O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. (Ps. 96:9) What is beauty? Beauty is the amiableness of a thing – it is that quality or attribute of a thing or person that makes it pleasing to us. Beauty often consists in having proper proportions and balance and …
The Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart. 1 Samuel 13:14 If there is any proof that God is not the detached deity of the deists, it is this. God is not only interested in and interactive with his creation, he is actively seeking men and women. In the New Testament, we read the record of …
Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. 1 Samuel 12:24 The motivation to serve the Lord shouldn't be what we can squeeze out of him (as if he were a miser as respects blessings for his children) but rather from a …
And when he saw their faith. Luke 5:20 A man was paralyzed upon a bed, and had been that way for a long time. His friends, knowing that Jesus was in town, took him to Jesus so that their friend might be healed by him. However, when they arrived at the place where Jesus was at, the crowds were so …
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Romans 6:12 It is always important to pay attention to connecting words like "therefore." You should always ask the question: "Why is the therefore there for?" What is its function in the overall argument? …
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. Song of Solomon 2:15 Just as we are not to despise the day of small things (cf. Zech. 4:10) in terms of God's work in us and for us, neither are we to trifle with those sins that seem small in our lives. …
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Psalm 19:10 We are to pray every day for the Lord to grant us our daily bread (Mt. 6:11), which I take to mean not only the provision for food but for all our earthly and physical necessities …
If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ. 1 Tim. 4:6 Philip Ryken, in his commentary on this passage, tells the story of the funeral of the nineteenth century Princeton theologian Charles Hodge. A champion for Biblical orthodoxy in a day …
Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 1 Samuel 2:30 The world will often honor those who honor the spirit of the age. To be "on the right side of history" is just another way of saying that. It is the same thing as licking the finger to see which way …
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Eph. 4:30 This verse confronts us with the reality that the most important thing to a true Christian is to please God. “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.” That ought to be the greatest motivation to obedience …