When Stones Speak

Posted on April 16, 2025 by Barbara Harper

On what we call Palm Sunday, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem while crowds waved palm branches and laid their cloaks on the ground before Him.

As twenty-first century Gentiles, we might not grasp the significance of this event.

Zechariah 9:9 foretells, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

All through Jesus’ ministry, as He healed people, He told them not to tell anyone. Of course, for most, their healing would be obvious and foster questions. Some did slip up and tell about Jesus, resulting in His fame as a healer spreading, crowds increasing, and hindering His ability to go out in public. Some wanted to make Him king on the spot, thinking His rule would throw off Roman oppression.

But He said His time was not yet come.

Until Palm Sunday. Fulfilling ancient prophecy and accepting the accolades of the crowds, He took His rightful place as the predicted Messiah.

The Pharisees certainly got the message. They told Him to rebuke His disciples. But Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:28-44).

Perhaps Jesus was speaking literally. He could make the stones cry out if He wanted to.

But It’s probably more likely that He was speaking metaphorically.

How can stones cry out in praise of Him, in acknowledgement of who He is?

Here are a few testimonies of stones in Scripture:

Stones of righteousness and holiness. The ten commandments were written by God’s own hand on tablets of stone (Exodus 32:15-16). Although the law of God in itself can’t save anyone, because we could never keep it all, the law shows God’s holiness and character.

Stones of remembrance. God decreed that stones with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved on them were to be placed on the garment Aaron wore in the tabernacle as stones of remembrance. Every time Aaron ministered in the tabernacle, he brought all of Israel before the Lord (Exodus 28).

Stones of promise. When Jacob left his family to escape the wrath of Esau and find a wife in Paddan-aram, he spent the night in a certain place and used a stone for a pillow. That’s where he dreamed of a ladder with angels coming up and down. God spoke to Him and promised him the land, a multitude of descendants, and His presence and keeping. When Jacob woke up, he made an altar of the stone where he experienced his dream and promised it would become God’s house (Genesis 28).

Stones for memorial and testimony. When the children of Israel finally crossed over the Jordan River into the promised land after forty years of wilderness wandering, God told them to gather twelve stones as a memorial and a testimony when future generations asked about them (Deuteronomy 27, Joshua 4).

Likewise, after the Israelites defeated the Philistines, Samuel set up an “Ebenezer,” a stone of help, to commemorate the victory God gave Israel (1 Samuel 7).

Stones of deliverance. David, a shepherd boy, killed Goliath the giant. All Israel’s soldiers had trembled before Goliath. But David, in simple faith in God and a desire to vindicate Him, was given the victory with one stone flung from a sling.

Stones of forgiveness. When the Pharisees brought an adulterous woman to Jesus, they said the law of Moses required her to be stones. They asked Jesus what He had to say about the matter, in order to test Him. Instead, he wrote on the dirt on the ground with His finger. When all the Pharisees left, Jesus told the woman He did not condemn her and to go and sin no more (John 8).

Stones of judgment. Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple, when one stone will not be left upon another, “because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:41-44).

Stone of resurrection. A large stone was rolled in front of the cave where Christ was buried to ensure no one could come and steal His body and then claim He had risen. But an angel rolled the stone away to show Christ was already gone.

Christ, the cornerstone. Many Old Testament passages foretell “a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” Peter declares Jesus is that cornerstone, which the builder rejected (1 Peter 2:4-8). “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12).

Stones of habitation. “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:3-5).

Stones of relationship. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it” (Revelation 2:17).

If stones can testify so much about God, how much more should we, with the whole canon of Scripture, the history of His interaction with people, and our own personal experience with Him. May we testify of Him abundantly!

________________________

(This post was inspired by the Our Daily Bread radio program which aired on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025, and our Sunday School lesson from that day on Mark 11.)

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

The Cross Is the Measure

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Barbara Harper

We talk about the cross of Christ lightly these days. We’ve gotten so used to the news that Jesus died on a cross for our sins that we’ve lost the horror of it.

Perhaps you’ve heard or read, as I have, the physical description of how a person died on a cross. I’m not going to go into all that detail here, but it would have been agonizing. When you consider that Jesus had been beaten, scourged, had nails driven into His hands and feet and was being held up by them as His body sagged–it’s almost too much to think about.

The cross was considered a shameful death as well. It was public. People not only gawked as Jesus gasped for breath, but they mocked Him. He was unclothed. His loved ones had to see and hear all that went on.

Jesus’ cross would have had a spiritual element as well. 1 John 2:2 says, “He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world” (CSB). The holy, righteous Son of God, who never sinned, bore the sins of everyone else.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

But I think the worst part of the cross for Jesus was the temporary breach between His Father and Himself. We don’t thoroughly understand how that worked (though this article gives a good explanation). But we hear Jesus’ agony when He cries out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Four times in John 10, Jesus said He lays down His life for His sheep.

Why did Jesus do this?

Because that’s what it took to atone for sin. That’s what sin costs. That’s how awful sin is. The cross is the measure of sin.

Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great;
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed!
See who bears the awful load!
‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s anointed,
Son of man, and Son of God.

From “Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted” by Thomas Kelly

No one else could atone for us; everyone has their own sins that need atonement. Instead, “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

But the cross is also the measure of love.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:4-5).

The Father was willing to give His Son, and the Son was willing to lay down His life, because they loved us enough to suffer all that was involved in order to redeem us. Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus, “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.” A former pastor said that “despising” there doesn’t mean that Jesus hated the shame of the cross, but that He “thought it down.” The Greek word for “despise” can mean scorn or disregard. We would probably magnify the shame if we were on a cross.

But Jesus endured the cross, disregarding the shame, for the joy that was set before Him. What was the joy He looked forward to? I imagine He anticipated His mission being over, being reunited with His Father, and going back to heaven when all was done. But I think a big portion of that joy was accomplishing what was needed to atone for us so we could be with Him. All through Scripture, God expresses a desire to dwell among His people. Jesus’ death and resurrection was going to make that possible.

This time of year, with Easter on the horizon, perhaps we think of Jesus’ death on the cross a little more than usual. Before racing to the joy of Jesus’ resurrection, let’s take time to meditate on His cross–the depth of our sin that necessitated it, and the depth of God’s love to pay so great a price so all who believe in Him could be saved.

Face the cross and see the dying Son.
See the Lamb upon the killing tree.
See His anguish and His tears of love.
Face the cross, He dies to set us free.

Look upon the One without a sin,.
Spotless Lamb upon the killing tree.
Feel His pain and love from deep within,
So great a price, yet paid so willingly.

From “Face the Cross,” words by Herb Fromach, music by David Lantz

More songs about the cross are listed here.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Redeemed Regrets

Posted on April 6, 2025 by Barbara Harper

One of my biggest regrets is that I often did not have a good attitude when caregiving for my mother-in-law. I wanted her to be well taken care of. But I did not have a natural caregiver’s heart. I often felt the weight of caregiving. I resented the intrusion on my time and plans for that stage of my life. When she was under hospice care for three years, we had bath aides, social workers, a chaplain, and a doctor coming in and out (often without calling first). Even though I liked most of the people, I often felt the introvert sanctuary of my home had been invaded.

I tried to fight these feelings by reminding myself of God’s truth: it was good and right and biblical to care for my mother-in-law. She had lovingly cared for my husband, and then our family after we married; she deserved our care in return. This was my ministry for that time in my life, and it was every bit as important as writing a book or teaching a class. God would give grace for each day, each moment, as needed.

Yet I still felt guilty about having these negative feelings in the first place.

Paul talks about the difference between regret and repentance, or worldly versus godly grief in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11. It’s important that we don’t stop at regret. It’s possible to feel bad about doing wrong without really repenting of it. Repentance will involve realization that we sinned against God, confession to Him that what we did was wrong, with no excuses or self-justification, and asking for His grace and help to change.

But even after repentance, we sometimes still regret what we did.

After my mother-in-law passed away, my guilt multiplied rather than ebbed. I confessed these things to the Lord. I knew He forgave me. But I still regretted my wrong attitudes and wished I had served her better.

I think this might be what people experience when they say they can’t forgive themselves. If God forgives us, who are we to withhold forgiveness? We have to accept that we are fallen creatures with a bent towards selfishness.

But even with forgiveness, we still regret our past actions. We wonder how we could have been so thoughtless or selfish.

When the person we’ve wronged has passed on, or we’ve lost touch, our regret festers. There’s no way to make it right, to apologize to that person.

Something happened recently to help me realize regrets can be redeemed.

I walked into the church restroom to find two ladies talking who were both currently taking care of their mothers. One knew I had taken care of my mother-in-law and pulled me into the conversation.

One of the things that had helped me most during my mother-in-law’s care was talking to other people who were currently or formerly caring for a parent. I could be a little freer to share with them and know I’d be understood. So now, I was able to help others in that way: mainly by listening, but sometimes by sharing something that helped me.

God has redeemed my regrets in other ways as well: softening my heart, helping me to be more watchful and prayerful, reminding of my need of His grace and help.

Of course, caregiving is not the only area where I have regrets. As I get older, past situations where I have failed come to mind–in parenting, relationships, ministry, and just about every area.

I can’t go back and redo the things I’ve done wrong. But I can encourage others. I can learn from my failures. God can use the way He helped me by sharing with others. He truly does work all things together for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28). This doesn’t excuse the wrongdoing. But God, in His grace, can use it for good.

I imagine David regretted his sin with Bathsheba. Even though he got a wife and a son out of the situation, he faced other consequences. His sensitive heart, once it was right with God again, had to have berated himself. But out of that scenario came Psalm 51, which ministers to any who have sinned with the hope of forgiveness and redemption. God still used him to write psalms, prepare Solomon for his reign, and provide for the temple Solomon would build.

