Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. (Romans 1:21-22)

Though God’s love toward us is undeserved, unconditional, and even unsought, it is still possible for us to fall out of harmony with Him. To keep ourselves in the love of God, as Jude 21 urges us, means to keep ourselves in a place where God can actively show His love toward us.  Take the prodigal son, for example. He rebelled against his father, went to a distant land, and did things he shouldn’t have done. Was he still his father’s son? Of course he was. Was he in a place where his father could actively show his love to him? No, he was not.

Though this loving father missed his son, longed after his son, and grieved over the young man’s rebellion, the prodigal was in a far country. He had removed himself from his father’s love, blessing, and protection. We, too, can do the same thing. We can still be children of God, but if we are out of fellowship with Him and His people, pursuing a path that we know violates His Word and breaks His heart, then we are not in a place where God can actively demonstrate His love toward us. So we must keep ourselves in a place where God can do that.

Keep yourself from all that is unlike God. Keep yourself from any influence that would violate His love and bring sorrow to His heart. Enjoy His richest blessings by making yourself “blessable.”

Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle.”  Matthew 11:29

AT a county fair I saw an amazing pair of oxen and their young handler at work. This young man had reared the oxen from calves and spent countless hours training them. I sensed a special bond between the handler and his team.

Most teams of oxen are handled by two assistants because the animals become so excited that they start pulling even before they are hitched to the weight. This young handler, however, worked alone. The oxen waited patiently to hear his command; when it came, they made a terrific pull. “Look at that,” exclaimed the announcer. “He doesn’t have to drive them! He simply asks them to pull!” While other handlers sometimes used whips and harsh words, it took only a few gentle words from this young man for the animals to pull for him.  Christ is like that handler. Seeing the oxen yoked together, I understood more completely what Jesus meant when he said his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Christ is patient with us. He knows that we are capable of much good. Because Christ’s voice is gentle, we need not be afraid. When he calls, we can respond out of love, allowing him to guide us. Because Jesus cares for us, our burden is light. 

O Lord, thank you for making our burdens light and leading us gently. Amen.

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.” (Matthew 24:6-7)

From the beginning of time, humanity has searched for peace. We have joined peace movements, marched for peace, given prizes for peace, even gone to war for peace. And when we hear that people have been arrested for disturbing the peace, we wonder where they actually found any to disturb! Some people tell us via their bumper stickers to “Visualize world peace.” Then they cut us off on the freeway.

Displayed above the doors of the United Nations are the words of Isaiah 2:4: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” We are a people who want peace. But we need to know this: neither the United Nations nor politicians nor people who visualize it will bring about the long-awaited peace on Earth that humankind so desperately longs for. The peace that we long for will only happen when the Creator Himself returns, repossesses what is rightfully His, and hangs a sign over this war-weary planet that says, “Under New Management.”

It would be nice to think that with all of our sophistication and technology, we could somehow bring about global peace. But according to Jesus, in the last days we “will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass….” (Matthew 24:6). Tragically, war will be a part of the future of humanity until Christ Himself comes and establishes His kingdom.

Until that day…until the Prince of Peace returns to take charge of a troubled world, we can still find peace of heart and mind, peace that surpasses all understanding, as we rest in Him.

I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.  Jeremiah 29:11

I wish I could change parts of my past. Some acts I would not do again. Others that were left undone, I would do. However, time moves forward without mercy. The stories of our lives offer no pauses and no rewinds. Each scene sets the stage for the next.  If we knew only the scene in Abraham’s life recounted in the Genesis reading above, we might think this was a man with nothing in his life he would edit. But the Abraham we see in this passage is a person who had been shaped by adversity, doubts, and even failures, as well as great acts of faith. Chapters 12-22 in the book of Genesis make this clear. Everything in Abraham’s past brought him to Chapter 22’s account of faithfulness and blessing. He lived, as we all do, in the unrepeatable present and trusted God who alone owns the future. Thus Abraham becomes for us a living example that “all things work together for good for those who love God” (Rom. 8:28).  Each of us is moving toward many possible futures. All of these possibilities have one thing in common for people of Abraham’s faith: God who awaits us in the future encompasses all of them. God goes before us just as before Abraham. 

God, help us to live in the present in ways that will bring us where you want us to be in the future. Amen.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:6-8

We all face the struggle of authority issues on a daily basis. However, God is the author of authority. He has strategically placed authorities over us in ways that can shape us and make us into something greater. He wants us to play a huge role in His redemptive plan on planet Earth.  But in living our lives as God intends, we cannot miss the significance of the role that God plays.  We have all seen the movie or read the book where the hero/heroine rides off to lay down their life for the one they love. It is the ultimate act of bravery. It is the ultimate act of love.  Somehow, though, we miss that love when we think about Christ. We would recognize it in any other story, but we neglect it when it comes to Jesus’ love for us. 

Read today’s verses again. And this time, thank God for the love that Christ showed to us on the cross. Recognize the significance of that sacrifice.

