Category: Bible

Chosen in Him

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“[H]e chose us in him before the foundation[i] of the world….” (Eph. 1:4) God foresaw and foreknew us and had plans for us from the beginning.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them. (Ps. 139:16)

God has brought you to this place; or more accurately, God foreknew you in this place. Whether you feel like you have been following God, God has been leading you, or you are just wandering in the wilderness, you are where God knew you would be from before the creation of the world when God chose you.

We think in terms of home and destination, but the fact is that we are on a journey. We are not home, and our destination is not a place that we can get to on our own.

Continue reading “Chosen in Him” →

Fear of the Lord is the Beginning

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“The fear of the Lord is the beginning[i] of wisdom[ii]….” is a statement in Proverbs that seems as old and worn in this modern age as it is familiar. (Prov. 9:10) We tend to gloss over the statement as if it were a simplistic notion from a different time in human history, like an obsolete tool that has little present use or a crude instrument that causes more damage than the good it was once thought to produce. We tend to think that we now know better than to consider fear to be helpful in these enlightened times.

But do we? Continue reading “Fear of the Lord is the Beginning” →

As the Ground Receives the Rain

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“For it is God who works in you….” (Phil. 2:13)

When we think in terms of being obedient to God and living for God, we tend to think about results. Results are achievement oriented. Our whole world in Western society is ordered that way. It’s no wonder that we think in those terms about our spiritual lives.

The results we recall tend to be the accomplishments we have achieved.

God’s perspective is wholly different than ours. He doesn’t consider what we have accomplished, but what HE has been allowed to accomplish in us. We are participants in that accomplishment, but only as the ground receives the rain that falls upon it. Continue reading “As the Ground Receives the Rain” →

Be a Great Servant

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“The greatest among you….” (Matt. 23:11) We all have a desire to be great. I recognize that bit of human nature staring at me in my own heart. Continue reading “Be a Great Servant” →

God Has No Grandchildren

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“God has no grandchildren” is a statement provided “for further reflection” found in The Discovery Bible[i]. Sure, we are invited to call God our Father (Matt. 6:9).

“I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord….” (2 Cor. 6:18)

But why not grandfather? Why should God not have grandchildren?

If the parent/child relationship applies to God and us, why not the grandparent/grandchild relationship?

We are born to our parents and carry our parents’ genes in our bodies. We pass on those genes to our children and to our children’s children. Our grandchildren are not born to us, but they carry our genes. This is the natural order of things. It’s biology (or science as they say).

So why no grandchildren of God?

Continue reading “God Has No Grandchildren” →