Strength for Today, Hope for Tomorrow: Recent Episodes
Paul Pavlik
Based off of the final stanza to the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness", this is a daily devotional created with the intention of bringing strength and hope to each day.
"Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!"
Psalm 32:8-9 - I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.
Do you believe that there is a right way to go in this life? Do you believe that there is a right way to understand yourself and the world around you? How you answer these questions is of the utmost importance. If you believe that any way can be the right way, then eventually you will find yourself without a firm foundation to stand upon. Not everything can be true, even though many people believe that what you want to say is true, will be.
What kind of people must we be then, if we want to know that we are headed the right direction? We must be people of understanding. The problem with so many ideologies today is that the people who believe them aren’t actually thinking through the validity of those beliefs, they just simply believe them because it makes them feel good. Many in the church can live this way as well. They like what they gain from Chrstianity, but they haven’t taken the time to really understand it.
If we go a certain direction simply because of how it makes us feel, we will find ourselves to be lost. If we hold a view of ourselves and of the world simply because it suits us, then we really aren’t walking in understanding, but in arrogance. The example the psalmist gives makes this plain.
A horse or a mule will do what a horse or mule wants to do. Without being tamed they won’t listen to command or be useful for anything that we need their help for. We can say all kinds of things to try to get them to do what we want, but they don’t understand, so they will go their own way rather than ours. But if you can tame them, then they will learn to understand you. Their will must be curbed or they will not stay near you. Without the bit and the bridle guiding them, they will go their own way, leaving you in the dust.
People are very much like this. If we don’t have a guide, leading us in the way we should go, we will simply do what we want to do. If we don’t understand the commands that have been given to us, we won’t listen. The truth is, God has given us the right way to go in this life and he has given us commands on how to live, but as long as we choose to ignore his voice and rebel against him, we will not understand these things.
Thankfully, by grace, God brings us in as wild mustangs and by his power alone, tames us and teaches us to understand his words. The question then is this, if you have now been tamed by God, and you understand his commands, do you heed them, or do you still want to live out your mustang ways? Many times we need others to counsel us and remind us that his ways are the best ways. Pray that God would help you to understand, and in understanding, you would follow after the commands of your good master, knowing that you are no longer lost, but found and loved.
1 Timothy 4:12 - Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
There is an expectation that the older someone gets, the wiser they become. Those who are older have experienced more of this world than those who are young simply by being alive longer. It’s no surprise then that we typically see older men and women in positions of authority rather than young men and women. Again, the expectation is that because of their many years, they will do far better with their role and responsibilities than someone younger than them.
In many cases this is true. Youth carries with it a certain idealism whereas those with some years under the belt tend to be more realistic. Young adults can look at themselves as invincible which can lead to arrogance or unnecessary risk taking. Younger people also have a tendency to think that their ideas are new and fresh, throwing out the ideas of the older generation, all the while not understanding that there is nothing new under the sun.
This isn’t to say that older people have everything figured out. Age doesn’t automatically make a person someone worth imitating, listening to, or admiring. Rather than looking at how old a person is, there is probably more wisdom in assessing a person’s character. Whether young or old, character is of the utmost importance.
When Paul wrote this letter to Timothy it would have been common for older men to be the ones everyone followed and listened to. Timothy, being of a younger age, may have felt that he wouldn’t be looked at as a leader, or maybe he was already experiencing other believers treating him with less respect because of his age. Whatever was happening, Paul’s advice is excellent, and useful for all of us to hear.
If you are a young person in the church, be an example of godliness in the church. Don’t be godly for other people, but be godly because it is good to be godly. If you are pursuing godliness, your life will be affected by that. The way you speak will be different. The way you act will be different. The way you love God and others will be different. Your faith will be different. Your pursuit of holiness will be different. In other words, your life will be worthy of honor, and it will have nothing to do with your age.
For those of you who are older, you should pursue these things as well, seeking to live your life with the same drive and purpose. If you see a young person living out their faith well, encourage them and honor them. At the end of the day, what could be better than for young and old to be pursuing these things together, encouraging one another and growing more in Christ?
Some young people are reckless, but not all. Some older people are wise, but not all. Timothy may have been young, but that youth didn’t automatically disqualify him from serving and leading other believers. What mattered was whether he was a godly man or not. Lord help us all, young and old, to be men and women who see the value of living godly lives through Christ.
Psalm 86:5-7 - For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.
There is no doubt that this world is full of trouble. All you need to do is wake up and within minutes or hours, you will become aware of just how broken this world is. There isn’t a day that goes by that doesn’t bring some sort of hardship that we must face, whether that be small and seemingly insignificant or massive and life changing.
What do we hold on to when we are affected by these things? What do we do when we are burdened with our own sin or the sins of others? Who do we cling to when we feel desperate for help or even for love? What do we do in the day of trouble? Thankfully, we have the answer in these verses. We go to the Lord.
We learn some wonderful things about the Lord in these verses. We see that he is good, meaning that we can trust him, we can believe what he says, we can count on him, and we can know that if he is good himself that he will also do good. We also see that he is forgiving. No sin is too great for God to forgive, and while it may be hard to believe this, it is true. Jesus didn’t only die for the sins in your life that you see as “small”, but he died for even the most heinous sins that you would be reluctant to say out loud. He is a forgiving God, and that forgiveness should drive us to repentance.
He is also a loving God, but that’s not all that is written here. His love is abounding to us, meaning that it never stops and there is a lot of it! His love is also steadfast, which means that it will always be there, never fading away or changing. Have you ever known a love like this? No one can love us like God can, and to know that he does is one of our greatest hopes and joys in the Christian life.
It is because of who God is that we know that he hears us when we pray. We pray for him to extend his ear to us because we know that when he hears, he will love us in response to our prayers. We plea for grace because we know that without his grace we would have no hope for our sin. We call for help in trouble because we know that he is sovereign over whatever trouble we experience God is with us, holding us fast through it all.
Our God is so gracious, loving and generous! If only we would see him as he truly is, then imagine the hope and strength we would have each day. When you pray today, pray with confidence. When you meet trouble today, know that you don’t meet it alone, but you have the precious saviour and king Jesus with you. When you sin today, remember that God’s grace has been extended to you for that sin, so rest in his forgiveness, and run from your sin to the abundant love of God. Call on him, and see him do in your life what only he can do!
1 Timothy 6:6-7 - But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
There are many things that we can gain in this life, whether that be financial wealth, material possessions, numerous relationships or anything else. Much of our lives are dedicated to gaining these things, to the point where we give our time and energy to make these dreams a reality. However, what do we do when those things are stripped from us? What do we do with the understanding that we can’t take any of these things with us when we die?
This verse calls us to gain something far more beneficial and permanent. In fact, it calls us to gain two things. The first is godliness and the second is contentment. Paul writes that if we have these two things together that we will have great gain. Why would that be? What is it about these two things that are of greater gain than all of the other things that we typically strive for?
Let’s look at godliness first. If you pursue worldliness, you are going to look like the world, act like the world and want what the world wants. Unfortunately, the world is a confused and broken place, so to pursue worldliness would be an ultimately fruitless endeavor. Pursuing godliness on the other hand is about God, looking like him, acting in a way that pleases him, and wanting what he wants. Now, if God were a terrible god, full of as much brokenness and evil as the world, then godliness would be a horrible thing to gain, but because God is perfect in all of his attributes and gloriously good, living for him will produce a tremendous amount of good.
Think of it this way, if God is a bonfire in the midst of a cold, dark night, the closer we get to him, the more light and warmth will come into that dark, cold night. Now, what happens if I take some of that fire and make a torch that I then carry out into the darkness? Well, I then will be a light in the darkness that may bring other people back to the bonfire where they too can be safe and warm.
Pursuing God is good for us personally because it fills us with God, but it is also good for the world around us that is so blinded by the darkness that it doesn’t even know how great it is to rest in the presence of God, our great bonfire in the dark. It is in remembering how great it is to be in God’s presence that we find contentment to accompany godliness.
Contentment is great gain for us because there is peace and rest in it. When we are content we are satisfied, wanting nothing. The only place we can find contentment like this is in God. The world can give us bursts of satisfaction, but nothing that lasts very long, especially when it comes to eternity. The contentment that you gain in God today, will be a contentment that you can have forever, and that truly is great gain.
Christian, pursue godliness and contentment in God. These are two things that will change your life for the better and that will carry through from this world to the next. Your satisfaction in God and your growth in godliness today will be hope and strength for you tomorrow.
James 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
When you think of God, what do you think he is like? Is he harsh? Is he distant? Is he loving? Is he good? All of us have ideas in our head about who God is, much of which we base on our experience with God rather than on what the word says about him. Our minds are usually drawn to think on the negative and this diverts our focus away from any good that exists as well.
This verse is a reminder to us of who our God is and what kind of relationship he has with us. First, he is the Father of lights, creator of all things, and Father to us. We are his creation whom he formed with the love of a Father in every molding of us in his hands. We have a relationship with this great God in that we are his children, and he is our loving and perfect Father. He is not like earthly Father’s that disappoint through inconsistency or failure. He is incapable of inconsistency and it is not in his nature to fail.
This leads to the second thing. God never changes. There is no variation in him. He remains constant from the beginning to today and will be the same throughout all eternity. If he were to change, he could not be good, he could not be trustworthy, and he could not be God. In a world where everything changes constantly, knowing that our Father never does should cause hope and peace to rise in our hearts.
Finally, he gives good and perfect gifts to his children. He isn’t simply a Father who we know is good but he is far off, thinking little of us in our day to day lives. Instead, what we read in this verse is that he is generous to us, providing for us day after day after day. This means that God has an intimate knowledge of you and your life. How else would he know what you truly need in any given amount? It is because he is a loving and gracious Father, and we are his children through Christ.
In all our imaginings of who God is, we must not forget who he really is. Do you see him in this way today? Do you see him as your Father? Do you see him as a constant, firm foundation that you can stand upon, trusting that he will be the same today and tomorrow as he was yesterday? Do you see him as a generous giver who knows you personally and loves to lavish good things on you?
If you don’t, it wouldn’t be surprising if you felt hopeless for today. Without this great God in your corner, what strength could you possibly have for all that could come at you today? On the other hand, if you can see God for who this verse says he is, then you have a hope and strength that comes not from within, but from God himself, and he will love you and sustain you through whatever you may face today. Praise be to our gracious Father who has made us, loves us, and who will bring us home to be with him forever.
Psalm 100:2 - Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
There are certain things that are more natural for some people than for others. Whether it’s personality, cultural upbringing, or by example, there are people who express joy naturally, and others who seem joyless, even if they really are joyful on the inside. For the introverted among us, any kind of outward expression can feel forced or uncomfortable. For those of us who are extroverted, holding back can feel the same way.
Wherever you fall on the spectrum of personality, this verse calls all of us to respond to God in specific ways. The first has to do with how we serve God, and the second has to do with how we approach God. Given that we are all meant to serve the Lord our God, it’s a good idea to know how he wants us to do that. What kind of attitude should we have? What kind of countenance should be upon us? In addition to that, we should ask the same questions for how we come to the Lord each day. Do we come into his presence out of obligation? Do we come with reluctance? Do we come in silence?
In this verse we get the answers to those questions. First, when it comes to serving the Lord, the call here is to do that with gladness. Imagine a moment when you felt joy in your heart and it affected your outward expression. That same feeling of gladness is what we are called to feel when we serve God. So how then do we feel that way, rather than feeling burdened by service?
We find the answer when we ask the question, “Why am I serving God right now?” If the answer is, “I’m supposed to serve him” then you will find that your service to him will be all duty with little delight. If your answer is something like, “I’m serving him because he loves me, he has already served me more than I deserve and he’s worthy of my service and so much more”, then you will be serving him with love and gratitude as your foundation, rather than simply obedience. Obedience is necessary and good, but it must have love in it, and in that love, gladness will spring up out of it, and that gladness will be visible to others in the work that you do.
All of this applies to coming into the Lord’s presence as well. We come with singing. Singing isn’t the most comfortable expression for some people, and yet the Lord calls all of us to it. Why is that? Singing is like speaking, but because of the musical quality of it, it changes how the words are expressed and how they are received. Think about this. Why do we sing happy birthday rather than just saying it to people? There is joy in it! There is enthusiasm! There is a tremendous joy in it!
This is how we come to God. We come to him with a heart of gladness, thanksgiving and when we feel that within us, we express it. We sing. We praise. We magnify. It’s as if we are coming to God remembering what he has done and expecting him to do great things. We can sing together as many have throughout history, whether they are going to battle, having a festival or simply reflecting together through song on what the Lord has done. Have joy in the God of hope today, and be strengthened in the gladness that you have in him.
Exodus 20:8 - Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
In day to day life, one of the most common phrases you will hear from others is, “I’m just so busy right now.” While we love to take it easy, we often can’t stop working. We fill our schedules with more and more things to do, oftentimes forgetting to rest at all, only to find that we are worn out, run down, and unhappy.
While it is very important for us to work and keep ourselves active, we have a tendency to overdo it. When we begin to feel overwhelmed with all we need or want to do, that feeling should cause us to take a step back and consider some things that we may have forgotten. Namely, that God created us to need rest.
Our bodies can only do so much before they eventually need to power down. At the end of every day we need to let our bodies and minds sleep, and if we ignore that need then we may find that our bodies become weaker, more easily given to illness, or we may just find that we never feel rested, causing our daily lives to be less fulfilling or enjoyable. We need rest. God designed us to need it.
Now, why would God do this? Wouldn’t he prefer for us to always be busy with being creative, working hard for his kingdom purposes, making money so that we can take care of ourselves and bless others, and so on? Actually, the answer is no. The need for rest reminds us that no matter how much we try to do, we are dependent on God to sustain us. This is what the sabbath teaches us.
God set apart an entire day in the week of creation to rest from his labors. Did he need it? Not at all, and yet we have that example of work countered with rest. When God gave his people manna to sustain them, he also told them that there was a day that they would rest instead of collecting and preparing that manna. Again, we see the need to depend on God to sustain us.
Whether or not you have set apart an entire day to rest from your busy life, do you see the value of taking time each week to do so? If the thought crossing your mind right now is, “I just don’t have time for a day of rest”, then it may be that you are either trying to do too much, you aren’t managing your time well, or ultimately it could just mean that at a foundational level, you don’t trust that God can take care of you if you slow down during the week.
We don’t want to be lazy, and so we become busy beyond what we can handle. We don’t want to waste time, so we fill our daily schedules with a constant stream of tasks. Christian, God created you to work, but don’t neglect that value of setting aside more time than you do right now for much needed rest. Put your hope in our faithful God, trusting that even when you rest, your life will not fall apart and your needs will be met in his loving care and provision.
John 10:27-30 - My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.
What does it mean to be a sheep? While you may not like to think of yourself in this way, it’s more accurate than we often like to believe about ourselves. Sheep aren’t the most intelligent creatures. They get lost easily, needing guidance from other sheep or from a shepherd. Without a shepherd they can find themselves in all sorts of unfortunate circumstances. If they find themselves alone, outside of the flock, it is even more dangerous.
This is who we are. We are dependent, easily distracted and somewhat confused sheep. While being a sheep may not sound all that great, it takes on a whole new meaning when we bring Jesus into the story. He is not a shepherd who is unsure of who his sheep are. Jesus knows his sheep. He doesn’t just know your name, he knows everything about you. It is because he knows us that we can trust that he will shepherd us perfectly. We trust him, and so we know that we can follow him wherever he leads.
What is the life of a Jesus following sheep like? It is a life of hope and promise. In Jesus we find ourselves to be in the most secure and safe relationship that we could ever know. We need not worry about death because Jesus gives us imperishable, eternal life. We need not fear anyone’s threats against us or fear those who may cause us harm because Jesus’ hold on us is so strong and sure that no one can take us from him.
How can we be so secure in Christ? Because the Father has given you to him. The great God who has authority over all creation has given you to Jesus. The living God is holding you under the shadow of his wings, keeping you until the end. If the God of all creation is holding you, you need not ever worry about him letting you go. The Father will not lose a single child, because he is incapable of doing so. Similarly, Jesus will never lose a single sheep because in being the great, loving shepherd, it would be impossible for him to let you go.
There is one God and he loves you. In his great mercy he sees you as a sinning sheep, but he calls to you to come home. When you hear his voice, run to him. See the love with which Jesus loves his sheep, and find great hope and strength in him as he holds you fast today, tomorrow and through all of eternity.
Ephesians 4:29 - Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
One of the most challenging things that we face everyday is using our speech for good rather than evil. What comes out of our mouths will either destroy or give life, and oftentimes it feels easier to just not say anything at all simply to avoid the risk of doing harm. However, God has given us the ability to communicate for a reason, and so rather than avoiding it, we should grow and mature in how we do it.
When you start a new workout program or a new diet, you will usually see a list of items that you should eat and a list of items that you should avoid. You will most likely have more success in your workout or diet if you adhere to what they tell you. If you try to get in shape but you don’t avoid things like ice cream and greasy foods, you no doubt will be doing more harm to your body than good no matter how much you exercise.
Similarly, God has instructed us on how we should communicate. Here we see that we should not speak in ways that are going to corrupt others. This could be by avoiding certain words, avoiding words or phrases that cut, defame or tear down a person, or avoiding sharing information that shouldn’t be shared. To corrupt is to take away integrity and strength, much like rust on a boat would cause leaks and structural failure leading to a sinking ship rather than a seaworthy one.
This is what we avoid, but what then should we do that is positive? First, we should try to use words that build others up, making them more firm and strong. This doesn’t mean that we avoid saying things that could offend or bother someone, but rather that even if we do, we aren’t doing these things intentionally. There are hard truths in scripture that we don’t like to be reminded of at times, but that doesn’t mean we should avoid talking about them. We build up by speaking the truth in love, with both gentleness and boldness.
Second, we are to communicate in ways that fit the occasion. There are words that will be helpful to use in certain contexts or situations that may not be as appropriate at other times. It wouldn’t make sense for you to smile while talking about hell, or to frown when talking about heaven. ‘When’ we communicate things can be just as important as ‘what’ we communicate and ‘how’.
Finally, we should hope that what we communicate gives more grace to those who hear us. Is what we are saying to others going to draw them closer to the savior or push them away from him? Are our words going to be representative of the God who has loved us, or will they sound more like the voice of our flesh, the world or the devil?
We have a tremendous opportunity with our words to give strength and hope to others or to corrupt. What will you use your communication for today?
Psalm 96:6-8 - Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
Our God is a god of splendor and majesty. These two words are not very common in our everyday speech and so even though we are familiar with them, we may not know what they really mean. Splendor is a word we use to describe someone as brilliant or magnificent in their appearance. In other words, there is grandeur and glory about them that is evident. This can certainly be said about God.
Majesty is a word we use when we are describing someone who is exceedingly great with an imposing quality to them. It’s because of this that we often apply this word to kings and queens as well as others who are in authority who seem to carry a regal or lofty air about themselves. Given the fact that God is the King of kings and Lord of lords, he would be the utmost example of what majesty looks like.
But the psalmist gives us even more reason to be in awe of God. He is also strong as well as beautiful. Both of these qualities are highly admired and pursued in the world, and God has them both. You see, what we are really receiving from these verses is an education in who God is, and why he is so worthy of our worship.
