A Choice Not to Be Made Lightly

1 Comment / October 3, 2023

Can you remember back to your dating years? Did you ever date someone who said with their mouth that they still loved you, but their actions showed something quite different? They said one thing, but their actions contradicted their words. In your heart, you knew this. Even though you’d try to talk yourself into not believing what you knew to be true.

We’ve all heard the saying that “actions speak louder than words”. And this is true. What we believe to be true will be shown by our choices and decisions. Anyone can say anything. Anyone can profess to believe anything. The truth of their words is evidenced by their actions.

If this is true in a human dating relationship, how much more true must this be when we are examining our relationship with God. There are quite a few things scripture says will evidence true faith. Such as loving God and obeying His commands; loving others; loving the Word of God; living in the Spirit and producing good spiritual fruit; and others. None of us will do these perfectly (of course!) but we will be seeking to live this life described in scripture if we have been saved from our sin and are God’s redeemed child.

I’ve been thinking a lot these past few weeks about one very specific evidence the Bible gives of a true believer–

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

We do not get to be friends with God AND with the world. We have to choose. And, although we may not have made an intentional choice, our choice is made clear by our actions.

Do I choose God or do I choose the world?

The world, with its glittery temptations and its promise of acclaim and popularity, looks so appealing. Its entertainment; its trends and fads; its philosophies on life (marriage, parenting, careers, wealth, church, etc); its advice and counsel; its theories on the origin of the world or regarding the value of life–all of these things are generally in direct contradiction to God and His Word.

If we love God, we should at least be asking the question, right? Will this choice move me toward God or away from God? Will this prove my friendship with God or will it give evidence that I love the world more?

Because we are one or the other: A friend of God or a friend of the world. Because the Bible says we can’t be both.

The thing is this…

Our flesh loves the world. And so, while it seems cut and dried, it’s just not as cut and dried as we’d like, is it? We struggle with our desires and sometimes we give in to the temptation.

So how do we know that we have chosen God over the world?

I believe it is in the awareness that there is a battle raging to win our hearts to the world and away from God. A genuine believer is aware of this battle and is seeking to be God’s friend rather than the world’s. They want to avoid being God’s enemy at all costs.

It’s because we know that loving the world not only proves we aren’t really God’s but it also functions as poison, hardening our consciences and killing any holiness that is growing in us.

My brother, Pastor Dean Good, gives a helpful analogy (listen to him explain it here). He explains that holiness is like a banana plant. We can’t manufacture it by following instructions. It comes through a life that is being transformed by Jesus Christ. And as that plant grows, we have the opportunity to grow it or to crush it. Worldliness crushes that plant. It pours poison on that tender plant that is growing towards Christ.

So worldliness for the true believer stymies our growth and hinders our holiness. As believers, we really need to be aware of this and be evaluating our lives constantly for how our love for the world is seeping into our lives through all avenues.

But a love for the world can also function as a barometer that we can use to test if we are truly saved. If we say we love God but we are still filled with the love of the world and have no interest in giving up what we love in order to please God, we should rightly examine our hearts.

(Parenthetically…If you are worried about your salvation, I want to encourage you to study your Bible to understand what true Christianity is and to get to know the real Jesus. The fake version with its counterfeit Jesus has led to so many false conversions and given assurance of salvation where there should be none. Jesus will never leave or forsake His own, but it is critical we determine our eternal status based on God’s Word and not on what modern day Christianity is telling us.)

We cannot be friends with the world and with God. We will either love one or the other. It’s not a popular concept these days but the Bible could not possibly make it any clearer.

I am thankful for God’s grace in this area. And I offer much grace to you, my reader, as you seek the Lord in this area of your life. So often, we can see some spiritual truth, while completely missing another one. I know how blinded I was for so long in some areas of worldliness. I recognize that I am still so blind in other areas.

The key is not to be looking around at others but to be examining our own lives, praying that God will open our eyes to how we have succumbed to our desire to be friends with the world. And then being willing to surrender that which we know is pouring poison on our plant of holiness.

And so this choice to love God or to love the world should not be made lightly. We must consider the cost. For to love the world causes great damage to the believer, even when they are aware of the battle and fighting against it. But to love the world and not even be aware of the raging battle indicates a real problem in the life of someone who claims to be saved. Because the Bible says that being a friend of the world means that we are the enemy of God.

Words not to be taken lightly. And a choice not to be made lightly.

Do You Want to Feel Better or to See Better?

3 Comments / September 27, 2023

The other day I was listening to a Lamplighter Theatre story and the introduction had a young boy who was quite distraught over recent news. He had gone to visit an older gentleman to talk and expressed his hope that he would help him feel better. The man laughed and said this profound thing:

I won’t help you feel better but I do hope I can help you see better.

I have been thinking on this ever since. How many of us prefer to feel better than to see better? We’d rather be blind and feel good, than to have clear vision and experience some pain in the process.

The pastor’s job is to help his congregation to see better. He is to preach the word, in and out of season–

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2)

Many preachers (and authors and song-writers and popular social media personalities) refuse to do this because it is not what their listeners want. Their listeners want to feel good. Right now.

