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The Gospel Defined
“And they were preaching the gospel there” (Acts 14:7).
What is the gospel? We know we should preach the gospel and live by the gospel, but do we know what the gospel is?
A literal translation of the word “gospel” is good news. Now, sometimes before we can appreciate the Good News, we first have to know the bad news.
Here’s the bad news: We’re all sinners. The Bible says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). And 1 John 1:8 tells us, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth”.
If you’re sharing your faith with someone, don’t assume they’ll necessarily know what sin is. In the Bible, we can translate the word “sin” in different ways. We can translate it as “trespass,” which means to cross the line. Another translation comes from the Greek word hamartia, which means “to miss the mark.”
When the Bible says that we’ve sinned or missed the mark, it means that we’ve fallen short of God’s standard for humanity. And what is that standard? It’s perfection.
Are we perfect? No, we aren’t.
That is where Jesus comes in. Because God knew we could not hit this mark, because God knew we could not be perfect people, Jesus died on the cross for our sin. That’s the good news. Romans 5:6 says, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners”.
Here’s the first verse every Christian should memorize: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
That is the gospel in a nutshell. Share it with someone. Let’s not turn the Good News into bad news by the way we deliver it, distort it, or leave out parts of it. Let’s deliver the explosive, dynamic, gospel.
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“Dunamis” Power
“Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2).
Jonah had 40 days to reach 300,000 people with God’s message. So with urgency he went and preached to the Ninevites.
The Bible says that we should preach the Word and be persistent, whether the time is favorable or not (see 2 Timothy 4:2). But preaching doesn’t mean yelling. Preaching is proclamation.
It’s one thing to elevate your voice so that a large crowd can hear you. But I’ve actually seen Christians yelling at people. Don’t do that. Calm down. Lower your volume. Listen more, and lovingly share in an understandable way the things someone needs to hear.
The primary way that God has chosen to reach nonbelievers is through the verbal articulation of the gospel. You may preach it, you may text it, you may tweet it, or you may share it conversationally. But the idea is telling people there is a God in Heaven who loves them and sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for their sin and rise from the dead three days later.
The Bible tells us there are only two things that have power: God Himself and the gospel. Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).
In the original language, the word for power that Paul used is the Greek word dunamis.
When a man named Alfred Nobel invented a material that exploded, there never had been anything like it. As he thought about what he would name this explosive device, he talked with a friend who knew Greek. Nobel asked him what the Greek word was for explosive power, and his friend said it was dunamis. So Alfred Nobel named his invention dynamite.
There’s dynamic, dunamis, explosive power in the simple message of the gospel.
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FEAR NOT!
Acts 4:31
When they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness
Fear is a powerful controller. It either compels us to do what is irresponsible or it impedes us from living responsibly. Recently a denominational executive spoke in our chapel, and his opening statement was, "As I travel among our pastors, I'm overwhelmed by the realization that the number one motivation in their lives is fear of failure."
After several years of teaching evangelism and overseeing evangelistic outreaches, I can tell you with confidence that the number one reason people don't share their faith is fear. Agoraphobia, fear of being in public, is one of the fastest growing psychological disorders. Fear of failure, fear of the devil, fear of man, fear of everything is plaguing our society.
Do you know that the most frequent command of Jesus in the Gospels is "Fear not"? In anticipation of Israel's entrance into the Promised Land, God tells His people four times "Be strong and courageous" (Joshua 1). The writer of Proverbs says, "The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion" (Proverbs 28:1).
The fact that God doesn't look favorably on cowards and unbelievers is made evident in Revelation 21:8: "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Does it surprise you that cowardly, unbelieving people are listed in a rogue's gallery with murderers and liars?
It is a characteristic of the Spirit-filled life to be bold (Acts 4:31). The early church didn't pray for "divine appointments;" they prayed for boldness. God's kingdom can only be established by faithful and courageous people.
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Resurrection Woman
“So the people came streaming from the village to see him” (John 4:30).
She would go to draw water in the heat of the day, when no one else was at the well. The other women went there earlier in the day and caught up on the village gossip. But they ostracized her because of the life she’d chosen to live.
But one day she arrived to find someone waiting for her: Jesus Christ, the very Son of God. He went out of His way to meet with her because unbeknownst to her, she had an appointment with God.
Jesus entered her world, and she heard the truth of His message. He told her how, if she drank of the water He gave her, she never would thirst again, and there would be a well of living water coming out of her life. So she believed.
And when she realized she had been talking with the Messiah, she left her water jar, ran back to the village, and said, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” (John 4:29). The next verse tells us, “So the people came streaming from the village to see him” (verse 30).
We don’t know this woman’s name, but she was a resurrection woman, a woman who had been changed. She had a bad reputation, but the people in the village saw her passion and her excitement for what Christ had done for her. As a result, they came and wanted to see and hear Jesus for themselves.
Interestingly, 79 percent of unchurched people agree with the following statement: “I don’t mind talking to a friend about their faith if they really value it.” They want to see if you actually believe it yourself and value it yourself.
When you’re sharing your faith with others, there’s power in your personal story. You just need to be willing to share it.
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Not Coincidence but Providence
“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives” (Psalm 37:23).
Sometimes I’ll be out and about and sense that I should start a conversation with a certain person. I don’t know anything about them, and I don’t know the conversation will go. But I’ve come to realize that I need to respond to those promptings of the Holy Spirit.
That’s how it starts. It’s just a little nudge, a little direction from the Holy Spirit.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is that of the beauty queen, Hadassah. We also know her as Esther. She was a young Jewish woman whose cousin, Mordecai, raised her after her parents died.
The king of Persia wanted a new queen, so he held a beauty contest. Incredibly, Hadassah won that contest and became the queen of Persia. But then a villain named Haman launched a sinister plan to exterminate the Jewish people. And the king, who didn’t know that Hadassah was Jewish, signed a decree that every Jew would be put to death on a specified day.