I’m sure Peter always regretted that he denied knowing Christ when Jesus was arrested and crucified. Jesus forgave him, restored him, and gave him a ministry. His epistles exhort readers to humility and to face suffering and persecution with joy–things I think he learned through his experiences.

It’s not that doing good deeds can somehow make up for our bad deeds. That’s how redemption often works in literature, but not with God. Just as we’re saved by His grace at the beginning, so we walk in His grace throughout life. We don’t do good things to rack up points with Him or to “even the scales”–we could never do enough! Rather, when He forgives us, we serve Him with renewed and thankful hearts.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:3-7).

But shouldn’t we know better after we’re saved? Isn’t sin that much more heinous after salvation?

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. . . . As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13-14).

Micah 7:18 says God delights in mercy.

I love what Christina Rossetti wrote: “A fall is a signal not to lie wallowing, but to rise.” We need to let regret do its convicting, humbling work in us. But then we need to seek God’s grace to keep going, walking closely with Him. He might even redeem our regrets by bringing up opportunities to encourage others with what we have learned.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

The First Step to Murder

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Barbara Harper

If we look through the Ten Commandments, most of us breathe a sigh of relief when we come to the sixth one: “You shall not murder.” At least that’s one thing we haven’t done.

However, Jesus takes the issue beyond outward action to the heart. He said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire” (Matthew 5:21-22).

Some translations show the middle of verse 22 saying “And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council” (NKJV). According to the Berean Study Bible notes here, “‘Raca’ is an Aramaic term of contempt, roughly equivalent to calling someone ’empty-headed’ or ‘worthless.'” Other translations use the word “idiot.”

The notes go on to say, “Calling someone a ‘fool’ implies moral and spiritual deficiency, not just intellectual lack. In biblical terms, a fool is someone who rejects God and His wisdom (Psalm 14:1). This phrase highlights the destructive power of words and the importance of speaking with love and respect.”

We can understand how lust is the first step toward sexual sin, as Jesus said earlier in Matthew: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28).

But how are anger and name-calling precursors to murder?

They both dehumanize other people and cheapen their worth. Jen Wilkin describes the progression in her book on the Ten Commandments, Ten Words to Live By: “First, I am angry with you in response to a hurt. Next, I begin to question your character with an insult. Then, I begin to question your worth as a person. As anger degrades into contempt, the personhood of another is devalued” (p. 93).

I’ve often wondered at the atrocities humans have committed against each other during the days of slavery or the Holocaust or in prisoner of war camps. Some people thought of slaves or Jews or enemies as something less than human, and that was the first step to treating them horribly.

Even now, online battles reveal a shocking wish for harm towards others who disagree with opposing politics or views. Seven years ago, author and teacher Karen Swallow Prior was hit by a bus and had a long recovery. Recently, she shared a post on X where someone said he wished that bus had better aim. Like her or not, disagree or agree with her, wishing for her demise is appalling.

But these kinds of things are common online. Harm is wished towards people of differing opinions. Cancel culture is a smaller version of wanting to wipe out, to remove from public view, those we disagree with.

A few years ago, I was in a WalMart when I first realized that Covid was going to be a major issue. I had heard of it, but we’d been warned about viruses before (like H1N1), which didn’t have a great effect on our everyday lives. We figured this new virus would be the same.

But that day in WalMart, shelves were empty of disinfecting wipes, antibacterial soap, and toilet paper, among other things. I had never seen anything like this. I was rattled, wondering what was going on, how big this thing was going to be, and where I was going to find what I needed.

In my preoccupied state, I turned in front of another cart to get something from a shelf. It was the equivalent of cutting someone off in traffic. I wasn’t being malicious: I just wasn’t thinking clearly. But I was definitely in the wrong. I couldn’t seem to form the thoughts or words to apologize.

The person I offended pulled his mask down, looked straight in my eyes, and said to his companion, “I hope she gets the Coronavirus. I hope she dies from it.”

I watched him pass by with my mouth gaping open. I couldn’t believe he said that. I was even more rattled.

Genesis 1 tells us God created people in His image or likeness. Everyone has worth because God made them, even though that image is marred because of sin.

When we become believers, we “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). We start to look and act more like our Father. The more we behold Him and walk with Him, the more we’ll look like Him. Therefore we take care to “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:24-27).

We don’t keep the sixth commandment just by avoiding murder. We value others as God’s creation.

Jen Wilkin continues:

Because we are accepted in the beloved, we will not be content to simply be not-murderers, or not-contemptuous, or not-angry. We will not merely refrain from taking life—we will run toward giving it. Let us read in the sixth word’s prohibition of murder the exhortation to take every care to preserve life. Let us run to be life-protectors and esteem-givers and peacemakers.

To do so will require that we take stock of how we might be participating in the anger-worship of our cultural moment. It will require that we strive to preserve life in a culture that believes entire categories of image bearers are worthy of our contempt or our disregard—the unborn, the elderly, the physically or mentally challenged, the poor, the powerless, the foreigner. And in a world defined by living at odds with others, it will require that we strive to live at peace with others, as far as it is possible with us. It will ask us to be our brothers’ keepers, even as Christ has been ours (p. 96).

