Bringing Glory to God with Our Body.

Paul writing to the believers in Corinth issued a sobering and strategic reminder. "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body" (1Cor.6:19-20). Father teach us to consider our ways and act so that we will bring glory to you.

Perspective in a Narcissistic Culture

In a day when so many are drawing attention to themselves, attempting to make so much of their looks, abilities, possessions, and popularity, Paul gives some much needed perspective. "For who regards you as superior? And what do you have that yo did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it" (1Cor.4:7)?

My Job and God's Job

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth" (1Cor.3:6) is not an excuse for passivity in ministry, but an encouraging perspective. Each of us does the work God calls us to do and He produces the growth. Results are not my job or your job, but God's job. Faithful service is what we are called to.

Boast in the Lord

"Let Him who boasts, boast in the Lord" (1Cor.1:31). Not in our accomplishments, not in our achievements, not in our intelligence, looks, abilities, stuff, but in the Lord--what He has done in delivering us from the domain of darkness.

Freedom in Christ

Most of us are well aware of "our rights". It seems to me that after years of feeling suppressed by legalistic expectations, many believers today are acutely aware of their freedom in Christ even to the point of "flaunting" those freedoms. Paul's words in Romans 14 are a good reminder that not everyone shares the same freedom in "what they eat, drink, or in what days they observe. Paul's admonition is NOT, "just do whatever God gives you freedom to do and don't worry about others." Paul says, "...determine this--not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way...pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another" (Ro.14:13,19). If I love other believers I willingly limit the exercise of my freedoms for their sake. Just because we have the freedom to go certain places, drink certain beverages, engage in certain activities on a certain day as a believer doesn't mean that we should. Paul is clear that if the exercise of my freedom hurts a brother/sister in Christ then I am "no longer walking according to love" (Ro.14:15). If I need to forsake my Liberty for the sake of Love that is what God has called me to.

Courage

"Be strong and let your heart take courage all you who hope in the Lord" (Ps.31:24). Lots happening in the world and in our lives personally to discourage us and distract us from focusing on the true source of hope. The turmoil in the middle east with nerve gas used in Syria, revolution in Egypt, arms escalation in Iran, and unrest in Afghanistan, Iraq, and a host of other countries is daunting. The seemingly unceasing stream of scandals coming out of Washington D.C. these days where corruption, deception, and abomination are in full display, yet justice never seems to come to the culprits could bring despair. Serious Economic hardship with wages decreasing, prices increasing, unemployment escalating, health care costs and regulations skyrocketing, buying power eroding, and prospect of recovery waning can bring disillusionment. Not to mention the discouragement that the physical challenges, emotional struggles, and interpersonal conflicts bring our way. Psalm 31:24 brings A needed reminder for me as to where my real hope is... "in the Lord."

David and Goliath

When we read the familiar story of David and Goliath in 1Samuel 17 it seems that most people focus on the magnitude of David's faith. Yes, David did have great faith in God and there is a challenge in this text for us to trust God, but the basis for that trust and the main thrust is God's Sovereignty. David's confidence was that the God who delivered the bear and lion over to him would also deliver this Philistine who taunted God. David came, "In the Name of the Lord of Hosts" (45) whom David claimed would give the victory, "that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel...for the battle is the Lord's" (46-47a). The purpose of David's victory was to bring God glory. While David's faith is important, it is God's sovereign control over the events of life that is preeminent. Lord, help me to realize your sovereignty and live each day to bring you glory.

Faith Comes By Hearing.

I had a conversation with a man at his kitchen table who had been hearing the gospel message for several days in a Bible study he was in. He confided in me, "I want to believe, but I can't right now." Before I left I encouraged him to stay involved in a Bible study because I told him that faith comes by means of hearing the Word. "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent...So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ" (Ro.10:13-15a,17). Guess we best be sharing the Word with people.

Need Direction?

"Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose" (Ps.25:12). Refreshing promise to God's children that we can count on His direction.

Giving as We have been Given to.

To give as Christ gave to me is to give without regard to the response of those to whom I give. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift" (2Cor.9:15).

Peace With God

So many people live with a gnawing sense of uneasiness, an agitation of the soul, a subconscious (or sometimes a conscious) awareness that there is just NO true peace in their life. We are masters at trying to medicate this emptiness and uneasiness. Humans turn to alcohol, cigarettes, or other addictive drugs. We try to find peace through the pursuit of pleasure--entertainment, sensuality, thrill-seeking, adventure, exotic vacations and other hedonistic activities. Some believe that money, possessions, having the right "toys" and wearing the "right" clothes will "do the trick." Many find causes that they can pour their energies into--politics, social justice, preserving the environment, etc.,. But all of these efforts--most of them detrimental, but certainly not all--miss the mark, they fail to get to the root of the problem in our soul. As fallen creatures we are sinful by nature and in practice and that means we are automatically objects of God's wrath. There can be no peace, no purpose, no fulfillment, no true contentment as long as the enmity exists between us and God. The difficult thing for us to realize is that there is NOTHING we can do to solve the problem. No amount of good works, medicating through pleasure, pursuing power and/or influence will set things right between us and God and thereby fill the God-sized vacuum in our soul. The glorious thing is that a Holy God made it possible for the animosity between Him and His fallen/sinful creatures to be eliminated. Oh, it was not an easy or free solution. For God's wrath against sin must necessarily be punished or else God is not a God of justice. Paul tells us the path to peace in Romans 5:1. "Therefore, having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." True peace--the absence of conflict between us and God--is available only through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you know that peace. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

Justified by Faith

"But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness" (Romans 4:5). I am so grateful to God that right standing before Him is not because of who I am or what I've done, but comes to those who believe in Who Jesus is and What He has done.

The Kindness of God

"Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance" (Romans 2:4)? God's kindness, forbearance, and patience in not punishing our sin immediately is intended to reveal the marvel of His mercy and move us to repentance (turning from sin and self in genuine sorrow to trust in the Savior).

Swimming against the current

Increasingly believers in America are finding that their beliefs, practices, and convictions are under assault. The culture seems to be moving towards increased hostility towards Christianity. For example, Students who wear shirts with Christian logos, verses, sayings are being told they can't wear these things. Public Schools are refusing to allow Christian groups to meet on campus for Bible Studies. The new health care law ("Obama Care") forces employers and individuals to pay for insurance coverage for birth control and abortion inducing drugs against their will. So how are believers to handle such growing hostility. There are many things I could suggest, but the one that occupies my thoughts today comes from Psalm 9:10. "And those who know Your Name will put their trust in You, For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You". A powerful reminder to those who stand for the truth in these days when the truth of God's Word is under attack as are all those who seek to live by it. God promises that those who follow Him will be vindicated, will see their enemies punished and what is truly right will prevail. Right now when the wicked seem to prosper and the righteous seem to suffer it is very difficult to continue,until we fix our eyes on the Lord and remember that in the end we win.

When Silence is NOT Golden

"For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God..." (Acts 20:27). Paul's words to the elders at Ephesus are a challenge to me in these difficult days when the truth seems rather unpopular. These words of Paul are the reason he gives for what he said in the previous verse, "I am innocent of the blood of all men" (20:26). Because he has faithfully proclaimed the truth he is innocent. Do we see that speaking the truth is a matter of life and death? I don't want people to be condemned because I was silent.