Meanwhile, Hadassah was oblivious to what was going on. So Mordecai delivered a message to her at the palace: “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).
In other words, “This is your wake-up call, Hadassah. This is why you are where you are. You’re not here by coincidence; you’re here by Providence to save your people. And if you don’t do it, God will find someone else.”
Did it ever occur to you that God has placed you right where you are to reach certain people? Maybe God has been nudging you lately to talk to you someone you know. Seize the moment.
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Change Starts Here
“The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow” (Jonah 3:5).
When we think of the story of Jonah, we tend to focus on the whale. But the book of Jonah is not about a whale, or a “great fish,” as the Bible refers to it. There are only two verses that deal with the creature that swallowed the prophet. The rest of the book is the story of a massive revival that came about through the efforts of one man.
God called Jonah to preach to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria and a city of around 300,000 people.
Jonah, however, didn’t want to go preach to the Ninevites. So God sent a great wind, which caused a great storm, and then a great fish ultimately swallowed Jonah. But the ultimate story of Jonah is about a great God who showed great love to a lost city like Nineveh and offered them His forgiveness.
If we miss that, then we’ve missed the whole point of the story.
God turned around 300,000 people through the preaching of one man. But it takes a changed person to change other people, and the change started with Jonah himself. In the belly of that great fish, Jonah had a personal revival. He repented of his sin and recommitted himself to the Lord, willing to do what the Lord had called him to do.
Then the whale opened his mouth and vomited Jonah onto the beach. I wonder what Jonah looked like. He probably smelled worse than anyone the Ninevites had smelled before.
Yet Jonah delivered God’s message: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” (Jonah 3:4). Jonah was the right man at the right place at the right time.
In the same way, we want to be the “Jonahs” in our neighborhood, in our families, and in our spheres of influence. How will you allow God to use you today?
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The Benefits of Sharing Your Faith
“I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart” (Psalm 40:8).
Sometimes as Christians, we find ourselves down and depressed and lethargic, even though we’re reading our Bibles, praying, going to church, and fellowshipping with other believers. A depression of sorts has come into our lives, and we wonder why.
Of course, there is the reality of clinical depression, and some people have a serious struggle with this. But there is another kind of depression that many of us have as Christians, and there’s something we can do to deal with it. In fact, it’s a ten-step cure for depression.
The first step is to find someone who has greater needs than you do, and then do something for them. The second step is to repeat the first step nine more times.
The idea is to look at the needs of others and share Jesus with them. Satan wants to steal your joy as a Christian, and he wants to keep people from coming to Christ because it’s a direct threat to the kingdom of darkness. The Devil is unhappy that you transferred your citizenship from his kingdom to God’s kingdom. He’s unhappy that you changed your eternal address from Hell to Heaven.
Yet God wants us to share our faith because He chooses to reach people through people. Romans 10:14 points out, “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?”.
Of course, God could do this work without us. He could roll away the heavens, poke His face through, and say, “Hello, humanity! I’m God and you’re not. Believe in Me right now!”
Instead, God chooses to reach people through people. So, let’s get grounded in our faith and help others come to believe in Jesus.
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The Greatest Joy of All
“They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest” (Psalm 126:6).
I believe that sharing your faith can be exciting, joyful, and—dare I use the word—fun. Psalm 126:6 says, “They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest”.
You go out with sadness, concerned for people who don’t know the Lord. But you come back with joy, because people have come to Christ. As C S Lewis pointed out, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.”
Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). That is certainly true when we share the message of the gospel.
There’s joy in Heaven every time someone puts their faith in Jesus Christ. In the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus said, “There is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” (Luke 15:7).
So, if there’s joy in Heaven, there ought to be joy on Earth and in our hearts as well.
Next to personally knowing the Lord, the greatest joy I know is bringing others to Him and then watching them grow and be transformed. The apostle John wrote, “I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth” (3 John 1:4).
There is joy in telling people about Jesus and seeing them grow in Him. Paul wrote to the believers in Thessalonica about the great joy he was experiencing as he watched them grow spiritually. He said, “After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you!” (1 Thessalonians 2:19).
The happiest Christians I know are evangelistic Christians. When you’re pointing someone to Christ and they come to believe in Him, that’s the greatest joy of all.
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A Spiritual Reboot
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you” (Psalm 51:12).
Evangelist Billy Sunday said, “They tell me a revival is only temporary; so is a bath, but it does you good.”
Periodically, we need a spiritual reboot. Revival is like the spark that starts the engine. We need God to intervene, and we need to keep fuel on the fire.
Years ago, I was staying at a friend’s cabin, which had no central heating. That meant getting a fire started in the fireplace and then keeping wood on the fire. Everything was going great, except the fireplace was filling up with ash. And the metal bucket for disposing of the ashes was filling up to the top.
A while later, I was sure the embers in the bucket had cooled off. It had been a long time. So I took the bucket outside, where it was very cold and very dark. Then I threw out the ashes. Much to my surprise, a few embers fell out with the ashes. And before I knew it, little fires had started.
Thankfully, I somehow managed to put out all the flames before the fires spread.
In the same way, revival is the spark that starts the fire we keep feeding. Just as I needed to keep fuel on the fire to keep the cabin heated, we need to feed the fire of revival. And we start by refueling ourselves spiritually.
When we’re doing the things we always should be doing as Christians—reading the Bible, having a prayer life, being involved in our church, sharing our faith—it fuels the fire of revival and keeps that fire burning. But we when we neglect those things, we begin to fade.
If you want to see a revival, then do revival-like things. Don’t overly mystify it. Just do the things you know you should be doing as a follower of Jesus Christ.
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Refreshed and Restored
“Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved” (Psalm 80:19).