Paul writes in Philippians 2: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others” (verses 3-4, CSB).

He points us to Jesus’ example: “Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death —even to death on a cross” (verses 5-8, CSB).

If anyone had a right to be angry with others, Jesus did. But He became as a servant and humbled Himself, even to the point of death, for people who, at best, did not understand Him, and, at worst, plotted to do away with Him.

We can’t have the attitude Jesus did in ourselves. We need His grace. We need to look long at Him so that we might become more like Him, showing love instead of contempt.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Tending the Soil of Your Heart

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Barbara Harper

In Mark 4, Jesus tells a story about different kinds of soil and how they each react to seed. Later, the disciples come to Him privately and ask what the story means.

Jesus said that the seed is the word of God. Some seed in the story fell on the hardened pathway, and birds came and ate the seed. This represents people for whom Satan immediately comes and takes the word from their minds.

Others are like rocky ground. The seed may sprout, but there’s no depth of soil, so the plant dies.

Others are like ground covered with thorns, which represent “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things.” These “choke” the word, so, again, plants can’t grow.

But the good soil is like people who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit.

On first reading this parable, you might get to the end of it and think something like, “Well, that’s that. I feel bad for the people whose hearts didn’t receive the word, but what can you do?”

I don’t think that’s meant to be the end of the story, though. Surely, at the end of our lives when we stand before the Lord, we’ll be responsible for how we heard and received God’s word.

But right now, there’s still time to hear and respond.

The word “hear” is repeated eleven times in this chapter. Twice, Jesus says, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Then “he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.'” When you listen and respond, you’ll hear more. But if you turn away, you can lose whatever you have heard.

So what do we do if our hearts seem unfruitful, rocky, shallow, or choked by distractions and concerns?

Pray, asking God to search us and change our hearts:

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24).

Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways (Psalm 119:36-37).

Examine ourselves:

Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven (Lamentations 3:40-41).

Break up our fallow ground:

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea 10:12).

For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns (Jeremiah 4:3).

Fallow ground is unplowed, uncultivated. It needs to be dug into, loosened, aerated, so seed can grow down deep. The Hosea passage goes on to talk about plowing iniquity and trusting in one’s own way. Jeremiah adds, “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts.” We need to get rid of anything we know is standing between us and the Lord.

Don’t harden your heart.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years (Hebrews 3:7-9; also verses 13 and 15 and 4:7; also Psalm 95:8).

Other passages associate hardened hearts with pride, unbelief, willfulness, and disobedience.

God would not have said “Don’t harden your hearts” if there was no hope. We can ask Him to soften us and help us to repent of our unbelief and pride. Hebrews 3:13 says, “Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” If we haven’t been listening to that exhortation, it’s a good time to start.

Pull out the weeds.

“The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful (Mark 4:19).

This reminds me of the man we call the “rich young ruler” in Mark 10. He came to Jesus asking what he could do to inherit eternal life, thinking he had a pretty good chance since he kept the commandments. But Jesus told him to sell all he had, give it to the poor, and follow Him. Jesus does not call everyone to do this, but he knew this man loved his possessions too much. The man went away sorrowing rather than obeying.

Jesus remarked how difficult it was for a wealthy person to be saved–more difficult than a camel going through the eye of a needle. Astonished, the disciples wondered who then could be saved. Jesus said it was impossible with man, but not with God. Because of what Jesus said here, and the man’s sorrowfulness, and the fact that the text says Jesus loved him, I have hope that this man eventually did repent and turn to God.

But riches and possessions aren’t the only “thorns” that can choke the word. The cares of this world can distract us as well, like John Bunyan’s muckraker in The Pilgrim’s Progress, who wouldn’t look up from his busyness to see the hand of mercy extended to him.

Jesus warned that the desire for other things can distract us from His word as well. Five seconds after we die, we’ll realize that whatever we were holding onto wasn’t worth it. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?” (Mark 8: 36-37).

Sometimes the rocks or weeds in our hearts are intellectual. A woman in one of our former churches had been a biology major, and her biggest obstacle to salvation was her belief in evolution. One doesn’t have to believe in creation rather than evolution to be saved, but evolution was a hindrance to this particular woman’s faith. When God opened her heart to believe in His creation, she was able to believe in Him for salvation as well.

Likewise, Lee Strobel (author of The Case for Christ) and Viggo Olsen (Daktar) didn’t believe in God because they didn’t believe in things like the Bible’s reliability or the resurrection of Christ. Both men set out to disprove Christianity. But each became believers when they researched the truth. What we call apologetics (“the study and practice of giving answers for the reasonableness and truth of the Christian faith,” as defined by Answers in Genesis), is not in itself the gospel, but it can pave the way for the gospel by removing intellectual obstacles.

Read the Bible.

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:130).

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

Even if you don’t believe the Bible yet, or you’re not sure, God can speak to you through scripture and open your heart to Him.

