Promises for the Battle
Just Thinking
I Was Just Thinking … Star-Inspired Faith
This past summer I went back-packing in the Sierras with part of my family. For two nights we camped beside a lake at an elevation of about 9,500 feet. As one who lives in the middle of the seventy-mile-broad megalopolis of the Los Angeles basin, this campsite afforded my first chance in many years to … Continue reading
I Was Just Thinking … Fear Not Only Believe
The man through whom my father came to Christ, evangelist Paul Rader, is perhaps best remembered today for his hymn “Only Believe”: Fear not, little flock, from the cross to the throne, From death into life he went for his own; All power in earth, all power above, Is given to him for the flock … Continue reading
I Was Just Thinking … Source of Love
When reading “Points to Ponder” in a recent Reader’s Digest, I was particularly struck by the answer Dr. Thomas P. Malone, of the Atlantic Psychiatric clinic, gave to the question of what psychiatry is all about. The root of the cause of almost every emotional problem, he says, is someone’s crying out for love. A … Continue reading
I Was Just Thinking … God of All Comfort
God is the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). But what does this mean? If we want to get to the message that God has for us in the pages of his book, we must not read the Bible passively. Instead, we should formulate questions about what its statements mean. Then we should let … Continue reading
I Was Just Thinking … the Weight of Glory
I’ve been encouraged lately from mulling over 2 Corinthians 4:17–18: “This slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. …” When difficulties and disappointments come, my initial reaction is to be … Continue reading
I Was Just Thinking … I Need More Faith
The Bible commands us to love one another and to pray for one another. One of the means which the church I attend uses to encourage this is to have the congregation on Sunday evenings form little groups of four or five to share prayer requests, and then to pray together for several minutes. This … Continue reading
I Was Just Thinking … Faith In Prayer
A famous hymn opens with the words, “What various hindrances we meet, in coming to the mercy seat.” Farther on the hymn gives some indication of why we find it so hard to pray: Restraining prayer, we cease to fight; Prayer makes the Christian armor bright. And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint … Continue reading
I Was Just Thinking … Pumping Iron — Spiritually
Today I want to emphasize Paul’s command to Timothy, where Paul said, “Keep on exercising yourself in godliness, pastor Timothy, because godliness holds promise both for this present life and for that which is to come” (4:7–8). The English word “godliness” represents a Greek word used to characterize someone who was very concerned to respect … Continue reading
I Was Just Thinking … Persistent Fervent Prayer
Jesus once said, “In praying do not heap up empty phrases, as those do those who think they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:7). And yet in his parable of the widow and the unjust judge, Jesus clearly taught that we should keep on making the same request to God “day and … Continue reading
I Was Just Thinking … Beating the If Only Blues
How distressed my heart can become when, after having committed myself to one course of action, hindsight indicates that another would have been wiser. Regret — this is a very painful difficulty we often face in life. John Greenleaf Whittier, in his poem “Maud Muller,” captured its pain in these words, “For of all sad … Continue reading
Promises for the Battle 