Your kingdom come (Luke 11:2). In my last post I began a series of brief meditations on the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer begins with the request for God’s name to be hallowed, followed immediately with the prayer for his kingdom to come. When we ask for God’s kingdom to come, we are reminded that not only is God’s name and glory to come first — but also God’s desires, his will, his purposes, and his authority.
Jesus
Hallowed Be Your Name
When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name” (Luke 11:2). It is doubtless true that the Lord’s Prayer is routinely abused around the globe every day, mouthed by people who neither think about its meaning, nor would mean it even if they did. This is why Martin Luther referred to the Lord’s Prayer as “the greatest martyr on earth.” It is, as it were, butchered by thoughtless, soulless prayer on a daily basis. However, the other extreme, into which many evangelicals today have fallen (and it’s just as bad) is this: we have largely neglected it!
You Are With Me
The psalmist famously writes: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). Francis Schaeffer, in his book The God Who Is There, references a tragic poem found with the body of a 23-year old young woman and drug addict who had committed suicide. The note read:
The Way, the Truth, the Life
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Nothing could be more purely practical than this passage, this claim by Jesus! Yes, it is a theological claim, but it should be far more than another point of orthodoxy for us as Christians.
What (or Who) Is Your Trophy?
In honor of the Academy Awards, the Hollywood Reporter some time ago revealed the surprising places stars store their statues after finally winning them. One star stores his in the refrigerator, another in the bottom of a closet gathering dust. Tom Hanks’ two best actor statues? He says, “They are on the family trophy shelf, next to the soccer trophies. I think the World’s Greatest Mom trophy from Mother’s Day is up there as well.”
I Have Other Sheep
In John 10:16 Jesus says, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” When you hear these words, what is your gut reaction? Are you offended that Jesus is just as concerned about homeless people and third-world gorilla fighters as he is about you? Or do you feel unconcerned for “other” people, because they’re totally different than you, although Jesus loves them also?
How to Look Like Light, Taste Like Salt
Following the Beatitudes in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to those who are willing to be persecuted “for my sake” that you “are the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14). What does it mean, and how does it happen, that people look like light and taste like salt?
Knowing Christ In the New Year
This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3). It is common, as each year begins, for people to make New Year’s resolutions … which is not a bad practice. As we look back over the past year(s), it is appropriate to wonder if we accomplished what we should have, if our life was as useful and happy as we would like it to be — and then, as a result of that assessment, we resolve to do better in areas in which we feel like we have
God Is With Us
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us) (Matthew 1:21-23). After the long genealogy with which Matthew opens his gospel in verses 1 through 17, proving that Jesus was indeed the promised son of Abraham and of David, we finally come to the fruition of hundreds of years of prophecy: “The virgin
Behold! An Angel, a Virgin, Wise Men, a Star… and Immanuel
The command “Behold!” appears 247 times in the New Testament. Each time this imperative is used in order to call attention to what is being said, or seen, or considered. It is a powerful word that forces us to pause, reflect, and be amazed by the subject matter being described. There are some things that are simply worth taking a long and careful look at. Not surprisingly, then, the New Testament opens — in the first two chapters of Matthew — with no less than six occurrences of this command as the story of Christ’s birth is narrated.
Why Such a Lowly Birth?
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Luke 2:6-7). Jesus was born when “the time came.” The time came, not just for the fulfillment of Mary’s pregnancy, but for the fulfillment of God’s pre-world plan to become a divine human being. Think of it! The Bethlehem prophecy alone (Micah 5:2) reminds us that God had hundreds of years to plan this event! How will
What Is the Book of Revelation About?
The book of Revelation is perhaps the most controversial book in the Bible among Christians. Even sincere, Bible-believing Christians seem to come up with more widely varying interpretations of this book than of any other passage or prophecy. The variety and severity of these disagreements can be intimidating or discouraging to the simple reader, who may feel that there is no one Truth to be found within its mysterious pages. But it is vitally important to remember that God did not inspire the writing of Revelation to bring confusion, but hope and joy to his suffering church.
Do Not Fear, Only Believe
Do not fear, only believe (Mark 5:36). As you read this, you may at this moment be filled with hope and expectation … or you may be filled with dread and anxiety about the future. Either way, Jesus’ simple words to a suffering man speak volumes. Jesus invites us to rest in him, now and always. But why should we trust Jesus? How can we be certain that he has our best in mind, or that he is working for our good?
Jesus Is the Reason for Every Season
Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Genesis 8:20-22). This brief
Mary, You Have Found Favor with God
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God” (Luke 1:30). What an unspeakable blessing, to be chosen — of all women, from all generations — to be the one woman who would be mother to the holy Son of God. In the very next verse in Luke the angel announces that Mary will conceive and bear a son, who is to be named Jesus. He will be great, he will be called the Son of the Most High, and of his kingdom there will be no end.