New Year's Joy

May you ring in the New Year with "The joy of the Lord, which is your strength."
Nehemiah 8:10

Our Unchanging Jesus

December 31

As we embark upon another New Year, we ring out the old and ring in the new with the joy of knowing that the Christ we serve is in command of this entity we call time. We have seen the Mayan prophecy which many felt foretold a cataclysmic end to the world as we know it come and go without the total destruction of our planet that many feared.

We have heard the saber-rattling of bellicose nations, but to date, their machinations of war and conquest and subjugation have been kept largely at bay. We have noted the statistical increase of natural disasters such as earthquakes and devastating storms, but although the havoc they wreak is substantial, the earth still stands.

If there is one undeniable truth we may collectively reach at this juncture in time and place it is that the Savior of the world is still in the business of revealing Himself to lost man for the purpose of bringing as many as will receive Him into the arc of salvation that acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior affords to all men (See I Timothy 4:10). As you, dear reader, begin the year of 2013, may you go forward in the strength of the Lord and in the power of your absolute faith in Him.

May you be among those who have complete confidence that, “What HE has promised, HE is able to perform (Romans 4:21). May you be among those who “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding…” (Proverbs 3:5), knowing the reality of the unseen promises of the Lord Jesus Christ far exceeds the seeming veracity of anything you can see with your eyes or hear with your ears or perceive in the natural realm.

May you go forward into the Happiest of New Years with the unshakable blessing of faith in our unchanging Jesus.

Unsung Hero

December 30

Joseph is the unsung ‘hero’ of Christmas. This man, probably several years her senior, was betrothed to Mary the virgin who was chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus. The marriage between the two may have been arranged from her birth. We know such agreements were often reached between the parents of the bride and groom.

We are not told how long their engagement was to be but the custom of the day was that a betrothal would last approximately a year before the marriage was to take place. The driving factor that established the length of time between the official engagement and the wedding was usually the groom’s ability to pay the ‘bride price.’

When Mary was found to be with child “before they came together,” Joseph, a kind and godly man, decided to “put her away” quietly. According to the tradition of the day, Mary could have been executed for adultery, but Joseph was unwilling to “make her a public spectacle.” (See Matthew 1:18-19.)

At this juncture, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said to him, “Joseph, do not fear to take Mary unto you as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. The Son she shall bring forth, Jesus, shall save His people from their sins,” (Matthew 1:20-21).

Joseph knew the prophecies concerning the Messiah and he knew the voice of God, so he believed and assumed the role of father-protector over Mary’s holy Child.

Blessed Act of Believing

December 29

Mary the young virgin girl and her elderly cousin shared an exchange that evidenced the power of the Lord upon each of them. Elizabeth, still in a state of awed rejoicing at the news of her pregnancy understood that the child she was to bear would be the harbinger of the Savior to come after him.

Mary then said something that quickened within her heart upon reflection of the visitation of the angel with the news that she was to be the mother of the Messiah. Their words resonate within each of us as we allow the reality of the Christ to be born in our spirits as they allowed Him to be birthed in theirs.

In Luke 1:45-49 Elizabeth said, “Blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Mary affirmed, “My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior…and holy is His name.”

It is significant that these woman of faith pronounced words of blessing upon the act of believing first then magnifying their eternal God and Savior. We, too, have the privilege to hear the news of Christ and to embrace it to our hearts. When we have allowed Him to reign in our hearts and lives, we, too, glory in His holy presence.

Who is Mary?

December 28

One of the significant points of doctrinal difference between the Catholic and the Protestant branches of Christianity is the perception of the personhood of Mary. Catholics consider her to be “Queen of Heaven.” They believe her to be co-equal with Jesus. He is perhaps able to be described as a loving son who consults His mother in matters of import.

Protestants perceive Mary to be a good and honorable woman of profound faith whose devotion to the law and whose love of her God stood out among other women and set her apart for her level of commitment to God’s truth.

Another significant difference is the Catholic belief that Mary remained a virgin her entire life while Protestants believe her marriage to Joseph was consummated after the birth of Jesus (see Matthew 1:25) and that Mary and Joseph had other children—brothers and sisters of the Lord.

One thing that is irrefutable is the fact that the Catholic Church has been instrumental in fulfilling the prophecy spoken of Mary by the angel in Luke 1:28, which says, “Hail, thou who art highly favored; the Lord is with you and blessed are you among women,” as well as the prophecy of Mary herself, “…all generations shall call me blessed, ”Luke 1:48.

The Catholic Church has been faithful to hold Mary in utmost regard and to perpetuate her blessedness through the generations.

This Heavenly Visitor

December 27

Just who is this heavenly Visitor who burst through the constraints of the realm of the unseen into the visible, tangible world in which man lives and moves and has his being? Who is this One whose anthems were sung by angels to the glory of God (Luke 2:10-14)? Who is this One who so polarized men (see Luke 2:28-32 vs. Matthew 2:13)?

From the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6, 7 which says, “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulder and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…His government shall be established on the throne of David,” we see that He shall be no mere mortal. This holy, royal child shall be the “Mighty God.”

From Isaiah 53, we discover that many will not believe that the One who comes is the fulfillment of the promise. He will suffer in the behalf of all men and He shall be put to a shameful death—but in so doing, He will secure the salvation of every man who would henceforth believe in the atoning power of His propitiatory death. In Zechariah 12:10 we learn that one day, even the Jews will recognize Him as their Messiah.

In John 1:1-14, we are told, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…He came to His own, and…as many as received Him were given the power to become the sons of God…the Word was flesh and dwelt among us.” This Living Word was Jesus, the One who cannot fail and cannot lie, the One who will yet stand when all else is shaken (Hebrews 12:26-29).

Jesus alone, the Living Word, cannot be shaken. Our unshakable security is in Him.

Questions/Comments

If you have questions or comments, please e-mail me at:

sandralee_7@yahoo.com

Thank you for your interest in this blog. Please be blessed by it and please know that the God you love and serve loves you. His Holy Spirit is always within you and His guardian angel is always hovering over you to guard and protect you.

In Jesus' love,
Sandra Lee

Nothing More Wonderful

December 26

Part of the beauty of what transpired in the Holy Land at that first Christmas season was that an amazing truth was recognized. Ordinary people going about their day-to-day lives were touched by truth, and that truth transformed their lives.

From the young virgin who agreed to the plan posed to her by the angel, knowing her reputation would be in shambles and her life would be in danger, saying, “…be it unto me according to thy word,” Luke 1:38, to Simeon who gladly relinquished his life at the point when God’s amazing Promise was in his arms (Luke 2:25-32), they received the Truth that was extended to them with joy.

May we be like them. May we encounter truth and may truth set us free from the mundane pursuits of our lives to follow hard after the Savior whose birth we celebrate at this glorious season. If we will, we can be like Mary who simply kept the truth she received and pondered it in her heart (Luke 2:19), knowing a day would come when she would need the power of the truth to keep her as she watched her Son die on a cross.

Like her, we may encounter hardship because of loving Him. Or we may be like Simeon who realized the purpose of his existence had been fulfilled in holding the Christ to his bosom. Can any person of faith enjoy a greater measure of wonder than that which he senses when he allows Jesus to reign in his heart? No, there is nothing more wonderful than to slip from the grip of sin into the arms of Jesus.

Jesus' Birth--Amazing Fulfillment of Prophecy!

ADDENDUM to Dec 25

The birth of Jesus Christ fulfilled 332 Old Testament prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah.

The probability of a mere eight of these prophecies being fulfilled by one person is one chance in one hundred million billion. A noted mathematician calculated that the probability of fulfilling 48 prophecies was one chance in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion!

Think about the probability of fulfilling 332 prophecies! That’s what Jesus did!

Another mind-boggling thought is that Texas, the second-largest state in the United States, could be filled six feet deep in silver dollars and a blind man required to find one specially-marked dollar out of the entire number—and he would have about the same chance of finding it as Jesus did of fulfilling just 48 of these prophecies.

How amazing is the miracle of Christmas— “Emmanuel, God with us!” Matthew 1:23

Merry Christmas!

December 25 Unto You Is Born...

The angels cried out, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men of good will,” Luke 2:14. Although there have been volumes written to proclaim and to explain the birth of the Christ, perhaps these words from the mouths of the messengers of Heaven declare it best—with the advent of Jesus, the glory of God came into the world.

Or perhaps His glory was best declared by His mother Mary when she shared the news of His coming with her cousin Elizabeth who was pregnant in her old age with Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, “My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior…for He who is mighty has done great things, and HOLY IS HIS NAME,” Luke 1:46-49.

And who could forget the words of Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, who was struck dumb for his unbelief when the angel declared to him that he and his wife, both of advanced age, would have the son for whom they had waited a lifetime! In Luke 1:78, this godly man, his speech restored, proclaims, “Through the tender mercy of our God, the Dayspring from on High (the Light of Heaven) has visited us.”

And when the Christ had been born and was taken to the Temple to be dedicated according to the law, we are privy to the words of Simeon, an old man full of faith and filled with the Holy Spirit who took the Child into his arms and said, “God, You have fulfilled Your promise to me! Now let me depart in peace for I have seen Your salvation that You have prepared for all people—a light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel,” Luke 2:25-32.

May we, like these who were privileged to hold the Babe of Bethlehem in their vision and in their arms, ever hold Him in our hearts. And may we declare Him boldly before men and angels as these men and angels did.

