Good Words for Today

"Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt, Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured, There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt. Grace, grace, God's grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God's grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin." Julia Johnston, 1910

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed” (Romans 4:18). This is always where faith meets the acid test. Are you willing to believe God even when the outward circumstances argue against it? Abraham had no one to encourage him. No one except God. Where is God stretching your faith right now? Where would be it easier for you to doubt God than to believe him? As you think about those questions, ponder the story of Abraham and Sarah. God put it in the Bible for at least two reasons: 1. So that we will know that God always keeps his promises. 2. So that we will never stop believing even though we have to wait a long time for God to answer our prayers. Keep hope alive. You never know what God will do.  

Lord Jesus, help me to walk by faith today even if no one else walks with me. Amen.

“Be patient with everyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:14). The word means to be long-tempered. It has the idea of being tough and durable under pressure. Be slow to anger, slow to give up. Don’t lose your patience as you help others. We must not give way to exasperation. Sometimes I hear people say, “I lost my temper.” I want to reply, “You didn’t lose it, you found it!” Some of us need to lose our temper and never find it again.

“Is your faith strong?” a Christian man was asked a few hours before his death. “No, but my Jesus is.” It does not matter whether your faith is strong or weak today. Your faith will rise and fall according to the varying seasons and tides of life. But do not worry if your faith does not seem strong. We have a great Savior. Rest on him and all will be well.

"Come out of sadness From wherever you've been Come broken hearted Let rescue begin Come find your mercy Oh sinner come kneel Earth has no sorrow That heaven can't heal." David Crowder

“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day" (Proverbs 4:18). Here is a parable for the Christian life. In the beginning there is light enough for each step we take. As we walk with the Lord, the light grows brighter and brighter until the light shines so brightly that we simply walk from earth to heaven. I sometimes wonder if believers even realize they have died. I think (though I can’t prove this) that death for the Christian is only an earthly event, that we simply pass through the portal into the light of God’s presence and we don’t even realize what happened until we are standing in the presence of the Lord. Here is the joy and paradox of the Christian view of death: When we die, we will be more alive than we've ever been because we are finally and forever with the Lord.

Idolatry lies in the worshiper, not in the thing worshiped. A golden calf is not an idol by itself. Left to itself, a golden calf is just a golden calf. It becomes an idol only when we begin to worship it. It is a wrong attitude that turns something good into something bad. Don’t blame your car if you aren’t happy. It’s your fault that you trust in your car to give you satisfaction. Don’t blame your boy friend if you aren’t happy. It’s your fault that you look to him to make you happy. Don’t blame your spouse if you aren’t happy. No husband or wife can make you happy all the time. Don’t blame your boss if you aren’t happy. He’s not responsible for your happiness. Don’t blame your children if you aren’t happy. God never meant for you to look to them as the source of your happiness. Don’t blame your new house if you aren’t happy. No house can provide ultimate happiness. Don’t blame your church if you aren’t happy. No church can make you happy. Happiness comes from a living relationship with Jesus Christ. He alone can satisfy the deepest needs of your life. Looking anywhere else for ultimate happiness is really just a sophisticated form of idolatry.

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven" (1 Thessalonians 4:16). When you get up in the morning say, “Lord Jesus, I hope you come today. Please help me to do your will so I will be ready to meet you when you come.” Daily obedience is the key. Keep your eyes on the skies. Keep your bags packed and ready to go. Do God’s will in all things. Serve the Lord every day. Live for Jesus and you will never be disappointed no matter when he comes.

Forgiven people ought to be the best forgivers because they know the true cost of forgiveness.

"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom" (Isaiah 40:28). God isn’t worried about anything. He’s not up in heaven wringing his hands over who's going to win the election in November. He’s also not fretting about your next visit to the doctor. He’s not worried about your aging parents or your income taxes or whether or not you’re ever going to get married. God’s not worried about anything in your life or my life or about anything relating to the people we love. He’s up in heaven in perfect control of the entire universe at all times. He’s working out his plan to perfection and nothing can hinder him in the least degree.

"Lead me to some soul today, O teach me, Lord, just what to say; Friends of mine are lost in sin, And cannot find their way. Few there are who seem to care, And few there are who pray; Melt my heart, and fill my life, Give me one soul today." Will Houghton, 1936

 If my love for Jesus never leads me to take a risk, how much do I really love him? If my faith never causes me to do things that make no sense to others, including my Christian friends, perhaps I’m playing it too safe. If everything I say and do seems perfectly comprehensible to the world, then I need to do some soul-searching.

