Tag Archives: Treasure

Reason: Not the Ultimate Power Reason is a gift from God, but that doesn’t make it a substitute for seeking God’s will through prayer. Moses appears to have been an intelligent man. He figured out how to flee Egypt after … Continue reading →

Forsaken to Delight “My God, my God why have you forsaken me? Why are you far from helping me, far from the words of my groaning?” (Psalm 22:1). These are some of the darkest words in Scripture. It’s almost painful … Continue reading →

Sins of Omission There’s that moment when you’re asked to do something you know is wrong, but you feel like you should respond. It’s almost as fleeting as the decision to not stand up for what is right, even when … Continue reading →

We Don’t (Really) Mean It “I’ll pray for you.” We say it often, but how many times do we actually remember to do it? Our biggest downfall might not be a lack of compassion—it’s probably just not taking time to … Continue reading →

A Merciful Smackdown Sometimes, we’d rather not be teachable. When it comes to taking advice from people in my church community, it’s easier to keep an emotional distance than it is to listen. If I tread lightly on their sin, … Continue reading →

Is This “Bad” From God? God has granted us incredible grace in the salvation that Jesus’ death and resurrection offers, but that very grace is often used as a theological excuse. It’s dangerous to say that bad things come from … Continue reading →

Letting Evil Burn “And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying . . . ‘let them take to you a red heifer without a physical defect . . . And you will give it to Eleazar the priest, and it … Continue reading →

It Will Seem Simple in Retrospect We’re all faced with difficult tasks. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he was forced to confront their spiritual problems, which were slowly destroying God’s work among them. Paul was thankful for them (1 … Continue reading →

The Power Struggle Every leader faces power struggles—from those who follow the leader and from those the leader follows. If there isn’t some sort of struggle, the leader probably isn’t doing his or her job well. It’s simple: those who … Continue reading →

A Psalm of Confidence “You are my Lord,” the psalmist acknowledges. “I have no good apart from you” (Psalm 16:2). We know that God is everything we need, but somehow the details still get in the way. We want to … Continue reading →

Nostalgia: My Old Friend Regret and nostalgia can destroy lives. They are mirrored ideas with the same pitfalls: neither can change the past, and both keep us from living in the present. When we live wishfully rather than interacting with … Continue reading →

Cry Out Like the Psalmist We often read the very bold psalms of the Bible without really reading them. We’re used to their cadence, their cries, and their requests. They seem appropriate in contexts where war, death, and enemies or … Continue reading →

In the Moment of Weakness All leaders have their moments of weakness. But without such times, they wouldn’t stretch themselves (and that would mean they weren’t really in God’s will). It’s not that these moments shouldn’t happen, but we should … Continue reading →

Jesus Christ (Meant to Be) the Superstar Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, is certainly incorrect (and rather heretical) in its portrayal of history, but it got one thing right: Jesus is meant to be the celebrity. He—no one … Continue reading →

Profound and Confounding God’s provision in our lives is often hard to see. There are times when we follow His commandments and we’re able to visibly see His work. Such times are profound to the believer but can be confounding … Continue reading →

The Vine and the Branches Jesus isn’t simply a high priority or even the highest priority of our lives. He is the source of life. In the Gospel of John, Jesus teaches the disciples that they need to depend on … Continue reading →

Concerning Knowledge and Eating Meat It’s easy to equate knowledge with faith and then look down on new believers. Although we might not voice it, those who are less knowledgeable in their faith can seem weak. And sometimes, instead of … Continue reading →

Signs and Satire The images of judgment in Psalm 7 are sometimes hard to take. We are so acquainted with a God of love that it’s difficult to understand a God who blinds eyes, hardens hearts, and “has indignation every … Continue reading →

Oddities That Make Sense Some of the Old Testament laws seem so odd they’re difficult to understand. It’s easy for us to see why, in a day before medicine, God would send people with “a rash . . . a … Continue reading →

A Prayer For Guidance When we feel downtrodden, it’s easy to lash out at those around us. Too often, caught in the injustice of our circumstances, we might begin to feel an unhealthy amount of self-justification. It’s difficult to see … Continue reading →