In this brief reflection, Graham gives some thoughts on God refusing to allow Moses to lead His people into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 3:23–27)...
This week's W-W gives thanks for the gathered church, warns against overfamiliarity with God, challenges those who make people bigger than God, or themselves as more worthy of worship....
In this week's W-W there is a classic gospel illustration, a word on singing together, a summary of marriage truth, and a reminder of an important reason we gather together as a church....
Unpacking John's teaching in 1 John 3:22-23, where he speaks of the necessary interrelationship between our belief in Christ Jesus and our love for others....
Though genuine believers will struggle with sin, the work of the Spirit of Christ in us prevails such that we cannot live in ongoing, unrepentant sin....
In this week's W-W, we have a sensible productivity tip, an observation about discipleship, a word on God's will and prayer, and a reformation history doco to watch....
In this week's W-W, there is a discipleship encouragement, a family encouragement, a prayer encouragement, and a tempo of life encouragement... ...
This week's W-W has an illustration from marriage, encouragement from gospel conversations, a word on church divisions, a lesson from Afghanistan, and a prompt to pray for those living in pain....
In this week's W-W there is encouragement to fight, to pray, to trust, and to run... all in God's strength!...
Having finished our series on the Book of Job last Sunday, we turn the eyes of our hearts back to the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans. In many ways, Job has prepared us well for the 'Big God' theology we will encounter (in Romans 9 especially!). This coming Sunday we will refresh ourselves with the territory we have covered over the first eight chapters (given that it...
Keep ReadingRevisiting the overview of the structure of the book of Job via the Bible Project....
Keep ReadingGod has spoken (Job 38-41), and Job is accepting of what he has heard (Job 42:2). But clearly not everyone is satisfied. I mentioned Virginia Woolf's reaction: "I read the Book of Job the other day and I don't think God comes out well in it!". Such a view is articulated more academically by some commentators, such as this from Norman Habel: "For God to intervene and erase...
Keep ReadingThis week we are looking at the newcomer to the "let's fix Job" mix- the young and fired-up Elihu. Christopher Ash is right when he says that there are only two ways we can listen to Elihu: either he is a false prophet or he is a true prophet. Ash argues for the latter (as summarised in Tuesday's devotion). For what it's worth, I disagree and take the false-prophet option....
Keep ReadingConsidering the place of Elihu and his words (Job 32-37): a positive voice?...
Keep ReadingJob's interactions with his friends and before God have taken him a long way since the agonised darkness of chapter 3. In spite of his deep and drawn out suffering, he has remained steadfast in his resolve, and even displayed moments of profound hope (as we saw in Job 19:25-27). There is much more ground yet to be travelled, but chapters 27-31 mark a turn in the road. We w...
Keep ReadingWe return this week to our extended journey through the Book of Job. As we have noted a number of times, Job is not a book to rush through. The themes of God's sovereignty and undeserved suffering cannot be summarised in a few dot points. As we make our way through the various speeches and responses between Job and his 'comforters', we realise that the road of grief and lo...
Keep ReadingAs we leave Job for a few weeks and return to the Gospel of Luke, we look at some of the parallel themes between Job and Luke 18....
Keep ReadingOne of the most pressing issues in the book of Job the whole question of "Why". Why is Job hauled through such a harrowing experience? Why is this upright man of integrity and faithfulness suffering so desperately? Why is God allowing this to happen? Why.? And yet this question is not directly answered. At least not in a neat and clearly satisfying way. For many readers o...
Keep ReadingI am always so encouraged by the testimony of those who remain faithful in the midst of suffering. Elisabeth Elliot is a wonderful example. Her first husband was Jim was one of the 'Ecuador Five'- missionaries who were murdered by members of the Auca tribe as they sought to bring the gospel into the jungles of Ecuador. This is an amazing story in itself (Jim Elliot wrote t...
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