At the beginning of a new month it is good to be reminded: At this very moment God is reigning from his throne, so Christ will soon return and all will be made right.

(Yesterday on the blog: New and Notable Christian Books for February 2023)
The Christian’s Glorious Freedom
Sinclair Ferguson: “You may have been a Christian for some time and yet not grasped your new status in Christ. You may still be intimidated by the domineering character of the tyrant who once ruled over you. Believers sometimes wrongly assume: ‘I have sinned; therefore, sin still has authority over me. I cannot possibly have ‘died’ to sin.’ Paul unambiguously contradicts this thinking.”
A Darker Consumerism
Chris wants us to consider that “our relationship with social media has made us consumers of people.”
Dear Nursery Worker: Thank You For Loving Our Family Like Christ
Here’s some encouragement: “Sister, if you ever feel like your job is useless as a nursery worker, if you ever feel like you’re doing no good for the kingdom, stomp out those lies. You’re loving those children, and you are loving those parents. You’re modeling Jesus…”
Hurt, injustice and dealing with reality
Stephen reflects on some of the ways we can be hurt in church (and how we can hurt others). “As much as I don’t want to diminish the reality of bad experiences, I also think there is some balance needed in how we think about these things. None of what I am about to say is meant to undercut real experience of hurtful things…”
Defining and Defending Liturgy
“What first comes to mind when you hear the word ‘liturgy’? You may believe that ‘liturgy’ is something mechanical or impersonal, not really speaking to the heart. Perhaps you think it a cold, lifeless term, expressing a concept that does not have practical value or promote spiritual worship. Liturgy? Who needs it!”
Should We Cancel Karl Barth, Martin Luther, and Jonathan Edwards?
Trevin considers theologians we may now find troubling in different ways. “We can either look down on past theologians for their sins or we can look deeper. Looking deeper requires us to consider different kinds of sin, how those sins might affect the outlook of the theologian, and what treasures we may still receive, with wisdom and discernment, from flawed forebears.”
Flashback: Which Christian Best Portrays Christ?
Christians are called to be like Jesus, to make a careful study of his life, of his ways, of his character, then to portray him on the canvas of our lives.

To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless. —G.K. Chesterton

Every now and again I just can’t help myself—I respond to a clickbait headline and find myself reading an advice column. The question this time was from a woman who had become disillusioned with her husband and enamored with someone else. And as I read the columnist’s response I thought, “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly how Satan would counsel if he was asked.” That got me thinking…

If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that marriage was invented by human beings, either for reasons related to humanity’s evolutionary origins or related to men’s need to control and dominate women. He would want people to believe that because marriage came from within this world rather, it in no way reflects any kind of divine design for human beings or human society. This makes it not only unnecessary but possibly harmful and oppressive.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that marriage offers no great benefits that cannot be had with singleness, cohabitation, or serial monogamy. He would want people to believe, to the contrary, that marriage offers risks and drawbacks that are mitigated or avoided altogether when people choose not to marry.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that marriage is primarily a matter of an individual’s personal lifestyle, that before marriage is about giving oneself to another person to love and to serve, marriage is about a sense of personal well-being and fulfillment.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe marriage is so risky that it is best to postpone it almost indefinitely, that it is so significant and perilous an undertaking that people should not even consider it until they have completed their education, begun a career, and become well established in life. He would especially want young people to anticipate it with a sense of dread instead of excitement.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that marriage is a union between any two—or three or four—willing partners regardless of any factor related to their sex or maybe even their family relationship. He would also want to be clear that marriage can be easily dissolved when it is no longer satisfying or desirable—“’til death or dissatisfaction do us part.”
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to miss the contradiction that while marriage is in some ways insignificant and easily dissolved, it is also so significant that a wedding should cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars and that the institution is best dignified when a couple puts themselves heavily in debt to make sure every detail is perfect. He would want people to believe that the best measure of a successful wedding is that it wows the attendees, glorifies the couple, and looks great on Instagram.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that marriage is where sex goes to die rather than to thrive and that a lifetime of sex with one person can be nowhere near as satisfying as fleeting moments of sex with a long succession of people. He would want them to be suspicious that to enter marriage is to settle for sexual mediocrity rather than fulfillment. He would make sure this message is so endlessly repeated in popular culture that it becomes almost a given.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that children are a hindrance to a happy marriage rather than a blessing to it and that people are happiest when dedicating themselves entirely to themselves rather than to others. And if they still insisted on having children, he would want them to think of those children as a lifestyle choice, as a kind of prop to be used to enhance a parent’s sense of personal satisfaction.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want struggles or issues a couple encounters to be left festering and unresolved. “It’s fine and good to let the sun set on your anger.” He would most certainly not want the couple to reach out to others for counsel, prayer, or even rebuke.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want husbands to be passive in their leadership and wives to be so disappointed in that lack of leadership that they feel justified in failing to respect their husbands. He would want wives to determine that submission is a mark of weakness and that if it is given at all, it should be given only when it is earned. He would want husbands to treat their wives harshly instead of gently and to express constant disappointment rather than delight.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would encourage husbands and wives to each insist that problems can only be resolved when the other person makes the first move. He would ensure they each consider it impossible to continue to love and serve their spouse when he or she fails to reciprocate that love.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want people to believe that there is one soulmate out there for each of them and that after a number of years of marriage, they may learn, to their disappointment, that the person they married is not “the one.” He would want people to then believe that they will only truly be happy if they leave their spouse to pursue this soulmate.
If Satan took up marriage counseling, he would want even Christians to focus more on the struggles and difficulties of marriage than on its joys. He would want even Christians to talk often about how hard it is and seldom about how good it is. And he would most certainly want Christians to forget all about the reality that the deepest meaning of marriage is not first about a husband and wife but about Christ and his church.

May the Lord bless and keep you today.

One Day (Far Side of Our Sorrow)
There is a lot of sweet hope in this song. “Hallelujah, there’s a far side of our sorrow / Hallelujah, there’s a hope beyond the grave / Today we mourn / But one day we won’t / So stand and sing the songs today / And grieve but not without hope.”
Wise Men Still Seek Jesus & How to Be Like Them
“However, if you’re not sure that the little baby in the manger is truly the King of the World, I invite you to do as the wise men did, go out and search for him. He is not hiding, and he is not lost.”
Opening the doors
This is another sweet reflection by Andrée Seu Peterson.
WATCH KEITH & KRISTYN GETTY’S IRISH CHRISTMAS CONCERT FREE
Join Ireland’s own Keith & Kristyn Getty for a one-night-only livestream of Sing! An Irish Christmas—live from the Museum of the Bible! Gather your family and sing the songs of Christmas together again through soaring melodies and foot-stomping Irish-American renditions of your favorite Christmas hymns. RSVP today and receive a FREE digital download of our keepsake hymnal and program book featuring new songs from the Gettys, devotional material and advent readings, and more! (Sponsored Link)
Confess with Your Mouth Jesus Is Lord
It’s worth asking: Is it quite right to speak about making Jesus your Lord and Savior?
Are There Differences between Christ’s Humanity and Ours?
There are deep waters to swim in here. “What kind of human nature did Christ assume in the incarnation? Was it the nature of Adam before the fall, a sinless nature but with the potential to disobey God and fall into sin? Or did he take a fallen nature, like Adam and his successors after the fall, with an in-built bias to sin? Or was it a nature preserved from sin and its associated contamination, and, if so, how could he still be one with us?”
Sin, Sorrow, and Joy of Christmas
“The lights glow softly, the Christmas music plays, and wondrous thoughts of the birth of our Savior fill our minds. What a blessing it is for the believer who still finds childlike joy at this time of year. Being ‘grown-up’ is a bit over-rated because being ‘grown-up,’ according to the world, usually entails a constant stiff upper lip and a cynical heart.”
Flashback: Moroni From the Realms of Glory
…you’ve got to be careful what you share online. What looks good at a glance may harbor some deep concerns.

If parents were half as diligent in praying for their children’s conversion as they are in keeping them from bad company, their children would turn out far better than they do. —J.C. Ryle