Christmas Eve

December 24 Christmas Eve

The figurative ink from the words “In the beginning…” of Genesis 1:1 is not yet dry when the Lord has already begun to weave the prophetic thread of His plan of salvation into the Biblical narrative. In Genesis 3:15, after the evil one has succeeded in beguiling the woman, who in turn lured Adam into disobedience against God, the prophetic words were spoken, “The seed of the woman shall crush the head of evil.”

The Promised One will not be the seed of Adam. The Promised One will be the seed of the fallen woman. Jesus, whose coming is foretold in the third chapter of the first book of the Bible, is the seed of fallen woman. There are men included as progenitors in His lineage—Abraham (Genesis 12:3, 18:18); Jesus will be the Lion of the tribe of Judah, from whose hand the scepter of kingship shall never fall (Genesis 49: 10); the coming Messiah will be the descendent of David (Psalm 132:11), just as the Psalmist was promised by the God he trusted. But all these men are part of the lineage of Mary, Jesus’ virgin mother. (See the complete genealogy of Jesus: Matthew 1:1-18 and Luke 3:23-38).

The place of Jesus’ birth was prophesied in Micah 5:2 and fulfilled in Matthew 2:1, Luke 2:4. In order for this prophecy to be fulfilled, God had to manipulate the then-ruler of the world, Caesar, to order all his subjects to return to the place of their family-origin to be taxed. Mary, heavy with child, therefore traveled from Nazareth where she lived with her husband Joseph to Bethlehem where the prophet said HE was to be born. It was also prophesied that God would call His Son out of Egypt. Joseph fled there when Herod declared all the infant boys were to be killed to prevent the rise of a new king. When Joseph was given the liberty by God to return, it was to Nazareth that he took the Holy Family, fulfilling yet another prophecy. (See Matthew 2:13-23).

In Psalm 72:10, 11, we are told that great kings will pay homage to Him and that is partially fulfilled in Matthew 2:1-11, but will be fulfilled completely when Jesus comes again (See Philippians 2:10-11). Just as our Sovereign God moved heaven and earth to accomplish the fulfillment of these and many other prophesies concerning the first coming of Christ, so we may be sure HE will do whatever is necessary to unfold the second part of His Eternal Plan—that Jesus will finally conquer all that stands against Him and that His Righteousness, His Joy, His Peace, His Truth, His Love will reign eternally. And we who believe shall be co-heirs with Christ of His glory. (See Revelation 1:4-8).

Newsweek Poll

There are many scriptural prophecies concerning the birth of Christ. We will discuss a few of them in the entries for December 24 and 25. There has also been much written by secular writers about His birth, life, death and resurrection.

It is somewhat interesting to read what others have to say about this Man among men--especially if we do so without allowing what mere men think to influence how we relate to the God-Man who abides in our hearts.

With that in mind, may I present a few statistics from a NEWSWEEK poll which was taken a few years ago. They reflect the opinions of people like you and me. Though all did not profess to be Christians who answered the poll, most of them expressed the belief that JESUS HAD IMPACTED THE WORLD FOR GOOD.

Here are the statistics:

If Jesus had never been born:

63% believe there would be less charity in the world.
61% believe there would be less kindness.
59% believe there would be less personal happiness.
58% believe there would be less tolerance.
47% believe there would be more war.

With that in mind, may we allow HIM TO REIGN IN US, SO WE CAN IMPROVE OUR SPHERE FOR GOOD BY HIS PRESENCE IN OUR HEARTS.

Mindset

December 23

The Bible makes it abundantly clear that it is God’s desire to “come near” to His creation. In James 4:8 we are given this definitive insight into the matter: “Come near to God and God will come near to you and clean sin out of your lives. You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time must make your thinking pure.”

The one thing that stands between fallen man and his redemption is his thinking. If man allows his mind to be on the things of the world, if he maintains a double standard which causes him to cling to the treasures of time while attempting to grasp the promises of eternity, he will fail abysmally—perhaps at both endeavors.

But he has the assurance that if he will focus his heart upon the abiding gift the Lord Jesus died to attain for him—that “unspeakable gift” of salvation (II Corinthians 9:15)—the God of all that exists will assure his receipt of not only that most precious of gifts but of the accompanying treasures of hope, truth, joy, peace, faith and love.

We know that the Lord is faithful to His word. He is committed to man beyond any loyalty man has ever known. Psalm 27:10 says, “If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me in.” Even if those nearest and dearest to us turn away, when we draw near to the Lord, HE will, “…stick closer than a brother,” Proverbs 18:24.

All for You

December 22

The Lord your God loves you. Yes, He loves YOU. He wants to abide with you. What seems impossible given man’s fallen state from the time he succumbed to temptation in the Garden—because the broken relationship seems irreparable—how can a miserable, sin-laden mortal hope to relate to the Majesty on High?

Only because the Majesty on High loves miserable, sin-laden man and because HE did the one thing required to bridge the gulf between Himself and His beloved but errant creation. He assumed the role of Man as he had been without sin and lived the perfect life Adam chose not to live (see Philippians 2:5-11). HE did that for YOU!

The propitiatory life, death and resurrection of Jesus was in YOUR behalf. He came to save mankind, but until YOU EMBRACE THE AMAZING TRUTH THAT HE CAME TO SAVE YOU, YOUR PRICELESS GIFT WILL REMAIN UNCLAIMED! You must claim Jesus as the Author and Finisher of YOUR faith, as the Hope of YOUR salvation!

How do you do that? Jesus Himself tells you how in Revelation 3:20 where He says, “Behold, I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock. If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to sup with him and he with Me.” He isn’t just knocking; He is calling your name. Open the door. Allow the sweet fellowship with Christ to begin.

Can We Be Sure?

December 21

How sure can we be that God is the light in whom we must dwell? How can we be confident that Jesus is the source of light that is available to all men who will but give up the burden of their sin in exchange for the freedom of His salvation? We can be sure, we can be confident, if we trust His unshakable WORD!

One very good way to trust Him is to simply open our hearts to the Holy Spirit who Jesus says will, “Teach you all truth” John 14:26. Jesus goes on to say that we are not to be troubled because we know the truth but are to be encouraged, knowing His words to us will stand. As we see them unfolding, He will affirm His veracity and power.

Our God is so sure that His words will not fail that He told us in Isaiah 54:10, “The mountains may disappear and the hills may fall into the sea, but My words will never fail; My love will never cease, My peace will have no end (in the hearts of men who enthrone Him within their hearts).”

This old world may crumble and fall before our eyes through war or the ravages of nature, but God’s word is eternal. God’s word will abide when all else fails, for He tells us that everything that can be shaken will be shaken (see Haggai 2:6 and 21), but His truth is unshakable (see Hebrews 12:27, 28).

If You're Reading This, We're Still Here

"................................" Mayan Calendar

Well, we're still here…even though the Mayan calendar, which starts on a Mayan date called 4 Ahau 8 Cumku ends today. There are a lot of people who believe the conclusion of the calendar portends the end of life on earth as we know it. Today, 'same-old-same-old' today, proves them wrong. We will go through today as we have gone through all our yesterdays. We will continue to live and move and have our being in Jesus, the One who gives us life.

Each of us knows our personal transition from time to eternity can occur at any time and we know that the promise of Jesus' return, when He shall burst forth from the eastern sky is an eventuality that will occur in accordance with the Father's pre-established time table. But as the Word, that cannot fail and cannot lie tells us, "No man knows the day or the hour, only our Father in heaven."

So we continue to trust the Lord today as we did yesterday and as we know we must for all our tomorrows. We continue to believe that He holds time and space and all that exists in the palm of His hand and that He will abide with us as we abide with Him because we believe that Jesus is 'the ultimate good' and our faith extends beyond mere acceptance of His being the Author and Finisher of everything…

…Our faith embraces the truth that He is working everything that transpires on this fallen planet to the good of people who place their lives in His loving hands. We know that there will be good experiences and bad experiences. We know there will be successes and there will be failures. We know there will be moments of rapturous joy in our lives and there will be moments of sadness, but we know that all things are working to our good.

The Word tells us to praise God for all things in all circumstances. Our praise evidences our complete trust in Him and He tells us that He inhabits our praise. When we are praising Him, He is able to evidence His presence and power with us to a fuller degree than at any other time, so we lift up our praise and extol His Holy Name, trusting that as we do, His unseen but mighty hand is at work in our behalf.

We trust Him that today and for all the tomorrows He gives to us, He will be at work in our behalf; and we trust Him that on that glorious day when He calls us to Himself we will fully perceive the beautiful things He has prepared for us which we presently see only "through a glass darkly."

The Mayan Calendar may have failed to meet the expectation of some people who anticipated time would end today, but Jesus will not disappoint our expectation that He shall come again--for each of us individually or all of us collectively--at His appointed time. Until He does, we will continue to love Him and trust Him and wait for HIm, for just as all the prophecies of His first coming are proven true, so will be all those that assure He will come again, so we rejoice that our hope is in the One who is eternal and eternally true.

Give It Up

December 20

God dwells in light. There is no darkness in Him. There is no shadow of turning in Him. This indicates His steadfastness. Our God is resolute in His commitment to light, for He is light. I John 1:5 tells us that in Him there isn’t any darkness at all.