If you don’t know the Lord, I pray you’ll leave no stone unturned to come to Him, and that He’ll give you understanding, repentance, and faith.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Why Doesn’t God Heal Everyone?

Posted on March 16, 2025 by Barbara Harper

One of the greatest mysteries we grapple with is why God heals some people, but not others. A friend and I were discussing this recently. As usual, my thoughts continued long after our conversation, so I decided to share them here.

A few years ago, our pastor announced in June that he had liver and pancreatic cancer. He was gone before the end of summer. He was in his prime, pastoring a church with a love for his people that I have rarely seen matched. Two of his daughters got married that summer, and he was able to walk them both down the aisle. But he would have been a terrific grandfather in the coming years. He seemed to have so many years of usefulness left, it was puzzling that God took him home.

Another former pastor’s grandson underwent an excruciating battle with leukemia, which he eventually lost despite hundreds of people’s prayers.

Others experience disabilities for the rest of their lives, either from birth or from an accident or illness.

We can never know all of God’s reasons for what He allows. But here are a few:

We live in a fallen world affected by sin, so there will be illnesses and death until God redeems the earth. Christians aren’t exempt from these effects of the fall.

None of us is guaranteed a long life. We need to be ready for eternity.

God’s perspective. A seemingly early death is not a tragedy to God: it’s a head start on heaven as He welcomes His loved one home.

God enables us to minister to others through what we suffer. Joni Eareckson Tada has been paralyzed since a diving accident fifty-seven years ago. I don’t know of anyone who has done more to help the disabled community, bring awareness of what disabled people suffer, and glorify God in the midst of suffering. Those things probably would not have happened without her accident. When she speaks, we listen, because we know she has proven what she’s speaking about. She’s not mouthing empty platitudes or theories.

God’s strength is displayed through our weakness. Paul famously prayed three times for God to remove an affliction from him. But God answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

Healing was not Jesus’ primary purpose. Jesus healed multitudes of people during His time on earth. He demonstrated compassion and power as He did so. But He said His purpose was to preach the gospel (Mark 2:32-39).

God’s glory displayed. When the disciples asked whether a man’s sins or those of his parents caused his blindness, Jesus said, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” John 9:1-7). Similarly, when Jesus received the news that Lazarus was sick, he said, “It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:1-4).

Jesus wasn’t grandstanding. He wanted to show people who He was so they could believe.

Since Jesus is glorified through healing, it’s even more puzzling that He would not heal everyone. But sometimes He is glorified more by displaying His grace through His people’s trials, as He did in Joni and Paul’s lives.

Suffering strengthens and develops us. The apostle Paul wrote, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Trials keep us dependent upon the Lord. We always are dependent on God, but sometimes we forget. Sometimes we need His help in areas other people never think about, but that continual dependence is a good reminder that our strength comes from Him. Paul said his “thorn in the flesh” was given so that he might not become conceited over the revelations that had been given to him.

Suffering prepares us for glory. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Paul is not being dismissive when he calls our afflictions “light.” He’s saying that they’ll seem light compared to the glory to come.

Though all of these factors help at times, they don’t satisfy at other times. I’ve been ministered to by what Amy Carmichael wrote in Rose From Brier (emphasis mine):

But, though, indeed, we know that pain nobly born strengthens the soul, knits hearts together, leads to unselfish sacrifice (and we could not spare from our lives the Christ of the Cross), yet, when the raw nerve in our own flesh is touched, we know, with a knowledge that penetrates to a place which these words cannot reach, that our question is not answered. It is only pushed farther back, for why should that be the way of strength, and why need hearts be knit together by such sharp knitting needles, and who would not willingly choose relief rather than the pity of the pitiful?

…What, then, is the answer? I do not know. I believe that it is one of the secret things of the Lord, which will not be opened to us till we see Him who endured the Cross, see the scars in His hands and feet and side, see Him, our Beloved, face to face. I believe that in that revelation of love, which is far past our understanding now, we shall “understand even as all along we have been understood.”

And till then? What does a child do whose mother or father allows something to be done which it cannot understand? There is only one way of peace. It is the child’s way. The loving child trusts.

I believe that we who know our God, and have proved Him good past telling, will find rest there. The faith of the child rests on the character it knows. So may ours, so shall ours. Our Father does not explain, nor does He assure us as we long to be assured… But we know our Father. We know His character. Somehow, somewhere, the wrong must be put right; how we do not know, only we know that, because He is what He is, anything else is inconceivable. For the word sent to the man whose soul was among lions and who was soon to be done to death, unsuccored, though the Lord of Daniel was so near, is fathomless: “And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.”

There is only one place we can receive, not an answer to our questions, but peace — that place is Calvary. An hour at the foot of the Cross steadies the soul as nothing else can. “O Christ beloved, Thy Calvary stills all our questions.” Love that loves like that can be trusted about this.

