Verse of the Day

Monday, July 11, 2022

For out of the Overflow of the Heart ...


Imagine caring a cup of acid through a crowded room. Someone bumps into you and you spill acid on the person.

That person asks, “why did you spill acid on me?” 

You respond, “you bumped into me.” 

The real reason the acid spilled was that there was acid in the cup. Had there been no acid in the cup, then no acid would have come out.

 Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “... For out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks."


Image: Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Monday, August 23, 2021

What has the pandemic done?



What has the pandemic done?

This pandemic has caused a cultural moment for forcing everyone to break through the denial of mortality. It has pulled back the rug and openly displayed how ill-equipped the world is at dealing with this type of an event. It has proven that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. 


Christians have even asked themselves, "should I feel wrong about fearing this pandemic?" Well, yes. However, we all have had fear of the pandemic if we are honest. After all, Christians are not perfect (1 John 1:8).  Let me say it another way. Martin Luther said (paraphrasing), you never break commandments two through ten without first breaking commandment one. You would never lie unless you are making a god out of the thing about which you are lying. If you make a million dollars by lying, then the love of money is your god. The real reason we break the first commandment is that the love of God is not as real to our hearts as the love of [insert your besetting sin here] (Hebrews 12:1 KJV). Yet, God continues to work with broken people, the same people who need grace every day, hour, minute, and second of the day. All of us.


Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NKJV)

So, what about the future?

If Jesus Christ was raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:15 ), if He got up, was seen by hundreds of people (1 Corinthians 15:5-7), and talked with those people, then everything is going to be alright. As Christians, we know these events happened. Everything you are worrying about, what you are afraid of, is going to be okay.


Let’s remember that we are not just talking about a resurrected people; we are talking about a resurrected world (Luke 21:33; Romans 8:22; Mark 13:31; Revelation 21:5).


All other religions talk about an afterlife in a non-material world where you get some type of consolation prize for a world lost. Christianity not only says our bodies are being resurrected, but the world is going to be a material world that is cleansed of all suffering and sin (Isaiah 65:17-19; Psalm 102:25-27; 2 Peter 3:12-13).


We don’t know how it will all be ‘okay’, but it will be (Philippians 4:6-7). The fact remains while still on this Earth, we still cry. Sometimes the reality of the shortness of this life now just overwhelms us and we cry. That is ok. Then, by faith, you remind yourself that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, and because of that, everything is going to be okay. You can then wipe your tears. You don’t stop crying now, but you are under the shelter of his wings (Psalm 36:7; 91:4). It is like salt in a cut. It hurts, but it keeps the cut from going bad. But it doesn’t mean we don’t suffer different injuries in this life. Until we see Jesus (1 John 3:2), we have our cuts and brushes. However, His nail-scarred hands have ultimately taken ours away; His cuts have effectively healed ours.


Please read Tim Keller's article  from where this was adapted.  He also has a book "Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter".  The article struck me as poignant considering the nation's situation in the covid-19 pandemic. I wanted to journal this on here in my words, mainly for me to remember.

Thursday, May 6, 2021

Grace is Greater


God’s grace is compelling when explained but irresistible when experienced.

  • Grace is powerful and enough to erase your guilt.
  • Grace is big enough to heal your shame.
  • Grace is real enough to heal your relationships.
  • Grace is strong enough to hold you up when you’re weak.
  • Grace is sweet enough to cure your bitterness.
  • Grace is satisfying enough to deal with your disappointment.
  • Grace is beautiful enough to redeem your brokenness.

Grace explained is necessary but grace experienced is essential.

Hebrews 12:15

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Such a Time as This

Here we are in this point in history and we need to be reminded as Christians that we have been called for such a time as this.

In ancient Persia, Haman was busy doing the devil's work. Enter Esther (who Xerxes selected as queen) to counter and with the encouragement of Mordecai who told her she was called "for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14). God set the chess board and He moved His queen to checkmate the enemy. Brothers and Sisters, “He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others” (Daniel 2:21). God will use us in "such as time as this."

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Look under the table.

What is happening in our culture today has one explanation. It is NOT an outlandish conspiracy theory conceived by man but it is about the deceiver (Hebrews 3:12-13 NKJV) desperately seeking those who are being unwatchful (1 Peter 5:8 NKJV). By only being a God-fearing person can this nation achieve God's guidance. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (Proverbs 9:10 NKJV). What is missing from ALL sides are people who refuse to walk in the light. "But 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" (1 John 1:7 NKJV). The concluding section of Proverbs 9 does parallel the first. In this chapter, two meals are prepared. One for wisdom and one for foolishness. For when foolishness is busy preparing for a meal, they call loudly to whoever will listen. Those that sit down to that meal unknowingly join what has been prepared for those who walk in darkness. May we all be careful when we sit at tables to know who's table we sit at. Look under the table. If you do not have wisdom in the topic 'on the table', then remember to first seek the wisdom of God's Word.

What about sitting at the table of social media?

rock
"Rocks" by The Isaacs
(img source)

Because Satan's weapon is deceitfulness, we must outfit ourselves against it. Be ready to encourage one another, worship together, be able to clearly warn against those dangers. Most importantly, show the benefits of faithfully following Christ. Worry about those around you first, then those where you walk every day, then your city, then county, then state (Acts 1:8 NKJV). Yes, our electronic devices have become our default form of being connected. Even that is a deception. Those forms thrive from disconnection - people responding to negativity. Responding to negativity is not connecting with people. Put your preferred form of social media down. Put it down. Go talk to your nearest person. See if they need anything. Do they need a gallon of milk, a carton of eggs, something warm to wear? Provide it.  (Romans 12:21 NKJV)  Remember that God meets you where you were in your life, first. He provides. To develop this thought more, think of your area of your influence. Work in those first. Then our success steps us further and progresses us beyond (2 Corinthians 10:15-16 NKJV). Never forget to boast in the Lord. Even in writing this post, I'm reminded that it is not what I say about others, it is what God says about me that is important (vs 18). Getting back to posting comments, Paul understood that what he wrote in his letters when absent from people had to be the same actions and messages as when he was in person (2 Corinthians 10:11 NKJV). What a concept in these times of social media. To say the same thing in a comment as we would fact-to-face with them.

2 Peter 1:3-8 starts by telling us that God has given us all things needful concerning life and godliness through the knowledge of him. It talks of becoming partakers of that divine nature and making every effort to supplement our faith with, "virtue, and virtue with knowledge,  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love." And if those qualities are ours (the "if" means we need to do those things) and are increasing (meaning we must daily do those things) that they keep us from being ineffective. Starting with verse nine, the text shifts to talking about those who lack those qualities (they do not seek them out, they do not increase in them). The Bible calls them "blind" (vs. 9). The last part of that verse tells the "who" the verse is referring. Those "cleansed from his former sins". Christians. Yes, we must be purposeful in loving our neighbor (Mark 12:30-31 NKJV).

Paul said, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. (1 Corinthians 9:22; 9:19-23 NKJV)" While that is not a free ticket to sin (Romans 6:2; 6:15 NKJV), [become all things] is telling us that instead of being a cause to making others stumble but [by all means] win people to Christ. We are either winning people to Christ, or we are losing them by causing them to stumble. Is that being excessively harsh? I don't think so. I think the fact of eternity is important enough to let people know, including the location of it, that they will live in eternity (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV).