Scripture

I hope this is an encouragement to you today.


Nahum 1:7
The LORD is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble,
And He knows those who take refuge in Him.

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Soli Deo gloria
-Christopher

Evolution

The language in this article is simply amazing.

I am not making this up: a type of butterfly "learned" to mimic the scent of ants, and to imitate the sound a queen makes, to get ants to raise — and give preferential treatment to! — its young. The mind boggles.

How many billions of generations of butterflies died working on their impressions?

How did they "learn" to exude a fragrance? Can you?

How did they get in there and survive to hear the imperceptible sound a queen makes, much less work on their Rich Little groove?

And, having "learned" all that, how did they communicate this acquired characteristic and learning to their offspring?

All that's just for starters. Amazing. I do think there is a better explanation:

Psalm 104:24
O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

HT: Dan Phillips

Scripture

The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

The true message of Jesus

“Jesus’s teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did.”

- Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God

HT: OF FIRST IMPORTANCE

Are you content?

What does it mean to you to be content? When you think of the word content, what comes to mind? I found this definition at dictionary.com:

content - satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.

Paul also uses this word in Philippians 4:11 when he says:

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

In what ways are you trying to learn to be content? What things in your life or aspirations are keeping you from learning to be content?

To me, learning to be content is not the hardest part. I am content in some things, but Paul does not stop with just being content. Look at the second part of the verse:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

Sometimes I feel a prideful satisfaction in the way I am living the Christian life. Then, God providentially leads me to a passage like this in His Word. I cannot even begin to compare myself to Paul in his contentedness. How can I ever begin to live up to Christ's standard?

Ah, but thanks be to God. He is the one working in me to sanctify and create a new man within me. I can always be "confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" [Philippians 1:6].

John MacArthur offers an interesting series of articles on contentment. Here is part one.

Philippians 1:20: To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Scripture

Psalm 33:20-22
20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.

21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.

22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

Truth

“If God’s word of promise cannot be trusted to stand forever, then all our faith is in vain.”

- John Piper, The Justification of God, (Grand Rapids, Mi.: Baker Book House, 1993), 19.

HT: Of First Importance

Truth

Evil & the Purposes of God

“The mystery of iniquity is at work in the world during this interim time, and it is not always clear how its malignant work is being checked, overridden, or woven into the glorious purposes of God. We need to remember, though, that while Judas betrayed Christ, and woe to him for doing so, it was God’s plan that Christ was thus betrayed. Evil by its very nature opposes the purposes of God, but God, in his sovereignty, can make even this evil serve his purposes.”

- David F. Wells, The Courage to Be Protestant (Grand Rapids, Mi.: Eerdmans, 2008), 206.