by Eric Holter on July 22, 2009
Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:15
I am often guilty of the evil boasting of arrogance that presumptuously declares where I will go and what I will do as though such things were in my control. I’ve been trying to obey the instruction that James gives about not boasting, but instead saying “if the Lord wills” I will do such and such. But I noticed something in my most recent reading of this passage. James doesn’t just tell us to say “if the Lord wills we will do this or that,” he says “if the Lord wills we will live and do this or that.” [click to continue…]
by Eric Holter on May 30, 2007
“Then Jesus therefore said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead’ and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.’” John 11:4
There are, on God’s palette, many colors and shades from which He chooses when painting the canvas upon which His glory is revealed. They are not all bright rainbow colors. Among His supplies are earthy browns, dark umber hues, grays, and blacks that, when painted by the master, fall perfectly into His bright design.
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by Eric Holter on July 5, 2005
“And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips…”
“And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;”
Luke 4:22, 28
How sobering is the sovereign will of God. He turns hearts one way or the other according to His eternal purposes. Jesus did not ride the wave of human of applause as he preached the gospel. By His own words He provoked the stubbornness and disobedience that was thinly concealed in the hearts of His own people. Even while the people of Nazareth wondered at His gracious words He changed the theme. Through true, prophetic words He announced that the kingdom blessings they had been longing for would not be given to them but rather to foreigners. By these words their pre-existing sins of stubbornness and rebellion were cemented – their rejection was firmly set, their blindness complete, and their backs forever bent.
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by Eric Holter on June 5, 2005
“When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.’”
Luke 2:48
For three agonizing days Joseph and Mary searched for their precious Son. There have been a few times and places where I have lost track of one of my children. Those few anxious minutes felt like hours as the sickening feeling of anxiety welled up in my gut. How much more painful to lose track of a child for three days? Life need not deliver such extreme forms of distress in order to provoke my anxiety; its small doses produce dread and anxiety easily enough. My inner turmoil is a reflexive consequence of such circumstances.
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by Eric Holter on January 15, 2005
“…You will all fall away, because it is written…”
Mark 14:27
Jesus states, “You will all fall away, because it is written….” Peter strenuously objects, as do all the disciples. Nevertheless, as it is written so shall it come to pass. As much as Peter does not like it – and at the moment when he hears it he cannot conceive of it – he will, with all certainty, deny his Lord. It is impossible for it not to happen. It is written – it is in print, the ink has dried. Peter’s refusals and denials do not change the fact. It was ordained by God and recorded in His word. “I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.”
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by Eric Holter on May 10, 2004
“Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am planning against this family a calamity from which you cannot remove your neck; and you will not walk haughtily, for it will be an evil time.’ “
Micah 2:3
The sovereign Lord is sovereign over good and evil. The problem of evil is something that has troubled mankind since the fall. Today people speak out against God, accusing Him of being powerless or absent when evil happens. But God is neither powerless nor absent, He is Lord over all, even over evil. As Lord over all He has intentions and plans for evil and calamity – without ever sinning or doing the least unrighteous thing.
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by Eric Holter on April 10, 2004
“The upright see it and are glad;
But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth.
Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things;
And consider the loving kindness of the Lord.”
Psalms 107: 42-43
This Psalm displays the loving kindness of the Lord through how He delivers His people in their distresses. Four different kinds of distress are described; hunger and thirst from wandering in a wilderness, the misery of being under the yoke of hard labor, suffering the affliction that results from our own foolish and rebellious ways, and the grave danger of being on a ship tossed about on high seas.
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by Eric Holter on March 20, 2004
“Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face continually.
Remember His wonders which He has done,
His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth,”
“He sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
They afflicted his feet with fetters;
he himself was laid in irons;
Until the time that his word came to pass,
the word of the LORD tested him.
Psalm 105: 3-5, 17-19
Among God’s wonderful stories, which display His glory and make my heart glad by demonstrating His strength, is the story of Joseph in prison. I can imagine Joseph sitting in chains, unable to leave his cell or move about freely. His feet were afflicted in his fetters, he was in misery. Day after day, month after month, year after year he looked at the same dreary walls. His heart must have sunk within him. He must have cried out “Why?” “Why am I stuck here, why must I sit here, chained in this cell?”
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by Eric Holter on November 25, 2003
Pierced by the Word, John Piper. Chapter 1 “Jesus is the one being for whom self-exaltation is the most loving act.”
The God-centeredness of God, his self exalting purposes and works are clearly and constantly evident in Scripture. That God does all things for the praise of his glory is abundantly clear. Logically, it makes sense that God places infinite value on that which is infinitely valuable, that is Himself. So God is supremely and absolutely self exalting.
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