Good Words for Today
"What I give him, he takes. What he takes, he cleanses. What he cleanses, he fills. What he fills, he uses." J. Sidlow Baxter
"All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth" (Hebrews 11:13). Dallas Police Officer Michael Krol was one of five officers killed in an ambush in downtown Dallas on July 7. After his death, family members reported that one of his favorite songs was "Where I Belong" by Building 429. Here's the chorus: "All I know is I'm not home yet This is not where I belong Take this world and give me Jesus This is not where I belong."
"Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee; Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my All shalt be. Perish every fond ambition, All I've sought or hoped or known; Yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still my own." Henry Francis Lyte, 1825
It’s a grand thing to be a Christian when you die. If you know Jesus, the best is yet to come.
"No man has any right to indulge in a pleasure or to demand a liberty which may be the ruination of someone else. . . . An indulgence which may be the ruin of someone else is not a pleasure but a sin." William Barclay
If we believe that salvation is a supernatural miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit in the heart of the unbeliever, then before we witness, and while we witness, and after we witness, our greatest act of kindness will be to pray for those who do not know the Lord. Prayer frees us from anger because it brings God into the equation. When we pray, we recognize that unless God works in the heart, our words will be ineffective.
Don't get angry when you witness. I’m thinking about those occasions when we witness to someone and they reject not only our witness, but they seem to reject us as well. Perhaps they ridicule us or patronize us or do something that makes us want to smack them in the face. I recommend that you not do that. Few people come to Christ after being smacked in the face. If we get angry when we witness, it means that we don’t understand how God works to bring people to faith. Our anger testifies to our lack of faith in God. Far better to walk away without getting into an argument. It is better yet to pray as we walk away—for ourselves and for the other person, that God will reveal himself to them through the Holy Spirit.
Apart from God’s grace, we are all lost, dead, blind, deaf, and so far gone in sin that if someone doesn’t rescue us we will be lost for all eternity. As Paul puts it in Ephesians 2:1-3, we are all dead apart from God’s grace. We aren’t “partly dead” or “mostly dead.” We are truly dead and utterly separated from the God who created us. That’s why unbelief is the natural human condition. Paul was never surprised by unbelief, and we should not be surprised either. None of us starts in a “neutral” position relative to God. We’re all born on the “negative” side and that’s where we stay until we are rescued by grace.
Twenty years ago Dr. E. V. Hill preached a powerful sermon at a Promise Keepers gathering in Chicago. In his own unforgettable style, he preached for 40 minutes on just two words: “God is.” He said it over and over again. He whispered it and he shouted it. He illustrated it, declared it, proclaimed it, and dared anyone to deny it. It wouldn’t seem likely that you could preach that long on just two words, but he did, and when you think about it, you could preach a lot longer when your topic is as profound as “God is.” Once you get it settled in your heart that “God is,” a lot of other problems will be solved as well.
When P. T. Forsyth wrote "Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind," he began with this sentence: "‘It is, perhaps, an overbold beginning, but I will venture to say that with its preaching Christianity stands or falls.” He's right, of course. The pulpit leads the church, and the church leads the world. When the pulpit is strong, the church will be strong, and the world will be blessed. Have you prayed for your pastor today?
“For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds. The upright will see His face” (Psalm 11: 7). The Lord stands up for those who stand up for him. He takes the side of those who side with him. David stands on the peak of faith and says, “Though the battle may be hot and we may be surrounded, God will win in the end.” This is the true position of those who believe God and his Word.
"If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it" (James 1:5). The hardest part is not asking for wisdom. That's the easy part. The hardest part is knowing you need to ask in the first place. If you don't know, that's okay. If you know that you don't know, that's better. If you don't know that you don't know, you're in trouble. Never be ashamed to admit you don't know. Never hesitate to ask for God's help. He loves to help his children. Just say, "Lord, I'm in trouble--again!" He already knows. He won't turn you away. That's what grace is all about.
"There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain; Then bursting forth in glorious day, Up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory, Sin's curse has lost its grip on me; For I am His and He is mine— Bought with the precious blood of Christ." From "In Christ Alone" by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
Lord, give me wisdom in my personal decisions, knowing that others are influenced by the choices I make. Amen.
