Author: Dwight Clough

This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. — Matthew 26:28I’m struck here by the intimacy of what Jesus is sharing with us. He passes the cup to us and says, "This is My very life. I’m offering it to you." We just arrived at the table. But God set this table in eternity past, knowing that we could bring nothing to it. He set each place knowing the cost. Yet without the cost, without the debt being paid, no forgiveness is possible — by God or by men.How reckless! …

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" — Matthew 18:21Peter is speaking from the viewpoint that most of us share: forgiving someone benefits the offender, but taxes the offended.The truth is quite different. Forgiving an offense empowers the offended. It is to a man’s glory to overlook an offense. (Proverbs) Forgiving frees us from the kind of bitterness that saps away our energy and turns our whole world a muddy gray.Yes, forgiving benefits the offender, but only because it forces the offender…

Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! –Matthew 18:7When we are tempted, there are all kinds of dynamics at work. Usually some kind of deception is present. Usually some kind of pain is screaming for a solution or some desire is begging to be indulged. Temptations can be, and often are orchestrated by the enemy. And other people sometimes have a more or less conscious role in creating temptations for us.Jesus is the ultimate realist. He knows how real temptations are…

When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. — Psalm 126:1All of us walk through valleys. Sometimes the valley seems so deep and so dark that it appears we will remain there forever. But we won’t.All of our secret dreams go with us into the valley, and there — sequestered from all hope — they burrow deep inside our souls until even we forget they are there. But one giddy, hilarious morning, Jesus unlocks those dreams, and brings them up out of their dungeons. We breathe the fresh air of hope and splash…

Your word is truth … — John 17:17I encourage people to have an experience with Jesus. Who can better deliver freeing truth than the One who is Truth? But, thankfully, truth comes in other forms as well. Life experience delivers truth. If I put my hand on the hot stove, I have blisters for a week that remind me that hot stoves are painful to touch. Real friends deliver truth. They tell it like it is, even if it hurts. The Bible says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” That doesn’t mean that we go around hurting each other;…

You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. — John 8:32Those of you who know me know that I’ve struggled with a fear of dogs almost all my life. In recent days, the Lord has delivered me from 98% of that, but I did have a tense moment a couple days ago.I was taking a walk on a stretch of country road between a couple of farms. I thought I was a good distance away from any houses, but I guess I got within the territorial radar of a big farm dog. He came bounding through…

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. — Matthew 13:41What causes sin? Why are we tempted to sin every day here, and what will happen so that we will lose all desire to sin and we won’t even consider sinning for all eternity.I mean it really is us who are going to heaven, isn’t it? You know, you and me. If you know your own faults like I know mine, doesn’t this seem amazing to you?Sin is rooted in deception. Satan…

"Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." — Matthew 9:2Isn’t the need healing? Hasn’t this man spent his whole life paralyzed? Haven’t his friends just lowered him through a hole in the roof? (Mark 2, Luke 5) Why is Jesus talking about sins?Three lessons:(1) Jesus is economical. He not only heals, but uses the occasion to show His authority to forgive sins.(2) Jesus is the solution to all our problems. Stop and think of the three things that are bugging you the most right now. Jesus is the solution to all of them.(3) Jesus always gives us more than what…

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. — Matthew 5:29-30First of all, do hands and eyes really cause people to sin? No. Your hand and your eye is a servant to your mind…

She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. — Matthew 1:21Our condition and our solution are both wrapped up in the name of Jesus. Jesus didn’t come down to earth hoping to find righteous people. He didn’t have any illusions of finding suitable folks to fellowship with. He knew what He would find. Yet, He came. He came in the full power and anointing of God, knowing that His life and death and life again carried the eternal solution to everything that has…