We often hear the word revival in the church, but we might wonder what revival is exactly. I think we overly mystify this word and don’t necessarily understand its actual meaning.
Revival is another word for refreshment, restoration, or simply returning something to its original condition.
For instance, when someone buys an old car from the junkyard, does bodywork on it, repaints it, adds new tires and wheels, and puts in a new engine, that is a restoration. When you see it rolling down the road, you can’t believe it’s the same car.
Or if you have a plant that’s withering, but it comes back to life again after you’ve watered it, that is a restoration as well.
The psalmist prayed, “Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?” (Psalm 85:6). And Psalm 80:19 says, “Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved”.
Revival is refreshment. Revival is restoration. For the believer, revival is getting back to that first bloom of a love relationship with Jesus Christ. Sometimes when we’ve been walking with the Lord for a while, the passion begins to fade. The zeal begins to erode, and we don’t have the same excitement in walking with the Lord as we had before.
We want longevity as we walk with Christ, but we don’t want to sacrifice our passion.
Revival takes place when God’s people come back to life again because they are refreshed. They have been refilled and restored to their original condition.
And what is the original condition? It’s the same condition as the church of the first century, the church of the book of Acts. It’s the church that turned their world upside down.
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Part of a Bigger Plan
“He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world” (1 John 2:2).
The worst travesty of justice in human history was the trial, execution, and murder of Jesus Christ. The very Son of God had come to this planet to walk among us, heal us, and deliver the greatest teachings ever given to humanity.
And what do they do? They beat Him, nailed Him to a cross, and left Him to die. But this was all part of a bigger plan. Jesus did not have His life taken from Him; He came to lay down His life for our sins.
Jesus said, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). From the greatest tragedy came the greatest good: salvation for everyone and the forgiveness of sin.
You see, Jesus didn’t stay on that cross. He rose again from the dead three days later, and He is alive. Is Jesus Christ living inside of you?
He is standing at the door of your life and knocking. He is saying that if you will hear His voice and open the door, He will come in. You can pray and ask God to forgive you of your sins, and Christ will hear your prayer.
Are you down and depressed and hurting? Jesus is saying, “Let me come in. Let me refresh you and give you rest. Let me give you the meaning and purpose of life that you've been searching for.”
Jesus gives us the hope that when our lives on this Earth come to an end, we will go to Heaven. Not everyone has that hope. Heaven is not the default destination of every human being. It is only the future destination of those who will put their faith in Jesus Christ.
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He Will Be There
“This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him” (Psalm 91:2).
As a pastor, I’ve done far too many funeral services for children. I’ve looked at parents sitting in the front row and tried to find the right words to bring comfort to them. Before our son Christopher went to Heaven, I would walk away from those services thinking, “I hope this never happens to me because if it did, I don’t think I could handle it.”
But then one day it did happen to me. And we were the parents sitting in the front row at the funeral service. Here’s what I can tell you: No matter what you go through, God will be there for you and with you.
Maybe you’ve seen someone going through a hardship and thought, “I don’t think I could handle that.” You don’t have the strength you need now to deal with that yet. But God will give you what you need, when you need it—not necessarily before and certainly not after.
God doesn’t always deliver us from our circumstances. God doesn’t always take the problems away. But we can glorify Him despite our problems.
Then there are times when God allows hardship in our lives so that He can step in and deliver us from it, and people will be amazed. Maybe the Lord wants to heal you of something or deliver you from something. A disability can turn into an ability when we place it in God’s hands. A disadvantage can turn into an advantage.
Have you had a tragedy or problem in your life that has gotten your attention? Call out to the Lord, and He will save you. In some instances, He may even rescue you.
Wherever you are in life, God is ready to step in and bring comfort to you. He’s ready to bring hope to you. But you must come to Him.
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Uniquely Qualified
“He was thirty years old when he began serving in the court of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And when Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he inspected the entire land of Egypt” (Genesis 41:46).
Joseph had gone from being a spoiled young man to running an estate to being in prison to becoming the second most powerful person in the world, in charge of Egypt’s food supply.
A famine had struck the land, and Joseph’s brothers traveled from Canaan to Egypt to buy food. Egypt was the only place that had food because God had given Joseph the ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. As a result, Joseph warned Pharaoh to prepare for the future.
When Joseph’s brothers arrived, they didn’t recognize him, but he recognized them. And when Joseph eventually revealed his identity, his brothers thought they were dead men.
But Joseph told them, “Don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. . . . God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors” (Genesis 45:5, 7).
God can and will use the experiences of your life to help other people. Since our son Christopher went to be with the Lord, I’ve had a new ministry that I never asked for—and frankly never wanted. I’m often ministering to people who have lost loved ones, especially children.
I don’t have all the answers for them, but I point them to Jesus. And I share some of the things that I’ve learned in this process. I’ve found that it actually helps me as I help them.
The apostle Paul wrote, “[God] comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us” (2 Corinthians 1:4).
God can take what you’ve gone through in life and use it for His glory.
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Spiritual Toughness
“He sent a man before them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons” (Psalm 105:17-18).
Joseph’s father, Jacob, doted on him. He favored Joseph over all his other children and even made him a special coat.
But one day Joseph’s brothers got so tired of him that they decided to kill him. Reason prevailed, however, and they chose instead to sell him as a slave to a caravan of traders that was passing by.
The traders took Joseph to Egypt, where they sold him to Potiphar, who was the head of Pharaoh’s bodyguard. And because Joseph was a hard worker and full of integrity, it wasn’t long before he was running Potiphar’s estate.
Meanwhile, Potiphar’s wife tried repeatedly to seduce Joseph. He resisted her advances, but one day she falsely accused him of rape. He was sent to prison, which no doubt seemed like the worst thing of all.
