Faith and Understanding

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. (Hebrews 11:1-3)

 

This verse categorically disproves evolutionary science and popular theories on the origin of man and the universe. God's Word is proven in all that we see around us. His Word "framed" or hung the galaxies, and their order is kept by that Word. There was no "big bang,” no Cro-Magnon man, or simian ancestors. By faith, we understand the Word the Lord speaks, and that Word brought the entire universe into being. Amen.

 

By faith we understand . . .

 

Never get frustrated with anyone’s inability or unwillingness to believe the scriptures. It is foolish to expect a blind person to see, or an unbeliever to believe. The truth we receive comes by faith — a faith they do not have. Spiritual things are understood by faith, and God made it that way. He chose to cloak Himself in invisibility, and to test our heart to see whether we will come to Him on His terms. When we do, we receive His wisdom (which seems like foolishness to the world), and we walk in the light of spiritual understanding, not the darkness and futility human wisdom.

 

Everything God says and promises is ours by faith and faith alone. So, keep believing God and the Word He speaks. It is impossible to please Him any other way.

 

Let's Pray - Father, I believe in the creative power of Your Word. Thank You for speaking into my life and changing me by the sheer force of that Word. Speak on, Lord. Amen.

Not My Will

Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:38-39)

 

The Lord Jesus came to earth on a mission, and to complete that mission, He was going to give His life in the most painful and humiliating way. He was not the kind of king, nor was His the kingdom His disciples or Israel expected — nor could they understand the words He spoke or the path He walked. Jesus was keenly aware that no one on earth would understand, and He would have to resist the temptation to consider anything other than the Father's will — not even His own.

 

There will be times when doing the Lord's will is painful, and we may even question why things are so challenging or must be a certain way. Others may not understand what God is doing in us, and we have no common-sense explanation for where we find ourselves. Every man or woman God calls and chooses will experience these times, just as our Savior did, and we must reach the same point of obedience and surrender.

 

 ". . . nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." 

 

May we break from the natural tendency to go our way, leave all, and follow Jesus. Let us step forward and accept the will of the Father, even when it hurts. Remember, our Father always knows best.

 

Let's Pray - Dear God, give me the same attitude and courage Jesus had. May I submit myself freely to Your will, especially when it is most difficult. Amen.

Ambassadors for Christ

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)

 

God has committed to us the "word of reconciliation." Our sanctified lives are the message God is communicating, and we have overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. The blood of Jesus has done all God intended in providing the substance of our victory, and our lives are the undeniable proof that the blood will never lose its power. As His "ambassadors," we stand for His interests in the world, the salvation of many souls, and His Kingdom has come everywhere He sends us. We have no interest or agenda of our own. We are representatives of a higher authority, and our message and methods are spiritual.

 

The Bible calls us ministers of a New Covenant which has taken effect due to our Lord's triumph over sin. That is the best news there could ever be, that we are no longer slaves to self and sin, and we are indeed free to live for God and give Him glory. We have become His righteousness, and now God calls us the light (or hope) of the world. Our lives are proof of everything the Bible teaches and promises, and as God's ambassadors, our testimony points to a greater life and reality that is only found in Christ. 

 

Let the Lord plead His cause through you. Time is short, and He has many sons and daughters to save before the door closes. 

 

Let's Pray - Dear Lord, thank You for the blood of Jesus that washed away my sins. I am not worthy to be called "righteous," but I receive that calling with gladness. You are worthy of all my praise! Amen.

 

Reconciled to Him

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

 

We are reconciled to God through the atonement of Jesus Christ, whose blood erased the stain of our sin and the tragic record of our past. We are "new," untainted, unencumbered, and set free from a debilitating record of moral and spiritual failure, and the Gospel speaks to the new creature. Religious dogma will convince us that a cleaned-up version of ourselves is sufficient, but it clearly is not. God would have us move and think differently — not in religious terms, but spiritual terms.

