Take Your Stand

What have you taken your stand on? Who have you taken your stand on? Have you taken your stand on the gospel, the good news, of Jesus Christ? Are you holding firmly to it? Or have you let go and believed in vain?

We may take a stand on an issue. In fact, we often do. Sometimes, we take a stand on issues that don’t really amount to a hill of beans in the long run. Sometimes, we take a stand on issues without knowing all the information.

But taking a stand on the gospel of Jesus Christ is the right stand to take. He is the rock on which to build our lives. He is the rock that will stand forever—all eternity. The good news of Jesus invites us to accept Him as Lord and Savior. By accepting Him as Lord and Savior, we acquire salvation, hope, and confidence we will spend eternity with Him. We gain the knowledge He is always with us, and we can lean on Him during tough times.

As Paul states in today’s passage, if we believe initially, but do not hold firmly to our faith, our initial belief was in vain. So, let me ask you this question, do you ever like to throw away time you have spent on something? Personally, I don’t. I don’t like spending my time, which I consider precious, on a project and just dump it. I don’t like to give up on a goal I have been working toward. This is no different.

We are encouraged by Paul both positively and negatively to hold on to our faith. On the positive side, we are told of the rewards we get in both this life and for eternity. On the negative side, we are told our initial belief was a waste of time, if we do not hold on to it. Which choice will you make?

I pray we all believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray we take our stand on Jesus. I pray each one of us chooses to hold on to our faith, reaping the eternal reward we are promised by God. Believe in Jesus. Believe the good news. Take your stand on Jesus. Hold on to your faith. Never give up.

1 Corinthians 15:1-2 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

Prevail In Faith

How is your faith? Are you holding onto it? Are you finding it challenging to do so in our current times? Do you long for easier days? Are you hanging on by a thread? Have you asked God to build your faith?

We are living in troubling times. We have several disconcerting worries and activities going on simultaneously. We battle a pandemic in the midst of discontent and distrust. We wade through a plethora of data and wonder what data to believe.

We continue to wrestle with racial inequality, political distrust, gender preference, and cancel culture. Battle lines are drawn nearly everywhere we look. Those who agree on one issue disagree on another. We argue over what can be taught in our schools, who can preach in our churches, and stare at each other with wary eyes.

So, where is our faith? Do we believe God is in control? Whether we believe it or not, God is in control. He has a plan and is executing it. Satan also has a plan and is executing his to counter God’s plan. Whose side are we on?

We are encouraged throughout Scripture, and especially in the New Testament, to hold on to our faith. Our faith in God’s plan. Our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Our faith the Holy Spirit lives within us, if only we will listen to Him.

When going through tough times, we can prevail by holding on to our faith that Jesus is the Son of God and sits at the right hand of God’s throne. We can prevail in our faith that He loves us and will return. We can prevail by faith, knowing we will spend eternity with God.

I pray we all hold onto our faith in God. I pray we grow our faith through our relationship with Him. I pray our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior is strong, so we prevail through the tough times. Hold on to your faith. Grow your faith. Be strong in your faith. Trust God. Trust Jesus.

Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

Forty Days

What is your understanding of Jesus’ resurrection? Do you understand it as Him being raised from the dead in bodily form? Do you know He appeared to a few of His disciples on the first day?  Do you know He appeared to people for more than a month?

We often talk of Jesus being raised from the dead. We confidently say He is alive today. We likely remember the story of Him appearing to a couple of women who followed Him just outside the tomb where He had been buried.

We may remember the race ran by a couple of His apostles to the empty tomb upon hearing He was alive. One of our favorite stories is of Thomas stating he would not believe until he saw Jesus himself. We like to poke fun at Thomas for doubting. But do we doubt ourselves?

We may remember the story of Jesus meeting a couple travelers on the road to Emmaus. There is also the story of Him meeting a few of His apostles beside the Sea of Galilee and having breakfast with them. But have we read and caught the fact that He met with five hundred people at the same time (1 Corinthians 15:6)?

