Crossway

Isaiah 40:31 contains a great promise of strength for the weary: “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” This promises a supernaturally renewed strength—a strength that would compare to mounting up as an eagle or running without fatigue. But what does this mean and how do we receive it? The context of this verse helps us.

We Need the Church The church is the second most foundational source of truth that can make us wise. Some might scratch their heads at this, especially in post-Christian Western cultures where the church feels unnecessary and irrelevant at best. Can’t we have Jesus without the church, adopting some aspects of spirituality without institutional religion?

The fear of God is not a state of mind you can guarantee with five easy steps. It is not something that can be acquired with simple self-effort. The fear of God is a matter of the heart.

The Poetic Structure of the Psalms Recently, a young preacher tasked with preaching his first psalm asked me, “How do I preach the Psalms?” One of the tips I gave was to ask and answer the question, What is the poetry doing? If you fail to understand poetic structures and literary devices, you will preach the Psalms improperly. So, for example, Psalm 46 is structured in three parts, and the author (one of “the Sons of Korah”) provides a cue (Selah is used three times, perhaps as a musical interlude) to his original audience (“the choirmaster”) on how to divide this “song” into three stanzas.

Time Well Spent? If someone observed an average day in your life, how would they see you spend your time? How much of your time is given to TV, Facebook, YouTube, podcasts, hobbies, and housework? How much time do you devote to Bible reading?