Tagged: repentance

Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!— Numbers 21:17 We have spent two weeks in the place of springs, the valley of weeping and affliction that bears that beautiful invitation to spring-making and spring-naming. Today, we shall sing, for there is another secret to springs in the valley: they become wells. In Numbers 21 we find the Israelites on the way to the Red Sea, going around the land of Edom. Scripture tells us, And the people became impatient in the way (v. 4). Impatience is the spring they chose to drink from that day, and it made them more thirsty. Instead of refreshing them, the Spring of Impatience widened their gaping need, filling their souls to the brim with crippling… Read More

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God." Revelation 12:10 What’s happening in Afghanistan right now has everything to do with the church. [bctt tweet="As the second-fastest-growing church in the world, Afghan followers of Jesus are precisely in the cross-hairs not only of Taliban guns but, perhaps more gravely, the adversary of the church, the accuser, also called Satan. #persecution #afghanistan " username="audreycfrank"] Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those… Read More

@audreycfrank In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it (Isaiah 30:15). We so often fight against the rest God offers. Instead of repenting, resting in His sovereignty over our lives, quieting our souls and trusting God, we flee. And our pursuers flee swiftly after us. (See Isaiah 30:16-17.) The word for rest here is also used in Exodus 14:14, that famous moment when the Israelites crossed the sea on dry land, only to look behind them to see the Egyptians marching in pursuit with full strength. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still (Exodus 14:14). How ridiculous the wisdom of God seems in the face of our… Read More

@audreycfrank My roots are in the Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States, where cultures blended from Scotland, Ireland, England and Germany to brave the rugged landscape and force it into submission. Farmers and shepherds made the mountains their home and brought with them customs and traditions of the Old Country. One of the most stubborn traditions is that of record-keeping, or, as it is more often called, holding a grudge. I have watched old men die friendless, all because they refused to forgive a wrong committed against them decades before in their youth. I have heard the griping grumble of stubborn siblings who walked away from each other after a dispute, never to reconcile.  And I have seen the most tender, powerful love blossom… Read More

But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. -Joshua 7:1, NIV Sometimes opening the Bible, beholding it, is like staring into a burning book. The words lick with flames like a ravenous fire, determined to burn away the perishable in my heart and soul. Right now is like that. I am revising and editing my manuscript, and the chapter lying next to my focal text is searing, its flames rising ever higher, burning my gaze and drawing me in. Joshua 7 is the passage today. The story of Achan’s sin. Achan acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things. He took… Read More