The beloved Apostle goes on to tell us in verse seven that, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Further, John reminds us that “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When we relinquish our sin to Jesus, He removes it from us; it is no longer a barrier that blocks us from God’s light.

The thing that stands between us and the light of the Lord’s love and truth in which He dwells is our sinfulness. As long as we deny our sin, as long as we cling to it instead of laying it at the cross of Jesus, we are bound by it and dwell in its darkness. When we give it up, it can darken our lives no more.

The Immaculate Reception

Dear Reader, please be sure no sacrilege is intended by applying this term to a play that is renown in the sports arena. There is a good lesson for life here and I hope you will glean it as you read this addendum to today's blog.


If you can't accept losing, you can't win. Vince Lombardi

Playing hard, playing to win, are definitive traits of individuals who attain a high level of success in any endeavor. In no other arena do we see the playing out of this combative element more than we do in professional sports.

Vince Lombardi, for example, never had a losing season as a head coach in the NFL, compiling an impressive regular season winning percentage of 73.8% (96-34-6), a preseason winning percentage of 78.6% (44-12), and 90% (9-1) in the postseason for an overall record of 149 wins, 47 losses, and 6 ties.

While competition is an identifiable element of professional sports, while it is an extremely necessary component of each athlete’s emotional make-up, so is the willingness to accept defeat. Every contest will have a winner and a loser. Every player is required to give the game his best effort. But although he enters every contest to win, he must be prepared to accept defeat. He cannot allow a loss--even if it's the Super Bowl--to diminish his enthusiasm for the next game.

One of the most outstanding things about a lop-sided game is the fact that the players on the team that is being trounced still give it their all, still play hard, even when it appears that loss is certain. They subscribe to the truism, "It ain't over till it's over." And that's how we must view life. Each day is an opportunity for another victory to our personal account, but each day also holds the potential for us to make the misstep that will reduce us to failure on that day.

We can't allow ourselves the option of giving the game less than our best effort, even when our defeat seems inevitable. A great example of this attitude at work is the football play that has virtually gone down in the annals of sports history. Forty years ago this week, the Pittsburgh Steelers were losing to the Oakland Raiders in the final seconds of the game.

The Pittsburgh quarterback, Terry Bradshaw, threw what would be the final toss of the day. He was hit as he released the ball toward its intended receiver. He missed by a mile because the football bounced off one player and into the arms of Franco Harris, one of Pittsburgh's greatest all-time players, who ran it in for the winning touchdown in the final seconds of the game! That play was dubbed by the Myron Kope, the famous Pittsburgh sportscaster, as the "Immaculate Reception."

I'm sure Franco was prepared for defeat when the last seconds of the game were ticking away, but he played like a winner to the end and his winning spirit snatched the victory from the Raiders and put the Steelers literally 'on the map' as a football powerhouse--which they had never been before. And that's the winning spirit YOU have to carry into today. That's the way you have to play the game today. You can't indulge the attitude of failure even if failure seems inevitable.

As Vince Lombardi said, as Franco Harris evidenced in his last-second miracle play, you (me, every player in this game of life) must be prepared to accept loss--but in doing so, it is merely part of our strategy for winning! You are "more than a conqueror," (Romans 8:37), you are more than victorious, because your Team Captain, your Jesus, is the 'winningest' player to ever suit up for the game of life. Play hard for Him today, play hard for yourself today. And no matter how today’s game turns out, be prepared to do it all again tomorrow.

Friends

December 19

There are friends and then there are friends. Some of the people we refer to as friends are really acquaintances. We have little in common with them and interact with them on rare occasions but we apply the term ‘friend’ to the relationship more because of a lack of precision in defining our association than because we truly count them as friends.

A real friend, as distinguished from a mere acquaintance, is a person to whom one is attached by feelings of affection or regard. These are the people to whom we turn, the people upon whom we depend, when we face difficulty; and they know they may turn to us in their times of need.

The Bible says in Proverbs 18:24, “Some friends may ruin you, but a real friend will love you like a brother.” The association that could lead to our ruin is the one that must be avoided, for it is not true friendship. We think of Jesus’ words in John 15:15-16, which tell us, “…I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I heard from My Father…” By this definition, we see that the Lord demonstrates a trust in His people that establishes them as His true friends.

He goes on to say in this passage, “…go produce fruit that will last…” A genuine friendship will be based not only in mutual trust but also in shared goals. If we apply this criterion to our human friendships, we can quickly discern which relationship is worthy of the term. Those friendships that lift us in faith and in hope and in truth and in love are those which Jesus would have us to enjoy, remembering the advice that was spoken in James 4:4, "Friendship with the world is enmity with God."

I'm a Friend

December 18

Some people are confused by the word ‘fear’ as it regards the Lord. In Psalm 19:9, for example David tells us, “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever…” This is not the temerity that causes one anxiety. No. This is the awe of the Lord that springs from a holy reverence for WHO HE IS, for His holiness that will abide eternally.

David had this reverent awe for His God and King and he lived his life in such a way that God allowed him to rise from the obscurity of being the youngest son in a family of shepherds and soldiers to being the king selected by God’s own hand.

In the name and power of the Lord, David did exploits, beginning with his slaying of Goliath. (See I Samuel 17:4-52.) The enemies of God had gathered around to destroy His people. Their champion, a giant named Goliath, had challenged the fearful army of King Saul to send their best warrior to fight him. The winner of the duel would then hand his victory to the entire nation he represented.

The shepherd boy David was the only one who trusted the Lord enough to accept the challenge and he defeated the mighty giant with a single stone, flung from his slingshot! David’s offense at the giant had been because of his mockery of the true God. God’s enemies were counted by David to be his enemies. But David said, “I am a friend to everyone who fears You, O, God, and obeys Your law,” Psalm 119:63.

Touch the World

December 17

There is a wise saying that reminds us, “An organization takes on the character of its leader.” This is true in business and it is true in families. Those who are in authority over a group impose their values, their personalities, upon the people they lead. A prime example of this truth is the fact that leaders of great faiths have left a profound example for those who come after them to follow.

In His letter to the Hebrews, Paul the Apostle reminded the believers to do just that. In Chapter 12, verses 2 and 3 he said, “Let us look only to Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith who suffered death on the cross, accepting its shame because of the joy God put before Him. He secured man’s salvation and He received His place at God’s right hand.

“Jesus accomplished this while wicked people were opposing Him, even unto death, so, like Him, we should never give up and never stop witnessing our faith.” Our adherence to the Gospel of Jesus might put us in conflict with the people around us. From mild chastisement as, ‘Bible-thumping do-gooders’ to outright persecution, the unbelievers of the world do not have much tolerance for believers in Christ.

Yet His Word tells us in Colossians 3:13 that we are to, “Get along with each other and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you.” If we can take on that aspect of His character, our glorious Leader Jesus Christ will touch the world with truth through us.

Pondering Heaven

December 16

One advantage that the terrorists of the world believe they have over the West is that they cherish death while they perceive us as clinging to life. Indeed, to the degree that perception varies within each citizen of the West, it is true. But, if what we in the ‘civilized’ world believe is true, then it is also true that many terrorists have gone to their demise under a false hope of what their reward in death entails.

The Western concept of the afterlife, rooted in Christianity, is that those who have embraced Christ and who have adhered to His teachings will abide with Him forever in Heaven where they shall know our God and King face-to-face. There is no place there for murderers or liars or thieves or haters--all of which all of us have at one time been..

That list includes all mankind—until he receives Jesus as Lord and accepts the cleansing He provides for all our sin. The terrorist who turns from his murderous mission and asks the Lord Jesus to forgive him will receive the reward of heaven. It won’t be a paradise populated with lustful virgins. The terrorist who does not turn from his vile deed and perishes in performing it will not find that anticipated reward! Rather, he will be gathered mercilessly into the arms of the demons of hell who will carry him to eternal punishment.

If what the Western world believes about the afterlife is true, there is only one justifiable reason for a man to give up his life. It is stated by the beloved Apostle in I John 3:16 where he says, “…Jesus gave His life for us; so also we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters in the faith.” Would we die for the love of the brethren? Many believers have endured torture and death in order to spare their comrades in faith from torture and death. But more than literally dying for our brethren, we must be willing to die to self in order that they and the lost who walk among us, may see Jesus in us.

The Glue

December 15

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans 15:5-7, gives a rather protracted discourse on how believers may bring glory to God. He says, “Patience and encouragement come from God and I pray that God will help you all agree with each other the way Jesus Christ wants.

“Then you will all be joined together and you will give glory to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ accepted you, so you should accept each other, which will bring glory to God.” The bottom line of this statement is that in finding a point of agreement, we bind ourselves together. When we are in unity, the Lord is lifted up.

At times, we must patiently search for that agreement. We know if one thing
negatively distinguishes Christianity it is our myriad points of doctrinal differences that separate one denomination from another. To recount them here is to further entrench them. Rather, we must patiently encourage one another, even if we don’t see eye-to-eye in all small points of interpreting the gospel message.

But there is one thing in which we cannot deviate if we are to call ourselves true believers in Christ. There is one thing our Lord said would distinguish all His followers and it has nothing to do with doctrine. In John 13:35 Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples—that you have love one for another.” Small points of doctrine may separate, but His love will be the glue that holds us together forever.

The Love That Never Fails

December 14

There is one commandment that supersedes the others, for in its keeping, so will the rest be kept. God said, “I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before Me,” Exodus 20:2, 3.

