READ: Zechariah 3, John 18, 2 Peter 2 JESUS HELP ME Spiritual maturity is counter to natural human maturity. To become an adult in human society means to be ever more dependent on yourself. To become an adult spiritually is to be ever more dependent on Jesus. Humans consider continual dependence on others to be […]
Region: Arab World
Abiding in Jesus: December 18
READ: Zechariah 2, John 17, 2 Peter 1 SENT AFTER GLORY The word for glory in Hebrew is related to the word for “weight.” There is a weightiness to the presence of God. Zechariah notes an interesting prophetic utterance in that the Messiah declares: “He sent me after glory” (Zech. 2:8). In context, the Messiah is defending […]
Abiding in Jesus: December 17
READ: Zechariah 1, John 16, 1 Peter 5 HELPING GOD ON HIS TERMS Jesus is so annoyingly persistent. The satisfactions of God are so much more exhaustive than ours; they cost us more to attain and they satisfy us more deeply once we find them, once they find us. We humans have a fairly low […]
Abiding in Jesus: December 16
READ: Song of Solomon 8, John 15, 1 Peter 4 LOVE TO BE HATED We should love to be hated, but we should not seek to be hated. Being hated by the world brings us closer to Jesus. After all He reminds us that “if the world hates you, know that it hated me before it […]
Abiding in Jesus: December 15
READ: Song of Solomon 7, John 14, 1 Peter 3 ON THE CONTRARY, BLESSING While a “nose like the tower of Lebanon” might have sounded attractive to the ancient Hebrews (Song. 7:4), holy women who trusted God adorned themselves a different way (1 Peter 3:5). Peter points out that incorruptible beauty is that of a gentle and […]
Abiding in Jesus: December 14
READ: Song of Solomon 6, John 13, 1 Peter 2 TROUBLED IN SPIRIT The Word of God gives us incredible structural integrity. The Word is a lamp to our feet (Psalm 119:105), it is our revival (v. 107), it is our heritage (v. 111), and when we incline our heart toward it forever, to the […]
Abiding in Jesus: December 13
READ: Song of Solomon 5, John 12, 1 Peter 1 SURPRISING TEACHERS Obeying Makes Us Wise. “I have understood more than the ancients,” says the psalmist, “because I keep your precepts” (Psalm 119:100). It is not study that makes us spiritually smart. Some of the most theologically brilliant people are the least submitted to Jesus and […]
Abiding in Jesus: December 12
READ: Song of Solomon 4, John 11, James 5 PERSEVERANCE Missionaries who live and labor in the Arab world face an ongoing tension: We desperately want to see millions of Arab Muslims come to Jesus, and to be discipled and planted in churches that reproduce themselves, yet we see so very little. We read the […]
Abiding in Jesus: December 11
READ: Song of Solomon 3, John 10, James 4 NECESSARY, NOT SUFFICIENT Christians tend to be wooed by the power gifts. In ministry and especially frontier mission, we are tempted to put our hopes in the silver bullet of signs and wonders. We think if God will but demonstrate His power, the nations will turn […]
Abiding in Jesus: December 10
READ: Song of Solomon 2, John 9, James 3 JUDGE JESUS The advent season affords us the opportunity to look back at the incarnation and tremble. There is something horrible about God becoming man. The soft lights and gentle music of Christmas alternate with the jolly and festive side of the holidays and lead us […]
