Darkened Glass Reflections

Category: Scripture Sabbath

  • Sabbaths, Sabbaticals, and Seasons of Refreshing

    Sabbaths, Sabbaticals, and Seasons of Refreshing

    A few thoughts about Sabbaths and sabbaticals. I will take the month of August off from writing; will be back in September.

  • Imitating the Father

    Imitating the Father

    God the Father gave us His best self-portrait when He sent His Son to show us who He is and what He is like.

  • A Few Thoughts About the Trinity

    A Few Thoughts About the Trinity

    This is part of walking by faith: We trust God and believe Him to be Who He says He is, even when we do not fully understand it. When I was a small child, I had faith that my mother and father were my parents, long before I learned what that meant or how we…

  • A Valiant Warrior Misses the Mark

    While we need to recognize our identity in Christ, we need to remember that entire phrase: It is our identity in Christ. Sometimes, we win spiritual battles through God’s power and the work of the Holy Spirit, and suddenly forget that He is in control. The apostle Paul asked, “Having begun by the Spirit, are…

  • The Faith of the Centurion—Luke 17:2–10

    Many overlook how the centurion’s claim of unworthiness contrasts with the elders’ claim that he was worthy. We can learn a lot about faith from the centurion in this context.

  • Valiant Warrior?—Judges 6:11–14

    Gideon can be an encouragement to all of us. God called him to step out in faith with strength he did not know he had, to accomplish a mission for which he seemed ill-equipped. Most of the heroes of the Book of Judges are like us. They have flaws. Their human frailties rise to the…

  • Ministry and Motives—John 12:1–8

    Motives matter. Why we do things is usually more important than what we do. If our motives are consistent with the will of God and are pure, even if our efforts are headed in the wrong direction, we can be guided onto the correct path. If our motives are selfish and impure, even good efforts…

  • The Lion IS the Lamb

    Judah’s descendant proved Himself to be the Lion of the tribe of Judah by offering Himself as the Lamb of God.

  • Did the Lion Lie Down with the Lamb?—Isaiah 11:6

    All of the English translations I read depict the same two animals: a wolf dwelling with the lamb. (Wait a minute: He’s not lying with lamb, he’s dwelling with it!) Even Martin Luther’s German translation, published about 70 years before the KJV, said “wolf.” So did the Hebrew. If there was a conspiracy to change…

  • Freedom in Submission to the Truth

    “But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” (Genesis 3:4–5, ESV). “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you abide in my…