Dr Paul Allen

Many of the most common troubles in the Christian life come from relating to God as if he were like us — as if his kindness were as slight as our kindness, his forgiveness as reluctant as our forgiveness, and his patience as fleeting as our patience. Under impressions such as these, we walk uneasily through the Christian life, insecurity rumbling like distant thunder. John Owen (1616–1683) goes so far as to say, Want of a due consideration of him with whom we have to do, measuring him by that line of our own imaginations, bringing him down unto our thoughts and our ways, is the cause of all our disquietments. (Works of John Owen, 6:500) If we were God in heaven, we would have grown impatient with people like us long ago. Our anger rises quickly in the face of personal offense. Our frustration boils over. Our judgments readily fire. And apart from the daily renewal of our minds, we can easily measure God “by that line of our own imaginations,” as if his thoughts matched our thoughts, an...

The Christmas season can be a rough time for more people than we might think. Everyone is already weathering the merciless scourgings of this Genesis 3 world. The miscarriage of a child. The separation of a spouse. The loss of a child. The letting-go from a job. The news of that diagnosis. The rebellion of a child. For many, Christmas time can be a ruthless reminder of that person or thing or blessing that we are without. Combine that with the pressure to feel merry, when some don’t, and it’s a battle. One particular difficulty is waiting. Often in life, we find ourselves waiting; waiting under the inscrutable sovereignty of God. Much of life can be summed up like this: we are about to enter a situation where we are waiting on the Lord, we are in a situation where we are waiting on the Lord, or we are coming out of a situation in which we were waiting. Waiting is nothing new for God’s people. Abraham and Sarah had a lengthy wait, from the time of the promise of a child until he was bor...

Practice Perseverance Knowing that God has promised to complete the work he began in us, we are well equipped to practice perseverance, as Peter explains in his second epistle: His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him, who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. (2 Pet. 1:3–7) Because God has given us his “precious and very great promises,” Peter encourages believers to supplement faith with godliness, knowledge, steadfas...

The prophet Habakkuk was sorely distressed. His misery was provoked by the spectacle of the threat of the pagan nation of Babylon against Judah. To this prophet it was unthinkable that God would use an evil nation against His own people; after all, Habakkuk mused, "God is too holy even to look upon evil." So the prophet protested by mounting his watchtower and demanding an answer from God: "And the LORD answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:2–4). The final words of this utterance, "the righteous shall live by faith," are cited three times in the New Testament by the familiar words, "the just shall live by faith." In this phr...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church credit: Wikipedia ) "Lead me in thy truth , and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation ; on thee do I wait all the day."  Psalm 25:5 When the believer has begun with trembling feet to walk in the way of the Lord, he asks to be still led onward like a little child upheld by its parent's helping hand, and he craves to be further instructed in the alphabet of truth. Experimental teaching is the burden of this prayer.  David knew much, but he felt his ignorance, and desired to be still in the Lord's school: four times over in two verses he applies for a scholarship in the college of grace. It were well for many professors if instead of following their own devices, and cutting out new paths of thought for themselves, they would enquire for the good old ways of God's own truth, and beseech the Holy Ghost to give them sanctified understandings and teachable spirits.  "For thou art ...

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Photo credit: Lawrence OP ) Therefore, as God ’s chosen people , … clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness , … and patience  (Col. 3:12). The fourth fruit of the Spirit , or the fourth aspect of the Spirit’s work, is patience. Christians should not be impatient people. If the Spirit is active in their lives, they will become more and more patient . We have all seen impatient people who cannot seem to wait for anything. But in ordinary life, patience is not usually a difficult virtue to manifest. In the face of suffering , however, patience becomes hard. When Job suffered, the temptation offered by his wife was “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). Job’s wife tempted him to commit suicide, so to speak, and thereby end his torment. When we hurt we are impatient for healing, and we need the special blessing of the Spirit to persevere despite the pain. Galatians 5:22 probably has reference to patience with other people. Here again, it is when other peopl...

English: An image of Psalm 23 (King James' Version), frontispiece to the 1880 omnibus printing of The Sunday at Home. Scanned at 800 dpi. Français : Illustration du Psaume 23 (version autorisée par le roi Jacques), en frontispice de l'édition omnibus du Sunday at home. Version numérisée à 800 dpi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." ( James 1:4 ) Patience , or endurance, is part of the development that produces the experience that brings hope and assurance to those who are the " twice born " ( Romans 5:3-5 ). Patience is a discipline--a "work" that is necessary for our growth. Although such discipline never seems pleasant at the time, it is administered by our loving heavenly Father , who focuses His "work" on our spiritual maturity ( Hebrews 12:5-8 ). This text contains several key aspects that promise victory through the process of learning patie...