by Eric Holter on January 5, 2006
“Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.’”
Genesis 22:14
A popular application question from the story of Abraham offering Isaac is whether or not you would have enough faith to offer your child, if God told you to. But I think this question is somewhat flawed. Because Abraham’s test was not merely the hardest test God could think of to determine how much faith Abraham had. It did not test the quantity of Abraham’s faith, but rather the basis of it. The task wasn’t designed to see whether or not Abraham would do something outrageous simply because God told him to. The task corresponded with God’s specific promises regarding Isaac and his decendants.
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by Eric Holter on December 5, 2005
“When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”
But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.” [click to continue…]
by Eric Holter on November 10, 2005
“And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, ‘Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.’ But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.
An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest.”
Luke 9:43-46
It is an amazing testimony to the tenacity of indwelling sin, that not even a front row seat before the radiance of the glory of Christ can eradicate our pride and arrogance. We need to see the glory of Christ, but we need to see His glory in and through the cross in order to put sin to death.
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by Eric Holter on November 5, 2005
“Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises.”
James 5:13
It is a well-observed spiritual truth that suffering is among the chief means for deepening communion with God. The fellowship of sharing in Jesus’ sufferings brings joy. Faith grows up in the broken soil of our pains. Hope, refined by trials, increases our longing for heaven. When I’m under the shadow of suffering, God’s promises renew my strength. Such times cause me to anticipate the weight of glory promised for my eternal future.
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by Eric Holter on October 10, 2005
“And departing, they began going about among the villages, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere.”
Luke 9:6
I wonder how the gospel was preached prior to the crucifixion? Throughout Jesus’ ministry He and His disciples preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. Whatever allusions to the cross contained in these messages were lost to its hearers. Yet the gospel was preached. Certainly, there are many things that can be said about the gospel without direct reference to the cross. For example: righteous requirements for human conduct, promises for future rewards, hope for peace, and standards for justice. Such facets of the nascent gospel were understood best by Jews – because they had the law and prophets as context. Even so the Jews struggled to comprehend the basic aspects of the non-cross centered gospel – how much more perplexing would a cross exalting gospel be to them.
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by Eric Holter on October 5, 2005
“But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, ‘return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”
Luke 8:38-39
Which, among all the great things that Jesus has done for me, should I describe? For if my eyes are open and my heart is responsive to the tender mercies of God, I will see a thousand great things every day that God does for me. Even trials, which sometimes cloud my view of God’s blessings, can be counted among the great things God does, since they flow from His throne of grace. Times of testing are brief in the balance of eternity and Jesus will turn each test and every pain into servants for my good.
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by Eric Holter on September 10, 2005
“When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.”
Luke 7:29-30
The baptism of John was a baptism of repentance, so one could interpret this passage “the people acknowledged God’s justice for they had repented, but the Pharisees rejected God’s purpose for themselves because they had not repented.” Looking to God from a position of repentance causes us to delight in Him and acknowledge His justice. Whereas engaging Him from a position of pride, without repentance, only makes us like the Pharisee, perplexed, suspicious and arrogant, as we ultimately reject God’s purposes, His forgiveness, and His salvation.
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by Eric Holter on September 5, 2005
“…Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:17b-19
Even as God cursed man in righteous judgment, His was mercy mingled with His verdict. Humanity was judged and cursed because of their failure to obey God’s command. Adam and Eve were ejected from the garden where they had enjoyed fruit that grew from plants and trees that God Himself had planted. The curse took away their abundant provision and forced them to pound dirt and tangle with thorns, through sweat and hard toil, for food. And the curse remains to this very day. Difficult toil and frequent hardships are common occurrences.
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by Eric Holter on August 10, 2005
“Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;’”
Genesis 1:14
I don’t look up enough. I think God wants me to look up a lot and gaze at the sun, moon and stars. God made them to be for signs and seasons, and for days and years. In order to use the stars this way requires a lot of observation. Civilizations throughout history have observed the heavens and invented systems and used them for measuring seasons, and making maps to find their way. To make use of this inherent functionality of the stars required them to look intensely, observing and recording over long periods of time. Not only did they have to observe, record, and analyze the stars in order to understand there function, once they established these systems, putting them to use required people to look at them all the time. I suspect that God has an ulterior motive in requiring us to spend so much time star gazing. That is, to make us remember Him. When I stare up at the night sky, full of stars, I cannot help but to feel my own smallness. [click to continue…]
by Eric Holter on August 5, 2005
“Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, ‘I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.’”
Luke 7:9
This is the second time this centurion has captured my attention. When I encountered him during my meditations in Matthew chapter eight I wrote a devotional called “A Centurion Came to Him, Entreating Him.” What originally captured my attention was Jesus’s estimation of this man’s faith – I wanted to squeeze out as many insights into what this great faith was like, so that my own faith might grow too. This time I encountered him in Luke chapter seven. Here I’ve been impressed with the kind of life that nurtured such great faith. If a soul is like soil, which, if it’s good, bears fruit according to the seed sown in it, then I want to examine the composition of this centurion’s soil. It must been some good soil for Jesus to marvel its fruit!
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