What then does our worship look like? For one, we ascribe to God who he is. In other words, we give credit where credit is due. The Lord is glorious and all glory is found in him. God is strong and the author and provider of our strength. God is glorious and his name brings with it an expectation that we would glorify him in it.
But that is not all. We ascribe, but we also bring an offering to him when we draw near to him. Much of life is spent striving after our own wants, needs and desires. We ascribe to ourselves some of these qualities and make offerings at the altar of our own pride and self-service. It is of the utmost importance that we offer up our whole lives to God, because when we offer all we are and all we have, we show the world how important and glorious God really is.
Have you entered into God’s presence lately, offering up your life for the advancement of his name in the world? Have you been making much of him, showing through your words and deeds just how great he is? Think on these things today and move forward in the strength, glory, splendor and majesty of the Lord. Enjoy him in all his grandeur and as you do, you will show him to be worthy of our offering up whatever we have for his sake.
Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
There are many things in this world that give us reason to be anxious. Illness, conflict, parenting, employment, travel, relationships; it seems that just about anything and everything can create anxiety if we let it. One of the problems with anxiety is that it is inherently negative in its outlook. We look to the future and we allow future outcomes to become more terrible than they could be wonderful.
The reality is, bad things do happen. Life is incredibly difficult and painful at times. Thankfully, Jesus is as painfully aware of this as anyone, which is why we can trust he understands what we are going through. Yet, at the same time, Jesus did not worry. He may have sweat drops of blood because of the reality of what he would experience on the cross, but he was not anxious about it. Why is that? How can we combat the temptation to be anxious the way that Jesus did?
Jesus trusted the Father, even with the cross, and his total dependence on the faithfulness of the Father was what kept Jesus hoping and trusting rather than worrying and faltering. Paul writes here that we shouldn’t be anxious about anything, and the way that we accomplish that is by prayerfully taking our requests to God. Like Jesus in the garden, we may not be able to change the future, but we can trust God in it, and we can ask for his help in doing so.
When we go to God, we are choosing to believe that God can do something about our concerns and fears and we are choosing to believe that God is capable of meeting our future head-on, and helping us to stand in the face of whatever happens. In a sense, taking our concerns to God in prayer may do more to change us than it does change our circumstances. What Paul writes is that when we go to him, his peace guards our hearts and minds. This peace that is beyond our understanding, actually provides us with a defense.
You see, anxiety is a matter of the mind and heart, and God meets us with a shield of strength in Christ. He is the faithful answer to our worry about the future. He is the one who makes all things new and who will be with us to the end of the age. We ask so many what if questions about our circumstances, but with Christ those what ifs can be changed from negative outcomes of despair to hopeful outcomes of faith.
Find your strength and hope in Christ the king. The world will not go easy on any of us, but we can have a defense through prayer. Don’t neglect this great privilege and this great tool for our needs. God is with us, will never forsake us, and the future is brighter because we can trust in him.
Genesis 1:27 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
One of the most important aspects of knowing who we are, is this idea that we are people who were created in God’s image. We spend so much of our lives trying to determine who we are, looking here and there for meaning and value. All people want to know that they are valuable, whether that be because of pride or because of feelings of worthlessness. People search and search, longing to find themselves in whatever they can.
One of the greatest sadnesses of our day is that rather than look to God for the answer to our problem of value in our identity, we look to our own man-made ideas as solutions. We begin to build our own communities around things that we see in ourselves, hoping that these things will finally give us that feeling of purpose and value. And yet, there is something in each of us that knows that we are all a part of the same community, made up of the same stuff, and originating from the same place.
Throughout history, men and women have looked at one another and focused on what makes us different from one another. Our skin color, our hair color, our size, our shape, our language, etc. Rather than appreciating these differences, we have made these differences a source of conflict. Perhaps this is because we have forgotten that we all have much more in common than what appears on the surface.
Every human being, regardless of how they look or where they are from, has been created by God, in the image of God. If you have been created by him, and you are meant to be a reflection of him in the world, this gives you both value and meaning. You don’t need to find your value in whether people acknowledge or praise your external attributes and you don’t need to find meaning in who you are on the surface as so many people do today.
What matters most about anyone, and what keeps us all seeing each other properly without discrimination is this truth. We are image bearers, every single one of us. When we treat others with contempt we mar that image. When we try to make ourselves more important than the one who gave us the image, we mar that image. So much pain has been experienced in the world because we have forgotten this truth. So much harm has been done to others because we don’t see how we all come from the same creator, who has put in us inherent value and worth.
If you are searching for yourself, look to the creator and he will show you just how valuable you are. If you are looking at your fellow human beings and are seeking to divide based on surface level qualities, look to the creator and see that it was not meant to be so. If you are longing for something that can unify the conflicts in humanity, look to the creator who unites people through the savior Jesus Christ. We are not an accident of nature. We are the created image bearers of God, and this is who we will always be.
Proverbs 11:24-25 - One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.
One of the most common phrases that you will hear people quote is, “It is better to give than to receive.” It is used like some sort of catch all in reminding us that being generous is more important and more enjoyable than receiving generosity from others. However, we don’t always think this way, do we? We can think of generosity as an obligation to show love more than an opportunity to show love.
This proverb takes generosity a step further by using the words “give freely”. It contrasts a person who gives to God and others without limiting what they may give. In other words, they don’t feel trapped by how much or how little they give, but they simply feel free to give what they see is appropriate. Rather than withholding what they should give, they trust that God will provide for their own needs so that they are able to give without worry.
The other person in this proverb doesn’t feel this way at all. They know what they ought to give to God and others, but they hold it back. The reasons that someone would do this are many. For instance, someone may not want to give financially out of fear that they won’t be able to pay for what they need. They may even avoid giving financially because it will make it harder for them to get what they really want, or make their life less comfortable. If we find ourselves in this frame of thought, it may be because we don’t see God as much as the provider as we think we do.
The person who gives freely can do so because they know that it is God who provides, making them rich or limiting their wealth. While giving freely may mean more financial riches are given by God in the future, it can also cause us to feel more enriched in general because we don’t carry around the burden of being controlled by what we have and doing what we can to hold on to it.
It can be challenging to know how much we are to give back to God and to others, but the question remains, will we give? Will we be generous Christians? What we have to remember is that all that we have has been given to us by God in the first place, and that we are simply stewards of what is already his. He may entrust us money, property, children, relationships and so on, but our responsibility isn’t to hide them away somewhere safe, like you would hide money in the dirt. Our responsibility is to invest what God has given us in what matters to God, and we can do that with all he has given us.
How do you generally feel about the things in your life? Are you able to trust God and give freely, or do you feel like giving is more of an obligation and a burden? You may only have two pennies to your name, but God can still bless you through your trusting him with those two pennies. Do not put your hope in riches, but put your hope in the one who faithfully provides us with all we need to walk in this life and to walk in godliness, then, give freely what he provides.
Psalm 100:1 - Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
There are many ways in which we can worship God. We can worship him through reading his word and enjoying time with him in prayer. We can worship him through fasting and meditation or times of silence and solitude. However, in this case, we are called to worship God with a joyful noise.
While we could ask many questions about what this is supposed to look like, the most important thing to understand is that God is meant to be worshipped with intentional and effortful sound. Whether that be the sound of one or many voices singing songs to him or making music with an instrument, God has created us to worship him in this unique and wonderful way.
Imagine a movie without any music in the background. Oftentimes if the music is composed well and edited to fit with whatever is happening in the movie, you may not even realize just how much the music is doing to move the scene forward or give it more impact. The sounds that are used in film are key elements to immersing you in what is happening and can even cause you to make emotional connections that may not have happened without the presence of sound.
In the Christian life, it can sometimes feel as if we are in a movie that has no sound. We know that God is glorious and good and gracious and awe inspiring, but that knowledge doesn’t always connect with our hearts and our emotions. In a similar way to how poetry uses rhyme and colorful words to help us see things in different ways, worshiping God by way of making music can help us see him in a more whole way, and not just as the God of our minds.
God calls us to love him with our hearts, and worshiping in song seems to be a key way in accomplishing that task. You see, we aren’t called to make any old noise, but a joyful one. We may sing songs of sorrow, as many psalms are, but joy can always be present in one way or another because our God never ceases to be the glorious, good, gracious and awe inspiring God that he is. We sing songs to him as a way to proclaim his excellencies and build encouragement into one another.
We were made to cry out to God. Jesus told the Pharisees that if the crowd didn’t shout and sing his praises that even the rocks would cry out in praise. All of creation proclaims the glory of God, through the singing of the birds to the howling of a pack of wolves. The evidence of God’s handiwork is in it all, and yet we have the grand privilege of being able to do what the animals cannot. We can verbalise his greatness through our joyful noise.
You may not be a professional singer. You may not know how to play an instrument. In fact, you may not want to open your mouth at all when it comes to time to worship God through song. Trust that the Lord loves to hear whatever noise you make, as long as you make that noise with love and by faith. Make that noise, Christian, and joyfully hope in the faithfulness and glory of God.
Proverbs 18:13 - If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.
Have you ever been having a conversation with someone who responds to you before you even finished your sentence? Have you ever been having an argument, and the other person comes back at you while you are still talking? If you answered yes to these two scenarios, then you have something in common with just about everyone who has ever lived.
People like to talk more than they like to listen, at least, that seems to be the case with most people. There is a certain eagerness to share a story while someone else is sharing theirs. Some people can hardly contain themselves when somebody says something they disagree with. Why does this happen?
One of the main reasons is because of our pride. We all tend to think that what we think is right, and therefore if we have the opportunity to say what we think, we are going to take it. After all, if someone else is wrong, we certainly don’t want them to finish their thought or else they could convince someone else of what they believe. But that’s not all that pride leads us to do. Pride also causes us to close our ears when they should be open to what is being said to us.
Answer this question. Can you answer a question correctly if you haven’t heard the entire question? In most cases, the answer is no. Without the context of the entire question, how do you know how to answer? Well, the truth is, you don’t. You may think you do, but in thinking this way you make more assumptions than you may realize, and you have a better chance of not answering the question at all.
One of the most overlooked tools in our conversational arsenal is listening. We have public speaking courses, and we assume that most people who have been in school know how to listen because they have to listen all the time, but in all honesty, most people simply do not know how to listen. They’ve never learned the art, and their relationships suffer as a result.
Only a fool would answer a question before they’ve heard the whole thing. Only a fool would make an argument in a discussion without listening first to what the discussion is even about. If you do speak up without listening, you may say something you regret, and shame will follow quickly after. Learn to listen, and wisdom and honor will follow. Can you think of times when you would have better served yourself and others had you waited to speak and listened first? Today, you will have more than enough opportunities to listen first and speak second.
In humility, work towards believing that it is better to have a fruitful conversation than it is to get your point across and persuade others of it. Just because you say something quickly or with force does not mean you are saying anything helpful. Take your time with your words by opening up your ears to the words of others. You don’t have to agree, but at least the person you listen to will know that you’ve heard them. Be slow to speak today, and quick to listen.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 - “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
How many different gods do you think have been worshipped in the history of the world? Some estimate that there have been at least twelve thousand, but it all depends on how you define a god to begin with. For instance, some would say that Hinduism contains thirty three million gods, while others would argue that it is only thirty-three. Regardless, there has been no shortage of gods that have received praise and worship from humanity.
For Israel, there were always threats from other nations that their gods would make their way into the lives of the Israelites, and make their way in they certainly did. You may wonder, why do some people believe in so many gods to begin with? Because most of these gods were created in man’s image, we end up needing a specific god for all the different parts of our lives.
What you then end up with is weakness and failure in these so-called gods because we are weak and we fail. The problem with this is that when gods give in to certain failings that can only be described as inherently human, they prove themselves to not be worthy of the title of god. They are merely imaginations of humanity, seeing gods as a reflection of ourselves rather than us being a reflection of the gods.
The God of Israel is different from these other gods. Instead of him being made in our likeness, we are made in his. Instead of Israel having to worship a god of the harvest, and then a god of winter, and then a god of summer, and so one and so forth, they only worship one God who is Lord of all these things. The God of the Bible is the true God because he satisfies every need that humanity could need, and in all things he shows himself to be the authority and one true king.
There is only one God and He is the Lord of Israel, and our Lord as well if we are in Christ. Our love need not be spread thin amongst many gods, but we can give our whole hearts to him in worship. Our souls are not divided into compartments of worship for one god here and another there, but instead we can give our whole soul to God. It’s not uncommon when you worship many gods to need to work hard and do the right things in order to earn their favor. This is exhausting and impossible, but with the one true God, he extends his favor first, we receive it, and then he alone is who we work for, using our strength in its entirety for him.
So the question you must ask yourself is this: Am I living day by day loving and living for the one true God, or am I dividing my heart, mind, soul and strength among many gods or idols? If you are doing the latter, then you will find that your hope is fragile and your strength will be weak. However, if you really do have a relationship with God, then you will know that when you pray, he is the one who hears you, he is the one who loves you, and he is the one who will do good in and through you. The Lord is one, praise be to the Lord.
Psalm 52:9 - I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.
After the Hebrews had been saved by God from slavery in Egypt, they began to complain about how hard life had become. Some even wished they could go back to Egypt where at least they knew what to expect with regard to food and lodging. Even though God had done something so incredibly good, the people still became worried and full of complaints. The gratitude that the Hebrews felt towards God quickly faded, and if we are honest, we do the same thing more frequently than we would like to admit. In this Psalm, David is proclaiming the power and might of God over those who do wickedness. He knows who his God is, and he knows that God will uphold the righteous and blot out the wicked.
Where the Hebrews saw uncertainty in what they would experience after slavery, David saw certainty in God’s faithfulness to do what is good. This certainty created gratitude within him and he couldn’t help but declare it through this psalm. Whatever may come against David in the future, he believed that what God had done before in faithfulness, he would do again.
In your relationship with the Lord, how much does gratitude come into the picture? Would you say that you have a tendency to be more like the Hebrews, worrying about what may come and complaining when things seem to have gone wrong? Honestly, you may feel that way because of a lack of gratitude. Thankfulness requires us to look outside of ourselves and whatever is going on in order that we can focus on something good. Gratitude reorients the heart away from worry and complaint and puts it in a position of trust and confidence.
But gratitude isn’t all that David has in this verse. He also writes that he will wait for God’s good name in the presence of the godly. Another important attitude that we must have in this life is patience. Are we willing to wait on the Lord? The only reason that we are willing to be patient for anything is because we have faith that it will be a good worth waiting for. If we wait for medical test results, we will be more patient if we believe that the results will help us. If we are thinking negatively about the results, we most likely will be impatient and quick to worry.
Gratitude reminds us of the goodness of God, whereas patience comes from belief in the faithfulness of God. Both are incredibly important, especially when thinking about the days ahead. There are so many evils that can come upon us, and there are many hardships that we experience. This is why we need to be reminded of these things, and we are reminded of them more when we are in the presence of other godly men and women who can help us to see God’s goodness and faithfulness.
What kind of attitude do you feel welling up inside of you today? Choose gratitude to God. If there are concerns you have for this day or the days ahead, be patient and wait on him. God has done good for you, and he will continue to do good because it is impossible for him to do otherwise. Be grateful and patient, Christian. The Lord is with you.
Hebrews 1:3-4 - He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
One of the best things that we can do each day, is reflect on who Jesus Christ really is. We can often forget how amazing he is, how awesome he is, and how much he has done for us. Because we cannot see him in the flesh, he can become an idea in our minds rather than being a real person. We can treat him like a friend that we once knew, but he is out of sight and therefore, out of our minds. Today, in these verses, we get to see him again.
Our Lord Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God. He is the vibrant light that came into the world and displayed the holiness and character of God for all to see. If we want to see the glory of God, we can see it clearly in Jesus. He is the exact imprint of God’s nature. If you want to understand who God is, look at Jesus and much like fingerprints are used to identify a person, we can look at Jesus and identify God in him.
This great Jesus is upholding the universe by the word of his power. This same Jesus who calmed a storm and raised the dead with a word, is keeping all of creation together by simply telling it to remain. He has the rule and authority to do this because after he died for our sins, purifying us through the cross, he sat down at God’s right hand. Don’t miss the beautiful language used here. Jesus is at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Our God is a majestic God to behold and Jesus is there governing all of creation in that same majesty.
In that majestic imagery we see that there are angels, but regardless of how beautiful or powerful the angels are, Jesus is far superior to even them. Think of times in scripture where people have come into contact with angels. They fall on their faces in fear and reverence, yet the angels redirect that honor and worship back to God alone. You may be familiar with the archangels Michael and Gabriel, but Jesus’ name rises above them all as the name above all names.
Our Lord Jesus is excellent in every way and worthy of our affections and our worship. He is not an idea, but a person who died for you, knows you, and has a relationship with you. You may not be able to see him in the flesh, but you can see him in God’s word and be reminded of just how glorious he really is. What a privilege it is to say that he is your friend, your savior, your king, and to know that Jesus loves you personally. Take this to heart today so that whatever comes, you know that Jesus is the one who knows you and is with you and who will never let you go. Praise him, revere him, honor him, and enjoy him.
1 Peter 5:10-11 - And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
When you are in the midst of suffering, where does your mind go? Do you find yourself dwelling on the suffering itself, finding it hard to think about anything else? Do you struggle with worrying about how long your suffering might last? If you find yourself feeling more despair than hope when you are pressed by the suffering in this world, then these verses may be particularly helpful to you.
Peter goes on to list various promises that we need to hold on to so that our suffering doesn’t become all we see or think about. First, he tells us that our suffering will only be for a little while. Now, it’s true that “a little while” could last a few hours to the rest of your life, but either way, there is an expiration date on your suffering. In other words, no suffering you experience in this life will last forever if you are in Christ. There will come a day where there is no more pain or tears or sorrow any more, and that will be a glorious day.
He tells us that our God is the God of all grace, meaning the grace that we need for our suffering will never run out. Times when we grow weary can be met with God’s grace time and time again. His grace is an abundant fountain for us to drink from, and because of his grace that saved us from sin, we can trust that his grace is sufficient for our suffering as well.
This grace reminds us that God is carrying us through each day until one day we will experience the promised eternal glory of Christ. As we set our minds on this precious promise, we can see that no matter how terrible the suffering, Jesus himself is with us. If he is with us to walk with us and carry us through our suffering, then we can also hope in the promises that Jesus will personally restore us, confirm our faith, strengthen us for what lies ahead and establish us as tried and true saints of God.
It can be hard to see all of these promises in suffering, but truth be told, suffering need not be a thick fog in our hearts and minds. Much like a ship coming into harbor in the thick of night, the lighthouse pierces the darkness and guides the ship home. Look to the light of Christ in your suffering and you will see that suffering is not an end in and of itself, but rather a tool for the strengthening of the saints.
If you are suffering right now, remember that you are a child of the king. God’s dominion and rule far exceeds whatever difficulty you may experience, and because of this, you can trust that nothing that happens to you is outside of his control or command. No matter what storm comes your way, Jesus can quiet it. No matter what persecution you face, Jesus can never be taken from you. See your suffering through the lens of the promises of God, and in those promises, hope and strength will rise.
