Will today be the day my faith becomes sight? Will today be the day I am reunited with my Savior and Lord to worship Him perfectly? Will today be the day I see his glory? Will today be the day I sing praises to Him with the angels and the multitudes? Will today be the day I am glorified and my struggle against sin ends forevermore? Will today be the day I see the place He prepared for me? Will today be the day I step through the veil and enter eternity? Will today be the day I stand by the Crystal Sea? Will today be the day I see His face? Will today be the day I praise Him at His feet for saving me? Will today be the day I understand fully, knowing even as I am known? Will today be the day the tears will be wiped from my eyes? Will today be the day I come into my inheritance? Will today be the day I thank my ministering angels? Will today be the day my faith becomes sight?
Do you have this fervency in your heart? Do you pray these things every day? Are you eager to put aside this tent, this life, these earthly concerns, in anticipation of His call? He rewards this eagerness:
“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8)
Earth is our temporary home. It is roughing it here. We put up with what we have to put up with in the way of trials, diseases, persecution, even inconveniences… because the real home awaiting us when we return to it is so fabulous. When you were at camp during the summer or on a sleepover you had a good time but weren’t you happy to get back to your Mom & Dad? Your own bed?
Jesus came to earth to die, as the atoning sacrifice for sin of the world, to be resurrected by the power of God, proving He is God, and lives in heaven now, waiting for the time He will call His bride to Him. He came “To guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79b). We are at peace, knowing we are reconciled to Him, no longer His enemy but His children.
That is how we should feel. This is not our home. When will we see our real home? I don’t know. Will today be the day?
SYNOPSIS: Responding to Albert Mohler’s comments on women participating in a specific sermon-discussion podcast, this essay offers some context to the discussion, and warns that doctrinal compromise begins incrementally. I urge fellow female believers to maintain biblical complementarianism, heed scriptural warnings, and resist subtle departures from obedience.
John Witherspoon. Have you ever heard of him? I hadn’t either. I was reading the Chapel Library’s newsletter and the current issue of their Free Grace Broadcaster, #276 Summer 2026, and Witherspoon is mentioned.
He signed the Declaration of Independence, the only minister to do so. He was President of Princeton University, a Presbyterian, and insightful about the future of the fledgling nation. On May 17, 1776, Witherspoon preached a sermon at Princeton, titled “The dominion of providence over the passions of men.”
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He spent some time preaching individual repentance, then, knowing war loomed, went on to urge his listeners as to their duty as to public virtue and the pursuit of. We love our country by loving God and others:
What I have here in view is to point out to you the concern which every good man ought to take in the national character and manners, and the means which he ought to use for promoting public virtue, and bearing down impiety and vice. This is a matter of the utmost moment, and which ought to be well understood, both in its nature and principles.
Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners makes a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue. On the other hand, when the manners of a nation are pure, when true religion and internal principles maintain their vigour, the attempts of the most powerful enemies to oppress them are commonly baffled and disappointed. …
What follows from this? That he is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind. It is therefore your duty in this important and critical season, to exert yourselves every one in his proper sphere to stem the tide of prevailing vice, to promote the knowledge of God, the reverence of his name and worship, and obedience to his laws. —end Witherspoon excerpt.
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What IS our national character? A love of liberty foremost, coupled with a reverence for law and the order it brings-
The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson famously wrote, was “intended to be an expression of the American mind.” Although not intended as such, it was also an expression of the American character. … Invoking the right to revolution, or its corollary—the right to civil disobedience—was, and should remain, a last resort. The American character delicately balances the love of liberty with a reverence for the law. We Americans, Tocqueville observed, are animated by “a virile love of order.” The elusive art of self-government lies in this capacity to prevent the spirited attachment to liberty from becoming unruly by reconciling it to the gentle yoke of the law. ~David Azerrad, at The Heritage Foundation
We see today that the delicate balance for personal liberty and a love of general order based on law is disrupted.
Throughout human history, the two have rarely co-existed. Many have won their freedom. Few then succeeded in governing themselves. It is much easier to topple a dictator than to ingrain in the minds of people respect for the law and to cultivate their vigilant and manly spirit.
Yes indeed. This is true. And yet America has governed itself for 250 years this July. No doubt, however, we have degraded from the days of the Founding Fathers’ minds and hearts and wisdom…
This image is of John Trumbull’s famous painting, Declaration of Independence, which depicts the five-man drafting committee presenting their draft to the Congress (not the actual signing). Here is a link to short bios of the 56 people who signed
Witherspoon reminds us, “Honest attention to the ravages of lawless power in history and the world today ought to humble us in the dust.“
Will we never take the example of other countries what have fallen from vice and dissipation? George Santayana famously said that Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Witherspoon mentioned the law.
