Prove It!

The heavens declare the glory of God;

   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
   no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
   their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
   like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
   and makes its circuit to the other;
   nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Psalm 19:1-6

I am an inquisitive person. I rarely take things at face value; I almost always demand proof. I investigate. I interrogate. It seems like I’m arguing, but I’m actually testing. I want to know if the things people say are true and I want to know why they’re true. A lot of Christians shy away from talking about God because they’re intimidated by people like me. God has never been intimidated in the least.

I questioned the existence of God once. Not out of frustration or bitterness, but on a calm, rational, deeply intellectual level. I dismissed as opinion everything I’d been told was fact about God, and I opened my mind to every possibility. I studied the major world religions, read tomes of philosophy, and took many long, reflective walks in the park.

It took seven years of God revealing his many disputed characteristics to me before I became a Christian again, but God almost immediately answered my core question: Does God exist? 

I often used to walk out on a bridge in the park and stare down at a stream and look up at the sky and listen to the water fall over the rocks and contemplate the heavens and … I think I always knew that God exists in some form because the proof of the creator is in the creation.

As it is written in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

Christ-Centered Suffering

READ: Colossians 1:24-29

Everyone suffers. We fail ourselves and suffer internally. Then come the attacks of the world. We work hard, but our bosses don’t appreciate us. Friends and family return our affection with negligence, betrayal, and animosity. Even God torments us with disease or the premature deaths of people we dearly love.

Yet, bound up by all this suffering, we’re expected to proclaim Christ to the world by embodying the fruits of his Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). How is this even possible?

If we are focused on ourselves, it’s not, but if we, like the apostle Paul, are focused on Christ it’s actually quite easy.

Paul writes his letter to the Colossians from a prison cell where he is awaiting execution. For him, this is a natural consequence of the purpose God gave him: to proclaim the Gospel. His life’s suffering is probably far greater than what you and I have endured, yet he rejoices because he’s focused not on himself, but on Christ, whose mission is being fulfilled in him.

I can be incredibly self-centered at times, which causes me to wallow in sufferings when they come and lose sight of the purpose God gave me, namely to proclaim his love and grace to the world through my words and actions. I pray that soon the words Paul spoke in Acts 20:24 will echo in my heart as well: “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

Am I Going to Heaven or Not?

READ: Romans 3:21-31

Scripture often reveals truth in stark contrast to what we hear about Christianity. Such is the case today.

Ever hear that good people go to Heaven and bad people go to Hell? Big problem: There are no good people. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All deserve to be punished, yet all are freely justified by Christ’s sacrificial atonement. Does that mean all are going to Heaven? No. Only those who accept this atonement Christ freely offers are saved; without it, any one of us would be going to Hell. No wonder Paul instructs us not to boast in our good works, but to boast only in the cross of Christ!

So, then, if it’s not what you do, but what you believe, is God’s grace a free pass to sin? Little problem: Definitions. Believe doesn’t mean profess as true; it means accept as true. And if we accept something as true, we act on it. So to believe in Christ is to obey his teaching - all of it! Hence the conclusion in James 2:14-26: Faith without works is dead.

But I thought the New Covenant of God’s grace replaced the Old Covenant of the Mosaic Law? Nope. As it turns out, we don’t nullify the law by faith, we uphold the law. By believing in Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit he gives, we live according to the moral law God gave Moses. When we fail, the sacrifice of Christ atones for us, but by the Spirit we are assured of God’s final victory: not only our freedom from the penalty of sin, but our freedom from the power and presence of sin as well.

Accusation & Justification: I Hear Voices in My Head

The Crow (1994) - Film of Accusation and Vengeance

READ: Mark 2:1-12

“Your sins are forgiven.” My dear friends, the gospel in four words. 

But do you really believe it? Is your life now totally guilt-free? Do you live unashamed, hiding nothing, knowing that all is forgiven and you are loved in spite of your past?

Not quite? Me neither. 

But Jesus says it’s all forgiven. Lost your temper? Forgiven. Gossip? Forgiven. Divorced? Forgiven. Premarital sex? Forgiven. Came off as too judgmental while writing a devotional? Forgiven!!!

Then why do we still feel guilty? According to Revelation 12, Satan accuses us day and night and leads the whole world astray. He tells us we’re not forgiven.

The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Film of Justification & Forgiveness

Yet the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins. And, boy, does he:

Alcoholic? Forgiven. Drug addict? Forgiven. Adulterer? Forgiven. Homosexual? Forgiven. Murderer? Forgiven. Pedophile? Forgiv   

“Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming!”

Is he? Or is it true that no one can condemn us because Christ Jesus died for us and is also interceding for us? (Romans 8:33-34)

Do we then have a free pass to sin? 

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8)

So, then, let us not merely rest in the forgiveness of sins, but let us follow the instruction Christ gives the adulterous woman whom he does not condemn: “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:3-11)

Job's Life Turns Inside Out

READ: Job 2:11-13

Ever seen the Disney movie Inside Out? If not, drop everything and go watch it. Seriously. I’ll wait. Just bookmark this page so you remember to read the devotional when you’re done.

