Choose a Devotional Below:
Blind Spots Drivers Ed Gentle Men Homecoming Leave Me Alone No Offense Obey Puzzle Pieces Sosthenes Spiritual Gravity Strength At Our Worst Suffering Christian The Desire of a New Heart The Monster Inside of Me The Right to Take a Life The Rusted Fender White Lines You Called
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Blind Spots
If one of my followers sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower. But if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proven true by two or more witnesses. If the follower refuses to listen to them, report the matter to the church. Anyone who refuses to listen to the church must be treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17, CEV)
We all have blind spots. These blind spots are areas in our lives that do not fully embrace, or at times may even contradict our morals and values as Christians. Most of the time we are ignorant to these blind spots, as is the case with many new believers, but they must be discovered and adjusted so that we may live our lives according to the will of God.
It is not always easy to see our own blind spots, but others see our lives from a different perspective and are able to see our blind spots quite easily. When these blind spots are pointed out to us, we tend to have a hard time owning those areas of improvement. Our sinful nature instinctively recognizes and embraces that which will increase our feelings of self-worth and our overinflated view of self-righteousness, not reduce it. Left to ourselves we will ignore, excuse, and even refute our blind spots if they are not pointed out to us with love and compassion from our brothers.
Reflecting on experience is also vital to discovering blind spots. These blind spots are almost always recognized in hindsight. By then, though, it is usually too late. The damage has been done. A marriage or friendship may have been damaged or lost all together. In the worst of cases the non-believer’s view of Christian hypocrisy has been confirmed and they reject Christ because of us. In the heat of the moment our blind spots can be invisible and camouflage themselves into many other things, so it is important to continually remind ourselves that we are representatives of Christ and take inventory of our actions and attitudes and the intent behind them.
Earnest study of the Bible, regular church attendance, heartfelt worship, or even charitable intentions to our fellow man does not prevent this kind of blindness in us. Only an open heart to correction and a willingness to face our deficiencies candidly will enable us to embrace correction. One more thing, only a truly humble spirit that is intent on glorifying God can correct someone else’s blind spot. So, sure that you are not looking past your own blind spot when pointing out another’s (Matthew 7:1-6).
Driver’s Ed
Therefore, brothers,be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10-11, ESV)
I remember first learning how to drive. Each and every time I got behind the wheel as a young and inexperienced kid, I would check the rearview mirror and the driver’s side mirror, buckle up my seat belt, and ensure my hands were at ten o’clock and two o’clock. I would drive the speed limit, turn on my blinker well before I turned, and would come to a full and complete stop at every single stop sign. I was diligent, for like a day. Things changed quickly. I became quite comfortable in steering with my knees while eating a hamburger, drinking a Coke, and changing the radio station. I didn’t even bother with a turn signal most times and went way over the speed limit. I got too relaxed and it nearly cost me dearly.
When I was sixteen, I had a 1966 Mustang coup with a high-performance K-code 289. It was fast and mean. I enjoyed every second of driving it, until my sloppy driving cost me the car I loved so much. Not too long after mastering the “knee-driving” and “multitask-eating,” I wound up in a ditch after I lost patience and tried passing someone that was turning. I lost control and spun-out, landing on the driver’s side door in a four-foot ditch. I wasn’t hurt, except for my pride. If I had just been diligent in my driving habits, I would still have that beautiful 1966 Mustang.
We can become just as complacent in our Christian faith as I had become in my driving. We get sloppy and stop doing the things that are there to keep us from danger. Peter urges us to supplement our faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (1 Peter 1:5-9). Don’t drive through life with sloppy habits, or it could cost you.
Gentle Men
Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. (Colossians 3:19, ESV)
One day, when my son was very young, he and I were eating lunch at the kitchen table alone. He had raised his hand behind his head and was playing with the petals of a flower that was right behind him. After only a few seconds of handling the flower, all of the petals had fallen off. My son looked up at me and asked me to fix the flower. I told him I was unable to. He was very disappointed and asked why I could not fix it. “That’s the way God made flowers,” I said. “Just like a woman, they are very beautiful, but they are also very delicate.” My son asked me if the flower could ever be fixed- if the petals would ever grow back. I thought for a few seconds and smiled as I answered, “Yes, son. The flower can grow petals again, but it must be cared for and delicately nurtured. It will take time.”
