What Does Jesus Pray for Us?

Posted on April 27, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Robert Murray McCheyne is quoted as saying, “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.”

The Bible tells us, “The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but [Jesus] holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:23-25).

I’ve known the last verse for decades. However, it never occurred to me to wonder what Jesus prays for us until I saw the topic discussed in An Ocean of Grace by Tim Chester. He quotes a Scottish pastor of the nineteenth century, William Symington, as saying that we can assume Jesus’ prayers in heaven are similar to what He prayed on Earth.

That makes sense. I imagine He prays things for us that are beyond our imagination or consideration. But it’s logical to think that His current prayers would mirror what He prayed while here.

So what did He pray when He lived in human form on Earth?

When Jesus foretold that Peter would deny Him, He said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31-32).

What a comfort and encouragement. Jesus knows our temptations, our weaknesses, and our enemy’s ambushes–and He prays that our faith will not fail.

In what we call Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17, He prays not only for the disciples He had then, but also “for those who will believe in me through their word”–us!

He prays first for God’s glory to be manifested through the Son.

Then He asks His father to keep us in His name., and later, to keep us from the evil one even as we live in this world.

Jesus pleads that we may be one, just as He and the Father are one.

He wants us to have His joy fulfilled in ourselves.

He prays that we might be sanctified in God’s word, which is truth.

And finally, He asks that we be with Him where He is, to behold His glory.

In a sense, Jesus might also be praying for all His expressed will in the Bible to be fulfilled in us, like Colossians 1:9-12 or Ephesians 3:14-21. He might include the things He taught His disciples to pray in what we call “the Lord’s prayer“: that we might reverence His name, for the coming of His kingdom, the provision of our needs, our forgiveness and forgiving, our leading, and our deliverance from evil.

But it touches my heart to think that Jesus is currently praying for me some of these same specific things He prayed when He was here. I’m sure He doesn’t pray in generalities, but for specifics. He prays as One who has been where we are, who has faced temptations as we do, who can sympathize with our weaknesses. What a boost to our faith and confidence. What a clarification of priorities. What an evidence of love.

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

Hebrews for You

Posted on April 23, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Most New Testament epistles begin with who wrote the letter and who the audience is. The author of Hebrews does neither. He appears to be someone familiar with the apostles’ teaching. He might even have been an apostle himself. He references the Old Testament. and seems to assume his audience would be familiar with it. Thus we believe he’s writing primarily to Jewish Christians. Many were undergoing persecution for their belief in Jesus and the prophesied Messiah. Some felt maybe they should go back to the Jewish traditions they had been taught.

The main theme of the book is that Jesus is better: better than angels, better than Moses, better than God’s previous revelations. His priesthood, according to the line of Melchizedek Psalm 110:4), is better because it’s eternal. His sacrifice is better because He only had to offer it once; He didn’t have to offer sacrifices for His own sin because He didn’t have any sin.

There are stern warnings at the end of each section–warnings against apostasy, against failing to enter God’s rest.

Probably most people who know anything about Hebrews are familiar with the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11: the detailed list of people in the Bible who did follow Jesus in faith. They weren’t perfect; some on the list are a surprise. They are an encouragement to us to keep following.

This chapter also tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (verse 6).

Chapter 12 urges readers to endure God’s discipline as a loving father and reminds us of the coming kingdom that cannot be shaken. Chapter 13 ends with practical instructions and applications.

One of my favorite verses in the book comes near the end in chapter 13, verses 20-21: “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” What a magnificent prayer that we can pray today.

Even though the first audience was Jewish, we Gentiles benefit from reading the book today. The truth it contains is applicable to all. We’re spiritual children of Abraham by faith (Galatians 3:7-9) and we’ve been grafted in (Romans 11). We don’t replace Israel. But we’re part of God’s family. So all this truth pertains to us, too.

If you’ve read through the first five books of the Bible, especially if you’ve gotten lost in Leviticus, reading Hebrews will really help in understanding.

Our ladies’ Bible study has been reading Hebrews this semester using Michael Kruger’s book, Hebrews for You: Giving You an Anchor for Your Soul as an aid. I appreciated the author’s thoughtful insights as he went verse by verse through the book.

Some of the quotes I marked:

The old covenant was not false or wrong. But it was provisional and partial. “The law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities [Hebrews 10:1]” (p. 136).

Since God’s word is empowered by the Holy Spirit, when we encounter the word, we encounter God. It is through God’s word that we meet him, learn from him, and have fellowship with him (p. 61).

