Good Words for Today

Father, as we begin our journey to Bethlehem, show us how much we need Jesus and how much we have in him. Amen. 

"When He rolls up His sleeves He ain't just putting on the Ritz (Our God is an awesome God) There's thunder in His footsteps And lightning in His fists (Our God is an awesome God) And the Lord wasn't joking when He kicked 'em out of Eden It wasn't for no reason that He shed His blood His return is very close and so you better be believing that Our God is an awesome God"  Rich Mullins

Generosity is measured not by what we give but by what we keep for ourselves.

"I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help him. I ended up by asking him to do his work through me." J. Hudson Taylor, pioneer missionary to China

"You are not your own" (1 Cor 6:19).   Until you grasp this truth, you will stay in spiritual kindergarten.  

Last Tuesday David Cassidy died at the age of 67. He is remembered for  his role in the 1970s sitcom "The Partridge Family." According to his daughter Katie, his last words were, "So much wasted time." Sooner or later we all come to the end of our earthly journey. What will we have to show for our time on earth? No doubt we can all look back on too much wasted time.  When I thought about David Cassidy's final words, I remembered these lines by Benjamin E. Mays: I have just one minute Only sixty seconds in it, Forced upon me—can’t refuse it Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it, But it’s up to me to use it. I must suffer if I lose it, Give account if I abuse it. Just a tiny little minute— But eternity is in it. Dr. Mays was right about that--it may only be a minute, "but eternity is in it." Famed missionary C. T. Studd said it this way: Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last. One day all of us will pass from this life into the presence of God. What will we say on that day? More importantly, what will the Lord say about us? God help us to redeem the time we are given. Lord Jesus, since eternity is in every minute, may we not waste our brief time on earth but make it count for you. Amen. 

God can do a lot with a little. Goliath learned that the hard way.

The foundation of gratitude is the expectation of nothing.

  God is good, All the time, In every situation, No matter what, God is good! Take a moment to say that out loud because it will do your soul good. I hope you have a wonderful day. Happy Thanksgiving!        

"If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) The answer is no one, in case you were wondering.    

“Don’t bother to give God instructions. Just report for duty.” Corrie ten Boom

Waiting is never wasted if we are waiting on the Lord.

Our Lord knows what he is doing even when we think we have a better idea.

“Your will be Done.” All spiritual growth begins with those four words.

"Oh, that old rugged Cross so despised by the world Has a wondrous attraction for me For the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory above To bear it to dark Calvary" "So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross Till my trophies at last I lay down I will cling to the old rugged Cross And exchange it some day for a crown" George Bennard, 1912

Rebuke goes both ways. Are we as willing to hear the truth as to tell the truth? Lord, make us open to the wisdom of others even when it hurts. Amen.

If people get mad when you tell them the truth, that doesn't mean it's not true. It just means they're mad. That's all.

Lord Jesus, make us sensitive to the promptings of your Spirit today. Make us quick to pray, quick to praise, and slow to criticize. Amen. 

  The question is not, "How big are my problems?" The question is always, "How big is my God?"

"He does not grow tired or weary" (Isaiah 40:28). God never says, "Take a number" or "Could you come back later?" He is never too tired to help us. He stays awake while we fall asleep. He never takes a nap. He is there when we need him. He never tires of helping his children. So why are you so worried today? God will do what needs to be done.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 40:28). That means he is all-powerful. No problem can be too great for him because he made the things that are causing you the problem. “Lord, can you handle it?” “Handle it? I made it.”

"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. This is my Father’s world, The battle is not done: Jesus who died shall be satisfied, And earth and Heav’n be one."

"A lot of what we call 'struggling' is simply delayed obedience." Elisabeth Elliot

  Today is a great day to tell someone about Jesus.

"Just when I need Him, Jesus is strong, Bearing my burdens all the day long; For all my sorrow giving a song, Just when I need Him most." William C. Poole, 1907

May God give us preachers with some backbone who won’t back down. God deliver us from politically correct sermons and preachers who preach everything but the Word of God.

