The Sword of the LORD

"I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.  And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him" (Luke 15:18-20).   During my daily quiet time with the Lord this week, I was struck by the enormous love of our Father God for us His children.  While the prodigal son in this parable was still a considerable distance from home, the father spotted him as he was making his way back to his father's house.  It was not by coincidence that his father saw him; his father had watched for him since the time that he had left, waiting hopefully for his son's return.  Then, when the father saw his son, there was no hesitancy and no second guessing of what his response should be: he ran to his son, embraced him, and k...

Watching the seemingly super-human effort of the athletes at this year’s Paris Summer Olympics, I had to think about the preparation and training that these men and women had to go through for such accomplishments to be possible.  They all started their training at an early age, and all committed their lives to becoming the best at his/her sport.  The hours and years that they each spent perfecting their technique, as well as the personal sacrifices that each has made, have paid off in making them the best athletes in the world.    As I think about the dedication of all the great athletes that competed during the 2024 Summer Olympics, I’m reminded of Saint Paul’s words in his letter to the Philippians where he writes, “ Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (Philippians 3:8).  Further, he ...

Just before Jesus was ascended to His Father, He told His disciples to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they were filled with power by the Holy Ghost.  The purpose of this outpouring of the Spirit, among other things, was that they might have power to become His witnesses.    On the day of Pentecost, the Jewish feast that marked the completion of the wheat harvest, as the Apostles and other disciples were gathered together in one place, there was suddenly the sound of a rushing, mighty wind.     It filled the place where they were assembled.   What appeared like tongues of fire settled on each of them and they all spoke in languages that they did not previously know as the Spirit filled and inspired them.   Jews from every nation were in Jerusalem that day, and every one heard the Gospel preached in their own language as the Spirit gave the disciples utterance.   So was fulfilled the words of Jesus that they would take His Words to the wo...

On April 23, 1910, President Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech entitled “Citizenship in a Republic” at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.  The speech became popularly known as “The Man In the Arena” because of the following section of the speech which struck a note in the hearts and minds of those who heard his words and were inspired by them.  He said:   “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at l...

As Jesus journeyed from Judea to Galilee, He passed through Samaria.  As He traveled through that country, He came to the city of Sychar, which was part of the parcel of land given by the patriarch Jacob to His son Joseph.  In this location was Jacob’s well, which still exists to this day.  The group stopped at the well, and Jesus sat down to rest from the journey while His disciples went into the town to buy provisions.    As Jesus sat there on the well, there came a Samaritan woman to draw water from the well.   Jesus then looked at her and said, “Give Me to drink.” (John 4:7).   The woman, surprised that a Jew would speak to her, said, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?   For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” (John 4:9).   Jesus’ response transcended the simple conversation that they were having, and went straight to the spiritual level.   He said, “If thou knewest the...

We often act as though we have figured God all out.   We expect for Him to operate only in certain ways that we are accustomed to.   As He has moved for us in the past, so we expect for Him to move now and in the future.   Often, however, He chooses methods that are totally unexpected to us, and we are forced to think of God in ways we never have before.   At such times the ground under us may seem unstable, and we are forced to walk by faith rather than by sight.   This is good, though.   Without such changes in our lives we will not have opportunities to grow, and to learn that it is He that is leading us, and not the reverse.   When the Apostle Peter saw Jesus walking on the water in the midst of the stormy sea (see Matthew 14:22-32), it shattered all of Peter’s usual conventions concerning the Lord.  He was forced to question whether this was really the One that he thought he had known up to now - “Lord, if it be Thou…”.  With one wor...

“And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26).   From the very beginning God desired to create man in His own image, and after His own likeness.   He did not leave this task up to man to accomplish on his own, but He undertook it Himself.   "Let us make man in our image..."   This image, or likeness, did not refer so much to Adam's physical appearance as much as it did his purity of spirit and moral character.   Adam was sinless and innocent before his Maker.   His soul was a clean mirror into which the Creator could gaze and see His own nature reflected.   In every respect, Adam was a son of his Father, and it could be said of him, "Like Father, like son."   Sadly, Adam chose to break the Father's commandment; and, as a r...