Out of a five minute conversation with my six year old son, God taught me more about how to treat my wife and daughters than in all of my life thus far. Sometimes, we forget that women are much more delicate than men. When we handle the women in our lives with care and tenderness they will grow and show their true beauty, but if we are rough and harsh they can fall apart and may even become permanently damaged. So, handle your wife, your mother, your sister, and your daughter delicately and with care. Because you’re a gentle man.
Homecoming
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants. (Psalm 116:15, NIV)
What do you think of when you think of death? Do you fear death and avoid speaking or thinking about it? Is death as an existential inevitability to be blindly met in numbness or should it be boldly welcomed? Maybe death will come to you from sickness, disease, a tragic car accident, natural disaster, or perhaps you will peacefully die in your sleep from old age. Regardless of the circumstances, we all will eventually die in this life as a result of sin (Romans 5:12).
For a non-Christian, death is usually feared and met with a sense of defeated hopelessness. But a Christian has a much different outlook on death. You see, our outlook on death changes when we give our lives to Christ. In essence, we have already died. We have given our life to Christ, put to death our old self and have been baptized into a new life (Romans 6:4, Colossians 2:12) as a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). God looks at our death here on earth as a homecoming. For Christians, our death means that we finally get to be with Jesus in His perfect presence. No sickness or disease, no addictions, no hate, no murder, no jealousy, no greed, no tears, no pain, no envy, no betrayal, no sin, and no death. Only the perfect presence of God.
While our time here on Earth has been marked with so much pain and grief, Jesus has patiently been waiting for us to have a relationship with Him, learn from Him, bring others to Him, walk with Him, and finally come home and rest in Him. That is when your job here is done and you are rewarded. That is when He throws a party for you- just for you. It is that perfect day that you are the guest of honor at the special banquet that has been thrown specifically for your arrival. It is when you are finally home in the arms of Jesus Christ, your Savior, and when you hear the words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. (Matthew 25:23, ESV)
When our loved ones who know Christ die in this life, let us not morn but celebrate! Let us celebrate as our brothers and sisters enter into the joy of their Master. Let’s celebrate a Christian’s homecoming!
Leave Me Alone
The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. (Mark 5:14, 16-17, ESV)
In the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, we read that Jesus had just stepped out of a boat and set foot in the country of Gerasenes. He and the disciples met a demon possessed man that had been living in a cemetery and had been wreaking havoc on the town. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. (Mark 5:3-5, ESV) Jesus cast out the demon and sent it into a herd of pigs. The pigs went crazy and drowned themselves. The formerly possessed man was sent on a mission of evangelism.
The inhabitants of this town should have been overjoyed to see Jesus cast out this demon that had been such a disturbance, but they weren’t. Pigs, apparently, were a main source of economy to these people. They were more concerned with money than with Jesus- they loved swine more than the Savior. They pleaded to Jesus to leave them alone (Mark 5:17) and He answered their prayer. Jesus got back into the boat and left (Mark 5:18). He never returned.
We all want to be left alone sometimes, but if we continually push people away, they just may stop coming around us all together. We may even be ruining a golden opportunity for God to do something special around us. How many times have we unknowingly (or knowingly) let an inconvenience ruin the chance for God to do something special? Maybe we are valuing our swine over our Savior, or maybe we just get upset at anything changing the status quo. We could be missing out on the very hand of God moving in our lives and we may never have that chance again. Don’t push Jesus away. Let Him do the work He wants to do, or you may end up alone.
No Offense
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. (1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-23, NLT)
At times I catch myself beginning a carefully worded statement (that will almost certainly be offensive) with the words, “no offense,” or, “don’t take this wrong,” but I mean every single word I am about to say. There just is no way around offending someone with my statement. I am only attempting to spare someone from hurt feelings. The Good News of saving grace through faith in Jesus Christ is offensive to those that refuse to be saved, but the truth that is spoken in love is what pleases the LORD. That is our goal.
