According to this song, popularized by the Statler Brothers, Well the Lord looked down from his window in the sky And said I created man but I don’t remember why Nothin’ but fightin’ since creation day I’ll send a little water and I’ll wash’em all away So the Lord came down to look around a … More God’s grace is not grace if it is earned.
The opening words of the Bible: “In the beginning, God…” and then repeatedly, “And God said….” Here we are at the begining of 2013. We are blessed with another year of God’s grace! God is at the beginning of it all. He is at the beginning of 2013, too. And He speaks! He is a God who spoke this very … More God’s Powerful Word
“I know your works—behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it—for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name.”—Revelation 3:8 Here is encouragement from Horatio Bonar, Scottish hymn writer and pastor: It is Christ’s gracious character and tender heart that … More Horatio Bonar: Our Little Strength, and the Lord’s Great Love
Steven Cole on Nehemiah 9: God’s abundant mercy is the dominant theme of this prayer. It begins by exalting God and His glorious name (9:5) and then it starts where the Bible does, with God as the almighty Creator of everything, who gives life to every living creature. All the angels bow before Him (9:6). … More God’s abundant mercy
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26 J.C. Ryle comments: We learn, firstly, from … More Ryle: Grace frequently causes a collision of opinion
Phillip Graham Ryken writes in Thermelios: Ezra was a great man—one of the all-time heroes of the faith. He had the will to lead; he had a heart for holiness; he had a mind for biblical truth. If we want to follow his example, we should ask what made him so great and so good. What … More The gracious hand of God
John Piper, in a sermon, “Why Hope? Grace!” The answer in today’s text is very simply, the grace of God. Our hope is rooted in the grace of God. It is based on the grace of God. If God were not a gracious God, we would have no hope. We could cross our fingers. We … More If God were not a gracious God, we would have no hope.
And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.Did … More But our eyes are on You!
D.A. Carson on 2 Kings 22-23, in “For the Love of God, Vol 1, Nov 9” THE LAST SERIOUS ATTEMPT at moral and theological reformation in the kingdom of Judah is reported in 2 Kings 22.After that, there is only the final slide into exile. King Hezekiah, the effect of whose reign was so largely good, was succeeded by … More Don Carson: Only grace is a sufficient hedge.
John Piper comments on 1 Corinthians 15:29-58, our “Read-through-the Bible” passage for today: Verse 50: “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” What does that mean? Is it a wholesale denial of the bodily resurrection? No. “Flesh and blood” simply means “human nature as we know it”—mortal, … More Raised and changed!
