Good Words for Today
If you do not want Jesus as your Savior, you will one day face him as your Judge.
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.
What thou, my Lord, hast suffered was all for sinners’ gain; Mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain. Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ’Tis I deserve thy place; Look on me with thy favor, and grant to me thy grace. From "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded." Attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, ca. 1150 A.D.
The church is not a gathering of perfect people. If it were, every church on earth would be empty. The church is a gathering of very imperfect people who come to worship a perfect Savior.
Perhaps you’ve heard it said this way: “Don’t pray for God to bless what you are doing. Find out what God is blessing and go be a part of it.” That strikes me as wise advice. God blesses those who get excited about his plan to bless the world through Jesus.
God’s will is more like a sunrise than a sunburst. Early in the morning, the sun begins to peek above the eastern horizon. At first the sky lightens, then the first rays streak across the sky, then the rim of the sun begins to rise slowly above the earth. Eventually, the whole sun is revealed, rising until it dominates the sky, giving light to the earth and driving away the darkness. God’s will is like that. At first, we see his plan dimly, and then the outline begins to emerge. Slowly, over time, the clouds vanish, the darkness disappears, and the brightness of his presence fills our lives. Do you get anxious at sunrise when all you can see is the tiny rim of the sun? If you wait long enough you will see the sun in all its brilliance. The same is true of God’s plan for your life. You never see everything in advance, but if you wait long enough, God always reveals his will.
God’s blessings are never meant to be hoarded. He means for us to be blessed, and then to give the blessing away. And in giving it away, we are blessed all over again. Whether it be joy or peace or hope, what we give away comes back to us a hundredfold. Thus does God bless those who give away his blessings.
Loving Father, teach us to trust you. We want clear direction, and you say, “Give me your heart.” We want precise answers, and you say, “Trust me to do right.” We want to know about tomorrow, and you say, “Follow me today.” Lord, make us willing to be made willing to do your will in everything. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Never let someone else determine God’s will for your life. No one else can understand God’s unique call on your life as clearly as you can.
We need two things when we listen to a sermon: a soft heart and a good memory. A soft heart helps us receive the truth and a good memory reminds us of the truth we have heard. God of Grace, I pray for a soft heart and a good memory as I listen to your Word today. Amen.
Peace does not cancel our problems, but it ought to cancel our worry. If God is with us, we can trust him even when we don’t understand.
The only thing you can take to heaven is someone else. Everything else will be left behind. Let’s get a big crowd and take them to heaven with us. Why leave anyone behind? Let’s tell everyone about Jesus!
Lord Jesus, show me how to cast my cares upon you, lest I collapse under the weight of my own problems. Amen
In a day of moral decline, building a Christian family will always be seen as a revolutionary act.
The road to heaven is paved with the blood of Christ. Only those who walk that road by faith in the crucified Lamb will ever enter the celestial city.
If you’re looking for Jesus on Easter Sunday, don’t look in the cemetery. He walked out of the grave 2000 years ago and never went back.
The edges of life will often be blurry, but the center is clear, and it points to the Cross.
"Was it for crimes that I have done, He groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!
Lord Jesus, teach me to pray and give me a heart for prayer so that when I am gone, people will remember that I prayed for them. Amen.
"No prayer never did nothing." I'm not sure who said that, but whoever did was right. The grammar is bad, but the message is good. There are no wasted prayers. Every word uttered in prayer to our Lord is heard in heaven. The tiniest whisper on earth is shouted in the courts of heaven. Your prayers matter. Pray on, saints of God!
Father, since You gave Your Son for me, how can I ever doubt Your love for me? I can’t, and I won’t. Amen.
We look at our loved ones dying and wonder if the resurrection can be true. But that's backward. God says, "Look what I did for my Son. Will I do any less for those who put their trust in him?"
Ask yourself a hard question: “Am I willing for God to change me?” It’s a lot easier to think that others need to change. “My kids are driving me nuts. Change them, Lord!” “My husband ignores me. Change him, Lord!” “My wife is getting on my nerves and my boss is a jerk. Change them both, Lord!” Perhaps we should all pray this simple prayer: “O Lord, change the world. Begin, I pray Thee, with me.” As the old spiritual says, “It’s me, it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.” Before we ask God to change anyone else, we’d better look in the mirror.