Sitting there in a prison cell, Joseph easily could have thought, “Serving God didn't work out so well, did it? I’m honest. I work hard. I didn’t give in to the advances of that woman, and where did it get me? In prison!”
But God had a plan for him. He was getting him ready for the future. Psalm 105 gives us this detail about Joseph: “They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons” (verse 18). A different translation emerges from the original Hebrew, which gives us additional insight. It says, “As he was a laid in iron, iron entered his soul.”
Although Joseph was in the worst circumstances, he was toughening up on the inside. God was getting Joseph ready for something big.
You may be going through a time of trial so that you will get stronger, so that iron will enter your soul. The purpose of trials is to make us stronger spiritually—so that we’ll develop spiritual toughness.
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Dungeon Songs
“The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time” (Psalm 34:19).
It’s easy to be happy when everything is going well, when the sky is blue and the sun is shining. But when the bottom drops out, when adversity hits and you’re still rejoicing, that is another thing altogether.
In the book of Acts, we read of a time when Paul and Silas were preaching the gospel in Philippi. The authorities had them arrested, beaten, and thrown into prison. Yet at midnight, with their feet and wrists in stocks, they prayed and sang praises to God.
Then we come to this interesting detail: “the other prisoners were listening” (Acts 16:25). In the original language, the phrase means “to listen with pleasure.”
Have you ever been driving along when you heard your favorite song on the radio? You turned it up. You listened with pleasure.
I don’t know if these other prisoners had ever heard anyone sing songs of praise to God before. And I don’t know whether Paul and Silas threw in some two-part harmony. All I know is that it was an unusual set of circumstances.
Suddenly a massive earthquake shook the prison walls, which gave the prisoners an opportunity to escape—if they wanted to. The Roman jailer, knowing the penalty was death for losing his prisoners, pulled out a sword and was about to kill himself.
But Paul called out, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!” (verse 28).
This hardened Roman fell down on his knees before Paul and Silas and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (verse 31).
Instead of complaining, Paul and Silas gave praise to God. Instead of moaning, they were worshiping. And as they gave glory to God, it reached other people as well.
Sometimes God allows hardship in our lives so He can be glorified. When we’re suffering, we can glorify Him despite our circumstances.
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The Work of Suffering
“And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering” (Romans 8:17).
A while ago I read an unusual story about a man who survived a shark attack. The man actually said he was thankful that it happened.
It turns out that when he went to the hospital for treatment, his doctor discovered that he had cancer. They were able to successfully remove a tumor before it metastasized. If the shark hadn’t bitten him, he wouldn’t have known that he had cancer.
Who would ever think that a shark attack could end up being a good thing?
In the same way, spiritual attacks and trials will come into our lives, but they are opportunities to turn to the Lord and trust Him. We never know how God will take a hardship and use it for our good.
The Bible says, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” (James 1:2-3).
From the original Greek, we could also translate the phrase “troubles of any kind” to read “many-colored trials.” You might be going through a hardship that’s different from what someone else is going through.
But even when things look bleak, God ultimately will work all things together for His glory and your good. God is in control of all circumstances that surround the believer. Remember, before Satan could bring hardships into Job’s life, he first had to get permission from God.
The same is true of you. God knows what you can handle. He’s always keeping an eye on you, and His ultimate purpose is to conform you into the image of Jesus Christ (see Romans 8:29). The big picture, then, God’s endgame for you, is to make you more like Jesus.
No matter what you’re going through, know this: God is at work in your life.
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Crisis and Character
“In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God” (Job 1:22).
Some people abandon God when hardship, even tragedy, comes into their lives. Yet others show genuine faith.
Think of Job, whose very name is a point of reference for the worst suffering imaginable. Job was living a great life. He had a beautiful family and was very wealthy and successful. Then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, a series of calamities struck.
From the Old Testament book of Job, we know that a conversation took place between God and the angels, which included Lucifer (Satan), a fallen angel. God was bragging on Job, saying, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil” (Job 1:8).
Satan basically said, “Oh give me a break. You let me have a little time with Job, and we will see what he’s really made of.”
Then God allowed Satan to bring a series of difficulties into Job’s life. And in one day, Job lost all his children and all his possessions.
Yet here’s what Job said: “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21).
The passage goes on to say, “In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God” (verse 22). That is genuine faith.
You find out how strong your faith really is by how you react to adversity and difficulty. Someone has said that character is not made in a crisis; it’s revealed.
So put your faith in Christ. Don’t put your faith in a person. Don’t put your faith in a church. Put your faith in Jesus Himself. He is the one who will sustain you in your times of difficulty.
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Expect a Test
“These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world” (1 Peter 1:7).
No doubt Jesus could see there were a lot of hungry people in the massive crowd that had gathered to hear Him speak. It was lunch time, and they were still sitting there. So, He turned to Philip and said, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” (John 6:5).
Was Jesus really asking Philip for help, as if He didn’t know what to do? Clearly not. In fact, the next verse tells us, “He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do” (verse 6).
Philip basically said it would require a small fortune to feed all those people. There was no way they could do it. Then Andrew said, “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” (verse 9).
This was a test. Could they trust God? Jesus already had performed miracles. They knew what He was capable of. But could they trust Him to provide food for a lot of hungry people?
Apparently not because Andrew didn’t know what to do, and Philip didn’t know what to do. But Jesus multiplied those five barley loaves and two fish to feed 5,000 people, with twelve baskets of food left over (see verses 10–13).
We might say His disciples didn’t pass that test. Yet haven’t we been in times of testing as well? A big financial issue comes up, and we wonder how we’re going to pay that unexpected bill. We wonder how we’re going to make ends meet.
I can tell you that after walking with the Lord since the age of 17, God always has come through for me. And I believe that He will come through for you (see Philippians 4:19). But He will test us. God allows us to go through times of trial to make sure we are learning and growing.
