God's Love for Us

Romans 5:8,  "But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners Christ died for us."

    A friend of mine would say of certain people,  "They talk a good game," implying that their words were idle chatter, with no action behind them. James 1:22 admonishes us,  "Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says," and James 2:14,  "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?" and James 2:18b,  "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do."  In other words, what we say should be backed up by our actions to prove that our words are true.  Today we have the saying,  "Talk is cheap."  Actions exact a price--sometimes in time, sometimes in energy, and sometimes we are required to make a sacrifice of money or something else material.

    God tells us over and over in the Scripture how much He loves us, but His words are not just cheap conversation.  He has backed them up by action after action.

    First of all, God created a world with air, water, food, heat--all the things He knew we would need physically--and He included beauty to minister to our hearts and souls as well.  Then He created us, breathing into our bodies the breath of life.  He sustains us and our world day after day.  Colossians 2:17b, speaking of Christ, says,  "In him all things hold together."

    Second, Jesus is our Emmanuel, God with us, and he has promised never to leave us nor forsake us.

    Third, God takes us to be His children just as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us like He finds us.  He is always working to make us more and more like His Son Jesus, and He never gives up.

    Fourth, our heavenly Father's ears are always attentive to our prayers.  He hears us and answers us.  He works all things that happen to us for our good if we love Him and are obeying Him.

    Most of all, God proved His love for us by the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  John 15:13,  "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

    Over and over God has proven to us, and continues to show us, how very much He loves us.  Celebrate His love this Christmas season.  Bask in it.  And pass it along throughout the new year.

Father, thank You for loving us and showing Your love to us in so many ways.  Amen.  

The Peace of the World

Colossians 3:15a,  "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace."

There are three kinds of peace discussed in the Bible.  The first kind, peace WITH God, is a prerequisite for the second kind, the peace OF God, and enables the third kind, PEACE WITH OTHER PEOPLE.  

The most important thing we celebrate at Christmas is peace WITH God, our salvation, the forgiveness of our sins and the assurance of heaven, all through Jesus Christ.  Isaiah 9:6,  "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  Isaiah 53:5c,  "The punishment that brought us peace was on him.  Ephesians 2:14a,  "For he himself is our peace."  Colossians 1:19-20,  "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross."  Romans 5:1,  "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  

    We all seek inner peace in a noisy world where we are surrounded by problems and troubles and evil.  God can give us His peace in the midst of turmoil and chaos and opposition.  Jesus promised in John 14:27,  "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you."  Galatians 5:22 tells us that peace is a fruit produced in lives that are controlled by the Holy Spirit.  Romans 8:6 says it this way,  "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."  Isaiah 26:3 tells us that our part is faith, saying,  "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you."

    To those who have peace WITH God and are walking in the peace OF God, the Bible gives exhortations to live in peace with other people.  Over and over Scripture tells us to live peaceful lives.  Psalm 34:14b,  "Seek peace and pursue it."  Zechariah 8:19b,  "Love truth and peace."  Jesus' words in Mark 9:50,  "Be at peace with each other."  Romans 12:18,  "If it is possible,as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

    As we worship the Prince of Peace this Christmas season, may we honor and glorify Him by sharing His peace with those around us.

My prayer for us all is found in II Thessalonians 3:16a,  "Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way."

The Hope of the World

Hebrews 6:19a,  "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

Hebrews 10:23,  "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

This week I was watching a boy at physical therapy as he sat on a rolling stool and pushed himself across the floor with his injured leg.  His progress was slow and laborious because a huge metal weight was attached to the back of the stool by a wide canvas belt.  As the young fellow struggled to drag that weight along, my inclination was to take scissors and cut the weight loose from the stool so he could move unhindered.  Then I thought of all the weights we drag around that hinder our progress, weights caused by problems and circumstances.  The therapists had a broad view, the big picture, of the boy's improvement in mind when they attached the weight to the stool, and God has our improvement in mind when He allows us to struggle with problems and circumstances.  The boy's leg needed to be strengthened, and our faith needs to grow stronger and deeper.  God's promise in Romans 8:28, that all things will work for our good if we belong to Him, gives us hope as we keep struggling against the weights in our lives.

