“Let me know that he is dear to me by his Word;
I am one with him by the Word on his part,
and by faith on mine;
If I oppose the Word I oppose my Lord
when he is most near;
If I receive the Word I receive my Lord
wherein he is nigh.
Oh thou who hast the hearts of all men in thy hand,
form my heart according to the Word,
according to the image of thy Son,
So shall Christ the Word, and his Word,
be my strength and comfort.
From “The Valley of Vision” page 31.

2Peter 1:20-21 (NASB)
20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

James 4:4-5 (NASB)
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?

There has always been a tendency by some Christian churches and individuals within them to accept Jesus as Savior, but selectively accept the Holy Scriptures. One of the major purposes of the scriptures is to establish the Law handed down by God and then point us to the grace of Jesus because we cannot perfectly keep the Law. It doesn’t remove the requirements of the Law as some have attempted to do. A well known actor, when traveling, would find the Bible in the hotel room and tear out pages that he didn’t like. He was attempting to lower the standard of the Law, so he would feel better about his sin.

We don’t become acceptable to Jesus by trying to change the law. We become acceptable to Jesus by accepting His free gift of salvation and believing in Him as Lord and Savior. That includes accepting the truths written in the Word, repenting when we sin, knowing that we cannot perfectly meet those requirements. Instead we accept the law, pray that God would give us the power to follow it, and praise God for His mercy and grace.

Heavenly Father, I praise You for not only the sacrifice of Jesus to pay for my sin, but for the Bible. Even though You have given to us a large volume of scripture to let us know about You and what you expect from me, I understand that it is a minuscule fragment of the glory that You are. I repent when I sin against the Law and ask that you point me toward Your perfection. I pray that I would not be tempted to reject anything within the Bible. When I accept Jesus, I accept the Bible, for Jesus is the Word. I pray this in His name. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

“Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.”
From “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” Hymn

1 Peter 2:16 (NASB)
16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.

As a child, I can remember singing in church the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”. When it came to the verse that contained the word “fetter”, I can recall how I would pause because I didn’t know what that word meant. Later when I did know the meaning, I thought it a rather odd word to use. I thought we received freedom from sin when we believed. Why would we need to be bound to God? It seemed to be the opposite of what was taught as the gospel.

But the old hymns have rich truth in them. As I sang this hymn in church last Sunday, I realized that it was so true that I need to be bound to Jesus. I need His strength to keep me on the right path and only when my heart is sealed with His, can I follow Him faithfully. And the words of the old hymn became my prayer.

Heavenly Father, O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be; Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander – Lord, I feel it – prone to leave the God I love: Here’s my heart, O, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above. These things I pray in the name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior forever. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Jude 24-25 (NASB)
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Psalm 107:1 (ESV)
1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!

God’s love for us has been and will always be eternal. It is an unconditional love, regardless of how we respond to Him. It is agape love.

I don’t know about you, but that kind of love is hard for me to comprehend. It is a love that is expressed by the Creator for His creatures. We humans find it difficult to love another unless that love is returned. True unconditional love is not something that we can express; not without help from the Holy Spirit.

God wants us to love Him in return, but His love for us does not depend on a response from us. He simply loves us anyway. But when we, prompted by the Holy Spirit, understand how we have failed Him; truthfully express our sorrow, and ask for forgiveness, God makes us a child of His. We are no longer just a loved creature, we are His family and will spend eternity with Him.

Only then are we able to stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.

Heavenly Father, I am thankful for your eternal love. It is without bounds. Even though my steps often waver, you are able to keep me from stumbling. I look forward to the day when I can stand before You; not because of anything I have done, but only because of what You have done for me. Praise the Savior, Jesus Christ, my Lord. I pray in His name. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

2 John 1:5-6 (NASB)
5 Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
6 And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

Matthew 24:12(NASB)
12 Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.

2 John is a letter to a noble Christian woman and her children, encouraging them in the faith. John reminds her of the commandment that Jesus gave to us – to love one another.

Yet Jesus in his own words in the Gospel of Matthew tells us that our love will grow cold as we drift away from His commandments.

I was thinking recently about the impact that social media has had on our generation. There are those that believe that the technology itself has caused us to be less kind, less loving of others. We offer our opinions about various issues on-line, but then rather than having a civil discussion about the merits of the topic, we often take aim at the person. The impersonal medium of communication is blamed – but it is not that – it is our cold hearts.

