Alone

Loneliness is one of our greatest fears. To live alone. To die alone. To grow up without family, but to be isolated is contrary to our nature. Those who prefer to be alone will always seek the company of others, even of animals, to alleviate loneliness. It is the common plight of the orphan and the aged. God once said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” And we know it by experience.

Though there are times we need to be alone, we fear being alone, being isolated. I don’t mind sequestering myself in my office for a time, but I do so with the knowledge that others are nearby, family, friends, co-workers. Because I will need them in crisis. I will need them when stress comes. I will need them when I feel alone.

In Joshua’s first chapter, Joshua is feeling alone. The man he has grown to favor and follow, Moses, had died. Joshua is grieving. Who will lead Israel now? Who will talk with God to see what needs doing? Who will speak to Israel and lead them into the promised land. Though he probably suspected it, God chooses Joshua to be the leader and general of the army. Joshua will lead them across the Jordan, and Joshua will lead them to take the promised land. It is a large ask, but God makes this one promise to Joshua. “I will never leave you. I will always be with you.” Joshua will never be alone.

Has God asked you to do something? I’ve heard it said, “The Lord doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called.” Could Joshua have taken the promised land without God? Maybe. Greater Generals had ravaged the land of Mesopotamia for centuries, taking and re-taking land. But Joshua was going to take Israel because God had promised it. And only this land was promised. Joshua was equipped to do a particular job for a particular time, and would then settle in peace. Bloodshed and war would only be for as long as necessary, and then God would permit him to live in his own home without fear.

What promises has God made to you today? Has God God promised you peace and safety? Or life abundant, eternal, and forever in His presence? Has God promised to keep you free from conflict, or to free you in the conflict?

One promise is sure. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Take heart. God is with you today. You will never be alone again.

Give Thanks

Does every day give you a reason to give thanks? Sure it does. The reasons may be profound, like, “Thank You that the test results were not cancer!” Or fairly simple, “Thank You that I could open my eyes this morning.” In whatever situation you find yourself in, there is always something to be thankful for.

But what about when I don’t feel thankful? I’ve had those days too. It feels like the whole world is against you. Everyone has wronged you, or you are angry that things did not go your way. I know what that feels like. And it’s much easier to find fault with others and with God when I feel that way. The funny thing is, I see myself doing it, and I know it’s wrong. But I also feel good being able to stand in judgment over others as if I’ve done no wrong. But you can’t stay angry for long. At least I hope not. Living life with a grudge isn’t living. When you cut yourself off from others you are dying a little bit each day. It’s better to get over it. Be thankful instead of the blessings God has given you, instead of resentful over the ones He hasn’t.

Can you trust God today to give you those things that benefit you? God is no fairy godmother. He doesn’t grant wishes. God gives blessings, and only He knows you well enough to give you exactly what you are looking for, what fills your heart with joy, because He alone can fill it. If you are looking for blessing and joy today, be thankful to God. He is already working on it. Why? Because He loves you, more than you can understand. He loves you wholly and completely, faults and all. Can you trust that love today?

Dead God, despite my faults and fears, may I trust You to satisfy my needs? Lord. I get angry and silly things, petty things, and I know they come from an ungrateful heart. D please forgive my ungrateful ness and help me be thankful for what you do give me, far more than I deserve. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Always With You

It’s been a little tradition of mine to brew a cup of coffee in the morning while we are away and set it on the railing outside our room. To me it reflects a certain contentment. Some of my favorite things in in this picture, and not just the coffee. I love the serenity of the pastoral scene, the quietness of morning, and the text of Scripture simply enhances the feeling.

Even here, away from home, my God continues to be with me. He has not abandoned me simply because I have vacated the places I usually haunt. He follows me, has even gone before me to make sure the way is clear. When we pray for traveling mercies, we are praying that God would prepare the way. And so He has. Even though our journey isn’t exactly as we planned, it is as He planned. And in this, we must be content.

I don’t know where your journey will take you today, but I pray it will be a good place, a place to worship and praise the Lord above. God bless you today.

No Weapon

www.bible.com/1713/isa.54.17.csb

Well, here is God’s answer to gun control. Or even weapons control in general. (Ever wonder why there’s always an uproar over guns, but not daggers, or poison, or any number of other means to take a life?) God says that no weapon formed against His people shall prosper. So let’s take a moment to examine this in context.