Romans 5:9-10 - Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
In Christianity you often hear people say things like, “I got saved when I was young” or, “I don’t know if my friend is saved or not.” It’s not uncommon to even hear the question, “How did you get saved?” When the word “saved” is used, it typically refers to whether a person is a Christian or not, however it may not be getting the whole picture but simply using the word “saved” in this way.
Whenever someone says that they are “saved” it would probably be a good idea to ask the followup question of, “Saved from what?” If we just throw the term around willy nilly, then we may not have an answer to that question. Some answer the question by saying, “God saved me from a hard life” Others may say, “God saved me from myself”. You may also hear, “God saved me from my sin.” Each of these carry some element of truth to them, but all of them miss the mark slightly.
What we need to understand is that all of us naturally walk as enemies of God. We do what we want to do, we live for what we want, and we even try to define what’s right or wrong based on our own inclinations and ideas. In other words, we make ourselves king or queen which is going to create conflict with any other ruler. Our pride makes us enemies, and our sin is evidence that we are choosing our rule and reign over God’s.
So what then should happen to rebellious citizens who break the law of the true ruler of the land? The just and right thing would be to punish them according to the law. Well, guess what, all of us are law breakers, so all of us deserve to face the wrath and punishment of the true king. There is no argument we can make, no penance we can give, we are simply guilty.
But God did something unexpected. He sent his Son, Jesus, to take our place. In other words, Jesus took the wrath you deserved. When we talk about being “saved” this is what we are saved from. We have been justified, or made right, with the king through the blood of Jesus. We were reconciled to God through Jesus’ death. Through Jesus’ perfect life being applied to us, and his resurrection be shared with us, we too will have life.
If you call yourself a Christian, and you have ever used the word “saved” to describe yourself or others, is this what you understood that to mean? That word carries a tremendous amount of weight with it, and is incredibly profound in its breadth and depth with regard to our position with God. Think on this today, and recognize what God has done for you. Today, believe in the precious justifying, reconciling, wrath bearing, life bringing Son of God, and be saved.
Proverbs 28:13 - Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
What causes people to hide their sins from those around them? It could be because of a fear of punishment or judgement. It could be because of a desire to keep doing what is wrong, and not wanting to be told to stop. It could be because of the collateral damage that you know others would experience if your hidden sins were brought to life. Whatever the reason, sin is ugly, and we tend to want to hide it away as if it were an unsightly blemish on our face.
Now, a blemish is skin deep, and therefore its effects on you if people see it are purely surface level. So, if we try to hide things that are ugly on the surface, how much more will we want to hide the ugliness of our sin inside of us? The answer is exponentially more. A better analogy for hidden sin in our lives would be to think of it as a deep, infected wound somewhere on your body. You may cover it up best you can, but if you don’t see a doctor, that wound could become deadly.
If we conceal our wrongdoings, they will destroy us. The devastation that we experience from sin becomes far more damaging to us and those in our lives if it goes unaddressed. The solution is that we have to be willing to confess our sins to God and to others. Many people have refused to do this, hiding sin away in their hearts, doing things that they ought not to do, but because no one knows about it, the life of that person begins to implode from the inside out. At that point, it’s only a matter of time before hidden sin makes itself known publicly, and usually in horrific ways.
Confession is scary because we fear what others may say or do when they find out about our sins. This is understandable because historically, people have responded to sin with wrath rather than mercy. Rather than seeking to heal the wound, some have been so disgusted by what they see that instead of helping, they just talk about how bad the wound is and how horrible the person is for allowing it to happen. God is merciful towards sinners who confess, and we should do the same.
Now, it’s important to note that the giving of mercy does not diminish the effect or consequence of the sin that has been brought to light. If anything, this verse tells us the opposite. If you are in hidden sin then you must confess it to have life, but confession is only the first step in the process. You also need to forsake the sin in your life, which is just another word for repentance. A disease can’t get better just by talking about it. You must make an effort to eliminate it or you run the risk of losing your life because of it. As John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”
If you are hiding sin in your life, please confess it to the Lord and others and then, forsake it. Confession may cause more difficulty initially, especially if your hidden sins have been against others, but trust that the Lord will work even in that to restore, heal and strengthen those affected by those sins in ways that you may not be able to fathom.
Isaiah 26:3-4 - You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
What do you think it would be like to have perfect peace? It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? Just having peace at all is difficult, but perfect peace seems like wishful thinking, or even an impossibility. We can long for peace in just one area of our lives, like our relationships, but perfect peace, because it is perfect, would need to reach to every area in our lives.
How then can we have this perfect peace? First, we have to understand that perfect peace comes from God alone. We can find peace in many things, but a perfect peace can only be found in a perfect source. So, we find perfect peace in the Lord, but what we see in these verses is that God is able to keep us there. Perhaps the reason peace is so hard to come by is because we are trying to find it in the wrong places, and once we think we’ve found it, it’s up to us to stay there.
Certainly, we have a part to play in having peace, but the foundation of perfect peace and the longevity of it, is found in God. So what do we do in all of this? Our responsibility is to have our minds focused on the Lord. We think of him, we remember him, we meditate on him. When we hear that this is the way to peace, we may think of it as an oversimplification. And yet, there is sweetness and hope in the simplicity of it. The chaos in our world is complex, but the solution is not, even though we may think that it is.
At the heart of having peace is trust. We lack peace when life is not stable, and life is generally not stable when there are things in it that can’t be trusted. For instance, you won’t have much peace driving a car when you can hear the engine making noises an engine isn’t supposed to make. You aren’t going to have peace in relationships if you can’t trust the people in your life to be honest with you. You aren’t going to have peace at work if your employer talks about downsizing, and they aren’t sure who they will have to let go.
However, the Lord is totally trustworthy in all that he has said, all that he has done, and all the he will do. So if we trust in him, the sovereign God who reigns over all things, who isn’t surprised by anything that happens, then doesn’t it stand to reason that if we trust him in his sovereignty that peace will not be far off. In fact, if we trust in a perfect God, and we think on his perfections, then the idea of perfect peace becomes more of a reality.
There is no area of your life that God cannot bring peace to. Today, the chaos of this world and the confusion in your own heart may make you long for peace. Trust in the Lord today and forever. He is the everlasting rock. He is unshakable, immovable and faithful. Though the earth gives way beneath you, the Lord will remain. If you want perfect peace, cast yourself onto the everlasting rock, find your hope in him, and know that in his strength, you can find peace and rest for your soul.
Psalm 77:13-14 - Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.
It is good for us to reflect on who God is, especially since there are so many views in the world regarding him. If we want to know God, we have to see how he has chosen to reveal himself in his word. If we don’t look for him there, we may create all kinds of versions of him, worshiping idols in our hearts and minds rather than the true God.
Who then is God according to these verses? For one thing, we see that his way is holy. Now, the only way that his “way” could be holy is if he is holy himself. To be holy is to be set apart, meaning that God is totally unique. There is nothing in heaven or on earth that is like him, at least not completely. He has attributes that are his alone, and no one else can claim them.
His holiness also speaks to his purity and righteousness, being completely free from sin or wickedness. He is the holy God, and in everything he does he reveals this holiness. So then, when we see God in this perfect, set apart, unique view, we are able to look at any other god that has ever been imagined and say, “Our God is greater”.
Why is our God greater? Well, we already read about his holiness, but the psalmist doesn’t stop there. This great God works wonders. From creation to the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea and the pillars of fire and smoke, the crumbling of the Jericho walls and the destruction of Sodom and Gamorrah. These are just a small taste of the wonders that God has done throughout history, not including what we read about in the New Testament with regard to blind people seeing, lame people walking, dead people coming alive, tongues of fire, and so on.
When these wonders were done, along with many others, they caused people to see God and God’s people differently. In all of these things God shows the world how mighty he is in all his ways. Our God is great because he is holy, mighty, and wonderful in all he does. He is not fickle or weak like the gods of other mythologies. He is not limited as we often imagine him to be in our own hearts and minds. There is no one like him, and we would do well to see him as such.
Because of his holiness and might and wonders, our response to him should be one of reverence, awe and affection. If we recognize that he is holy, then we too should desire to be holy. If we see that he is mighty, then we can look to him as our strength in times of trouble. If we see that he is a wonder working God, we can trust that nothing is impossible for him and hope in the day when we will see his wonders first hand for an eternity.
Do you see God in this way, or have you made him into a god of your own creation? Hopefully, you have been given a taste of who he is through these verses and you would want to know this God more. Today, see him as he is. Put away the false views of him in your heart, and let go of the idols that continually show themselves to be inadequate. Find your hope and strength today in the holiness and wonder working might of the one true and living God.
John 3:16-17 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Here we have one of the most familiar verses in all of scripture. Verse 16 has taken the world by storm, and while many are familiar with the reference, it’s fair to say that not as many people know what the verse is, or what it means. Perhaps it has become so appreciated because it talks about God’s love for us. After all, who doesn’t want to be loved?
It is important to then ask, what kind of love has God extended towards us? The answer is that it is a very merciful and gracious love, and one that is mostly unappreciated. Regardless, God loves the world. He cares for us and has affection for us. We are his creation after all, born in his image, made to be in relationship with our creator.
Because he knows us and sees the true falleness within us and the world, his love causes him to do something about it. What is God’s loving response to our sinfulness? He sends his only Son, Jesus, to take our sin upon himself and die in our place. If you are a parent, imagine that you have a friend who is a horrible person. One day you and your son or daughter are walking with this friend, who you know is a terrible person but you are trying to love them well, and they step into the street to cross the road. You see a car coming and the driver of the car is not paying attention at all. Your friend is too far ahead for you to do anything about it, but your son or daughter is close enough to try to push your friend out of the way.
Would you be willing to send your child into harm’s way, knowing they will probably get struck by the car and killed in order to save your friend’s life? Talk about a difficult question to answer! This is what God has done for us, and that kind of love is a profound love that is beyond our human comprehension. You see, God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn horrible people, but to save them. Whether God condemns any of us or not depends on how we respond to this great act of love that he has shown the world through Jesus.
If you believe in the Son, Jesus, and what he has done for you, then God has promised eternal life. What is so wonderful about this eternal life? This loving God will be with us forever, and we will be with him. Sweet relationship will be ours for an eternity. However, if we reject the Son, then we stand condemned. We have chosen to ignore his love for us in this life, which means that we will spend an eternity away from his love after we die.
There may be no greater thing you can think about today than God’s great love for you and how he displayed that love through Jesus. If you believe it, rejoice in the eternal relationship you now have with your God. There is no greater hope than this. God has given us a way out of condemnation for our sin, and we truly would be blind fools to ignore or reject such a merciful and gracious love.
Philippians 2:3 - Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
One of the most common flaws in humanity is our natural tendency to think about ourselves before we think of others. The root of pride is one that is hard to dig out and eliminate because it spreads throughout so many areas of our lives. We tend to compare ourselves to others and secretly hope that we come out on top. Let’s face it, humanity has a pride problem.
So when people are brought together into the church by the grace of Christ, suddenly they have to learn how to not see one another as lesser or better than the other. That tendency to look out for number one doesn’t really work all that well in Christian community, or any community for that matter.
Paul’s admonition here is to avoid two things when it comes to pride, namely, selfish ambition and conceit. Ambition is a good thing because it means you have goals and aspirations. Having a drive towards those goals is healthy and right. However, if those goals only matter because of what you get out of them, then you will do anything in order to reach them, even if it means harming others on your way there.
This selfishness destroys community because it comes from a place of conceit, or arrogance. How will you help your brother and sister in Christ if you are so focused on what you want that you can’t see their needs? How can you love others when at the end of the day you just want people to love you? Selfishness makes you blind to the world around you, and this is simply incompatible with how the church is meant to operate.
However, if we pursue humility, which is seeing yourself as no greater or lesser than anyone else, then Christian community can thrive. All the comparison goes out the window. All the need to see one person rise above the rest becomes unimportant. What matters most in a humble community is that everyone is healthy in Christ, growing in the gospel and satisfied in pursuing Christ with the individual giftings and purposes that God has given each person.
Counting others as more significant than yourself is not making them more valuable than you are. Really what it does is places everyone on a level playing field, because if everyone is trying to do this, then everyone will be significant in the life and mission of the church. No matter the background, the financial position, the career or the cultural importance of a person, God makes all people in the church equal in Christ.
Pride is the enemy of a loving community. Today, pray that God would reveal areas where you may be thinking or behaving in selfish ways towards others. Ask the Lord to help you fight that pride and replace it with humility. You don’t have to think less of yourself to accomplish this, you only need to think of yourself less. Be ambitious, but let the drive of that ambition be the good of others. You can still look after yourself, but don’t let that be all you do today.
Matthew 11:28-30 - Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
These words of Jesus are wonderful and extremely comforting. We all have experienced days where we are worn down to a state of weariness, working so hard that we find ourselves longing for real rest. Unfortunately, it can be hard for us to truly find rest, because when we finally can rest, we use that time to think about other things. In other words, because this world is so busy and full of things to do, we can’t seem to ever turn off.
This creates a weariness that is hard to know what to do with. There are so many people who find themselves experiencing this kind of heaviness, but they just don’t know what to do about it. So they just soldier on, getting more and more tired everyday, trying to find bits of rest here and there, but never really feeling truly rested.
This is why what Jesus says here is so valuable to us. He invites us to come to him, and when we do, he promises rest. Now, what is really interesting is that he tells us to take a yoke upon ourselves, which seems to be the opposite of rest. Oxen carry yokes on themselves when they are doing labor, so how can Jesus give us rest when we are wearing a yoke on our shoulders?
Jesus gives us the answer by saying that it is his yoke that we carry, meaning that he carries it with us. As we walk with him under this yoke, we are bound to him, walking where he walks, going the speed he goes, looking the direction that he looks. And so we learn from him as we are yoked with him, and we start to understand how we are to live in light of how he sees things.
But that’s not all, he then tells us what kind of person he is. He is gentle, meaning that while we carry this yoke with him, there will be kindness and grace there. Not only that, but he tells us that he is lowly in heart, which simply means that Jesus is accessible to us. He came from on high to live in this lowly world, with a full heart towards us lowly people. It is in this place, being close to this gentle and humble savior that we find the rest we so desperately need.
You see, when we are weary, it is a soul problem, meaning it is a whole person problem. Jesus is the only person who can renew and restore the whole person from spirit to flesh. We may look at the yoke and say, “I don’t think I can carry any more Jesus”, but he reassures us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Only the god-man Jesus Christ could say such a thing, and praise the Lord, he means it.
Today, you know doubt will find yourself tired and weary at some point. Maybe you will have a long day at work, a draining day at home with kids, or maybe you are emotionally exhausted. In all cases, remember that you are not doing these things alone, but that even in the midst of the work, you can have rest in knowing that Jesus is walking with you. You won’t find rest away from him, so hear his invitation, take his yoke, learn from him, and find true rest.
Proverbs 6:22-23 - When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
In this proverb, the writer is telling his son how important it is to remember what he and his mother have taught him. It is in this that we see just how important it is for parents to instruct their children in what is good, especially in the words and ways of the Lord. It can be hard to teach your children these things, but the benefits for your children will be invaluable.
For instance, the writer tells his son that these truths that have been passed down to him will lead him when he walks. One of the most challenging things for some young men and women is leaving home and the responsibility that comes with that. If their parents have not instructed them in how to take care of themselves, then they will have no idea what to do. The son in this proverb isn’t clueless like this though, as his parents have taught him what to do. So when it’s his time to find the right path, he looks to what he has learned and moves forward.
The benefits don’t stop there, though. The good teaching that the son has learned will also allow him to sleep peacefully at night. How is this the case? Well, if you feel prepared for the path ahead, you will probably feel prepared for the times when you need to lay your head down and rest as well. Since you can’t defend yourself in your sleep, you need to have an idea of how to sleep safely and be as protected as possible.
Then when the son wakes up in the morning, the words of wisdom from his parents talk to him, telling him how to live well that day. What we see here is an argument for parents being as involved as possible in raising their children in what is good. What is good ranges from the things of God to teaching your children what to do in practical matters.
If a father passes along a good command from the Lord to his child, then it goes with them like a lamp, lighting up areas of darkness. This lamp not only protects, but it shines light on the world, opening the son’s eyes to what is really out there. Now, the son may find himself tempted by what he sees in the world, but his parents’ words help him there as well. He may hear the reproof and correction of his father in his head, disciplining and training him even when he is living far from his parents’ immediate instruction.
If you are a parent, don’t miss your opportunity today to teach your children the way of life. It is no small thing that Christian parents have been called to. It is hard work, but think back on what you’ve seen today and recognize that the benefits your children would receive from knowing God and his word through your instruction, far outweigh the difficulty in teaching these things. Try keeping it simple, meaning that if all you do is expose your children to God and his word, that is better than nothing at all. Teach these things to your children, and don’t forget that you too will benefit greatly from the true, good and lovely word of God that you have learned.
Ephesians 4:26 - Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
When you think about anger, do you tend to see it as a negative emotion rather than a positive one? It would be no surprise if you did, because for the most part, the anger that we experience day to day tends to do more harm than good. How then can we agree with Paul when he writes here that we should “be angry”?
First, think about what typically makes people angry. It could be bitterness, frustration, lack of control, conflict, being treated unfairly, and so on. Anger that is birthed out of these things tends to do the most harm to others because it can carry with it the need for retaliation. In other words, when things don’t go our way or we are treated poorly, our way of getting back at that pain is to inflict some pain of our own.
It is this type of anger that causes us to look at this verse and wonder how on earth Paul could write such a thing. However, what we must realize is that being angry is not always a bad thing. For instance, it is right to be angry at injustice. It is right to be angry when a wife suffers abuse at the hands of her husband. It is right to be angry at those who distort the truth, especially those who twist the gospel, leading many people away from the true God. This type of anger is right and justified, but even this anger does not permit us to retaliate with evil.
Anger should not be a long lasting emotion, but rather a brief moment that prompts you to do something about whatever made you angry in the first place, and to do it in a way that honors God. Paul tells us that we must not let the sun go down on our anger, which means that once you’ve felt that righteous form of anger, don’t carry it with you into the night or into the next day. If you do, you will find that the righteous anger that you were meant to feel for a moment, begins to morph into an unrighteous anger very quickly.
When you think about areas of your life in which you struggle, is anger one of those areas? What causes anger to burn inside of you and what do you typically do with it? Would you say that the anger you experience in yourself leans more towards the righteous or the unrighteous side of anger? If the negative version of anger is a struggle for you, take that to the Lord and ask others to help you. Unfortunately, this kind of anger can do more damage than we realize at times.
Be angry at what God is angry about. Be angry at sin. Be angry at the devil. Be angry at lies. Be angry at injustice. Don’t let the anger drive you or cause you to allow bitterness in your heart. Rather, experience it, then look forward to what must be done, believing that God gave you the ability to be angry for a reason. Just as Jesus was angry from time to time, but still good and righteous and without sin, we too can follow his footsteps, looking to him for our example on how to experience anger, but do it in a way that pleases God.
