On a recent tour of Israel, my wife and I went to this hill to hear anew the familiar expressions of “Blessed are” preached by Chuck Swindoll. But there, on the Mount of Beatitudes, it was what I saw, more than what I heard, that really demonstrated the power of Jesus’ words.
“Never give up, never give in.” This could have been the motto of Paul’s life. Quit simply wasn’t in the man’s vocabulary. We ought to erase it from ours as well. And we can if we’ll hear and heed Paul’s last words to his friend, Timothy.
Think of each song or hymn as a promise to God, a binding statement of your commitment. Picture the results of this commitment as you sing it with gusto. Then, after the song has ended, apply it with the same gusto. God not only loves a cheerful giver, He honours a sincere singer.
We’ve broken the world. And each of us is responsible. Down deep in our souls lies a little rebel that sometimes whispers and sometimes yells for us to go our own way. Inevitably, when we do, we stumble into a moral morass.
The Bible’s wisdom literature was different from that of Israel’s neighbours because it was rooted in the theology that God has created an orderly universe with both a natural and moral law. God has wired his creation according to those laws.
“Familiarity breeds contempt” is an old cliché because it’s nearly always true. However, before contempt, familiarity breeds complacency—a ho-hum attitude that is satisfied with the status quo. If we’re not careful, complacency will then breed cynicism, which is a kissing cousin of contempt.
Since heaven will be our ultimate destination, we need to spend less time complaining about our struggles and trials on earth, where we temporarily live, and more time learning as much as possible about heaven, where we will live forever.
Chuck Swindoll revels in the heart-pounding freedom felt by a soul newly released from the shackles of sin. It's a freedom that can never be snatched away again!
These and other life-transforming truths are what we at Insight for Living Canada proclaim across this country day after day in print, on air, and online. Lives are changed by these truths.
Paul’s relationship with Timothy goes back to Paul’s earliest days as a missionary. Paul and Barnabas visited Timothy’s hometown of Lystra on Paul’s first journey around AD 47.
Insight for Living is committed to excellence in communicating the truths of Scripture and the Person of Jesus Christ in an accurate, clear, and practical manner so that people will come to an understanding of God’s plan for their lives, as well as their significant role as authentic Christians in a needy, hostile, and desperate world.
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