-
Examined
This completes our journey through Psalm 139. Click here to read earlier reflections. Examine me, O God, and probe my thoughts. Test me, and know my concerns. See if there is any idolatrous way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24 Scripture agrees with scripture throughout the canon. Proverbs 16:9 says, In his heart man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Psalm 107:3 reminds us that the Lord always leads in a right way. His leading comes crooked sometimes, as the Israelites understood, and the wisdom writer of Ecclesiastes reminds. Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? 7:13, NIV The Lord leads, if we will let Him. And His way is the… Read More
-
When You Grow Weary and Want to Give Up
Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. Hebrews 12:3, NET Sometimes third and fourth-degree burns cause severe nerve damage, resulting in chronic pain. The problem for burn survivors and those who love them is that it takes time to know if such damage will be one’s fate. In the months after burn trauma, the miraculous human body produces millions of new cells to replenish the skin. It is after those wounds close and the hope of returning to regular activity rises that the devastating reality often comes: There may be no end to this pain. Pain specialists have carefully studied the relationship between pain and endurance. Research suggests… Read More
-
A Christmas Gift of Endurance
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured…so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:2-3). I discovered an early Christmas gift this week, tucked away in the pages of Hebrews. Jesus wrapped it Himself for each of us in His own humanity when He was born on Christmas Day. And this is a gift we need now more than ever. Jesus learned Endurance from the moment He took his first frosty breath as a newborn, gulping in the frigid night air of a stable in Bethlehem.… Read More