 

Our preaching is not to focus on how sad and sinful men are, but how good and gracious our God is. We are walking, loving, and living examples of what the Lord desires to do for every man and woman. We are not superhuman or special, nor are we spiritual monuments or trophies. The Lord has placed us in this rough and tumble world to walk by faith and glorify Him in the most ordinary ways. When others see the perfection of Christ working itself out through imperfect people like us, they have a reason to hope and believe for themselves. 

 

This is the word of reconciliation; "God saved and sanctified me, and He can do the same for you." Keep preaching and teaching. Others we may not be aware of are listening. God is reconciling the world to Christ through us, so be reconciled to Him!

 

Let's Pray - Father, may I be faithful to preach the message of reconciliation through the Cross of Christ Jesus. Use me to help bring many sons and daughters to glory. In Jesus alone, Amen.

A New Creation

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians:17)

The new man and woman is a work wrought in the Spirit. Therefore, the "new" is not at all dependent on the old. God is not bound by the past when He shapes us for His purpose. He does not have to re-invent us, to clean us up, or re-outfit us. We are not re-creations, but new creations, and the new man is not hindered by old considerations. May we learn to see ourselves in the light of God's grace and sovereignty.

 

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. (Hebrews 8:7)

 

The Lord is too wise and shrewd to ever pour new wine into old wineskins, so we can only go forward with Him when we cut ties with yesterday's relationships, methods, and means. We often hold on to temporary things as if they are eternal, and we regard eternal things as temporal. That is a grave mistake, because what God is going to do is entirely separate from what He did in the past, and the best is yet to come.

 

Let the Holy Spirit refresh you with a new heart and mindset. Look ahead and not back (this takes a tremendous amount of effort, but it is worth it). Set your eyes on Jesus, put your hands to the plow, and do not turn back. God's promises are fulfilled in Christ, and Christ lives in you! 

 

Your best days are ahead!

 

Let's Pray - Dear Father, thank You for making me new and setting me free from the baggage of the past. I will praise You with the fresh vigor of a new man. Amen.

Call to Me

"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." (Jeremiah 33:3)

 

God longs for us to look to Him in prayer. He has chosen to present Himself and His will to those who ask in faith, believing that He is present and deeply concerned with our needs and desires. When we set ourselves to pray, we cannot be defeated, we are not easily discouraged, and we expect to hear the voice and see the hand of God who responds. Since God promises to answer, we must call, and we must call more often and more earnestly.

 

Yet you do not have because you do not ask. (James 4:2)

 

There is a realm that opens to us through prayer that will remain closed otherwise. The Lord so loves conversation with us that He simply will not move in certain ways until we come to Him in earnest prayer and intercession. Yes, there is much in the way of joy and blessings that lie dormant in the fallow ground of prayerlessness. That is because, God only trusts those who pray, those who come to Him on His terms, those who come believing, and those who come in the name of His Son. 

 

Those who know God pray, and those who pray know God.

 

"If only we had known!" — we might say. "If only we had prayed!" —  the Bible teaches.

 

. . . pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Matthew 6:6)

 

Let's Pray - Father God, thank You for being one who hears and answers prayer. I will be found in the closet of prayer increasingly, praying confidently and in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Hope in Christ

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

 

Believers in Christ are the only people on earth with true hope. There is no other reliable source of genuine hope in the universe, as men without God can only look upon their past with regret, their present with frustration, and their future with dread. The outlook is bleak for the sinner, and every attempt at hope without God is a fairy tale and empty promises.

 

God's children are the only people on earth who can expect and declare that the best is yet to come. 

The Bible teaches us to be intensely forward-looking. That is because we have only begun to understand the height, breadth, and depth of the Father's love. It will truly take all eternity and more to exhaust the vastness of our God, and the Lord would have us embrace that perspective today. When we focus on heaven, nothing that happens on earth, good or bad, can stumble us or discourage us. We have the blessed outlook of those who seek the Lord and celebrate His goodness no matter the circumstance.

 

May we take hold of God's promises and embrace a heavenly outlook on all that is before us. 

But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Let's Pray - Dear God, I gladly lay all my care and hopes at Your feet. You are the reason for the confidence in which I walk. In Jesus, Amen.