Paul tells us to expect that this time will come. Right after writing “Preach the Word!” in 2 Timothy 4, he writes this-

 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

He knew that eventually the visible church (as opposed to the remnant genuine church) would eventually turn completely apostate in order to take part in bringing in the antichrist. Paul gave us warning signs of what that would look like throughout his epistles. One of these warning signs is that people who claim to be Christians would be obsessed with hearing things that they want to hear; things that would make them feel better temporarily but that would be based on fables.

Instead of hearing the things that they needed to hear–things that would make them see better but wouldn’t necessarily make them feel better–they’d choose to believe fables and lies.

As we watch this happening around us–perhaps even in the lives of those we care about– it is important that we examine our own lives. What is our goal when we read the Word or listen to a godly preacher? Is it to feel better or is it to see better?

I think something really important to remember as we consider this is that, while we may not feel better in the moment, the good feelings will come. God promises peace and joy and these are not empty promises. When we surrender our will to God’s and when we choose to obey His commands in scripture, feelings of peace and joy do come.

As a friend once told me: Our feelings should function as the caboose and not the engine as we decide what will drive our decisions and choices. Feelings generally follow after our right choices.

We can compare it to a doctor who must administer bad-tasting medicine or painfully dig out an infection that has set in in a wound. These things do not feel good when they are happening but, in the long run, they make us feel so much better. What would we think of a doctor that just bandaged an infected wound, rather than to deal with the real issue? And, yet, this is so often how spiritual infections are treated by preachers and teachers. They don’t want to hurt or offend anyone so they never get around to lovingly telling their hearers the plain truth of scripture.

We may not like what we are reading or hearing from the Word and it may not make us “feel better” in the moment, but if we choose to submit to and obey God’s Word, we will see better. We will not only be given correct perspective but we will begin to understand why it is so important. And…eventually…we will feel better as we honor the Lord with our lives.

So what are you looking for when you study scripture or listen to a preacher? To feel better or to see better?

What matters to you most? That you are happy? Or that you are holy?

I am afraid many of the lies will reap eternal ramifications. We must pray for protection from the abundant lies around us that sound so very appealing. May we not grab on to any of these simply to feel better temporarily. For in the long run, an infection that is not cut out will kill you.

He Helped Us Sing

8 Comments / September 12, 2023

Five years ago this month, I found out that my sister-in-law’s cancer had returned. For the next year and a half she, along with her husband and daughter, walked the path that no one wants to walk but so many are forced to. Through that time, they were beacons of God’s light, attesting to His tender care as He met their needs and provided so many kind mercies. My sister-in-law’s emails consistently pointed to God and to His precious care for her as she took her journey to meet Him. Their testimony will forever be a light and encouragement in the hearts of those that watched them walk through this. But, unless you knew them personally or read what I wrote during that time (you can read that here) or listened to her memorial service (you can listen to that here), you wouldn’t be aware of this. To most, my dear sister-in-law and her battle with cancer were unknown.

A couple of years after she passed away, I reached out to an online pastor friend whom I hadn’t heard from in a long time. Unbeknownst to me, he and his wife were taking the same journey my brother and his wife had taken so shortly before. I asked to be put on their update list and found that their emails, too, attested to God’s constant faithfulness, His sufficient grace, and His kind and abundant mercies as they faced so many trials and tribulations. Their response to this unforeseen, overwhelming trial and their consequent testimony was so similar to that of my brother and sister-in-law. All four of these dear brothers and sisters in Christ were so encouraging and inspiring at a time when it would have seemed impossible. Only God could provide the strength and sufficient grace to walk this path.

The pastor’s wife passed away at the beginning of 2022 and a year later, he wrote a book about their journey. As you are well aware if you’ve been around here for any length of time, I do not tend to write book reviews. And I never write reviews for compensation. It is important that you know that I purchased this book and am writing about the book because I think you would benefit from it and not because of any benefit to me or to the author of the book.

In the book, the author shares the emails he sent, along with other details and insight that he could look back on and add. It is a source of great encouragement, not only to those walking through deep waters, but also to those who may be wavering in the faith, wondering if God is really real or if He actually cares about them.

I thought about sharing some quotes from the book but I think I am going to let you discover its wonderful content all on your own. I do not recommend books lightly (as you probably already know) and I whole-heartedly recommend this one. I know that you will be encouraged and strengthened in the Faith as you read. Due to some extenuating circumstances, the author decided, along with his family, to use a pen name and to change all names. In the book, you will meet “Justin and Courtney”. And you will be greatly blessed by them.

The one thing I will share here is a letter that was written by Courtney, shortly after the diagnosis. This will give you an idea of their attitude going into this journey (you can find the letter here)–

Dear Friends and Family, 

By now you know about my cancer. It has happened so fast, but the Lord is with us and encouraging us. I want to ask two favours of you. 

First, this song (“We’re Going Home to Glory Soon”) got real. Please, listen to it, it is short: https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=xL7rDeNYwDY. I so want to see you over there. 

Second, can you join us, sometime this Sunday, in singing “Because He Lives”? If you don’t know it, you can play this and sing along: https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=Sm2wLKZoGPY. I know people around the world are receiving this, and it would be an encouragement to know that we are singing it together, because it answers everything. 

It hurts me when people blame God and say He hasn’t been fair. I know people mean well and say it out of love and affection. But please don’t say that, even to yourself. The song answers it. 

