Bible

4 Biblical Paradoxes That Represent Profound Truths

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

I am often perplexed when it comes to the truths found in the Bible. It’s hard for us humans to fathom the nature of God and His ways. 

When I’m feeling frustrated about my lack of understanding, I’ll often remember that God tells us:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways (Isa: 55:8).

Reading this verse usually makes me feel better about myself, as I once again realize this profound truth: that there is a God, and I am not Him.

I believe that there are certain holy truths that we’re not meant to fully grasp. We can try all we want, but our brains are just not capable of understanding the ways of a God who created and maintains the entire universe.

That being said, following are some of the most notable paradoxes that we find in the Bible. These aren’t contradictions as skeptics would like to call them, but rather dual truths that we can’t fully explain.

I can’t take credit for coming up with these. Although anyone could read through the Bible and discover them for themselves, I came across these on a recent message from Dr. Michael Youssef called, “How Does Our Attitude Affect Our Joy?”.

So let’s dig in.

Jesus is fully God, yet fully man.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col. 2:9).

[God] was manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16a).

Christianity is the only religion I know of where its deity actually came to earth to live with mankind. In all the other religions of the world, the creator is a distant being who is untouchable and unknowable to its adherents.

Not so with the living Jesus. He was born in a lowly manger among animals. He didn’t perch Himself on a throne and order His subjects to bow at His feet. 

Rather, He submitted Himself to the will of the Father and died a gruesome, tortuous death to secure salvation to those who would choose to believe in Him. 

In this way, Jesus became as much human as you or I, yet remained as much God as the Father is. 

Difficult to explain? Yes. But also true.

The Bible is written by human beings, but every word is authored by the Holy Spirit.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16).

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21).

And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever (Isa. 30:8).

God wanted us to have His preserved, written word. But rather than just personally hand it to us, He purposely used man to help write it down. 

Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, around 40 authors over about 1500 years recorded God’s words. Although each book of the Bible contains elements of the individual who wrote it, each is ultimately written by the divine Author as He saw fit. 

Just look at the four gospels that give the account of Jesus’s life. Each author tailored his book to a different audience with a somewhat different focus, yet each tells the story of Jesus without contradicting the other gospels.

Every other book of the Bible is the same. They tell God’s story and the redemption of mankind while allowing the individual authors to insert a little of their own personalities into the manuscripts.

So—authored by God, written by man.

God eternally secures the believer’s salvation, yet we are commanded to obey Him.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand (John 10:28).

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24).

The “once save, always saved” debate is alive and well in the church today. Yet God’s word stresses the point that once we accept Christ, our destiny is sealed. 

Some would ask if obedience to God is necessary to maintain our salvation. 

However, it’s not a matter of obeying God to remain saved and hold on to our eternal inheritance. Rather, Christians willingly choose to obey God because He sacrificed His son for our salvation.

God expressed His love for us first, even when we weren’t worthy of it. Consequently, we love and honor Him in return by following His commandments. 

Even though we may sin after becoming a Christian, this doesn’t negate our salvation.

Instead, our confidence in our eternal destiny gives us hope that even when we make mistakes, God still loves us and will welcome us home when the time comes.

God is sovereign in dealing in the affairs of His children, yet He responds to our prayers.

He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Dan. 4:35b).

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working (James 5:16b).

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (John 15:7).

This paradox is particularly difficult for me. How can God control the entire workings of the universe and, at the same time, allow us to have influence over individual events in our lives through prayer?

It’s easy to tell ourselves that God’s will will prevail no matter what. While this is true, it is important to understand that our prayers play a crucial role in shaping our lives and those around us. 

Yes, this is difficult to grasp. But it is an important doctrine of our faith and represents God’s willingness to allow us to impact our world.

The important thing to remember about these paradoxes, and any others we find in the Bible, is that they shouldn’t shake our faith in a good, loving, all-powerful God. 

Instead, we should focus on the fact that God’s nature and power are so far beyond our comprehension, we can never hope to fully understand them on this side of Heaven. 

That’s where faith comes in. And faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).

Does God Really Want the Best for Us?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment 
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:6-8).

Why would a God who paid such a high price for us not want anything but the best for us?