Romans 15:1-2 - We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
The easiest thing to do when it comes to how we view ourselves and others is to think more of ourselves than we do them. When you put a bunch of people together in a community, you end up with all kinds of people with different personalities and different proclivities. Some may see some things as important and others may feel like we shouldn’t be concerned about those things very much at all.
In Christ, we even mature at different rates and over various periods of time. Because of this, there will be some that hold a strong view on a topic or teaching from scripture and others may not know why people feel so strongly about it at all. As you can tell, and possibly experienced, getting Christians to see each other with love and charity in these scenarios can be very tricky, but it’s certainly worth the effort.
Whether you are one of the strong or weak ones that Paul mentions in these verses, the principles remain the same. First, we are to bear with one another. It can be hard to put up with someone who just doesn’t seem to get it, but if we stick by them and help them, then that will be far more fruitful than if we just cast off those who grow too slowly in our eyes.
This leads to the second principle, and that is that our goal is not to please ourselves, but to please our fellow brother or sister in Christ. We think of others as more important than ourselves, seeking to help others rather than being pleased ourselves. Now, this can be extremely challenging, especially with someone who just doesn’t seem to get it like you do. But instead of doing what you do for your own good, you should do it for the good of others.
This leads to the third principle, which is that we please them for their good and to build them up. The mature don’t please the weak by doing whatever the weak person wants, but by helping them in ways that build them up and produce good. If the “strong” always looks down upon the “weak” then what good is that? We should understand that all of us are strong in some areas and weak in others, and this shows us how important these principles really are.
When you interact with other brothers and sisters you will have differences of opinion on all kinds of matters, and you will think at times that you must be the strong one in the scenario. Whether that’s true or not, it’s better that you walk in humility rather than pride, and it’s better to build others up for their good, than it is to focus on yourself at the expense of others.
Today, pray that God would reveal where you may be strong, and then take that strength and bless others with it. Also pray that he would show where you are weak, and then humbly listen and think about what more mature brothers and sisters in Christ might say about these things. We all have much to learn, and we cannot do it alone. Thank God for the charity and love that can exist with the church.
Psalm 16:11 - You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Of all the things that people search for in this life, it would seem that this verse covers the top three. Everyone wants to know what direction they should go to have the best life they can have. Everyone wants to find joy and keep it. Everyone wants to experience more pleasure. You would be hard pressed to find a person who didn’t care about finding these three things, and because everyone wants these things, we strive after them through any means we can find.
Unfortunately, we tend to get more confused and lost than find any real answers, and this causes more problems down the road. This will inevitably happen when we look for these three things in what is temporary. You may think you have found the right direction in your life through some self-help book, and feel life from it for a time, but then you discover that what you’ve learned in that book doesn’t hold true when life gets really hard. You may find joy in family, but what happens when conflict comes that rips the family apart, or what happens to that joy if the family member who gives you that joy passes away?
It goes without saying that the pleasure we experience in this life is equally fleeting. You may feel pleasure when watching a movie or reading a good book. You may have pleasure when eating ice cream or taking a warm shower. We experience pleasure in all kinds of ways, and it’s good that we do because God created us to be able to have pleasure. He created us to have life, to have joy and to have pleasure, but when we look for these three things in the temporary world alone, we will ultimately be let down and disappointed.
If nothing lasts forever in this life, then the only way to find these three things is by looking outside of what is temporary. What we see in this psalm is that God is the answer. If you want to know what direction you should go so that you would have life, then look to God. If you want fullness of joy rather than partial joy, look to God. If you want pleasure forever, rather than pleasure that is fleeting, you will only find it in God.
There is something very important that we see in this psalm about these three things, and that is that there is a fulness to them. The path God leads you to is the path to life. The joy that God gives is a full joy. The pleasures God provides for us are eternal. This is important to see because even though God may bring us life and joy and pleasure through the things of this world, we know that it is not the things in and of themselves that provide those things in richness, but only God who can do that.
If you want these three things today, you must go to the Lord. He will lead you on the path of righteousness which leads to life. He will give you a joy that is beyond understanding and that will exist in you even in the most difficult circumstances, and in His greatness you will find a pleasure that goes beyond what this world can give. Hope in him for these things today, and you will find them. Seek him first, and all these things will be given to you.
Romans 10:17 - So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
How does someone come to believe in Jesus? What is necessary for that belief in him to take root? In order to believe in anything, you have to know that it exists. You have to be exposed to it in some way. You can’t believe in anything that you have never seen, heard of, or have any awareness of. For intents and purposes, if you have no exposure to something, it might as well not exist to you.
So with that in mind, the only way to come to believe in Jesus is to see him, hear him, or become aware of him in some way. Since we cannot see Jesus today, or hear his voice with our own ears, we have to look for evidence of him outside of that lack of personal experience. In other words, we cannot interact with Jesus right now in his physical form, so we have to gain awareness of him in other ways.
Thankfully, we have eyewitness accounts of what Jesus said that were written down and passed down from generation to generation. People who walked with Jesus, talked with him and learned from him, wrote much of it down so that others who had not seen him might still hear his voice through their writing and come to believe that Jesus is the son of God and the giver of eternal life.
If we had no awareness of Jesus, then we would find no reason to put our faith in anything that he said or did, especially what he did on the cross and in his resurrection. Now, we know from what Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans that God has revealed himself to the world, even making his invisible attributes known so that humanity is without excuse. No one can claim that they never saw evidence of God, because all creation speaks of who he is.
However, instead of acknowledging the true God, men and women throughout history have made their own gods or worshipped demons, calling them gods. We’ve exchanged the truth of God for lies. Because of this, spirituality has become a generic catch all for all kinds of systems of belief, all claiming to have some sort of connection with the divine. But the problem is that according to Jesus, there is no access to God except through him.
Therefore, if we hear Jesus’ words that he is the son of God who came into the world to save sinners and bring us home, then we have something of immense value to believe in. Without his precious words coming into our ears and changing our hearts, we would have no faith, and no hope. His words are absolutely necessary for us to know God and to have access to God. There is no other way to saving faith, no matter how flashy or trendy another way may be.
Today you will no doubt be bombarded with many different beliefs in the world, all claiming to have the answer. Hold up the words of Christ to these things, and you will find that only his words can stand the test of time, the test of scrutiny, and only his words can change lives in the way that is truly needed. What a hope we have in Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.
Proverbs 12:22 - Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.
Being honest should be one of the simplest things to do. Think about it. All an honest person does is say what actually happened. There is no embellishment, no twisting of the facts, just a genuine representation of what is real. However, while the idea of being honest is about as logical as can be, the actual practice of honesty seems to stump humanity time and time again.
Why is it that we struggle so much with being honest? There are many reasons, but here are just a few. You may lie because you don’t want to get in trouble for something that happened. You may lie because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings or lose your relationship with them if you told them the truth. You may lie because you want to take advantage of someone or gain control over a situation. There are countless other reasons, but most of them seem to stem out of pride and self preservation.
From childhood into adulthood, lies seem like a handy tool to get out of a bind, but they are actually creating a prison for those who use them. The writer of this proverb wants us to know just how bad lying is, so he calls it a word that we don’t like to use or hear much these days. He calls lying lips and abomination. In other words, lying is something that God looks at with utter disgust and hatred.
So with that in mind, those little white lies don’t seem so harmless any more do they? God sees just how damaging every lie really is, and he watches day by day as the father of lies, Satan, turns more and more people to diminish how horrible lies really are. Lies produce nothing but destroyed trust, and when trust is broken it becomes very difficult to ever believe the lying person again.
This is why the second part of this proverb is so interesting. Who does God look at with delight? You would think that the writer of this proverb would say, “Those who speak truth are his delight” because that is the contrast to the person with lying lips. But instead, he says that it is the person who “acts faithfully”. This is not a mistake.
In order to be faithful in your actions, you have to be genuine in your speech. If you say that you are going to wash the dishes, and you do, then you are considered faithful because you lived up to what you said. In other words, an honest person’s words are proven by the actions that fulfill them. The reason this delights God is because this is how he is. He always speaks the truth, and we know that because his faithfulness to us proves it.
You are meant to reflect the character of God in the world, and you can do that by simply telling the truth. The more that you hide, the more of a prison of lies you will create for yourself, and one day God will shine light on those lies. You can be honest with others today and imitate your Father God, and in doing so you will have more freedom and hope than any lie could give you.
Romans 8:31-32 - What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
What a precious gift these verses are to the body of Christ. In a world where we may face many persecutions and suffering, feel the weight and consequences of our sins, and feel the lack of so many needed things, Paul tells us just how wonderful it is for us to know God and be known by him.
Think about the phrase, “God is for us”. It’s not just that he is with us, or that he knows us, but also that he is “for” us. Think of how undeserving it is that God would be for a person who still sins against him. God sees you, knows your failings and your weaknesses, and yet if you are in Christ, then he is for you. He supports you, he walks with you, he provides for you and he protects you. If the God who created all things, knows all things, and is king over all things knows you and loves you, what could possibly get past his protection? We will face sufferings, no doubt about it, but having God in our corner when trials come means that the trials and sufferings cannot ultimately destroy us. Who can win a battle against the Lord? No one.
How then do we know that he is for us? Because he gave his own son for us. The Father gave the Son as a willing sacrifice to bring you back to himself. God the Father gave Jesus up to the violence and wickedness of men so that you could be freed from your sin and have new life in Christ. If you want an example of what it looks like for God to be for someone, look at Jesus. Not even death could hold him because of the Father’s love for him. Look at the disciples who suffered many things but their promised gift of salvation and a future home could never be taken from them.
There is so much good news in these verses! Nothing can stand against God, so nothing can stand against his church. God wants us to have life and freedom from sin so he gave us Jesus to die in our place. If this was all there was to the story, this would be enough to praise God for an eternity, but Paul isn’t finished. In addition to this, Paul writes that God will not only give us Jesus, but all things.
Now, don’t misunderstand Paul here. Just because you are a child of God doesn’t mean that you will get whatever you ask for. What this means is that God will give you everything that you need when you need it, and sometimes we don’t even know what that is until God provides it for us. Because of God’s grace, he will give us everything that pertains to life and godliness. In other words, there is simply no end to what God does for his children.
Hold fast to these truths today and rejoice in what he has done for you. Think of the strength and hope that you can have today in your great God who is for you, gave his son to save you, and provides for you time and time again. We certainly have much to be grateful for!
Exodus 20:16 - “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
If you have ever had anyone say something untrue about you, then you can appreciate the importance of this commandment. As human beings, we were created to be in honest fellowship with one another, but for all kinds of reasons we can say things about one another that aren’t accurate and the result of doing so can be devastating.
Imagine that one morning you wake up and get in your car to drive to work. You are feeling a bit too tired from staying up too late the night before, and you probably aren’t ready to drive just yet. But, because you are running late, you start to reverse out of the driveway and because you aren't paying attention, you go too far and back up into your neighbor’s fence across the street.
You hear the crack of the fence and realize what you’ve done, but because you are late for work, and because you don’t want to get in trouble, you quickly drive off. While at work a co-worker notices some dents and scratches on the back of your car. When asked about it you say, “Oh, some neighbor kids were throwing rocks on the street and hit my car.” You know it’s not true, but no one will know whether it happened or not.
Then after a long day of work you return home and see your neighbors across the street picking up pieces of their fence, wondering what happened. As you get out of the car, they walk up to you and ask if you saw anything this morning when you left. Here’s the chance to be honest, right? But instead, you tell them, “You know, the neighbor’s son just turned sixteen. I hate to say this, but maybe he wasn’t paying attention this morning on the way to school and backed into your fence.” In this scenario you have lied at least twice, and the result of those lies is that now your co-worker thinks the kids on your street are terrible, and the neighbor across the street is assuming the worst of the sixteen year old boy who may have a hard time defending himself. Out of the motive of self-preservation, your false witness against others may have terrible consequences.
God is the father of truth because God is truth. He is opposed to lies because he knows the damage that they do. When we allow ourselves to bear false witness about someone else, we are not imitating the Father, we are actually imitating the devil. He is the father of lies, and he loves to destroy trust within relationships. This is one reason why God has not merely given this as a suggestion for us, but as a command. Our integrity in the truth is of tremendous importance.
As you think about your interactions that you’ve had this week and the ones you will have today, be a person of integrity when speaking with others. Don’t save yourself by throwing someone else under the bus, or wrongfully accuse someone of something that they didn’t do. The truth sets us free, but lies imprison us and steal our strength. Make it your aime today to live in the truth of the Lord, loving people by being a true witness in a world of lies.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
If there is one commonality that all human beings share, it is the innate desire to be loved. Maybe we don’t think about it all time, but deep within each one of us is the need for love in our lives. Children want and need to be loved by their parents. Parents want and need to be loved by their children. Relationships may begin with other common interests, but what causes relationships to mature is how much love is present in that relationship.
When you look around you, no doubt you will see people in all walks of life doing all kinds of things, sometimes because they love others, and many times because they love themselves. People feel loved by being supported, encouraged, helped, listened to, served, and so on. You can probably think right now about times when you have felt loved by others, or times when you’ve loved others well.
There are many ways that you can show love, but by far the greatest would be by laying down your own health and well being, even your own life for the sake of others. We honor mothers or fathers for how they continually sacrifice their own wants and desires for the sake of their children. We think of military men and women who have put themselves in harm's way to save their fellow soldiers. We even give medals for this type of behavior, all of which comes from a place of love.
So how amazing is it, that the God of all creation, saw our desperate need in our sinfulness, and because he loves us, sent his only son to die on our behalf to pay for our sins? It is the greatest picture of love that the world has ever known. God didn’t have to do anything for us. He owes us nothing. And yet, he did something and the reason for that has nothing to do with what we can do for him. In love he saw our hopelessness. In love he gave the solution. In love he brings us in, and in love he brings us home.
This great love was shown in the death of Jesus Christ, the only person who has ever loved perfectly. He loved perfectly in his life, and he loved perfectly in his death. Think about this amazing statement: He loved you personally when he died on the cross. Jesus died knowing and loving individual people and by God’s grace, you are one of those people.
So what then do you think of this great love? Have you believed that God loves you this much and do you believe it today? If you do, you have received the greatest gift from that love that you could ever receive, in that you will live forever with this God who loves you to the uttermost. Take time today to think on this undeserved love, and really try to absorb it. Rest in it. Hope in it. Find your strength in it, and enjoy it. God has loved you, he loves you still, and he will love you for an eternity.
Romans 12:11-13 - Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
The Bible is full of all kinds of writing, some of which can be hard to understand. There are times when after reading it, you can walk away unsure of what you are supposed to do with what you just read. A lot of times, we just want something practical that we can put into practice as quickly as possible. Thankfully, these verses are about as straightforward as can be, but even with that being the case, we still struggle to put what Paul says into practice.
So what then do we read here? Don’t be slothful in your zeal, but be fervent in spirit instead. We can wonder what this means, but Paul basically gives us the answer by saying, “serve the Lord”. To have zeal for something is to be passionate and driven to attain a goal. Our goal is to glorify and magnify Christ in our lives, and we do that through our service to him. There is no greater goal because there is no greater God. The sooner we recognize this, the less we will want to be lazy in our service to God.
He then tells us to rejoice in hope. There are many circumstances and situations that steal our joy from us, but we can always rejoice in the hope that we have in God. You may feel like you are in the mud and sorrow may overwhelm you, but the hope that God gives through his promises to you can always bring joy. Let that hope in, and that hope will put joy in your weary heart.
Next, be patient in tribulation. Because of your hope in what God will do, you know that your trials are not the end, but in God’s economy they are a means to an end. Trials, even at their worst, are temporary. Perhaps you will have a trial that lasts your whole life, but even then, eternity with God will make that temporary trial feel like a breath.
How do we maintain this hope, joy and patience? By being constant in prayer. You can speak to the Lord any time you want. Talk to him as you would a friend, because he is your friend and he will hear you. As you pray here and there throughout the day, you bring more of God into your day, and therefore more joy, hope and patience into your heart and mind.
But it doesn’t stop with you does it? All that the Lord is producing in you can be used to serve others. In fact, when we help to meet the needs of our fellow saints, we are not only serving them, but we are serving the Lord. Welcome other believers into your home, pray with them, share meals with them, serving them to God’s glory.
Are these not practical things? Think about how you might integrate what Paul has written here into your life today, and then pursue it. If all you do is think, and never do, then what good is that? You have the hope of God. Serve him, serve others, and see God do great things.
Psalm 34:17-18 - When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
What are we to do about all of the challenges that each day brings? When chronic illness or pain rears its ugly head and seems unbearable, what do we do? When a close relationship is strained and on the verge of collapsing, what do we do? When you look at your bank account and realize there is nothing left to pay the bills, what do you do?
Sometimes it can feel like no matter what we do, help just won’t come. Maybe you see a medical professional for your health and they send you home with some medication but it doesn’t really help the problem. After that you see another professional in natural medicine only to find that their solution is really not solving anything either. It’s easy to feel frustrated and to begin to fall into a season of despair when help does not seem to come.
Yet, in these verses we see the psalmist write that when the righteous cry for help, the Lord responds in two ways. One, the Lord hears us and two, the Lord delivers us. What is challenging about this is that we can sometimes see God as being about as helpful as the doctor who says they can help, but nothing ever gets better.
The truth is, we don’t know whether things are getting better or not because we can become so focused on the emotional or physical pain that we don’t see healing and help and in other areas. The medication the doctor provides may not make the pain go away, but it may be healing parts of your body that need to be healed first before the pain can be addressed.
In the same manner, we often do not see what God does in response to our prayers for help, but as we see in this verse we can count on him to hear us and we can count on him to deliver us from trouble in some way shape or form. Why can we count on the Lord to do this? Because he is near to us. He sees your brokenheartedness because he is with you in it. He knows your pain and sorrow to an even deeper level than you do.
God is faithful and compassionate towards us, and he knows how crushed the spirit can be in times of trouble. He experienced it to the utmost extreme when he went to the cross. We may not see him working, but he is. We can get so set on specific outcomes when we have pain and suffering that we may miss that God is healing us and helping us in ways we won’t realize until we are finally with him.
As you face the troubles of the day, do not let the devil convince you of the lies that God is not for you, that God is not with you, that God does not hear you and that God will not help you. It is hard to fight this fight of faith, but you can fight it because the Lord is with you. Despair need not win this battle. Hope in the listening ear and mighty supporting arm of the Lord to carry you through today’s troubles. He is ever with you, cannot fail you, and he is the one who will bring you home to a place where trouble will never harm you again.
1 Peter 2:9-10 - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
One of the most important questions we have to answer in this life is this: who am I? How you answer that question will impact every area of your life for good or for ill. The search for personal identity is a search that has sparked all kinds of definitions of how a person defines themself to crop up in the world. The problem is that if we don’t know who we are supposed to be, or we don’t have an external force defining our identity for us, we will never find an end to that search. In order to find the identity people desperately want, they have done everything from changing jobs to changing schools to changing communities to even changing their biology to support who they think they are supposed to be.
Sadly, this search for identity can often lead people away from the God who has defined this world and defined us as human beings and as individuals. He knit each of us in our mother’s womb and wired us to think and function in this world in a way this is in one sense unique, but also fits within the whole. If we ignore how God sees us, then we will never truly find who we were created to be.
