Saturday, July 31, 2010

Our Boast Is in the Name of the Lord Our God

Readings:
Psalm 20
Galatians 4:21-31

Focus:
Psalm 20:7: "Some boast of chariots and some of horses, but our boast is the name of the Lord our God."

There are many things that people might be proud of. They might be proud of their accomplishments. They might be proud of their wealth. They might be proud of their physical attractiveness. They might be proud, as a nation, of their military strength--of their chariots and horses.

But our true pride should come from the fact that we are able to know God. It is only the name of the Lord our God that is worthy of any pride at all. The rest is ephemeral and could be gone at any moment. Only God is both eternal and rock-solid.

When our boast is in the name of the Lord our God, it will never fail us.

Friday, July 30, 2010

The Heavens Tell Out the Glory of God

Readings:
Psalm 19
Galatians 4:12-20

Focus:
Psalm 19:1: "The heavens tell out the glory of God, heaven's vault makes known his handiwork."

It is impossible not to know about God's greatness and glory. All we have to do is look around us in nature. When we see the immenseness of the universe with all the stars, and when we look at the majesty of the mountains, we can see what awesome magnificence belongs to God.

Sometimes people mistake this and think that it means that God is in everything and everything is part of God. But actually God made everything. It is a reflection of his greatness and splendor, but not part of his being.

The wonder and brilliance of creation shows us what a magnificent God we have--full of power and glory. And yet he loves us individually and tenderly. That is beyond wonderful.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

With God's Help We Storm a Rampart

Readings:
Psalm 18
Galatians 4:1-11

Focus:
Psalm 18:29: "With your help I storm a rampart, and by my God's aid I leap over a wall."

When we are in a difficult situation, God enables us to get through. There is never a situation too hard for him to help us with.

I know I found this when I had cancer. I got through a devastating illness because God was there pulling me along. I stormed that rampart with God's help. Without him, it would have been terribly hard, seemingly impossible. With him, it was an amazing journey discovering joy.

When walls confront us, we can turn to God and ask for his help. With his aid, there will be some way that we can leap over them.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

All One Person in Christ Jesus

Readings:
Psalm 17
Galatians 3:19-29

Focus:
Galatians 3:28: "There is no such thing as Jew and Greek, slave and freeman, male and female, for you are all one person in Christ Jesus."

This is one of the greatest and most liberating statements in Christianity. In Christ all distinctions are gone. We are all the same in his eyes. He does not have favorites.

Although the Jewish people had been God's chosen people, the Greeks--and people of all other nationalities and races--were shown to be equally chosen by God after Christ came. Slaves were given equal love and brotherhood to freemen. (Christians later led the movement for abolition, and today they are in the forefront of the fight against slavery.)

Although society had given a special place to men, it was to women that the risen Christ first revealed himself. And the church gave leadership positions to women.

There is no distinction between people, between the conditions they find themselves in, in God's eyes. All that matters is whether or not they give their allegiance to him.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

In His Presence Is the Fullness of Joy

Readings:
Psalm 16
Galatians 3:10-18

Focus:
Psalm 16:11b: "In your presence is the fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures for evermore."

The greatest thing to me about Christianity, after the overwhelmingly wonderful gift of salvation, is that it brings so much happiness and contentment to life, even in the midst of hardships. I would not trade it for all the riches, fame, or anything else that the world counts as worth having.

I am astonished, in fact, that people might not want it, because God has brought such joy to me. In fact, people just do not know him, or they have constructed barriers against him. Otherwise they would run to him themselves.

For indeed it is true that in his presence is the fullness of joy, and this will be for evermore.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Faith Is Counted as Righteousness

Readings:
Psalm 15
Galatians 3:1-9

Focus:
Galatians 3:6: "Look at Abraham: he put his faith in God, and that faith was counted to him as righteousness."

In the Epistle to the Galatians, Paul is arguing with the Christians in Galatia about whether or not they need to observe certain ceremonial laws in order to be saved. Paul's argument is that ceremonial laws are unnecessary. Only faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation.

Paul brings in the example of Abraham. Abraham was not righteous in every deed that he did. Abraham sinned. But he put his faith in God. Because of this, despite the sins he had committed, God counted it as if Abraham were righteous.

That's the way it works now, too. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, God counts it as if we were righteous.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

No One Does Good, No, Not Even One

Readings:
Psalm 14
Galatians 2:17-21

Focus:
Psalm 14:3: "But all are unfaithful, altogether corrupt; no one does good, no, not even one."

Psalm 14 paints a pretty bleak picture of the human race. The first verse says that "everyone is depraved, every deed is vile; no one does good!"

Our first reaction is to think, "Hey, that's not true! I'm a pretty good person, darn it!"

But in reality, when we truly think about it, we're just not perfect. We do stuff wrong. We may be kind to our neighbors and give to all sorts of good causes and raise fine children and devote time to worthy endeavors. But sometimes we say unkind things to people. Sometimes we fail to do a helpful thing we should have done. Sometimes we take something for ourselves when we should have left it for someone else.

The truth is, no matter how nice we are, compared to God, who is perfect, we are just plain corrupt. That's why we need God to save us, because we just can't do it ourselves. As the psalm says in a later verse, the Lord is our refuge. How good that is!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Only through Faith

Readings:
Psalm 13
Galatians 2:11-16

Focus:
Galatians 2:16a: "Yet we know that no one is ever justified by doing what the law requires, but only through faith in Christ Jesus."

This is the heart of the gospel, and it can never be repeated too often. No one is ever justified--saved--by obeying the law. It is only by having faith in Jesus Christ that one is saved.