Perhaps we wouldn’t be able to understand even if God did explain why He allows such severe pain and loss. But the more we know Him, the better we can trust Him. Like the psalmists, we can pour out our anguish to Him, then remind ourselves of His love and mercy and care for us.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Let the Humbleness of Jesus Deflate Our Pride

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Barbara Harper

It’s strange that we’re so prone to pride. We didn’t create ourselves; we have nothing that we weren’t given. “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (! Corinthians 4:7).

Even when we do something for the Lord, we have to be careful of wanting notice and praise.

It’s not wrong to want to please our loved ones or to know whether we’ve done a good job. C. S. Lewis clarified in Mere Christianity: “Pleasure in being praised is not Pride. The child who is patted on the back for doing a lesson well, the woman whose beauty is praised by her lover, the saved soul to whom Christ says, ‘Well done,’ are pleased and ought to be. For here the pleasure lies not in what you are but in the fact that you have pleased someone you wanted (and rightly wanted) to please. The trouble begins when you pass from thinking, ‘I have pleased him; all is well,’ to thinking, ‘What a fine person I must be to have done it.'”

I’m not sure if pride is one of Satan’s temptations because that seems to be his first sin, or because he knows it is one of the things God hates most (Proverbs 8:13).

Or maybe we wrestle with pride because of our flesh, what the Bible calls “the old man,” which is in rebellion to God. “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17).

Looking up passages about pride and humility are a big help in keeping the right perspective. But recently I heard another avenue of thinking that shed new light.

I had the radio on earlier than usual one morning and caught part of a program called Glad Tidings with J. Allen Blair about pride. He pointed out the insidious nature of pride and the fact that we can’t overcome it without Christ. He shared Philippians 2:5-8:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

To have His mindset, to humble ourselves like He did, Mr. Blair pointed out several aspects of Jesus’ humility contrasted with areas we usually take pride in:

Pride of birth. When Jesus came back to His hometown, people said, “‘Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’ And they took offense at him” (Matthew 13:55-57).

Pride of wealth. Jesus said of Himself, “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).

Pride of respectability. It was said of Jesus, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

Pride of personal appearance. “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2).

Pride of reputation. Jesus was said to be “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matthew 11:19).

Pride of learning. People asked about Jesus, “How has this man become learned, not having been educated?” (John 7:15, NASB).

Pride of superiority. Jesus said, “I am among you as the one who serves’ (Luke 22:27).

Pride of success. Jesus “came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11).

Pride of ability. Jesus said, “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:30).

Pride of self-will. Jesus said, “I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 5:30).

Pride of intellect. Jesus said, “As the Father taught me, I speak these things” (John 8:28).

Pride of death. Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).

If anyone ever had a right to be proud, it would be Jesus. But Mr. Blair points out that “There is no trace of pride in Him.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 says that as we behold Christ, we’re changed to be like Him.

When we’re tempted to have an inflated view of ourselves and our accomplishments, let’s look at Christ.

He’s the Lord of glory, but He described himself as “gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29).

He didn’t demand accolades. He “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). He served, healed, taught, and put up with unbelief and gossip.

He left the glories of heaven, took on a human body, and came to a world that was opposed to Him. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

He gave Himself to die on the cross for our sins and rise again to defeat death. “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross,” considered one of the most shameful kinds of deaths (Philippians 2:8).

May we have His mind, His humility, His focus on serving others at great cost to Himself.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Defeating the Devil

Posted on March 2, 2025 by Barbara Harper

C. S. Lewis wrote to a friend, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”

When I first became a Christian and hadn’t developed a lot of discernment yet, I came across books about “spiritual warfare” that embodied the second view. They scared me rather than helping. I had an almost superstitious fear of the devil.

The February 25 reading of Daily Light on the Daily Path shared a collection of verses dealing with Satan, embodying things I had learned about him over the years. I thought I’d use them as a base and expand on them.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:11, “We would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” It helps to learn about an enemy and his tactics. But that doesn’t mean we need to study the occult. I once read a Christian fiction book about rescuing someone from a satanic cult that went into far more detail than I needed to know. I was troubled by some of that information for a long time.

The Bible tells us Satan’s tricks.

Accuses. Revelation 12:10 calls Satan “the accuser of our brothers . . . who accuses them day and night before our God.” We see this in the first chapter of Job. When God points out “my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil,” Satan responds that Job only serves God because of His blessings. Satan suggests that if God took away what He had given Job, Job would curse God. The rest of the book disproves Satan’s accusations. God knew Job would be faithful. But he had things to do in Job’s heart and ours by what He allowed Job to endure.

But what if Satan’s accusations are right? What if we failed in an area where we promised to change? What if we committed the same sin we repented of yesterday?

Romans 8:33-35 and 37-39 tells us:

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Questions God’s Word. When Satan talked with Eve in the garden of Eden, he asked, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Yes, God did say that. But when Satan questions what God has said, we sometimes start questioning, too.

Contradicts God’s Word. After questioning God’s Word in Genesis 3, Satan flat out contradicts it.

