Get ready to start a journey…a journey through the pages of the Bible and the pages of your life.
Walls and towers were important parts of a biblical city’s protection. Many cities built high towers at the corners of their walls. These towers were hollow, with a staircase reaching to the top. Each served as a watchtower to spot invading armies and provide the defensive upper hand. The height placed archers at a distinct advantage as the enemy approached.
The fear of the Lord is not a cowering terror or dread. It is the honor and respect of the heavenly Father demonstrated by doing what he says. A person’s lip service does not equal an awe of God. It’s one’s obedience, even when no one else is looking, that confirms healthy fear.
God stands by the brokenhearted, but he doesn’t just stand by. He is not a passive onlooker or a well-wisher. He doesn’t need to go for help. He comes to us in our brokenness as the Divine Doctor, the Sovereign Surgeon, and the Holy Healer. He brings exactly what we need at the precise moment we need it—not a moment too soon, not a second too late.
What gives you confidence? What calms your heart? What makes you feel secure? A thriving economy? A secure job? Your person in the White House? A substantial retirement? A strong military?
God is not limited by time or space. He is present everywhere at the same time in his whole being. There is nowhere in the entire universe, on land or sea, that a person can go to get away from God.
Imagine discovering the answer to every why, what, and how about God and life. Now imagine comprehending those answers.
Brad Henderson, Chaplain of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins, on mentoring those held in high esteem, competing as a triathlete, and experiencing God’s grace in his life.
The world is a shaky place in which to live. As I write this, the headlines give updates on several wars going on around the world. A hurricane is causing major damage and widespread power outages in parts of our country. Corruption charges are being brought against government leaders. There is no end to the political bickering.
Sometimes it’s the absence of things that make a place special…and even heavenly.
“Love,” says A. W. Tozer, “is an essential attribute of God.” Tozer explains that all of God’s attributes are always at work together. One is never held back in order to emphasize another. Let’s think about what that means for us.
It’s a place we’d rather not dwell on…a vast, burning lake of eternal punishment. But if scripture is true, it’s a place that cries out for our attention.
God’s love is something believers need to understand, accept, and apply. A. W. Tozer explains this attribute of God in his book, The Knowledge of the Holy.
Sometimes, we can feel it coming on, like a person who loses footing on a steep climb, and we can feel our emotions slipping. The waves of anxiety build until they crash into our hearts and drench our souls. Here it comes, the fear of uncertainty.
God is eternal. There was never a time when he wasn’t; there will never be a time when he ceases to exist. He has neither a beginning nor an end.
Peace on Earth, in your lifetime, is possible, but only if you’re under the reign of the One who is peace.
Sometimes, all we can do is hold on. One doctor’s visit leaves our minds spinning. One phone call changes the course of our days. One text leaves our hearts heavy. These are not the times when we feel like considering the five possible interpretations of a difficult passage. We may not be up for reading a book about the theology and practice of prayer. Sometimes, all we can do is cling.
The greatest sound ever to come from the lips of man will be a song of praise before the throne of God. There, millennia of pain and anguish will yield to a joyous celebration that never ends.
Spiritually exhausted? Feel like you are chasing your tail? Busy, running hard, but getting nowhere fast? Could it be that you’re spent from running hard after the wrong things? Could it be that you are living your life for yourself? Could it be that your spiritual exhaustion is caused by the inward battle between your will and what God wills for you?