It’s hard for me to wrap my head around how much God truly loves us humans. In the busyness of our everyday lives, it’s easy to forget that He created us to love us, because God IS love (1 John 4:8).

The above verse in Romans shows us just how much God adores His creation. He knew we were weak and sinful, and yet He still allowed Jesus to die a painful, lowly death on a cross so that we could live forever with Him.

He redeemed us to show us His love and kindness, knowing that we had no way to repay Him for what He had done for us. This is true love, the kind of love that earthly parents show toward their own children. 

Just like human parents, God’s love burns fiercely for us—so much so that He will do everything within the bounds of His will to allow us to be with Him and commune with Him for eternity.

With all that being said, how could we possibly doubt that our loving heavenly Father would not want the best for us? 

Good and loving parents want their children to thrive and succeed, even to the point of doing better than they themselves. 

God is no different from the human parents He populated the earth with. He loves His creation and wants us to do well, to succeed, and to be happy and prosper.

Before we go any further, it’s important to understand that this doesn’t mean everything is going to go our way all the time. As long as we’re in these earthly bodies, we’re going to have difficult times and tough challenges in our lives.

We’re not always going to be on top of the world with no worries or concerns.

And it definitely doesn’t mean that just because you’re a Christian, you should automatically be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams. 

For some of us, it may certainly mean that. But for the average Christ-follower, God’s provision probably won’t look like a huge mansion accompanied by a garage full of expensive cars. 

However, Matthew 7:11 tells us:

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

God wants to take care of us and lavish us with worthwhile gifts. After all, we’re His children and He loves us. But I’ve heard it said many times (and you probably have, too) that God is much more interested in our character than our comfort.

Our Father’s desire is to build us up on the inside, not just satisfy all our external needs. He can and will do that as well, but His ultimate concern is to see us grow in Christ and become more like our Savior.

In desperate times of struggle, it’s difficult to see how any good can come out of our trials. But we can rest assured that everything we go through in life is working together for our good (Rom. 8:28). 

Our challenges probably won’t be pleasant at the time, but we can be confident that God is looking out for us and has everything under control. There’s nothing that surprises Him or falls outside His realm of knowledge.

If we love God and strive to honor and obey Him, we know that He’s working behind the scenes to bless us and turn things for the better, no matter what we’re facing. 

God sent His innocent Son to suffer an excruciating death on our behalf. We only need to look at the evidence and we can conclude that God truly wants only the best for His children.

These are words that I need to take to heart every day. Too often I forget that my Father cherishes me and wants me to get fulfillment out of my life in Christ. 

Dare I say that He even wants me to enjoy life? Yes, I believe that He does. And He wants the exact same thing for you, too.

Why Is It So Hard to Trust God Completely?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

What does it mean to have faith in God? It seems like a simple, straightforward question, and it is. The answer, however, may take us deeper than we could imagine. 

To have faith in God means to place the very outcome of our lives in God’s hands, to accept that His way is best and to acknowledge our desire to submit our will to His.

This faith means accepting the fact that there’s something—or in this case, Someone—who’s more intelligent, more powerful, and more capable than we are.

Placing our total faith in God is admitting that He knows more than we do, that He knows better than we do, and that His way will work out for the best in our lives.

Putting our trust in God means that we completely rely on Him and His provision for everything in our lives.

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Even though all that sounds simple, I have to be honest—I’m no giant of faith. I’ve been a Christian for over four decades, and I’m not happy with my faith life.

I wish it were deeper and richer. I wish that I had no doubts about God’s goodness and His willingness to provide all my needs. I hate to admit it, but my faith has not really grown much over the years.

Of course, I trust God for my salvation. It’s comforting knowing that I’ll spend eternity with Him in paradise. No tears, no heartache, just peace and calm—it all sounds great to me. I can definitely get onboard with that.

However, when it comes to trusting the Lord in the day-to-day, that’s when I struggle the most. Even though I’ve read all the promises in the Bible countless times, it’s still hard for me to believe that they’re true for me. 

Sure, these promises might work for other people. But for me? I’m not so certain. My life is not like everyone else’s. It seems that things that work for others don’t really work for me. 