Dear God, It is so easy to put fictional characters on a pedestal and idolize their façade. Please help me to keep life in the proper perspective and to truly understand and acknowledge the significance of the sacrifice that You have made personally for me. Help me to show my gratitude to You by living under your authority each and every day, in everything I do. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

The ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.  Isaiah 51:11

We are all born sinners, and for some reason the ones we hurt the most are usually the ones we love the most. Jacob was no different. He deceived his father and stole from his brother. Jacob was forced to leave home for many years because of his sin. However, there came a time when God called Jacob to return to his family, to go back home and face those he had hurt.  One part of returning home, or going back, is repentance. When we allow sin to live in our hearts, it separates us from the blessings that God wants to give us. Recently, I’ve been called by God to return home, to repent, to come clean about my past. This process has involved confession to my family about sinful choices I made in my late teens. Like Jacob, I deceived and robbed my family of truth.

Going back home can be very scary. Yet when God directs us to make the journey and we obey, we have the promise that blessings will follow. Those who return to God through his Son, Jesus, are the “ransomed of the Lord.” We who obey will return and receive everlasting joy. With each step I gain a glimpse of this truth: Joy is on the horizon. God is faithful. 

Dear Lord, please prepare the way for our return home. Give us enough courage to obey, and prepare those we’ve hurt to hear the truth. We trust you to guide our steps. Amen.

“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15)

How do we show our love and friendship for Jesus? In John 15:14, Jesus points out three things we can do to show our friendship with God.

First, true friends of Jesus will obey Him. Quite simply, we will do what He says. If we don’t, then we have no right to call ourselves His friends. What kind of obedience are we talking about here? An active obedience. Some people think it’s enough if they avoid what He specifically forbids. And certainly being a Christian means ceasing to do certain things. But it also means setting out to do certain things. It’s not merely avoiding the wrong thing, but it’s doing the right thing.  How do we find out what God wants us to do? By reading the Bible and becoming familiar with its content. The more we know of this Book, the more we will know of God. The more we know of this Book, the more we will know about what He requires of us—and what friendship with God really looks like.  Lastly, true friends of Jesus obey Him continually. In other words, we are constantly obedient. Not always perfect, but always trying. And if we fail, then we repent and get up and try again.

Remember, this is Jesus who asks for our obedience. This the One who has loved us, offered His friendship to us, and laid down His life for us. We obey Him joyfully because we love Him and know how much He loves us. When we are in love with God, obedience won’t be a duty; it will be a delight. And if our Christian life has become drudgery, merely consisting of rules and regulations, then we are missing out on what friendship with God is all about.

“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” (Psalm 91:15-16)

Are you facing an emergency today? Dial 911…Psalm 91:1, that is.

This psalm of David speaks of both great adversity and the wonderful help and protection of God. The fact is, God can use difficulty and crisis in the life of the Christian. None of us wants adversity in our lives, but God can be glorified through such times. You may have faced a serious, even life-threatening illness and experienced the healing power of God. Or perhaps you’re still dealing with a troublesome physical condition, and you haven’t experienced that longed-for healing. Either way, we bring glory to His name right in the midst of it all.

Psalm 91 doesn’t say you will never die. But it is saying that you won’t die before your time. It is saying that until God is done with you, His angels will keep you in all your ways…in your ups and downs, when you’re awake and asleep, in the sunshine and in the rain.  What’s your part? It is to dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Your objective as a Christian should be to stay as close to the Lord as you possibly can, leaning on Him with quiet faith and confidence. Because this all-powerful, all-knowing God who possesses heaven and earth, has made a covenant with you, loves you, and offers to protect and provide for you, you should make it your objective to get closer to Him, asking, How can I walk so closely with Him that I will be in His very shadow?

You should periodically ask yourself whether you are meeting the criteria of this great psalm, whether you are living up to the conditions that have been set forth. If your answer is yes, then you have God’s word that these promises will be activated in your life.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  John 15:13

Every day, men and women are willing to do what it takes for the cause of freedom. And through the years, many have paid for that freedom with their lives. Memorial Day is a time when we reflect on and honor the sacrifice and dedication of those people. Because when you boil it down, what we have, where we live and the freedoms we enjoy aren’t free.  Yet, as awesome and humbling as that is, there’s an even greater freedom that we have that came at an even higher cost. And it was born out of unconditional love.  When Jesus walked the earth, He had one purpose, one mission, one cause—to die for your sins so that you could enjoy the freedom that comes with a relationship with God. So as you celebrate and honor the men and women who are serving and have served our nation, don’t forget the cost that Jesus paid for you. Thank Him for that ultimate freedom He provided to us because of His pure and powerful love.

Dear God, Thank you so much for the freedom that I enjoy and for the sacrifice of the many who provided that freedom. But most of all, thank You for the ultimate freedom that You have given through Jesus Christ. Help me each day to reflect on and remember the cost You were willing to pay for a relationship with me. It is through Christ that I pray, Amen.

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.   Isaiah 55:8

As I was going through some old belongings, I found a notebook where I had recorded my prayers and requests. I read it with great curiosity. Many of the requests have been granted, but some have not. Of the people I prayed for, some are now dead. Some names I do not even recognize.  One of the requests that caught my attention was about a friend who wanted to join her family overseas. God answered that prayer 10 years to the day after I started to intercede for her family to be reunited and wrote it in my notebook. I was amazed and thankful for God’s way of working.

Sometimes when we pray, we want God to intervene instantly. But sometimes immediate answers don’t come. The difficult circumstances in our lives and the times of waiting for God to act can refine our faith, teach us, and prepare us for future responsibilities God has for us. 

Patient, loving, and amazing God, we thank you for your ways of working in our lives. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.