The law of God is over all. We love God’s Law and we love God’s Gospel because we love Christ. Witherspoon preached: “In all of history, there is not a single example of civil liberty being lost while religious liberty was still completely preserved. If therefore we give up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage.“
But Witherspoon reminded his hearers, many of whom would soon go into battle, to remember –
I believe pride and self-confidence are a terrible insult to God’s providence, and when it spreads and affects the attitude of a body of people, it is a forerunner of destruction.
We here in America have been blessed with protection from invasion, military might, given a flourishing economy, brilliant minds to invent comforts of life from which we all benefit. Witherspoon’s men fought and won this for us. And yet any one person dwelling in this here free and flourishing land is a captive, a slave, and certainly in bondage if their soul has not been liberated by Christ.
As Witherspoon’s men faced war and revolution and death, he begged them to remember their soul, saying,
As you advance in life, one sin may replace another and hold its place, but only the sovereign grace of God can produce the saving change of heart and disposition. Only the sovereign grace of God can make you fit for His very presence.
This is TRUE liberty. Liberty of the soul from its bondage to sin. If the soul is freed by Jesus, then despite any outward circumstance, we are genuinely free.
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:)
The following is from the newsletter I receive monthly along with the booklet Free Grace Broadcaster from Chapel Library. Chapel Library is a ministry from Mt. Zion Bible Church in Pensacola, FL. This ministry sends out, at no cost, edifying material from solid pastors of long ago. They supply free evangelistic and discipleship materials to churches, missionaries, ministries, prison chaplains, and individuals for the glory of God. They offer print and digital formats, as well as audiobooks. You can read their material online or request it through the mail.
The editor of this month’s letter introducing the quarterly Free Grace Broadcaster #276, Summer 2026, Jeff Pollard, wrote:
I invite you to think deeply with me about the following text: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom 8:29). Have you ever meditated on this passage? Not eastern meditation-the mind-emptying sort. I mean meditation of the biblical sort: Have you ever drawn away from everyone, turned off all your distracting devices, and found a quiet place to pray and meditate? The meditation I’m speaking of does not empty you, but fills your mind with a verse or passage of God’s Spirit-breathed Word. Have you prayed earnestly about God’s truth and thought about it until you began to experience the wonder, the depth, the beauty, and the mystery of it? If so, have you ever meditated on this passage?”
This month’s issue focuses on the topic of “Beatific Vision” from 1 John 3:2. “We shall see Him as He is”. Pollard continued:
“Our Christian life points in one direction, one goal- conformity to Christ for all eternity. The greatest conformity to Christ, the greatest joy that we will ever experience, the greatest fountain of love and glory from which we will drink, will come from gazing upon God- the beatific vision. God in His glory will glorify His people with the image of His glorious Son.“
Friends, in these hectic, bewildering, dark days, focus on your blessings. On this side of the veil, the great blessing that Christians have is salvation, promise of heaven, and the deposit of the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. On the other side of the veil, we have the promise of eternity in glory with Jesus, the GREATEST blessing of all. We shall see Him as He is!
I love the pre-dawn. It is quiet and cool and dark but the light is coming, and already is.
I live in an area which is fairly rural, and there is not much traffic. Though I live on a major artery in the county, there isn’t enough traffic even during the day to really bother me. However, in the pre-dawn, there is none at all. I can hear from afar off the dogs bark, cows moo, occasional owl screech, an early rooster…
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At about 6 am there is always one bird. From out of the darkness, suddenly, there will be a happy series of lone chirps. He is loud, and the sound is joyous to me. Not to anthropomorphize too much, but the bird really does sound happy. The piercing, lengthy call sounds like he is waking up his brethren. Perhaps it is an ovenbird.
After the first bird goes first, then in a few moments the dawn chorus begins. The dawn chorus is a worldwide event. At Cornell, they wrote, “The dawn chorus is one of the most conspicuous vocal behaviors of birds, and one of the least understood. Near sunrise, birds often sing more loudly and vigorously than they do at other times of the day.“
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I like to think they are thanking their Creator. He knows them, and I like to think they know their Creator back. God says, “I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.” (Psalms 50:11). We know that all creation groaneth in travail until now, (Romans 8:22). They groan…do they sing in joy as well?
Birds suffer for man’s sin, (Genesis 6:7; Jeremiah 12:4; Ezekiel 38:20; Hosea 4:3). The Bible says they flee away when calamity comes as well. (Jeremiah 4:25; Jeremiah 9:10)
Yet they sing:
10You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; 11 they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. 13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. (Psalm 104:10-13)
Imagine the ‘dawn chorus’ in heaven! Birds will sing all the time because there is no dusk and no dawn, only day! (1 John 1:5, Revelation 21:25).