Never be ashamed to ask for God's mercy. If you deserved it, you wouldn't need it. That's why we are saved "according to his mercy" (Titus 3:5). It's also why his mercies are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3:23). His mercy is greater than your sin. He's ready to clean up the mess you made in the last 24 hours. Lay hold of God's mercy. There's plenty to go around. A fresh supply just arrived from heaven this morning.

If you don't know what else to do, love your neighbor!

“God does not regret saving you. There is no sin which you commit which is beyond the cross of Christ.” Matt Chandler

In his book Spiritual Leadership, Oswald Chambers notes that "Great leaders have always been great encouragers." He mentioned the great British Bible teacher F. B. Meyer who said, "If I had my life over again, I would devote much more time to the ministry of comfort and encouragement." Who will you encourage today?

"The demons believe and tremble" (James 2:19). Hell is populated with good theologians already. They are called demons. Make sure you don’t join them.

"His faithfulness remains from generation to generation" (Psalm 100:5). Often parents wonder how their children and grandchildren will turn out. This verse gives us hope for the future. When our time comes to leave this world, we can depart with confidence because we serve a trans-generational God. We come and go, but God's faithfulness continues. That means we can trust him with the generations yet to come. Here is great hope for parents who worry about what will happen when they are gone. The God who cares for us will take care of our children--and our grandchildren too!

Perhaps God has not changed your circumstances because he first wants to change you.

Have you been forgiven? Then forgive. Have you found mercy? Then show mercy. Have you received a blessing? Then bless others. Just take what God has given you and give it away to someone else. That’s the whole Christian life in just one sentence.

You’ll know you have reached the final level of forgiveness when you are able to ask God to bless those who have hurt you so deeply.  

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.  

"Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to question the unfairness of God. Maybe the unfairness works out in our favor in the long run. It is grace gone wild. He is a Father who loves extravagantly. He gives grace that overwhelms those who don’t deserve it. Sometimes we just have to wait for it." Heather Zempel  

"So I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned In awe of the One who gave it all So I'll stand, my soul Lord to You surrendered All I am is Yours." From "The Stand," Hillsong Music

Lord of Time and Eternity, if I should have less than I want today, may I be content in the knowledge that I already have everything I need.  Amen.

It all depends upon God. Everyone comes to that conclusion sooner or later. Unfortunately, some people have to die to find it out.

When you are tempted to start bragging today, remember this: Every good gift comes down from the Father of lights above (James 1:17). What do you have that you did not receive? (1 Corinthians 4:7)

Lord, I pray for the strength to do right when those around me are doing wrong. Amen.

As we pray for our prodigals, we must remember that the first change needs to happen in us. Until we are changed, and our anger is turned to love, we will become bitter and hardened ourselves. Though our prodigals may have left the Lord, he has not left them, not even for a second. They may be “lost” to you, but they are not “lost” to him. He knows exactly where they are and what they are doing at this very moment. He loves them more than you do. And he leads them even when they don’t know they are being led. Do you have a loved one who is far from the Lord? Does it seem totally impossible that he or she will ever change? Do you get angry thinking about their foolish choices? Do your prayers seem useless to you? Pay no attention to your feelings. There is more going on in the heart of your loved one than you can know. Don’t give up. Keep on praying. Keep believing. You never know what God will do.

Many contemporary Christians have never heard of a man named Polycarp. The early believers knew all about him because he was one of the first well-known martyrs of the Christian faith. In his youth he was a disciple of the Apostle John. For many years he served as Bishop of the church in Smyrna. During a wave of persecution in AD 155, when a mob demanded his death, Roman officials tried to save his life by offering him repeated chances to deny his faith in Christ. He refused each time. When given one final chance to save his own life, he replied in words that echo across the centuries: “For 86 years I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who has saved me?” As the soldiers prepared to nail him to the stake, he refused, saying, “Leave me as I am. For he who grants me to endure the fire will enable me also to remain on the pyre unmoved, without the security you desire from nails.” The fire was lit and Polycarp burned to death. As the flames consumed him, he was heard to pray, “I thank you, O Lord, that you have deemed me worthy this day and this hour to take up the cross of Christ with many witnesses.” Death has no power over the believer who remains faithful.