Deep down in my heart I know that’s not true. After all, God is no respecter of persons. But in my head, a big part of me feels that I’m not worthy of having God work on my behalf—that His promises don’t apply to my life and my situation. 

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Faith that’s been tested through trials can be trusted, just like gold or silver that’s been purified by the furnace.

We may say we have faith in God, but until we’ve been through hard, crushing times and held onto our faith in the midst of them—not losing hope in the God who loves us and cares for us—we don’t really know the value of our faith.

In fact, 1 Peter 1:7 tells us that:

Our tested faith is even more precious than gold and “result[s] in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Our faith is nothing if it doesn’t withstand all the challenges that come with living in a fallen world.

But once it’s proven, our faith is rock solid, and is more valuable than anything else. When we have faith in God, we can come through anything that this world or our enemy throws at us. 

Jesus has already won, but that doesn’t stop the enemy from trying to drag us down to his level. He constantly hurls challenges at us to trip us up.

Ephesians 6:16 tells us:

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.

Our tried-and-true faith will protect us against the schemes of the devil. 

Along with the other important armor mentioned in this chapter, our faith is crucial in helping us live a godly life—like Christ intended for us as a result of His death on the cross.

In fact, we are told, “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Heb. 11:6a).

We can never hope to live the life that God has in store for us without a strong, proven faith.

Our faith will see us through the hard times, when it looks like all hope may be lost. Faith will help us keep on trying another day, for it tells us that God will provide for us one day at a time, just as He did the Israelites when they were wandering in the desert for so many years.

“Give us this day our daily bread,” we are taught to pray in Matthew 6:11. And farther down the chapter in verse 34, we’re advised: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.”

You may wonder how to develop deep faith. It is grown by using it regularly. 

Start by trusting God for something small in your life. However, make sure your request is on solid biblical ground. 

1 John 5:14 tells us:

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

When our prayers and our faith are in alignment with God, we can be assured that He will give us what we need.

We’re also told in Philippians 4:19:

‭‭My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Notice that Paul says “need” and not “want.” We don’t necessarily receive everything we want in life, but God will always give us what we need if we trust Him.

Once you see His hand at work in this way, your faith will grow. You’ll learn that you can trust Him for bigger and even more substantial blessings in your life.

My Approach to Worship Shifted As I Got Older—And Not For the Better

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

I’ve recently realized that my approach to worshipping God has changed over the years since I became a Christian. 

When I was first saved, it was all about God and what Jesus had done for me on the cross. I was so grateful that I had been redeemed that I was happy just to give God the praise that He deserves. I read the Bible faithfully, soaking in its truths and learning more about God every time I read. 

I don’t believe I had any real thoughts about what my worship or Bible reading would do for me. Maybe I did think about it, but if so, these thoughts weren’t very profound. I just wanted to worship and serve God. I wasn’t really concerned about my own welfare. 

Part of this may be from the fact that I was only 15 when I accepted Christ, and didn’t have any real concerns about money or my livelihood. At any rate, I remember those early years of my Christian walk as pure and innocent. 

There were times when I strayed away and didn’t follow God closely, but I don’t remember my approach to Him ever being, “What can You do for me?”

All that changed, however, as I graduated college and became an adult. My focus gradually shifted from serving God to being served by God. I viewed my relationship with Him as a means to better my life. 

I began reading the Bible in search of verses and passages that promised how God would take care of my needs. While there is certainly nothing wrong with standing on the promises of God, my approach to Bible reading became a search for truths that would help me get what I wanted. 

I looked for passages that told me in essence, “If you do this, then God will bless you.” Or, “This is what you need to do to earn God’s favor.”

And without realizing it, that has been my focus for the better part of the last three decades. Although I’ve worshipped God over the years, it hasn’t always been with a pure heart. 

Sometimes consciously, sometimes not, I’ve had an ulterior motive. In the back of my mind, I’ve thought, “Well, if I can worship God in the right way and please Him, He’ll bless me, and my life will be better. I’ll have more money, more happiness, and a better quality of life.”

I regret that I’ve lived my life like this for so long. I’ve missed out on being able to worship God purely and simply, without the thought of “How is this going to help me?” For far too long, I’ve thought of God in terms of a genie who, if I rubbed the right way, would give me blessings and a more enjoyable life. 

