A small town was selected for the site of a hydroelectric plant. A dam would be built across the nearby river, submerging the city. When the project was announced, the citizens were given ample time to arrange their affairs and relocate. During those months, a curious thing happened. Home improvements, neighborhood upkeep, and infrastructure repairs ceased. The city looked and felt abandoned long before the citizens moved away, and the waters came. One resident explained: “When there is no hope for the future, there is no power in the present.”  That’s a life lesson worth remembering: Hope for tomorrow produces strength for today. There are three types of people. Some have no hope. Circumstances have made them downcast, defeated, discouraged, depressed, and desperate....

I remember the first time I heard John MacArthur preach in person. I had listened to his messages and read his books for some time before visiting his church. Romans 8 was his text, which he said was about the eternal security of the believer. I was blown away by the message. I knew many verses from Romans 8. I had not put them together to see the grand truth of the chapter: When God grips you by his grace, he will never let you go.  Romans 8 is arguably the greatest chapter in the Bible. It begins with no condemnation and ends with no separation. Romans...

  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. - Romans 8:34   Romans 8:31-39 is about the eternal security of the believer. No person can take away our salvation: “What then shall we say to these things. If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) God the Father will not take away our salvation: “He who spared not his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will...

God Knows What He's Doing