Behold and Be Bold

Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].  Hebrews 4:16 (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition)

What an on-time God we serve! It’s no small thing to think of how He meets needs with a word from Scripture. Just when anxiety creeps in and diminishes your confidence, if you are engaging in His Word, He answers with His perfect message. He sees you! He hears you! He cares for you! He is so good. He is so faithful.

I’ve a restorative story to tell those who need encouragement. It’s a story of God’s redeeming love. Though trials beset my life with a prodigal daughter, she came to her senses and “returned home” to the God that loves her so. While I waited for her return, God taught me about His character, replete with His promises from Scripture. He supplied me with strength and comfort for which I am eternally grateful. 

But I had allowed time to fade some of my memories until I was asked to give my testimony live on a local television station. Then doubts filled my mind. “I’m not capable,” I said to God. 

And I heard God say to Moses from the fourth chapter of Exodus, “Who has made man’s mouth? Is it not I, the Lord?”

Humbled but with boldness, I told the Lord of my fear, and He answered with His Word from John 14:26. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Memories flooded my mind and I echoed what He had taught me. I remembered what He had done for me and my daughter. Boldly I proclaimed His power to all those who would listen. All glory to God through Jesus Christ who brought both my daughter and me out of darkness into His glorious light. From bringing home captives in Isaiah 43:5-7 to praying persistently in Luke 18:1, God caused me to remember His goodness. He is so faithful. 

What’s your story? How has God made Himself known to you? Which of His characteristics most resonate with you? If He is a new acquaintance to you, allow Him to help write your story. If you have walked with Him and continue to walk with Him, tell your story. There are many ears that need to hear of the goodness of our loving God. 

Maybe the lyrics of H. Ernest Nichol (1896) will inspire you to boldly go before God’s throne of grace and find the help you need to share the good news of Christ Jesus, the Savior of the world with family, friends, and even strangers.

We've a story to tell to the nations,

that shall turn their hearts to the right,

a story of truth and mercy,

a story of peace and light,

a story of peace and light.

Refrain:

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

and the dawning to noonday bright,

and Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth,

the kingdom of love and light.

We've a song to be sung to the nations,

that shall lift their hearts to the Lord,

a song that shall conquer evil,

and shatter the spear and sword,

and shatter the spear and sword. [Refrain]

We've a message to give to the nations,

that the Lord who reighth above

has sent us His Son to save us,

and show us that God is love,

and show us that God is love. [Refrain]

We've a Savior to show to the nations,

who the path of sorrow has trod,

that all of the world's great peoples

may come to the truth of God,

may come to the truth of God! [Refrain]

Waterless Clouds

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude 3-4

These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.  Jude 12-13 (ESV)

Hidden reefs, waterless clouds, fruitless trees, wandering stars—these descriptions reference false teachers. Their heresy threatened the churches. Jude used imagery to help readers visualize the hazard. Because clouds captivate me, I focused on waterless clouds and thirsted for more. 

While examining the letter of Jude in Scripture, I discovered Jude’s initial desire to write an inspirational letter to Jewish Christian churches about the common salvation of believers in Jesus Christ. Instead he changed course and confronted the threat of false teaching within those same churches by encouraging his readers to grow in their knowledge of Christian truth. Fast forward to today and his words still ring true. 

Along with several other New Testament writers, Jude addressed this heresy because it impacted the faith of believers. Followers of Jesus then and now must contend for the faith and resist false doctrine. Rather than conforming to this world, God appeals to His church to be transformed by the renewing of our minds in Christ Jesus (Romans 12:1-2).

God’s Word even compels church leaders to live a higher standard (Titus 1:5-9). They are to follow Jesus’ example, demonstrating to church members how to live holy lives that please a holy God (Philippians 3:17-19). Yet some leaders who appear godly actually please themselves instead of pleasing God (1 Timothy 3:1-6). They practice immorality as Jude, Peter, and Paul describe in their letters to fellow believers. When leaders fall short, many of their followers do as well. 

