Tag Archives: the Gospel

Don’t Ignore the “But…”

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Psalm 145

This is one of many psalms that speak of the goodness of God. Verse three says; Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. Then David goes on to explain why that is true.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made. (verses 8-9)

God is good to every human being, merciful over the entire earth. We, along with every created thing is cared for and blessed by our good God.

But there is a distinct difference between how He relates to believers and non-believers.

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. (verses 18-20)

Back in verse 17 David tells us God is righteous in every way. He’s kindness is seen in His care of His creation. Just look around and you know that is true.

But God is only near to and fulfills the desires of those who call on His Name. He has a relationship only with us who have received His forgiveness through the blood of Jesus, who worship Him in truth.

I think it’s time we start making that distinction, too. I recently was reminded of a popular praise song that says God restores every broken heart. Sounds right. In fact, the whole song is full of wonderful truth about God. But it’s partial truth. And it only applies to people who are saved by grace, although the song never makes that distinction.

Can the person who refuses to repent of sin sing that and apply it to themselves? The truth is God does restore the broken hearts of His children. But not everyone is His child. Do we give false hope to an unrepentant sinner when they sing about the blessings of knowing God, without making the important choice to surrender to Him?

Look at verse 20. That’s an important “but” in there. In fact, it’s the difference between life and death. I just think if we insist on inviting unsaved people into our worship services, we need to be careful about the message we are sending out to them. Not everything that is said or sung applies to them. And we’re wrong if we ignore the “but.”

Psalm 16

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These days it might be easy to be discouraged. It seems as though evil is out of control, and who knows where this is heading?

I read Psalm 14 and recognize the people David is talking about. Oh, that the salvation of our world would come out of Zion.

Then I remember… our salvation HAS come out of Zion. His name is Jesus. The problems we see in our world are the result of sin. The fool who says there is no God. A generation who has declared we are our own god. The blatant disregard for the Laws of God. And the rejection of the cross.

Psalm 16 reminds me that God is the answer. He alone is our refuge. Nothing good exists apart from Him. He holds our future and blesses those who call Him Lord.

It is God who gives counsel, who instructs, and upholds. He makes known the path of life, and in his presence is the fullness of joy. No matter what the enemy is doing, I know God lives… and I am His through the blood of His Son, Jesus.

Let this psalm encourage you today. Then, let it give you the courage to tell others, to live a life that reflects the joy you have in your salvation. It’s true we live in an evil age. But instead of sitting back and complaining about it, let’s share what we know is true so that others can share our joy.

It Is Finished

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Exodus 28-30

The intricate details spelled out in these chapters of Exodus speak of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. What we read here are the demands of God for the forgiveness of sin. It wasn’t simply that an animal was sacrificed. Every inch of that animal was significant. Every drop of blood had purpose.

We all know Jesus died on the cross, the Perfect Sacrifice for sin. He fulfilled the requirements we read about in Exodus. Every minute detail was carried out to perfection when Jesus died.

This past Sunday our church celebrated the Lord’s Supper together. Taking communion can become mundane, just another “thing” we do. Oh, may it never be that to me again.

When Jesus cried, “It is finished,” He was referring to the sacrificial system I read about today. He completed the requirements perfectly, once and for all. Every drop of blood He shed had a purpose. He became sin, and climbed up on that altar of sacrifice willingly.

I sinned. I deserve death, the eternal separation from Holy God. Jesus said, “Kill me instead.” And they did.

Let’s take time today to consider the eternal significance of Jesus’ voluntary death on the cross. Read these verses in Exodus and praise God for satisfying every intricate detail so that you and I can be saved from the awful consequences of our sin. Let’s worship and adore our Perfect Sacrifice who alone can say, “It is finished!”

A New Identity

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Genesis 31-34

Why did the angel ask Jacob his name before blessing him? He was an angel so I imagine he knew who he’d been wrestling with all night. I believe there is a lesson in the question.

Fast forward a few thousand years. Jesus is in the middle of His short ministry as a human on Earth. He healed thousands. He forgave sins.

Take Bartimaeus for example. He was obviously blind, yet Jesus asked him to state his request. To the paralytic at the pool Jesus asked, “Do you want to get well?” When a woman touched the hem of his garment, Jesus demanded she identify herself.

Do you see the pattern? Very often in Scripture, we see Jesus requiring people to state their need. Say the words. We see the necessity of confession. It’s not so God is informed of our need. It’s so we know exactly what we need, admit it, and go to the only one who can meet it.

Here in Genesis we see Jacob wrestling with God. Who hasn’t, right? We know what is right, but we want to have our own way instead. A battle ensues. It’s a tug-of-war until we do what? Admit our sin and allow God to change our wants to His.

In my experience – and in Jacob’s – God won’t bless until I confess. When the angel asked Jacob his name, he had to reply: “I’m the deceiver, the holder of the heel, the supplanter.” That’s what his name meant. And we know Jacob had lived up to his name.