This was given to Isaiah. Isaiah was a prophet to the old kingdom of Judah after the separation of Israel from her. Judah was traveling the same path as Israel, falling into the deception of idolatry. In the time of Isaiah, Assyria came south on a conquering path, taking Israel before them. Israel was gone, deported, and would never rise again. Judah was next on the hit list.

Now this prophecy was given before that happened, but Assyria was a genuine threat. And this prophecy would surely be repeated in the face of that implacable enemy. “God promised! He said we would not be defeated!” But the prophecy wasn’t for all Israel, or even all of Judah, but for the Lord’s servants. Now consider who fell into that category. Was it the idolatrous Israelites? Or even those in Judah caught serving other gods? Or was it the faithful remnant, that despite all evidence to the contrary, still believed in the words of God, still believed that God would preserve them?

There are many Christians today in the same predicament. There are many who claim to be Christian, but hold to the values of the world. They consider social standing better than standing with Christ. They consider their own lusts and pleasures more important that sacrifice and self-control. They pursue happiness, but not the will of God. These too will claim the promise of this verse, and will be disappointed when the day of strife comes. Why? Because they had proved, when times were easy, that they were not the Lord’s servants. Now when times are hard, their faithlessness becomes their burden. God is under no obligation.

While God protected Judah from the Assyrian invasion, they were not protected from Babylon some years later. They forgot the lessons of their fathers and hardship again became their teacher. We live in a similar age. The lessons of our fathers and grandfathers are being lost, and once again hardship steps in to instruct. Don’t wait to learn faith from difficult times, but learn now from the words of God. God is our very best teacher, and those who are faithful will serve Him. And those will receive the promises.

Remember you are loved today. God is a strict parent, but He loves us so. He has seen the extremity of hardship and wants to protect us from it. He gives us hardship to prevent much worse. Don’t ignore His lessons, but embrace them as instruction from a loving Father. God loves you, and so do I. May He bless you today.

Long Ago

www.bible.com/1713/isa.25.1.csb

God is never surprised. He know from eternity past what mistakes I am going to make today. He also knows how I am going to react to that, what I will do about it, and how I need Him afterwards. And God already planned His response.

There is nothing you can do that God says, “What just happened?” There is nothing that can happen to you that God isn’t aware of nor is prepared for. God has in fact prepared for every wrong decision you will ever make. Take comfort that God is prepared for your worst.

But the most important thing God had prepared for you is your salvation in Jesus Christ. Without Him, nothing matters. If you never put your faith in Christ, God will still love you, but will respect your choices. But God would rather you become a disciple of Jesus, because of you think he loves you as His child, imagine His love for you as a follower of Christ, one who willingly chooses to follow in the footsteps of His Beloved Son. (Yes, God does have a favorite.)

I invite you today to follow Christ in faith. Don’t wait another day, for God has prepared for you such an amazing, abundant life that you will never look back and say, “I was better off before.”

Questions about the Essential Nature of Baptism (by Immersion)

This entry is more along the lines of a position statement as I am answering questions for potential employment. These questions may be helpful to some of you as well. I hope they help.

A. What about death-bed confessions? Aren’t they valid expressions of faith for salvation?

Rather than being a purely hypothetical question, I have been witness to a few of these, most recently this summer, where we had a patient who desired to be baptized on their deathbed. The patient was going into hospice the day we baptized the patient, and died about a week later. So I think this patient qualifies. When I went to talk to the patient in the morning, the patient could barely speak. But as the day progressed, the patient became more animated. On the patient’s request, the patient was baptized by immersion thanks to some helpful equipment we have at our hospital.

I tell you what I have seen, that those on their “death-bed” who express faith in Christ, and are capable of doing do, usually have enough time for us to make arrangements for them to be baptized, even by immersion. Now that’s not going to be true in the home, or maybe even at the nursing home. But what I remember is this: Without faith, you cannot please God. If that death-bed confession is an honest expression of faith, I cannot tell that person that they are not going to heaven. I can’t make that call. But what I have seen is that such a person, with a desire to be baptized, will be given enough grace by the Lord to be able to be baptized before they die.

What I have seen far too often is the families of such individuals who beg and plead the Chaplain to save their dying loved one, and by the time we receive the call, the person has passed into unconsciousness and doesn’t wake up enough to even be addressed by the Chaplain.

