Luke 17:11-19, Psalm 146 Giving thanks and praise to God for His many and signal blessings has been central to corporate Christian worship since the beginning. In fact, its fair to say that they almost define orthodox worship. And personally, when we pray over a meal, we express the same ideal of thanksgiving to the […]
James 5 What is the Christian way to find the path forward in painful and difficult circumstances? Or more specifically, what is the source of illumination, of light, in dark places and periods in our lives as Christians, so that we do not stumble so as to fall and lose hope and fall into complete […]
John 17:20-26 The conclusion of our Savior’s great, High Priestly prayer turns its full intent, ministry and benefit to the believers who would come to know and believe in Him through the word of the apostles! Jesus mission would succeed: He would die and be raised. He would send out the Holy Spirit. The apostles […]
John 17:17-19 Sanctification, unity of faith and practice (one-ness of believers), and glorification of the believer are one sweep of the Master Artist’s brush on the canvas of spiritual life. They are each distinct colors in themselves, but none complete by themselves. Each is also a color that blends in the arc of the Master’s […]
John 17:11-16 Jesus here prays for his disciples, because he is going to the cross, the grave and the resurrection. That leaves them in the world, physically alone and vulnerable. Jesus has protected them from the ravages of the world, and kept them loyal to the Father while he was here. What bad things will […]
John 17:6-11 Have you ever paused to consider the ground you’re standing on? Ever been on or fallen from a shaky perch like a ladder or roof, or walked on a crumbly path or slippery mud or ice? In reference to the Christian faith and your place in it, what solid reason, what warrant do […]
John 17:6 Today we need to begin at the end. Why? Because our next verse, v6, points to something so profound and deeply touching, and which burns so divinely hot, that to even begin to let it sizzle into our hearts and souls and warm us down to our toes, to have any hope of […]
John 17:2-3 We tend to think of eternal life in rather limited dimensions. We think of its duration (forever – death is not final) and of its location (with God, perhaps in heaven) and perhaps enjoying future sinlessness. Oh, and being forgiven. On a good day we might extent that to “being with Christ”. In […]
John 17:1-5 Jesus taught his disciples how to pray in Luke 11:1-4 and more famously in Matthew 6:9-13. That’s been called the Lord’s prayer, but it’s better to think of it as the believer’s prayer or the disciple’s prayer. Because of who he was, Jesus could never pray about himself, “And forgive us our debts”. […]
As the life of Christ began with a declaration of God’s endowing and imbuing this sin-agitated world with his peace in Jesus (Luke 2:14), in the same way Jesus, the mediator and means of that peace concludes his message to his disciples, before the cross, of peace. The Christian life is hugely significant in […]