I don’t want people who care about me to be angry with God on my behalf. I love Him for everything He has done for me, and I want you to love Him, too. 

What is fair? If God were fair, He wouldn’t have sent Jesus to die, and rise again for me. If God were fair, I’d have “crossed that river” long ago, and I would be in Hell. 

But God did send His Son for a sinner like me, and He “bled and died to buy my pardon.” Now He lives and I will, too. I will be with Jesus who loves me so much, in Glory. I’m ok, I’m better than ok. 

I want to be honest with you. I’m afraid of “life’s final war with pain.” But it doesn’t matter if I’m a coward, the lights of Glory will still be there. They are there for me, not because of any good in me, but because He lives. Death will give way to victory, and I’m not going to lose that even if I’m afraid of the pain. Jesus guaranteed my victory. He lives, and so will I. 

Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

John 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 

Do you believe that? I’m asking you if you do, but do you see that verse? Jesus asked it first. We believe it. That is what we count on. You can believe it, and if you do, we will see you over there. Please contact Justin if you need help in understanding. 

It appears I may not see many of you again unless it is “over there.” That only has to be sad if you aren’t going there. Please, come join us. 

Love, Courtney

Throughout their journey, they both kept this same attitude. Through the hard times, through the impossibly difficult, through the painful and sorrowful moments. Justin does not sugarcoat what they suffered. And, yet, through it all, is the thread of God’s peace and strength. He gave them what they needed to endure. He helped them to sing!

You can purchase the book here (least expensive option) or you can also purchase on Amazon here. You can find out more about the book here. I know that if you purchase the book, you will be blessed by it. No matter where you find yourself in your walk with God today, this book will deepen and strengthen your faith. It will help prepare you for that day when you or someone you love walks through that dark valley of the shadow of death.

I will conclude with Justin’s own words on the website–

I wish I could cure glioblastoma and this world’s other heart-wrenching ills. I can’t even offer the peace we had— it’s not mine to give. Perhaps, though, this book may help draw you a step closer to the God who fills hearts with peace beyond human understanding. There is no One better to have with you when your world turns upside down. He can help you sing too.

Oh, that we, too, may find out along with Justin and Courtney and Dean and Grace, that God will provide His all-sufficient grace, His abundant mercies, and His peace that surpasses understanding…exactly when we need it. He will help us sing, too!

Just a Reminder

6 Comments / September 8, 2023

One of the things I do over on the Growing4Life Facebook page (and also my personal page, as well) is to share old posts. I have been writing for thirteen years now and so there is much here on the blog that may be worth a revisit. Yesterday, I shared a post about responding to criticism (find it here).

A few hours after I shared it, I was criticized. I responded as I tend to do—with a defensive and argumentative spirit. Even after reading what I wrote earlier in that same day about how God, according to His Word, wants us to respond to criticism, my flesh took over and I failed. Miserably.

A few minutes after that all happened, I thought of the post I had shared earlier that day and my failure in responding as I had encouraged my readers to respond.

And I wanted to share this because I just want to remind you of something that is very important to me as I blog here at Growing4Life.

I want to assure you that I do not believe that I have arrived spiritually. I do not believe that I am somehow way ahead of you in my walk with Christ. And, in fact, I realize with humility and sometimes with humiliation, that I am far behind many of you in lots of areas.

I simply write what God’s Word says and try to live what I write. But I am still faced with challenges and temptations as I endeavor to do this. I don’t deserve (nor do I want) any pedestal. I also do not want anyone to believe I consider myself above any of you, for I do NOT.

One of the things that has caused so much strife in the body of Christ are misperceptions and assumptions about our brothers and sisters in Christ. We believe things that may not be true. And so it was important to me today to just say once more: I do not consider myself anything special because I happen to write at Growing4Life. God has give me this ministry for His good reasons and it is my prayer that He—and you—will find me faithful in sharing His Word here. But He will not find me perfect and sinless in my life and neither will you.

May we grow together, unified in our love for God and His Word and in our abundant grace for one another as we strive to please God while still living in the flesh. Knowing that one day, our battle with sin will be over and we will forever be with the Lord!

It’s All True or None of It Is

Leave a Comment / September 5, 2023

I remember talking to someone once who spent quite a bit of time with rather liberal Christians. The one thing this person told me is how much these people hate Paul. It’s pretty easy to guess why this is. While Paul gives us such encouragement regarding the love of Christ and His personal care for us (Romans 8) and encourages us to love one another (I Corinthians 13, Philippians 2), he also wrote quite a bit of what would be considered controversial in this modern day church era. He wrote about the role of women (I Timothy 2); he wrote about false teachers (Romans 16); he wrote about modesty (I Timothy 2); he told us about how those who practice and live in sin won’t inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5); he wrote about the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4); he wrote about having no fellowship with someone who claims Christ and yet lives in unrepentant sin (I Corinthians 5) and he set down very specific qualifications for church leaders (Titus 1). In fact, it is Paul who was charged by God to give much of the practical outworking of true faith to all believers throughout the ages.

But many of these truths are unwelcome to those who are looking to have their ears tickled. Rather than going to the Bible to find truth and words of life, they go to the Bible out of habit or duty…or perhaps they don’t study the Bible at all. And this lack of love for and trust in God’s inerrant, infallible Word leads to so many problems. One of them being the tendency to pick and choose what we like or don’t like.

