.” In Japanese, it’s taki-buri , which is “high-nosed.” Are ever you tempted to have a high nose? A haughtiness because of your hometown, your college, your forebears, or your race? If you have this proud look, somewhere along the line there was...

“ In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. ” (Dan. 7:13-14) When Jesus calls Himself the Son of Man, He is referring to this person. The Jewish leaders knew what He was saying and did not like it. “ Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory ” (Matt. 24:30) “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that...

We have just finished the season of great giving or great exchanging, probably much of each. Some of us think only of getting, some of giving, some of giving in order to get, and some of giving because we get. Sometimes it is difficult to sort out our own motives. There is a good truth in giving-getting that is not selfish. The motives were/are absolutely pure. Notice a common truth in the following scriptures: the greatest motive for giving is love, and the greatest expressed love was the death of Christ. “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). “Out of the most severe trial, th...

There are sins in the Bible that required the death penalty. The death penalty was based on the civil law. The sacrificial law provided forgiveness for sins. The civil law was transferred to the civil government (Romans 13, 1 Peter 2, Titus 3). The sacrificial system was fulfilled in the death of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness for sins is provided. Vengeance was prohibited in the Old Testament and is prohibited in the New Testament. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:17-21). Something seems ...