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The Quality of Endurance
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance” (Romans 5:3).
Children are so cute when they’re babies. They’re so helpless and dependent. But as they get older, they learn certain skills. They learn to feed themselves and dress themselves. They learn to take care of themselves. They can’t be babies forever.
In the same way, we don’t want be baby Christians our entire lives. We want to grow up and mature.
I like the J. B. Philips translation of James 1:2-4, which says, “When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise [sic] that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence.”
God allows hardship and trials in our lives so that we’ll grow up spiritually.
A teacher, for instance, might say to the class, “I’m going to test you today. It’s a pop quiz. So close your textbooks and take out a sheet of paper.” When I was in school, I was never excited when the teacher announced a pop quiz because I wasn’t prepared. I hadn’t learned the material.
God will bring pop quizzes into our lives as well. He tests us to see if we have learned the material. We are so quick to tell others how to live. We are so quick to tell others to have faith and to pray about things.
But often when trials and hardships come into our lives, we panic. So God sometimes allows us to go through tests to make sure we really know what we say we know. He tests us to see if we’ve learned the material.
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Rivers in the Wasteland
“I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19).
We want to live on emotional mountaintops, but the reality is that spiritual fruit does not grow on mountaintops; it grows in the valleys. It grows in times of difficulty.
In Isaiah 43, God said, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland” (verse 19).
It’s in the wasteland, in the hardships, in the difficulties that I often experience God in a way that I don’t experience Him anywhere else.
James wrote, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing” (James 1:2-4).
Maybe you're facing a time of hardship right now. Maybe you’ve had the bottom drop out in life, and you’re asking, “Why is this happening to me? I’m a Christian. I’m walking with Jesus, yet this hardship has befallen me. What have I done to deserve this?”
Every Christian will face trials in life—for their own good. Jesus said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He didn’t say you might have trials and sorrows; He said you will have them.
And 1 Peter 4:12-13 tells us, “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering”.
Spiritual refreshment comes from times of spiritual testing.
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Time for a Reboot
“My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration!” (Psalm 42:4).
Have you ever been working on your computer when things suddenly froze up? That meant you needed to refresh your screen. And there are times when you even need to reboot to get everything working again.
Sometimes we need a reboot in our lives as Christians too. We need a refresh because we’re feeling down and depressed. That is not a twenty-first-century phenomena, by the way. The psalmist wrote, “My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration!” (Psalm 42:4).
Then he wrote, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!” (verses 5–6).
I love how the psalmist shifted gears. He went from asking an honest question to effectively preaching to himself. I have found myself doing that at times. When I’ve felt down, I’ve quoted Scripture to myself, sometimes even out loud.
A few verses earlier, the psalmist said, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God” (Psalm 42:1-2). In other words, he needed some spiritual refreshment.
Do you need spiritual refreshment today?
Ephesians 5:18-19 says, “Be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.” In the original language, that’s a command, not a suggestion. Also, the implication is that it’s continuous.
Therefore, God is commanding us to be filled with the Holy Spirit every day, and that brings refreshment into our lives. As Acts 3:20 reminds us, “Times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord”.
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Living a Spirit-Controlled Life
“And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).
There’s a difference between just being in a home and being at home. Have you ever noticed that different homes have their own smells? I used to visit a home that always smelled like mothballs, and after I spent time in that home, I smelled like mothballs too.
But then I’ve been to homes where there was some great home cooking taking place. I like being in a room where I can smell the incredible aroma of Italian food, Mexican food, or barbecue. I feel at home in a place like that.
When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit seals us and indwells us. The Bible says, “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you” (Romans 8:9).
Now, does the Holy Spirit live in the heart of every Christian? Yes. But the word for “living” in this verse means “to be at home.” The Holy Spirit has a personality. Yes, He is God and can be sinned against specifically. But we also can insult Him, resist Him, and even make Him sad.
Have you ever done or said something that reduced someone to tears? It’s hard to look at a person who’s crying because of our words or actions. In the same way, the Bible tells us, “And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live” (Ephesians 4:30).
Imagine if we decided not to use social media to tear people down. What a different place it would be. Today it seems that we’ve forgotten our manners, and we’re filled with pent-up rage. But that is not living a Spirit-controlled life.
Rage, anger, harsh words, and slander make the Holy Spirit sad. Do you want the Holy Spirit to be at home in your heart? He’s at home in the hearts of Spirit-led believers.
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Protecting Command Central
“So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace” (Romans 8:6).
Holy Spirit-led people are spiritually-minded people, and our minds are command central.
That’s why we need to protect our minds. Someone has wisely said, sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.
The apostle Paul wrote, “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace” (Romans 8:5-6).
Notice that Paul said, “Think about things that please the Spirit.” Contrast this with people who only think about satisfying their impulses and the appetites of their flesh with things like illicit drugs, sex outside of marriage or before marriage, alcohol, partying, and things of that nature. It also could be empty things like fame and fortune.
Or, it could be simply thinking about only physical things and never spiritual things. Jesus talked about people like this, saying, “Don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs” (Matthew 6:31-32).
Jesus wasn’t saying we should never think about these things. We do need to think about a roof over our heads, what we’re going to eat, and what we’re going to wear. But Jesus was saying that we shouldn’t be obsessed with it. He went on to say, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (verse 33).
Don’t make the entire focus of your life pursuing physical things at the exclusion of pursuing God.
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A Condemnation-Free Life
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
She had been caught in the act of adultery, so the religious leaders brought her to Jesus. (Incidentally, I wonder where the man was? He apparently got away scot-free.)
They said, “This woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” (John 8:4-5).
Without a word, Jesus stooped down and started writing in the dirt with His finger. Then He stood up and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (verse 7).