“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days” (Revelation 2:10). Think of it this way. If Jesus says you will suffer for ten days, no force on earth can make it last eleven days! It won’t end early, but it won’t go long either. The time limit on our trials has been determined by the Lord. That is why he says, “Fear not.” The Lord knows what he is doing, and he is doing it. He will accomplish his purpose concerning us.

“King shall shut their mouths because of him” (Isaiah 52:15). This verse describes the reaction of the kings of the earth when they finally stand before Christ at his Second Coming. All the jabbering and boastful talk will come to an end. The majestic presence of the King of Kings will “shut the mouths” of all earthly kings. When he came the first time, they laughed at him. They hated him, rejected him, and eventually crucified him. The religious leaders teamed up with the political leaders to nail him to the cross. But much to their astonishment, he wouldn’t stay dead. He rose from the grave, rallied his disciples, gave them their marching orders, and then he returned to his Father in heaven. Meanwhile his followers began to spread the news, “He’s alive!” Two thousand years have come and gone and still the flame spreads to every corner of the earth. A day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (see Philippians 2:9-11). If you think the kings are shocked now, just wait for that day!

It’s easy to become insensitive to sin because you think you are above it. Martin Luther remarked that pride is so deep within us that we must “repent of our repentance,” by which he meant that even our repenting is tinged with pride, e. g. “Look at me! I’m honest enough to repent of my sins. I’m not like you. I don’t cover things up.” Sin is so much with us that even our confession contains within it the seeds of our next transgression. Were it not for grace, none of us could ever stand before the Lord.

"In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war . . . but David stayed in Jerusalem" (2 Samuel 11:1). When speaking of David, Matthew Henry said it well: "If he had been at the front, he wouldn't have been on the wall. When we are out of the way of duty, we are in the way of temptation." David is now an accident waiting to happen. —He's alone. —He's the king —He's accountable to no one. He's got too much time on his hands so he stays busy doing nothing. "Idle hands are the Devil's tools." In this case the Devil didn't have to try too hard. David was sitting around taking it easy. How true this is today. Much of our struggle with lust comes because we stay in Jerusalem taking it easy when we ought to be on the front lines with the bullets whizzing overhead.

"This is my Father’s world. O 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." From "This is My Father's World" by Maltbie Babcock, 1901

“I  know . . . your poverty-yet you are rich!” (Revelation 2:9) These words are literal, not metaphorical. Christians in Smyrna evidently came from the lower rungs on the economic ladder. If they once had been rich in worldly goods, those days were long past. No doubt many had lost their jobs in the trade-guilds because they would not say, “Caesar is Lord." To these poverty-stricken Christians, Christ says, “But you are rich!” Is he mocking them? It all depends on how we value time versus eternity. If this life is all that matters, then the words of Jesus are nothing more than pious nonsense. What good is it to say, “You are rich!” to those who are starving? It all depends. No man who knows Jesus is ever truly poor. No man without Jesus is ever truly rich.

"True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks" (John 4:23). We are not used to thinking about God seeking anything, but this passage tells us that God in heaven is looking for people on the earth who will worship him. We were made to worship. If we don’t worship God, we will find something else to worship. That explains the unhappiness of so many people in the world. Augustine said, “Oh Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” We've all heard about the God-shaped vacuum inside every human heart. If you don’t fill that God-shaped vacuum with God, you will fill it with something else. God seeks worshipers. We were made to worship God. Therefore, only the worship of God can fully satisfy us.

I used to listen to a preacher who liked to lean forward and say, "If you're going to be a Christian, be one!" We need that more than ever today. In a world where our brothers and sisters in Pakistan are being killed for their faith, we all need to decide which team we're on. If you're on the world's team, put on their jersey. If you're on Team Jesus, put on His jersey. In these difficult days, we need Christians who aren't ashamed of their faith. Let me assure you of this: Compromise will win you no friends. You'll be "too Christian" for the worldly crowd and "too worldly" for the Christian crowd. Might as well stand up and be counted. If you're going to be a Christian, be one!

If you’re a child of God, you’re in good hands. Your past is forgiven, your present is secure, and your future is guaranteed. For the child of God, the best is always yet to come.