As Christians, we have received salvation from the wrath of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This carries with it a new understanding of who we now are in Christ. People often don’t like to be defined by others, but to have God tell us who we are is not negative, especially given how he identifies us as his people.
We are a chosen race. He chose you personally and made you a part of a race of people that is not identified by color or gender, but by being united in Christ. We are a royal priesthood, carrying with us a position of worship in God’s kingdom. We are God’s possession, and nothing can take us from his hand. We are God’s people, meaning that we have a home to call our own. We were once a people in darkness, but now we are people of the light. Finally, we are a people who only have these things because of mercy, which we didn’t have before.
This is who we are, and because of that identity, we can rejoice because the community and relationship that we all long for can be ours through Christ bringing us together under God. Once we see ourselves in the merciful light, the only logical thing is to tell others just how wonderful our great God is for showing us who we are and through identity, having great purpose in the world.
You can live today in this identity. You need not wonder who you are or what meaning there is to your life. God has given us these things, and what a hope we have knowing that our identity is not found in things that change, but is found in an unchangeable, perfect God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-2 - And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
If you have been a Christian for any number of years and have been a part of a small group or Bible study, you know how times of discussion can go between believers. There are people that seem to have very little difficulty in coming up with something to say, and others who feel like if they open their mouth then they might say something really dumb and never live it down.
One of the reasons that some Christians don’t talk a lot during group discussions is because they don’t quite know how to say what they want to say, and they are sure that someone else can probably say it better than they could. They might think of themselves as not being very smart, or well read, or even immature.
When it comes to Christian doctrine and talking about scripture, there are people who are able to quote loads of verses, think of quotes from books, or even elaborate on philosophy. It can seem like this is the goal, being able to speak with great breadth and depth about God and his word. However, Paul puts some of that to rest with what he writes here.
Paul was well-educated, especially in religion, and he could have said any number of things to the Corinthians. However, when he was with them, he didn’t teach them with big words and clever phrases. On the contrary, he gave the testimony of God to them with simplicity. It’s not that he didn’t talk with them about difficult things, but what he wanted them to know most of all was not his skills in speech or theology, but rather the person of Jesus Christ and his crucifixion.
At the core of the Christian life is the truth that Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins. In order to understand why that matters we have to look at what Jesus said and what he did. As we read the gospels, we begin to understand why we as sinners need Jesus as our savior. It is this simple message of Jesus’ death for us that forms the cornerstone of everything we believe.
This leads to the point. What matters is how central and important Jesus Christ is to you, not how well you talk about him. What is going to change your life and the lives of those around you is recognizing that Jesus died for your sins, and if you hold on to that truth, then you can live as a free person in this world. You see, we get bogged down with how we speak and how lofty our words should be, but in reality, God’s gospel is understandable from the very young to the very old.
There is much that you can know today, but at the very top of the list should be these things. If you find yourself unsure of what to say about God, whether that be with unbelievers or other Christians, then simply go back to what you know about Jesus and the cross. You never know how that straightforward message could change a life for an eternity. Who is Jesus and what has he done? Can you think of any more valuable conversation to have than that?
Romans 8:35-37 - Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
The love with which we are loved by Christ is a love that we will never lose. It’s important for us as Christians to remember this truth. Once we have been adopted by God and made sons and daughters in his family, nothing can take us away from him. Unfortunately, because the world is hard, we may find ourselves feeling as if God’s love is not with us after all. These verses are a reminder of just how permanent the love of God is for us, and we would do well to think about what Paul has written here.
First, we will never be separated from God’s love for us. Sadly, this isn’t the case with any other relationship that we have in this life. You only need to think about instances like the holocaust where family members were seperated by Nazi soldiers, some going to death camps and others going to work camps. Siblings were separated from one another and parents were separated from their children. This terrible pain of loss is something that we will never experience with our Father God. Why is that? Because no power is greater than his to snatch us from his hand.
Second, no trial or difficulty will be able to take his love from us. Whether you are persecuted or your health deteriorates, your suffering may distract you from God’s love, but it can’t remove it. The same thing can be said about distress. No sorrow or anguish or pain or confusion or difficulty can overcome the great love of God. We allow it to at times, but God never allows these things to take away his love from us completely.
Third, no amount of harm that others do to you for believing in Christ can diminish God’s great love for you. Your body may be destroyed by torture, but the love of God will continue to be strong and healthy within your heart. Fourth, the loss of food or drink or clothing can’t take away the love of God either. These are all important things, but they only matter for this temporal life, not for the life to come.
Finally, no danger or weapon can take away God’s love. We may find ourselves at times in terrible circumstances where great harm can come to us, but God’s love that is in us will not be harmed no matter what faces us. All of these things that Paul lists are valuable aspects of human life, and so the thought of losing any of them seems devastating. Yet, if you have the love of God, you can lose everything because you know that God has more in store for you than what you have or experience in this world.
Today, you are more than a conqueror when all of these things come against you. You will triumph for the same reason that Jesus triumphed over suffering and death, and it is because the same love with which the Father loves the Son, is how he loves you. Take hope in this great love today, and see the truth that no matter what comes, God’s love will sustain you to the end.
Psalm 139:11-12 - If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
There are times in this life when we feel surrounded by an overwhelming darkness. Some people feel it when experiencing depression, fear or anxiety. Others feel like they are in darkness when something terrible happens to them and they aren’t sure which way is up or down. Whatever situation brings the darkness into your life, it can sometimes feel as if there is no way out.
When you are in darkness you may find yourself saying things like the psalmist does here. You might say, “This darkness is going to cover me forever. The sun may be shining, but even the sun can’t light up how I’m feeling right now.” Oftentimes when we are in a dark spot, we tend to say things to ourselves that don’t help us get out of it, but rather, keeps us stuck in the darkness longer.
What then can be done about this darkness? The answer is found in seeing the darkness correctly and the only way to do that is to shine light into it. The psalmist may find himself saying how bad the darkness is, but he also reminds himself through prayer that God is greater than the darkness. The darkness is not dark to God because he is the light of the world. When light comes into darkness, the darkness scatters.
The nearer we stay to God the harder it will be for us to be overcome by darkness, and yet there will be times when we still feel the dark creeping in. In those moments, do everything you can to listen to the voice of God in his word and let the light of his truth fight the darkness with you.
Christian, take heart in the fact that God is with you now. His Spirit lives within you and therefore you can never be completely overtaken by the dark. Even if it feels as though you are alone and blind, God is with you and he will bring the light of life into the dark.
As you think about these things for today, here is a simple question. Do you believe that the darkness is stronger than God? Have you allowed it to be? If so, take time today to meditate on who the Lord is and find strength in those truths. By God’s grace he can and will help you in the dark times, so go to him, stay close to him, take your cares to him, and trust that God is more than able to make your night into day and your sorrow into joy.
Acts 5:29 - But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
How we respond to those in authority matters tremendously in this life. We are told in 1 Peter that for the Lord’s sake we should submit to those in authority over us, even in situations that are not optimal. We are told to pray for our leaders and to honor them. If we aren’t careful, we may find ourselves thinking that there is never a time where we disobey the authorities God has given us, and yet this is what we see in this section of the book of Acts.
Peter and some of the apostles had been arrested for preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. As far as we can tell, they did not put up a fight and they were respectful when under arrest and while they were imprisoned. Then when they were brought before the council, they were told to stop telling people about Jesus, especially regarding his death. The leaders did not want the guilt of Jesus’ death on their hands, so they were definitely opposing the apostles out of a desire for self-preservation.
Then Peter responds to the council by saying, “We must obey God rather than men.” How could the same person who later tells us to submit to governing authorities say something so clearly disobedient to his governing authority? The answer is simple, yet profound. God is our ultimate authority, and we must always submit to his will and law over any will or law of men.
If any authority tells you to do something that is sinful, you tell them no. God has told us what is good and how to honor him with our lives, so this is what we must walk in. What God has instructed us in must always take precedence over what men command us to do.
On one hand, this is immensely freeing for us because we can stand strong and confidently against the wicked demands of those in authority over us. But on the other hand, it is difficult to have balance in when we exercise obedience and when we exercise disobedience. It can be far too easy to start saying “no” because of preference rather than conviction, or we can begin to reject earthly authorities altogether because Peter told us to “obey God, not men”.
We all have authorities in our lives who we are called by God to submit to. Whether that be a boss, spouse, pastor, or government, God has put those people in positions of authority and we honor him by being obedient to these people. Yet, thanks be to God that he is our ultimate authority, who gives us the strength and freedom to reject what is evil and hold fast to what is good.
Think on these things today with the various authorities God has you under right now. If there are areas that you are unsure about whether you should submit to them or not, take that to the Lord in prayer, and fervently ask for his wisdom. In Peter’s case, we have a wonderful example to meditate on, striking the balance between when to be obedient and when not to be. At the end of the day, God is first, and as long as we make that our foundation, we will know how to say “yes” or “no”, and say either for the sake of the Lord.
Psalm 34:15-16 - The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
In this Psalm we see a contrast between two types of people, the righteous and the evil. One experiences benefits from the Lord while the other receives his wrath. Think of how different the response is. For one person, God sees them and hears their cries for help. For the other, his face is against them and he even cuts off any memory of them from the earth.
There are some who would read this and feel offended that God would do such a thing. How could he respond so strongly against anyone? The problem with this response is that it doesn’t recognize the weight of sin and the penalty that each sin carries with it. Any sin, no matter how small, is an offense to a holy God. Some sins carry greater consequences in this world than others, but all sins carry the same eternal punishment of separation from God forever.
What is worse, having the world not remember you because of the evil you had done in God’s eyes, or being separated from the fountain of all love, light, goodness, kindness, peace, joy and life forever? Clearly it is far worse to lose God than it is to not be remembered by the world. So then, how does one go from being the evil person in these verses to being righteous?
The only way is through putting your faith in Jesus Christ. This means believing that he lived a life free from sin, which you cannot do. This means believing that because he was sinless, he could be the perfect sacrifice to God by taking your sin into himself on the cross and dying for it. This means believing that Jesus conquered your sin by being raised from the dead, which you also are unable to do. If you believe these things, the righteousness of Jesus becomes yours and you have a new life where you are able to live in that righteousness.
This great exchange is simply incredible and none of us deserve it. We don’t deserve this great salvation or the promise that God will keep his eyes on us to protect us. We don’t deserve to have his ear whenever we want, knowing that he hears our cries. And yet, we can know that through Christ, all of this is ours now and forevermore.
If God has made you righteous in Christ, then walk in this righteousness today. The evil that you once walked in is not compatible with the new life that you now have. It also makes little sense to go through today without acknowledging the God who made you righteous and going to him in prayer. If he is willing and able to listen to you, why not go to him? He sees you and hears you, and he loves to give strength to his weary children.
Find hope today in this righteousness that you have received, and use whatever strength the Lord provides to walk in that precious righteousness.
Romans 12:14-16 - Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
A common theme that we see reiterated time and time again in the New Testament is this idea of doing good to those who do evil against you. Our natural tendency is the opposite, which is why Jesus was so clear in explaining that the idea of “an eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth” was not actually the best way to go about things.
There is something about doing good to people who are treating you terribly that speaks volumes about what you believe. It says something about your heart and what your heart is filled with. If your heart is full of the love of God, you don’t need the affirmation of other people. You don’t need them to love you for you to feel good about yourself. If you have the love of God in your heart, you will be able to love as he does, which means that you will be able to love people even if they are your enemy.
If God has done good to you, even though you were doing evil and living in sin, then we should be able to do good to those who are doing evil to us. It’s not easy, but it is possible. It’s this same type of heart that allows us to truly rejoice when others are rejoicing, or weep when others are weeping. It’s a renewed heart and mind that allows us to have harmony with other believers, because our hearts and minds are founded on the same things.
It’s this renewed heart and mind that allows us to forgo pride and have fellowship with people that are considered less than valuable in our world. You see, what God does is he changes us not only for our own good, but also that we might experience good with others and do good to others. In other words, you see people in the right way, and that is that we are all sinners, made in the image of God, in desperate need for salvation from sin through Christ.
Because we all share this, we can look at our persecutors and feel more sorrow for them than anger. We can look at those who are sad, and understand on some level what that sadness feels like. We can unite together under Christ because without him we wouldn’t know who we are or what we are supposed to do. Knowing ourselves and our need for Christ also teaches us humility.
So today, when you think of your interactions with others or how someone may treat you, above all things, humbly love them and do good to them. This is wisdom, to pursue what God has called us to. Others may view this lack of retaliation in persecution or feeling sadness with others, or humbling yourself before others as weakness but we see all these things as strength. Thank the Lord that he has given us this heart in these times, as the world needs to see a love like this, and that love only comes from a renewed heart in Christ.
Psalm 37:3-4 - Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
There are so many things that we can put our trust in. We put our trust in our health that our bodies will get through one more day. We trust that our cars will take us to where we need to go. We trust that our friends and family will be there for us when we need them. Sadly, no matter how firm those things are, they will one day fail us.
While we certainly can put our trust in these things, we have to understand that any one of these things could break the trust that we have in them. Our bodies will become weak and frail. Our cars will at some point stop running. Our friends and family will not always be there to support us. Because the world and the things in it are ever changing, we need a more firm foundation to stand upon that will never change.
We all want to put our trust in something that is constant and faithful. Thankfully, we as Christians know that the Lord is the only truly constant, faithful foundation that we could ever know. So as you lean on him, putting your trust in him to sustain you, guide you and protect you, there are a few things that you should also do.
First, you should seek to do good today. By your good deeds you will draw attention to the trustworthy God who called you to these good things. Second, learn to be faithful in what you do, treating faithfulness like a friend that you want close to you at all times. God is trustworthy, which means that he is faithful. You can count on him. Christians should be people that others can count on as well.
Third, delight yourself in the Lord. Think of this: God cares about your joy. He wants you to have delight in this life, not to walk around in sadness and despair. If you want true joy, you will find it in the Lord, so pursue him and delight in him will follow. The more you come to know God, the more glorious things you will see in him that will bring true delight to your soul. You will even find that your desires change to look more like his desires.
It is because of this that we can know that if we trust in God and delight in God that he will give us what our hearts desire, but those desires will be more and more conformed to what God loves and desires. We can desire many things in this life, most of which are temporary desires, but God gives us the ability to desire that which is eternal.
You cannot be strong today if you don’t have a solid foundation to trust in, so trust in God. What you delight in today will give you hope, so delight in the eternal God. What a privilege it is to know him and be known by him, and to know that his delight can be ours, leading to a greater hope and joy than we may have ever imagined.
Philippians 2:4 - Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Of all the things that Christians are called to, the greatest is that we would love one another. One of the ways that we do that is through service. We go out of our way to help each other, looking for ways to honor and do good to one another. If possible we even try to meet needs that may arise, giving up our time, energy and finances to help a fellow brother or sister out.
This is one of the key responsibilities of the church, and yet it can be very hard to do. Naturally, we are all relatively self-focused and self-serving. Our actions can seem righteous enough, but deep down we may just be helping out because it means we would look good to others. You may find yourself looking for a way out when people ask for help, and then have a sigh of relief when you find out that enough people are helping and you no longer need to.
Looking to your own interests can mean that all you do is talk about the things that interest you. You might only spend time with people that make you feel good or that make you feel comfortable. Being self-interested comes in all shapes and sizes, and truth be told, can be very subtle.
It’s not wrong to look to your own interests, unless that is all you do. You have to take care of yourself, but you aren’t the only living person on the planet. It really is a privilege to serve others, even though it can at times be very hard to do. Perhaps the greatest example of this type of loving service is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was interested in the glory of God above all things, honoring the Father and doing the will of the Father. But he also cared very much for humanity and for their need of a savior. Jesus served people time and time again, washing feet, healing the sick, and raising the dead. And yet he did all that in the context of fulfilling the role he had been called to.
Are you out of balance when it comes to these things? Do you find it hard to help with the needs of others, or do you jump at the chance to love people in this way? Do you find yourself looking for opportunities to get out of a conversation that is concerning things you don’t care about, or are you able to engage because you want to appreciate and value the people you are talking to?
As you think about the people in your life, think of ways in which you can discover their needs and then meditate and pray about how you may be able to help them in those areas. Maybe you can’t do the physical labor required, or maybe you don’t understand how to do what they need. No matter what the obstacle, don’t let self-service or any other thing keep you from loving others well today. We all have plenty of needs, and the church is meant to notice and care for the needs of the saints in ways that make the church strong and healthy. Consider how you might do that today.
Isaiah 43:5 - Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.
Fear is a powerful thing. It seems that there is no shortage of things in this world that can bring us to a place of fear. Maybe it’s receiving bad news regarding your health, or maybe you find yourself in a situation that could bring you trouble or pain. Fear can often come from uncertainty as well. Each day is full of opportunities to be afraid, and yet as Christians we are told time and time again to “fear not”. How can such a simple command be so difficult to follow?
One reason may be because of our false belief that we can control what happens to us. We are certainly able to control some things to some degree, but it is when we are faced with something that is beyond our control, that we begin to be afraid. We start asking “what if” questions and those often lead us to believe the worst case scenario is inevitable. We might ask questions in our minds like, “What if this sore throat is cancer? What if I lose my job? What if I can’t afford to pay for my basic needs this month?” In each question, the assumption is that bad will happen, and only bad.
The problem with fearing so many things in this world is that our fears make us forget about God. In this verse we see God promise that he will take care of his people, gathering them to himself, whether they be as far as the east or the west. In other words, there is no distance that God cannot overcome to take care of his children. The deeper promise within this verse is that he is able to care for us because he is with us.
Do you think about this very often? Right now, if you are in Christ, the living God is with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. He is standing with you day after day, minute after minute. If this is actually true, then why are we so afraid? Maybe it’s because God doesn’t seem as immediate as the thing we are afraid of. Maybe we have fallen into a place of unbelief where we don’t know if God will really do good to us in our time of need.
Spend some time today thinking on the Lord’s goodness. See in his word how he has constantly been faithful to his children. Hold fast to the promise that Jesus gave you in that you have the Holy Spirit to help you and that same Spirit dwells within you to produce good in and through you. Think about shifting your “what if” questions from negative outcomes to God oriented outcomes. What if losing my job is going to be God’s way of leading me to something better? What if this cancer diagnosis can bring me closer to the Lord and help me to love others better?
Remembering that God is with you and believing that he is, is balm to our weary souls when we would otherwise be afraid. Take heart, Christian. Your savior has overcome the world and he loves you with the greatest love you’ll ever know. You can have strength to overcome your fear through Christ, and you can have hope for the good that God will do regardless of the storms that come into your life. He has brought his disciples through storms before, and he will do it with you as well.
Romans 12:17-19 - Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
One of the hardest things to do in this life is to respond well to all of the various evils that come against us each day. The most challenging of all is when other people hurt us, especially if they do it intentionally. Whether it is an abusive parent, spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, brother, sister or friend, having evil done to you is painful and oftentimes deeply emotional. Sadly, these types of situations even occur within God’s church, and since the church is a family, it hurts all the more.
What then do we do when we are on the receiving end of evil words or actions from others? Maybe someone is gossiping about you or speaking of you in a way that paints you inaccurately. Perhaps someone has spoken harshly to you or lied to you, or maybe someone has totally shut you out and abandoned you. As you can see, the possibilities are sadly endless as to what kinds of pain we can cause one another.
