Author: admin

With God, there is always another chapter of the story! He is never finished with us. He remains eternally undaunted and hopeful for our future. He never gives up on us!

We all have a song. For some, it is always the “Blues!” For others it is a dirge. For many, it is a dramatic and crisis-filled tune. Some people have been singing the identical song for decades. Nothing ever seems to change.

The glorious truth about God is that He always has a new song to offer us. We need never be stuck in a rut. Our life does not have to be consigned to an endless Gregorian chant! God has new songs at His disposal that He is delighted to place in our heart.

God certainly honors the past. But He is continually moving forward into the future. He is a God of “newness.” He never gets stuck in what He did yesterday.

Does your life need a new song? Are you prepared for a fresh verse? Let God do a brilliant, new work in your life and place an entirely new song on your lips. Let God do something new in your life today!

There are many activities, people, and possessions that can bring us happiness. Good friends, family, and trusted colleagues can all bring a smile on our face. A beautiful sunny day, a tranquil lake, birds chirping in the trees outside our house can all encourage our heart. The Lord has placed innumerable sources of happiness into the world around us, should we give heed to them.

Yet infinitely more splendid and eternal is the joy we find in God. While we may have reason to rejoice in our children or our church or our health or our success, these pale in comparison to the oasis of joy that can be found in the Person of Christ.

Too often we worship God, we study Him, and we serve Him. But we fail to enjoy Him. Those who truly understand the amazing relationship God offers them are those who find their ultimate delight in Him. There are unparalleled wonders to be experienced as we commune with our God. The closer we draw toward him, the more amazing we find God to be. The longer we remain in His presence, the more profound the experience becomes.

There are many reasons for us to rejoice. But none are as rich and deep as our time with God. Are you rejoicing in the amazing goodness of your God?

One of the clearest signs that you love God and His righteousness is that you hate evil. You may have been taught as a child that “good” people don’t hate. But that is not true. You cannot love good without at the same time hating evil. One cannot exist in the presence of the other. Either evil will overcome good, or good will extinguish evil. Only one can be ultimately victorious.

You cannot love drug addicts without also hating the drugs that rob them of life. You cannot love your wife without also hating adultery and lust. You cannot love honesty and yet toy with deception. To truly love light entails that you despise darkness.

We tend to focus on what we should love. We focus on the “positive.” To “hate” strikes us as being unchristian.

But God hates. Hatred is a strong feeling against something. It excludes indifference. To want what is best for someone means you declare yourself an enemy to what robs them of God’s best. At times we wish people well, but we never oppose that which causes them ill. If we are to love in more than just words, it may mean that we must roll up our sleeves and actively oppose that which is harmful and evil.

You may indeed be a person of love. But do you also, properly, hate?

Some people see God’s glory everywhere they turn. Others never detect a trace of the divine in their world. That says more about our perspective than about God’s presence.

God is evident everywhere we look. All we must do is open our eyes. The heavens cry out that God is righteous and good. You cannot look at nature without receiving copious divine messages. God does not leave people in the dark. He does not hide Himself from us. He wants us to know Him and He has left innumerable clues if we are alert to them.

It’s possible to look at the evidence of God without seeing them. Miracles can occur before us, yet we can miss them if we are consumed with the mundane. Some people live in wonder. Others continually wonder what happened!

God has permeated your world with clear evidence of His power, love, and righteousness. You can be encouraged throughout the day by God’s nearness to you. Learn to identify the signs of God. Ask the Spirit to open your spiritual eyes and ears to His activity around you. Don’t miss the divine in the midst of your ordinary life.

When we sit in our pew at church on Sunday and gaze out the stained glass window as the preacher drone on about God’s attributes, it is easy to accept the notion that God rules the universe. Such concepts appear to have little direct impact upon our lives as we recline comfortably among God’s people.

However, it is Monday morning when we enter a secular marketplace abuzz with rumors, machinations, and carnality that we suddenly realize how critical it is to our life and well being that God is still upon His throne. Peaceful solitude does not necessarily drive is to our knees in prayer, but cruel attacks from an enemy do. A world at peace might not draw our thoughts heavenward, but a world victimized by violence will.

It is when the world seems to be falling apart that we eagerly proclaim that God reigns! He is upon His throne and no crisis, cruel dictator, or economic downturn can dislodge Him. He is our hope and He is unshakeable. Such a thought ought to cause us to want to shout from the rooftops: “The Lord reigns!”

Jesus ascended to heaven over 2,000 yeas ago. On a heavenly calendar, that is but a brief two days. To humanity it can seem like an eternity.

As the years, decades, and even centuries pass, the immanence of Christ’s return fades. What seemed like any moment to the first century Christians now often appears extremely unlikely. We therefore conduct our lives and make our plans as if Christ were never going to return.

The sobering truth that ought to always be kept front and center before us is that Christ is returning and when He comes, He will initiate judgment upon the earth. Are you, your family, your church, and your nation prepared for it?

