It is almost unfair to try and write a discourse on the providence of God in so short a space, seeing that His providence touches every facet of our lives–from here to eternity.
The term has been damaged by mis-use and mis-applications of various sorts. If it can be viewed in our lives, it has to be done mostly retrospectively and not prospectively, seeing that we don’t always know if a certain happening is God’s providence or a “time and chance happens to them all”…
In a sermon several years ago now, Brother Bowman remarked how “Hope is the apparatus that reaches out into our future and affixes itself to that for which we long.” I can still remember how much I liked the way this sounded, I wrote it down immediately and have obviously committed it to memory. It wasn’t until a few more years had passed that what had been a really neat way of framing a concept took on a great deal more significance. My Mother returned to the Lord in 2013 after 40 years away … this expression now had…
By Leslie Diestelkamp
Instead of arguing my case and then stating a conclusion, I shall first of all state my premise and then make the arguments. The New Testament clearly teaches salvation by faith, but we must recognize that faith does not save because of what it is but because of what it does in the heart of the believer.
Even a superficial examination of the statement “Do as I say, not as I do,” immediately produces the stink of hypocrisy. I suppose it is said with the wishful thinking that others (mostly children under our influence) won’t copy what we know to be our inconsistent and bad behavior – that somehow saying what is right will impress them more than the wrong actions they see in us.
"I'm okay" has become a standard response whether or not one really is okay. "Okay" has come to mean everything and nothing at the same time.
You’re reading through your Bible and you come to the Book of Revelation. When you read it, you may have more questions about the book than when you started reading! Don’t be discouraged. I think most Bible students admit that the Book of Revelation is a constant challenge and as such requires care and perseverance to understand. I certainly am no “expert” on this topic, but I have found some “hints” that can make study of the book easier and more profitable.
The Question We Need to STOP Asking
There are many questions I think we should eliminate from our Bible studies, but at the top of my list is the question: “What does this verse mean to you?” Many times, a verse will be read in a Bible study and the teacher will ask the class, “What does this verse mean to you?” It could be that some teachers are simply asking, “What do you think this verse means?” In that case, it should probably be phrased like that.