As I have started studying I Timothy this week, I came across those unpopular verses about women and their role in the church. In the midst of a culture that has been feminized and crippled by the women’s liberation movement, there has been much effort to figure out a way to render these verses null and void.

Unfortunately, there is no possible way to do this unless we turn our backs on all that Paul has written, and therefore the entire Bible. Paul was either inspired or he wasn’t. We can’t say he was inspired to write the things we like but not inspired to write the things we don’t like. It just doesn’t work that way.

H.A. Ironside gave the account of a woman who was confused about this in his I Timothy commentary–

I remember years ago at a special series of meetings a servant of God was opening up many precious truths in connection with our calling in grace, our place in the body of Christ, our inheritance in Him, and other spiritual themes. One lady who attended the meetings was so stirred that she told how these truths had meant much to her and that she had received great blessing from them. Then in the course of the series of messages the preacher came to a certain passage in 1 Corinthians 14 that had to do with women’s behavior in the church of God. As he was reading—it was an open Bible class where people were free to ask questions—this same lady who had testified to having found such blessing through the precious Word spoke up and said, “I do not believe that. I think this is all nonsense. Paul was an old bachelor who hated women, and that is why he writes the way he does. We can’t depend upon what he says.”

The preacher said, “My dear sister, you have been rejoicing in the truth that nothing ‘shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rom. 8:39), haven’t you?”

“Yes,” she said, “I do rejoice in that.”

“Well,” said the preacher, “I am pained to have to inform you that Paul said that, and Paul was an old bachelor, so you can’t depend upon what he says! I understand you have been rejoicing in the truth that there is ‘one body of which Christ is the head.’“

“Yes,” she said, “I rejoice in that too.” “Well, I am sorry to have to tell you that that is something made known to us by Paul, and Paul was an old bachelor, so you can’t depend upon what he says.” He went from one Scripture to another, pointing out the truths which were given to us by Paul, until that dear lady burst into tears and said, “May God forgive me. I see now that I have been trifling with the Word of God.”

One part of the Word is as truly inspired as another part. When you come across some things in God’s Word that you may think are perhaps questionable, remember that the Holy Spirit who presented Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit who showed how the way into the Holiest has been opened, is the same Holy Spirit of God who tells our sisters how they ought to behave, and how careful they ought to be to maintain feminine modesty.*

You see, we don’t get to choose. We don’t get to love and embrace what we like and toss away what we don’t. We must accept it all. But the beauty of it is that when we do…when we understand that all of God’s Word is the inspired, inerrant revelation of God to us and we accept it as the glorious gift it is, our hearts start to change. The rebellion in our hearts towards those things we hate starts to dissipate like the mist dissipates in the heat of the sun. When we ask God to change our hearts toward His Word, He does just that.

Does this mean we “like” every truth we read in the Word of God? I don’t think it does. This isn’t about liking or about feelings. But we accept them and we bow our knee to God, acknowledging that He knows best even if we don’t agree or understand.

If we don’t come to the Bible with this attitude then we may as well not come at all. It’s either all true or none of it is. We can’t have this middle ground that so many desire where we can embrace and apply all the comforting promises and words about loving others but then toss out God’s commands regarding women and false teachers and all of that other stuff that isn’t as palatable. We don’t have that right. If the Bible is God’s Word then it is all of His Word. We don’t get to pick and choose.

I am probably writing to the choir here as I know most of my readers would agree with me on this. But I do want to encourage you to be thinking about the conversations you have with others regarding this because much of the false teaching and wrong beliefs held by your family members, friends, and co-workers stem back to this one thing: They will not accept the Bible for what it is…the inspired, inerrant Word of God in its entirety given to us by our loving, holy God.

It’s either all true or none of it is. Oh, how important that we remember this as we read and study God’s Word and have conversations with others regarding what the Bible has to say about…well…everything.

*Ironside, Harry A.. Addresses on the First and Second epistles of Timothy (pp. 41-43). Unknown. Kindle Edition.

The World is Quickly Passing Away

3 Comments / September 1, 2023

Today’s air was crisp and fall-like. This kind of weather makes me anticipate autumn, which is just around the corner now. As I walk around my yard, I see that many of the flowers are done blooming. The ones that remain are starting to look straggly; some have mildew on their leaves. Their time to shine is almost gone. In a few short months, they have brightened our world and then passed out of existence. Like a shooting star that gives sparkling light for a moment and then disappears.

Last night I was scrolling through Instagram for a few minutes. A retro reel came up that was from 1980. It was a promotion video for ABC and across the stage pranced people I hadn’t seen on TV or anywhere else for twenty years or more. They were the beloved stars of the popular sitcoms from that day. As I watched the reel, I realized that those people are just like the flowers and the shooting stars. Here one year and gone the next. No one knows what happened to those TV stars and most people do not care what happened to them. They are on to the next big name. The next big series. The next. The next. The next.

The public’s affection and adoration is so short-lived. We see this across all spectrums. Popularity and adoration are here one day and gone the next.