Welcome back. Great movie, right? And now you understand that sometimes people just have to be sad. In fact, Matthew 5:4 says sadness is a blessing: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Not comforted by joy, but by the blessing of those willing to mourn with them. That is what Job’s friends do when they tear their robes, sprinkle dust on their heads, and sit with him in wordless silence. And that is what Paul instructs us to do: Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. (Romans 12:15)

Mourning is good. It’s purposeful. We glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4)

Hope, not joy. For hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? (Romans 8:24)

But what great hope we have in the Lord! 

The Lord with surely comfort Zion

and will look with compassion on all her ruins;

He will make her deserts like Eden,

her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.

Joy and gladness will be found in her, 

thanksgiving and the sound of singing. (Isaiah 51:3)

Now that hope is a comfort worth sharing!

Get ‘em, God!

READ: Romans 12:17-21

Revenge permeates human history and modern culture. Novels proclaim it; movies glorify it; humans fantasize about gaining it for themselves.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19)

A little contrary to human nature, but maybe not so bad. After all, human revenge is often limited by ability, opportunity, and that pesky threat of a jail sentence. Why not let an all-powerful God punish our enemies for us?

If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. (Romans 12:20)

Ah, burning coals. Perhaps revenge is a dish best served hot!

And here many of us land - honoring God with our actions while our hearts are far from him.

For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so he may have mercy on them all. (Romans 11:32)

What if the burning coals are not punishment, but chastisement intended to bring repentance?

Remember Jonah. He went to Nineveh to proclaim God’s wrath, then burned with anger when he saw the mercy God showed his enemies. (Jonah 4)

There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:7)

When God showers your enemies with mercy, will you burn with anger or celebrate with heaven?

The Plight of Sisyphus

READ: Hebrews 7:23-28

Ever heard the story of Sisyphus?

According to Greek mythology, Sisyphus committed many crimes against the gods and was condemned to atone for his sins by pushing an enormous boulder up a hill, bearing the weight, enduring the toil, suffering endlessly as he eyed the top he would never reach, for time and again he slipped, the boulder rolled downhill, and Sisyphus was forced to begin again.

How futile and hopeless the whole thing must’ve seemed.

I can relate to Sisyphus. Before I knew Christ, I knew God. I didn’t understand Him fully, but I knew Him well enough to know that He was holy and I was not. So I tried desperately to atone for my sin. Good deeds to erase bad deeds - didn’t remove the guilt. The physical sacrifice of punishing exercise - not enough. Vows to change - constant failure.

The price of sin is much higher. The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)

The Jews understood this and accepted God’s gracious offer of substitutional sacrifice. Day after day priests offered the lives of animals as atonement for the sins of the people. And day after day the people sinned again - their boulder rolled right back to the bottom of the hill.

Then came a high priest holy, blameless, and pure! He offered Himself as atonement for our sins and our sins were washed away once and for all!

Thanks be to God our futility ended with Christ Jesus!

Who's in? Who's out?

READ: Acts 13:38-47

Who got invited to the party and who didn’t? Who made the team and who got cut? Who got the promotion and who fell short?

People love to ask these questions because if we’re in, we’re superior.

So, naturally, the Jews (who were in as God’s people) felt superior to the Gentiles (who were out).

Yet in Acts 13:39, Paul preaches that through Jesus everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

We’re all in!

“But that’s not fair!” cries the voice of pride. “It’s because of my superiority and hard work that I got invited to that party, made that team, and earned that promotion! Doesn’t my extra effort count for anything?”

Jesus addresses this complaint in The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matt 20:1-16). Though many worked different hours, they all received the same wage - the full grace of God.

Again in Luke 7:36-50, a prideful Pharisee is offended by Christ’s association with a sinful woman. Jesus’s response? He commends the woman, for because she was forgiven more, she loved more.

For some, this idea that everyone is invited into the Kingdom of God is such an offense to pride that they join those who in verse 45 speak abusively against the Gospel.

To them Jesus responds, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Matt 21:31)

Acts 14: 18-28

Witness, Persecution, and Encouragement

In this passage Paul and Barnabas were together. Paul cured a cripple man, and the crowd that witnessed this miracle began to worship Paul and Barnabas. Knowing that not they, but God was responsible for the healing, they rejected the praise and redirected it to the Lord. Paul also advised them to turn from their worthless things to the living God who created all things. Paul and Barnabas attempted to minister to them, and appeal to their sinful nature, however were persecuted in return. The crowd stoned Paul, dragged him outside of the town, and left him for dead. 

“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of heaven,” was Paul’s message to the disciples. He picked himself up, and returned to the city! This was not about to stop Paul from preaching the good news. There are people in this world today who risk physical mistreatment similar to Paul’s, and possibly death for the sake of Christianity. Please pray for them.

Though stoning is not the type of treatment we endure, at times we may feel pretty beat up. Christ followers in this country are ignored, ridiculed, put town, verbally assaulted, and at times physically attacked for their beliefs. Many struggle within their own families to hold tightly to the word, when in the midst of relatives resistant to a lifestyle we are called to through the bible. Please pray for them.

Heavenly Father, we praise you and lift our hands and hearts to you for all the goodness you provide. Your loving ways are beyond our comprehension, yet we attempt to understand and minister to others your message of forgiveness, grace, and hope. Please remain with us as we carry on through this journey, and bring us strength to persist as Paul did, to bring your message to those who so desperately need it. Amen.

Listen to/Read Acts 14:8-28