Author: Dwight Clough

"Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place." — Psalm 51:6Some time ago, one of my friends in a different city was trapped in an adulterous affair. My friend had been a good Christian husband and father. He was a leader in his church and in his community. But he fell into sin. Now everybody around him was busy telling him how rotten he was. "You are a sex addict." "You are in denial." "You need to take responsibility for your actions." "You can’t be trusted." And so on.As he told me…

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations … — Revelation 20:7-8Adolph Hitler said, "If you tell a lie to a hundred people a hundred times, a hundred and one people will believe it." I guess he should know.Why does Satan deceive? It’s simple, really. He deceives, because if we knew the truth, deep inside, who would want what he has to offer?Who wants to be a slave, when you can be free? So Satan will try to fool you into believing that you will have more…

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. — Revelation 20:4For many years, I figured God’s only interest in me was convicting me of all my sins and generally making me feel miserable because I was such a rotten guy. I would never have expressed it that way, but deep down, that’s how I usually felt.But read the Bible! We are not God’s laundry. God has bigger plans for us than just washing us, so He can set us on the shelf and look at us. God is looking for ways to pull…

A big happy birthday to my wife, Kim, today!Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. — Revelation 2:10I admit to you that I have a problem with suffering. It is much on my mind that my brothers and sisters suffer pain beyond description and beyond belief. I hate pain, and I hurt for them. It bugs me that so little is said about the suffering of God’s children. Perhaps others are thinking about it just as I am, but, like me, don’t exactly have the words to talk about the struggle they feel inside.I can’t quite…

So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. — Revelation 14:16In the middle of the Great Depression, my grandfather, with borrowed money, bought a farm. It was a useless tract of land on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. In town they called him a fool. $500 was an outrageous price to pay for 385 acres that would never produce a crop."Barker, you’re going to lose that farm," they told him.His eyes always twinkled when he told me that story. When I came to live on the farm 28…

And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. Revelation 12:7-8They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Revelation 12:11Some people think that God and Satan are locked in some kind of cosmic duel, each vying for supremacy in the universe.Wrong! If God fought with Satan even for an instant, Satan would be…

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me. — Revelation 3:20Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Why does He knock at the doors of our hearts? The Bible says that He wants to come in and dine with us. Let me suggest something. Jesus is bringing the meal with Him. One day I drove by a homeless man who was climbing into a dumpster to find a meal. He was hungry and he was scavenging for…

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. — Revelation 7:17How does God take away our sorrows? Here’s a partial list.He meets the needs someone else should have met but didn’t.He walks with us through life’s painful events and enables us to see them from His perspective.He allows us to trade in short term pain for eternal pleasure. Romans 8:18, Psalm 16:11He satisfies our desires with good things.Everything intended for evil in our lives gets placed in His hands. There even the most disgusting injustice becomes an opportunity for God to bring good to us. Romans 8:28Be encouraged!Dwight…

"Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?" — 2 Kings 4:28In the years before her son was born, this woman’s hope to be a mother had quietly slipped away. She had resigned herself to something less than God’s plan for her. She was cautious, not daring to dream any more.When she was asked what she wanted from God, she dared not even voice her secret desire. No. She would live her life childless and then slip away into eternity.But the Lord pulled this desire from the deep recesses of her soul. He found her secret dream and He fulfilled…

"So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ " — Luke 17:10"I no longer call you servants…" — John 15:15Unworthy does not mean worthless. Jesus did not die for junk. He died to redeem the diamonds that were covered in the mud of sin. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross.What was that joy? It wasn’t the Father — He already had communion with the Father. It wasn’t the angels, He had communion with the elect angels. I don’t think…