Luke tells us in today’s passage that Jesus appeared to a wide variety of people for a period of forty days after His resurrection. Is there a significance to the forty days? Is it coincidence it rained for forty days and forty nights to flood the world? Is it coincidence the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years because of their grumbling and disobedience after being freed from Egypt? Is it coincidence Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days after His baptism being tempted by Satan? Maybe. Maybe not.

What we can know for certain is Jesus was seen by numerous people for forty days after He was resurrected. We have eyewitness accounts of His appearance. We have eyewitness accounts of His ascension to Heaven. Jesus was and is certainly the Son of God.

I pray we all believe Jesus is the Son of God. I pray we know that He was resurrected. I pray each one of us ponder His appearing to numerous people for forty days after His resurrection. Believe Jesus is the Son of God. Believe He was resurrected. Believe He appeared to many. Believe the eyewitnesses. Believe He lives today.

Acts 1:3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

Scripture Fulfilled

Do you expect promises to be fulfilled? Have you had promises made to you that went unfulfilled? Have you made promises you did not fulfill? Do you know that God fulfills all His promises and has already fulfilled many of them?

We generally expect people to follow through on their promises. Most of us make every effort to follow through on promises we make. Yet, all of us fail at some point. We make promises and one thing or another gets in the way of fulfilling them.

Don’t you love the assumed promises children hear? As a parent, when a child asks to stop to get ice cream after the game, we might say “We’ll see.” The child immediately assumes they will get ice cream after the game. Now, there was no promise, but the child interprets it that way.

Sometimes, we assume God has made promises He hasn’t as well. We assume that Jesus stating He came to provide us an abundant life (John 10:10) means we will be rich and have no worries. That is not the promise made. The promise made is that we will have joy in Him no matter our circumstances. If we have tied our joy to material things, we have allowed ourselves to be sadly misled by Satan.

Jesus fulfilled some of God’s promises while He walked this earth. As today’s passage states, Jesus, Himself, claimed He had fulfilled prophecy (promise) that was recorded in Isaiah 61:1-2. His claim included Him being anointed, proclaiming good news, proclaiming freedom from Satan’s shackles, giving the ability to see Satan’s schemes, freeing the oppressed, and proclaiming God’s favor.

There are promises of God’s that are yet to be fulfilled. But just as Jesus fulfilled some promises, God will finish fulfilling the rest in His time. We can trust Him. He has proven Himself to be trustworthy. He is God.

I pray we all trust God. I pray we trust He will fulfill His promises. I pray each of us see clearly and live in the freedom Jesus has granted us, following his example to proclaim the good news. Trust God. Know God fulfills promises. Be free in Christ. See Satan’s schemes clearly. Follow Jesus’ example. Proclaim the good news of Christ.

Luke 4:21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Believe Jesus is Alive

Are you sometimes baffled by something you hear? Do you ask the person to repeat themselves? Have you heard some outlandish claims? How do you react to those? In disbelief? Accept them for truth? Have you accepted Jesus as truth?

There is no denying that some people say the most outlandish things. Sometimes, it is just to garner attention. Other times, I seriously wonder if the person actually believes what they are saying, even if I know in no way can it be true.

The story of Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection can be one of those outlandish stories to someone who refuses to believe. They ask for physical proof, and even if they get it, they still will not believe. But the question we must ask ourselves is, “Do we believe Jesus’ story?”

To paraphrase C. S. Lewis from his book Mere Christianity, we must accept Jesus as the Son of God. If we do not, we must consider Him a lunatic or a madman. Lewis also states we cannot consider Jesus a mere moral teacher. If you have not read Mere Christianity, I strongly encourage you to do so.

In other words, those who look at Jesus as merely someone who taught good moral standards, but don’t look at Him as Lord, Savior, and God are kidding themselves. They might as well be saying Jesus was a liar, a false prophet, or sent from Satan. As John the Apostle lays it out in his gospel, it is an either-or proposition. You cannot straddle the fence.

Paul tells us that God raised Jesus from the dead and He will raise us, too. Do we believe that? Do we believe that Jesus is alive, sitting at the right hand of the throne of God? If we do, how has that changed our lives? The teaching of the Bible is not mere moral teaching. The purpose of the teaching is to show us who God is and to bring us into a right relationship with Him. It is to bring us to the point of giving up our desires for His. It is to convince us to accept His gift of salvation—spending eternity with Him.