The word of God is not just a way to get to know God but also a way to get to know yourself. When you read the Bible and let it penetrate your heart, you will see things about yourself that you never saw before. You will see your real intentions, your real motives, and your real character. This is a good thing because there is rot and mildew built up in our hearts which need to be exposed (p. 65).

People in our world today sometimes embrace doubt and uncertainty as things worth striving for in themselves; Christians, by contrast, believe that there are certainties, even though we may find it difficult to hold on to them. So, when we have those struggles with doubt, we fight them. We look for reassurance from God (p. 164).

God does not promise that if we follow him we will have health and wealth—becoming successful or rich. There is a sad trend in evangelicalism today of teachers claiming that if you follow God it will make your life better in earthly ways. Of course, it is better to follow Jesus; but that does not mean bigger bank accounts or more popularity. This is not your best life now (p. 190).

Hebrews has some difficult passages, but Kruger’s commentary helped shed light on them.

I’m happy to recommend this book.

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

If Jesus Had Not Been Resurrected

Posted on April 20, 2025 by Barbara Harper

There’s an old Christmas song I’ve only heard a few times titled “If Jesus Had Not Come” by Albert C. Norton and Donald P. Hustad. The songwriters list several consequences we would face if Jesus never came to earth. Then the rousing chorus affirms:

But Jesus came! He came to earth,
And men beheld His manger birth!
The shepherds heard the angels sing,
The wise proclaimed Him Lord and King!
He died, He rose; and by His blood,
We too become the sons of God;
We preach the gospel in His name!
For Jesus came! Yes, Jesus came!

This Easter week, I’m thinking about what the consequences would be if Jesus had not been raised from the dead.

No resurrection for us. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 says Jesus was the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” If He wasn’t raised from the dead, we won’t be, either. “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (verse 19).

Futile faith. “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain . . . And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17).

No meaning in life. Paul questions the worth of the dangers he endured for gospel’s sake if there is no resurrection. “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die'” (1 Corinthians 15:30-32).

Death’s sting. Paul concludes his “resurrection chapter” with this: “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?'” (1 Corinthians 15:53-55). But if Jesus is not risen, death’s sting is still with us.

No hope. Peter begins his epistle by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). But if there is no resurrection, we don’t have a living hope.

No inheritance. Peter speaks of an “inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” which encourages us in our trials. But we’ll never receive that inheritance if there is no resurrection. (Ephesians 1 also speaks of our inheritance.)

No seeing loved ones again. When a loved one dies, or when facing our own death, one comfort is that we’ll see our loved ones again if they’ve believed on the Lord. Paul shares in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 that those who have already died will be reunited with those of us who are still alive when Jesus returns. Therefore we do “not grieve as others do who have no hope.” But without that hope, we’ll be swallowed up in grief.

No comfort. After sharing the expectation that we’ll see our loved ones again after death, Paul tells us to comfort (some versions say encourage) one another with these words. Likewise, Peter says we can rejoice in our sufferings when Jesus’ glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:12-14). But with no resurrection, there is no comfort.

No power. Paul prays that we may know “what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:19-20). But with no resurrection, there is no resurrection power.

No intercession. Hebrews 7:25 says Jesus “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” I can’t imagine being without His prayers!

No wrongs set right. One of our comforts in a world where there are so many wrongs is that some day they will be set right. Paul preached that God “has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). But without the resurrection, those wrongs will never be righted.

No seeing Jesus. In this life, we love and believe in Jesus, though we do not see Him (1 Peter 1:8). We look forward to that “blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession” (Titus 2: 13-14). If he’s still buried, we won’t see Him.

No motivation. Paul concludes all he says about resurrection by encouraging, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). But without resurrection, our work would be largely in vain and we’d lose our impetus to keep going.

Facing God’s wrath. Paul writes of the Thessalonians who “wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). But if Jesus was not raised from the dead, we’re not delivered.

How bleak and hopeless life would be if Jesus had not been raised from the dead.

But, thank God, He has been raised! Not only that, He is the resurrection! He told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).

I love how Krissy Nordhoff and Michel Neale expressed the joy of Jesus’ resurrection in The Mercy Tree (these are some middle verses and the chorus):

Hope went dark that violent dayThe whole earth quaked at love’s displayThree days silent in the groundThis body born for heaven’s crown.

And on that bright and glorious dayWhen heaven opened up the graveHe’s alive and risen indeedPraise Him for the Mercy Tree!

Death has died, love has wonHallelujah!, Hallelujah!Jesus Christ has overcomeHe has risen from the dead.

May we rejoice in all Jesus accomplished through His life, death, and resurrection! Hallelujah!

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

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.