I was reading an article by Horatius Bonar* today and it fits perfectly with all of this. I want to share a bit of it with you today (you can read it in its entirety here)–

The things that are seen are temporal. Ours is a dying world, and here we have no continuing city. But a few years — it may be less — and all things here are changed. But a few years — it may be less — and the Lord shall have come, and the last trumpet shall have sounded, and the great sentence shall have been pronounced upon each of the sons of men.

There is a world that which does not pass away. It is fair and glorious. It is called “the inheritance in light.” It is bright with the love of God, and with the joy of Heaven. “The Lamb is the light thereof.” Its gates are of pearl — they are always open. And as we tell men of this wondrous city, we invite them to enter in.

How often do you think about that undying world? Jesus warns us about storing up treasures on this earth where they can be destroyed and encourages us to, instead, lay up our treasures in heaven, where nothing can destroy them (Matthew 6:19-21). Paul encourages us to set our minds on things above rather than things of the earth (Colossians 3:1-4). Both Paul and John remind us that this world is passing away (I Corinthians 7:31; I John 2:17). Isaiah tells us that all men are like withering grass and fading flowers. Here for a short season and then gone on to eternity (Isaiah 40:6-7).

Bonar explains the quickly passing world like this–

The world is passing away — like a flower. Beautiful, very beautiful; fragrant, very fragrant, are the summer flowers. But they wither away. So fades the world from before our eyes. While we are looking at it, and admiring it — behold, it is gone! No trace is left of all its loveliness but a little dust! O man, can you feed on flowers? Can you dote on that which is but for an hour? You were made for eternity — and only that which is eternal can be your portion or your resting place. The things that perish with the using only mock your longings. They cannot fill you — and even if they filled, they cannot abide. Mortality is written on all things here — immortality belongs only to the world to come — to that new heavens and new earth wherein dwells righteousness.

Of course! As believers longing to follow hard after God, we know this is true. But, oh, am I the only one who gets so terribly distracted by the things here on this earth?? Why do I find myself still trying to be filled by the temporal things at times?

I guess that’s part of the battle of the flesh we all face. But it’s good every now and again to be reminded that there should be a battle regarding this. We should be intentionally trying to focus on the Lord and on things above, remembering that this life and all things with it are so quickly passing away.

Horatio Bonar reminds us that there is but one thing that should be settled for us all as we journey through this brief life: Where will we spend eternity?

I’d like to share what he wrote here because it’s so important. It’s rather long but I hope you will take the time to read it. And I hope that it is a blessed reminder to you as you consider your own eternal destiny and the eternal destinies of those you come in contact with everyday. Perhaps you will agree wit me that what is written here makes the things of this world pale in comparison. Here’s what he writes–

The world is passing away — what then? This is the question that so deeply concerns man. If the world is to vanish away, and man is to live forever — then of what importance is it to know where and what we are to be forever! A celebrated physician, trying to cheer a desponding patient, said to him, “Treat life as a plaything.” It was wretched counsel. For life is no plaything, and time is no child’s toy, to be flung away. Life here is the beginning of the life which has no end; and time is but the gateway of eternity.

What then? You must, O man, make sure of a home in that world into which you are so soon to pass. You must not pass out of this earthly tent without making sure of the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. When you have done this, you can lie down upon your deathbed in peace.

One who had lived a worldly life at last lay down to die; and when about to pass away he uttered these terrible words, “I am dying, and I don’t know where I am going!”

Another in similar circumstances cried out, “I am within an hour of eternity, and all is dark!”

O man of earth, it is time to awake!

“How can I make sure?” you ask. God has long since answered that question, and His answer is recorded for all ages: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! I have never done anything else,” you say. If that is really true, then, as the Lord lives, you are a saved man. But is it really so? Has your life been the life of a saved man? No, truly. It has been a life wholly given to vanity. Then as the Lord God of Israel lives, and as your soul lives — you have not truly believed, and you are not yet saved.

“Have I then no work to work in this great matter of my pardon?” None! What work can you work? What work of your can buy forgiveness, or make you fit for the Divine favor? What work has God bidden you work in order to obtain salvation? None! His Word is very plain, and easy to be understood: “To him who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom 4:5) There is but one work by which a man can be saved. That work is not yours, but the work of the Son of God. That work is finished — neither to be taken from nor added to — perfect through all ages — and presented by Himself to you, that you may avail yourself of it and be saved.

“And is that work available for me just as I am?” It is! God has brought it to your door; and your only way of honoring it is by accepting it for yourself, and taking it as the one basis of your eternal hope. We honor the Father when we consent to be saved entirely by the finished work of His Son. We honor the Son when we consent to take His one finished work in the room of all our works. We honor the Holy Spirit, whose office is to glorify Christ, when we hear what He says to us concerning that work finished “once for all” upon the cross. Forgiveness is through Christ Jesus, who is Son of God as well as Son of man! This is our message.

Forgiveness through the one work of sin-bearing which He accomplished for sinners upon earth. Forgiveness to the worst and wickedest, to the farthest off from God whom this earth contains. Forgiveness of the largest, fullest, completest kind; without stint, or exception, or condition, or the possibility of revocation! Forgiveness free and undeserved — as free as the love of God, as free as the gift of His beloved Son. Forgiveness ungrudged and unrestrained — whole-hearted and joyful — as the forgiveness of the father falling on the neck of the prodigal! Forgiveness simply in believing; for, “by Him, all who believe are justified from all things.”

