We pray that God will deliver us from our trials, but sometimes he does not. We pray that he will relieve us of our burdens, but sometimes they remain pressed hard against our shoulders. Why? J.R. Miller provides a helpful answer in this brief quote. Some think that whenever they have a little trouble, a bit of hard path to walk over, a load to carry, a sorrow to meet, a trial of any kind, all they have to do …

We pray. We pray because God tell us to. We pray because we need to. We pray because prayer matters. But do we pray with confidence that God is pleased with our praying? Do we pray with confidence that God is pleased with our praying even when he does not grant our petitions? Charles Spurgeon addresses those questions in this brief excerpt. We have been pleading with God. Prayer after prayer has knocked at Heaven’s gate, entreating for the conversion …

Sometimes custom causes us to neglect beauty. Sometimes we are so used to doing or saying something that we forget the sheer wonder of it. Such may be the case when we end our prayers with the words, “for Christ’s sake” or “for Jesus’ sake.” Don’t miss what De Witt Talmage has to say about these simple words. The most important part of every prayer is the last three or four words of it—” For Christ’s sake.” Do not rattle …

I have long appreciated the poems of the 19th century American poet Hannah Flagg Gould. Among them I found this sweet work which reflects on the beauty of breaking free from “this prison of clay” to be with the Lord. I hope it proves an encouragement to you as it has me. May I in thy likeness, my Saviour, awake, And rise, a fair image of thee; Then I shall be satisfied, when I can break This prison of clay, …

Though we profess that God is all-seeing and all-knowing, that he understands not merely the actions of our hands and the thoughts of our minds but even the intentions of our hearts, still we sometimes feel as if we need to hold back from telling him all that we have thought, all that we have done, all that we have desired. Yet if we are to confess our sins before him, we need to confess them all, for he knows …

Christian husbands are given a particular responsibility—they are to love their wives in such a way that they help them become more like Christ. As Chad and Emily Van Dixhoorn express it in Gospel-Shaped Marriage, “husbands are to love their wives in a Christlike way and to help promote the purposes of Christ, in a Christlike fashion, for the good of their own wives. The love of Christ for his bride—a bride made up of sinful men and women—offers the model …

I had quite a number of opportunities this week to think and speak about death. And as I did so, I found myself drawn to these precious and poetic words from F.B. Meyer in which he reflects on the abolishment of death in the death of Christ. What hope we have in the gospel! Death is abolished! The wasp struck its sting into the cross of the dying Lord, and lost it there, and is now stingless forever. The poison …

Wherever there is Christian community there is bound to be scolds and critics. This is true today and this was true in days past. Here’s a great little excerpt from one of De Witt Talmage’s sermons from the late 1800s in which he expresses his concern about such individuals. There are in every community and in every church watch-dogs who feel called upon to keep their eyes on others and growl. They are full of suspicions. They wonder if this man …

I’ve got marriage on my mind today as we prepare to gather this evening to celebrate Abby and Nathan’s wedding. One little gift I have given them is a copy of J.R. Miller’s The Wedded Life, a sweet little book he wrote for just such an occasion. This particular copy was given to a couple in 1906 and contains the signatures of all those who attended their ceremony over a century ago. I love that it will be present in …