rebelling against low expectations
Praise in the midst of pain is probably one the most difficult things we are called upon to do as Christians. When things are going well, we have plenty to thank God for. When life seems good to us, praise often flows more easily. But when hard times hit, the thought of being grateful can leave us cringing. Yet we are told to rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4) and give thanks in...
Mining can be hard work. It can also be immensely rewarding. And unlike physical mining, where a vein can be depleted or not have much in it, Scripture will always have more gems to unearth. We never have to wonder whether we dig in vain, especially if we know where and how to look. Over the past three posts, I’ve provided tools specific to the three steps of mining. But before we conclude this...
Uncut gems, when newly unearthed, are precious, valuable, and desirable—but aren’t particularly beautiful or useful. Rather, those gems need to be polished, cut, and set, such as into a ring or necklace. That is how they reach their full potential. That’s what wisdom does with God’s word. It takes the gems of understanding that we unearthed from the dirt of knowledge, polishes them up and cuts...
Knowledge is a great place to start in uncovering the gems of Scripture, but knowledge alone isn’t particularly helpful. Alone, it tends to cause us to feel smart, which can lead to arrogance or pride. Rather, we need to sift through the dirt to find the gems of understanding. So here we move from knowing the facts of the passage to comprehending what those facts actually mean. You may know that...
The Bible can be a little daunting to study. First, there’s all those pages, well into the hundreds in many versions. Then you have those unpronounceable names that seem to come from the latest fantasy novel. And have you read some of the stuff this book contains? Wheels covered in eyes (Ezekiel 10:12). Belly fat oozing over sword hilts (Judges 3:22). Prophets walking around naked (Isaiah 20:2-4)...
rebelling against low expectations