What a relief to realize that God is God and you’re not. Now you can rip that big “G” off your sweatshirt. You don’t have to play God anymore and you don’t have to try to control everything around you. You can sleep well when you realize that God is God and you are not. Corrie Ten Boom was having trouble going to sleep one night because she was so worried about the affairs of her life. She tried praying but it didn’t help. Finally, the Lord said to her, “Go to sleep, Corrie. I’m going to be up all night anyway.”
We don’t have to ask, “What will America be like in a hundred years?” The great good news is, I don’t have to stay alive for another hundred years because I serve a God who is eternal. He will still be on the job long after I go down to the grave. Those who know and love the Lord will see his face. We will behold the Lord in the most personal way possible. Today we walk by faith. Today we stumble along through this life. Today we struggle. But today is not the last day. There is a better day coming for the people of God when all will be made right. Between now and then we will have many days when the foundations seem to be crumbling around us and the wicked rise up and threaten us. But the wicked will not have the last word. Those who scoff at the Lord and his Word will be consumed with the fire of God’s judgment. Between now and then we move forward by faith. Take the long view because we’re in this for the long haul.
John 3:16 made simple: God loved. God gave. I believe. I have. (From a sermon by Harry Ironside)
Some years ago the Lord gave me a set of statements I call the First Law of Spiritual Progress: I can't go back. I can't stay here. By God's grace, I must go forward. You can't go back to change the past or to relive it. You can't stay where you are because life is like a river that flows ever onward. The one thing you can do is go forward with the Lord. Even if we want to go back, we can’t. And we can’t stay where we are. God’s call is always onward, forward, moving out by faith into the unknown future. In the spiritual life, direction makes all the difference. It’s not where we’ve been but where we’re going that matters.
Jesus may come in my lifetime. I hope he does. I think the signs point in that direction. But he may not come for 500 years. The precise date is left in the hand of God. But this much is certain: Jesus is coming. Are you ready?
"You are the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13). “God intends us to penetrate the world. Christian salt has no business to remain snugly in elegant little ecclesiastical salt cellars; our place is to be rubbed into the secular community, as salt is rubbed into meat, to stop it going bad. And when society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands in pious horror and reproach the non-Christian world; but should we not rather reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else. The real question to ask is: Where is the salt?” John Stott
Disappointment is a tricky emotion. It’s not wrong to remember the past and it’s certainly not wrong to grieve over what you lost. If our loss was caused by our own stupid choices, then grieving may keep us from making the same mistakes again. But eventually there comes a time when we must move on. At that point our beginnings are likely to be small and insignificant. Do not despair. From tiny acorns mighty oaks someday grow. When God wanted to save the world, he started with a baby in a manger. Small beginnings are no hindrance to the Lord. Go ahead and get started. You never know what God will do.
Today 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 say 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.
“The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is pray. It is not the only thing; but it is the chief thing. The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; not those who can explain about prayer; but I mean those people who take time and pray." S. D. Gordon
"I'm so glad I learned to trust Him, Precious Jesus, Savior, friend; And I know that He is with me, Will be with me to the end." Louisa Stead, 1882
We still die, but Christ has taken the sting out of death. We still fight Satan, but we fight from a position of victory because Jesus Christ won the battle 2000 years ago. We still struggle with temptation, but we don’t have to give in because God has provided the way of escape. We face many hardships in this life, but we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. We may be filled with doubts and think ourselves unworthy of God’s love and we may fear that God will get angry and cast us off. But we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
"The evil one cannot harm them" (1 John 5:18). Satan and his demons can harass us, oppress us, confuse us, disturb us, mislead us, trick us, and discourage us. But in the end, we will stand like champions before the throne of God and say, “He never laid a glove on us.” He can slow us down, but he can’t stop us. He can discourage us, but he can’t defeat us. He can knock us down, but he can’t keep us down because by God’s grace, we will get up to fight again. He can take away our assurance, but he can’t take away our salvation because the Holy Spirit has taken up permanent residence within the heart of every believer.