According to Paul, one thing that we must not do in these circumstances is respond to evil with doing our own evil. You will never solve a conflict or resolve a painful situation with a cutting tongue, a swift hand or a slammed door. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." Our goal should be to bring as much light into the situation as possible, drowning out the evil so that peace may come.
If your motive in these circumstances is to retaliate, then you are missing what Christ has called you to as a Christian. We are meant to be peacemakers, and our hope should always be that peace would come. That can’t happen if we have wrath and vengeance in our hearts towards others. We may have been wronged, and we should address those wrongs through various means, but our goal should always be peace, not more wrath, violence or pain.
The Lord is the one who will bring justice to those who are oppressed, abused and disdained. This is his role, and he will always do justice perfectly. Our role is to trust in this promise and pursue peace with all people, especially those in the body of Christ. You may be thinking right now of difficult situations where gaining peace seems an impossibility, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pursue it.
As you think about what this may mean for today, think of the forgiveness that Jesus brought to you, even though you were an enemy of God. Think of the peace that Jesus secured between God and you, and how he secured it through tremendous sacrifice. God can bring peace to our relationships, but it won’t be without effort on our part. Consider where you may need to forgive, where you may need to sacrifice, and consider how you can love those in your life who may not love you well. As far as it depends on you, seek peace, love well, and trust God with the rest.
Psalm 119:14-16 - In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
The word “delight” isn’t a word that we use very often anymore. We might say that we enjoy doing something, that it makes us happy, or we simply just say that we love it. But the word “delight” is an important word, and it brings with it a sense of comfort, peace and satisfaction. To delight in something is to be greatly pleased with it, and yet you would be hard pressed to find someone thinking about God’s word in this way.
Can you remember a time when this was true, when you read a certain passage of scripture and it really struck a chord with you, or it gave you a palpable feeling of joy? Can you think of a time when you felt that way about something else? It’s not uncommon for people to feel pleasure when they receive some great gift or they buy themselves something fun. Having riches, or wealth, tends to have this effect on people, where they feel more pleasure because they have more things or they think they don’t have to worry as much about spending their money on enjoyable things.
Yet the psalmist says that when he looks at God’s law, God’s testimonies of what he has done, and sees what God has said, he actually has as much pleasure in these things as he would in great riches. This is an amazing statement, and you can begin to wonder how that would be possible. The answer may be found in two things that the psalmist does with God’s word. First, he meditates on it, and second he remembers it.
When you read the word of God, do you take time to fill your mind with the truths that you read, or do you just close the book and move on to the next thing? Meditating on God’s word means that you are actually thinking about it, not just familiarizing yourself with it. You are internalizing it into your heart and mind, and when you do this, it actually begins to apply itself to your life bit by bit. His word begins to make more sense for you and you see its benefit in your life.
This practice helps you to remember God’s word as well, and this will be a support to you and a hope for you when trouble comes into your life. When God’s word is stored up in the mind and heart through meditating on it, it protects you and guards you, it reminds you of the gospel, and it keeps God at the forefront of your mind. If you don’t often delight in God’s word, perhaps it is because you aren’t drinking it in and tasting why it is so good.
When you take time to read God’s word today, practice meditating on it. As you read, take in each truth and think about how it might apply to your life or how it may bring you to a better understanding of yourself or the Lord. Then practice remembering it, whether through memorization or something else. You can have great pleasure in the Lord, and if you do experience that pleasure, thank the Lord for revealing himself a little bit more to you today.
Isaiah 43:25 - I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
One of the best parts of a book or movie is when all hope seems lost, the enemy is about to win, and then out of nowhere someone appears to save the day. One of the greatest examples of this is in J.R.R. Tolkein’s second book in the Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers. The free peoples are defending Helm’s Deep against an unstoppable army of orcs and trolls. They fight throughout the night, and bit by bit the free peoples are being cut down and defeated.
As the sun rises and the battle seems almost lost, a glimmer of light appears in the distance. The white wizard, Gandalf, has arrived and he brings with him an army that will help win the day for the free people. If you haven’t read the book, the scene in the movie is just as powerful. We love these moments because we want good to triumph over evil. We love to see victory arise where there seemed to be only loss.
In our story, we are not the hero who comes over the hill and wins the war. Our sins are like an army of evil that we cannot overcome no matter how hard we fight. This verse in Isaiah is a proclamation of God’s heroic power to save us. It’s as if we cried out, “Who can save us from our sins?!”, and God stands up and says, “I. I am he.” He will fight the battle and he will win the war against our sin. In his strength he is able to blot out the army of sins that crush us and steal our freedom.
This alone would be enough, but he doesn’t stop there. God says once he blots out our sins, he will not remember them. Everything about what God is saying is beyond our human comprehension. Why would he do this for us? He tells us, it is for his own sake. He is the God who saves and there is no other. He is the one who removes sin, and therefore he alone gets the glory.
Think about this today. Jesus is the hero of your story. He is the strong warrior who wins the battle. He is the merciful king who is willing to forget your wrongdoing. Because of this, he is the one you should praise today for the life that you have and he is the one you should thank because in his strength he will bring the victory over sin that we all desperately need.
Luke 23:43 - And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Imagine that you were the thief on the cross that day. You had committed a crime deserving of death and there was no getting out of the punishment coming your way. The cross was coming, and there was nothing you could do about it. Think of the anxiety that you might feel about the moment that the nails would pierce your hands and feet. How severe must that pain be on its own, you wonder. But then you think about the force of the cross being lifted up and the intense pain you would feel as the cross is dropped into the hole that would hold it upright.
Then imagine that as you hang there in agony, barely able to breathe, you see a man collapse below you from carrying his own cross up the hill. You watch as his hands and feet are nailed to the wood of his cross, and he is lifted up next to you. On his head is a circle of thorns, like a crown, and his body is covered in so many cuts, deep lacerations and bruises that you can’t understand how he could possibly still be alive.
A crowd then forms, and there are religious leaders mixed in with commoners. You know they haven’t come to watch you die, and you are sure of it when a sign is nailed above this man’s head which reads, “King of the Jews”. People are yelling at him to save himself, including the other man nailed to a cross on the other side. They want proof that he is the messiah, but they don’t believe it. How could he be, hanged to a tree an inch from death’s door?
You had heard stories about this man. You had heard that he was sent from God, and you had heard that he often talked about God’s kingdom. You don’t remember every detail and through your physical agony it’s hard to get your thoughts together at all. Yet, for whatever reason, you look at this King of the Jews, and you decide that in your deserved punishment, he might just be your only hope. So while you feel the punishment of your sins in the physical agony of the cross, you call out to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom!” He looks at you and says, “Truly, today you will be with me in paradise.”
What an amazing statement this was for Jesus to make to this man. They are both in terrible pain. A crowd is yelling curses at Jesus. He himself has been so abused that he doesn’t even look human. It’s chaos and sin and evil and destruction all happening at once. But in this moment of darkness, Jesus promises light. Even this evil darkness is not too much for Jesus to still bring hope to a sinful man, and this man didn’t persuade Jesus to say this through reciting deep theological truths or quoting scripture that he had memorized as a child. This man was going to be in paradise simply because he believed that Jesus would save him even though everything seemed hopeless. It was his sin that brought him to the cross leading to death, but it was Jesus who would be his only hope leading to life.
No matter what sins are in your life or what pain you are suffering or what difficulty you are experiencing, Jesus can bring a word of light and hope into that darkness. If Jesus can bring hope to this man, certainly he can bring hope to you. Trust him today. Paradise with him awaits.
Proverbs 15:16 - Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it.
For many people the more they have, the happier they think they will be. If you have a large house or even two or three, then you are living “the good life”. If you have the car you’ve always wanted, wear expensive clothes, eat the best food from the world’s top chefs, and have the admiration of a multitude of people, then you might think that you have attained the pinnacle of success in life. This is the dream that drives countless people in the world. If only we had more money and more possessions, we would be happy.
Unfortunately, the more you have it seems the more trouble you have as well. A common narrative that you will hear from celebrities is how their wealth and fame not only changed them, but changed how they were treated by their friends and family. Suddenly all their friends wanted to be around them and support them, but really what they wanted was to have a piece of the pie themselves. The rich and famous also seem to have more anxiety because of the pressure of maintaining the empire that they have built.
Certainly, there are plenty of benefits to gaining such wealth, but no doubt the more you have, the more you invite the opportunity for problems you never would have had otherwise. When you think of it this way, you might wonder why we strive after this position of prosperity given the trouble that comes with it, but that is the deception of it. We allow ourselves to be naive of the trouble because we really want to believe that having more will bring us more comfort and if we have more comfort we will have more joy and if we have more joy we will have more peace. But all we need do is look at the broken lives of the rich and famous to know that this dream of having more can actually be a nightmare.
The things of this world cannot satisfy us and cannot save us, and the more we have the less we seem to think we need God or salvation. Yet, the writer of this proverb tells us otherwise. It is better to have very little of the world, and a lot of God in your life. If you have been a Christian who has walked with the Lord for many years you will know this to be true. The world cannot offer what the Lord can, and so we should spend more of our efforts getting more of God than getting more of the world.
As you walk through the day that you have set before you, consider what it would look like to get more of Christ in your life through what you do. Perhaps it’s giving more time to prayer or Bible reading. Perhaps it’s spending time with a Christian brother or sister who can care for you and teach you. Maybe it’s as simple as having more integrity in your work and words. You can try to gain the world today, or you can gain more of God. One will lead to peace and the other leads to trouble. Know this, the more you have of God the more strength you will have for this world, but the more you have the world, the less fit you will be for the world to come.
Genesis 9:6 - Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
Human life is precious to God. After God had created so many incredible things, his culminating act was creating Adam out of the dust of the earth and breathing life into his nostrils. Adam was born into the world through the creative acts of God, but he was different from the other life that God created. Adam was made in the image of God, as was Eve after him.
To be made in the image of God is to resemble God in some way. Think of how we are able to distinguish one person’s art from another. If you are familiar with the paintings of Van Gogh, you can recognize which works are his and which aren’t. If you are familiar with the music of Bach, you can recognize his voice and sensibilities in each of compositions. Whatever we create, it carries in it pieces of ourselves. If you write a song, it will have your voice woven into it. If you craft something with your hands, its design will reflect you in some way.
As human beings, much like a painting, we carry with us God’s signature and even some of his attributes. Our minds are able to process information differently than other life God has created. We have a moral compass written on our hearts that originated in our creator. We were designed to be in fellowship, just as fellowship exists in God between the Father, Son, and Spirit. God also created us to carry in us a spiritual component, and since God is spirit, this can only originate from him.
As you can see, we were made to reveal God in the world, and that is one of the reasons why we are so precious to him. When we consider the love and purpose with which God created us, we should also consider the intrinsic value that each human life has. We should not be quick to shed the blood of another image bearer, for their life is no less valuable than ours. We have all been knit together by God in our mother’s womb, and so from conception to old age, we must preserve the lives of others as much as we are able.
As you think about the people around you, do you think of them as image bearers? They may not believe in the God who made them, but they still bear his image in the world. We should long for them to come to faith in their creator and receive true life in the Spirit, but whether that happens or not, we must treat them with the respect that they deserve as a creation of the living God.
Today you will interact with all kinds of people. How will you view them today? How will you view yourself? You were made to resemble God and glorify him with your life. You carry with you the fingerprints of the creator of all things, and he has made you to be a uniquely special piece of that creation. You are not mere cells and molecules randomly tossed together without purpose in the world. You are a handcrafted person, designed and built by the most masterful craftsman the universe will ever know.
Proverbs 9:8 - Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
Have you ever had someone mock you to your face? Maybe when you were younger a kid at school liked to make fun of you, or maybe you were the kid who made fun of others. Even in adulthood you may have had someone insult you or say something degrading to you that really stung. How are we to handle such people when these things happen?
Sometimes people respond by becoming defensive, arguing why the scoffer is wrong. When we get defensive we can often take it a step further and begin to retaliate against the person who is insulting us. We start calling them names or picking on them in some terrible way. This kind of response never gets anywhere, and typically encourages more scoffing and mockery in the future.
Some people respond by trying to reason with the scoffer. This can still be a defensive choice, but the goal is to persuade the person why they are wrong to say what they are saying. This seems like it would work, except for the fact that those who mock others can be difficult to reason with because they aren’t reasonable people to begin with. Think of this, what kind of person goes out of their way to insult another human being? Someone is not reasonable, that’s who.
So what then do we do? Defensiveness and retaliation doesn’t typically help. Reasoning with the scoffer may not get us anywhere. Do we just ignore them? In a sense, that’s what this verse is telling us. Any reproof or correction that you would bring to that person is in most cases going to fall on deaf ears. So, if you are being mocked, don’t engage with such a person, just walk away.
However, look at the contrast in this verse. A mocker won’t listen to you, but a wise person will. And because of that wisdom, they will listen to whatever correction you may offer. A mocker puts himself above others and speaks down to them. A wise man humbles himself before others and allows others to speak into his life. What kind of person are you? Are you someone who rejects correction and mocks those who try to help you, or are you someone who desires to be wise and listens to where you may be in error?
Today, look at the example of Christ and walk in that. He was mocked, but did not retaliate. He was falsely accused, but did not respond defensively. He was the perfect example of humility and wisdom in the face of terrible treatment from others, yet he remained mostly silent in his response to these things.
Think also of how you respond to correction from others, and choose the path of humility today, desiring to grow and mature in Christ. Avoid the temptation to respond with the attitude of the scoffer and strive to love those who lovingly bring godly correction your way.
Ephesians 6:16-18 - In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
In this last section of Paul’s explanation of the armor of God, he gives us two items for defense and one that can be used for both defense and offense. Paul does not consider these three things as optional for us. Whatever circumstance we face we must have our shield, our helmet and our sword. The armor he mentions before this section is just as necessary, but what is the significance of these three items?
We need our shield to protect us from the flaming darts of the evil one. Today you will face many accusations from the devil, you will hear lies that are trying to deceive you, and you will have to deal with the enticing siren song of temptation. How do we defend against these things? We defend ourselves with faith. We have to hold on to our faith in God each day, or these attacks will strike us over and over again. What you believe about God, what he has said, what he has done, and what he has promised, is a shield of defense against the schemes of the world, the flesh and the devil. As you would hold a shield, hold on to your faith and do not let it be stripped from your hand.
We need our helmet so that we can protect our mind. If the mind is destroyed, the body will die as well. There are many attacks upon the mind each day, and without a helmet, we have nothing to guard our minds with. How then does our salvation protect our minds? When we think on our salvation, we are grounded in what has been done for us, and we are mindful of Christ and his sacrifice, his grace and his mercy. We have life because of these truths, so to wear them on our heads is to keep them close in our minds so that we do not forget. This is a strong tool of defense against threats of confusion, misunderstood identity, unhelpful philosophy and so on.
Finally, we need our sword to defend attacks, but also to bring attacks to the enemy. The sword we carry is the same sword that Spirit carries. This sword is God’s word. While the enemy sends a barrage of lies towards us, we send a volley of God’s truth in reply. The greatest weapon we carry is God’s word because it never fails to accomplish something, and will surely strike a blow of some degree on those who are opposed to God and his people.
So with that in mind, today you must not neglect to wear and hold on to these tools. Make no mistake, you are in a battle, and thank God that he has given you what you need to be strong in the battle. Because we are in a way for our souls, we must pray. We must pray for ourselves and the rest of the saints. As the battle wages on, your prayers today will make a tremendous difference in how the battle is fought. God will bring the victory in the end, so hold fast to what he has given you, and pray for the church that it may do the same.
Proverbs 31:30 - Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
There are many reasons that our culture praises women. We praise them for their inner strength. We praise them for their emotional depth. As this verse says, we also praise them for their charm and beauty. Whether it be in movies, television or the world of fashion, it would seem that a woman’s external appearance is one of the most important pieces of who a woman is. We don’t like to say that identity is wrapped up in external things, and yet, we can’t deny that our culture highly values how a person looks, especially if they are female.
So what then can go wrong if we overemphasize the importance of a woman’s beauty? For one, we find ourselves judging a woman’s worth based on her external attributes. This diminishes her down to only one part of her rather than the whole person that she really is. We can also begin to establish rules for beauty that create standards to which women find themselves having to measure up to in order to be acceptable in the eyes of others. And yet we see in this verse that beauty is vain. In other words, having great beauty is basically meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Why is that?
Ask yourself this question: can beauty last forever? The answer is clearly “no”. Flowers fall, paintings fade, sunsets come and go. External beauty may help from time to time, but it cannot serve you forever. The same can be said of having charm. To charm someone is to present something that lures people in, almost like bait on a hook. It isn’t uncommon for women and men to try to charm others with their looks, their smarts, or their abilities. But just as external beauty is fleeting, charm is short lived as well. You can’t keep the bait on the hook forever. Eventually, the fish will notice the hook, regardless of how alluring the dead worm is.
In our culture, beauty and charm are key qualities that we promote and glorify in women, but the writer of this proverb has a different idea. A woman shouldn’t desire to charm people to win their affection, or make herself look as beautiful as possible to gain others’ affirmation. These things are fleeting, and they often don’t give the full story of who the woman really is. They are a false foundation for her to stand upon. What is most important is that a woman fears God. This is praiseworthy because she first listens to God’s voice about who she is, not the world’s voice. She understands her imperfections and sins, but she looks to God to make her whole and clean in his eyes, rather than in the eyes of the culture.
Far too often we promote this idea that in order for a woman to be valuable, she must be praised for what we deem as valuable, but that is not the case. If God calls a woman valuable, she is, regardless of how she looks or how unalluring she might be. If you are a woman, don’t allow this world to tell you that your value and identity rests in these fleeting things. Put your trust in the Lord and he will give you the strength today that no beauty or charm could provide. A strong woman is a godly woman, and a godly woman is godly because she is in awe of her great God, and looks to him above all else.
Leviticus 19:18 - You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Think of all the ways that you love yourself everyday. You take care of your body by keeping it clean. You brush your teeth so that they don’t rot. You keep yourself warm and protect your body by getting dressed. You even dress yourself a certain way so that you look presentable so that you don’t feel like a fool. You feed yourself multiple meals throughout the day. You drink water so that you don’t die. All of these examples are things that we might think we just do because it’s a normal part of the day, but really, you do them because you care about yourself.
Now, it’s also true that if you are frustrated with yourself or even hate certain parts of yourself that you may not take care of yourself as much as you would otherwise. In a sense, when we hold grudges against ourselves, we can “let ourselves go” as people say. In general though, we typically take care of ourselves even if we are upset with who we are or the choices we’ve made. This is because on some level, we recognize that we want to live, and so we love ourselves enough to do what we can to make that happen.
Now, consider what this kind of love looks like towards others. We have plenty of opportunities to bear grudges or desire vengeance when it comes to the relationships that we have. Whether that be co-workers, family, friends, or our actual next-door neighbors, we make choices everyday about how we think of them and how we interact with them. What God has called us to is this amazing statement, “love your neighbor as yourself”. This is a fundamental principle in God’s law and we see it quoted by Jesus, Paul and James, to name a few.
