“I have loved you for a thousand years,
I’ll love you for a thousand more.”
Tall promises for finite beings whose lifespan hardly reaches a hundred years. Still our hearts buy the romance because deep within us our souls yearn for an eternity of joy that only Christ can give.
There’s a difference between knowing you’re a bad person and knowing you’re a sinner. Many people are aware of their badness but not everyone will admit to their sinfulness. Bad people make up for their badness by doing good stuff. Sinful people need to repent and come to Jesus.
It was not Saul’s strength and height that made him an adequate warrior and king– it was the Spirit of the Lord. When the Spirit left him, he chickened out before Goliath. In the same way, our confidence is in Christ alone. Apart from Him, our hearts melt with fear in the face of adversity.
[Samson’s] life collapsed under the weight of his pride. God gave him an amazing gift, but he let that gift go to his head. He saw it as God’s personal endorsement of him. He assumed God would keep blessing him even though one by one he broke every Nazirite vow.
Samson believed God would be faithful to his word, but Samson didn’t believe he needed to be faithful to God’s word. He trusted God to empower his gifting, but he didn’t trust God to satisfy his appetites. So he disobeyed God and indulged sin. He was already blind when the Philistines finally got to him.
Do not be afraid to commit to honorable things when it is asked of you, especially when the other alternative is passivity and laziness.
Do not be afraid to commit to things that take integrity and honor to fulfill, especially when the alternative is just slacking off and total avoidance of responsibility.
Do not be afraid to commit to godly things when it is demanded of you. This is what men of God do. This is what makes a man. This is what Christlikeness looks like. This is true godliness in action.
Pastor Tullian on Christmas:
Christmas has a painful way of revealing why the first Christmas was so necessary.
Tears are falling, hearts are breaking; How we need to hear from God…
Christmas exposes our desperation but it also announces our Deliverer—the one who promises rest to the weary and heavy laden; the one who promises never to leave us or forsake us. For those who feel lonely and lost, anxious and abandoned, tired and tense—for those who are guilt-ridden and grieving—Christmas is for you. Especially for you!
You can read the whole thing here.
Jojo Agot 