I pray we all accept Jesus for who He says He is. I pray we accept Him as Lord, Savior, and Son of God. I pray each one of us accepts the gift of salvation God has offered. Believe the story of Jesus. Believe Jesus’ words. Believe God’s message of salvation. Accept His gift. Spend eternity with God.

1 Corinthians 6:14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.

Righteousness of God

What are you looking for help with today? Are you in need of a boost in your faith? Do you need to be reminded of your salvation? Do you remember God’s righteousness is your righteousness?

We need to be reminded from time-to-time of who we are—Whose we are. We are inundated with the world’s message. We hear repeatedly we don’t meet the standard, we need to look out for ourselves, no one loves us, we are worthless.

We are told we must lose weight, make ourselves prettier, dress in the latest fashion, be better than someone else and let everyone know it. The world looks at the outside and makes a judgment. We fall prey to the world’s attitudes, messages, and desires.

God presents a better way. His plan comes through Jesus Christ. The good news, gospel, is that we are loved, and Jesus died so that we may be saved and spend eternity with Him. Our salvation has already been purchased. We don’t need to follow the world’s way; we are to follow Jesus’ way.

By accepting God’s gift of salvation, accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are made righteous through our faith in Him. No, that doesn’t mean we are perfect. It does mean that God doesn’t judge us by the world’s standard but by looking at us through the lens of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

Once we accept Him, we are called to live by faith. Not blind faith, but the faith that trusts in God’s promises. We learn of God’s promises being fulfilled throughout the Bible and can trust His promises for the future will be fulfilled. Let’s all remember we are righteous in God’s sight, and we can trust Him at His Word.

I pray we all accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. I pray we are reminded that we are righteous in Him. I pray each one of us lives by faith, trusting in God’s promises. Remember the good news. Know that you have salvation. Know that you are righteous. Trust God’s promises. Live by faith.

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

God’s Wondrous Grace

Do you struggle with feeling unworthy? Do you have low self-esteem? Do you believe there is no way God can forgive or love you? What if I told you God has already extended His hand and you merely need to reach out to grasp it?

There are people who feel unworthy. They have the false belief they need to be perfect before they choose to accept God’s invitation. They continue to struggle on their own to eliminate the bad behavior and rough edges they have developed over their lifetime.

Folks, we don’t have to struggle on our own. There is no one who is perfect except Jesus Christ. Even some of the greatest of heroes in the Bible committed major offenses but were accepted by God and He turned their lives around. Moses committed murder. David committed adultery. Joseph’s brothers wanted to kill him and sold him into slavery. Rahab was a prostitute. Paul persecuted the church before his encounter with Jesus.

No, we are not to continue in our disobedience. But we are not to attempt to fix ourselves on our own. God knows we are weak human beings. He knows we need His help. That is why He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us. We need His help to become the person God designed us to be.

Accept God’s grace. He gives it freely because of Jesus’ willingness to be a perfect sacrifice to take away our sins. We don’t deserve it and can never deserve it. That is why it is called grace. God forgives our sins. He moves into our lives and changes us. The change doesn’t happen at the snap of our fingers, but it does take place as we continue to build our relationship with Him.

I pray we all decide to accept God’s grace. I pray we understand we cannot make the change on our own. I pray each one of us ask God to fill us with His Spirit as Jesus promised. Accept God’s grace. Know you cannot change on your own. Become the person God designed you to be. 

Romans 3:21-24 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Light of Love

How well do you love? Have you thought about how you project your love? Would others know you love them if you could never speak again? What would the answers be if they were put to the test using a lie detector machine?

It has been said there are three versions of ourselves. The person we think we are. The person others think we are. And the person we really are. The key to combining these three into one and the same is to have a solid foundation.

A solid foundation begins with good principles. When our foundation is based on God’s principles, we have a good foundation. Love is God’s number one principle. Unfortunately, our definition of love isn’t necessarily the same as God’s. Our definition includes emotion, feelings, and maybe dedication.

