Light to Live By

"The unfolding of your words gives light ..." (Psalm 119:130a)

God’s Living Presence

April 10, 2026 / / 0 Comments

“The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.” (Deuteronomy 1:30-31)

Moses here begins his final addresses to the people of Israel. They are poised to cross the Jordan and finally enter the Promised Land. Moses is rehearsing what he had told their parents forty years earlier as they too had been poised to enter the Promised Land. They did not believe but rebelled.

Will this new generation be any different?

The only thing that will make this generation different than the previous one (and the only thing that can possibly mark us out as faithful) is the presence of God actively, manifestly with them. His presence is repeatedly promised to them (e.g., Deut. 31:6, 23; Josh. 1:9). Will they believe His promise and act based upon its surety? Will I?

What exactly is the promise here? It appears to be three-fold.

The Lord is my advance team — “The LORD your God who goes before you …”

The Lord is my seal team — “The LORD your God who … will himself fight for you …”

The Lord is my home team — “The LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son …”

The Lord Himself goes before you, fights for you, and carries you. You well never step into anything where He is not already and where He hasn’t prepared the way for you. You are not responsible for victory, just obedience. You aren’t sufficient, but He who is holds you in His arms.

Now that sounds promising, right? Is should, it is a divine promise.

But to bolster their faith in its certainty, Moses set before them two illustrations of God’s faithfulness to these very ministries. They came from their own experience with God.

First, was their experience with God in Egypt and their deliverance from it (“just as he did for you in Egypt”).

Second, was their experience with God in the wilderness for the next forty years (“just as he did for you … in the wilderness”).

In biblical theology terms, we might say, God has demonstrated His faithfulness in our salvation and sanctification (since these events represent these new covenant realities).

Surveying my life and experience with the Lord, I can see His faithfulness in just these ways, both over the course of my life and in the past year.

Lord, thank you for going before me, fighting for me, and carrying me as your child. Lead on. Enable me to follow faithfully. Amen!

Give Peace a Chance

February 26, 2026 / / 0 Comments

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:17-18)

Yep. Yes. I agree. Wholeheartedly. Do it. Now. Always. Give peace a chance.

But I must also ask, “How’d that work out, James?”

James set forth what true, God-given wisdom looks like. Let us receive it for what it is—the word of God.

Let’s also ask, does that wisdom work? I guess it depends on how you define the word work.

In Acts 21 the Apostle Paul arrived in Jerusalem with an offering received from Gentile believers and designated for the poor of Judea. He walked into a tinderbox that was ready to ignite into a firestorm. The Jewish-Gentile tensions were so taut they were about to snap. And Paul was at the center of it all. Paul, it was said, taught Jews outside of Judea to forsake the law of Moses (Acts 21:21). It was a falsehood but rumors run on airtime, not actuality.

In view of the times, James counseled a scheme where Paul would go to the Temple with some Jewish men who were under an oath. The apostle would join them in the Temple, pay their expenses, and join them in making sacrifice (Acts 21:23-24a). “Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law” (v.24b). Let’s give peace a chance.

Did it work? Did it produce “a harvest of righteousness . . . sown in peace”?

No. At least not like James seemed to picture it.

On the final day of James’ scheme, a riot started in the Temple over Paul. The Jews there tried to kill him (Acts 21:27-31).

None of that discounts the truthfulness of what James taught about wisdom. It does remind us, however, of something Paul had himself recently written: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:18).

Make every legitimate effort to live at peace. Yes, and amen! But living at peace takes two parties. Even if you try, it doesn’t guarantee the other party will try also.

Sometimes righteousness works itself out in less than peaceful circumstances. “The God of peace” (Rom. 15:33; 16:20; Phil. 4:9; 1 Thess. 5:23) knows how to work his righteousness with or without willing parties (Psa. 75:11). May he always find us willing, even when not all in our circle of relationships are cooperative.

The “Why?” of Christmas

December 23, 2025 / / 0 Comments

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt [lit., “tabernacled”] among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

“God ‘pitched His tent’ among us as a man so we can hear what was previously inaudible (“The Word became flesh,” v.14a), see what was previously invisible (“We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,” v.14b), understand what was previously inexplicable (“No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known,” v.18), and experience what was previously impossible (“From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ,” vv.16-17)!” (Long Story Short, p.145)

The Way of Rest

October 4, 2025 / / 0 Comments

“Thus says the LORD, ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.’” (Jeremiah 6:16)

Three commands confront us right away: “Stand,” “look,” and “ask.” “Stand” means position yourself intentionally. Do it “by the roads,” where one might travel when one finds direction to the sought-out place. “Look” means search, heighten your senses, seek, and be intentional about what it is you seek after. “Ask” means don’t be passive; actively search, inquire, poke about, be willing to learn from another.

And what is it for which you search? Seek “the ancient paths.” The tried-and-true ways. The ways where those godly ones who have gone before us walked. The proven paths. Those “paths” that Abraham, Moses, David, Samuel, Joshua, and all their kind have shown to us. Avoid the trendy and faddish, the passing and unproven. Get basic. Get utilitarian. Not “what’s cool,” but what works.

Works for what? Where you “find rest for your souls.” “Where the good way is.” There! There! “Walk” in that “way”! This, then, is a fourth command. This is not optional if it is “rest” of soul that you truly seek.

Lord Jesus, lead me in the ancient paths, in the good way, where my soul will find rest. Simplify things. Give me one desire. Give me the tried-and-true, the proven and faithful, the enduring ways. Yes, give me yourself. For you, Lord, are “the way.” You are my true desire and rest. Give me yourself, and I shall be full. Amen.

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