While it’s true that God wants to bless His children, His desire is that we worship Him for who He is—not for what He can do for us. 

Even though I realize that type of worship is wrong and sinful, it’s hard to break out of that habit. Too many times over the years, I’ve heard that “God is waiting to bless you,” and “You deserve all that God has for you.” 

I long to have the pure approach to worship I had when I first accepted Christ. The cares of life have largely choked out my desire to simply serve God and bring Him glory through worship. There’s so much in the way now—concerns about money, health, relationships, career. The list goes on and on. 

Even though the few concerns I had as a teenager may have seemed significant at the time, I didn’t have the weight of decades of life hanging on me.

Maybe that’s all too philosophical and just an excuse for not putting God first in my life. I need to get back to basics and take inventory of what God has already done for me—and not just focus on what I want Him to do. 

Worshipping God should be in response to His glory and greatness, not about His potential to fulfill my wishes. The sooner I can come to terms with that, the better off I’ll be.

Pray More Effectively With These 10 Verses

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Prayer is how we communicate with our Creator. It is our lifeline to God. Without it, we human beings would be lost in our own little world, with no connection to the only One who can help us. 

We all want our prayers answered. That leads us to the question: Is there a way to make sure our prayers are answered in the way we want them?

Let me be very clear—the answer to that question is NO. There is no way to ensure that we will get everything we ask of God. 

Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us the “secret” to having our prayers answered. That would be counterintuitive and make God into some sort of magical genie.

Instead, He lays out several principles for us to follow to ensure our prayers are in accordance with His will. Following them will help us pray the way He wants us to so that we ask for the things that are best for us and and for His kingdom.

With that in mind, here are several verses that show us how to pray and what to do to make sure our prayers are effective.

John 14:13

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Our prayers should be crafted so that we bring glory to Jesus in our lives. After all, that’s what being a Christian is all about—recognizing Christ as our Savior and leading others to Him.

Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

In the original Greek, these verses convey the idea that we should keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking—never giving up on our quest to connect with God and receive His blessings. If we do, our prayers will begin to come in line with God, and we’ll see positive results from them.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

When our true joy is found in worshipping God and giving Him the glory He deserves, He draws nearer to us. He loves to give us good things, and it brings Him joy to bless us.

Mark 11:24-25

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

There is quite a bit to unpack in these verses, so I encourage you to take time to read the entire passage for context. 

Here, Jesus tells us to believe, and not doubt, that God will give us what we ask for—provided that it is in line with His will.

We must also be sure to forgive others for anything we may have been holding against them. Otherwise, we risk God himself not forgiving us.

Matthew 18:19

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

Heed these important words from Jesus. Find a prayer partner to agree with you, whether it’s your spouse, another family member, or a friend. 

Doing so not only puts you in line with God, you’ll also feel better knowing that your burden is shared by someone else.

James 1:6-7

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.

Along with having faith, we must be sure not to doubt that God will give us good things. As mentioned earlier, He wants to bless us and will not hold His blessings back if we place our trust in Him. His word promises us that.

John 15:7

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Abide means to remain, reside, or dwell in a place. If we remain in Jesus, seek to know Him better, and keep His words in our heart—our thoughts and desires will line up with His. Then we’ll get the things we ask God for.

Matthew 21:22

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.

This is yet another important verse that shows us the importance of faith in our prayer life. Faith forms the foundation of our Christian walk. Without it, our prayer life will be fruitless and empty.

Psalm 66:18

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Repent of your sin and confess it to God. Continued sinning maintains a stronghold on us and blocks God from hearing us. 

To ensure that our prayers don’t bounce off the ceiling, we have to renounce sin and ask the Holy Spirit to help us live sin-free. Keep the channel open between you and God to make sure He responds to your prayers.

1 Peter 3:7

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Men, God commands us to honor our wives. She is our equal, and we are called not only to protect her, but to take time to listen to her needs and concerns. If we don’t, we risk missing out on the blessing of answered prayer. 

You’ll find many nuggets of wisdom in the Bible regarding prayer. If you spend some time searching them out, you’ll discover that God gives us abundant information on how we should use prayer to connect with Him and enrich our lives. 

