Can we trust God?
1 Kings 18:1-19 At a doctoral board meeting of a secular university, I was struck by the vitriolic comments made by fellow (secular) board members who were commenting on the proposal of a Christian master’s student. I must admit that…
Where do we look for the source of our life?
1 Kings 17:17-24 Dramatic changes in our situation, a tragedy, an illness or accident are often the times when we awaken from the busy-ness of life to ask the deeper questions. What is the source of our fulfilment? What does…
Is dependence a bad thing?
1 Kings 17:1-16 In my gap year that I spent working at a Christian youth hostel in Haifa, Israel, I once encountered three tourists who missed their cruise ship and had to wait three days before the ship returned from…
Is God’s Word really true?
1 Kings 15:25-34; 16:1-34 The first doubt sown about God’s Word was in the serpent’s question, ‘Did God really say…?’ (Gen 3:1), followed by the lie, ‘You shall surely not die… [but] you will be like God!’ (Gen 3:4-5). The…
What difference it makes how we live once saved
1 Kings 14:21-31; 15:1-24 I often remember a conversation with a Roman Catholic friend from the early days after I had become a Christian. When I spoke of salvation as by grace alone, she asked, ‘But why would anyone want…
Why repentance is hard and how God seeks us
1 Kings 14:1-20 When non-Christians hear the gospel of grace, that if we repent of our sins then God forgives and reconciles us to Himself because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, many say that this is too easy. The…
Learning how to discern the true word from God
1 Kings 13:11-34 The story of the disobedient prophet makes for confusing reading because it defies our expectations. How could the man of God, who faithfully spoke God’s message to Jeroboam, be so deceived? How could God’s genuine word come…
God’s ways of getting through to us
1 Kings 13:1-10 Some years ago, a Christian friend shared how God wanted to move him to another country and into a different ministry, but he was unwilling. Shortly after, he became seriously ill and felt convicted that he was…
How to trust and worship God right
1 Kings 12:25-33 Can God be trusted? This is the most fundamental question in our relationship with Him, the one challenged by the serpent in Eden. As so often, what God says or promises seems less likely than its opposite…
The what-ifs in life and what we do with them
1 Kings 12:1-24 All of us may have experienced situations where we did all we could to push through difficulties and everything seemed to work against us, or where we look back on some circumstances and blame ourselves for missed…