“For who has despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10). One of the persistent mistakes of human thinking is the assumption that significance must always be measured by size. We are naturally impressed by what is large, visible, dramatic, and immediately successful, while we are tempted to overlook the quiet duties, ordinary opportunities, small decisions, and seemingly insignificant acts out of which a faithful life is actually constructed. Yet God repeatedly teaches His people not...

One of the greatest tragedies in the modern religious world is that many people have developed a view of God that is far too small and a view of man that is far too high. God is often spoken of casually, almost as though He exists merely to affirm mankind rather than to rule over him in absolute holiness and authority. At the same time, sin has been minimized, excused, renamed, and softened until many no longer see themselves as truly guilty before the Creator. Yet when we open the...

The New Testament repeatedly warns God’s people against confusing human emotion, intuition, impulse, imagination, or subjective impressions with divine revelation. In every age there has been a tendency among sincere religious people to attribute internal feelings, dreams, sensations, or impressions to the direct activity of the Holy Spirit. Statements such as “The Spirit nudged me,” “The Holy Spirit told me,” “God laid this on my heart,” or even more extreme claims that the Spirit physically...