All Things New

Declare his glory among the nations, his wondrous works among all peoples. (Psalm 96:3) Human beings have a strange ability, and might I way a tendency, to take in information, intellectually process and understand it then summarily file it away into a pile of lots of other things we know but never really internalize or integrate the information into who we are. It happens with faith and Biblical ...

All the ends of the earth have seen our God’s salvation. (Psalm 98:3 As humans, we have a tendency to see the glass half empty, the world darker than it is, and the future uncertain. Yesterday we remembered God's mission and His promise to redeem the nations. Today, in Psalm 98, we see that mission in its proper setting. Today we work to shape our worldview, bringing to mind the fact that no matte...

I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6) After the nations were dispersed at Babel and Abram (eventually God's people the Israelites) it would be easy to assume God had simply abandoned the nations altogether, leaving them to their own destruction, but Isaiah has a different idea.As a man standing solidly in Gentile territory, I'm gra...

Blessed be the LORD, my rock who trains my hands for battle and my fingers for warfare. (Psalm 144:1) Strength comes in many forms, but in the Kingdom of God, it has a very particular form and feel to it. One of the greatest examples I've ever seen is my dad. He's not a big guy, about 5'5, maybe, and he's even shrinking as he gets older! But don't let his size fool you.As a young boy growing up th...

A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. (Mark 1:27) By now we've well established the fact that the conflict and resistance in the cosmos exists in both the earthly and heavenly realms. In Mark 1, to borrow language from my wife's elementary students, Jesus has entered the chat!I find it interesting, and sad, that then, as now, the demon recognizes t...

I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.  (Psalm 121:1–2) For two days now we have discussed the reality of spiritual conflict and how God is sovereign over it all. Here the Psalmist puts that idea into action. He lifts his eyes to the mountains and asks a powerful question: "where does my help come from?"In anci...

"Very well,” the LORD told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself." (Job 1:12) I know too many people who, as they begin to be exposed to the reality of the unseen realm, spiritual warfare, and the like become fearful and pensive. However, Job 1 should give us great peace and prevent us from spiraling into fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Where Daniel r...

When heaven feels silent and the battle feels hidden, Daniel 10 reminds us that God hears, God sends help, and unseen resistance never means He has abandoned His people....

The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the LORD. (Psalm 24:1) "Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD of Armies, he is the King of glory." I love the way this passage ends. It reorients my mind and soul to be reminded the LORD of Armies is still, and always has been, in control!The week began with divided peoples and disinherited nations but ended in a song and P...

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. (Ephesians 6:12) By now you are hopefully dialing in to this portion of the biblical story.Babel wasn't only about human arrogance.Deuteronomy 32 was about more than national boundaries.Psalm 82 wasn't just poet...

While rebellious nations and rulers still rage against God, their defiance is futile because the true King is already enthroned and the nations will ultimately belong to Him....

Psalm 82 sheds light on the unseen realm and brings us into the courtroom of the Most High, where corrupt spiritual rulers stand condemned before the Judge of all the earth....

Babel did not simply scatter humanity across the earth, it also marked the beginning of a deeper spiritual division that would shape the story of the nations from that point forward....

Scripture shows that God sovereignly transforms humanity’s rebellion into redemption, turning the chaos of Babel into the global unity of worship where all creation rejoices in the righteous reign of the Lord....

Jesus’ Great Commission reverses the rebellion of Babel by sending His followers outward to disciple the nations, transforming humanity’s prideful attempt to ascend to heaven into a global mission grounded in His authority and redemptive grace....