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Linking Our Impotence to God’s Omnipotence

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  Linking Our Impotence to God’s Omnipotence But this is only a simple thing for the Lord… 2 Kings 3:18 NLT Darlene Deibler, who was imprisoned in a Japanese prison camp during WWII, had been moved to the Kempeitai prison where she was held by herself in a small cell. Enduring bearings and interrogation, she relied heavily on the Lord. When she had been held there for some time starving, interrogated daily, and lonely, she was looking out of the one small window in her cell out to a small courtyard down below. While she watched the prisoners being allowed to walk around, she saw someone from outside the prison sneak something to one of the women. She caught a glimpse of the item before the woman hid it, and it was a bunch of bananas. The sight of those bananas stirred up such a longing for just one banana. Darlene had eaten mostly rice water since she had come to Kempeitai. Oh how she wanted a banana! She pleaded with the Lord, “Lord, just one banana.” But as she thought about it, she
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I Will Most Gladly Spend and Be Spent for Your Souls: the motto of Christian motherhood

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 I Will Most Gladly Spend and Be Spent for Your Souls: the motto of Christian motherhood  Where there is a praying mother, there is always hope. J. C. Ryle In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he expresses repeatedly his love for them, his deep heart of affection for them and for their well-being. As a mom, I have often resonated with Paul’s earnest appeal to the recipients of his letters, as he strongly urges them to know Christ and live for Him. Philippians and 2 Corinthians are two letters, that as I read them and pray through them, my own heart as a mother desires for my children so many of the truths expressed there. Near the end of 2 Corinthians, Paul says, “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls” (12:15). Reading that verse many years ago, I thought it was a beautiful expression of my desire as a mother. I want this to be my aim: to most gladly spend and be spent for the souls of my children.  Looking at the words in this verse convicts me. “Most gladly” means expe
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The End of Prayer is Praise: Psalm 150

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The End of Prayer is Praise Psalm 150 The end of prayer is praise. The psalms show praise as the end of prayer in both meanings of the word: the terminus, the last word in the final Psalm 150; and the goal at which all the psalm prayers arrive after their long travels to the unmapped back countries of pain, doubt, and trouble with only occasional vistas of the sunlit lands along the way. Eugene Peterson Two years ago I embarked on a journey to blog through the Psalms, writing prayer guides for each one. Donald Whitney’s book Praying the Bible had inspired me to take his suggestion of praying the psalms and intentionally make a resource for myself and others to use for our prayer lives. When I began, the majority of each post was the prayer suggestions with perhaps a small paragraph about a topic within that particular psalm. But as I continued through the psalms, and as God placed me in the refiner’s fire, the posts became a way for me to remind my own soul of the truth of Scripture a
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A Song of a Thousand Syllables: Psalm 149

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A Song of a Thousand Syllables Psalm 149 I can still believe that a day comes for all of us, however far off it may be, when we shall understand; when these tragedies, that now blacken and darken the very air of heaven for us, will sink into their places in a scheme so august, so magnificent, so joyful, that we shall laugh for wonder and delight. Arthur Christopher Bacon The nightingale, known as the night songstress, is one of the most magnificent singers of the animal kingdom. Its ability to sing over a thousand syllables means it is unrivaled and dwarfs other birds in its range and variety. “The powerful but mellow song really requires extended exposure to appreciate - it's not one that can be enjoyed in just a few small snippets” (Duncan). Additionally, its song feels more striking in the night hours against the backdrop of silence, the absence of other noises. Each song is unique, filled with phrases pieced together for a wondrous composition. We, too, like the visually unimpr
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The Stormy Winds Fulfilling His Word

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  Stormy Winds Fulfilling His Word Psalm 148 I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against the Rock of Ages.  Charles Spurgeon Storms can be frightening. The loud cracks of thunder, the flashes of lightening, the torrential rains and strong winds produce fear because in those things is the potential for harm and damage. Even children, unaware of the devastation a storm can bring, are anxious by the power displayed in the middle of a storm.  But storms are not just damage and destruction. Storms are beneficial. Storms bring much needed rainfall to alleviate and prevent drought. Storms clean the air, removing pollutants and dust particles. Storms break down nitrogen, leaving nitrates for fertilizer for plant life. Storms also replenish plant life, carrying spores and seeds to places they would not normally go, thus increasing biodiversity. These benefits parallel some of the spiritual benefits we can receive in the storms of life. In Psalm 148, in the midst of calling all creatu
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Hope for the Brokenhearted and Wounded: Psalm 147

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  Hope for the Brokenhearted and Wounded Psalm 147 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 Psalm 147 is a post-exilic psalm. Israel, because of its repeated idolatry, was given by God into the hands of its enemies. God had warned them that their continued idolatry would result in their captivity. But He did not leave them without hope. Though they would be captured and carried off to foreign lands, it would be for a prescribed time: 70 years. After those 70 years, God would bring them back from the place He had scattered them, and they would return to Jerusalem. Psalm 147 was written after these 70 years of exile, when the promises that they had been pleading for had been fulfilled. The people have witnessed with their own eyes that God has brought them back.  But when the exiles came back to Jerusalem, things were not the same as when they had been taken. Jerusalem was desolate and its gates burned with fire (Nehemiah 2:17). The walls and the temple had been
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Praise to the One who Opens Blind Eyes: Psalm 146

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Praise to the One who Opens Blind Eyes Psalm 146 Jesus saw the man who could not see him. BSF Lesson 13 In the Scriptures, there are two types of blindness: physical blindness and spiritual blindness. Both forms of blindness are a result of the fall. Now that sin and its curse has entered our world, our physical bodies bear the evidence of mortality. Our bodies, designed by our magnificent Creator, no longer function wholly and completely. Even more devastating is our spiritual blindness. When Adam sinned against God, all mankind fell with him in his first sin. He represented the whole human race, and because of his sin, mankind was plunged into spiritual darkness, spiritual blindness. And in our blindness, we don’t even know we’re alienated from God.  In John 9, we read the story of the man who was born blind. But Jesus found him and gave him his sight. This is the story of every believer. We are born blind. The sin nature we are born with blinds us to our separation from God and our
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