Could salvation be made more free? Could forgiveness be brought nearer? Could God in any way more fully show His earnest desire that you should not be lost, but saved — that you should not die, but live? In the cross there is salvation — nowhere else. No failure of this world’s hopes can quench the hope which it reveals. It shines brightest in the evil day. In the day of darkening prospects, of thickening sorrows, of heavy burdens, of pressing cares — when friends depart, when riches fly away, when disease oppresses us, when poverty knocks at our door — then the cross shines out, and tells us of a light beyond this world’s darkness, the Light of Him who is the light of the world.

*Horatius Bonar was a Scottish Presbyterian minister who lived during the 1800s. His poems, hymns, and religious tracts were loved by many during that time and since.

A Tale of Two Birds

2 Comments / August 22, 2023

Out on my back porch there are three hanging baskets. A few weeks ago, I noticed a little house finch hanging out by one of the ferns, just chattering angrily away at me whenever I’d sit out there. She’d hop up and down and try to scare me away. When I kept sitting there, she’d eventually fly to the tree close by to keep an eye on me.

And then just a few days ago, I noticed a big brown lump in another basket. What was that thing…? As I drew closer, I saw a brown bird— a dove, I believe— sitting quietly on the basket. No matter how close I got she just set her beady eye on me and wouldn’t move a muscle.

Wow. What a difference in birds. The one was all worked up and tried its best to scare me away from its babies and the other just trusted that I wasn’t going to do anything to hurt her or her babies.

I know that God has designed these two birds very differently, just as He has designed each of His creatures differently (so amazing, isn’t it?!?)

But I couldn’t help but consider the differences in light of our own responses when we encounter something that frightens us.

Do we become filled with angst, as the little house finch? Or do we sit quietly and wait, like the dove?

As believers, our response should be like the dove. Philippians 4:6-7 puts it like this—

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

We should be able to give our requests to God and then experience God’s peace, which will “guard our hearts and our minds”.

Unfortunately, I am too often like the little frustrated bird filled with anxiety. I desire to protect my family or my comfort or my stuff and I crazily hop around thinking I can actually accomplish something by my futile efforts. How silly of me!

I have been studying the first four Psalms this month and I have been struck over and over again by how often God has promised to be with those who yield themselves to His will and obey His laws (out of love, not out of duty or for a “ticket” to heaven).

If we are one of those people, then David says we can lie down in peace at night. We can trust that God will hear our cries for help. We can know that He has promised to shield and sustain us. This means that anything that comes our way is part of His loving plan for our lives (Romans 8:28-29) and not just some random thing.

That calm bird sitting so faithfully and quietly on her nest has convicted me. And I can’t help but think of another couple verses from Psalms—

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. (Psalm 46:10-11)

Be still and know that He is God. So much easier said than done— especially for some of us. I am someone who just wants to DO something. To fix situations. To change people or circumstances.

And sometimes we can do something. We can change our own attitude or have a conversation or work on our own sanctification. BUT…when we can’t do a thing…when, like that little bird, we feel threatened and helpless, then…

God says be still and trust in Him. He is the One—and the only One—who can do what we can’t. My hopping angrily up and down, chattering in frustration and fright will accomplish nothing. Absolutely nothing.

And so today, may we respond more like the dove than like the finch. Or at least recognize there may be a problem and ask the Lord help us to work on it… :)

Can I Lose My Salvation?

4 Comments / August 15, 2023

There are a lot of teachers, preachers, authors, and ministries out there these days assuring you that you can lose your salvation. They use a variety of verses to back up this belief. And so–they say– we can never be sure if we are saved or not saved. They tell us we have the responsibility to not lose that golden ticket to heaven. This is a discouraging and disheartening view of Christianity, isn’t it?

Of course, the only question that matters is: Is this biblical? Are these verses being interpreted correctly? Are they in context and consistent with what the rest of scripture says?

I am wading into some deeper theological waters here–waters from which I generally shy away. But I wanted to share with you two reasons why I believe, without a doubt, that we can never lose our salvation.

First, it’s not consistent with God’s character. All through the Old Testament we see God’s faithfulness to Israel, despite their rebellion. All through scripture we read of His faithfulness to all His chosen and beloved children (Lamentations 3:22-23; 2 Timothy 2:13; so many others)

Is this faithfulness dependent upon our goodness? Why, this even goes against the definition of the word faithful. You can’t be fickle and faithful at the same time.

Faithful: steadfast in affection or allegiance; firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty.

Second, it is totally out of character with the nature of salvation. If we can do nothing to win our salvation, why on earth would we be able to do anything to keep our salvation? Technically, this takes us back to a works-based religion; a religion that is based on our own efforts and what we can and must do for God in order to be (and stayed) saved. May it never be!

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

There is nothing we can do to be saved or to keep our salvation. It is the gift of God.

Gift: something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation.

It wasn’t until I read and then memorized (and meditated upon) John 10:27-30 that I came to understand this concept more fully and with more confidence–

 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

No one can snatch us from our Father’s hand. And that would include our own selves. We can’t take ourselves out of the Father’s hand. We are literally unable to be removed from His hand once we are His! This should give us such great comfort.

So how do you explain all of those people that walk away from the faith and never come back? What is going on?