How Should a Christian Respond to a “Woke” Person?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

If you watch the news or read popular news sites or blogs, it’s evident that the Christian viewpoint is in the minority these days. 

Everywhere you turn, we see alternative and “woke” lifestyles prevailing. Most certainly, there are many more people involved in these behaviors than there were in previous years.

I believe many faith-filled believers in Christ are simply silent on the social issues facing us today. They would rather not speak up and face ridicule from others who are perhaps more vocal and adamant in their beliefs. I hate to admit it, but I often fall into this category myself. 

It is more important now than ever for Christians to make our beliefs and feelings known, as many of the individuals caught up in alternative (and often sinful) lifestyles are doing nothing more than experimenting because it is the popular thing to do. 

They may not have made a definitive choice to fully embrace the lifestyle they’re “trying out.”

If these people were to hear the truth from a believer who is armed with biblical knowledge, they could very well accept Christ into their lives and make positive life changes in the right direction.

So, how do we go about relating to others who are living a lifestyle that is perhaps so radically different from our own? These people could be our acquaintances, coworkers, or even our own family members.

First of all, we should pray for them. Ask God to show them the truth that’s only found in the Bible. Pray that God would bring others (including yourself) into their path who can lead them to repentance and a relationship with Christ.

Then, when we encounter someone who is obviously living a sinful lifestyle and who needs the love and acceptance of Jesus, the first thing we need to do is approach them with love. 

We’re all sinners and have all fallen short in God’s eyes. They haven’t committed sin that is any worse in His eyes than we haven’t also committed. 

The only difference is that we, as Christians, have accepted Jesus into our lives, repented of our sins, and asked for forgiveness.

Without showing the lost genuine love and care, it is doubtful that your words will have any meaningful impact on them.

If you have a more-than-passing relationship with someone, and if the circumstances are right, you might ask them how their relationship with God is. 

You may get any of several types of answers to your question. 

They may answer that they don’t believe in God, or that God is our Creator but isn’t involved in our everyday lives. Or, they may give you the new-age answer that God is a part of everything, including us human beings and even inanimate objects. 

It’s then up to you to explain how God created us, but that the human race fell to sin and now lives in a broken world. 

The most important part is to convey that Jesus died and was raised from the dead to bring us into a right relationship with God again. His suffering, death, and resurrection were necessary to pay the penalty for our sin.

Depending on your relationship with the person and how the conversation proceeds, you may be able to ask them if they’re ready to turn from their sins and make Jesus Lord of their life.

Or, you may sense that that’s as far as you’re getting with them during this interaction and just accept the fact that you’ve planted a seed that will hopefully come up later on.

Pray that God will put someone else in their lives to water the seed and watch it begin to sprout.

I believe that it is of the utmost importance that when you talk to people about the gospel that they understand that Jesus (as well as you) accepts them just the way they are. 

Tell them that they don’t have to be perfect for Jesus to be Lord of their life. They just have to turn everything over to Him and let Him take the reins of their life.

Once they do, he will prompt them to make changes in their lives as they surrender their will to His. Sometimes that happens immediately, and sometimes it takes a while.

As Christians, it is our responsibility to show the world the love of Jesus. 

We may not see immediate fruit from our efforts, but rest assured, planting seeds of love and hope in a lost person’s life is the first step toward their eventual acceptance of Christ.

Pray the Word Every Day

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Prayer should be an important part of every Christian’s life. It is our lifeline to God, the Holy Creator of the universe. 

Imagine having a direct line to God’s ear, to which He is always listening. No matter what we need, He’s always there.

Plus, He knows what we need even before we go to Him in prayer. What could be better than that?

He even promises that everything will work together for our good if we love Him and follow His will for our lives (Rom. 8:28).

How should we pray then? 

We can take all the small aspects of our lives to him—like looking for a good parking space, help for a conflict with a coworker, and a thousand other things).

However, we can go much bigger than that, as we can also take the promises we find in the Bible to Him. 

There is a unique angle behind this kind of prayer, because we’re literally praying God’s word and His promises back to Him.

Praying God’s promises is not a new concept, as there are many instances recorded in the Bible where God’s servants do this. 

Isaiah 62:6-12 shows us how, as a reminder of God’s word, the prophet proclaims God’s promise to protect Israel.

