“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after My sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” Ezekiel 34:11-12 Years ago, I was in … Continue reading Follow the Good Shepherd
We gaze into the mirror every morning counting on it to show us the good and the bad. The reflection might reveal unpleasant wrinkles and aging, yet this doesn’t keep us from our next appointment with the mirror. God’s commandments are like a mirror. They simply reveal the truth that we are sinners. No more, no less. God wants us to see ourselves as He … Continue reading God’s Mirror
As we approach Christmas, once again I ponder the coming of the Son of God. The day of His visitation was foretold. In eternity He was not bound by any means. At the right time, He entered a world that would now limit Him. When He created this world, He knew one day He would come to die for His people. These were not good … Continue reading Through His Poverty
When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked His disciples: “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”Mark 2:16-17 The day I buried … Continue reading Another Man’s Righteousness
“When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction He had threatened. But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.” Jonah 3:10-4:1 I like the story of Jonah. It’s an easy read. I pity the mockers of the whale story. They miss the mercy and compassion of … Continue reading Justified Anger
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties. Again, and again he offers the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Hebrews 10:11-12 In eternity was the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. God’s grace was given … Continue reading With His Own Blood
I love my kids. When they were little, they came with me everywhere. Now when I go to bed, I don’t always know where they’re at. Sometimes, I think about an endless eternity without just one of them and there is no deeper pain for me to contemplate. I’ve spent many nights in anguish and tears wondering where they will go when they die. I … Continue reading No Deeper Pain
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18 Prisons are full of men claiming their innocence. Though some have been mistakenly pronounced guilty, the majority deserve to be there. It’s the criminals that are never caught that make us … Continue reading A Glorious Substitution
You see, at just the right time, when we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. This past weekend another unexpected fire hit our little mountain town. Laughter and joy of celebrating my daughter’s birthday quickly morphed into anxiety, dread and fear. Reflecting on my emotions after seeing the helicopters and planes clean up today, I am left with the overwhelming feeling of powerlessness. Most … Continue reading Without Strength
“I was found by those who did not seek Me, I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me” Romans 10:20 Sometimes God really surprises us with the people He decides to save. Saul of Tarsus was one of these. He was a terrible person dragging men and women to prison and torturing some of them to death. He thought he was doing … Continue reading His Chosen Vessels
Pilgrims Perspective 