I think it’s clear from this passage that they were never saved at all. They, like Judas, were excellent pretenders. John talks about these people in I John 2:19–

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

They were not of us. They were not part of God’s family but just pretending to be for their own selfish reasons. True believers persevere to the end. True believers love God’s Word. True believers may backslide or struggle but they can never be removed from God’s family. God will not turn His back on us! Scripture says He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

I am dismayed at the popular false teaching that you can lose your salvation. I have only touched on this subject. There is so much more that could be said and I am sure theological reasons to cling to the truth that when we are saved we are saved forever of which I am unaware.

If you have been uncertain about this topic, may I encourage you to study your Bible instead of listening to what people say. Get to know Who God really IS through the Word and interpret all verses through what the Word says about God and about salvation. In doing this, we come to quickly understand that the Bible verses that talk about perseverance or works cannot mean that we need these things in order to be saved. Instead, they must mean that we will do these things because we are saved.

There is an enormous and infinite difference between these two beliefs, it there not?

Oh, friends, if you are one of God’s then you are His forever. If you aren’t sure that you are, then seek Him with all your heart.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

God delights in answering our humble prayers to know Him more. So open up the Word and pray for wisdom. Ask Him to show you the truth about yourself with ears willing to hear and a heart willing to obey. He is so very faithful to His Word and He will answer your cry.

Lessons to Learn

5 Comments / August 10, 2023

Last week was hard. This week is no walk in the park, mind you. But last week was hard. In a “temporary, we-will-get-through-this” kind of way. As many of you know already, my husband had major back surgery a week and a half ago. We expected some discomfort and some pain. Our expectations were a little off!

I wrote a personal email sent only to “engaged” subscribers* regarding some of the struggles and lessons I was learning last week. I always process better when I write and so I wrote to them. I wasn’t ready to make my feelings public or open to judgment at that point, but I also realized that I was not alone in what I was feeling and I hoped what I wrote might be an encouragement to someone.

I want to thank my readers who prayed for me and wrote to encourage me. God timed your emails and texts to me perfectly and they were some of His kindest mercies to me when I felt down and discouraged. I want to let you know that God answered our prayers (and your prayers, if you prayed) and we did not need to go back for a second surgery for my husband. The surgeon could give an explanation from the MRI as to what was going on and he confidently told us that it would take care of itself. We were elated. The need for a second surgery–no matter how minor– was weighing heavily on us with my husband’s condition last week.

I have to be honest: I am beyond grateful to the Lord for answered prayer. But I also struggle because I know prayers do not always get answered. How does the Lord decide when He will say yes…or wait…or NO? I have no explanation but we must choose to rest in God’s Sovereignty when things go like we want them to and when they don’t. That’s a very profound and important lesson in the Christian life.

I am reading a book currently by an online pastor friend of mine who walked his wife through cancer and to heaven a few years back. I will share more about this book in a later post but I wanted to share something here that I read in his book yesterday. He shares often about the grace and mercy and peace God gave them both during their journey. But there was one night where something spilled. The night was already frustrating because she couldn’t sleep and kept asking for things and he was tired. And then something spilled. He grew angry and frustrated. And, suddenly, he stopped and thought: Who do you think you are? If God had ordained this night for him then he needed to change his attitude.

This incident struck me profoundly. Who do you think you are? So much of our angst comes from our unwillingness to bow our knee to God and yield to His will. Instead, so often we are like wailing two-year-olds banging our heads against the wall in our anger and frustration at not getting our own way.

I am thankful that sometimes God does give us what we want. That is a true blessing in this life. But we can rest assured that He always gives us what we need. It doesn’t always feel like it, though, does it?

When we don’t get what we want is when we recognize the true state of our hearts. Last week, I did not have what I want. While I love my husband dearly and did what needed to be done, I was not (and never have been) comfortable at all in the role of nurse. I was so anxious that something would happen at night and I wouldn’t know what to do. I was lonely because he wasn’t up for visitors and I couldn’t leave him. I knew this was temporary and yet, even with the knowledge of its brevity, self-pity would worm its way into my heart.

Now…I am grateful for God’s Word hidden in my heart and for the encouragement and prayers of friends and for the sanctification in my life through the past years because I was not who I would have been even fifteen years ago in a situation like this. But as I look back at last week I realize I could have done better. Not so much outwardly but, rather, inwardly with my attitudes.

(NOT in ORIGINAL POST but ADDING THIS IMPORTANT SECTION) So how does God decide how He will answer our prayers? The same pastor friend wrote this to me just this morning in response to my post (read it carefully, it’s so profound!)–

How does God decide when to say yes, or wait, or NO? It’s right there in Romans 8. We disconnect verse 28 from 29, rejoice over and rely on verse 28, and let the theologians argue over a word or two in verse 29. But verse 29 is there for all of us, not just the theological keyboard warriors. It tells us that all things are working together for “good” because He has a plan to conform his children to the image of His dear Son. That both helps us to understand what “good” really means (it’s not what I want or like or is comfortable for me, but what makes me more Christ-like), and it helps us to understand His yes/no/wait. He decides to say yes/no/wait by what fits into His plan to refine me and conform me to my Savior’s image.

