Doing the Will of God

Posted on April 28, 2022 by Steve Husting

Jesus took a moment to make a correction we church-goers need at times. We may get so carried away with doing good things that we end up following our wills more than the will of God. Jesus corrects our notion that doing good is synonymous with doing the will of God. 

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). After talking about false prophets who claimed the Lord gave them messages to speak (vv. 15-20), Jesus explains to His disciples the true way into the kingdom of heaven. It’s not by merely using His title Lord, as the false prophets were doing, but following through on the commands of the Lord. 

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Easter’s Over—Now What?

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Steve Husting

For many of us, when we think about what it means that Jesus rose from the dead (the Easter story), we usually conclude that we’ll rise from the dead too. We will live forever because Jesus beat death. He will bring us to heaven. 

To really bring out what the cross and resurrection mean to us on a daily basis, we turn from the brief tales of the crucifixion and resurrection in the gospels and let the epistles spell it out for us. 

One instance is found in 1 Peter 2, where he addresses today’s suffering from the perspective of the cross of Christ. Has there been suffering in our lives lately? What has been our viewpoint toward the griefs we’ve been forced to endure? 

Jesus was a perfect man—and He suffered. He therefore shows us how to suffer. As a matter of fact, when we believed in Jesus, the Spirit washed and regenerated us (Titus 3:5), and we became a new creation. That new creation has the spiritual capacity to think like Christ. When we do so, we start acting like Him too. 

So how did Jesus view His suffering? What sustained Him in His extreme hour of trial? How should we expect to change? 

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Thine Be the Glory, Risen, Conquering Son

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Steve Husting

The Swiss author of this hymn, Edmond Budry, originally wrote it in French. He beautifully captures the intimate connection Christ’s earthly body has with His resurrection glory. 

Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son; 
endless is the vict’ry Thou o’er death hast won. 
Glory is when you do something pretty significant in your eyes and you think everyone should know about it and congratulate you. So you post about it online.
In this hymn, Jesus is acknowledged for doing something no one else can do. He alone deserves the honor of overcoming in a way that no political party, think tank, technological power, or military might has been able to do. No one can keep people from dying. No one can bring people back to life. 
He’s the Son of God who beat death forever, and showed it by rising from the dead through His own power. 

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The Blood of the Lamb

Posted on April 14, 2022 by Steve Husting

What is the significance of the blood of Christ that was poured out at Calvary? When we say the blood cleanses us, what do we mean by that, especially when we cannot see any blood, and we don’t use blood for cleaning in our normal lives? 

To learn more about this, it helps to research the use of the blood in the OT. Because of their persistent study of the OT scriptures, the Jewish mind was already making connections when the blood was mentioned in the NT. Our 21st century minds were not shaped by blood sacrifices. Theirs was. The NT enlarges on what the OT talked about. The NT helps us see the significance the OT hints at.

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Meditation: A Faith That Works, James 2:26

Posted on April 1, 2022 by Steve Husting

We’re familiar with James 2:26: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Do we know what it implies? 

James is talking about living life in a way that bears witness to one’s faith. Regarding works, he is not talking about, “you should memorize your Bible more, pray for an hour, go to church, volunteer, labor for God from dawn to dusk,” and so on. This is not the aim of the passage. 

Suppose we are hesitant about our faith, whether it is enough. We may feel pressured to do more to make up for it. We may double up on the tasks we do to confirm that we really are faithful believers. This may result in the tyranny of the urgent. Performance anxiety. The feeling that we’re not doing enough nor good enough. 

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Book Review: Goliath Must Fall

Posted on March 25, 2022 by Steve Husting
Goliath Must Fall: Winning the Battle Against Your Giants - By: Louie Giglio

C 2017 by Louie Giglio, Passion Publishing, Thomas Nelson

It’s not often that I’m impressed with a Christian book. This one was impressive. Louie and staff wrote an inspirational book on defeating the giants in our souls. (Figured that from the title, didn’t we?) 

His take on the story of David and Goliath isn’t what you’d expect: “Because David did it, you can, too. God helped David beat the giant, so he’ll help you, too.” No. Louie’s twist on this story is that David is Jesus. Jesus already beat the giants in your life. Goliath is dead already. 

The snake is dead, but the venom is still there. Yet God has provided a way to make sure we do not get stung to death. This book is all about making sure we know the way. 

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No Other Way to the Father

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Steve Husting

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NIV).

How do these two halves of the verse work together? What do the three attributes of the Son have to do with coming to the Father?

If we perceive Jesus in the three ways He identified Himself in the first sentence, then we are already on the way to God through Jesus. It indicates that the Holy Spirit has shown us who the Son is and we have pursued this relationship. Let’s explain.

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My Prayer List Benefits

Posted on February 5, 2022 by Steve Husting

I’ve been using a prayer list to keep my prayer times productive. Here are some of the blessings I’ve discovered after keeping to it almost every evening. These benefits are for anyone who wants a better prayer life!

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Strengthening Ourselves in Christ

Posted on January 1, 2022 by Steve Husting

David was a master war strategist before and after he became king. In 1 Samuel 30 we see one of the reasons why. In this incident, we also learn how to discover and boost the God-given talent, ministry, or gift we possess. Let’s see behind the scenes of David’s greatness before he would be king. Perhaps this insight will help us as we enter a new year of spiritual challenges.

After three days David and his men of war had returned to their city and found it looted and their families carried off (vv. 1-3). What did David do? He prayed for wisdom and waited on the Lord until he received direction (vv. 6-8). 

That was his master strategy in a nutshell. That was the secret of his military success. Let the Lord lead. 

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Isaiah 9 Meditation: A Son is Given

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Steve Husting

Here is my chapter breakdown for Isaiah 9: 
1-3 From gloom to gladness 
4-5 Breaking the yoke, the rod of their oppressor 
6-7 A divine son is given, and his government of peace will increase 
8-21 God is angry with proud Israel 

The end of Isaiah 8 speaks of the prophet eagerly waiting for the Lord, who is hiding from Israel (8: 17). It speaks of the time Israel will experience “the gloom of anguish” and be “driven away into darkness” (8:22). In sin and error pining. 

Gloom continued for the next 400 years since the last of the Old Testament prophets spoke to the Jewish people. 400 years without prophetic utterance. God and Israel were not on speaking terms. In the meantime, the Old Testament canon was finalized and in print. 

Chapter 9 begins with a note of hope. A “great light” will shine in a dark land (9:2). What will the light do? The gloom will be replaced with rejoicing, and the darkness with light (v. 3). 

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