I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (MATTHEW 28:20)
A storm on the Sea of Galilee was akin to a sumo wrestler's belly flop on a kiddy pool. The northern valley acted like a wind tunnel, compressing and hosing squalls onto the Lake. Waves as tall as ten feet were common. . . . [Yet] from the center of the storm, the unwavering Jesus shouts, "I am." Tall in the Trade Tower wreckage. Bold against the Galilean waves. ICU, battlefield, boardroom, prison cell, or maternity ward__whatever your storm, "I am."
Every perfect gift is from God. (JAMES 1:17) An itinerant preacher from Nazareth can do something for the hurt that is in your heart. Maybe you're trying to rebuild an estranged relationship. . . . Maybe you've been trying to find God for longer than you can remember. There was something about this Nazarene preacher that made people cluster around him like he was God's gift to humanity. He is your gift as well.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and that his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 JOHN 4:10)
Does God love us because of our goodness? Because of our kindness? Because our great faith? No, he loves us because of his goodness, kindness, and great faith. John says it like this: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us."
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth.
(JOHN 16:13)
Envision a father helping his son learn to ride a bicycle, and you will have a partial picture of the Holy Spirit. The father stays at the son's side. He pushes the bike and steadies it if the boy starts to tumble. The Spirit does that for us; he stays our step and strengthens our stride. Unlike the father, however, he never leaves. He is with us to the end of the age.
God is so great, greater than we can understand! (JOB 36:26)
We may search out the moment the first wave slapped on a shore or the first star burst in the sky, but we'll never find the first moment when God was God, for there is no moment when God was not God. He has never not been, for He is eternal. God is not bound by time.
God's business is putting things right. (PSALM 11:7)
We don't see Jesus settling many disputes or negotiating conflicts. But we do see him cultivating inward harmony through acts of love:
washing the feet of men he knew would betray him, . . . honoring the sinful woman whom society had scorned. he built bridges by healing hurts.
I will also give to each one who wins the victory a white stone with a new name written on it. (REVELATION 2:17) _You may not have known it, but God has a new name for you. When you get home, he won't call you Alice or Bob or Juan or Geraldo. The name you've always heard won't be the one he uses. When God says he will make all things new, he means it. You will have a new home, a new body, a new life, and you guessed it, a new name.
Receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made.
(MATTHEW 25:34)
The problem with this world is that it doesn't fit. Oh, it will do for now, but it isn't tailor-made. We were made to live with God, but on earth we live by faith. We were made to live forever, but on this earth we live but for a moment. We were made to live holy lives, but this world is stained by sin. This world wears like a borrowed shirt. Heaven will fit like one tailor-made.
Don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. (MATTHEW 6:34)
God liberated his children from slavery and created a path through the sea. He gave them a cloud to follow in the day and a fire to see at night. And he gave them food. . . . Each morning the manna came. Each evening the quail appeared. "Trust me. Trust me and I will give you what you need." The people were told to take just enough for one day. Their needs would be met, one day at a time.
You, Lord, give true peace to those who depend on you. (ISAIAH 26:3)
Have you got God figured out? If so, then listen. . . .Hear the rocks meant for the body of the adulterous woman drop to the ground. . . .Listen to the window from Nain eating dinner with her son who is supposed to be dead. . . .God . . . doing the strangest of things. Stretching smiles where there had hung only frowns. Placing twinkles where there were only tears.
You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it. (MATTHEW 6:27)
Anxiety is an expensive habit. Of course, it might be worth the cost if it worked. But it doesn't. Our frets are futile. Worry has never brightened a day, solved a problem, or cured a disease. God leads us. God will do the right thing at the right time. And what a difference that makes.
Your faith makes you offer your lives as a sacrifice in serving God.
(PHILIPPIANS 2:17)
When we face struggles, we often wonder, why? Years from now, though, we may realize that it was those struggles that taught us something we could not have otherwise learned__that there was a purpose in our pain. God's purpose is greater than your pain, and he has a greater purpose than your problems.