Our society is so backwards and rebellious it rejects what is right and embracing what is wrong. Cultural censorship is off the charts as well. People are so thin-skinned it seems as though every single word coming out of our mouths may be misinterpreted or misconstrued in a way that will hurt someone else’s feelings and throw on us a label of intolerance. By quoting God’s perfect Word we are somehow promoting “hate speech.” By holding fast to God’s definition of marriage we are slapped with a lawsuit and fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. And by protecting human life while still defenseless and in the womb we have somehow declared an imaginary “war on women.” So many Christians remain silent rather than boldly speaking the truth in love, out of fear that they will somehow offend another person. What a shame. If only they knew that they were offending their Creator by remaining silent.
In this uber sensitive American culture of ours, we bend over backwards to ensure that we do not offend our employer, coworkers, family members, friends, or the cashier in the grocery store. I wonder what things would be like if we placed the same effort in not offending God. As Billy Graham once said, “Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone- except God.” We should always strive to be the example of Jesus Christ to a world that is lost, but we must never compromise biblical truth and God’s standards for the sake of someone’s feelings. If you place a premium on someone’s feelings rather than their soul, you are the one that is offensive to the LORD. No offense.
Obey
And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. (Hebrews 5:9, ESV)
There are few words in the English language that evoke more of an emotional response than the four-letter word, “obey.” It immediately shines the light on our deep-seeded rebellious heart that we have been stained with from birth. It kindles the fire in our flesh that burns brightly in the face of the truth and it stirs up the foundational sin of pride that precedes all others. But the truth is: a follower of Jesus loves Jesus and obeys Him; he actually wants to obey Him. Jesus said to his disciples: If you love me, you will do as I command. (John 14:15, CEV)
Rebellion to God is the bad fruit that is produced from pride, but obedience is the good fruit that produces righteousness in love and humility. God commands us to obey because He knows that our obedience is what is best for us. Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 12:28, ESV) We obey, not because we have no other choice or because we are commanded to. Not just because it will prove to be the best outcome for us, and not just because it is the right thing to do. Our motivation for obedience is our love for Him. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19, ESV) Does God’s love for you motivate you to obey Him?
Puzzle Pieces
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:19, NLT)
Humans have many needs. In 1943, a psychologist named Abraham Maslow published a paper entitled, “A Theory of Human Motivation,” in which he explains his theory that certain basic human needs motivate all human action. He theorized that human needs consist of physiological (food and clothing), safety (job security), love and belonging needs (friendship), esteem, and self-actualization. These needs seem to be accurate as a contributing factor, at least, for human action. However, Maslow has left out the most important need of all: Jesus Christ. Jesus is the primary need of every human. Without Him, our soul is incomplete- void- like a puzzle that is missing the center piece.
Interestingly, putting together a puzzle requires time, patience, and a proper discernment of where each piece belongs. You must be able to recognize and organize different pieces based on shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns. When all the pieces are matched perfectly, they all fit together tightly to make a beautiful picture. But, if you do not pay attention to the big picture, or if you place the wrong pieces in the wrong places, your puzzle will be messed up and the picture will look different than it is intended to look. You may even permanently damage the entire puzzle.
Every puzzle piece attaches to another and locks firmly into place. Border pieces and corners are easy to recognize, then eventually you can gradually see how all of the pieces fall into place and bring out the beauty of the big picture. But, the most vital piece to every puzzle is the center piece. It ties the whole puzzle together and makes it complete. The center piece is the focal point of the picture- the main point. In us, this center piece is the God puzzle piece. He is the main point of our puzzle. There is no shape like it, composed of only three unique sides: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It anchors the entire puzzle together and makes the picture beautiful. Without this center piece the picture will never look right- it will never resemble the picture on the box. Nothing else will fit into that empty void, and the more you force the wrong piece into the God gap the more damaged your puzzle gets. Let Jesus Christ into your empty area and allow Him to fill the God gap. He is the missing piece that makes your life complete.