A person’s heart is no different today than it was when Matthew wrote the words of our Lord. When we stop loving others as we are commanded by Jesus, our hearts grow cold. It is not the technology that changes us – it is the condition of our hearts when we fail to love others as He has loved us.

Heavenly Father, I confess that my heart is not full of the love for others that You have taught us. I confess that I too easily withhold love for others based upon their thoughts and ideas. Yet, your teaching tells me to love them as Jesus does, even if I disagree with them. I know I have a long way to go. I pray that the Holy Spirit will fill my heart with love for others. I pray this in the name of Jesus, who loved me first when I was not worthy of His love. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Deuteronomy 10:12 (MSG)
12 So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you,

In the book, “The Problem of Pain” by C.S. Lewis and the chapter on Divine Goodness, Lewis makes the following statement. “To be God – to be like God and to share in His goodness in creaturely response – to be miserable – these are the only three alternatives.”

God is perfect and without needs, even from His creation. Even so, He demands our worship and obedience, yet neither of these acts adds to or diminishes His glory. He has always loved us perfectly – nothing we do can add to or subtract from that love.

So, our response to that love by worship and obedience brings us closer to Him. It changes us, it doesn’t change God. To become like His Son Jesus is our purpose. To share in His glory and goodness, that is why we were created.

If we think about it in those terms, it only causes us to prostrate ourself before Him with love. Love that grows each day as we become more like Him.

Heavenly Father, Your divine goodness is perfect. You have created us to share in Your goodness. I pray that my worship will draw me closer to You each day. As I repent and turn away from the sin in my life, I pray that I will be sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Help me to follow the road that You have set out for me. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Hebrews 11:1 (NASB)
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NASB)
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We were not eyewitnesses to the incarnation. I wonder sometimes what that might have been like. The apostles were with Jesus during His ministry and then after He ascended, they were given a visible anointing of the Holy Spirit. The apostles saw and were convicted. The author of Hebrews tells us that we are given a faith created by Jesus and this faith we now have is just as powerful as the faith of the witnesses that were with Jesus.

This good news transcends time, for throughout eternity it has always been God’s plan. We should marvel at the free gift of salvation through faith that God created. For without faith, we doubt or completely reject the very existence of God.

Faith reveals the beauty of the general revelation of His creation and opens our eyes to the special revelation of the Scriptures. Without faith we are lost. Even understanding the resurrection of Jesus is not enough without faith. With faith we can live for His glory and enjoy Him forever.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the assurance of Your promises – that we can be convicted of things which we cannot see. Thank You for the way you have revealed Yourself to us. It is a marvelous plan that brings us close to You in a way that is indescribable. I look forward each day as You sanctify us into your image. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God.

Luke 11:42 (NASB)
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

I really am a Pharisee and I hate it. It is so much easier to see the sin in others rather than to see the sin within. It is especially easier to focus on sins for which I have not been burdened. I should simply focus on my sin, repent of the many that I live with, and just love other people. That is exactly what Jesus asks us to do. He said, love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus didn’t say love only neighbors that don’t have sins that offend you.

The Bible is very clear about what offends God. It is troubling that many today believe that sins declared in the Bible are really not sin. Take my sin of pride. In the world we are taught that self pride is actually good. Yet it generates a self love that pushes out love for others, especially those that we don’t like for some reason or another. And pride even pushes love for God out of first place.

It is sad to see when a sin to God is celebrated as a virtue. This “virtue” then even creates a belief that no one can really love them unless others accept that it is not sinful behavior at all. Wrongly accepting sins as acceptable is a trap that many Christians have fallen into today.

When I sin by not loving others, I only confirm in their minds that I am a hypocrite. And they are right. I have sinned before Holy God and must repent, turn away from those thoughts and follow Jesus.

If I focus on repenting of my sin and loving others, there will be no time left to think about their sin at all. Let alone being offended by that sin. I only need to follow the One that made my salvation possible.

Father, I pray for humility and for a genuine love for others. Strip pride from me. Do not allow me to follow the world and begin believing that some sins are really not sin at all. Keep my eyes on Jesus and my heart in love with Him. I pray this in His name. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,