Jude understood the deception behind false teaching and how it could lead people astray. In his epistle, he figuratively waves red flags of warning. Don’t be deceived by calm waters as hidden reefs or rock barriers could be present, creating danger to ships. Harvest time won’t produce fruit when trees are barren. The brief appearance of a wandering or shooting star provides little light. The lack of rain from waterless clouds hinders growth. Jude knew his readers needed the gift of living water from the Lord Jesus Christ (John 4:7-15) who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

In Jude’s day, the area teemed with thirsty souls as untrue teaching prevailed. The same is true today. People wander aimlessly in search of truth while being misled by waterless clouds, those false teachers who cultivate spiritually impoverished churchgoers. The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah describes this age-old situation:

…for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
    the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
    broken cisterns that can hold no water.  Jeremiah 2:13 (ESV)

When a pastor and his congregants embrace the things of this world, seeking after society’s affirmation instead of adhering to God’s commands, they wander from God’s truth. They sympathize with a sinful culture and attempt to appease rather than speak truth in love. Addressing these issues, pastor, author, and professor Dr. Voddie T. Baucham, Jr. bluntly states, “You shave off the edges of the gospel to be liked by others.”

Attempting to make the gospel of Jesus Christ fit the standards of society pollutes the truth of God’s holy Word. The church then drifts with culture’s changing beliefs instead of firmly standing on the unchanging Word of God. “It’s the Word that creates the church, not the church that creates the Word,” said W. Robert Godfrey, chairman of Ligonier Ministries. 

Most people understand right and wrong, but the deceit of false teaching lies within its subtlety. A pleasant-sounding truth can be misleading. As Charles Spurgeon said, “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”

“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”

— Charles Spurgeon

So how does one know the difference between right and almost right? By focusing on truth, God’s Truth. Those who are trained to recognize counterfeit money study only genuine currency. Those who distinguish truth from fallacy study and believe the authoritative Word of God. 

In order to discern false teaching, Jude instructed his readers to grow in the knowledge of Christian truth through the trustworthy beliefs given by God to the church through the apostles. In other words, we must contend for the faith that was once delivered to those who would believe the word of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Therefore, as in Biblical times, heed the words of Jude. Increase your knowledge of Christian truth. Study daily the Word of God, rightly handling those words of truth, in order to show yourself approved (2 Timothy 2:15). Hold tight to the teachings of Jesus and contend for the faith. And God will keep you from stumbling as you stand firm on His inerrant Word.  

…for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.  Hebrews 5:13-14 (ESV)

A New Thing

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up;
do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. 
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

I'm stuck in the past and downcast. The trials of today draw my mind to former days when life seemed easier. Are you dwelling on times gone by instead of focusing on the present, the now? 

The year 2020 is about to be a memory, an impactful memory. It’s left devastation in its wake while replenishing each day with more uncertainty, fear, and hopelessness. Most of us long for the good ole days. Or we at least yearn for a change as we seek a better future. But what about today? What about now? What are we doing to make the most of our present? 

This year has sped by, but the days have dragged on. Trepidation, apprehension, and isolation have almost been established into our everyday routines. With many churches shut down, it appears hope is lost. The past materializes mentally as a divine dream while the present petrifies our day-to-day existence. The comfortable order of things has changed. Powerful people continually remind us to adjust to a new normal. We submit to fear and surrender to masks and quarantine. Anxiety blooms, worry flourishes, grumbling bears fruit, rotten fruit, and the will to thrive dies. The sight of our situation shakes our faith in an Almighty God. 

God’s chosen ones, the Israelites, also failed to recall the power of their Savior God. They had been enslaved in Egypt for over four hundred years. When the time was right, God delivered them from the injustices they had endured. He used Moses to lead His people out of slavery. God sent disease and death to cause the Egyptians to let His people go. As the Israelites fled Egypt, God parted the waters of the Red Sea, forming dry land for His people to cross over into safety. Those same waters swept away the enemies who had enslaved them. God’s people had witnessed a mighty miracle. It was then that they praised and worshipped their Savior God. 

Yet only three days later in the desert without water, they began to grumble against Moses and before God. “What are we to drink?” they whined. Oh how soon they forgot.

God performed another miracle through Moses as he threw a piece of wood into the water, turning it sweet. Imagine being a spectator of such supernatural phenomena. Wouldn’t your faith increase substantially? 

Because of God’s love for His people, He made a decree for them. He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and listen to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.” 
Exodus 15:26

God then added grace to His command. He provided springs of water surrounded by shade where His people could camp and rest for a while. What a faithful God.

But after traveling in the desert for a month, the Israelites began complaining again against Moses and before God. They said, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!”  Exodus 16:3

Were the Israelites stuck in the past, clinging to their slavery? Even though they had been removed from their brutal slave masters, they looked back to what seemed like a good thing. The comfort of routine, no matter how harsh, had become customary. But was it good? Were they allowing the wilderness in which they now walked cause them to forget the freedom they had gained by the hand of a Savior God?