That cleared the room rather quickly. I wonder what Jesus wrote? I don’t think He was playing tic-tac-toe. Maybe he looked at one of the men and then wrote down his name and the number of the commandment he was breaking. Whatever Jesus did, it brought them under conviction, and they all left.
Then Jesus turned to the woman and said, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
“No, Lord.”
“Neither do I. Go and sin no more” (see verses 10–11).
It was at that moment she believed, and Jesus saw that she believed. As a result, there was no condemnation because “there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
The Bible tells us, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
A Spirit-led believer lives a condemnation-free life. It doesn’t mean there won’t be failures. It doesn’t mean there won’t be inconsistencies. But the Bible says there is no condemnation.
God sees us for what we will become, not just what we are. We see the past; God sees the future. We see the end; God sees a new beginning.
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The Holy Spirit’s Role in Our Lives
“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts” (Ephesians 5:18-19).
Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is God. He is a member of the Trinity and has a will and a distinct personality. The Holy Spirit also has a purpose and specific work that He wants to do in our lives.
Before we became Christians, the Holy Spirit convicted us of our sin and drew us to Christ. And once we believed in Christ, the Holy Spirit sealed us. Now the Holy Spirit leads us, empowers us, and fill us each day.
In fact, Ephesians 5 says, “Be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts” (verses 18–19).
The Holy Spirit’s filling has nothing to do with our emotions, by the way. Sadly, I think some people have taken the work of the Spirit and made it appear very strange. They’re wild-eyed as they speak strangely about how the Holy Spirit has filled them. That, however, has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit.
When we’re filled with the Holy Spirit, it simply means the Spirit controls us. When we ask God to fill us with His Spirit, we are asking Him to control our lives. In fact, the word the apostle Paul used in Ephesians 5:18 to describe the filling of the Holy Spirit also means “to permeate.”
In other words, the Holy Spirit wants to be part of every aspect of our lives, including our marriages or our singleness. He wants to permeate our careers and our ministries. He wants to be a part of everything.
So let the Holy Spirit permeate every area of your life. Let the Holy Spirit fill you and control you. It isn’t about trying harder; it’s about realizing there is power available to help us live the Christian life.
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A Hope-Filled Destination
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
Romans 8 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, because it gives us the answer to depression about the past, present, and future.
It tells us there is no condemnation for our past, because verse 1 says, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus”. When we sin (and we all sin), the Devil will condemn us. And then we join in that condemnation and condemn ourselves.
Yet what does the Bible say? First John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.
So, if God tells us that He will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, then we should accept that in our lives and believe that He has forgiven us.
Romans 8 also tells us there is no separation from God in the future. Paul wrote, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (verse 38).
Isn’t that a great promise? God will never stop loving us.
Lastly, Romans 8 assures us that all things in the present are working together for our good: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (verse 28).
So as Christians, we can be assured there is no condemnation for the past and no separation from God in the future. And whatever we’re going through God can ultimately work together for good. Romans 8 is a hope-filled destination, and it’s where we discover how to live this Spirit-filled life.
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Leaning on a Spider’s Web
“The same happens to all who forget God. The hopes of the godless evaporate. Their confidence hangs by a thread. They are leaning on a spider’s web” (Job 8:13-14).
Are you content with where you are spiritually, or do you find yourself taking two steps forward and three steps back? Maybe it seemed like you were growing in your relationship with Christ, and then you had a huge setback. Or maybe there’s a pattern of sin in your life, and you can’t seem to break free from it.
It’s sort of like a Goliath that becomes more powerful with each passing day. Goliath wasn’t born the nine-foot-six-inch man who faced off with young David in the Valley of Elah (see 1 Samuel 17). Eventually that little baby became a young man, who then became a full-grown giant of a man.
Maybe that’s how you feel about your sin. It just gets larger and larger, and you don’t know how to defeat it. Perhaps it has even caused you to become very depressed. I want you to know that you’re loved by God. And you’re loved by people more than you realize.
When we get depressed, I think it’s usually due to one of these three things: (1) something we did in our past, (2) something we wish we had not done, or (3) something we wish we had not said.
Feeling this way is not unique to our time. In Job, the oldest book of the Bible, we read, “The hopes of the godless evaporate. Their confidence hangs by a thread. They are leaning on a spider’s web” (Job 8:13-14).
Have you ever tried to lean on a spider’s web? It won’t hold you up, of course. In the same way, if you put your hope, your trust, in the things of this world and in what this culture offers you, then you will come up empty. But if you put your hope in God, everything can change for you.
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Expect God to Answer
“But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6).
There is a false teaching that says whatever you want, speak it into existence. You name it, and you claim it; God will do whatever you ask Him to do.
Thank God that isn’t true. God will overrule our requests at times, especially when we ask Him for something that He knows will hurt us.
Having said that, there is also a place for faith and prayer. In fact, unbelief can hinder our prayers.
The Bible tells us, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:5-7).
So pray for wisdom, pray for provision, and pray for God’s blessing and direction. And then expect Him to answer. Often, we cancel our prayers because we’re filled with so much doubt.
Do you have a need right now? Do you need a touch in your body physically? Then call out to Jesus. Do you have a child or a marriage that needs help today? Then call out to Jesus. Don’t give up.
Jesus said, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Be persistent in your prayers.
With as much faith as you can muster, bring your need to Jesus Christ. I love the prayer of the man who said, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). God will more than meet you halfway as you bring your need to Him.
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The Men Who Shouted at Jesus
“When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’” (Matthew 20:32).
Jesus was on His way to the cross, on His way to suffer. He had things on His mind. Meanwhile, two blind men on the roadside heard Him passing by and shouted to Him. The word shouted in the original language actually could be translated “screamed.”
So the crowd yelled at these men to be quiet, but that made them cry out even louder. Jesus heard them, stopped, and then healed them. Here were two men with a very real need, and Jesus responded to their need.