I believe that in heaven when He brings His bride to her place and presents our dwelling place to us, our rooms will not have screens on the windows. Because why would they? No biting insects or animals will creep in and harass us. All creation will be reconciled to its Creator and there will be no reason to have bars or screens to keep things out, or in. Maybe a bird will swoop in to my room and sing in joy at the perfection of the Creator and gladness to be part of it, and I will join. Together we are all groaning now, but the Day will come when we will all sing in joyous praise to the One who made us. Birds too.
In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the first bird each morning, knowing that before the day’s groaning begins, there is joy in creation among the created.
SYNOPSIS: The passage rejects the idea that Christians receive personal “whispers” from the Holy Spirit. Criticizing popular Christian women authors, it argues that God’s revelation is complete in Scripture and that believers should seek guidance through prayer, biblical wisdom, and spiritual discipline rather than subjective impressions or inner messages.
In my daily Bible reading, I came across a phrase with which I was not familiar:
“Moab is My washbowl; I will throw My sandal over Edom; Shout loud, Philistia, because of Me!” (Psalm 60:8)
Why is throwing your shoe over a country or region an insult or a statement of dominance, as it appears to be in the verse?
You have heard scripture interprets scripture. In this case we can refer to Ruth 4:7 for an explanation of the shoe handling:
Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the way of confirmation in Israel.
I looked it up some more. This is where commentaries come in handy.
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says the same as the Ruth 4:7 verse above, and goes on with a bit more context-
He here expresses the utmost confidence that he would succeed in this, notwithstanding the adverse events which had occurred. It is supposed that there is allusion in the expression “I will cast out my shoe,” to the custom, when transferring a possession, of throwing down a shoe on the ground as a symbol of occupancy. Compare Ruth 4:7. In the middle ages this was expressed by throwing down a glove; in the time of Columbus, by solemnly taking possession and setting up a cross; in other times, by erecting a standard, or by building a fort.
You may have heard that ‘throwing down a glove” (gauntlet) in the Middle Ages meant the fight was on. History.com and Merriam-Webster Dictionary explain,
The term “gauntlet” comes from the French word gantelet, referring to the heavy, armored gloves worn by knights, according to History.com. Meaning: It was a literal, public act of defiance that, if accepted (by “taking up the gauntlet”), required personal combat to resolve a dispute
Apparently in Bible times, throwing the shoe was the signal that one side was prepared to fight for victory, in other words, ‘I’m coming for you! – and I will win!”
It’s helpful to pursue some of these long-ago idiomatic phrases that help us understand the verse more deeply.
SYNOPSIS: Modern “heaven tourism” claims continue resurfacing through books, interviews, and testimonies, but many contradict Scripture and even themselves. Christians should exercise biblical discernment, reject subjective revelations, and trust the sufficiency of God’s Word alone regarding heaven, hell, eternity, and salvation.
Charles Spurgeon wrote a commentary on all the Psalms. It is called The Treasury of David. You can find it online in several places, such as here. Or here.
It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that sin is drenching the world n higher and higher quantities. Sin running rampant in the flesh is a terrible thing. Runaway violence, anger, and thievery seems to have become the norm. Yet God still holds the universe in His hand and controls all the unfolding commotion with a steady progression toward the fulfillment of all that He has said will occur.
I hope that Spurgeon’s exposition of Psalm 75:3 encourages you.
The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved. When anarchy is abroad, and tyrants are in power, everything is unloosed, dissolution threatens all things, the solid mountains of government melt as wax; but even then the Lord upholds and sustains the right. I bear up the pillars of it. Hence, there is no real cause for fear. While the pillars stand, and stand they must for God upholds them, the house will brave out the storm. In the day of the Lord’s appearing a general melting will take place, but in that day our covenant God will be the sure support of our confidence.
“How can I sink with such a prop As my eternal God, Who bears the earth’s huge pillars up, And spreads the heavens abroad.”
Selah. Here may the music pause while the sublime vision passes before our view; a world dissolved and an immutable God uplifting all his people above the terrible commotion.
Through the commotion of the world, look up to God where there is peace. EPrata collage
SYNOPSIS: I reflect on the dignity and necessity of support roles, comparing them to biblical examples like Baruch, Jonathan, Ruth, Barnabas, and Timothy. I emphasize faithful service, humility, loyalty, and contentment, arguing that ALL roles, whether front line or background support – ultimately glorify God and strengthen His people.
the-end-time.org 