"The Scripture says that there is a time to be born and a time to die. And when my time comes an angel will be there to comfort me. He will give me peace and joy even at that most critical house, and usher me into the presence of God, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Thank God for the ministry of his blessed angels!" Billy Graham
No doubt many people reading these words face difficult situations. You may be out of money or you may be out of a job. Perhaps you face surgery very soon. Others face debilitating illness. You may have hard decisions you need to make this week and you don't know what to do. People you loved and trusted may have turned against you. Your dreams may have crumbled to dust. The future may seem very uncertain. Take this word of cheer. Whatever you have to do this week, God will equip you to do it. No matter how hard the road ahead, God has already started mending your nets and arming you for battle. You don't even have to ask him; he just does it because that's the kind of God he is. He never, never, never, never calls you to any hard task without giving you what you need to get the job done.
“There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” (John 6:9). God can do a lot with a little. He fed 5000 men with 5 biscuits and 2 sardines. It's not what we have that matters. We never have enough to meet all the needs we see. We are never equal to the task. But you never know what might happen when you give your little bit to the Lord. It is better to start small with God than never to start at all.
When God makes a promise, it is folly and disbelief to wonder how he will keep his word. Faith does not reckon with "how." Faith believes and leaves the "how" in the hands of Almighty God. If we spend too much time trying to figure out "how" God will take care of us, we are likely to talk ourselves into a corner.
"God’s people are truly blessed. Nothing can harm them, nothing can destroy them, because they are in Christ, and he lives forever." William Plumer
"So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: 'I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!'" Martin Luther
"Lord Jesus, before You I patiently wait; Come now and within me a new heart create. To those who have sought You, You never said “No” Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." From "Whiter Than Snow" by James L. Nicholson, 1872.
"I can't make the Bible come alive. The Bible is already alive. It makes me come alive." R. C. Sproul
"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18). I suppose the question comes down to this. Do you even want to be forgiven? I say “even” because you can harden your heart to the point that you no longer care if you are forgiven. For such people, there is nothing left but the fearful judgment of God. But if you have the slightest desire to be forgiven, if in your heart you want a new beginning, your sins can be forgiven. That's the promise of the gospel. That's the power of Jesus' blood.
Many years ago a man hired an experienced guide to lead him on a hike into the Swiss Alps. After many hours they came to a high and remote mountain pass. To the man’s dismay, he saw that that path had almost been washed out. What could he do? To the left was a sheer rock cliff, to his right a precipice that dropped nearly 1000 feet. Looking down, the man felt his head growing faint and his knees beginning to buckle. At that moment his guide shouted, “Do not look down or you are a dead man. Keep your eyes on me, and where I put my feet, put yours there as well.” The man did as he was instructed and soon he passed from danger to safety. No one knows what lies ahead for any of us. We all have our plans and dreams but the times and seasons of life are in God’s hands. Sooner or later we will all come to a dangerous pass where the way ahead seems to be washed out. At that moment we can panic and fall into terrible trouble. Or we can fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ and mark carefully his steps before us. If we will follow him, we will find that we have been kept safe by his amazing grace.
Father, may I show the same mercy to others that you have shown to me. Amen.
"Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker" (Psalm 95:6). Every worship service is an act of rebellion against the world. If worship doesn’t seem radical to us, it’s because we’ve become anesthetized to its power. By our prayers and by our music and by the grand tradition handed down to us, by the ministry of the Word, by baptism and the Lord’s Supper, through fellowship and affirmation, by the creeds and by the choir, regardless of the setting and irrespective of style, every worship service ought to be a great object lesson to teach our people, “We are not like the world. This is who we are. This is why we exist. This is what we believe. This is how we live.”
"The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God" (Psalm 51:17 NLT). When the thing that matters is getting free from the burden of sin, When we no longer sugarcoat our sin, When we desperately seek restored fellowship with God and with his people, When we no longer worry about our reputation, When what God thinks matters more than what others think, Then we will find the forgiveness we seek because our repentance has led us back to the Lord.
If sin is to be forgiven, it must be confessed for what it is. You can’t call sin “weakness” and expect to be forgiven by God. God doesn’t forgive weakness; he only forgives sin.