As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Reposted from Rooted Thinking.
Even though I had my struggles as a teen, God had my heart. I wanted to serve Him. When I heard appeals from pastors or missionaries about being willing to give ourselves fully to Christ in full-time Christian service, my heart sang, “Let me!”
“In his book God Reforms Hearts: Rethinking Free Will and the Problem of Evil, [Thaddeus Williams] reexamines the place that libertarian free will has taken in Christian responses to the problem of evil, and more particularly whether authentic human love requires libertarian free will.” - TGC
“The professor was reading and translating aloud from the Greek. When he got to the last phrase in the verse, he started crying as he repeated ‘kai esmen’ several times…. The phrase is translated ‘and that is what we are’ ” - Eric Geiger
“That God has given His children in Christ some understanding is true, but any such wisdom that we may have is certainly going to wear out if we use it without coming to its Author.” - Paul Henebury
There is a big difference between loving God and “falling in love” or “being in love” with God. It is not only junior high girls who struggle with this issue, however. Confusing romantic love with “chesed”—God’s rich, loyal, covenant-keeping love—is an ancient tradition.
“Jesus called these the first and second greatest commandments and said everything else is just an application of them. Love God supremely; love others deeply.” - SBC Voices
One from the SharperIron archive. Originally published in the Baptist Bulletin Nov/Dec 2011 and used here by permission. All rights reserved.
My wife and I were talking about the spiritual hazards in the current culture when she asked, “How do believers make it these days without daily quiet time?” This is a subject I rarely hear mentioned anymore. Maybe that’s because the matter is too personal.
Years ago a Bible college student confided that as he walked to breakfast on his first day of class, his suite-mate asked, “Well, George, what did the Lord give you in quiet time this morning?”
George’s mind worked fast. After the initial shock at the intrusion, he quickly made up something to tell. The next morning it happened again, and again he made up something to make himself look good. The third morning George got up earlier and prayed for the Lord to give him something he could share. From then on he had an appointment with the Lord and didn’t need any further prompting.
Discussion