Isn’t it amazing to think that God cares about us? He cares about the things that concern us. David wrote, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4).
I’ve been stunned by how many stars I can see late at night, depending on where I am. It’s incredible and overwhelming to think that God, our Creator, our Father, made all of that.
Yet He cares about what we care about. God is never too busy or too preoccupied to take time for us. If it concerns us, it concerns Him.
In a time of crisis, the two blind men prayed. And so should we. God says, “Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory” (Psalm 50:15). Prayer puts us in touch with God.
Are you in trouble right now? Are you facing a crisis and don’t see any way you can resolve it? Call on the Lord.
The Bible says, “You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it” (James 4:2). Pray about the things that are troubling you—and keep on praying.
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Refreshment for Our Souls
“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’” (Matthew 11:28).
I love the word “refresh” It’s such a perfect word to speak of starting again or returning to something. In fact, we even use this word when it comes to our computers; if things freeze up, we need to refresh our computer screens. And sometimes it means that we need to completely reboot.
In the Christian life, sometimes we need a reboot. Sometimes we need a refresher since we find ourselves tired and exhausted. But here’s what Jesus said: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
On the day of Pentecost, Peter said to the people gathered in Jerusalem, “’Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away’” (Acts 3:19).
The Bible is very specific about how we can find spiritual refreshment for our souls — you will find it when you read and study the Bible. Psalm 19:7 says, “The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul”.
I know it’s not always an emotional experience when we open up the Bible and read it. But this isn’t about emotions; it’s about replenishment, restoration, and getting perspective on life, as well as direction from the Lord.
So, expect your soul to be refreshed as you open the Word of God. Have you ever had a verse that seemed to jump off the page? Maybe it was a verse you had read before, but suddenly it had new meaning and applied to your particular situation. That is what it means to find refreshment from the Word of God.
Could you use some spiritual refreshment right now? The place to find it is from God Himself.
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A City Designed and Built by God
“And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise” (Hebrews 11:9).
Before COVID-19, I sometimes traveled internationally. During a trip to Italy, I thought it would be fun to rent a Vespa, and I convinced my wife, Cathe, to come with me. At first it was kind of terrifying, but after a while, I was enjoying it.
Then, inexplicably, despite the rather unusual traffic rules, I managed to get a ticket. I found out later that it was because I had pulled into a bus lane, which simply looked like an open lane to me. But I was in the wrong lane. I was a foreigner who didn’t understand what was going on around me.
That is how we are in this world. There are things that don't make sense to us, but we are longing for and looking forward to another world. That is the hope of Heaven.
Heaven is a real place waiting for us. This is the place Abraham was searching for, and it’s really the place we are all searching for and longing for.
Hebrews 11:8-9 tells us that when Abraham reached the land God had promised him, he lived there by faith, like a foreigner living in a tent. He was constantly looking forward to a city with eternal foundations designed and built by God.
That’s what Heaven is. It is a city designed and built by God. In the final two chapters of Revelation, John used the word “city” eleven times in specific reference to Heaven.
Like Abraham, you and I are foreigners. We’re passing through this world, and everything we’re going through is preparing us for Heaven. Remember, Jesus said to His disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).
In the first chapters of the Bible, we see paradise lost when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. But the final two chapters of the Bible describe the paradise that God has created for us in Heaven.
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God Keeps His Promises
“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True” (Revelation 19:11).
We all have our happy places; things we like to do.
Some people think that judgment is God’s happy place. In the nonbeliever’s mind, God is never fair in what He does. When people go out and break the laws that God gave us for our own protection and then face the inevitable consequences, they shake a fist in His face and blame Him.
But the fact is that He is faithful and true. The Bible says, “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True” (Revelation 19:11).
And God keeps His promises. Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). He said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
Has the Lord not kept His promises to you? He will keep all His promises, including His promise to come again (see John 14:2-3).
This is in contrast to the Devil, who lies. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, “For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
We read in Scripture that God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9) and that He has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezekiel 33:11).
Our Lord is faithful and true.
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A Waste of Life
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10).
I wonder when we stand before God if He will ask us about what we did with our time. People waste so much time every day. And they waste a lot of it on their cell phones.
Kids spend eight to twelve hours each day on a cell phone, teenagers spend about nine hours a day, and adults spend around four and a half hours per day. It’s a big waste of life in many ways. I think we need to make a conscious effort to put down our devices and spend time with each other, talking to each other and listening to each other.
Most importantly, we need to spend time with the Lord.
Interestingly, when someone asked Billy Graham if he had any regrets in life, he said yes. He wished he had spent more time praying, more time studying the Bible, and less time traveling and taking speaking engagements. He also said that he wished he had spent more time telling the Lord how much he loved Him.
The Bible says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10).
One day we will be held accountable for what we did with our time and perhaps even for the opportunities we missed.
When we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, He will want to know what we did with our opportunities. Did we leverage them? Did we use the influence God gave us and reach out to people we know with the gospel? How did we use our resources? How did we spend our money?
These things all will be reviewed at the Judgment Seat of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:10). But this judgment won’t be about success as we like to define success. Rather, it will be about our faithfulness to the Lord.
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A Judgment of Faithfulness
“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” (1 Corinthians 9:24).
I have five grandkids, so I’ve noticed the trend in youth sports today is to not keep score. This is to stress the idea that there are no winners or losers. Everyone is a winner. That sounds good, but it isn’t true in life.
And it isn’t true in the Bible, either. In the Bible there are winners, and there are losers. On more than one occasion, Scripture compares the Christian life to running a race. For instance, the apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!”.
If you’re competing in the Olympics, you go for the gold. And if you’re living as a Christian, you should go for the gold as well. Run to win. That doesn’t mean we’re competing with our fellow believers. Our competition, if you will, is the world, flesh, and Devil.
