Despair may not be a word that we use that commonly these days, as we often jump to speaking of depression. But despair conveys something of the fact that life’s storms have not passed and there is still something lingering.
Many of us know something of this, of how the despair of life comes at us from every direction. Most of the despair that we experience is also common to most of humankind — heartbreak, terrible health conditions. But in this text, we see despair of a rather unique kind. This is a despair that seems to cut off ultimate hope at its legs, and is a sort of divinely associated despair.
For only the second time in our history, Singapore hosted the Pope, who spent three days in Singapore for the final leg of an Asian tour after visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste.
As we enter into a new year, some approach the year with a sense of foreboding and fear, others with a sense of opportunity and excitement. Still others look at the days to come with a certain coolness of spirit — a disinterest and detachment — that is neither excited nor anxious, because we cannot tell what tomorrow will bring. Truly as James 4 reminds us, we are merely a mist, and we should neither say with certitude that we know what tomorrow will bring, for only He that is eternal, unchanging and enduring can speak of tomorrow with certainty.
This past month, we’ve been reading about developments in Israel and the region. There is every reason to believe that this conflict is only just beginning, and will lead to severe unrest in the Middle East.
But taking a few steps back — how did things get here? And how should the thinking Christian, trusting in the God who keeps His covenant promises, think about these matters with wisdom?
In the "Sermon on the Mount", we see the Lord Jesus' preaching to His disciples of the life and culture of the kingdom of heaven. Where the holy God reigns and rules over His people, people have repented of their old way of life and turned to a new way of living. How then can we be perfectly righteous?