B. What about the thief on the cross? He had no opportunity to be baptized, and yet Jesus told him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

I think we make a lot of assumptions about the thief on the cross.

First, that this is the first time he had ever met Jesus. From Luke 23:41, we get a sense that the thief knew about Jesus, enough to be able to pronounce him innocent compared to himself. It’s very likely that the thief had heard Jesus speak, maybe even was baptized by John or even the disciples. We just don’t know enough to make that assumption.

Second, we assume that the thief wanted to be saved. From Luke 23:42, it seems the thief wasn’t asking that at all. He simply asked Jesus to remember Him when Jesus comes in power. It is possible to construe here that the thief believed in the resurrection, just as Martha did in John 11:24.

Third, as an argument against the essentiality of immersion, we must remember that baptism marks the death, burial and RESURRECTION of Jesus. There is no way at this point in time that the thief could have received Christian baptism, since Jesus had not yet risen from the dead. The thief’s faith, if we may be so bold, is the same kind of “saving faith” expressed by Abraham, Moses and David. They believed in the Coming One, though they had not seen Him risen. Jesus simply extended that same grace that He extended to Abraham, Moses and David (and many others) by promising the thief entry into “Paradise”, which I argue is not the same thing as “Heaven” theologically, but that’s another subject.

C. Are you saying that without baptism a Person is not saved?

First, let me clarify what salvation is. Salvation is salvation from the eternal penalty of sin, i.e., Hell. Salvation is eternal life with Jesus and His people, living in Heaven with Him. Salvation on this earth means living in Christ, through the Holy Spirit before God the Father. We have a way of escape from temptation. We have fruits of the Spirit because of His abiding in us. We have a fruitful and abundant life because of the Spirit who lives in us. Our salvation in Jesus Christ is the only true hope we have in this world. But we cannot achieve or receive it on our own. We MUST have help.

Jesus laid down His life for our sins nearly 2000 years ago. This we apprehend by faith and a decent amount of reason. We know such a One named Jesus of Nazareth died in Roman custody outside a small town in Judea called Jerusalem on a cross. We apprehend by faith that He did it to pay with His own perfect blood the penalty of our sins, the way sacrifices work to pay for sin. Jesus said, after He rose from the dead to His disciples, that they should go and preach this gospel to the whole world doing three things: making disciples, baptizing, and teaching. Thus throughout the New Testament, baptism is a part of the ongoing story, from Saul (Paul) to Cornelius, to the Phillipian Jailer, etc. The Apostles thought baptism necessarily followed belief in the gospel. I don’t think I know better than the Apostles or the Christ who initialized it.

I don’t proclaim myself an expert in all things baptism. Such is a mystery too deep and too profound for me. But I do know amazing things happen during baptism that we cannot receive any other way, namely, the cleansing of our soul through the “washing of regeneration”, the seal of the Holy Spirit, the promise of eternal life, and the beginning of an abundant life in Christ. I believe that baptism (by immersion) is essential to receive these things. God will not place His Spirit into an unholy place. The altar of our souls must first be cleansed by the sprinkling of blood, just as the altar of the Tabernacle once was. We must be made holy before the Holy Spirit can abide in us. This doesn’t not simply happen with faith, otherwise the saints of the Old Testament would have enjoyed this too. The presence of the abiding Spirit is unique to the New Testament (as evidenced by Pentecost) and can only be received through Christian baptism.

To put it conversely, what do you do with a Christian who refuses baptism? Is some one who resists baptism still considered saved? I believe that if a person is not baptized, but believes in the Lord Jesus Christ with all his heart, he can still be saved (by reason of his faith) but I would not want to be in his shoes when he stands before God. God will ask him why he didn’t take that step in baptism. What would you tell God? I also believe there will be a host of preachers on that day who will be held accountable for the myriad of souls they led astray by not telling them about baptism.

D. What About Foot-Washing?

Having examined the foot-washing issue, I think there is far more to it than merely washing feet. The symbolism behind it actually solves a problem we have had in the Christian Church for decades, that is, what to do when a backsliding believer wishes to be re-baptized or re-dedicated. I believe as Peter protested to be washed, hands feet and head, Jesus’ response is most telling:

Jesus answered, “People who have bathed and are clean all over need to wash just their feet. And you, my disciples, are clean, except for one of you.” (Joh 13:10)

Now consider the one who has been “soiled by the world” and feels repentant, and wishes to come back to the fold. They may wish to be re-baptized. While some see no problem with this, I do, since I believe that which happens in baptism cannot be replicated.

