When read God's promise that a remnant of the people of Israel would return to the land, we focus on God’s faithfulness to His promise and His mercy in bringing them back. This is a very appropriate focus, for the return of the remnant is great proof of God’s mercy. But this week God helped me see a second reality of the remnant: that most of God’s people didn’t return. The remnant was just that, a remnant; it didn’t include all of God’s people because as Paul says, “They are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” (Rm 9:6) In other words, God’s people have always had in their midst those who were not truly people of God. John says, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us” (1 Jn 2:19). May God grants us the faith to be true people of God who let the law and testimony of God rule our hearts and who give evidence that light has shined on us. Read More

I doubt that anyone has ever said, “I pray too much!” Much more often I hear people lamenting how little they pray or wishing that they had more time to pray. Prayer is difficult because it is connected to spiritual warfare (Eph 6:18) and it demands a selflessness and dependence that we don’t like. Our culture encourages us to be self-reliant and independent, so we rarely have time for humility and dependence. But God works through prayer both physically and spiritually. This remarkable reality should motivate us to take advantage of the powerful effects of prayer rather than ignore it. With God’s strength and His Spirit’s help, prayer can become a blessing rather than a chore as we see God working through us. May God be pleased to work through us and our prayers. Read More

When we consider the shortness of our lives and the shortness of our riches, we can grow discouraged as we wait for real life and the kingdom that God promised would come. We don’t fit in in a world that pursues its own pleasure as the highest good, and we will certainly stand out the more we seek friendship with God over friendship with the world. So what are we to do? James encourages us to be patient in our waiting. Just as farmers have to be patient waiting for their fruit and the prophets like Job had to be patient waiting for God’s Word to come to pass, so also we must be patient as we wait for God to fulfill His promises to do away with this world and its fading riches and bring in His kingdom and its genuine glory. With God’s grace at work in our hearts, this patience in the steadfastness of hope is not impossible; it’s inevitable! Read More