Christianity is not about following rules, or about being right. Christianity is about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Later, after having that relationship, Christians live in obedience to God out of gratitude for what he has done. But it is not that way of life that saves people. It is when a person puts her or his faith in Jesus Christ that that person is saved.

God has made it easy for us! That's how much he loves us.

What Is of True Worth

Readings:
Psalm 12
Galatians 2:1-10

Focus:
Psalm 12:8: "The wicked parade about, and what is of little worth wins general esteem."

Thousands of years ago when this psalm was written, and now in the twenty-first century, the same thing is true: people value what is not valuable. They place their attention and spend their money on things that will not give lasting satisfaction, yet generation after generation, what is of little worth continues to win general esteem.

Psychologists know better than I do why this is so, why people turn to shallow or short-term pleasure instead of to lasting and worthwhile satisfaction. But behind it all stands God, saying "Come to me, and I will give what you truly seek."

Friday, July 23, 2010

The Gospel is Revealed

Readings:
Psalm 11
Galatians 1

Focus:
Galatians 1:11-12: "I must make it clear to you, my friends, that the gospel you heard me preach is not of human origin. I did not take it over from anyone; no one taught it me; I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ."

The Apostle Paul wasn't just a great thinker who came up with some deep ideas about God and about how to live life. He actually had a life-changing encounter with Christ, and it was from that encounter that he learned about Christ and about God.

Paul started out as Saul, zealously persecuting believers in Jesus Christ. But on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians there, he met Jesus Christ in a vision, and after that he turned his life around. After that he changed his name to Paul and devoted his life to preaching about Christ.

Paul didn't just preach about Christ. He encountered persecution himself. He risked death multiple times. He was threatened over and over, but he didn't stop. This encounter he had with Christ was worth more to him than anything else, and he knew that everyone else needed to have that value in their lives. That made it imperative to him to keep preaching.

Paul didn't just write about philosophy. He wrote about a life-saving relationship with God, a relationship he learned about through a personal revelation he received from Jesus Christ himself.

This is no mere viewpoint we read about in the Bible. This is life itself.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Communicating about God in Spite of Ourselves

Readings:
Psalm 10
II Corinthians 13

Focus:
II Corinthians 13:7: "Our prayer to God is that you may do no wrong, not that we should win approval; we want you to do what is right, even if we should seem failures."

Sometimes when I write a blog like this I think that it's kind of presumptuous for me to be writing about God and how to live for him, and how to live the way he wants. I'm keenly aware of how I mess up all the time.

My prayer in writing this blog is to communicate about God in spite of myself. People who know me well know that I'm all too human, and that I am riddled with flaws--just as everyone else is. I don't always succeed at doing the things that I talk about in my blog.

But I do want to be what I talk about--and it's what I want for everyone else, too. And I believe that God's word is strong enough to communicate past me. So that's what this blog is for.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

God Does Not Abandon Those Who Seek Him

Readings:
Psalm 9
II Corinthians 12:11-21

Focus:
Psalm 9:10: "Those who acknowledge your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, do not abandon those who seek you."

One thing I know to be true about God is that he is absolutely faithful. He never abandons anyone who trusts him. Anyone who turns to him will find him to be an utter source of confidence.

Sometimes it is not always obvious how God is working things out. Sometimes it takes a long time to see how God is there. Sometimes things seem dark and desperate. And sometimes things in this life are not good.

Yet in the long run, God is there with those who turn to him. God is there in the end. The dark of night will turn to the brightness of morning. God does not abandon those who seek him.

Monday, July 19, 2010

God Cares for Each of Us

Readings:
Psalm 8
II Corinthians 12:1-10

Focus:
Psalm 8:3-4: "When I look up at your heavens, the work of your fingers, at the moon and the stars you have set in place, what is a frail mortal, that you should be mindful of him, a human being, that you should take notice of him?"

One of the most amazing aspects of God to me is that he is so big, so omnipresent and omniscient, and yet so particular. He knows everyone, and yet he knows me. He cares about everyone, and yet he cares about me.

If you look up at the menu bar on the top of this blog you will see "Next Blog." It takes you to other random blogs. Now it takes you to blogs that are related by topic, but it used to be blogs on any topic. I have found that to be quite fascinating, to see blogs by unknown people. What a variety, and vast number, of people there are in the world! And God knows--and loves--each one of those people.

At church, or in other situations, sometimes I have talked with people, or heard people talking, about the ways God has been intimately involved in their lives. It's easy to think that God cares about me, but it's astonishing to realize the depth of caring that God also has for other people. Many times these people are quite different from me, but God is actively working in their lives just as he is in mine. God is particularly involved in each of those people's lives.

God has made the stars, the boundless universe. But he cherishes and cares profoundly for each of the people he has made. What a marvelous God he is!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Deadly Shafts

Readings:
Psalm 7
II Corinthians 11:16-33

Focus:
Psalm 7:12-13: "The enemy sharpens his sword again, strings his bow and makes it ready. It is against himself he has prepared his deadly shafts and tipped his arrows with fire."

When others do unkind things, or say unkind things to us, we feel hurt. It is easy to nurse our resentment and dwell on these little incidents. Sometimes we even respond in kind.

But in actuality the wrong things that others do hurt them, not us. Sin has eternal consequences, and if they do not seek God's forgiveness, they may be lost. (This is why we want to tell everyone about what God has done for people.)

So when other people do hurtful things to us, they have actually hurt themselves, not us. Even when the hurtful things that people do have consequences for us, they do not have eternal consequences. When people do wrong things, it is against themselves that they have prepared their deadly shafts.