Misrepresents God and His Word. Satan planted in Eve’s mind that God had ulterior motives for keeping Adam and Eve from the forbidden fruit. When Satan tempted Jesus in Matthew 4, he quoted Scripture out of context and misapplied it. Peter wrote that “There are some things in [Paul’s writings] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:16).

Lies. Jesus said Satan “does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan lies about us to God, about God to us, and about everyone and everything else.

Pretends to be an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11: 13-15 tells us, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” Most of the books of the Bible warn about false prophets and false teachers.

Murders. Jesus said Satan “was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). I think Satan must be behind mass murders even if the murderers don’t consciously follow or acknowledge Satan. Who else would inspire people to kill so many others?

But the Bible also links hatred with murder (Matthew 5:21-22 and 1 John 3:15). Jen Wilkin comments on this in Ten Words to Live By, her book about the Ten Commandments.:

Is Jesus adding to the law by broadening our attention from murder to anger and contempt? By no means. He is pointing out the seedling that grows into the thorny vine that chokes out life. He is appealing to us to fastidiously weed the garden of our personal holiness. He is teaching that if every person dealt with anger quickly and rightly, there would be no need for the sixth [commandment] at all (p. 94).

First, I am angry with you in response to a hurt. Next, I begin to question your character with an insult. Then, I begin to question your worth as a person. As anger degrades into contempt, the personhood of another is devalued (p. 93).

How then do we defeat Satan?

Awareness. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Prayer. “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41),

Resist him. “Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9).

Submit to God. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

Put on God’s armor in Ephesians 6:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

Know God’s Word. The “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” and prayer are the only offensive spiritual weapons given to us. Jesus responded to each of Satan’s temptations with Scripture. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Whether wrong thoughts about God are whispered into our hearts, or we’re reading something false about God, we counteract those thoughts with the truth of God’s Word.

Live for God, by His grace. “Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:8b-11). “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). The passage goes on to say that if you used to steal, now work to give to those in need, use edifying rather than corrupting speech, and so on. Don’t just focus on what you’re not supposed to do: actively do the right thing.

Look for the way of escape. “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). Too often I look for ways to justify what I want to do rather than looking for a way to avoid temptation.

Don’t give Satan a foothold. “Give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). This may involve being careful about what we read and watch and where we go.

I don’t go looking for the devil behind every trouble. Once, when discussing a misunderstanding with a neighbor, she blamed the devil for our lack of communication. But the problem was in our human failures. I don’t give the devil more credit than he is due.

I don’t rebuke him: I leave that to God, like the archangel Michael did. “But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you'” (Jude 9).

Satan is stronger than I am, but God is stronger than Satan. “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

When We’re Shaken

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I was sitting at my desk one day when suddenly the floor felt like it was vibrating. The windows rattled. Confused, I looked around the house to see if anything was shaking or swaying. Within just a few minutes, the rattling and vibrating stopped, and everything went back to normal.

I did a quick check online, and, sure enough, what I suspected was true: our area was right on the edge of a distant earthquake. My Facebook feed was filled with posts asking, “Did you all feel that?” *

Even though this was a very small sampling of an earthquake, it was enough to be disconcerting. Questions flooded my mind:

What’s happening?

Is this for real?

What do I do?

How long is this going to last?

How bad will it be?

Is it going to happen again?

Our area is more prone to tornadoes, so we have an action plan when tornado warnings sound. We know to get into an inner room of the house that doesn’t have windows. But, not ever having experienced an earthquake before, I had no idea what the protocol was.

We have some of the same questions when our world is shaken. An unexpected diagnosis, a car wreck, a lost job, a house fire, a broken relationship–any of these and other scenarios can send us reeling. At first, we might be paralyzed with disbelief or confusion. Then when reality sets in, so does the pain. How are we ever going to put our world back together?

King David wrote many psalms during various kinds of trouble. In Psalm 62, David is being attacked and lied about. In verse 2, he prays, “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

A few verses later, he says, “He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.“

I love that David goes from not being greatly shaken to more firmly and confidently declaring, “I shall not be shaken.”

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, ““Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:46-49).

Hearing and obeying God’s Word builds our lives on the bedrock of truth. We’d all probably admit to being shaken to some degree in the face of devastating news. But when we remind ourselves of the truth of God’s Word about who our God is, how much He loves us, how powerful and kind and wise He is, we can leave everything in His hands. Whatever He allows, He goes through with us. He promises to be with us and meet our needs.

Samuel Rutherford said, “Believe God’s word and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your Rock is Christ, and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows, but your sea.”

Many Bible verses refer to God’s final judgment of the earth as a violent shaking. The writer of Hebrews says:

This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:27-28).

C. H. Spurgeon said of this passage in the June 22 reading of Morning and Evening:

We have many things in our possession at the present moment which can be shaken, and it ill becomes a Christian man to set much store by them, for there is nothing stable beneath these rolling skies; change is written upon all things. Yet, we have certain ‘things which cannot be shaken,’ and I invite you this evening to think of them, that if the things which can be shaken should all be taken away, you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken, which will remain.