What we are called to do is care for others the way we care for ourselves. We don’t do that perfectly, but we rarely neglect our own needs completely. In like manner, whoever our neighbor is, we cannot neglect them either. We of all people should care about what is happening in the lives of those who surround us, because we know how difficult this world is, but we also have hope for this life through Christ. We struggle with love in general, whether that is towards ourselves or others, but God shows us in his word what authentic love is and how to show it.
Today you can choose to hold on to grudges against those in your life, or you can choose to love them. Holding on to grudges is like slowly drinking a bottle of poison that you think will make your hurts feel better, but it is actually making you worse. To love as Christ loved is to give of yourself, even if that same love is not returned to you.
We love our neighbors because any other option leads to more sorrow in the long run. We love our neighbors because we have been greatly loved by our great God. We love our neighbors because they too are human beings made in the image of God. We love our neighbors because we want them to know the wonderful love of God that we have received. Find your strength to love others in Christ today, and find hope in the fact that his love is working through you to accomplish great things in your life and the lives of those around you.
1 Peter 3:18 - For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
Many are familiar with the story of the suffering of Jesus Christ. His death on the cross is so well known that we see references to it in everything from movies and television to clothing lines and jewelry. It’s not uncommon to see people with a cross necklace or even a cross tattoo. The cross is a familiar image throughout much of the world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that people understand its significance.
The cross reminds us that Jesus died for sinners, but how and why did he do that? These are questions many don’t seek to answer, and simply take the sufferings of Christ at face value. But, Peter answers those questions for us, and it makes any reference to the death of Christ that much more powerful.
First, we see that Christ suffered once for sins. Sins require punishment, just as any breaking of the law does. If you drive too fast, your punishment is a fine or the loss of your license. If you murder someone, the punishment is life in prison or perhaps even death. Punishment is required for wrongdoing or else there would be no law and order. In our case, Jesus suffered for our sins. He took our punishment upon himself, but when you think on this, don’t miss the importance of the word, “once”. What Jesus accomplished in his suffering, he did once for all. The punishment need never be experienced again. The payment has been made.
Second, we see that Jesus is our substitute. We cannot live up to the law of God, so we find ourselves in the category of “unrighteous”. We fail everyday at living up to the standard God has set. We constantly break God’s law, and this is why we deserve punishment. Jesus took that for us, but he didn’t deserve it. Jesus is perfectly righteous. This righteous man took your place, receiving the shame from men as well as the wrath of God.
Third, he did this for a reason and it wasn’t so that cross merchandise would gain popularity throughout the world. He did it so that we would be brought back to God. In our unrighteousness we cannot be near God. Something had to be done about our sin before we could be in his presence again. This is what Jesus accomplished. Through his death we gain access to the Father whom we have lost relationship with.
Finally, although Jesus’ body was killed and buried in a tomb, his spirit was alive. In your suffering, your body may fail, but you will live on in the spirit of Christ. This verse is a grand summary of the gospel message, from start to finish. Jesus suffered for you, he became your substitute in his suffering and death, he brings you back to God, and he makes your spirit alive so that no matter what happens to you on earth, you will live on with him forever. Apply this glorious gospel to your life today, to your fears, anxieties and stresses. Find strength and hope in what Jesus has really done for you, and hold fast to the undeserved love you have received.
2 Chronicles 16:9a - For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.
In the book of Jonah, the prophet that the book is named after is told by God to go to the city of Nineveh and declare what God wanted them to hear. Nineveh was a terrible city, where the people who lived there were so corrupt that they did not even know their right hand from their left. You would think that Jonah, being a prophet of God, would jump at the chance to declare God’s words to these people, and yet he did the opposite. Jonah ran.
Jonah tried to go as far from Nineveh as he could, thinking along the way that he may even somehow escape the calling of God, and perhaps thought he could escape God himself. This wasn’t the case. As the story goes, a great storm caused the ship that Jonah was sailing on to be on the verge of sinking. Jonah was to blame for all of this, and so he, and those who were on the ship with him, were going to pay the price. Jonah was cast into the sea, but as he was sinking he prayed a prayer of repentance towards the Lord. It was then that a great fish swallowed Jonah up and a few days later spit him up onto dry land. He then made his way to Nineveh to say what God called him to say.
This message was simple. “Nineveh will be destroyed”. As far as we know, that was all there was. Amazingly, the people of Nineveh repented of their evil ways and turned to the God of Jonah. Now, why share this story when the passage in 2 Chronicles is about a different circumstance altogether? Because the fact of the matter is, you cannot run from God. Whether you are like Jonah, one of God’s chosen people, or you are a wicked Ninevite, there is no escaping God’s hand and plan.
He sees everything, knows everything there is to know, from the farthest stretches of the galaxy to the still small intentions of your heart. Jonah forgot this, and he made decisions that placed blame upon himself, and hurt those he came in contact with. The same can be said of us. God sees you, and he knows you. What then does he want to see in us? A blameless heart. Now, we know that we cannot be blameless in our hearts on our own effort, so what do we do? We cling to the promise that if we have faith in Jesus, the son of God, that his blamelessness becomes ours. What a tremendous exchange! Jesus gets our sin placed on him in his death, and we receive his blameless heart.
What then does that mean? It means that if we have been made blameless in our hearts we should pursue blamelessness in our deeds. Our hearts can still be affected negatively by the world, the flesh and the devil, so watch over yours diligently and keep it blameless before the Lord. This is the pursuit of righteousness, and incredibly, we see here that God strongly supports those whose hearts are blameless before him. He is supporting you, helping you to walk in the blamelessness that you have been given. There is no greater strength you can hope in for today than the strength of the Lord, and there is no greater support for this life than the support he alone offers you.
1 John 1:8-9 - If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Have you ever been in denial over something that has been brought to your attention? Maybe it was a mistake that you made or perhaps someone made you aware of a character flaw that you hadn’t noticed before. Whatever it was, denial happens as a sort of defense mechanism against having to think about how we’ve been wrong or when we’ve done wrong. It can also happen when you receive bad news and you don’t want to believe it, so you pretend that it didn’t happen after all.
Living in denial cannot last forever, because if what we are denying is true, there is no getting away from it. If we try to run away from the wrong things that we have done, we are running away from truth itself. Living in denial is almost like choosing to live in a completely different reality, and that will cause more harm in the long run than the initial wrongs we are unwilling to accept. In the case of these verses, if we say that we have no sin in our lives, we are rejecting the truth and are living in that false reality. The way John puts it is that we “deceive ourselves”.
People may not want to admit that they sin, but whether we acknowledge it or not, it is still in us. The first question that these verses answer for us is, “Do we have sin in our lives?” The answer it provides is a clear, “Yes”. So, if we choose to accept this, the second question is, “What do I do about this sin?” The wrong answer is to pretend it doesn’t exist. The right answer, the answer that comes from the truth, is to acknowledge your sins and then confess them.
Sin thrives in the dark. When you speak your sin to God or others, it pushes it into the light, and sin cannot live in the light. The light reveals all of the falsehood in our sin, all the pain that it causes, and we are able to see our sin for what it truly is. In some sense we know how bad our sins are, and so we continue to keep them hidden. We don’t believe that anyone could still love us if they knew of our sin. And yet, these verses say the opposite. If we go to God, he not only shines the light of truth on our sin, but he also forgives us and cleanses us from that unrighteousness.
In other words, you need not carry your sin with you, hiding it in the dark places, feeling it’s painful and damaging grip on your life. Walking in the dark strips you of strength and blinds you from the hope that exists in Christ. Today, you can confess your sins to the Lord and he will forgive you. The Puritan pastor Richard Sibbes wrote, “There is more mercy in Christ, than sin in us.” In his mercy he will forgive you, and in his love he will cleanse you.
There is sin in all of us, but Christ died for the ungodly sinner. Don’t let your sin weaken you or deceive you today. Hope in the cross of Christ and find your strength for today in the freedom from sin that you can have through Jesus who already knows your sin far better than you do, and yet he died for you, loves you, and draws near to you still.
Psalm 25:5 - Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
One of the most important aspects of a person’s childhood is their education. What we all learn in our early years is of the utmost importance because of how it shapes us and molds us for our adult life. What we learn must be true, or we risk going down unhelpful paths later in life.
There was once a mother who joked about what might happen if she taught her child that blue was pink and pink was blue. Basically, the idea was to see if the child would grow up being certain of something that was false, and wondering how that would affect her child later in life. Thankfully, she didn’t follow up on this, but the question remains, what would have happened? The child would have become a very confused adult and would have a hard time trusting anyone who told her anything because of one simple lie she learned growing up. This example reminds us that we simply must teach what’s true at all costs, from the simple and practical to the scientific and theological and everything in between.
If you think back on your years of learning, which never really stop, you probably can remember certain teachers or leaders along the way who had as much of an impact on you as what you learned. A good teacher who teaches what’s true and is affected by that truth themselves, will provide a great benefit to a student, but the opposite is also true. Our teachers and leaders affect us greatly, and this is why it is so important that they are grounded in what is true.
In this verse, the psalmist sees himself as a student and follower. We all are, and will be for the rest of our lives, even into eternity. So who does he recognize as his teacher? Who is the one who he desires to lead him? It’s God. Now, why does he look to God for his education and guidance? Because this God is the God of his salvation. If someone saves you from something, you will probably want to spend time with them, listen to them, get to know them, and so on.
So the psalmist waits for this God all day long. Perhaps he is waiting for God to lead him. Perhaps he waits on God to instruct him. Either way, he recognizes who he must follow and who he must be a student of. Are you waiting on the instruction and guidance of the Lord today? Are you spending time in God’s school, or are you living today as if you’ve already graduated, thinking you know all you need to know? The truth is, chances are, you feel very lost at times, confused at times, and uncertain of what you should do at times.
If you don’t know what to do today, you have a teacher to teach you. If you don’t know where to go, you have a leader to guide you. True strength comes from having the humility to be a lifelong learner, regardless of what you know, and truth be told, God will never run out of things to teach you. He is the God of your salvation. Wait on him and he will show you great and mighty things you have not yet known.
Romans 3:23-24 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Having standards is important in life. While many don’t like tests or like to be held to a certain standard, it is necessary for us to have them. If you are learning something in school, there is a standard level of understanding you need to have in your subjects in order to pass each class and graduate. If you want to advance in your career you need to know what the standard is for you to reach in order to be worthy of a promotion. Without knowing what is expected of you, there would be no reason to grow, mature or change in any meaningful way.
What causes us to not like standards is that they reveal to us where we are lacking in certain areas. No one likes to hear about their weaknesses or where they’ve failed, or what they don’t understand. Everyone wants to be told that they are fine just the way they are and if they can’t reach the expected standard, everything is fine and they aren’t the problem, the standard is.
And yet, regardless of how we feel about having standards to measure ourselves up against, we can’t escape them. God himself has given a standard to which we are all called to live under and conform our lives to. Namely, his holiness and perfection, which we see displayed in his glory. Think of the visual images we have in God’s word of how God has revealed himself. Pillars of fire and smoke. Terrifying and awe inspiring clouds on Mount Sanai. These are manifestations of God’s holiness and perfection, and this is what we call God’s glory, which none of us can live up to.
He is the standard, and we know the standard because he has revealed himself to us. We can choose to scoff at this standard and walk away in our pride, or we can bow before this glorious God in awe and humility. In our pride, we can try to measure up to God’s glory by doing things that we think look glorious, but next to God, are actually filthy rags. No matter what we offer up to God in our own efforts, sin has tainted it. We cannot measure up to God on our own.
He has to do the work, and he has. Being justified, or made right with God, is only possible through the perfect, holy, glorious gift of God in the person of Jesus Christ. What we bring to the table is sin and failure to live up to the standard. What God brings to the table is the gift of justification and redemption, but it isn’t wrapped up in a box for us to unwrap. The gift is Jesus himself, offering himself up for us so that we can have a seat at the table at all.
When we don’t measure up to the standards set before us, we recognize how weak we are. This is especially true when held against the standard of the glory of God. But take heart, Christian. Your weakness becomes strength through the strength of Christ. He met the standard, and all you need do is believe he did and follow his lead and God sees Jesus’ strength and perfection in your place. Find your strength in the fact that if you have accepted the gift of Christ, you are seated at the table of redemption and justification today, and you will be seated there with God from here to eternity.
Proverbs 22:1 - A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.
In this proverb, we see a contrast between two things that we can possess. One is an abundance of money or wealth, and the other is being seen as a righteous person in the eyes of others. What do you find yourself desiring more? Perhaps you think it would be great if you could have both at the same time. In this case, the writer of this proverb sees one as better than the other. Why is that?
The allure of great riches is something that we all face from time to time. We may even have good motives for wanting a lot of money in our bank account. We might say, “If I had more money I would be able to give more to help others. I could support more missions work. I could be more hospitable” and so on. But it is not uncommon to have selfish desires mixed into our hopes for more wealth as well. Perhaps it’s better clothes, a better car, a more comfortable lifestyle or being able to eat out more often. None of these things are necessary, but it often happens that when we get a little more money, we tend to quickly think of how we can spend it. If you have any doubt of that, look at how people get excited for getting their taxes back every year!
Some people desire wealth with purely selfish motives in mind. They think that if they have money then they will gain respect and influence. They may even find their identity in their wealth, seeing themselves as valuable in this world because of the value of their stock portfolio or their home or their jewelry or their car. But what happens when that wealth is stripped away? Suddenly their whole life is in shambles, they don’t know who they are, and they find themselves alone and desperate.
A good name, or being known as a righteous person is the far better goal to strive for. This means that you desire first and foremost to do good in the world according to what God calls “good”. Some people do good things so that they will be noticed by others and have a great reputation. However, we shouldn’t live righteous lives to be noticed. We should choose righteousness because it is good. If a good reputation comes from that, then so be it, but that is not the reason for righteous living.
In both cases, whether that be riches or reputation, we can be tempted to desire how others see us more than simply living as God intends us to. Being known as a righteous, good, godly person far outweighs any wealth that you could possess in this life. Who you are matters much more than what you have. As you pursue the things of the day, money is certainly a necessity for being able to live, but think of concerning yourself more with a righteous life which will shine brightly to those around you. You may be seen as a good person and you may even receive favor from others as a result, but the far greater result is that by living a righteous life, others may see your good works and end up glorifying your Father in heaven because of them. Money comes and goes, but a righteous life is of eternal significance.
Philippians 2:9-11 - Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
How does someone become famous in the world? Usually it is because they have done something great that stands above the normal achievements of everyday life. Their name becomes known through word of mouth and various forms of media, and if they are the best of the best, their name may go down in history with the prestigious title “greatest of all time” attached to it.
Whether it’s Muhammad Ali in boxing, Michael Jordan in basketball, Albert Einstein in physics, or Serena Williams in tennis; their names will be associated with the sport, career, science or skill that they gave their time and energy to. We lift these people up because in one sense, they deserve the praise that they receive for the skill with which they do what they do. We also praise them because there is a certain awe that we have of them, which causes us to tell others about them. Whether it’s showing clips of their efforts, telling others to read their books, or whatever it may be, we prioritize these people, making them famous in the world.
And yet in a few hundred years, one can’t help but wonder if these names will be as famous, or prominent in our minds as they are today. As much as we like to think that what is popular and famous now will always be, that just isn’t the case. Our praise for people will fade as the world passes from one generation to the next, and whoever becomes famous in the next generation will face the same fate.
But there is one name that has stood the test of time, and for good reason. Why is it that the name of Jesus is still so well known and revered today? How has he had such longevity? It is because men and women are not the ones ultimately responsible for his exaltation, but rather, God the Father is. He has exalted the name of Jesus above every other name in history, so it will remain that way forever.
Jesus is associated with power, salvation, grace, mercy, judgement, wisdom, and so on. He is not famous because he is the greatest of all time in one arena. He is famous because he is the greatest of all time, period. Therefore, every knee will one day bow to this great Jesus. Every tongue will confess that he is Lord, whether they believed in him or not. God will receive the glory through the fame of Jesus, and everyone of us will take part in glorifying him.
If you are in Christ, think of how glorious and wonderful Jesus truly is. Think of what he has said. Think of what he has done. As God has exalted him, so must we. As we talk of modern day celebrities, let us talk all the more of the greatness of our Lord Jesus. Even as the highly exalted king, he has drawn near to you and cares for you. Make much of him today, and every day. He truly is the greatest of all time, and his name will never be forgotten.
Romans 4:5 - And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
How do you know that what you are doing in this life is good and right? How do you determine whether something is moral or not? Is there a standard righteousness to which all people are called to, or can we as human beings define righteousness on our own terms? Throughout history humanity has come up with all kinds of differing views on what is right and wrong, and that continues into today. As cultures shift, new standards are put into place of whether you are living a righteous life or not, and judgements are made against those who don’t measure up.
The problem is that no human definition of righteousness is going to be perfect or universal. When we define right and wrong we do it from our limited perspectives and we allow our own wants and desires to guide our definitions of good and evil. No matter how hard we try, our man-made righteousness will always be up for debate, and therefore it can be replaced by anyone who has the loudest voice or is the most persuasive.
Wherever we find our definition of righteousness, that is the measurement to which we are all held, and we will be judged and possibly punished for not satisfying those requirements. As Christians, we know that right and wrong is not defined by us, but by an outside force. We recognize that our defined standards are inherently weak and unsatisfactory for our lives. We know that a standard has to come from outside of ourselves. We believe that God is the one who has determined and defined these things.
This means we also understand that because this is true, he also has a standard to which we are to conduct our lives. Unfortunately we all fall short of this, which is why we are referred to as “ungodly”. We are far from God, not knowing our right hand from our left, which makes righteousness impossible before God. It is for this reason that we cannot ever earn justification or righteousness by simply doing the right things.
It is not our works that save us, but our belief in the God who does. Doing good things cannot make you righteous today because only God can restore a person to a right relationship with himself. This is why we live by faith, looking to God to tell us how to live and how to conduct ourselves in this world. He defines what is right, and he alone makes us right before him.
As you think about how you will live today, don’t make the right choices because you are trying to earn redemption from the Lord. If you have faith in Christ, you have already been redeemed and there is nothing more that you can add to what Jesus has already done. Do good because God is worthy of it, and trust that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. By faith in Christ you no longer walk as an ungodly person with no guidance, but you walk today as one who has been made godly in his sight, receiving the righteousness of Christ as your own.
Psalm 37:23-24 - The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.
When we wake up each morning, most of us have some sort of plan or schedule for our day. We think about what we are going to do, where we are going to go, and what we would like to accomplish. More often than not, we can find ourselves getting so caught up in our little world, that we can forget that as children of God, one of the main goals we have for our lives is to walk in righteousness. This is one of the guiding principles in the Christian life: to live a righteous life before God in this world.
If we were to think about what God would want us to do each day, we may find ourselves realizing some of the truths in these verses more and more. Going to the Lord at the start of the day shows that you understand the first truth in this verse. We will take many steps, but God is the one who establishes them. We may have plans, but his established plan will prevail over ours every time. The rebellious part of us doesn’t like this very much, but if we were to see his plan for us as perfect and good, then it may not bother us as much as the uncertainty of our own plans, many of which we can’t actually control.