Jacob had to admit who he had been before God could give him a new name: Israel. According to the Abarim Publications, Israel means “He retains God,” or “God is upright.” Jacob’s new name reflected God. His new identity honored God.

Jacob received a new beginning, as do all of us who confess our sins and allow God to forgive us and give us new life. Jacob had lived for himself and had committed sins to fulfill his own desires. God was giving him a chance to turn that all around, to live for God and make choices that fulfilled God’s desires for him. That’s awesome!

May that be true in all of us. Some people think they are Christians because they go to church and live good lives. That’s not true. Being a Christian involves a change of heart, saying the words, admitting guilt. And receiving God’s amazing grace.

If God has laid a finger on any sin, if you (or I) are wrestling with that sin, hear God ask “What is your name? What do you want me to do for you?” Then confess. Repent. Be forgiven, and receive a new beginning!

Heaven

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John’s Revelation

Think about it: God will wipe away our tears. No more night. No more heartache and sin. No more cares and worries, sickness or death. And we we look upon the One who loves us with a love we cannot fathom right now.

I don’t know if there will be a thousand calendar years before we enjoy our eternal home. It doesn’t really matter if John’s revelation has a material interpretation or whether it is meant to be interpreted spiritually. This book, to me, is about hope.

It’s about redemption. It’s about Jesus and the fact that one day I will be in His Presence! I’ll look into those eyes, study that face, see those nail prints in His hands and know at last I am home.

I have no doubt about that. I know it is a fact because I have died, and God raised me to new life in Him. How? I admitted my sins and repented of them from a humble heart in need of a Savior. I’ve accepted the redeeming work of Jesus, His death and resurrection, and I know I can stand before the Holy God without fear because Jesus paid my death penalty and placed His holiness on me. It wasn’t my doing. It’s all Jesus.

Tomorrow marks a New Year, a new beginning for many. I pray that you will welcome in 2023 with Jesus, your Savior, at your side and in your heart. I pray that you will grow a relationship with Him by reading His Word every day, praying every day, resisting Satan every day.

Who knows if the ball will drop on 2024? It may, or may not. Reading God’s Word reminds me when Jesus returns (and He will) it will be too late to change your mind, too late to repent of sin and accept the Savior. Too late.

There is a heaven for God’s followers. And there is a hell for anyone who hasn’t accepted God’s saving grace.

Choose Jesus. And have a blessed 2023 as His precious child.

Love Like God’s

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Jude 17-23

Jesus told us that the second greatest commandment, after loving God with our whole being, is to love one another. It’s that important. People will know we are followers of Jesus if we love one another.

But the modern Church has perverted the meaning of love to mean tolerance and acceptance with a “do not judge” theology that is antichrist. I hope you’ll read what God has to say through Jude in these verses. Pay special attention to verse 23:

Show mercy to still others, but do so with caution, hating the sin that contaminates their lives. (NLT)

HATING THE SIN THAT CONTAMINATES THEIR LIVES.

You might say, “Hate is a pretty strong word.” It’s not my word, it’s God’s. He tells us to hate sin. HATE.

Why would God use that word in regard to sin? Well, sin leads to hell, and He doesn’t want anyone to go there. The only way to avoid hell is to deal with sin, not tolerate or accept it. That knowledge should make every Christian hate sin.

There are progressives who call themselves Christian and will tell you they have a deeper understanding of Scripture than the rest of us. So I laughed out loud today when I read what John said about that in his Revelation. In regard to false teaching he said:

‘deeper truths,’ as they call them – depths of Satan, actually. (Revelation 2:24)

These ‘deeper truths’ people are claiming to have are, according to Scripture, deeper into Satan’s theology. Beware!

I will stand by Scripture that tells us to love people enough to address the sin in their lives so they can repent of it. I stand by Scripture that tells us there is no other way.

Real love, God’s kind of love, is NOT tolerant or accepting of sin, according to Scripture.

It’s Not Their Fault

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1 John 1-2

I hope you’ll read John’s introduction to this letter. You can feel his love for Jesus, and his desire for you to love Him, too. John saw Jesus, the Creator God, with his own eyes, touched the flesh and blood body of Jesus, and knew for certain that Jesus is the Word of life!

Then John says this:

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. (1:5)

At all.

We can look at what is happening in our world and recognize the darkness. John told us that people love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds are evil. (John 3:19)

Today, they don’t even hide their sin in the darkness. It’s out in the open, in our government, on our phones, and forced on innocent children. It is out of control. The world is corrupt. Satan is on a roll.

Is it because Satan is getting stronger against God? Or is it something else? I think John has the answer there in 1 John 1:5. There is no darkness in God, only light.

You understand darkness NEVER wins over light, don’t you? Where there is light, there cannot be darkness. Not in your living room, not in your hearts, and not in the world. But there’s a problem.

So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness, we are not practicing the truth. (verse 6)

Jesus told us that we are the light of the world,

A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glory your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

And there you have it.