God’s definition of love includes patience, kindness, selflessness, humbleness, self-control, forgiveness, grace, protection, trust, hope, and perseverance. That’s quite a list, isn’t it? Have you ever defined love that way? God does and He wants us to learn to love by His definition.

As parents, we learn some of these traits of God’s definition. However, we only progress so far on our own. To grow more loving, becoming more like Jesus, requires us to submit to Him. When we submit, He takes control and we become the beacon of light He wants us to be.

Light is attractive. Light is powerful. Light throws the darkness back. Love is the light of Jesus. Love can be the light of our lives. We may never be able to love perfectly as God loves in this mortal life, but we can grow much closer to doing so by submitting to God and make this world a much better place, experiencing the abundant life Christ promised.

I pray we all yearn to be the light of Christ. I pray we submit to God, allowing Him to change us. I pray each one of us will grow in the love of Christ and demonstrate His love to others. Submit to God. Allow Him to change you. Grow in love. Be a light in a dark world. 

1 Corinthians 13:6-7 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love Hopes

What do you hope for? Is your hope solid? Or is your hope more akin to wishful thinking? Do you know your hope can be assured when you put your hope in Jesus? Will you put your hope in His promises?

We have become accustomed to using the word hope to mean wish. We will say that we hope for this or that, not really believing it will happen. Our confidence in hope has waned. Yet, there is a hope that comes from our belief in Jesus that is more than wishful thinking.

Our hope in Jesus grows out of our love for Him. Our love grows deeper as we get to know Him. We get to know Him by spending time with Him. We can spend time with Him by reading His Word and praying.

We put our hope in other people as well. We put hope in our spouses, parents, children, and friends. Although, we refer to our hope as confidence and trust. What is the difference in the hope and confidence we have in people we trust versus our hope in Christ? We can see the people in our lives. We don’t see Jesus in the flesh. But that doesn’t make Him any less real or alive. It doesn’t make His promises any less likely to occur.

As Peter states in today’s passage, we are to put our hope in the grace of God, which will be made manifest when Jesus returns. It is our hope in His return, our forgiveness due to His grace, and His grace being fulfilled that gives us confidence in our hope.

Our love for Jesus strengthens our hope in Him. When we love Him, we have hope in His promises, and can be more assured He will fulfill His promises than any other person we put our hope in on this earth. So, put your hope in Him.

I pray we all grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ. I pray our love for Him grows deeper. I pray we put our hope in Jesus and in His promises. Spend time with Jesus. Get to know Him better. Grow your love for Him. Put your hope in Him. Trust in His promises. Know that He will fulfill them.

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.

Love Trusts

What proof do you require to believe? Do you need to see, hear, or touch to believe something is true? Where does that leave love? Where does that leave faith? Are you willing to trust in something or someone you cannot see, hear, or touch?

We have likely heard, and may have said ourselves, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” We are typically referencing something that seems highly unlikely. Based on our experiences, some things are simply hard to believe.

On the other hand, we are more willing to believe what we hear from some people because we have experiences of them telling us the truth. We may call this an earned trust. The person has repeatedly been found to be truthful and we have come to trust them.

Can you think of someone else you can trust, someone you cannot see? Yes, God. Why don’t we trust God more? Perhaps it is the person delivering the message of God we don’t trust rather than God Himself. If that is the case, there is a simple remedy. Read God’s Word for yourself. Get to know Him by reading and studying your Bible.

Why is it important to trust God? If we don’t trust Him, how can we love Him? It makes sense, doesn’t it? We wouldn’t love our spouse if we didn’t trust them. We wouldn’t care about our co-workers if we didn’t trust them. The really good teachers our children love are trustworthy. Trust is key to loving another person and is key to loving God.

As we look at God’s Word, we can see He has repeatedly made promises and fulfilled them. We can believe in Him. We can trust Him. We can believe He loves us, cares for us, and has our best interest at heart. In return, we can trust and love Him.

I pray we all believe God will fulfill His promises. I pray we trust Him. I pray each one of us love God. Read God’s Word. Get to know Him. Believe in Him. Trust He will fulfill His promises. Trust He has your best interest at heart. Love Him as He loves you.

1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.