Again, Paul wrote, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
In the original language, the word “bad” isn’t referring to evil but to worthlessness. God will ask about our faithfulness on that final day and what we’ve done with the opportunities that He set before us.
If we were faithful, we will hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” not “Well done, good and successful servant.”
God will hold me accountable for what He has called me to do, and He will hold you accountable for what He has called you to do. So, we need to be faithful and do the best we can do.
God wants you to be a winner in the race of life.
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Critical People
“Some of those at the table were indignant. ‘Why waste such expensive perfume?’ they asked. ‘It could have been sold for a year’s wages and the money given to the poor!’ So they scolded her harshly” (Mark 14:4-5).
Sometimes the people who complain the most actually do the very least, and the people who are aiming accusations at you are revealing something about themselves. The thing they’re accusing you of actually may be something they’re guilty of themselves.
After all, it was Judas who sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, yet he complained when Mary anointed Jesus with a jar of expensive perfume at a dinner in Bethany. Now, this probably was a family heirloom. The Bible tells us that it was worth a year’s wages (see John 12:5).
Just a few drops from a bottle like that would be sufficient. But Mary poured all of it on Jesus and filled the entire house with its fragrance. But the point wasn’t how much the perfume cost. It was how much Mary’s act of devotion cost her. She gave the most precious thing she owned to Jesus.
Judas, however, knew the price of everything and the value of nothing. He calculated it and declared it was a waste. And it did seem like a waste, but it was no waste at all.
From the outside, Judas looked thrifty, careful, and spiritual. And Mary looked frivolous, wasteful, and silly. But the very opposite was true, because John’s gospel gives us this detail: “This [Judas] said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it” (John 12:6).
In reality, Judas was evil, greedy, and wicked, while Mary was thoughtful, godly, and committed. So things are not always as they appear.
That’s why we need to be careful if we’re always emphasizing a certain sin in someone else’s life. We may be telling people more about ourselves than we want to reveal.
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Why Choices Matter
“But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
My son Jonathan and his wife, Brittni, were in Peru awhile ago to work on some projects with Compassion International. Jonathan brought along backpack full of toys and other things, and while they were hanging out with a family, Jonathan played soccer with a little boy named Anthony.
Then, as Jonathan and Brittni were getting ready to leave, Anthony ran to Jonathan, hugged him, and presented him with a little gift: a small bank in the shape of a dog. Obviously, this was a very precious object to Anthony. He had very little, yet he gave his very best to Jonathan.
What is the most precious thing to you? What is the most precious thing you can give to Jesus? Yes, you can give Him your resources. You can give Him your time. But most of all, you can give Him your life. Present your future to the Lord.
The best thing you can do with your future is to choose to follow Jesus Christ. That is the best choice. The best choices I’ve made in my life were to give my life to Jesus Christ at the age of 17 and to marry a girl named Cathe. Those are two choices I’ve never regretted.
And here’s why choices matter: You make your choices, then your choices make you. You will never regret choosing to follow Jesus Christ. So make that choice now and then choose to dedicate your life to the Lord.
At the age of seventeen, I didn't have a lot to offer Jesus Christ. I was a confused kid. I had gotten into drugs and made some bad decisions. But I said, “Here I am, Jesus.” And whatever good has come out of my life has been God taking very little and multiplying it.
So let’s give our very best to God. He deserves nothing less.
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Romans 8:1-2
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
The Most Important Tablets of All
“But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands” (Exodus 20:6).
Tablets are so much a part of our lives today. We read our emails on them, follow social media on them, and watch movies on them. Well, God had the original tablets—and a tech company didn’t make them. He gave them to Moses, engraved with His words by His very finger. We call them the Ten Commandments.
At little more than three hundred words in English, the Ten Commandments form the foundation of the legal system and are at the heart of Western civilization. Most people acknowledge that the Ten Commandments are important and are true, but very few people know the Ten Commandments.
A recent survey revealed that only 14 percent of Americans could name the Ten Commandments. If can remember details like the names of the Beatles or all the kids in the Brady Bunch, we could manage to memorize the Ten Commandments.
But we need to do more than memorize these commandments; we need to internalize them because they’re not obsolete. They’re absolute.
In fact, Psalm 1 tells us, “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night” (verses 1–2).
In other words, if you keep God’s commandments, you will be a happy person. The commandments are not like the bars of a prison to keep us inside. They’re like walls of protection to keep evil out of our lives.
God has given us the solution to all our problems in the Scriptures, and they’re broken out for us in the Ten Commandments.
He has given them to us for our own good, so we can go from hopelessness to happiness.
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James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Focus on the Finish Line
“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
When you’re running a race and coming toward the end, you’re exhausted. You don’t feel as though you could go on another moment. But you realize that you’re almost at the end and have to finish the race you’ve begun.
When I was in high school, I was a good short-distance runner, and my oldest son, Christopher, was a runner as well. I took him to various track meets, and then I heard a little rumor that after one of the meets, there would be a race for the fathers.
I had a new pair of running shoes in the trunk of the car, just in case the rumor was true. And sure enough, it was. I put on my shoes, went to the starting line, and started sizing up my competition. And then the starter pistol went off.
Suddenly older guys were passing me; I couldn’t believe how fast they were. I was pouring it on, but about halfway into the race, I realized that not only was I going to lose, but I was going to lose horribly. So I just walked off the track.
Writing to the believers in Philippi, the apostle Paul said, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
He also made this statement in 2 Timothy: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (4:7). Paul used the Greek word agon for “fight,” which translates to “struggle” or “struggling.”
This reminds us that we need to keep going and finish our race, even when it gets difficult.
How are you doing as a follower of Jesus? How are you doing in the race of life? Are you winning or losing? Are you gaining ground, or are you losing ground?
Press on. Keep running.
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