Of it, Jesus said in Matthew 22:37, 38, “This is the first and greatest commandment, that you should love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength and the second is like it: that you should love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love is the imperative that transforms mere selfish, egotistical, shallow, fallen, corrupt men from the worst of their humanity to reflect the best of Heaven’s treasure—JESUS. When a man receives Jesus as his Savior and Lord, he will allow the Holy Spirit of the Living God to work within him to remake him into an image of Christ.

A man, remade in the Lord’s likeness, will reflect His love, His truth, His salvation, His glory, to the lost and dying world around him. That man will obey the commandment Jesus stated in John 13:34, “Love each other. You MUST love each other as I have loved you.” This is the love Paul says will never fail (I Corinthians 13:8).

Emptied to Be Filled

December 13

The value system of Heaven is nothing like the value system of Earth; so, the value system of the Christian must not be like the value system of the world. Believers in Christ cannot esteem, let alone pursue, the things for which the citizens of the world system vie. The power, prestige, possessions of time, are of no value at all to those whose focus is eternal.

We who own Christ as our Savior and Lord must embrace His mindset which is described in Philippians 2:5-8, “…He humbled Himself…” We, too, must humble ourselves and allow only our God to be glorified in and through us. The arrogance, the abilities, the achievements of man cannot bring esteem to his God. Only the man who empties himself so Christ may fill him can reflect the Lord’s glory.

In Mark 10:43-45 Jesus said, “Whoever desires greatness among you must become as a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must count himself as being last. The truly great man will be the slave of all men, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to be the servant of others and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

In John 13:14, 15, Jesus states it thusly, “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash each other’s feet. I did this as an example so you should do as I have done for you.” Nothing we do is of any consequence to the value system of Heaven if it is not rooted in our Christ-like humility before Heaven’s God and King.

Be Like Him

December 12

The Lord Jesus Christ is to be our example in every aspect of life. We are to live and move and have our being in the shadow of who He is and what He did to accomplish our deliverance from sin and its horrible penalty of eternal death. We are to abide in the light of the salvation He purchased for us with His own blood on Calvary.

In His letter to the believers at Philippi, Paul stated this truth in a striking way: “In your lives, you must think and act like Christ Jesus, who Himself was like God in every way. But He did not think equality with God was something to be grasped. Instead, He gave up His place with God and made Himself of no reputation…

“He was born as a man and became a servant. While living as a man, He humbled Himself and was fully obedient to God—even unto death—even to the humiliating and demeaning death on the cross,” Philippians 2:5-8. If we espouse His example of humility and suffering, we will reflect the Lord through the surrender of our lives and through the ordeal even of death if that becomes our lot.

If we take upon ourselves for His sake the servant-hood that He embraced for our sake, then we will, like Him, be faithful unto death if death is required of us. We will not cling to our position or to our pride or to our self-perceived purpose, but we will desire only His will for us—so when we have served Him faithfully, we may, like Jesus, “receive a crown of life…” (Revelation 2:10) and reign with Him forever.

His Reflection

December 11

Some people think brand new babies all look alike—but we ‘ooohhh and aaawwww’ over them anyway as though each child who emerges from the womb is the loveliest and most perfect of the species ever produced. Their parents and grandparents believe it! Because we love our children, we want them to be the best of who we are.

That’s essentially how God feels about us. Make no mistake, He isn’t deluded into thinking more highly of any of us than we deserve; He knows our frame, He knows our heart, far better than we know ourselves. But because of His love, Jesus came as the propitiation for our sin. Because of His love, we can be pure; we can be like God.

Paul encourages us toward this end of Christ-likeness. In Ephesians 5:1, 2 he says, “You are God’s children, whom He loves, so try to be like Him. Live a life of love just as Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us as a sweet-smelling savor unto God.” God, our loving Heavenly Father, wants to look upon us and see purity and love within us.

Like any doting parent, God wants to see Himself in His children. Before our conversion to Christ, before our emergence from the womb of sin into the fullness of the Lord’s glory, we were indistinguishable from our fallen brethren. But when we gave our lives to Jesus, the image of God was planted within us by His Spirit. May we let it reflect Christ's glory!

Hangers-on

December 10

The year 2012 was an election year in the United States. Candidates campaigned to garner votes and in the process, many people attached themselves to those who were running for various offices. Now, however, the election is behind us and the losers are left without the hangers-on who were recently clinging to their coat-tails.

Everyone wants to be close to the seat of power. Everyone wants to think he has some influence with the ‘high-muckety-mucks.’ Nobody wants to hang around the failed candidate. All his supporters are searching for other rising stars with whom to align themselves.

But this isn’t what Jesus expects of those who claim to be His followers. In I John 2:6 the beloved apostle states very clearly, “Whoever says that he lives in God must live as Jesus lived.” And Jesus expected His disciples to stay close to Him. His admonition to them was, “In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world,” John 16:33. He doesn’t want fair-fortune followers. He wants us to follow His example.

Jesus came to us, came to save us, although we were unlovely and unlovable. He wants us to stand by Him and His gospel of truth even if we might be persecuted, even if there might be a high price to pay for faithfulness. Jesus doesn’t expect us to be mere hangers on when things are going well for the Church. He wants us to be faithful even if the hour of persecution comes.

Your Calling

December 9

What have you been called to do? Some people feel a very pronounced direction over their lives, a clear sense of destiny. Individuals have claimed to have known from childhood exactly the career path they were to choose. Some had the sense of their life’s purpose planted by a science professor or an English teacher.

A beautiful novel, OCTOBER SKY tells of a man, Homer Hickum, inspired in 1957 by the flight of Sputnik over his West Virginia coal-mining town to pursue a career with NAASA. The book unfolds his struggles to overcome the twin negatives of circumstances and attitude to realize his calling to be an aeronautical engineer.

Many people ‘feel led’ by the Lord toward endeavors they never would have imagined for themselves. Perhaps they have devoted their lives to nursing the sick and dying as did Mother Theresa. Perhaps they have become missionary doctors or teachers. Whatever their God-ordained calling may be, they must be true to it.

All believers have been called to place their lives at the feet of Jesus. Sometimes that takes them to glorious heights; sometimes, into denizens of despair. No matter where we follow Him, we know the words of I Peter 2:21 are true, “This is what you were called to do, because Christ suffered for you…follow Him; do as He did.”

Reflected Light

December 8

Some decades back there was a television show that presented the quandary of a surgeon in the 1800s who had to perform a vital operation at night. The frontier home was without electricity so his task was complicated by the necessity of attempting to do it in dimly lit candlelight.

To overcome the challenge posed to him by both the urgency of the procedure and the conditions under which it had to be performed, the surgeon sent word to all the neighbors round about requesting that they bring their mirrors to the home of the patient so the doctor would have sufficient light in which to do his healing work.

The work of the Christian who would evangelize the lost and dying world around him also requires light. In I John 1:5-7, the beloved apostle says, “Here is the message we have heard from Christ and now announce to you: God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with God but continue in the dark, we are liars and do not follow truth, but if we live in the light as God is in the light, we can fellowship with each other, for Jesus’ blood cleanses us from sin.”

When we are truly blood-bathed and washed free of sin, the light of the Lord will be reflected gloriously from our surrendered lives. We will be able to overcome the challenges of the darkness around us, for those whose lives are influenced by ours will see His salvation revealed in the light of the Lord Jesus as He reflects Himself—His truth, His hope, His joy, His love, and the power of His transforming WORD—from the mirror of our lives.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt referred to the date as, "...a day that will live in infamy." Since then, WW II has been won, other wars have been fought and the conflagration among men rages on in one form or another. If there is one thing we discern from the continual conflict it is that the true infamy in man is his bellicose nature. The only remedy for that unfortunate reality of his being is the love of Christ.

God Is Love

December 7

God is love. God gave Jesus, the perfect God/Man as the faultless sacrifice for man’s sin because God is love. God shed abroad His Holy Spirit to quicken the heart of sinful man and awaken him to his need for a Savior—because God is love. God will forgive all manner of sin—because God is love.

“Well,” the unbeliever might ask, “what’s the big deal? God—if there is a God—is love; He cares about man so much, there’s no way He’d punish him by sending him to hell. Everyone will go to Heaven!” Although God disdains the thought of sending man to hell (hell is for the wicked, fallen angel and his minions, not for man), His righteousness compels Him to relegate anyone to that abysmal place who does not receive Jesus as Savior.

God cannot look upon sin, so no sin can dwell in Heaven. Jesus’ blood covers man’s sin and places upon him a robe of righteousness. All sinful man need do to be justified in God’s eyes is to accept Jesus as his Savior and Lord. The transformation is so complete when the fallen creatures that we are receive His free gift that we no longer reflect the errant nature of man, but we reflect the perfect beauty of Jesus.

From that point, we, “Live a life of love just as Christ loves us and gave Himself for us as a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God…Remind one another of His great offering with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs that make music in your hearts to the Lord…because we are part of His body,” Ephesians 5:2, 19, 30. When His love overflows from us, all men will be bathed in its salvation power.

After God's Heart

December 6

David was a king whose reign over his people was absolute. If he called a man to be in his service, he came; if he desired a woman to be added to his harem, she was his. Yet in spite of his great power, he maintained a sense of humility before God. He considered himself to be a servant of the one true and living God.