    Christians have an even broader view, a bigger picture, than the therapists, because we have an eternal perspective.  Abraham as he rode swaying camels across dry, dusty lands and lived in hot, stuffy tents, had an eternal perspective.  Hebrews 11:10 says of him,  "For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

    This life is not all there is.  Ahead of each Christian is a heavenly home where we shall see our Father face to face, be able to bow before the Lord Jesus in grateful adoration, and bask in the presence of the blessed Holy Spirit.  Heaven is a magnificent place, specially prepared with love by God for His children.  It is a place of no more sickness nor sin nor sadness nor sorrow, no more guilt or regrets, a place of eternal joy.  Because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, there is help for the helpless and hope for the hopeless.  A glorious future is in store for us.  Let us place our hope in God, as Abraham did.

Father, thank You for all that You have lovingly prepared for those who belong to You.  May we always find hope in You and in our future.  Amen.   

God's Promise to Abraham

Genesis 12:2-3,  "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

God made some promises to Abraham, and He ratified those promises with a covenant ritual.  God promised Abraham that He would make him into a great nation at a time when Abraham and Sarah were old and childless.  Then God gave them Isaac.  Today the Hittites, Jebusites, Hivites, and all the other nations mentioned in the Old Testament, have melted into the pool of humanity.  However, there is still a distinct Jewish nation, descendants of Abraham and Isaac.

God promised to bless Abraham, and He gave Abraham great wealth as well as many descendants.  God promised to make Abraham's name great.  Not only Christianity, but also Judaism and Islam, claim Abraham as the founder of their beliefs.  Abraham is referred to 116 times in the Bible, and his life has been an influence to trust and obey God in every generation since he lived.  God promised Abraham that all the people on earth would be blessed through him.  Through Abraham came the belief in the one true God at a time when many gods were worshiped.  Abraham's descendants not only wrote most of the Bible, but the Jews also preserved it through hundreds of years.  And from the Jewish nation came the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of the whole world.  Truly all people on earth have been blessed by Abraham and the legacy of his people.  Where would we all be today if Abraham and Sarah had not chosen to trust and obey God?

We will see that everywhere Abraham went his life was marked by two special activities.  He built altars to worship God, and he dug wells which benefited the people in his vicinity.  Because of his faith and obedience he was a blessing to many others during his lifetime.  If we trust and obey God, He will make us blessings to those around us as well.

Father,  I pray You will bless my life in such a way that I will be a blessing to others.  Amen.

Four Men in Genesis

Genesis 15:6a,  "Abram believed the Lord....."

    The story of Abram occurs at the pivot point of Genesis, at the end of the beginnings.  The first part of Genesis covers hundreds of years and four prominent events--the creation, the fall, the flood, and the Tower of Babel.  The remainder of Genesis covers around 300 years and four generations.  It zeroes in on the lives of four men--Abram, who became Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.  These four men reveal much about human nature and much about God's attributes by their lives.

    Abram models faith and obedience.  Hebrews 11:6 tells us,  "Without faith it is impossible to please God..."  Hebrews 11:8, 9a, and 10,  "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.  By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents.....for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."  And believing Abraham found God to be faithful to His promises.

    Abraham is also a picture of our loving heavenly Father Who lavishes His gifts upon us.  Abraham lavished his great wealth upon his son, Isaac.  Isaac pictures those who have accepted Christ and been born into God's family.  He did nothing to deserve his father's blessings--he received them because he was Abraham's son, and God blesses us, not because we have earned it or deserved it, but because we are His children.

    In Jacob's life we see such human characteristics as cunning and deception.  But in his brother Esau, and in God's dealings with Jacob, we see God's lovely attributes of mercy and forgiveness.  In Jacob we see the repentant heart and humble spirit that must precede forgiveness.

