Month: March 2022

Problems arise in all our lives…the fact is no one is immune to them. But how does a problem turn into a conflict between you and someone else? This verse shows us that the root of any division is our own evil desires. Admittedly, problems can cause uncertainty, difficultly, and even hardship in our lives, but they don’t have to create conflict. It’s only when one or both people are operating out of a selfish and worldly value system that we see blame-shifting, anger, and self-centeredness. Suddenly all their energy is being directed at what they want and not towards finding a mutually agreed upon solution. Titus 3:9 & Romans 7:23 tell us to avoid such controversies, for they’re stupid and can only make us a prisoner to sin.

When we consider the word of God, it is both mystery and magnificence…for no matter where we are in our journey with the Lord, He can use it to encourage, exhort, convict, and teach. Saint Jerome wrote this about God’s Word, “The Scriptures are shallow enough for a babe to come and drink without fear of drowning and deep enough for the Theologians to swim in without ever reaching the bottom.” Regardless if we’ve been a Believer for 1 day or 90 years, have never opened a Bible before, or have a PHD in Religious Studies…God’s Word is relevant, alive, and able to speak to our hearts. That’s the profound mystery of God’s Word…a multi-faceted image of His revelation for us, as we receive it in faith.

Loving-kindness is part of God’s character and tied closely to His Covenant with His people. God draws our hearts to Him with a love that is forever and without change. He remains faithful even when we are unfaithful…He is loyal when we are far from it…He is steadfast when we become fickle…He remains true when we rebel. The tender mercies of the Lord for us are incomprehensible, especially as we look at our sinful life…and yes, we are more wicked than we know or admit to – but we need to remember that we’re also more loved by God than we’ll ever know or imagine.

Our purpose as Christians is to be the visible representation of the invisible God to others. Paul in II Corinthians 5:20 summed it up like this, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors…” But when we allow our selfish desires to take over, our purpose gets confused and we end up trying to make a name for ourselves, not God. Many times we’ll aspire to be like some fellow Christian we admire rather than striving to be Christ-like. And what then happens is we end up following the pattern of man rather than the design of God. So ask yourself this today, What kind of example am I displaying to others? Is it me they see, or the Lord? Am I representing Him in a positive light, or not? Remember, we are to be the visible representation of the invisible God for the world to see. And for some, you could be the only example.

I read this the other day from Paul David Tripp, “We wander, God pursues and reconciles. We stumble and fall, God forgives and restores. We grow tired and weary, God empowers us by His grace.” We will never be able to fully appreciate God’s grace for us this side of Heaven. Think of it, God extends to us this unfathomable gift of grace…this unearned and unmerited favor lavished on us even when we are faithless, rebellious, and outside His Will. God will continue to love and pursue us even when we are unlovable, and He will continue to forgive as we fall short. For in our weakness we are made strong by His sovereign and Almighty grace…and His plan and purpose will be accomplished to perfection in our lives as we rely on Him.

Even though she had been specifically warned of doing it…the draw of her old life style was too much. The longing of their amassed wealth, security, and comfort proved to be too much for Lot’s wife to walk away from. And her trust in God…that He’d take care for them…vacillated the farther they fled from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Finally, her uncertainty and doubt that God could really do what He promised, coupled with her desires and appetites for things of the past became too much…and she did exactly what she had been warned not to do. Too many times we too look back at our past with longing…thinking about its comfort and ease simply because it’s what we know and we’re used to it…but God doesn’t want us to go back to what we once were…when we can become something brand new.

Just as Abraham and Sarah were foreigners and sojourners in the land of the Hittites (Genesis 23:3), so the Church in Philippi was not just a Roman colony but inhabitants of a future colony called Heaven. Paul reminded the Colossians of the same thing in Colossians 3:1, when he wrote, “Set your hearts on things above.” And as Christians today, we too are just foreigners and aliens here on earth…longing for our own Promised Land…and waiting patiently for what we have yet to see. But as we wait, we are to be about our Father’s business, not setting on our hands watching from the sidelines. Rather, God desires we be busy…serving others and making disciples. For even though our citizenship may not be here, our influence can be enormous.

Corinth was one of the largest cities in the Roman world…a strategic commercial center with many international visitors and in this we find the problem for the early Christian Church there. Many thought it was necessary and thus permissible to associate with “worldly people”….while others in the Church maintained that a measure of isolation was necessary for holiness. Sadly, the entire Church felt they had received Salvation and now nothing else mattered. Paul uses a Proverb from a Greek play here to show how worldly they had become. The comparable Jewish saying is, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” showing the dangers of a corrupting influence that slowly permeates and perverts good morals. We’ve all had that certain friend or group of friends that we know we shouldn’t hang around with…but we still do…and instead of drawing them closer to Jesus, we end up doing things we shouldn’t. It’s called compromising ourselves, not that we intended to from the start, but when peer pressure is too much, we cave in rather than say No. As Paul warned the Church in Corinth, be careful of bad company that will ruin your good morals and character.

A great quote from Charles Stanley is, “When we are called to serve, our strength, skill, and wisdom doesn’t matter. Rather, it’s the Lord Who does the work through us. He doesn’t seek out the most qualified person but instead calls men and women who are willing to surrender themselves to Him. When His strength works through their weakness, it’s obvious that only God could have achieved the result.” But sadly when most of us think of serving it’s something high and lofty and usually in the future…such as going on the Mission Field or some other fulltime Christian work…but we’re completely missing God’s intention and utterly missing the serving opportunities we have around us daily. Serving is simply acting in the interest of others, whether it’s at work, the grocery store, the coffee shop, or anywhere else God places you. God wants you to flower where you’re planted today, to look around at the people He has placed across your path and show them Jesus. For all He is asking of you is obedience and willingness, and He’ll do the rest. For through you God can comfort, encourage, admonish, exhort, strengthen, give hope, and love the hurting world.

Right off the bat let’s get one thing very straight… God tests, but will never tempt us to sin. In other words, God will never entice us to do wrong. You can see this clearly illustrated in James 1:2-4 and verses 12-14. So why does God test us? In Psalm 66:10 it compares our testing from God to the refining of silver… the removing of the dross in order to get a purified metal. When we go through adversity, hardship, and very difficult decisions, we’re being tested. Our quality of character is being refined through these stressors. And as we persevere under this pressure, will we remain loyal, obedient, and committed to God…or fall away? Our faith is tested every day by the circumstances we find ourselves in. It’s our decision in how we react to them. Do we walk by faith, with hope under pressure…or not.