Much of David’s rule over God’s people Israel was spent in on-going battle with the surrounding people who had made themselves enemies of Jehovah—primarily because they were worshipers of false gods. In Psalm 143:11, 12 David says, “Quicken me, O Lord, for the honor of Your name, because of Your righteousness, deliver me from trouble. Let Your mercy dispel my enemies; destroy all those who afflict me because I am Your servant.”

David didn’t base his warfare upon the animus of a ruler or a kingdom against himself but upon their disdain of the God he loved and served. David fought for the truth and integrity of the Living God of Heaven and Earth, and because that was his driving motivation, he anticipated that the God of Heaven and Earth would favor his exploits.

In Psalm 119:63, David states his affiliation in a more positive framework. He says, “I am a friend to everyone who fears You, to anyone who obeys Your laws and Your precepts.” David based the entirety of his person-hood, his thoughts, his actions, upon God’s law. David was a “man God sought who was after God’s heart,” I Samuel 13:14.

Declare the Precious Truth

December 5

Paul evangelized the Philippians and indeed, he reached out with the message of salvation through Jesus Christ even to his jailers. In his letter to the Philippians, he posed some questions that he may have asked of those who held him bound in chains.

In Philippians 2:1, 2, he asks, “Does your life in Christ give you strength? Does His love comfort you? Do we share together in His Spirit? Do you have mercy and kindness? If so, make me very happy and delight your Lord by having the same thoughts, mind, purpose, and love that HE has.”

Paul goes on to admonish against strife with others or pride within oneself. He declares that it is far better to esteem others above self. He is wise enough to know that we will not as quickly defame or disregard those who we see in a good light. As he continues his discourse, Paul pens some of the most amazing words ever written. In Philippians 2:5-7, he says, “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, although He was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be considered equal to God, took on Himself the form of a servant. He became a humble man…”

All this emptying of Himself was done to accomplish our salvation. Paul knew that this one singular event is transformative to the men who will embrace it, and he would have all men to claim it. Paul knew that in the pouring out of Jesus, sinners are delivered from the emptiness of their sin-laden lives to the fullness of the presence and power of the Son of God resident within them. Paul knew that it was his mission to share this precious truth with every man he encountered so he declared it even to his jailors. Paul declares it today—even to you and to me.

Lives of Spiritual Power

December 4

Leaving our ‘first love’ happens with great regularity. Puppy love in middle school or high school fades fairly quickly and new interests capture the imaginations of the once-smitten love birds. Marriages, contractual agreements entered into by presumably more mature individuals, fare little better than their juvenile counterparts. Spouses cheat. When trust is broken, irreparable damage is done and divorce papers are signed.

Though it’s probably best that early love interests are abandoned simply because teens are not ready for life-long commitments, the trend established in these early flirtations should be replaced by more stability in future relationships as those who enter into them grow up. But it doesn’t seem to happen. Instead, a pattern is developed that results in an endless search for romantic adventure.

We have lost the fine art of abiding. We have discarded the vow we took at the altar to remain together, for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; until death do us part. We see the same pattern of abandonment that we employ in romantic relationships in our religious experience also. Jesus said in John 15:4-5, 7, “Remain in Me and I will remain in you…as a branch cannot produce fruit if plucked but must remain on the vine…

“…In the same way, you cannot produce spiritual fruit without Me…if we remain together, we shall produce much fruit. Stay close to Me. Follow My teachings and you will have great power in your prayers. What you ask will be given to you.” Jesus here sets before His people the great advantage of abiding. He counsels that they not pull up stakes and leave if they desire to live fruitful lives of spiritual power.

Formulae For Successful Prayer

December 3

Some of our prayers seem to be of none effect. Even when we pray in that name that is above all names, we do not always realize the object of our petition. Even when we pray in the name of Jesus, we can be disappointed in our expectation.

The Bible does give us some guidelines on how to pray in power. We are told that we must have our sins absolved if our prayers are to reach the ear of God (see Mark 11:25). We know a primary hindrance to our prayers is unforgiveness in our hearts.

In Luke 6:37 Jesus says, “…forgive and you shall be forgiven.” He is quite clear in the matter of our willingness to forgive others being central to our own cleansing from sin, yet standing clean before God is not the only requirement for our success in obtaining the things for which we supplicate. We must also pray in accordance with His will.

Our God will not grant to us anything that is contrary to His own Spirit within us. Further, He tells us in Matthew 18:20, “…if two or more gather together in My name, I will be there in the midst of them.” If Jesus is Himself part of the prayer group, those who are united in their petitions before Him may be assured He will respond.

Because They Fail To Understand

December 2

Love enables us to see things in others that are not readily discernible by those who do not know them intimately. The recalcitrant student at school is perceived by his teacher as a distraction to her classroom, while to his loving mother, he is seen as her delight.

A hard-driving executive is perceived as demanding and unflinching by his employees, but to the wife and children he loves, he is adored. Love establishes a distinction that nothing else can when it comes to interacting with people. Jesus stated the same thing to His followers in His words to them in John 14:21.

“Those who know My commands and obey them are the ones who love Me, and my Father will love those who love Me. I will love them and will show Myself to them.” If we love Jesus, we will desire to please Him by adhering to His commandments. Our love for Him will manifest itself to those around us. But, those who do not know Him, do not love Him, will not be compelled to obey His word; they won’t understand our blessing.

In fact, they will disdain the commandments of God. They will continue to endeavor to achieve the pinnacle of aggrandizement in their professional and personal lives, they will continue to strive to maintain the ‘upper hand.’ Because they fail to understand that there is a great dichotomy between raw power and abiding love they will continue to pursue the former. They will fail to see that one affords a temporary high; the other gives everlasting joy.

II Timothy 1:7

"God has not given you a spirit of fear,
but of power and of love, and of a sound mind."

Jesus Never Fails

December 1

Here we are, at the threshold of the last month of the year of 2012. Many people enter this month with fear and trepidation because an ancient Mayan calendar concludes on what would be the 22nd day of this month. Many people stand in anxious anticipation of an onslaught by a rogue nation that is on the verge of achieving its nuclear ambitions. Connecting the ancient augur of doom to the modern threat of nuclear annihilation causes much anxiety. So, how do we differ from all people in all times and in all places?

Not much. Imagine the fear of those in the path of the mighty Roman Army with its highly trained soldiers whose skill at wreaking death and leaving destruction in their wake were notorious. How do we differ from those who feared being over-run by the Mongolian hordes or devastated by the Nazi war machine?

Fear has always been a profound factor in the human psyche. Man has always wrestled with the sum of his anxious dread. Whether fear of drought or disease or diabolical oppressors who come to rape and kill and steal and conquer—man has always had to overcome his dread of tomorrow in order to live for today. We who espouse Christianity, however, have a hope that can assuage our natural fear of the unknown.

We have the promise of the angels who announced that Jesus would return as He left after His resurrection (see Acts 1:11). We have the assurance of Zechariah 2:10 which says, “Shout and be glad, O Jerusalem, for I am coming and I will live among you, says the Lord.” The God we serve is a God of love and hope and joy and truth. “What He has promised, He is able to perform,” Romans 4:21. Jesus NEVER fails, so the heart that trusts Him need not fail with fear.

If A Man Loves Me

November 30

World events leave mankind reeling as if in a whirlwind of dire potential eventualities. With the onslaught of nature’s storms and earthquakes and tsunamis and volcanic eruptions compounded by the bellicose rumblings of man, there is no shortage of concerns about which to worry and fret on our unsettled planet.

With all these things to perplex man, he is further left to deal with his own inner turmoil, with the stress of knowing he is a failure at life. Man, in spite of his arrogance and seeming confidence in his ability to handle life, must recognize his failure when he assesses the brokenness he leaves in his wake.

Man is much like a tsunami in that he sweeps over the people he should have loved and protected and leaves them devastated in the aftermath of his indifference. He has likewise left his purported faith in tatters that cause it to be virtually unrecognizable to the observers of his life, for it has rendered him haughty and arrogant in his self-righteousness rather than humble before the Christ who saved him. When he makes his righteousness his salvation, he is lost.

When a man overlooks the factor of love, when he does not allow the love of Christ and the forgiveness He has extended to everyone who believes to govern his life, he makes himself a cast-away. Jesus said, If a man loves Me, he will obey My teaching (to love and forgive). My Father will love him and We will come to him and dwell with him,” John 14:23. When a man has done that one thing, he diminishes the negativity swirling around him in great measure--for he has Christ’s peace within.

I Stand

November 29

Our God is good at painting word pictures. His Holy Book, the Bible, gives us clear pictures of major events of the past, and impresses us with its insights into current times, as well as shares with us its vivid imagery to portray what will occur in the future.

We feel like we were there when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 14:16). We feel like we overheard the conversation that transpired between the heroic Queen Esther and her husband King Ahasuerus that caused the astounded Jew-hater Haman to be snared by his diabolic scheme against God’s people (Esther 7:4-10).

We feel like we can hear the thundering hooves of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse as they bring destruction and death to the earth in the last days of time (Revelation 6:2-8), and we know that our own day is equally depicted in the scripture, for as we read, we see ourselves and our time graphically portrayed. But the one great truth He would have all mankind to see and to appropriate is that spoken by Jesus to those who will hear.