But what about people who turn away after they have already seen the light and have received the gift from heaven and have shared in the Holy Spirit? What about those who turn away after they have received the good message of God and the powers of the future world? There is no way to bring them back. What they are doing is the same as nailing the Son of God to a cross and insulting him in public! (Heb 6:4)

While they are still sinning, they can’t come back. But if they repent, I believe Jesus allowed them a way home. They have been washed (i.e., baptized) so they don’t need to be baptized again. But since their “feet” have been “soiled”, they do need their feet washed. Coincidentally, notice that Jesus does this the night before all the disciples (but John) abandon Him. And this foot-washing is a powerful statement. Rather than Jesus dying again for their sins and their reenactment of the death, burial and resurrection, it is a fellow believer, kneeling before them, taking towel and bowl, and humbly washing their feet. There is a direct sense of accountability in this act of humility. It is humbling for the one receiving as well as the one giving it, especially as it is done before the body of believers. (There is also a subtle call-back to the OT tradition (See Ruth 4:5-8) of the “unsandaled”, that is, one who refuses to carry his responsibility in the raising up of children to his deceased brother. In foot-washing, the sandals are removed, for the feet to be washed, a reminder of responsibility broken, and after the feet are “baptized”, the sandals are restored. It can be a very powerful and moving moment for all involved, and it satisfies the need to do “something” as a show of repentance and acceptance back into the Church. This is why I think it never shows up again (except Hebrews 6:2?), because of its rarity in the life of the church. Also, it reinforces the uniqueness of baptism, but allows the repentant a way back that is repeatable, and can be done again and again as a show of repentance.

Why Do I Believe Baptism (By Immersion) Is Essential?

Recently I was asked to defend my position on baptism and so I am including my work here. Thought you might benefit if you are interested.

Baptism is essential to the Christian believer for four reasons, two doctrinal, and two personal.

First, Baptism is essential because the Scripture commands it, both by direct command and by frequent precedent. This isn’t something that early Christians did once or twice, but consistently.

Second, Baptism is essential theologically. When you understand how people are saved, and this only through the blood of Jesus, how and when is that blood applied, except through Christian baptism?

Third, Baptism is essential for Christian witness. Others can attest that you in fact were baptized, and thus applied yourself to the Christian tradition.

Fourthly, Baptism is an essential witness to yourself. You may doubt your salvation in the face of hardship, but baptism is an anchor in history, and you can always point back to it as the day you were saved.