Believing that God is the one who has established our way helps us to walk in confidence, boldness and courage. We can trust him that whatever happens, he is not surprised by it, and therefore we need not fear it. As we walk in faith, God actually delights in us. We talk a lot about delighting in God, but here we see that he actually delights in us when we walk in the way he has given us.
Not only do we have him delighting in us as we walk with him, but we see that even if we were to fall, we will not ultimately fall because the Lord is with us. What is even more profound is that God isn’t walking far away from us, leading us from a distance, but he is close enough to where when we begin to fall, he holds our hand to keep us steady. Oh how often we forget how much God loves his children! He delights in us when we walk in his ways and he holds us up when those ways are challenging and cause us to stumble.
Today you will take many steps, and you can choose to walk in the righteousness of the Lord or you can choose to simply get the things of the day completed before you have to go to sleep. Look to the Lord for this day, trusting him and his love for you. The way of the Lord is not an easy path, but it is a good one. No matter how difficult the steps before you become, you are never alone. You always have the Lord to hold your hand and carry you through, delighting in you all along the way. The Lord knows far better than we do regarding the road ahead. Hold fast to him today, as he holds fast to you.
John 15:5 - I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
There is an age old philosophical question that goes like this, “What came first, the chicken or the egg?” In order to answer the question we need to think about the order of things by asking another question. “Is it possible to get an egg without a chicken to lay it?” Through a basic understanding of how the world works, we would say, “No”. An egg comes from a chicken, so if there are no chickens, there will be no eggs.
Similarly, in the example Jesus gives in this verse, you cannot get fruit unless you first have a tree. There would be no grapes, if there were no grapevines. This order of things is important to understand, because if we get the order backwards, there will be no growth or life. You first plant the grapevine’s roots, then the trunk begins to grow arms, and those arms bring about shoots that become branches. As long as those branches stay connected to the vine, they will be healthy and bear fruit. If the branch is removed from the vine, it’s ability to grow fruit is gone and it ultimately dries up and dies.
So in the order of things, Jesus comes first. He is the foundation of our lives, and in him we see the fulfillment of our lives. If we think that we can grow without him, we are mistaken. Truth be told, if we are not found in him, we have no life at all. If we see ourselves as the foundation of our bearing fruit in this life, we will never have the life that God intended us to have. Our life begins and ends in Christ. We are born of him, we live in him, and we produce good because of him.
As you think about your life today, who or what are you looking to to sustain you and give you life? Who or what are you trusting in to give you what you need each day to be healthy and productive? Apart from Jesus, you can do nothing, but if he is in you, think about what he might produce through you. As delicious as grapes are, or any kind of fruit for that matter, God is producing in you the kind of fruit that brings hope to the broken, help to weary, salvation to the lost, and light to those in darkness.
Taste and see that he is good, and thank God that today he is at work producing a fruit of eternal value in your life as long as you abide in him. Is there anything better than to be found in him? Given what Jesus has said in this one verse alone, you would be hard pressed to find a better vine. What a tremendous gift of mercy it is that by his love and grace we can be found in him.
Isaiah 53:6 - All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
If someone were to ask you, “What kind of animal are you like?” what do you think you would say? Some people might think of themselves as a strong animal like a lion or a bear. Others may see themselves as being similar to an intelligent animal like a dolphin or a primate. It’s probably fair to say that if asked this question, most of us would respond by naming an animal that we think is really interesting, majestic, resourceful, brave, or any other positive quality.
Yet, in this verse, we are said to be like sheep. Unfortunately for us, this isn’t the only time we are referred to in this way and we can see that throughout scripture we carry this association. Even though we may possess qualities similar to the animals that are brave, bold, beautiful and so on, God continually redirects us to the reality that as much as we might not want to be like sheep, we are.
Sheep are moderately intelligent, but they are also fearful and defenseless against outside threats. Without the herd, a sheep will find itself in tremendous danger as it simply doesn’t have the ability to protect itself or make good decisions on its own. Simply said, sheep need to be in the care of others in order to survive. Yet in this verse, we are referred to as sheep who have gone astray. We have left the shepherd and his flock behind and are wandering the world.
Interestingly, this verse tells us that it’s not some of us who have done this, but rather that everyone has. And what have we turned to instead of the shepherd? We have turned to ourselves to determine what is best. Given what we know about sheep, this is a recipe for disaster. We may think that we know where we are going and what we are doing, but it’s not long before some difficulty or challenge comes in our way, and we realize that we truly are sheep, defenseless and lost without a shepherd and flock to guide, help and protect us.
This abandoning of the great shepherd for our own way is sin, or iniquity, and it is something that humanity has been doing since the fall of Adam and Eve. So in our natural position, we walk like sheep without a flock and without a shepherd, and this will lead us to more sin and to situations where because we think we know what’s best, we actually find ourselves in dire danger.
So God sends the savior, Jesus. The great shepherd comes into the world to save the sheep, but he does it in a way that the sheep did not expect. He doesn’t just find them and bring them home. He takes all their iniquity and puts it into himself. This is what he has done for us. Your sin, leading to selfish wandering was laid on Jesus so that you could be brought into his flock. Because he has taken your sin, you are no longer a lost wandering sheep, and all of heaven rejoices in your being found by him. You need not wander in ignorance and selfishness today, you can follow Jesus, the shepherd of your soul, and in him find the defense and help you need in this world of danger and trouble.
Romans 5:6 - For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
There are two words used in this verse to describe humanity, neither of which we would typically want someone to use when talking about us. The first is the word, “weak”, and the second is the word, “ungodly”. Weakness is not something that we like to admit, because when we are weak, it means that we are unable to do certain things that we otherwise should be able to do. Weakness indicates that something is missing or lacking, and when we hear that we are weak, we tend to take that personally.
In this case, our weakness is our inability to live up to the standard God has given us. No matter how hard we try, we will always fall short of the glory of God. In and of ourselves, we can’t save ourselves from God’s wrath, we can’t pay for the sins that we have committed or will commit in the future. We are weak with regard to temptation, and we are weak in our defense against the devil’s attacks. Truth be told, we are far less strong than we imagine ourselves to be.
Our weakness affects us in many ways, but perhaps the greatest threat it poses is in our pursuit of morality, holiness and goodness. This leads to Paul using the word “ungodly” to describe humanity in our natural state. We may be made in the image of God, but when it comes to how we live, we make all kinds of decisions that are contrary to that image. We carry with us a natural leaning towards rebellion and autonomy from God to the point where Paul later refers to us as enemies of God.
How does it feel to be called weak and ungodly? When you think of yourself in those terms, are you quick to want to defend yourself, or do you recognize that these words are accurate? If you deny these things, you will most likely see no value in Christ dying for you. If you are already strong enough and godly enough on your own, what good is a promised savior? However, if you see that these statements are true about you, then you will see hope and salvation in the death of Christ, and you will be glad that you have someone far greater than yourself to rely on and trust in.
God has given us a strong savior in Jesus. He has given us a perfectly moral savior in Jesus. Not only that, but He is the savior who came at just the right time. If you had to think of the perfect time in history for Jesus to come into the world and do what he did, what time would you come up with? No doubt, it would be impossible for any of us to know when that perfect time would be. Yet, God knew, and in his perfect will and plan Jesus died at the perfect time.
Live your day today believing these things. You were weak, but now you have strength in Christ. You were ungodly, but now you have been given the godliness of Christ. You were once an enemy of God, but now you live as his child through Christ. These things are true of you today and tomorrow as well, through faith in Jesus. What great mercy and comfort we have through him!
1 Timothy 2:1-2 - First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
Each and every day we wake up to a world that is chaotic and loud. It is a world where people often choose evil over good and revel in what is shameful. How are we to live our lives in a world like this without being swept up in all of that ourselves? The answer is a simple one, and yet it is something that is far too easily neglected. It is simply this, go to God in prayer.
In the hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, we find the following words, “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!” These words couldn’t be more true, and there is no doubt that many have felt the lack of peace that they could have in their life, if only they would take all their sorrows and worries to the Lord.
Perhaps it is our naive idea that we are in control, or maybe it is a matter of unbelief in God and his ability to do wonderful works in our world. Whatever the reason, living each day without prayer would be like trying to climb Mt. Everest in nothing but a swimsuit and flip flops. No one would even think of doing such a thing. Without the proper gear you wouldn’t be able to battle the harsh conditions of the mountain, and there is no way you would make it to the summit. And yet, when we wake up in the morning, we often forget or neglect to put on the gear God has given us to not only get through the day, but to be able to reach the summit in the end.
What are the different kinds of gear that we take with us each day in our prayers? We take supplications which are prayers where we humbly ask God for help. We take intercessions which are prayers to God on the behalf of others. We take thankfulness, remembering what God has done and praising him for it. With all of these kinds of prayers at our disposal, it is no wonder that Paul urges Christians to do this.
We have the ability, through Christ, to go to God in prayer. You can talk with him today. Think about that. At this very moment, you can take all the chaos, loudness, ungodliness, and shame in your own life to God, and you can trust that he is with you, listening, and engaging with you in those prayers. Paul reminds us that it doesn’t stop with us though. If we truly want a peaceful, quiet, godly and dignified life, we simply must be praying for all people, including the people whom God has placed in authority, whether they be governing in godly or ungodly ways.
Our peace in this world, as far as Paul is concerned, is directly tied to our prayer life. If you are lacking peace today, perhaps it is because you also lack prayer. Go to God and enjoy the sweet fellowship of his presence where you will no doubt find peace, stability and rest for your weary soul, as well as guidance and wisdom for the days ahead.
January 5th
Proverbs 15:1 - A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
If you’ve spent any time with a group of children, you’ve probably seen what happens when two or more of them disagree on something. Rather than calmly talking through the issue, their voices get louder and louder, and the tone of their voices can change quickly to being very pointed and harsh. They don’t realize they are doing this, of course, because what matters most in that moment is being right, or proving the other person wrong. You may have experienced this at some point yourself, growing up in this world, and have seen how hurtful these kinds of interactions can be, and how long relationships can be affected by them.
The sad truth is that this doesn’t only happen with children. It seems that no matter how old we are, we can often find ourselves responding with cutting words or bringing the verbal hammer down on those with whom we disagree. This is especially true when it’s someone that you have a close and meaningful relationship with. It’s not uncommon for husbands and wives to let their words fly when conflict arises, doing far more damage than good. Brothers and sisters can say all kinds of nasty things to one another, arguing about all kinds of things. Unfortunately, the fallout from using our words in these ways can be devastating. How many relationships are broken because the tongue has not been tamed?
This proverb teaches us self control. When you respond to someone, respond with softness, or in other words, gentleness. This is challenging for us because we can feel that if we don’t compete or overpower the other person in the realm of verbal warfare that we will leave ourselves defenseless. And yet, over and over again the word of God teaches us to respond with a soft answer rather than a harsh one. You see this example in Jesus when he was arrested and put on trial. He faced all kinds of verbal abuse and yet when he spoke, his words were careful and subdued. We see similar responses in the book of Acts with how Jesus’ disciples responded to the persecutions they experienced.
A violent word may forcefully win the argument, but it almost certainly will not win the person with whom you have conflict. A soft word is a self controlled word, and a self controlled word brings far more stability to a time of conflict than a harsh one does. You will no doubt have plenty of opportunities today and tomorrow to practice a soft response, which it’s important to note, is still a response. God is not calling us to not speak up, but he is calling us to speak up in a way that is full of honor, respect and love. None of us want more wrath and fury in our lives. All of us want peace. Consider this proverb today, and know that if the Spirit of God dwells within you, you have the ability in his power to change the use of your speech to be an instrument of grace, goodness and peace, rather than a weapon of war leading to hurt and pain. There is hope for our speech, and thanks be to God for that.
John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
The lives that have been given to us are short. It seems that the older you get, the more you realize the brevity of life and the more you begin to think about what comes after. This precious life that we have is not only short, but fragile as well. It doesn’t matter where you live, how much money you have, who you know, or how advanced the medical care is; nobody can ultimately stop death when it comes.
People throughout history have wondered what comes after we die, if anything at all. According to God’s word, the reason we even have to concern ourselves with death at all is because of the sinful fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve. It’s fair to assume that had they not sinned against God, they would have lived as long as God intended, that is, forever. The desire for this eternal life and home with God is wired into every person, and whether we want to acknowledge that or not, we can’t seem to escape the question, “Is there more than just this life?”
Jesus’ response to that question is a clear, “Yes”, but that “yes” is based on two choices that we make. The first choice is whether or not we believe in Jesus as the Son of God. Why is this important? Because if Jesus is the Son of God, then he has the power to confront and eliminate our sin problem that leads to death. He is calling us to believe in his words and his works, trusting that he is the promised savior who would bring life to those who otherwise would only know death. This belief is the first necessity for eternal life with God, but it requires us to make another choice.
It’s not only belief that Jesus mentions here. He also mentions obedience to what he has commanded. Many people profess belief in Jesus, in fact even the demons do that, but in order to see life with God that we all long for, obedience to Jesus is necessary. Obedience is one of those words that can cause us to tense up, but that should not be the case with Jesus. He is a kind, true, loving, generous, compassionate master whose desire is for our good to the point of where he served us by dying for us.
The wrath of God is what you deserve, and yet God has given you the suffering servant, Jesus Christ. He has walked before you and is walking with you. He has given you commands to guide you and to bring you health and good. Trust that whatever obedience he calls you to, he will help you to follow through with it, and in the end you have eternal life with him to look forward to. He has paved the way. Believe in him. Follow him. Trust him. Obey him. Eternal life awaits, and what a glorious promised land it will be.
Psalm 118:13-14 - I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
Can you remember a time when you felt the kind of pressure that the psalmist wrote about in these verses? In his case, he had been surrounded by enemy nations who were seeking to destroy him. Not many of us can relate to that exact situation, but we all have seasons in our lives when we feel as though we are being pushed around and knocked over to the point of where we feel like we are in some sort of free fall, ready to hit the ground at any moment.
When these times come upon us, it’s easy to find ourselves falling into all kinds of thoughts and emotions. We can fall into depression, anxiety, fear or despair. We can fall into a place where we feel alone and hopeless. No matter what it is that is pushing upon us, the threat of falling is there. If you have ever seen someone become so weak or sick that they begin to fall while they are standing, you know how frightening that can be to just watch it happen. Imagine how it feels for the person who is falling! Feeling yourself become weak and helpless to the point of where you can’t hold yourself up any longer creates a feeling of desperation. Where will help come from now, we might wonder. Then imagine that you suddenly feel another person’s arms coming under your own, bearing the weight of your body so that you don’t collapse, further injuring yourself from the fall. Think of the relief that would come, even if you still feel weak and unable to stand.
This is what the Lord does for us. He is our helper in times of great need. He holds us up when we are weak and lack the strength to continue on. The help of the Lord can come in all kinds of ways, some of which we may not have even considered as the help we needed in that moment. Yet, he is always with us. There will never be a time when he will allow you to fall completely. Think back on times when you were pushed to the point of falling. Now think on what the Lord must have done to keep you from how far you could have fallen. You may not be able to see exactly what he did, but he was there, holding you up, supporting you, carrying you along until you could walk again. But then again, we always carry weakness with us, a sort of limp that will always require God to hold us a little bit.
This was the song of the psalmist. The Lord is our strength, always! Singing is proclamation, but done in a way that is both intentional and beautiful. We proclaim his strength because without it, we would have no salvation. When Jesus was surrounded by those who had put him on the cross, enemies all around, he trusted in the strength and love of the Father. Whatever you experience today, think on how the Lord has sustained you in the past, and proclaim that truth to yourself. His strength is with you today and you can know that he will be with you tomorrow and the day after that. Thanks be to the Lord, his steadfast love endures forever!
John 3:3 - Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
What does it mean to be born again? When Jesus said this, it was during a conversation with a man named, Nicodemus. Nicodemus was as confused as he could be. He was a Jewish religious leader and teacher, but upon hearing these words, he was dumbfounded. Even as a spiritual leader, his mind went immediately to how physically impossible it was for a person to be born a second time.
Nicodemus was waiting for the messiah to come, longing for the day when the kingdom of God would be established. And yet, it seems that Nicodemus was looking at the kingdom as an earthly one, where the messiah would rule and reign as the Jewish king. If Nicodemus was going to see this kind of kingdom, being born a second time seemed pointless and illogical. The problem that Nicodemus had was that he was looking to the material world to make sense of the spiritual reality that Jesus had in mind.
Think of all the problems that this world has, from suffering to sickness to wars and everything in between. We see these as great problems, and they are, but they are merely the symptoms of a greater need that all of us share. We are born into this world spiritually dead. A spiritually dead person isn’t a whole person and in being spiritually dead, can’t see or experience God’s spiritual kingdom. This is the problem. We need life, and no kingdom or ruler or power in this world can give it to us. We need a home, but there is no place in this world that we can call home forever.
So here we see Jesus, the truth giver, reminding us to look at our spiritual state and telling us that there is a solution to our problem, and that is to be born again through him. Jesus isn’t only the truth giver, but the life giver as well, and the new life that he gives promises us that there is a great and glorious and vast and marvelous kingdom for us to call home.
Think of how amazing it is to know that you have life in Christ through faith. You are not dead, but truly alive, full of the lifeblood of the grace of God. This new life is yours today and everyday. Live in it. Enjoy it. Walk in it. Hold fast to it. Thank God for it. No matter what happens this day, if you have been born again in Christ, nothing can take that life away, and nothing will ever be able to strip from you the glorious kingdom of God that is yours now and forevermore.
Psalm 55:22 - Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. What burdens do you find yourself bringing with you today? Perhaps some terrible circumstance came into your life yesterday that is weighing heavily on you. Maybe it’s some long standing difficulty that you’ve been unable to get rid of. Whether that be chronic illness, broken relationships, depression, anxiety, habitual sin or anything else; burdens are hard to bear because at the very least they are simply heavy and cumbersome and at worst their effect can stretch into so many areas of our lives. In the story, Pilgrim’s Progress written by John Bunyan, the main character, Christian, comes to realize that he is carrying a burden on his back after God’s word revealed it to him. Once he realized how large and heavy this burden was, he wanted nothing more than to have it removed. So off he went, searching for the one who would remove it from his back. Along the way he met others who would try to help him, but to no avail. Finally, upon reaching the cross of Christ his burden falls from his back and he finds himself in relief and joy. Our burdens can be so heavy that we think that we need to build up our own strength to overcome them, and yet, the Lord tells us that where we find our true strength and true relief is not in ourselves, but in casting our burdens on him. Only in giving our burdens to him will we find sustaining help and a firmness in where we stand and walk each day. Why? Because while we are easily overcome by our burdens, they are like nothing to our great Lord God. New burdens may come, threatening to knock you over with their weight, but the Lord will not permit you to be moved, because he is the one holding you steady and secure. Think of how Jesus was able to calm the storm that threatened to take the lives of his disciples. He may not always calm our storms, but we know that he can, and we know that he is with us. Find your strength in the Lord, casting your burdens on him today rather than carrying them upon yourself, and know that he will be there not only today, but he will be your strength and sustainer tomorrow as well.