Lord Jesus, deliver me from a complaining spirit when times are hard. Help me to remember that you've got plenty of manna and quail whenever I need it. Amen.

"I'm undone by the mercy of Jesus I'm undone by the goodness of the Lord I'm restored and made right He got a hold of my life I've got Jesus How could I want more."  From the song "I Got Saved" by Selah.

  "Come, Lord, when grace hath made me meet Thy blessèd face to see; For if Thy work on earth be sweet What will Thy glory be!" "My knowledge of that life is small, The eye of faith is dim; But ’tis enough that Christ knows all, And I shall be with Him." Richard Baxter, 1689

Today is All Saints Day. It's a day to remember the "communion of the saints" that joins us forever with our loved ones who are now with the Lord. Our Father has a huge family that spans the generations. Some of us are on earth, and some are in heaven. But whether on earth or in heaven, we serve the  same Lord and are saved by the same grace. I have included a video of my favorite All Saints Day hymn: For All the Saints. We ought to sing it more than we do because it contains soul-stirring truth. Here are the lyrics to this grand hymn. Read, listen, and rejoice! For all the saints who from their labors rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confess, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest, Alleluia! Alleluia! Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might; Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light. Alleluia! Alleluia! Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old And win with them the victor's crown of gold. Alleluia! Alleluia! O blest communion, fellowship divine, We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia! Alleluia! And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long, Steals on the ear the distant triumph song, And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong. Alleluia! Alleluia! But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day; The saints triumphant rise in bright array; The King of Glory passes on His way. Alleluia! Alleluia! From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Alleluia! Alleluia!

On this day five hundred years ago, Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Though he only intended to stir up some theological debate, God in his wisdom used Luther to ignite the Protestant Reformation, which entailed recovering the gospel of the free grace of God. In 1521 he was forced to answer for his convictions at a trial called the Diet of Worms. When asked to recant his beliefs, he uttered these words that echo across the centuries: "Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason (I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other) my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen." May God raise up a generation of men and women who stand for the truth in our day as Luther did in his day.  

You'll see that speck of dust in your neighbor's eye a lot better if you take the telephone pole out of your own eye first.

"I have never once feared the devil, but I tremble every time I enter the pulpit." John Knox

When God forgives, he removes our sins, he lifts them up, he takes them away, and he puts them so far away from us that we could never find them if we searched for them for a thousand years. They are gone forever.

"And when I think that God, his Son not sparing, Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in, That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin." "Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee: How great thou art! How great thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee: How great thou art! How great thou art!"  

Anyone, Anywhere, Any time, Can be saved by Trusting in Christ. That’s the Good News of the Gospel.

"Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity! grace unknown! And love beyond degree!" Isaac Watts

The Reformers said we were saved by "alien righteousness." The term alien means “from another place.” When I visit Uganda or China or Ukraine, I am an “alien” in those countries because I am from another place. We are saved by righteousness that comes “from another place.” It comes not from within us as a result of our good deeds but from outside of us entirely. Where can a guilty sinner find righteousness “from another place”? He can find it in Jesus Christ! That’s the “alien righteousness” that saves guilty sinners.

If I show up at the gates of heaven talking about how good I've been, I'm in real trouble. First of all, I haven't been all that good. Too many sins come crowding into my memory, and those are only the ones I can remember. I testify that I am a sinner through and through; and left to myself, I don't have a chance of going to heaven. My only hope of heaven is to cast myself completely on the Lord Jesus Christ who loved me and died for me. He is my only hope. If he can't take me to heaven, I'm not going to go there. But I'm not worried. I'm trusting in Jesus to meet me at the gate and usher me into heaven. As the song says, "I need no other argument, I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me."

"There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus, No, not one! No, not one! None else could heal all our soul’s diseases, No, not one! No, not one!" "Jesus knows all about our struggles, He will guide till the day is done; There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus, No, not one! No, not one!"