Sosthenes
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; (Lamentations 3:22, ESV)
Often in Scripture, when describing an inexhaustible source of something or overabundance that cannot be contained, that particular word is pluralized. When describing God’s mercy that is renewed every day, for example, mercy is pluralized; meaning that God extends an inexhaustible supply of mercy that cannot be diminished, ever. And who better to deliver this message of God’s mercy than those who have personally experienced God’s mercy!
The mercy of God provides a second chance for everyone, regardless of your history and circumstance. God’s mercy also translates to others through you (Matthew 18:21-35, James 2:13), in what I call, “The Mercy Rule.” No matter what you have thought, or said, or done, God shows His mercy to the repentant (Hebrews 8:12). It is important to note, however, that true repentance will result in a change of actions (Luke 3:8–14; Acts 3:19). An example of this mercy rule is the relationship of Paul (a persecutor of Christians turned minister to Christians) and a man named Sosthenes.
Sosthenes was considered a spiritual and social leader in the local synagogue of Corinth and was quite influential. However, he considered the message of Jesus Christ as the true Messiah to be heresy. So, when he heard Paul preach the Gospel in Corinth, Sosthenes became outraged. Because of his hatred for Paul and the message he preached, Sosthenes dragged Paul to court to pursue legal charges, but God protected Paul (Acts 18:1, 9-11). The other leaders of the synagogue turned on Sosthenes and he was punished instead of Paul (Acts 18:14-17).
Interestingly, we see Sosthenes again in 1 Corinthians 1:1, where Paul mentions him as a dear friend in the faith. I find it ironic that the Lord brought Paul and Sosthenes together- two peas in the proverbial pod- as persecutors. Could it be that Paul ministered to Sosthenes after his beating and that Paul’s act of mercy convinced Sosthenes that Paul’s Lord is truly the Messiah? Who better to minister to a persecutor than one who has been a persecutor and yet shows mercy? Maybe somehow underneath the pile of anger, he got some spiritual sense knocked into him and realized the truth of Christ by the mercy that Paul showed him. Paul extended mercy to Sosthenes because he personally experienced God’s mercy, changing foe to friend. Is there someone that you need to extend mercy to today? Can you show the unending mercies of God to a foe in the hopes of gaining a friend? Who is your Sosthenes?
Spiritual Gravity
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:12-14, ESV)
In physics, gravitational pull is the force of attraction that one object has for another, due to the invisible force of gravity. The larger the mass the greater the gravitational pull, and the closer in proximity the objects are to each other the greater the force. There is a gravitational force at work in all of us as well. We are all subject to the gravitational pull of the people in our own atmosphere. Some people have such a massive spiritual gravity they seem to effortlessly attract others with a lesser gravity. They set in motion a chain of events that that send entire social solar systems spinning though space. We tend to gravitate towards the people in our lives that powerfully display the love of Jesus Christ with the most gravity. The larger the love, the stronger the Spiritual Gravity. The closer they are to Christ, the closer we want to be with them.
God has designed His Kingdom to revolve around the Son. Everything in the universe and beyond- everything that has ever been created throughout time and space, even unseen things, revolve around the Son of God. And it is His love that binds us all together and sets everything into beautiful motion (Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:17). It is the love of Christ the grabs lost and drifting people in our solar system and sets them in a geosynchronous orbit around Him.
We must increase our spiritual gravity. We must draw closer to the Son and each other to attract the lost and drifting souls that are in such desperate need for the love of our Savior. We had once been lost and drifting in space before the spiritual gravity of the Son grabbed us and shot us in orbit around Him. Now, it is our job to increase the mass of our solar system with the perfect love of Christ that holds us all together.
Strength at Our Worst
Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. (1 Samuel 30:4, ESV)
In the ancient days of Israel, David was running for his life from Saul, the current king of Israel, who had lost his mind to jealousy and rage. Although David was to be the future king of Israel, he refused to kill Saul because Saul was still the king of Israel. So, David had to flee into the wilderness of Ziph. When it had become painfully obvious that Saul’s hatred would not allow him to participate in the life of his people, David and his men had decided to spend their time of exile among the Philistines in the town of Ziklag (1 Samuel 27:1-4).