What our God and Savior wants us to see clearly, to grasp with our understanding and appropriate to our hearts is the picture of Revelation 3:20 where Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with Me.” Our loving Savior wants us to know that He, like a gentleman, stands at the door of our heart, the throne room of our lives, waiting to be seated there as our Savior, Lord and King.

Jesus will NEVER fail you or forsake you.

He Shares With You

November 28

Called. It’s a word that has varying significance, depending upon your religious affiliation. To people without any particular religious persuasion, it means nothing more than an action involving a telephone: I called you, but you didn’t answer.

To those who deny God speaks to men today, it may be a mere reflection upon the apostles of Christ, who felt they were called to follow Him—in all but John’s case—called to follow Him to their deaths.

The evangelical Christian who hears the word thinks of it as the undeniable touch of God upon the lives of those He selects to serve Him in a special way. Some are ‘called’ to serve Him as missionaries or as pastors or as Biblical teachers. Some are ‘called’ to serve Him with their gifts—to write for Him as Max Lucado does or to share their musical talent for Him as many gifted musicians do. But the Bible tells us we are called to something too lovely to restrict to a few.

It is a calling to which all who own Christ as Savior and Lord may lay claim. In I Corinthians 1:9, Paul says, “God has called you to share everything with His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord—and HE is faithful.” He has called you. Not someone else—you! And He who has called you is faithful to woo you by His Spirit to His Son Jesus Christ who gave Himself on Calvary’s cross to save you from sin and to share with you everything that’s His—His eternal reign in glory.

Happy...

November 27

The God who made us knows our frame. He does not condone our transgressions, but He fully comprehends our weakness where temptation is concerned and He Knows we are totally incapable of overcoming our proclivity to sin in our own strength.

That’s why He says in Isaiah 1:18, “Come, let us reason together. Though your sins may have stained your life as scarlet, they shall be washed white as snow. Though they are crimson, they can be as newly carded wool.”

The God who identifies Himself as our Father has a profound desire for every man who ever lives to receive this cleansing from sin because it is the Father’s will for every man who ever lived to abide with Him eternally. Apart from the forgiveness from sin that is obtained when a man believes in Jesus as Savior and Lord, there can be no cleansing (see I Timothy 4:10).

To accept Christ’s cleansing sacrifice is to attain not only eternal salvation but also temporal joy. As David who was guilty of adultery and murder says in Psalm 32:1, 2, “Happy is the man whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned. Joyful is the man whom the Lord does not consider guilty and in whom there is found no sin.”

Blood of the Martyrs

November 26

Why do people suffer for their faith? Perhaps that question should be reworded, “Why do Christians suffer for their faith?” Though there may be incidents of religious persecution that include all the earth’s belief systems, the preponderance of religious persecution (it is estimated to be 75%) is perpetrated against Christians. Why?

Much of that persecution, although not all of it, occurs in Muslim countries. In the past 100 years (during the 20th Century) 26,000,000 Christians were killed for their faith (martyred). This is more than the combined total of all previous centuries. It does not count the untold numbers who were persecuted in other ways—those who have been denied employment, imprisoned, tortured, and even enslaved for their faith.

These things are going on right now in certain countries and, in many cases, persecution is worse than it has ever been. Yet Christians continue to proclaim their belief in Jesus in spite of the danger doing so brings upon themselves. Why? Because as I John 1:3 tells us, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard because we want you also to have fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ the Lord as we do.”

What we have is so precious that we desire all mankind to possess it! We yearn for all our brothers in the family of man to know forgiveness of sin and inclusion in the family of God through the sacrifice of Jesus. And though we be persecuted, we say with Tertullian, “Put us on the rack, grind us to powder, torture us, but our numbers will increase, for the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”

One True Thing

November 25

How can man, with his frail, finite mind, know God’s truth which is infinite? Of himself, he cannot—as evidenced by the fallacious thinking evidenced in doctrines that are a hundred eighty degrees apart from the true doctrinal word of the living and true God. If, then, man cannot grasp an understanding of eternal truth on his own, how can he gain it?

The beloved Apostle knew our quandary and he gives us the key to overcoming our befuddlement when it comes to appropriating real truth and holding it close in our hearts. In I John 4:1-4 he says, “Many false prophets have gone into the world, spewing lies about our God. Do not believe them…

“Do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see if they are from God. This is how you can know God’s Spirit: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ came to earth as a Man is from God. And every spirit who refuses to affirm this about Jesus is not from God, rather it is a spirit from Christ’s enemy…

“My dear children, you belong to God and have defeated the spirits of evil because God’s Spirit who is in you is far greater than the spirit of the devil that is in the world.” The true test of TRUTH is Jesus. Those who affirm Him as God in the flesh are of God. They who deny that one true thing are bound in eternal error.

They Did Not Fear

November 24

How can the enemy of our souls be defeated? How can mere mortals, frail flesh that is only a breath away from returning to dust, hope to curtail, let alone halt, the inroads of the evil one into their lives and into the lives of those they love? What weapon in the arsenal of man can we hope will defeat the schemes and lies of the destroyer?

Of ourselves, there’s nothing. Our weapons of warfare, powerful and destructive though they may be when unleashed against flesh, are as nothing when poised toward the fortress of evil. Our resolve, though a strong tower to which we may flee from the temptations he levels at us, cannot secure us indefinitely against the devil’s determination to destroy God’s finest and most beloved handiwork.

But the Word of God tells us we can overcome him, and we stand upon that assurance when nothing else can give us even a glimmer of hope toward that end. In Revelation 12:11 John says, “Our brothers defeated the evil one by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives to the point of fearing death.” They did not fear death.

When we trust in the blood of the sacrificed Lamb, neither will we love our lives so much that we fear death. We, too will overcome by Jesus’ shed blood, knowing “there is no other name given under heaven whereby men might be saved,” Acts 4:12, so our defense, our confidence will be in the One who can defeat the tempter; who can destroy the destroyer!

Black Friday

Today is 'Black Friday,' the most shopped day of the year. A lot of people begin searching for bargains as the Christmas Season, the season of sharing and loving and giving officially starts.

May we who call His name be mindful of His "unspeakable gift" (II Corinthians 9:15) which is the only gift in time that is eternal.

May we allow Him to use us to shed this priceless gift abroad. May we let the light and power of Jesus' love and truth and salvation to be so evident in our lives that we shall be true bearers of His GIFT to every person we know...

...Not just at this lovely season of buying and exchanging gifts but through all the days of our lives, for it is His GIFT in us that makes our lives valuable and it is His GIFT through us that gives to others forever.

Schizophrenic

November 23

A lot of people make no distinction among the various religious systems to which the people of our planet subscribe. They avow that ‘all of them’ have resorted to violence to propagate their sphere of influence (this is not true, but it is widely believed), they believe all of them, ultimately, espouse the same ‘god,’ although many of these observers disbelieve there is a god at all.

The three monotheistic religions bear these comparisons most notably, but in spite of the superficial similarities, one of them differs greatly from the other two. Of course, Christianity is an ‘offshoot’ of Judaism. Christians worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. However, they do believe He came to earth as a Man, Jesus, to save the world from sin. This is a major doctrinal difference, in spite of their many similarities.

Islam, though commonly compared to the other two, is completely separate and different from them. Islam has appropriated many of the prophets of Judaism and names the name of Jesus, but the ‘god’ Allah is the surviving member of an ancient pagan pantheon of gods whose character is nothing like the God of Jews and Christians. The character of Jehovah, of Jesus, is kindness, honor, truth, steadfastness, love. The character of Allah leaves a ‘loophole’ for lying, for manipulating truth, for ruthlessness. Where it is an acceptable tenet of Islam to lie to further that worldview, lies are anathema to Jews and Christians.

While violent conquest is a tool of furthering the power of Islam, Jews and Christians lean only on the power of truth and love to propagate their beliefs. Only if God were schizophrenic could there be such disparity in His character—and HE IS NOT SCHIZOPHRENIC! Jesus has given some guidelines by which we may identify His followers. In Mark 16:17 He says, “Those who believe will do these things in My name: They will cast out devils in My name, they will pray for the sick in My name and they shall recover, they will speak in new tongues,” because they trust the TRUE GOD!

O! Give Thanks!

O! Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever. Psalm 107:1

Dear Reader,

May this profound and beautiful truth bless you all the days of your life and one day transport you on wings of faith into His glorious presence eternally.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 22

It is difficult to celebrate Thanksgiving on this day, for November 22, 1963 is the day America lost her innocence. On this day, forty-nine years ago, John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time, purportedly by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, who fired the fatal shots from the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, Texas.

Almost fifty years after the assassination of the young, handsome, vibrant president, much controversy swirls around the event. Conspiracy theories abound these many years later. One other thing that has not abated through the decades is the stunned disbelief of the citizens who lived through that horrible day. No matter one’s politics, the murder of JFK is indelibly stamped on their hearts and minds as a day of tragic infamy.

If this could happen to someone who was a member of the upper strata of society, a hero in war, a proud servant of the Constitution, how vulnerable must the ordinary among us be! Indeed, when we contemplate the exacerbated corruption and observe the ever-widening political divide between the factions of our political parties, we wonder if America can stand. What a horrible tragedy like that of November 22, 1963 could not do might be accomplished through the expanding gulf between members of our voting populace.

But when we put down our fear and lift up our faith, allow our spirits to soar, to take flight from the harsh realities of life and allow our hope to be lifted from the anxiety of time into the promises of eternity, we appropriate the promise of Luke 10:19 that says, “You have power…that is greater than the enemy has! Nothing can hurt you!” We know our security does not lie in the greatness of a nation or in the support of its people for a single political agenda. Our security, our hope is where it has ever been—in Jesus—in the One to whom we ever owe our thanks.

Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims

November 21

As we move toward Thanksgiving, we are mindful that this holiday meant a great deal to the Pilgrims. They had endured a tumultuous sea in order to depart the religious persecution of Europe to forge their way to the Americas. They encountered both friendly and hostile natives when they landed on the shores of New England in the autumn of 1620.

They suffered through an extremely harsh winter that saw many of their number perish from the cold and from starvation. They had hardly a reason to stay when the ship set forth for home. But, the one reason they had to remain in Plymouth was that they longed to be free. They were willing to endure continued hardship in order to worship God after their conscience.

So they stayed. They suffered. Many more of them died. But those who remained and survived established a bulwark of freedom that stands yet today! We, their spiritual heirs are able to say with the prophet, “God, You have caused the nation to grow and have made the people blessed. They have shown their thankfulness to You as through their joy at harvest time, as through victory in battle!

“You have removed their heavy burden and have broken the rod with which they had been punished,” Isaiah 9:3, 4. Like our forbearers, we have enjoyed the bounty of the Lord’s hand. We have been shielded from the rod of persecution by His mighty hand. But unlike them, we have turned away from Him. We have disdained His favor. May He have mercy on us, remove our arrogance and revive us so we may be blessed again.

His Dual Mission

November 20

Jesus’ words inspired those who heard Him speak and saw Him perform the wonders that only God could do. Most people who sat under His ministry were transformed in the inner man, they were enlightened in the depth of their soul. However, some were not touched by the joy of the presence of Deity; they were inflamed with wrath at Jesus’ assertions of oneness with God.

And, His assertions were clear. One very pronounced claim to Messiahship came in Luke 4:18, 19 when Jesus said, “The Lord has put His Spirit upon Me because He has appointed Me to tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to tell the captives they are free and to tell the blind that they can see. He has sent Me to preach the year of the Lord’s favor.”

This is almost word-for-word what Isaiah prophecies in Chapter 61, verses one and two; however, Jesus stops short of completing Isaiah’s prophecy. He does not say He will, “…proclaim the day of the vengeance of the Lord.” What He did say was enough to provoke His detractors to wrath, but He did not complete the prophecy because the day of vengeance will not be until His Second Coming.

The Lord gave us in this passage a very clear indication of the duality of His mission. At His first coming, He brought salvation, He tore down walls that separate men and nations from their God. He gave everyone—Jew and Gentile alike—an equal opportunity to receive the message of forgiveness of sins. At His second coming, He will take believers home and leave the lost to the devices of evil men.

Who Desires Freedom?

November 19

Do all men yearn to be free? In the Western World, we presume they do. Much of our foreign policy centers around our conviction that people in other parts of the world yearn for personal and political relevance within their societies. Perhaps many do, but there is some indication that this is not a universal desire within some cultures.

Some evidence that suggests there is a different mindset among individuals from other backgrounds than our own might be the fact that Muslim women choose to wear the veil even when they are living in the West as students, where they are not under the scrutiny of their fathers or brothers or husbands.

They do so because of their own deep conviction that their god requires compliance of them to even the harshest of Islamic law. Perhaps this is why Muslim mothers do not protest when female circumcision, which is a devastating surgery, is performed upon their baby daughters. Perhaps this is why they allow their sons to perpetuate the attitude of second-class-citizenship to their sisters and wives without speaking out.

Those of us who live in lands of freedom where Christianity has been the dominant religion and personal value has been attached to every individual assent to the words of the Apostle Paul in II Corinthians 3:17, “…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” We embrace freedom and we long to extend it to others. We are taken aback when freedom appears to be disdained by those imprisoned by its absence.

Dwell Where He Is

November 18

We have drifted so far away from our spiritual roots that when we speak of things in the spirit realm, the only thing that comes to mind is scary movies that may jolt us out of our skin with fright but which we relegate to the area of ‘make-believe,’ of fiction, of contrived notions that have no place in reality.

When we think of people who are ‘spiritual,’ we think of mediums who purport themselves to have powers to see into a realm that doesn’t exist. What do we do then with the Christian who claims to commune with the Holy Spirit of the Living God? Often, he, too, is relegated to the category of 'kooks who don’t have their heads on straight'.

But, the Word of God is clear in the matter! In John 4:24, Jesus says, “God is a Spirit and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Man, in his flesh, can have a fervor for the entity he perceives to be ‘god.’ Man, when he pursues this passion, digs himself into a pit of error from which it is very difficult for him to be extricated.

Whether Western man who is immersed in materialism or Muslim man who is deeply into jihad, man who has zeal but does not have the Holy Spirit of God, is in pursuit of a lie. The lie, whatever its nature, will immerse him in error and sin. Only when he receives the Spirit of the Lord and dwells where He is, will he be free (II Corinthians 3:17.)

One Source

November 16

There are a lot of ways to be bound. Of course, there is physical incarceration. Anyone who has been tried and convicted of a crime has experienced this form of bondage. Many people have been arrested and sent to prison for their faith. People who are bold in their conviction of faith in Christ have been incarcerated because of their hearts’ allegiance to Jesus.

The preponderance of people who are captive are those who are bound by sin. Temptation has them bound to practices that are inconducive to their living honorable or fruitful lives, but they cannot find release from the hold their sin has upon them. No matter what chains hold a man, there is a key to unlock them and set him free.

The Bible assures us, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…if the Son of God makes you free, you will be truly free. You will be free indeed,” John 8:32, 36. Whether one is imprisoned for crimes committed or for convictions of the heart, he is free while bound when he knows Jesus as His Savior and Lord.

People who are bound by sin can be delivered from temptation. God will “…forgive us our sins…and deliver us from temptation…” as the words of Jesus assure us in His revered prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). Though a man may be bound for various reasons, his true freedom comes through one Source—and that one Source is Jesus.

OOPS!

OOPS! I seem to have gotten the dates mixed up! I will post the entry for November 16 tomorrow. Please be blessed by the early post of the November 17 entry today.

You Choose

November 17

The Law of God is a two-sided coin. On one side it brings death; on the other, it brings life. As we are told in Psalm 19;7-14, “…The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

“Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my Strength, and my Redeemer.”

To adhere to the law in its fullness is life, but doing so is impossible for man to perform. In breaking the law, even to a miniscule degree, man has broken it in its entirety. Only Jesus has kept the law in our behalf, so it is only, “through Christ Jesus that the law of the Spirit brings life and makes man free from the law that brings sin and death.” It’s not a coin toss—YOU choose which side of the coin will represent you!

My Deliverer Is Coming

November 15

Jesus is the promised Deliverer. The Israelites were promised that One would come who would release them from sin’s vice grip, and they chronicled the promises that spoke of Him throughout the Old Testament. The Promised One would have a heart of compassion for His people, for He would know their frame.

In Isaiah 61:1 the prophet says of Him, “The Lord God has put His Spirit in Me because He has appointed Me to tell the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to comfort those whose hearts are broken, to tell the captives they are free and to tell the prisoners they are released.” We were poor and comfortless, held captive to sin—until Jesus came and set us free as promised.

Some who are reading these words may not yet have experienced the joy of having the key of salvation inserted into the prison of their sin. To them I would share the faith of Rich Mullins who said in his beautiful song, MY DELIVERER IS COMING, “He will never break His promise; He has written it upon the sky! My deliverer is coming, my deliverer is standing by.” You may not see Him but He stands at the ready to release you from sin.

Though it may appear that the Lord is slack concerning His promises, the reality is that there is an optimum time for Him to affect the things He has assured us will come and only He knows that time. In one instance, however He tells us when that time is. In II Corinthians 6:2 He says through the Apostle Paul, “…now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.” Claim Jesus as your own Savior now. Make Him Lord of your life today.

Sing

November 14

If one is looking for encouragement from the Word of God, aside from the gospel message that Jesus died for our sins and washed us clean and made us fit for Heaven, there is hardly a better place to look than to Chapter 54 of the Book of Isaiah. Perhaps the first clue that it is going to contain an uplifting message is that it begins with the word, ‘Sing…’

It goes on to indicate that the believer should not be discouraged by past fruitlessness but should be lifted up and encouraged by the promises the Lord makes of expansion and vindication. It assures that believers are watched over by a loving God who will not allow the reproach of past failures to dog their heels. Something transformative happens when we confess our faith in the Lord.

In verses 14 through 17 the prophet says, “I will build you in righteousness. You will be safe from those who would hurt you, so you will have nothing to fear…I will not send anyone to attack you, so if you are attacked, you will defeat your foe. As the blacksmith intensifies the fire to craft his weapons, so I have made the waster to destroy, but no weapon that is formed against you shall stand.

“Every tongue that shall rise against you to condemn you, you shall condemn, for this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, whose righteousness is from Me, says the Lord.” He assures that He will not condemn us and He will not permit others to condemn His blood-bought people. Paul says in Romans 10:10, “We believe in our hearts and are made right with God. As we confess our faith, we are saved.”