This seems like a paltry illustration, but it reminds me a bit of the machine that shakes live Christmas trees before someone wraps them up and ties them to the top of your car. The shaking gets rid of the dried needles, pine cones, dust, and bugs, so you’re only taking home your lovely tree.

Sometimes God shakes up our lives to let the wasteful, harmful, or needless stuff loose. When we’re shaken, we begin to clarify what’s true and what’s important.

Psalm 46:1-3 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” Seeing mountains fall into the sea sounds pretty scary to me. But with God as our refuge and strength, we stand on firm ground even then. The psalmist concludes this psalm with, “‘Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!’ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.“

I love how the song “Still, My Soul, Be Still” by the Gettys and Stuart Townend incorporates these truths. They urge listeners, “Hold onto His ways, With shield of faith” and “Do not forsake The Truth you learned in the beginning.” The chorus repeats the prayer:

God, You are my God,
And I will trust in You and not be shaken.
Lord of peace, renew
A steadfast spirit within me
To rest in You alone.

It can be troubling when our world is shaken. But when God is our rock, we’ll be secure.

*This earthquake occurred a few years ago, not recently.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

He Knows My Name

Posted on February 16, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I was named for two aunts. My mother’s sister was Barbara Ann, and my father’s youngest sister was Lora Lee. So I became Barbara Lee. I supposed I could have ended up with Lora Ann, or a name from another aunt, Faye Elisabeth, whose name was the same as my grandmother’s.

From time to time as I grew up, interest arose in name meanings. My friends were always tickled to discover that my first name, Barbara, means “stranger.” I’d hear good-natured comments the speakers thought were witty, like, “Yeah, you’re the strangest friend I have.”

When I was taking a class in some New Testament epistles in college, the teacher said something like, “I don’t know if we have any Barbaras in here . . . ” (at which point everyone who knew me looked at me), “but the name Barbara comes from the word barbarian.” He said “barbarian” arose from how Greeks described foreigners, whose language sounded like “bar bar” to them.

I loved my aunts and didn’t mind my name. I don’t think my parents had name meanings in mind when they named me. But after I became a Christian I was encouraged to discover the concept of being a stranger in the Bible.

In Ephesians 2, Paul writes that we were “strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace . . .” Through the cross, He reconciled us to Himself, so when we believe on Jesus Christ, we “are no longer strangers and aliens.” The Getty’s hymn, “Jesus, Joy of the Highest Heaven,” puts it this way:

Jesus, laid in a lowly manger,
Facing a world of dangers,
Come to turn me a stranger
Into a child of God.

Isaac Watts’ hymn, “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need,” captures this beautifully in the last stanza.

The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be mine abode,
And all my work be praise!
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, nor a guest,
But like a child at home.

When we were at home in a world that doesn’t know God, we were strangers to Him. But once we became His children, then we also became strangers to the world. Hebrews 11 says the people listed there “all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (verse 13). This world is not the ultimate home of believers. We seek to do good and enjoy God’s gifts and shine as lights for Him here, but ultimately, we “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (verse 16). C. S. Lewis put it this way in The Problem of Pain: “Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.”

As strangers here, 1 Peter 2:11 urges us “to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” This urging follows the verses that say believers are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” Because we have become God’s people through faith, we live and act differently from what we used to.

Deuteronomy 10:18-19 really elevated my name in my eyes: “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner [stranger], giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner [stranger], therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.”

In Bible times, name meanings were special. People were given names according to character traits they either had, or that parents hoped they would have.

God often changed a person’s name in the Bible after a significant encounter with God. Thus Abram (“exalted father”) became Abraham (“father of many nations”). Jacob (“planter or deceiver”) became Israel (“prince with God”). Simon (“hearing”) became Peter (“rock”).

Revelation 2:17 contains an interesting situation: “To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

This is the only place where such a white stone is mentioned in the Bible. Some sources say ancient jurors cast white stones for a “not guilty” verdict or a black stone for “guilty.”

Some say the stone hearkens back to the breastplate the high priest wore which contains twelve jewels with the twelve tribes of Israel inscribed upon them. The high priest brought the names of the tribes before God as he ministered. So Jesus bears our names before the Father.

GotQuestions.org poses this as the best theory:

The best theory regarding the meaning of the white stone probably has to do with the ancient Roman custom of awarding white stones to the victors of athletic games. The winner of a contest was awarded a white stone with his name inscribed on it. This served as his “ticket” to a special awards banquet. According to this view, Jesus promises the overcomers entrance to the eternal victory celebration in heaven. The “new name” most likely refers to the Holy Spirit’s work of conforming believers to the holiness of Christ.

Jesus said of a good shepherd “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out’ (John 10:3). Then He said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me” (verse 14).

Imagine–the God of the universe, who made and knows millions (billions? trillions?) of people, knows our name. Those who know Him will receive a new name in heaven known only between Him and them.

I don’t know what my new name will be. But I am immeasurably thankful to be known and loved by God.