Accountability is a valuable tool, for it encourages people to do the right thing. Were we never to be held accountable for our responsibilities and commitments, we might well procrastinate forever. It is not that we believe that obedience to God is unimportant, but the busyness of our lives convinces us to put off until another time those things God told us to do today.

That is why God leaves us on the earth experiencing a constant tension. For though we know there are responsibilities and tasks God intends for us to accomplish, we also realize that at any moment Christ could return and bring human history to an abrupt and dramatic end. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. God never assures us that we will have sufficient time to accomplish His will. What we do know is that Christ is coming and on that awesome day, every person will face judgment and will be held accountable for how they conducted themselves in light of God’s word.

Are you ready for that day?

We have a compelling reason for telling all the nations that the Lord reigns. Our motivation is the sobering truth that God will one day judge every nation in righteousness.

There are certain nations of the earth that ought to dread that day. For they have opposed the word of God and His standards. Some of these nations have actively opposed God’s kingdom and brutally oppressed His servants. While they may have exulted in their apparent dominance over Christian missionaries and church leaders, their smug confidence will one day be turned on its head. For a day is soon coming when God will hold every nation responsible for its opposition to His kingdom. In that day God will demand that every tyrant pay the full penalty for the blood of the martyrs. Those who long for righteousness eagerly await that day.

But almighty God does not intend to only punish those nations that were overtly hostile to the Christian faith. He also plans to hold every nation responsible for its level of righteousness. Many countries are nominally “Christian.” They might even have God’s name on their currency. Yet their national behavior is far from God honoring. In that day, God will not judge the nations by how often His name appeared in its national mottos or on its currency, but by how faithfully they conducted themselves according to His truth. When God judges the nations, there will be many nominally “Christian” nations that will stagger under the severe chastisement they receive.

Is your nation prepared for the judgment that is coming? What might you do to prepare it for that day?

There ought to be within our hearts a deep desire to see the nations of the earth know, love, and obey almighty God. Our hearts ought to break, knowing there are peoples by the millions who have never heard the name of Jesus. We ought to never be satisfied with our own comfortable church when we know there are entire cities and countless villages that have no Christian witness whatsoever.

Our life’s driving desire ought to be to share God’s hope with the nations. We ought to find some way to contribute to the ongoing mission of taking the Good News of Christ to every corner of the globe. Certainly everyone can pray. We can all give something to the global cause. But we must also lend our voice. We must be prepared to go wherever God sends us. We must never lose the burning compulsion to cry out with our voice: “The Lord reigns!”

There are nations in the world today that do not recognize God’s sovereignty. They may even violently oppose God and His claims. Yet that changes nothing. They still need to hear that Jesus is Lord. They need people who are bold enough to declare that universal truth to them.

Is your life, and your witness impacting the nations?

The Bible often speaks of a holy trembling that ought to naturally result when we enter God’s presence. It ought to be the normal, spontaneous response of anyone who sees God.

Our problem is that the Church has vainly tried to bring God down to a level from which people can presumably relate to Him more comfortably and naturally. Gone is the trembling. In its place is comfort and ease. We no longer are approaching our Creator, but a good friend with whom were are on the most familiar of terms. Just as we would joke with a friend in the locker room or over coffee, so we banter with God as if His opinion was merely one of many. We treat Him as if His disapproval is rare and his acceptance is wholesale.

But that is not what the true God is like. No one in Scripture who ever encountered God remained complacent or calm. To enter God’s presence was a rare and even terrifying moment indeed. You could not remain the same after having done so.

How have you been approaching God? Do you do so with reverent expectation? Do you fear that you may have unclean hands and impure thoughts? Do you assume God is simply pleased that you took time out of your busy schedule to work Him into your calendar? Or, does your heart skip a beat as you contemplate approaching the God who created the universe and who will judge the living and the dead?

When was the last time you experienced a holy trembling?

God is jealous. He does not share what belongs to Him alone. He alone deserves glory. He is the Creator and His creation is intended to reflect glory to Him. As the Creator and Sustainer of life, everything owes its existence and continued being to Him. Without Him, nothing could exist even for a moment. Apart from Him, the universe would plunge to its cataclysmic end. He holds reality in His hands.

We creatures forget that truth too readily. We experience some petty accomplishment in our life and pride immediately swells within us. We believe the same lie as Adam and Eve and assume we are very much like God. We entertain such ludicrous thoughts to our ruin.

It is our highest calling, not to make a name for ourselves, but to exalt the name of God. When we magnify God’s name, we fulfill our highest calling as His creatures. The driving goal of our life ought to be to make much of our God. Whether it is by our words, music, life, writing, or achievements, our life’s calling is to glorify God.

How has your life been glorifying God? Do people come away from an encounter with you and think more highly of your God? Do your words direct people’s attention heavenward or to you? Have you given God the glory that is due Him?