God's Great Joy

November 13

God’s intention for man has always been that he should be a reflection of Himself. From ­Genesis 1:26 where the Triune Majesty says to Himself, “Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness…” it has been His intention that the loftiest of His created beings would be like Him—that man would be the possessor of every godly character trait.

Man has fallen far short of God’s lofty aspiration so He has devised an eternal plan to restore him to his lost estate (Revelation 13:8). God who knows all things was not taken unaware when Adam and Eve succumbed to the wiles of the tempter. He knew from the foundation of the earth that man would require a Savior, so a Redeemer has been eternally provided.

In Romans 8:29, 30, Paul states clearly, “God knew them before He made the world and He decided that they would be like His Son so Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers. God planned for them to be like His Son, and those He foreordained, He also called; and those He called, He redeemed; and those He redeemed, He also glorified.”
Our Lord, the Majesty on High, does nothing by halves.

He did not take counsel with Himself before the world began in order to create a being who would fall from grace and be eternally unfit for heaven. No! His heart of love required Him to make man, knowing he could not resist the tempter! But He also made him with the power to know and love and receive the Savior. The greatest joy of the heart of God is when a man lays his sin at the foot of the cross.

Steeled Against The Evil Days

November 12

Where are we going? Who can we trust? What can we believe in? Is there any integrity in the world today? Politicians say what is expedient without regard to truth. Lovers are unfaithful. Religious conviction has grown lukewarm. On virtually every level of existence, man is confronted with a penury of substantive information on which he can rely.

Nobody seems to have a clear picture of where we’re headed as a nation or as a world. There is a rise in antagonism and an increase of lawlessness. Islamic extremists believe that there is one way to effect their will, to browbeat the world into accepting it—violence. If they are feared, they will be able to coerce everyone into acquiescing to their belief system.

Lawlessness is rampant in America. This is evident when a group of people (any group of people) declares that they will riot, they will assassinate the winning candidate if the man they support is defeated in an election! How we rob ourselves of the world, the life, our God desires us to possess when we settle for the devil’s method—to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10)—rather than the Lord’s way of loving our enemies and praying for those who despitefully use us (Luke 6:27).

If the Bible and the commonly-held explanation of its eschatology is true, things will get worse before they get better. A “man of sin” (II Thessalonians 2:3-12) will appear and he will defy even the deity of our Living Lord and Christ. Believers must allow the Holy Spirit within them to steel them against the evil days ahead, remembering that “he who endures to the end will “receive a crown of life” (Revelation 2:10) that will never fade away.

Life Isn't All There Is

November 11

It is the nature of man to cling to life. Under duress, he will betray his convictions—even his loved ones—because self-preservation is deeply ingrained in humankind. There is a reason torture is an effective tool of wicked individuals when endeavoring to break the will of those who possess information they want.

Yet we know life—living, breathing, existing in this realm—is not all there is. We know there is a place beyond the ‘here and now’ to which we will go after this brief, frail existence is over. There may be many vastly differing opinions of the nature of that place, but most of us do anticipate abiding there.

From the religions that believe life is an endless cycle of on-going attempts to rise to higher and higher planes of existence on earth, to religions that believe bellicose exploits in the behalf of god will result in eternal delights, to Christianity that adheres to the promises of Jesus regarding abiding with Him always, most people anticipate living forever.

Yet the Bible, the book that is God’s love letter to man, says, ”Your body will be dead because of sin, but if Christ is in you, then His Spirit gives you life because Jesus makes you right with God,” Romans 8:10. To those who believe in Him as Savior and Lord, Christ is the factor that differentiates between an endless grave and eternal joy.

Reveals Truth

November 10

Has it ever occurred to you to wonder why the Jew has been so disdained through the ages? Of course, animosities occur in every area of the planet and it is evident that mankind has a tremendous inability to get along with those of our species who differ from the specific ‘branch of the family of man’ to which each is a member.

But the Jew has been the object of almost universal loathing and persecution. At one time or another he has been vilified by virtually every culture of which he has been a part. To name a few of the most horrific: the Inquisition of the Middle Ages in Europe, the pogroms of Russia, and the Holocaust conducted by the Germans during WW II.

How can it be that a race of people that has contributed so much toward the betterment of the lot of man has been so disparaged as its reward? Perhaps a significant aspect of the answer to that question comes in Paul’s letter to the Romans. In Chapter 9, verse 30, he expounds thusly: “What does all this mean? Those who are not Jews were not trying to make themselves right with God…”

Until an individual gives himself to Jesus and is made right by belief in Him, he is an enemy of God and of all He stands for. Therefore, he hates the chronicler of truth who points out his sin! The Jews, the keepers of God’s word, are seen by the unsaved as enemies who have the audacity to point out their sin! But, “…when men are made right with God by their faith,” they love the Jew who reveals truth to them.

The Law of the Lord

November 9

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul…the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” This passage in Psalm 19:7-9 establishes the veracity of the law.

There is no denying that it is totally worthy of complete compliance on the part of every individual who ever walks the earth. It goes on to say in verse 10 that the law of God is a richer treasure than much fine gold and that in its compliance is a sweetness that excels that of honey.

But Paul tells us in Romans 8:3, 4 that “The law was without power because it was made weak by our sin. Yet God did what the law could not do. He sent His own Son to earth with the same human life that others use for sin as an offering to pay for sin. God used Christ’s perfect human life to pay for sin. He used a human life to destroy sin.
“God did this so we could be the kind of people the law demands that we be.

"Therefore, we do not live to follow our sinful nature but to follow the Spirit of God who Christ has quickened in us.” By His life, death and resurrection, Jesus brought the love of the law to life in sinful man—and He enabled us to comply with that law by His complete obedience to it.

Trinity

November 8

The triune nature of the God we serve can be overlooked because it is not concisely stated in scripture. There isn’t any place believers can point, there is no chapter and verse to quote that says, “The Godhead is three in one.” But the intimation of the plurality of His nature is found in numerous places.

Among them are: Genesis 1:26, found on the first page of the Bible, which says of God at the point where He is about to create His highest being, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” If there were not a multiplicity to His nature, why would He consult with Himself on an aspect of His handiwork?

There is the testimony of the enemies of Christ in John 5:18 that Jesus, in asserting that God was His Father, made Himself equal with God. There is also the bold statement of Thomas in John 20:28 when he saw the risen Savior who invited His doubting disciple to touch His wounds. Thomas said, “My Lord and my God!” These verses subtly affirm God’s plurality. Another declaration of the three-in-one nature of our God is found in Titus 3:4, 5.

Here Paul says, “The kindness and love of God our Savior was shown when He saved us because of His mercy. Not because of our good deeds…but through the washing (of His blood) that made us new through the Holy Spirit.” God is declared to be the Savior whose blood makes us clean through the power of His Spirit at work in us. The involvement of the three aspects of His Person-hood is evident in numerous places—to anyone willing to see it.

Clean and New

November 7

So, how will you feel when you stand face-to-face with a serial killer in heaven? Or perhaps it will be one who only stood by watching as murder was done—as the crowds described in the horrific story told some years ago of the young woman who was slain as on-lookers neglected to intervene (or perhaps it was Saul—later the Apostle Paul—standing by as Stephen was stoned) Acts 7:55-8:1?

How will you feel when you stand face-to-face with an adulterer? How will you feel when you realize the adulterer is David, one of the great heroes of the faith, the man after God’s own heart who is given the privilege of being the most-named ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ? How will you feel when you realize you are there—and you are the adulterer?

Or the tax cheat? Or the pornographer? Or the slanderer? Yet the reality is that we shall not see these sins in heaven at all, for there is no transgression there! Everyone who stands side-by-side with you will be blood-washed and free of sin. You will be blood-washed and free of sin. Because of the truth Paul proclaimed in Romans 5:17, we will all be clean and new—and fit for heaven! This is what he says:

“One man sinned so death ruled all people…but now those people who accept God’s full grace and the great gift of being made right with Him will have true life and rule eternally through the One pure Man, Jesus Christ.” Anyone, anyone, who accepts the gift of salvation purchased by the blood of the Lord, will be justified in the God’s eyes…as though he’d never sinned! The believer will be pure because Jesus is pure.

II Chronicles 7:14

"If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land."

Serial Killer--In Heaven!

When I was young, there was a notorious serial killer on the loose. People speculated as to how he succeeded in killing again and again when there were so many incidents of his evil handiwork in the news. His victims, attractive young women, one would think, would be on guard against such a wicked predator.

He was finally captured, after murdering dozens of victims, and prior to his execution, he was interviewed. One of the questions posed to him was how on earth he succeeded in seducing so many to their deaths when his evil activities were well-publicized. The story he told was, of course, one of using deception.

The horrible deeds were facilitated because he placed an artificial cast on his leg and purported himself to be in need of assistance in carrying a load of books to his car. Each unwitting victim rose to the occasion—extending kindness to the one who would soon take her life. His interview was chilling because it revealed the depth to which a depraved individual would go to ensnare his prey. Something else he shared in the interview that was televised the day before his execution was even more startling.

He said that he had found forgiveness for his sins by accepting Christ as his Savior! I admit to having been stunned at this revelation, to being sure that if I were God, there would be no forgiveness for such a one! But it does affirm the truth that is found in Romans 4:5, “People can do nothing that will make them right with God, so they must trust in Jesus who can make even evil people right in His sight…” One thoroughly wicked person who was cleansed of sin, who you may meet in heaven, is Ted Bundy.