Every Word of God (07/07/08 - 60 Comments)
Imagine, for a moment. You wake up one morning and, as you stumble downstairs to grope for the coffee maker, you notice that the front door of your house is wide open, the brisk morning air blowing into the room and clearing your mind just a little bit. You stare at the door for a moment to process the fact that it is open. Your first thought, of course, is for your family. You race...
Modern Parables: Living in the Kingdom of God (DVD) (11/14/07 - 17 Comments)
Modern Parables: Living in the Kingdom of God is an original Bible study curriculum designed for people who like movies and is just the first in a planned series of film-driven studies on the parables of Jesus. The films are geared towards use for youth groups, small groups, evangelism or even home schooling curriculum. Volume 1 features six of Jesus' parables, told anew through film and set in a contemporary context. The 12-lesson study combines...
Manna in the Morning (11/09/07 - 12 Comments)
Have you ever stopped to ponder what it might have been like for the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness, knowing that each day they would completely exhaust their food supply? Have you thought what it would be like knowing that they would go to bed with no food, but that the next day their supplies would be fully and miraculously replenished? It is an interesting, thought, really, and one that is worth considering....
Imitate Their Faith (11/05/07 - 5 Comments)
It was near the end of the book of Hebrews that I found some verses that have been bouncing around in my head for some time now. With the epistle drawing to a close, the pastor who authored this letter exhorts the believers to remember the men who had once led the church, to consider how these men lived, and to imitate their faith. “Remember your leaders,” he says, “those who spoke to you the...
Blood on the Book (11/02/07 - 27 Comments)
All Scripture is breathed out by God… In my personal devotions I’ve recently begun a study of Esther. Since it is a short book and one that is entirely narrative, I do not anticipate being in the book for long—probably just about one day per chapter. Esther is probably best known among Christians as being a book of the Bible that never mentions God, either explicitly or even implicitly. But though His name is never...
The Lesson of Ananias (11/22/06 - 17 Comments)
I was thinking this morning about one of my favorite passages of Scripture. While the story is well known, the part of it that appeals to me is often just passed over. It is in Acts 9 and involves just two people, the disciple Ananias and Saul. Saul, notorious for persecuting Christians, has departed Jerusalem after obtaining a letter granting him authority to arrest any Christians he can find in Damascus. He is to bring...
I Am The Lord (07/13/06 - 2 Comments)
A few nights ago, in our time of family worship, we read Exodus 6, a chapter that serves as a prelude of sorts to the plagues which are about to befall Egypt. The chapter begins with God telling Moses that He will soon deliver the Israelites from their centuries of slavery. "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong...
Blogging and the Wisdom of Solomon (03/30/06 - 21 Comments)
Every March I read Proverbs. I'm not sure how this tradition came about, but I always look forward to it. Over the past few days I have been finishing up the book, reading those meaty chapters near the end. I was struck by the constant, ongoing, application to my own life. I began to think of all the applications I could make towards blogging, both as a person who publishes a blog and as one...
He Has No Claim On Me... (02/03/06 - 16 Comments)
European history makes for a fascinating study. Understanding the intricacies of nations, borders and rulers could easily be a life-long pursuit. The history of the continent is filled with claims, and counterclaims as one person sought to prove himself the legitimate heir to a kingdom over another. There are many who sought to claim thrones and kingdoms and these claims had to be settled through lengthy and detailed examination. Generations, kingdoms, marriages, and thrones had...
Certainly This Was a Righteous Man! (12/21/05 - 0 Comments)
Every believer carries a measure of the guilt for Jesus' death. If it were not for our willful disobedience to God's perfect Law, we would have no need of a Savior. We acknowledge in song that it was our hands that drove the spikes into His' and sometimes speak about driving the nails into Jesus' hands every time we sin. We speak figuratively, of course, knowing that although we were not present at the time...
Groans That Words Cannot Express (01/05/05 - 0 Comments)
In my ongoing devotional wrestling reading through the book of Romans I arrive this morning at the eight chapter of Paul's epistle. This chapter has several passages that are well-known to believers. Some of the passages most believers are familiar with are: "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus;" "our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us;" and "If God is for us, who can be against us?" The chapter concludes with Paul's inspiring expression of confidence in God's ability and desire to preserve him to the end: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." The passage that caught my attention for the longest, though, was in verses 26 and 27 where we read "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."
Browsing through my entirely-inadequate collection of books and commentaries I found a couple of possible explanations for what this passage teaches about the Holy Spirit's role in prayer and in particular what the passage means by "groans that words cannot express." Some teach that these groans are actually made by the Spirit Himself on our behalf while others teach that these are the groans of the believer as he cries out to God.