“How quickly we forget God’s great deliverances in our lives.
How easily we take for granted the miracles He performed in our past.
~David Wilkerson”

We are no different than the Israelites walking in the desert. The stark reality of this pandemic called Covid has exposed, revealed, and uncovered abundant omissions about ourselves, our institutions, even the church. We believers have failed to heed the decree of our Lord, disregarding His spoken Word. Instead of standing up for God’s absolute truth, we’ve surrendered to the ever-changing morals and values of this land. Manmade religious traditions have enslaved us. Christianity in America has become casual, where only a crisis causes us to turn back to God. We’ve allowed the church to become a cruise ship instead of a battle ship. Our Heavenly Father never intended for us to have an apathetic relationship with Him. 

When God rescued the Israelites, He wanted them to rely solely on Him, to trust Him for daily protection and provision. He wants the same for us. Family and friends will disappoint us. The things of this earth will disappear. Religious and governmental leaders will let us down. But God never disappoints, disappears, or lets us down. He won’t fail us. He never changes. He, Jesus Christ, is the same yesterday and today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). We can surely trust Him. 

Could it be possible that God has allowed disease and violence to restore in us a powerful prayer life? Deep faith in a trustworthy God will cause us to rely on His daily provision instead of looking back to what seemed comfortable. Why grumble about the presence of Covid, masks, lockdowns, and change. Instead choose to allow God to move us forward as He does a new thing.

Each day is a new day, another chance to begin again. God says to forget the former things, remember Him, and focus on the new thing He is doing right now. His mercies are new every morning. 
Isaiah 43:18-19, Lamentations 3:22-23

Do we have confidence in the power of Almighty God? Will we hear and follow His Word? Turn away from the deficiency of earthly things. Hope in the One who loved us enough to offer salvation in His Name, the Name of Jesus. Watch and wait expectantly for His new thing!

“God is not running an antique shop!
He is making all things new!
~Vance Havner”

“Trust the past to God’s mercy,
the present to God’s love,
and the future to God’s providence.
~St. Augustine”

Our Gift of Christmas

He’s a baby, small and helpless, vulnerable and dependent on his parents. Because he’s not able to walk, talk, or use his hands effectively, his cries signal his needs. They lovingly feed him, change his diapers, bathe him, dress him, put him to sleep, watch over him, and protect him. Whether male or female, we’ve all been that vulnerable. Can you imagine Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, willing to be so defenseless?

Jesus gave up His power, His strength, and His authority to dwell on earth with the people He created. He allowed Himself to be born as a baby, taken care of by earthly parents. He grew up, learning from those in authority. He was a perfect example of humility. 

Jesus lived out His mission on earth in order to teach us how to live out our mission on earth. He introduced a heavenly perspective to those who listened to His teachings. He taught His followers how to die to themselves and their rights as He willingly died for them on a cross. He came to level the playing field among all people on earth, from the impoverished to the elite. Jesus Christ came for all people because all have fallen short of His glory. He came to save all of us sinners. Can you imagine the God of heaven and earth going to such extremes?

God our Heavenly Father loved His creation so much that He gave us His only Son (John 3:16) to live and die among His people on earth. He was rightly called Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). In humility He offered Himself as a sacrifice to save those who would believe in Him as Savior. The apostle Paul beautifully describes the humility of Jesus Christ in the second chapter of Philippians. 

Though he was in the form of God,

he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit.

But he emptied himself

        by taking the form of a slave

        and by becoming like human beings.

When he found himself in the form of a human,

        he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,

        even death on a cross.

Therefore, God highly honored him

        and gave him a name above all names,

    so that at the name of Jesus everyone

        in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow

        and every tongue confess that

            Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:6-11 CEB 

Thank you, God, for loving us so much that you would live on earth among your people, exemplifying for us the righteous life. Thank you, Jesus Christ, for your death and resurrection, enabling us to live eternally with you. Thank you for your gift of Christmas. Amen.

---

The Gift of Christmas

What a glorious time of year
When we celebrate the birth
Of a God who loved us so
That He came to live on earth.

Such a wondrous occasion
A holiday so dear,
It may be cold outside
Yet we’re warm because God’s near.

Some will have misgivings,
While others dread the season. 
In this day of automation
Do we have good reason?

Think of Mary, mother of Jesus,
Traveling o’er rocky terrain
On a donkey, big with child, 
I wonder—would she complain?

The Bible explains situations
Mary pondered in her heart.
If hearts were home for Jesus, 
Humans could make a new start.

So let Christ in this Christmas,
He’ll fill your soul with joy.
Together let’s give thanks to God
For sending the Savior boy!

DDC ‘89