Marching Forth!

It is mind-blowing the things God does and the way He chooses to do them.  Though God has made Himself known to men, He is past finding out and His ways are higher than ours.  The Almighty God is infinitely greater in power and wisdom than any created being.  God's wisdom is revealed to us through the Bible and Jesus Christ, wisdom no spirits or men have known.  Paul expressed in 1 Corinthians 2:8  if the rulers of darkness realised God's plan of salvation would come through Christ's death on Calvary, they would not have sought to kill Him! God's people in scripture were often baffled by the ways God used in chastening them.  They could not believe God would use the Assyrians or Babylonians to lay waste to Israel, destroy the Temple, and to take captive God's own people.  How could a righteous God employ such wicked nations to accomplish His will?  The truth is, God's people had adopted the wicked practices of the surrounding nations in viola...

The assurance Christians have of eternal life through the Gospel ought to impact the way we live now.  Since God has made provision for our future, it stands to reason He will preserve us today.  For followers of Jesus Christ eternal life has already begun, and we can be rid of the cares and worries of this life which potentially plague us with fear. Eternal life in heaven for some believers could be compared to life savings which remain untouched, an expensive insurance policy which has never been claimed on, or a immense financial investment which currently is a non-liquid asset.  Eternal life is typically (speaking from my own experience a bit) can be seen as something afar off and not quite useful for our experience of daily life.  More and more I am learning that eternal life is altogether relevant for today, a liquid asset we can draw upon to help our perspective remain fixed upon Christ. Life was not intended by God to be theoretical or philosophical ...

People are notoriously difficult to please.  Give someone what they want, and they can still end up dissatisfied.  Whilst it is true some are easier to please than others, we all tend to be upset when our expectations are not met.  When we don't receive what we expect - be it service or quality we believe we have paid for - it leads to ungrateful, bitter attitudes. The children of Israel provide an example of this after they demanded Samuel anoint them a king to rule over them like the other nations.   1 Samuel 10:24-27 reads, " And Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?" So all the people shouted and said, "Long live the king!" 25  Then Samuel explained to the people the behaviour of royalty, and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the LORD . And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 26 And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and valiant m...

It is amazing how God has graced mere men with His presence.  God has made a way for us to enter into His presence, and for His presence to dwell in us through the Holy Spirit.  Paul wrote of what Jesus accomplished in  Ephesians 2:18-22 :  " For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit ."  Along with all followers of Christ, we are individually and collectively a dwelling place of God. How remarkable, that God would dwell with and in men!  For all who have tasted and have seen God is good forever chang...