I am so thankful he wrote this to me after I originally posted this because I kind of left you all hanging, didn’t I? I knew this and I’ve written about this but it should have been clarified in this post. God is always working in our lives to conform us. And He even protects us from our lapse in judgement when writing a simple blog post. He is so faithful!

Last week gave me an important glimpse into the life of care-taking. I had just never really thought through that before. Some of you have been caring for your child or spouse or parent or someone else you love dearly for months. Perhaps years. I just didn’t realize how sacrificial and selfless that is. And lonely.

With that in mind, may I encourage you to reach out to someone who is taking care of someone full-time right now to let them know you are praying for them or to give them some encouragement from the Word? One week of full-time nursing is easy. Anyone can do that. But week after week, month after month, year after year…these people need our love and support. Too often they are forgotten.

And one final thing I’d like to just mention briefly. When we went to the hospital for the surgery we weren’t sure what to expect. Would the staff be competent? Would they be kind? Or would they be rushed? The medical world was a bit upended with all that happened in 2020 and this was our first real interaction with it since that time. Naturally, we were a bit hesitant.

We needn’t have been. We had the best care we could have possibly asked for. Every single person that we came in contact with was so kind and helpful. They knew what they were doing and they were willing to help when needed. We were there for three shifts of nurses and they were all amazing. I just want to share this because it is so important to remember that there is still so much good in this world.

Yes, there is much that is bad, too. And every day news stories hit our ears that are hard to hear– even if we don’t watch the news. But it’s not all bad. We want to be careful we don’t just focus on the negative. Because there is lots of good, too. We must always stay balanced. ALL negative and we become morose and depressed. ALL positive and we become unrealistic and naive. We must stay balanced.

Well, that’s an update on me. Not quite my normal post but I hope it was encouraging, anyway. And, again, if you are a full-time caretaker or have been at some point in your life, I want you to know that my admiration grew and my empathy deepened considerably for you last week. Our world has heroes all wrong. YOU are the true heroes–serving the one you love week after week, giving up your own dreams and longings. I can’t even imagine doing that long-term and yet there you are, doing it and often smiling while you are (God’s grace, right??). And if you are blessed to not be in that role today, then don’t forget to encourage someone today who is! They need it!

This email was a bit scattered. I learned a lot of lessons and am still learning them through this little hiccup in our normal routine. When a hiccup comes in your routine today, no matter how small or large, stop and think: What lessons is God trying to teach me here? Because there are always lessons to learn!

*My email service was able to choose my “engaged” subscribers (those who open my emails fairly regularly). If you feel like you do open the email but didn’t receive my personal email but would like to, please feel free to reply to this email.

Tiny Seeds Yield Lots of Fruit

2 Comments / August 1, 2023

I noticed an interesting plant springing up in the midst of the impatiens. At the one end of this flower bed next to the garage looked like what would be some type of squash or pumpkin. I remembered that my husband had thrown an old pumpkin there at the end of the season and forgot to remove it until much later. Could it be from that?

Before I could decide what to do, my husband had pulled the plant out. After all, we don’t want a pumpkin growing in the midst of our impatiens!

But when another healthy seedling sprang up, I asked him if we could just leave it grow. I wanted to see what it was and what would happen.

And so this summer we have a giant pumpkin plant at the front corner of our home, growing like…well, “like a weed”. It’s enormous (as you can tell from the photo above). It has a bunch of flowers and early fruit on it and looks like it will yield much.

Isn’t that so amazing when you stop to think about it? A pumpkin was carelessly discarded and spilled out its seeds and then one of those tiny seeds grew into this enormous plant filled with fruit?

What a great reminder! Those little seeds we carelessly toss around will do the same. Whether they be seeds of kindness or seeds of discord; seeds of self-discipline or seeds of laziness or addiction; seeds of anger and grudge-holding or seeds of forgiveness; seeds of doubt or seeds of faith; seeds of gratitude or seeds of complaint; seeds of worldliness or seeds of godliness… whichever seeds we choose to carelessly sow will spring up and turn into a plant that yields lots of fruit.

One of the biggest problems with our current culture is our lackadaisical attitude towards our future. We think only of today. But those seeds we are planting today will yield fruit in our lives and the lives of those we love. It would be best to really examine what seeds we are planting today. If we are going to be stuck with an enormous plant full of fruit, may it be a thriving plant of good fruit.

God tells us in His Word that we will reap what we sow—

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. (Galatians 6:7-8)

Our lives and the lives of those around us tell us this truth, don’t they? You can’t escape the sowing of bad fruit. No matter how much we would wish to. Actions always have consequences.

But this principle also works in an opposite and wonderful way. If we sow good seeds, we will reap the fruits of righteousness and blessing.

The time to think about this is when we are young. Oh, we just have no idea how the seeds we sow will affect the rest of our lives and the lives of those we love. Many live with so much regret. But even as we age, it is never too late to start sowing better seed. It is just never too late.

Today is a great day for us to consider the seeds we have been sowing and to make a change. While none of us will ever sow seeds of righteousness always or perfectly, may that be our hope and may we work at this intentionally as we seek to walk with God.

(Update: For those of you who aren’t on Facebook, I just wanted to let you know that my husband’s surgery went very well. We are currently sitting in the hospital and as he sleeps, I decided to take a few moments and write. Thank you so much for your prayers!)

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