Father, I give You the right to interfere with my plans if that is necessary so that Your will might be done in my life. Amen.
"I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.”
Lord, give me wisdom in my personal decisions, knowing others are influenced by my choices. Amen.
The love of God is not limited—not by nation or ocean or tribe or tongue or custom or clothing or race or politics or creed or caste or any other human condition. When the love of God captures us, our hearts will be as big as his—reaching to the ends of the earth.
The Word of God is not like the first draft of a thesis where the writer submits it and says, “What do you think?” Not so with the Bible. God never asks us to correct the New Testament. He never asks us to review Isaiah and make a few changes. And he won’t abide by those who add to or take from the Book of Revelation. The Bible stands approved as written, without correction, without change, without deletion, without addition.
The gift of God is eternal life. Tell a friend. Don't go to heaven alone.
Here's a good prayer for the start of a busy week. As chaplain of the United States Senate, Peter Marshall offered this prayer on May 8, 1947: Help us to do our very best this day and be content with today’s troubles, so that we shall not borrow the troubles of tomorrow. Save us from the sin of worrying, lest stomach ulcers be the badge of our lack of faith. Amen.
Only God can make you better. Think about that for a moment. Exercise improves your body, therapy make help your soul, friends may lift your spirit, good fortune may improve your circumstances, but only God can make you better.
"We encourage you as believers to excel in love even more" (1 Thessalonians 4:10 GW). You can never love too much. You never reach the point where love doesn't matter. We can always grow in our love for others. How do we learn to grow in love? There is only one way. God puts us around unlovely people, usually people very close to us. He surrounds us with family and friends who sometimes get on our nerves, and he puts us in situations at work where we have to deal with difficult people every day. Over the years I have observed God do this again in again. He allows two people to have difficulties with each other, often to the point of anger and bitterness. He does it because the only way we learn to love is by dealing with unlovely people. I have seen it happen between husbands and wives, parents and children, between co-workers, neighbors, fellow students, and relatives. I've even seen God do for people who aren't going to vote the same way on Election Day. Right now it feels like we need a few miracles in this area. But God always gives us what we need to obey his command. People who start out disliking each other often end up as dearest friends. They may not agree on everything, but in Christ they learn to love one another. Lord Jesus, help us to grow in love today. Amen.
"Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee; Let the water and the blood, From thy wounded side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure; Save from wrath and make me pure."
Our critics tell us it is unkind to "love the sinner and hate the sin," especially as it applies to sexual sin. But we do not apply that when we go to a doctor. If you have cancer, you want a doctor who will find it, treat it, and get rid of it so you can get better. If a man has cancer, it's not unloving to tell him the truth. It's unloving not to tell him. Since it is the truth that sets people free, we must tell the truth even to those who don't want to hear it.
God has ordained that his children—all of them without exception—will be made complete in the end. We’re not that way now. Most of us feel fragmented and torn in a thousand directions. We’re incomplete and under construction in this life. But God intends that when we finally get to heaven, the hammers and saws will be put away, and we will stand before the Lord with every part perfectly in place and every aspect of our life made perfect.
When you stand at the gate of heaven and God says, "Why should I let you in?" what answer will give? "I was a member of Wesley Methodist Church." Not good enough. "I was an elder at Wayside Chapel." You'll be in big trouble. "My father built our church." That's good, but it's not the right answer. "I lived a good life." Wrong answer. "I gave to feed the hungry in Namibia." That's truly wonderful, but that won't open the doors of heaven. "Pastor Ray baptized me." Not even close. If you want to go to heaven, you must trust in Jesus Christ and him alone. You must go "all in" on the Son of God who loved you and died for you. You must believe in him so much that if he can't take you to heaven, you aren't going to go there. Don't be proud or cocky or arrogant. If you make it to heaven, it will only because of God's kindness toward you. And between now and then, run to the cross every day. Lay hold of Christ and never let go. May God help us all to "wholly trust in Jesus' name."
"Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying." Martin Luther