Roots by the River

  How I love Thy law, O Lord Daily joy its truths afford; In its constant light I go, Wise to conquer every foe.   Thy commandments in my heart Truest wisdom can impart; To mine eyes Thy precepts show Wisdom more than sages know.   While my heart Thy word obeys, I am kept from evil ways; From Thy law, with Thee to guide, I have never turned aside.   Sweeter are Thy words to me Than all other good can be; Safe I walk, Thy truth my light Hating falsehood, loving right.              - A favorite of Jim's from the Scottish Psalter

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). The basic unit of civilization is the family. Jesus’ statement, “Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst” describes a family. That is the basic assembly. The family is the basic church. The father is the pastor. We are to honor our parents. This is quoted in Ephesians 6:1-2. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise.” Honoring in this instance is obeying. There is a promise attached to it: you will live long on the earth. We all have parents. They might not be Christians; they might not be alive; they might be divorced several times. They might not be good parents. We are to honor them, not because they are honorable, but because they are our parents . Respect has nothing to do with the person respected. He does not need to be respectabl...

"If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own" (John 7:17). "The golden rule for understanding spirituality is not intellect, but obedience. If a man wants scientific knowledge, intellectual curiosity is his guide; but if he wants insight into what Jesus Christ teaches, he can only get it by obedience. If things are dark to me, then I may be sure there is something I will not do. Intellectual darkness comes through ignorance; spiritual darkness comes because [there is] something I do not intend to obey."  -  Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22).   Compiled August 1991. 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 TotheWord.com . We would love to have you reading with us.

“There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19). Let's look at these things the Lord hates again. Arrogance is number one on the list. God is concerned about high self-esteem. “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought” (Romans 12:3). Lying is numbers two and six. "A lying tongue" is speaking of a habitual liar. "A false witness" is perjury—lying under oath. Murder of innocent people is number three. This murder is a special kind of murder, including abortion. Premeditated evil is number four. Immediate, unpremeditated evil is number five. Sowing discord among brothers is number seven. Although these are all very common today, it is the last I would like to draw to your attentio...

There are promises in the Bible which are conditional. When we do not receive the thing promised we often come to false conclusions. It does not occur to us that we have not met the conditions of the promise. Yet this is the most obvious explanation. For example, “For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (John 4:37,38).   If we do not reap we conclude that we are sowers. This is a false conclusion. The Lord clearly said, “I sent you to reap.” If we were sowers we would also be reapers, as the following true statements from the Word indicate. “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). We can add a legitimate extension to this: “He who sows nothing will also reap nothing.” If we reap nothing it is not because we are sowers but because we are not sowers. The harvest is i...

Everyone has experienced loneliness to some degree sometime in life. And yet, for many, loneliness is not an occasional problem but a characteristic of their lives. It begins early. As children, they are shuttled off to daycare centers. They don’t know if they are loved and accepted by their parents. The time that they do spend with their parents reinforces this impression. As they grow, the need for love and affection doesn’t go away—it grows with them. The longer this need is unmet, the surer it is that they will seek to meet it elsewhere. One of the first places they go is to the opposite sex. This results in the loneliness of an unhappy marriage, or the loneliness of promiscuity. When people are lonely, it is amazing what kind of company they will seek. For some, their companions are two-dimensional. Many seek a friend in the electric chatterbox or online. Some attempt to smoke their loneliness out by getting high…while others prefer the method of attempting to drown it in al...

  “‘What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard.” “I will not,” he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will, sir,” but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?’ ‘The first,’ they answered. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him’” (Matthew 21:28-32). Jesus here is not teaching the merits of delayed obedience. He is teaching repentance for both the person who initially refused and the one who promised to obey. It seems to be easier, however, for those who know they are disobedient to repent than for those who ...

There are things in this life that we desire very much. They are legitimate desires. They are more than desires on our part; they are promises on God’s part. Desires or promises, they are listed in a beautiful way in Isaiah 58:11: "And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." There is a hitch to this promise of continual guidance and spiritual refreshment. It is an "iffy" promise. Here are the "ifs": "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke (slavery), the pointing of the finger (accusation) and speaking wickedness (vanity KJV, boasting), and "if you pour yourself out for the hungry, and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday" (vv. 9-10). Earlier in the chapter, we find that God will answer when we cal...

"When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. ‘Where did this man get his wisdom and these miraculous powers?’ they asked. ‘Isn't this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother's name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’ And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.' And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith” (Matthew 13:53-58). The people in Jesus’ hometown were amazed, but not positively so. They knew his power and authority were true. They did not like it. When they asked, "Where then did this man get all these things?" they did not want to know the answer. The question was accusative. They took offense. And because of their lack of faith t...

"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...

This post is taken from the booklet An Invitation, Not a Challenge , by Everett Wilson, brother of Jim Wilson. A Gift from God One reason why people have such a hard time accepting salvation as a gift is that they have been trained to think of work as the way to reward. Then, when we become rich or are otherwise rewarded, we comfort ourselves that "we worked hard for it." Who wants the teacher to give the class goof-off an A, when the class grind had to work so hard to earn it? Who wants to see thieves and cheats rewarded with the spoils of their crimes? The goof-off doesn't deserve an A, so he should not get one. The thief has no right to another person's property, so should not be allowed to keep it. The trouble with these comparisons is that they have nothing to do with the gift of eternal life. Law is useful when it measures distinctions between right and wrong, good and bad. The justice system may straighten out a car theft by returning the car to its owner...