God is concerned that Christians live consistent with their profession even in the seemingly small and insignificant areas of life.
The faithfulness of God in the past fortifies believers for future challenges.
In a world of constant change, God alone is the Rock upon which to build a life.
The task of evangelism often involves preparing an open road so offenders can find their refuge in Christ.
Courage is the most fundamental of all virtues.
Theological error is the most pernicious of errors; it strikes at man's center and separates him from his Creator and Redeemer. God insisted not only that Israelites should judge their own hearts and cast aside falsehood about Him but that they should also confront it wherever it emerged.
Distance is no barrier to the love of God.
Intercessors constitute the greatest unseen group of spiritual heroes in world history. Their labors are not seen, but the results are. Those who pray for the spiritual needs of others do immeasurable good in the world, often preventing (at least for a time) divine judgment.
There is no limit to what God's people can expect their God to do if they are rightly related to Him.
In any spiritual undertaking, God's first order of business is to see to the spiritual health of His people.
The believer who feels the agony caused by rebellion will grow to become the best intercessor.
Religious truth is not false for being narrow any more than mathematical or scientific truth is false for the same reason.
God ought to be given the choice portion of our wealth and not its dregs.
God warned Israel, "And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it" (Ex. 20:25). To pollute something is to make it ordinary. God insists that any approach crafted by human ingenuity will produce a worship system just like all the pagan systems in the world. In other words, it will be common or profane - just like everyone else's paganism.
By definition, if man contributes anything toward acceptance by God, he loses everything. God expects man to be the recipient, not the originator. Jesus paid it all, not 99% of it. Paul wrote, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast"
We dare not trim stones to make God an altar, for if we do we ruin everything. We would spend time bringing people to the altar and saying, "Look at those beautiful stones we trimmed!" We merely need to accept the work that God has done for us in Christ. The object of His restrictions is to help us see how wonderful He is and to spend the rest of our lives rendering true worship to Him.
The fear of God does not come naturally to human beings; it must be learned through Scripture, worship, and the hard knocks of experience.
Worship is accomplished with the life as well as with the words and attitudes of people. Changed and transformed lives testify to the character and supernatural power of the God of heaven. Closeness to Him produces changes in character and holiness.
Although God's people find many successes in the world, they must not fall prey to a spirit of pride. We succeed not because of our moral superiority but because of the faithfulness of our divine intercessor and because of the great mercy of God.
In Deuteronomy 11, God offers Israel a choice; either a life of productivity and enjoyment made possible by obedience to Him, or a life of difficulty and opposition made necessary by disobedience. The happiness Israel desires can only be theirs by being properly related to Him.
Israel's [as well as our] enjoyment of the land is contingent on their behavior. Blessings or cruses lie before them; the choice is theirs.
Father, we ask that you give us a passion for the truth and not merely a hatred of falsehood. Keep us concerned for the spiritual health of people but open to your own rebukes from your mighty Word.
Conversion engages the mind as well as the emotions.
False teaching - anything that would weaken the believer's ties to his Lord - must be confronted wherever it appears, even if that confrontation requires painful correction.
No amount of human willfulness can overcome God's determined love.
