Good Words for Today
As you look at the course of life, you may think that God is going to use some rich uncle or a wealthy friend to help you out. But experience shows how unlikely that is. He is much more likely to meet your needs through the ravens that fly to your need when you least expect them.
Pray that your children and your grandchildren learn to make wise choices under pressure. Most of us can make wise choices if we have two days to think about it. But life usually doesn’t work that way, especially for the young. They make split-second decisions every day about what they will wear, where they will go, who they will go with, what jokes they will tell, what music they will listen to, what movies they will watch, and whether or not they will stand up for their faith. Young people today are on the firing line all the time. Pray for your children that they will have wisdom from God to choose what is best when they don’t have much time to make up their minds.
The church stands today with an utterly unique message that is given to us and to no one else. In a world of hurting people, to those who are angry and to those who are in despair, to those who have lost their way, to every man and woman, to every boy and girl, the church of Jesus Christ says to everyone who will listen, “Go to the cross and the cross will lead you home.”
All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all!
If you want wisdom, you can have it. It’s free, but it will cost you all you have.
Just because you are confused doesn’t mean God is confused. Faith chooses to trust even when life makes no sense.
When it comes to judging, be hard on yourself and easy on others. Most of us get that backwards.
No matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while. Be ready to forgive and forget. If that seems hard, remember that you will need their forgiveness sooner or later.
Christians are now under great pressure to compromise our convictions. Or if not to compromise, at least to keep quiet. We need not worry that the barbarians are at the gate. They have breached the wall and are streaming in on every hand. How shall we respond? We will carry on with tenacious, winsome courage, not changing our convictions about right and wrong. We say with the psalmist, “Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89).
You will rarely regret showing kindness, but you will always regret being cruel.
The Jews said, “Show us a sign.” Paul said, “I give you the sign of the cross.” The Greeks said, “Show us wisdom.” Paul said, “I will show you Jesus, the very wisdom of God.” What the world needs is not reformation but true and lasting deliverance from sin. Such a deliverance can be found only in the cross. Where sin is the problem, the cross is God’s answer—God’s only answer. Only the gospel itself meets the deep needs of the human heart. It is only the gospel of Jesus Christ—Christ and Him crucified—that gives life to sinners who are dead in their transgressions and sins.
The cross is God’s provision for your sin. If you go to the cross, you will find your way home to God. Many people are lost and confused and the cross of Christ beckons you to come, repent of your sin, and receive Christ. Come to the cross, and you will find your way home to God.
God is good all the time, even when all the evidence points in the other direction.
Always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
God often gives us more than we can bear, but he never gives us more than he can bear.
Try loving your enemies today. Hating them never worked anyway.
Occasionally someone asks me if I get scared or nervous before I preach. The answer is yes, and it happens every single time. No matter how many times I’ve preached or how well prepared I am, there is always a sense of nervousness that comes just before I stand up. I hope I don’t ever lose that, because if I do, I need to get out of the pulpit. If speaking for Christ ever becomes routine, then something has gone wrong inside your heart. We need “holy nervousness” when we witness to others lest we fail the Lord or fail the person to whom we are speaking.
“The power that is in the Gospel does not lie in eloquence of the preacher, otherwise men would be the converters of souls, nor does it lie in the preacher’s learning, otherwise it would consist of the wisdom of men. We might preach until our tongues rotted, till we would exhaust our lungs and die, but never a soul would be converted unless the Holy Spirit be with the Word of God to give it the power to convert a soul.” Charles Spugeon
Take small steps if you want to make big changes. Many times we give up on changing our situation because we want to do it all, do it now, and get it over with quickly. But you can’t lose 40 pounds in a week and you can’t learn German in a month and you can’t learn the Bible by swallowing a magic capsule. But great progress is possible with God’s help if we are willing to take small steps in a new direction one day at a time.
Faith is a choice, not a feeling. As I get a little older and wiser, this truth seems ever more important. God never asks me to explain the unexplainable. He simply asks me to trust him. That’s where the choice comes in. Faith chooses to believe in God even when I don’t feel like it.
If your life is a mess, ask Jesus to deliver you. Admit you can’t change and then cry out for his mercy. Ask him to chase the demons out of your life. Ask him to take away the torment. Ask him to change you from the inside out. Come humbly to Jesus and ask him to be your Lord and Savior. Run to the cross. Lay your burdens, your cares, your worries, and your fears upon the Son of God. Lay your sins and faults and failures on his strong back. If you come to Christ, he will not turn you away. When Christ answers, and he always does, go and tell others what he has done for you.
When Jesus speaks, God speaks. While we see his fingerprints everywhere, the best way to hear from him is to spend time daily reading his Word. Christ speaks to us through the Word of God. Are we listening?
When faced with a major decision, we should ask ourselves, “What difference will this make in 10,000 years?” Most things we worry about won’t matter in 3 weeks, let alone 3 months or 3 years. We focus on the trivial and forget to pursue the eternal. But 10,000 times 10,000 years from now, you’ll still be glad you invested your life for Jesus Christ.
When you focus on God, he takes responsibility for the details of your life. Obsessive concern over questions like “Should I get married?” or “Should I take this new job?” or “Which home should we buy?” leads you down the wrong trail. Focus on God. Focus on being faithful to him and knowing him. Focus on doing what God wants you to do. He will take care of the details of your life. That's a promise you can take to the bank.
Failure is a gift from God. By falling flat on our faces, we are forced to admit that without the Lord we can do nothing but fail. The quicker we learn that, the better off we will be. Failure never seems to be a good thing when it happens, but if failure strips away our cocky self-confidence, then failure is ultimately a gift from God.
Lord Jesus, in this shaky world you are the Cornerstone of the ages. Help us to build our lives upon the foundation that will never be moved. Amen.
The Word of God, preached in the power of God, always results in lives changed by God. This was how the tiny band of believers turned the world upside down in the first century. We must pray for God to do that again in our day. The world has no answer to a life radically changed by Jesus Christ. The world may answer our arguments, but it cannot answer the power of God let loose in the human heart.
"This is my Father’s world: Oh, let me ne’er forget That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet." From “This is My Father’s World” by Maltbie Babcock, 1901
Life isn’t fair, and the sooner we learn that, the happier we’ll be.
If you need a miracle, ask for one. There’s no extra charge for large requests.
“Don't bother to give God instructions; just report for duty.” Corrie Ten Boom
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.
Hold lightly what you value greatly because it all belongs to God anyway.
Above the dark clouds, the sunlight of God's love shines forever.
Faith in Jesus Christ is not a leap into the darkness. Christian faith is standing on God’s truth and leaping from the darkness into the light.