One day, while David and his men were out, Ziklag was invaded by the Amalekites (some of the most warped, evil, and wretched people in all of human history). The town was burned and left in ruin. Every son and daughter, wife, servant, flock, and heard was stolen and taken captive by the Amalekites. Then, as if things were not bad enough, the very men that had fought with David and bled for him on the battlefield suddenly turned on him and wanted to kill him. David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. (1 Samuel 30:6a, NLT)
David had been trying to survive for so long he had no strength left. He didn’t even have the strength to cry anymore (1 Samuel 30:4); he was done. He lost everything. He had no king, no country, no son, no daughter, no wife, no servant, no house, no town, no cattle, no flock, no army, and no friends. Thus far, David was at the worst point in his life. Then he did something that changed it all: But David found strength in the LORD his God. (1 Samuel 30:6b, NLT) This is what is called a “pivot-point.” He turned to the LORD and made a conscious decision to draw strength from Him. David did not draw from his own strength but from the only One that strength flows from. He found the will to go on after he turned to the LORD, after he pivoted. God gave him strength to get up. God gave him strength to go and fight again with his men. God gave him strength to rescue every person that was taken captive. God gave him strength to eventually become king of Israel. And God gave him strength to endure more hardships that were still to come.
We don’t know the total cost of following Jesus, but we do know that it is far less than what it cost Jesus to redeem us. We have the promise that God will work everything for our good (Romans 8:28). And if we lose everything and don’t even have the strength to cry, we are able to draw strength from the LORD our God. That is the true strength of a man is being willing to pivot. Give up trying to survive on your own strength and turn to God. We draw from His strength at our worst.
Suffering Christian
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Philippians 1:29-30, ESV)
Is it possible to be within the perfect will of God and be in a state of hardship, pain, and suffering? If you believe some of the health, wealth, and prosperity teaching around these days you would say no, but the truth is, the closer we come to Christ in this life the more we will suffer for it. Hate to break it to you, but Christians will suffer.
So, where do we get this idea that followers of Christ are not to suffer when everything in Scripture says the exact opposite? Most Christians can quote, “and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose,” (Romans 8:28, ESV) but these same people forget to read the very next verse, “for those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:28-29 ESV) Clearly God’s desire is for us to be more and more like Jesus Christ every day of our lives. This process is called “sanctification” and sometimes, most times in-fact, sanctification hurts.
In stark contrast to some of the lukewarm “Christian” teaching out there, we who obey and trust Jesus Christ are actually privileged to suffer for our faith in Jesus. Jesus promises this: and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22, ESV) The apostle Paul reiterates this decades later, Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12, ESV) Remember, the apostles actually rejoiced in their suffering for Christ. “they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. (Acts 5:41) The early church knew what we have forgotten: It is a privilege to suffer for the cause of Christ. (Colossians 1:24, 1Peter 4:13)
So why in the world would anyone think it was a privilege to suffer? Quite simply, because in our suffering we resemble the Lord Jesus (conforming into the pattern of Jesus) and are united with Him in trials. We have the evidence that we are His if trials come upon us for His name’s sake. It is, in fact, something to worry about if you are not being persecuted as a Christian. If you want to live a life that is safe and comfortable, stay away from Jesus. Your suffering will actually increase as a direct correlation to your intimacy with Him. That is, however, precisely our goal: become more like Christ. Be a suffering Christian.
The Desire of a New Heart
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24, NIV)
What is the desire of your heart? The desire of the regenerated Christian heart is different than that of the old heart we once had. Our hearts have been changed (and continue to be changed) from self-exalting to self-humbling, self-centered to God-centered, self-entitled to self-sacrificing. It is a heart that actually wants to please the Lord because of all that He has done, and continues to do, for us. We begin to cultivate a desire to please Him and accomplish the tasks (good works) that He places in front of us every day (Ephesians 2:10). A truly surrendered life to Jesus Christ must absolutely be changed from self-reliance to a God-reliance in order to accomplish this.