Love . . . does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. (1 CORINTHIANS 13:6)
Isn't it good to know that even when we don't love with a perfect love, God does? He always nourishes what is right. He always applauds what is right. He has never done wrong, led one person to do wrong, or rejoiced when anyone did wrong. For he is love, and love "does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoice with the truth."
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (GENESIS 1:1)
Of all we don't know about the creation, there is one thing we do know__God did it with a smile. He must've gad a blast. Painting the stripes on the zebra, hanging the stars in the sky, putting the gold in the sunset. What creativity! . . .
Like a whistling carpenter in his workshop, he loved every bit of it. He poured himself into the work. So intent was his creativity that he took a day off at the end of the week just to rest.
I expect and hope . . . to show the greatness of Christ in my life here on earth, whether I live or die. (PHILIPPIANS 1:20)
It would have been nice if God had let us order life like we order a meal. I'll take good health and a high I Q. I'll pass on the music skills, but give me a fast metabolism. . . .Would've been nice. But it didn't happen. When it came to your life on earth, you weren't given a voice or a vote. But when it comes to life after death, you were. In my book that seems like a good deal. Wouldn't you agree???
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (GALATIANS 5:14) __Jesus went to great pains to be as human as the guy down the street. He didn't need to study, but still went to the synagogue. He had no need for income, but still worked in the workshop. . . . And upon his shoulders rested the challenge of redeeming creation, but he still took time to walk ninety miles from Jericho to Cana to go to a wedding. As a result, people liked him.
What is impossible with men is possible with God. (LUKE 18:27)
The rich young ruler thought heaven was just a payment away. It only made sense. You work hard, you pay your dues, and "zap"__your account is credited as paid in full. Jesus says, "No way." What you want costs far more than what you can pay. You don't need a system, you need a Savior. You don't need a resume, you need a Redeemer. For "what is impossible with men is possible with God.
Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it__because it does. (1 CORINTHIANS 14:1)
Loosen up. Don't you have some people to hug, rocks to skip, or lips to kiss? . . . Someday you are going to retire; why not today? Not retire from your job, just retire from your attitude. Honestly, has complaining ever made the day better? Has grumbling ever paid the bills? Has worrying about tomorrow ever changed it? Let someone else run the world for a while.
I will come back and take you to be with me.
(JOHN 14:3)
We don't know when Christ will come for us. We don't know how we will come for us. And, we really don't even know why he would come for us. . . . Most of what we have is faith. Faith that he has ample space and a prepared place and, at the right time, he will come so that we can be where he is. He will do the taking. It's up to us to do the trusting.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you. (ROMANS 15:7)
Grace makes three proclamations. Dealing with my neighbor is God's responsibility. I must speak; I must pray. But only God can convince. (And he does.) . . . Dealing with my neighbor is God's responsibility. I must speak; I must pray. But only God can convince. (And he does.) . . . God loves me and makes me his child. God loves my neighbor and makes him my brother.
The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them. (LUKE 19:10)
God will do what it takes__whatever it takes__to bring his children home. He is the shepherd in search of His lamb. His legs are scratched, His feet are sore, and His eyes are burning. He scales the cliffs and traverses the fields. He explores the caves. He cups His hands to His mouth and calls into the canyon. And the name He calls is yours.
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
(1 PETER 3:18)
The path of righteousness is a narrow, winding trail up a steep hill. At the top of the hill is a cross. At the base of the cross are bags. Countless bags full of innumerable sins. Calvary is the compost pile of guilt. Would you like to leave yours there as well?
Ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. (MATTHEW 7:7)
Countless copies of Scriptures sit unread on bookshelves and nightstands simply because people don't know how to read it. What can we do to make the Bible real in our lives? The clearest answer is found in the words of Jesus. "Ask and God will give it to you." The first step in understanding the Bible is asking God to help us.
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