The world isn’t getting worse because sin is winning. It’s getting worse because Christians aren’t shining the Light, not exposing sin, not showing sinners the way into the Light through the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

John goes on to say all of us need to admit our sin, repent of it and accept God’s forgiveness and cleansing.

Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. (2:6)

So the fault of our world’s sinful condition does not lie on the shoulders of sinful people. It lies squarely on believers who have stopped shining the Light of Truth. It falls on Christians who want to blend in with the world and wonder why the world doesn’t recognize the light in us.

Darkness isn’t winning. Christians have just stopped living in the Light.

Next time you lament over the increasing darkness in the world remember:

Darkness CANNOT exist where Light is.

The question is: what are you doing with the Light you’ve received?

For The Sake of Christ

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Hebrews 11:24-28

The other day in Good News Club, one of the children asked if Old Testament people went to heaven since they lived before Jesus went to the cross. I said, “Yes. They had to believe in Jesus just like we do, only they called Him the Messiah. they didn’t know His name. But if they put their in faith in God to keep His promise, they went to heaven.”

Then today I read Hebrews 11 and, maybe I’ve seen it before, but Scripture actually says Moses not only believed in Christ, he gave up the treasures of being the son of Pharaoh’s daughter to suffer for the sake of Christ. And that was thousands of years before Jesus was born!

Jesus! The baby whose birth the whole world is celebrating this weekend.

Jesus! The real flesh and blood Son of God who went to the cross to redeem us all.

Jesus! Our Savior who lives in heaven preparing a place for all of us who believe.

Jesus didn’t become the Savior. He was always the Savior. And there is no other name anywhere that will bring us to the Father. People have been putting their faith in Jesus since the beginning of time.

Have you?

Entering God’s Rest

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Hebrews 1-4

This morning, a dear lady from my church entered the rest the writer of Hebrews describes. She may have struggled to take her last breath in this life, but she is now breathing freely in the arms of her Savior. The cares of this life are over for her, because she followed Jesus in the midst of heartache and physical pain, with the joy of the Lord.

But her’s is not the same end for those who choose to live this life apart from God. These chapters in Hebrews not only explain who Jesus is and what He did, it explains who it is that can receive the eternal blessing He offers, and who will never receive that blessing.

Today when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. (4:7b)

You might want to believe there is nothing after this life. But there is.

You might want to believe everyone goes to a better place when they die. Not everyone does.

You might want to think that identifying as a Christian is your ticket into God’s rest. It isn’t.

Ii might be a good idea for all of us to take time to read the book of Hebrews because the lines between right and wrong, truth and lies, good and evil are becoming so blurred we are all in danger of falling away. “Don’t harden your heart” applies to you.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. (4:12-13)

You Are Chosen

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Romans 8-11

Paul specifically says God shows mercy to some people, and chooses to harden the hearts of others so that they refuse to listen. (8:18). He gave Pharaoh as an example. Then he goes on to say, “that’s the way it is. Don’t question God. He will show mercy and compassion to anyone he chooses.”

There are those who base their theology on these and similar verses. They call it election or pre-destination. And as I read these verses this morning, I prayed: Are they right to believe you decide to deny salvation to some based on a criteria we can’t understand? Is that what Paul is saying?

Then I read chapters 10-11 and heard Paul say salvation is for everyone. I was reminded of the “whosoever” of John 3:16, the “not willing that any should perish” of 2 Peter 3:9. How do I reconcile two seemingly opposite views? Because I believe both views are true by the fact they are God-breathed Scripture.

Which makes me think they aren’t all that opposite after all. Here’s what I believe Scripture teaches from Genesis to Revelation: God loves people. Jesus died to save people. God, from day one has been revealing Himself to people, to draw all of us to Himself.

But God created us with the gift of choice. Anyone who chooses God, God chooses to accept. Anyone who chooses to reject God, God chooses to reject. From before creation, God knew who of us would choose Him and who would reject Him. From before creation He chose to save all who choose Him, and condemn all who reject Him.

That’s what He predestined: the means of salvation.

You might not like it. You might think it’s too cut and dry, black and white. Hear Paul say: who do you think you are to question your Creator?

I think many of us have been caught up in trying to figure out predestination, and we may have overlooked the important message Paul wanted us to hear. I think Paul (speaking for God) wanted us to consider the seriousness of rejecting God.

Do you accept that Jesus died to pay your sin debt? Do you choose to believe that He is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life? Have you been born again? Then you are chosen by God to receive His grace!

But if you don’t accept Him on His terms, if you don’t believe, you are chosen by God to receive His punishment without mercy. And hear His warning:

If you reject Him, He hardens your heart. The consequence of denying Him is an ever progressive hardening toward Him, so that eventually you won’t even hear Him any more. Not that He won’t be revealing Himself. But it will be harder and harder for you to see Him.

Rejecting God is serious. And I think that is the important lesson Paul was trying to convey here. You are chosen by God to be His child. Jesus died for you so that your sins can be forgiven. That is His choice for you.

The question is: what is your choice?