Only God is able to save us from the penalty of our sins; we are undeserved and unworthy. This is a component of grace. It is underserved kindness and a freely given gift that is also a motivating factor of holiness. It urges us to desire the things of God, to seek Him and His will in everything that we do, and to live a life that pleases Him. A life that makes Him proud.
Looking at our lives through a newly created heart is a way at looking at our life through the eyes of God: it gives us God’s perspective. We discover that God is, in-fact, the great treasure that humans spend their entire lives in search of. It is a desire to accomplish good deeds because we have been given grace. We do this because of our salvation, not for our salvation. It is fruit to see one’s salvation, not to earn it. It is also why you and I cannot settle for anything less than a God-centered, Christ-exalting, self-denying Gospel that is full of service and generosity- a life that has been recreated to be reflect God’s righteousness and holiness. Because that is the desire of a new heart.
The Monster Inside of Me
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful naturea slave to the law of sin. (Romans 18-25, NIV)
There’s something wretched inside me, he wants to be my master.
I failed again and opened the door to disaster.
“You’re mine now,” he says, “all your hate, anger, pride and lust!
You fail everyone. Nothing special- just dust!”
Suffering alone, cold, deaf, and blind
Shame wraps his chains ‘round me to bind.
My own prisoner now, a convict, an inmate
I can’t fight it. I’ll embrace my monster and live in my hate.
So desperate for light. I hate this sin in me.
I long to be set free!
My monster, he’s so hard to fight
It hurts now to resist; ashamed to face the light.
I give up. I’ll love my monster- my master. Gone is my hope
I’ll embrace the darkness, love my new master, enslaved by my wretched rope.
…I’ve failed again. “End it all,” my monster says, “Your life you should take.”
A new voice booms, “He’s mine, I paid in full!” Christ slain. His blood poured for my sake.
Chains broken! Ropes snapped! I am forgiven and free!
My monster in chains now, forever he’ll be.
The Right to Take a Life
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. (Psalm 139:13-16, NLT)
And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. (Genesis 9:5-6, NLT)
“What would you do if your wife or daughter was raped and got pregnant? Would you keep the baby?” Take a minute and let the gravity of that question hit you before you read on. When someone puts you on the spot like that and asks a question that many Christians go to great lengths to avoid, please take a minute to answer them seriously and honestly, but most important: biblically.
This is the question I was asked by a coworker one day. It is a question that many Christians simply cannot, or will not, answer, but it is a subject that needs to be discussed if we are to live out our faith with integrity. We simply cannot shy away from questions, even if they are uncomfortable to answer. You may call them the “tough questions,” but are they really all that difficult to answer? God tells us in Scripture that He knew us before we were even conceived (Psalm 139:13-16, Psalm 51:5, Jeremiah 1:5) and that He alone is the giver of life (Genesis 1:21, Psalm 36:9, 1 Timothy 6:13). That means that God owns all life, regardless of how they came to be conceived and what difficulties they may face. We do not even have a claim to our own lives. God owns that too. It is a gift that He has given us and it is one that we have no right to refuse. Even a life that is born into the most dire of circumstances, God is able to take all the sorrow and pain and shape it into a masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10) -a beautiful life full of God’s glory and handiwork (Genesis 50:20, Romans 8:28).
“Abortion” and “suicide” are academic terms that we use to describe the destruction of a human life. God calls it murder, and the penalty is death. Abortion and suicide are wrong in every circumstance and are only options because we allow them to be. You and I do not have the right to take a life. Only God has that right. Shame on any Christian who says otherwise.
The Rusted Fender
But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8, ESV)
Men love fixing things, especially things that have been broken and discarded. There is a feeling of satisfaction that resonates deep within us when we salvage a rusted and mangled fender, pound out the dents, and skillfully mold it into a better-than-original masterpiece. It’s a feeling of satisfaction, accomplishment, and contentment. I believe that God feels the same sort of satisfaction when He repairs broken, mangled, rusted things like us.