  1. It is essential by Scriptural command and precedent. It is well-attested in the gospels, the early history of the church, and in the letters to the church. In every case in Acts where baptism is applied, it is applied directly after a conversion.
    • (Mat 28:19)  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
    • (Mar 16:16)  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
    • (Act 2:38)  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
    • (Act 8:36-38)  As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water. What would keep me from being baptized?” . . . So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
    • (Act 9:18)  At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he [Paul] regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.
    • (Rom 6:4-5)  Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.
    • (Tit 3:5)  he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing [using the word luo here, instead of baptizo, of which luo is a synonym] of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
    •  (1Pe 3:21)  Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
  2. It is essential theologically.
    • All people have sinned and need a solution to their sin problem. Man cannot save himself, as no one can be saved by their own works (Ephesians 2:9). There is no good thing we can do ourselves that will pay for the sin we have committed, because once we sin, we are forever corrupted, and no good act of our own can undo the corruption.
    • In order for sin to be forgiven in the justice of God, it must and can only be covered by the blood of Jesus shed at the cross (Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 1:7; Revelation 1:5).
    • Before baptism, one must have faith in Jesus (Hebrews 11:6). This is an essential prerequisite for baptism. Baptism without faith is pointless and does nothing for the individual. This faith ought to be followed by personal repentance for sin (2 Corinthians  7:10) and a public confession of faith (Romans 10:9). Then in baptism (immersion) the body is washed in water while the soul is cleansed by the blood of Christ (i.e., the washing of regeneration, Titus 3:5), so that in the baptismal pool, the renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) comes upon the believer, the down payment of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14), so that he or she may live life freed from sin and can escape temptation by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 10:13). The Christian is no longer subject to eternal death, to sin, or to the authorities of this world, but is a citizen of Heaven. Thus the Christian begins at baptism the process of sanctification (becoming holy, 1 Thess. 5:23), becoming more like Christ, until the fulfillment of his sanctification at his calling to heaven.
    • Only by dying to sin, being buried in immersion, can one hope to have eternity with Christ in His resurrection (Romans 6:4-5)
    • Though some may contest that baptism is a work (as we are not saved by works – Ephesians 2:9), the work of baptism is not done by the believer, but the work of salvation was done at the cross by Jesus (Revelation 5:9). In baptism, you are agreeing with Jesus’ work, that His sacrifice is for you, by the figure of death, burial, and resurrection done in baptism (Romans 6:4).
  3. It is essential for Christian witness to others.
    • Deciding in your heart to follow Jesus is seen by only you and God.
    • Jesus said He will testify of you before His Father if you testify before men of Him (Matthew 10:32).
    • Baptism is a sacred and unique act of testimony and identification with Jesus and the body of Christ. It can be and is witnessed by others as an outward sign of an inner act of faith. It is Jesus’ preferred act of identification with the name of the Trinity, The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). It also identifies you with Christ’s unique sacrifice on the cross, His death and resurrection (Romans 6:4). By being baptized, you demonstrate your faith and belief in the unique truth of Jesus’ life and ministry, death and resurrection.
  4. It is essential for personal encouragement.
    • Deciding in your heart to follow Jesus (putting faith in Jesus, saying a Sinner’s Prayer) is a personal and secret act. As you grow older and more mature, you may doubt your decision, or if you even made a decision.
    • An obvious, well-attested act, like baptism by immersion, is a public act of private faith.  It is an anchor in time. You can know and remember that you were baptized, and even long after, have the certainty that you did what the Lord asked you to do. You can point back to a date and a time and know that you have done it. It becomes a touchstone of faith for you.

Proof of God, If You Will

www.bible.com/1713/1ti.2.5-6.csb

In our very Westernized society, we need, seek, demand even, PROOF! Especially for those things we are to be convinced of, not things we already believe. We have a strong confirmatory bias, that we only believe evidence or information which confirms what we already believe. We demand a much higher degree of evidence for an opposing viewpoint.

I suspect that most people who are Christian (at least in this country) are so because they were raised in Christian environments, homes, with grandparents, etc. We have a strong legacy of Christianity in this nation. It is inherent in our government, corporate systems, even social culture. Why else would be have hospitals?

Hospitals exist because we do not believe that the weak ought to be culled from the herd. We believe the weak ought to be helped. If our culture did not have a cultural sense of Christianity, we would have no desire to call the ambulance when someone gets sick. We would simply kick them and say, “Be done with it. I’ve got better things to do than watch you die!” Christianity instills the expectation that when someone is sick, we seek to get them help and treatment. Christianity offers hope, that even if this life is awful, there is hope for a better world after death.

But is that proof of God? No. Just because a culture adopts in principle the underlying assumptions that life is valuable and ought to be protected, doesn’t prove that God exists. It may show that being Christian is more reasonable, but not necessarily better.

The better proof is what inspires Christianity. When did it start? Where does it begin? Of course, the answer lies in its namesake, Jesus Christ, or, Jesus the Christ, since “Christ” is a title rather than a name. The passage of time tends to forget that. He was called “the Christ” because Christ transliterated from the Greek “Xristos” and means “messiah” or “Anointed One”. How was this man so anointed? You might remember that in the four books written about him, he was anointed not with oil, but with the Holy Spirit. The clouds parted at his baptism and a being like a dove descended upon him. A voice from heaven declared, “This is my Son in whom I am well-pleased.” Now, is this proof of God? Well, it’s better, but it’s still an old document, established by the presence of eye-witnesses (a., because it was written so close to events of the story that eye-witnesses would still have been around to corroborate or deny it, and b., eye-witnesses attested to writing it, not someone who wrote centuries after it happened). If eye-witnesses can say they say the clouds part, heard a voice and a dove, and what the voice said, that is better proof of God, is it not?