    Joseph is one of the loveliest characters in the Bible.  He models integrity, perseverance in the midst of adverse circumstances, and a forgiving heart.

    If your life was also described in Genesis, what characteristics would you be modeling?  Are you reflecting God's attributes to a watching world today?

Father, may others see You in us.  May we model Your attributes well.  Amen.

The Call of Abram

Genesis 12:1,  "The Lord had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you."

    Anne Graham Lotz wrote,  "Almost from the moment that God let the world go at the Tower of Babel, He began unfolding His plan to reconcile it to Himself.  He did this by reaching down into the world of humanity that was in rebellion against Him.....down into one nation, one tribe, one family from which He chose one man through whom He would begin making preparations for sending the Redeemer."

    Why Abram?  Why did God choose him rather than someone else?  What was so special about this man?  As we study his life, we see that Abram TRUSTED and OBEYED God.  No doubt God knew Abram's heart and knew that when He called Abram, Abram would respond.  Also, it may have been that Abram was searching for the true God amidst the idols that were worshiped in his home town of Ur.  God gives mankind this wonderful promise in Jeremiah 29:13,  "You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart."

    God's call came to Abram when he was 75 years old.  Some people might think that a person that age is too old for God to use, but He can use us at any age.  I love what Charles Swindoll wrote, "If you can get up in the morning and breathe on a mirror and cause it to fog over, God still has a purpose for your life!"

    Abram was a city dweller. During his lifetime Ur was considered the most magnificent city in the world except for Babylon.  Ur was a bustling, sophisticated city with several universities, well stocked libraries, and advanced workmanship in silver and gold.  God called Abram to leave his home, his family, and his friends and strike out for an unknown destination, riding swaying, smelly camels; living in sweltering hot tents; and moving  from place to place.  Think how hard that must have been!  But Abram BELIEVED and OBEYED God.

    When Abram set out, others came along.  He was accompanied by his wife Sarai, his father Terah, and his nephew Lot.  Once we step out to follow God, we may well influence others to do likewise.

    Hopefully we will answer God's call on our lives with the same kind of faith and obedience that we find in Abram's life.  Are you obeying everything He has asked you to do?

Father, may I keep my obedience up to date, answering every time You call me with "Yes" and then doing what You have asked me to do.  Amen.  

Our Towers

Genesis 11:4,  "Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

    Author Warren Wiersbe calls the tower of Babel "one of the most arrogant revolts against God anywhere in the Scripture."  God had commanded the people to be fruitful and multiply and scatter across the earth, but instead they moved to the city of Babylon with the intention of settling there together.

    The tower of Babel was the forerunner of modern day Humanism, which is the deification of man and the exclusion of God.  Anne Graham Lotz wrote, "The stated purpose was to make a name for themselves--to elevate man and his accomplishments above anything else."  Karl Barth, a twentieth century theologian, said that all religion is man reaching up to God in his own way, according to his own terms, on his own merit, in his own strength.  Christianity alone is God reaching down to man."

    The tower of Babel was built with bricks.  Bricks are made from hardened clay, a fitting symbol for mankind.

    In one sense, Pentecost was a reversal of the tower of Babel, because the people in Jerusalem that day each heard Peter's message in his own language.  One day all the people from every tribe and nation will praise God in heaven with one voice, and the judgment of Babel will no longer be in effect.

    There are people in every generation who build their own humanistic towers.  But, any person who rebels against God is fighting a losing battle.  As Thomas a Kempis wrote, Man proposes, but God disposes."  An expanded version of that proverb says,  "Man does what he can.  God does what He will."  Proverbs 19:21 underlines that thought when it say,  "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

    Are there any towers of rebellion or self reliance in your life today?  If so, what will you do about them?

Father, may my life be all about You rather than all about me.  May I tear down any tower of rebellion or self reliance that ever enters my life and depend completely and entirely on You.  Amen.