When you repair a damaged fender you actually have to damage it further before you can fix it. You must cut into it and grind away all the rot, the cancer, in the hopes that there will be enough good metal to work with. Then, once all the damaged metal has been cut away the repairs can finally begin. The next step in the repair process is to find a new, clean and strong piece of metal that fits perfectly into the cut-out; it fills the void. Then you weld the new piece to the existing structure in order to strengthen it and make a permanent bond. Now, during this welding process metal is taken past the point where it can hold itself together and it completely falls apart. It literally melts under this extreme heat, but in the right hands, this molten metal can be permanently bonded with the new stronger metal. The repair process may have destroyed part of the fender, but now it’s perfect. Now, it’s built to last.
Like any master craftsman, God enjoys working with His hands. When you need repairs, He will cut and grind off all the damaged parts that eat at you and slowly destroy you. He will mold you into something better than brand new. He will make you stronger and more resilient, but it is painful sometimes. You will be taken past the point where you can hold yourself together and completely fall apart in a hot mess. But, when you allow God to work, He is making a new you. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT) Let God work in you. Let Him repair the rusted fender.
White Lines
Teach me your decrees, O Lord; I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart. Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found. Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word. (Psalm 119:33-37, NLT)
What would you do if you were driving along and suddenly a torrential downpour of rain came flooding across your windshield, blurring your vision? Or a truck comes out of nowhere and blinds you with his headlights? You could slam on the breaks and stop dead in your tracks, but that would cause an even more serious hazard. You could swerve off of the road, but you would most likely crash in a ditch and get hurt. Or you can stay the course and simply look down at the white lines that have been painted on the road for just such an occasion.
Those white lines were laid down for that particular road and were in the plans well before you ever got behind the wheel. They are, quite literally, a guideline to help you navigate safely on your journey. They never move or change directions and you can always count on them to keep you safe when you can’t see your path clearly.
White lines are also a choice: it’s up to you stay in your lane or not. You may choose to run off the road, or into oncoming traffic, but all that would do is just hurt you and the people around you. One of the reasons God gave us His word was to give us white lines for our journey. We can always look down at those lines and stay the course. Thank God for His clear, unmoving and uncompromising guidance today. Thank Him for giving us white lines.
You Called?
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30, ESV)
I bet you have a short list of people that you would call when it really counts. Someone you would call when it matters the most. Maybe it’s that guy that will tell you the truth- the hard truth- even if you don’t want to hear it. Maybe it’s the guy that always has your back in any situation and will drop what he is doing to come and help you. Whoever that guy is, you call him because you know he will pick up the phone and answer your call. You know he will respond to your call.
God has called you. He chose you out of this world because He knew that you would respond to His call and love Him. He knew everything about you, even your failures. He loves you and has chosen you before He laid the very foundations of this world. He chose you as a child of the Eternal Father before you were a child of your human father; and when God chose you, He knew what He was doing. God chooses those that have a sensitive heart to Him and that will respond to His will. That is what matters to Him the most: your heart’s willingness to respond to His calling. That is when you allow God to reveal Himself to you and actually begin to know the heart of the One that created you. That is when you understand why you were put on this earth: when you have answered His call.
Over the years there have been many scholarly debates about predestination (man has a predetermined outcome. God predetermined certain people to be saved through Jesus) and foreknowledge (man may choose to accept or reject Christ, and God knew what people would choose), but the simple truth is: both are correct. These are not mutually exclusive propositions. God has both given us free will in this life (John 1:12-13, John 3:16-17, 1 Timothy 2:3-4, 2 Timothy 2:26, Romans 10:9-10, Revelation 3:20) and He has determined our steps in this life (Proverbs 20:24, Psalm 37:23, Romans 9:6-29). Our choices are our own, and we are completely responsible for those choices, but God is behind the scenes influencing those choices. God knows what you will do, and yet you retained the free will to do it. You also are responsible for the outcome.
You have heard His call and you have the choice to respond or not. If you have not answered yet, please drop what you are doing and respond. He will show you the truth even when it’s too hard for you to see. He will stop at nothing to find you wherever you are, no matter how lost you are (Matthew 18:12-14). He will come to you and save you. He will give you life. He will bring you healing. He will give you peace. He will give you protection. And He will give you purpose. But first, you must respond to His calling. The call is for you.