But perhaps the better proof, especially if you are not a Christian, is the man Christ Jesus Himself. While the New Testament documents could have been faked (though the evidence is much stronger for the New Testament than against it, and those who deny the veracity of the New Testament documents as authentic have a much harder time establishing any other document from antiquity), it is much more likely that they are genuine, and are written by people who saw and heard the Christ. That being the case we have a good idea that Jesus lived, worked and ministered in first century Palestine, performed miracles that could not be explained scientifically, and died on a Roman cross (as attested by Roman historians, namely Tacitus) and yet inexplicably rose from the dead a short time later. All of these elements combine into a powerful proof for God, for as atheists like to remind us, no one rises from the dead. Dead is dead. Such an occurrence is impossible and unlikely. So for anyone to do it, with a number of eye-witnesses to attest to it, must be proof that a higher, directive power exists. That Jesus both predicted and fulfilled this death, burial and resurrection, established this higher power as intelligent, and may even be Jesus Himself. No one else could do the things He did. And while some may argue that other gods of other religions have done these and similar things, I would counter by asking if the evidence is as good. While with Jesus we have eye-witness testimony, all other “god” stories rely on hearsay, documents wrote long after the events in question and so forth.

But you may again counter that of course the documents were written long after, because writing didn’t exist until then. Okay. Does that make the events they describe more likely or less likely? While some like to apply the “telephone” analogy (i.e., messages degrade with transmission) to the gospels, they don’t like it when applied to Osiris, or Zeus. While there has been a corruption of the text of the gospels, the degree of corruption is known, since much older documents exist which can be checked. Anyone with a casual knowledge of document transmission and the 5000 New Testament documents, copies and early translations extant can verify this. The New Testament is a very well established document of history.

Proof of God? A better proof than I can think of. But there is something I always notice about God. God never provides 100% proof. Despite the volume of evidence that He provides us about Himself, there is always, always a certain percentage of faith required. Because the truth of God is never acquired by scientific truth, evidence, or even vaunted reason. God is Spirit. And those who approach Him must do so with a degree of faith. It is the “leap of faith” that gets you from evidence to trust.

Something to think about on your Thursday. Thanks for reading.

Sorry for the Delay

I know it’s been a bit since I’ve posted. I apologize to my faithful readers. Life has been a little different lately. I’ve been interviewing at the Church of God for a worship ministry position so I’ve been busy putting worship services together and practicing. I hope to get back to this at some point when life settles into its routine.

I hope you have all been safe free from the COVID. With everything going on right now, it’s been challenging to find out what “normal” is anymore. School was supposed to be started by now in our corner of Kentucky, but our Governor decided to wait until September for in-person study, so the kids are starting online work tomorrow. We will see how that goes. But it does seem that every day there is a new rule, a new ordinance, or a new guideline from on high that we are expected to be immediately obedient to.

Thanking God then for two things today. First, the grace He gives when charging us to do things, because we are often not immediate in our obedience. And two, His word never changes. He is the same God. His gospel is the same gospel, there is no flipping a 180 on what His expectations are. He is the constant throughout all of this storm. Thank You Jesus for being our anchor and our rock.

God of Peace

www.bible.com/1713/php.4.9.csb

Need some peace today? With the tumult and discontent so evident today, it’s far easier to be worried than peaceful. Worry about our culture, our political process, protection from the evil that men do can consume and overwhelm us. Not to mention that money is right, work is scarce, and there is always a need for more. Lord what is this world coming to?

But God is a God of peace. In Him is ultimate peace, safety and security from all alarms. There is confidence in Him that things will be okay. There is no worry in Him, but blessed assurance. In Him is the peace that we have longed for, and unconsciously seek when we cry out for a break. But how can we receive this peace?

Paul offers this: put into practice what you have seen and heard him do. Paul preached and taught, and lived with the assurance of God in him. He faced down his enemies with truth and love. He fiercely loved his friends, and even confronted them when they were wrong, but never stopped loving them. Paul imitated Christ. And that what he encourages us to do. Follow Jesus, and you will know this peace.

I’ve seen men and women on death’s doorstep rejoicing in the Lord. I’ve seen folks in extremity of circumstance smiling, because they’ve met this God of peace, and He so fills them that they do not fear anymore. Do you want to meet Him?

Heavenly Father, in the faces of the forlorn, I have seen anger, worry and concern replaced by the great peace You offer when given the chance to turn their pain in Your peace. It is an awesome sight. I pray for that peace in my own life. You are the great and mighty God, and to You I have given my life and soul’s direction. Guide me this day into following the Son, so that I may be more like Him. In His Name I pray, Amen.