In verse 6 of this passage, we are told:

You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves.

Another example is found in Exodus 32:13, where Moses comes to God in the face of His wrath and reminds God of His promise to give Abraham a vast number of descendants:

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.”

King David often reminds God of His promises. Psalm 119:49-50 gives us just one example of this:

Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.

If we’re going to pray God’s words and promises back to Him, how should we do this? 

There are an abundance of promises found in the Bible, and we can choose any of them that suit our needs.

Well known author Max Lucado says:

Find a promise that fits your problem, and build your prayer around it! These prayers of faith touch the heart of God and miracles are set in motion!

For instance, if you’re feeling anxious, you might turn to Philippians 4:6-7 and pray something like this:

Lord, thank You for promising that I don’t need to be anxious about anything and that I can turn all my concerns over to you. Thank You for guarding my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Even though you may have to repeat this prayer several times throughout the day as you encounter various trials, you can rest easy knowing that God has taken all the anxiety off your shoulders.

Another great verse for dealing with anxiety is 1 Peter 5:6-7. Here, Peter tells us to humble ourselves and cast all our anxieties on our caring God.

We can once again reference these verses and thank God for shouldering all our burdens according to His promises.

For general protection, we can always pray Psalm 91. 

In this chapter, God offers several promises for protection against evil, harm, and sickness. Pray these words back to Him and thank Him for all He’s done and is going to do for you.

Then, in Philippians 4:19, we read:

My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Whenever we’re dealing with financial pressure or feeling frustrated, we can go to God and thank Him for meeting all our needs.

Within the pages of the Bible, we find a huge number of God’s promises that can be prayed back to Him.

The next time life is getting you down, go to the Word, find a promise, remind God of it, and thank Him for His sufficiency.

Why Should We Follow Jesus?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

The question has been asked, What is the point in being a follower of Jesus?

It is a valid question and deserves a good answer. 

After all, who is this Jesus who came along 2000 years ago? Recorded history tells us that He showed up thousands of years after people had already been worshipping God.

This is a hard question, to be sure. For the answer, we must turn to the Bible, which is the inspired word of God. 

The Bible is not a single book, but actually 66 books written over a period of approximately 1500 years by around 40 different authors.

Let’s take a look at John 14:6-7 for the answer to our question. 

As it happens, Jesus was answering a question from one of His disciples about following Him.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

These are bold words, but if we’re serious about seeking God and serving him, we must take them to heart. 

If there truly is just one way to God—and Jesus is it— then we must become one of His followers.

To do otherwise is to risk our eternal destiny. If we’re wrong, then we’ve lost nothing. But if we’re right, then we stand to gain much. I’ve written about this before in another post.

Just a few verses before the ones above, Jesus says,

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

John 14:3

Jesus wants us with Him. He already has a place picked out in Heaven for every one of His believers.

And just so he’s clear and there’s no confusion—with some 4300 different religions in the world by one estimate—He tells us exactly how to get to God, and it’s through Him.

So, what do we need to do to become a follower of Jesus?

First of all, we must understand our need for Him. 

Romans 3:23 tells us,

For all [emphasis mine] have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:23 explains the penalty for our sins as well as our reward for following Jesus: 

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:9 tells us how to accept Jesus into our lives and be forgiven of our sins:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The final step is crucial. Find a good, Bible-believing church and tell the pastor that you have accepted Jesus into your life. Ask to be baptized and begin attending the church.

In Acts 2:38, Peter the apostle says,

Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

While baptism itself does not save you, it does represent our death and rebirth in Jesus. Likewise, church attendance is not mandatory for salvation, but Christians go to church to worship God and associate with other believers.

So, to answer our original question about following Jesus…

Jesus is our pathway to God. He is the only way to be forgiven of our sins, become reconciled with the Father, and experience eternal life with Him.

For me, that’s reason enough. What about you?

Quit Trying to Understand God

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

If you want to commit your life to God and walk in obedience to Him, you must forget what you think you know about how life works. As mere humans, we can never fully understand God’s ways.

We’re told in Isaiah 55:9,

For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

If you stop and think about it, nothing about God and His creation really makes any sense. 

For example, in our human way of understanding, everything has a beginning and an end. 

Just look at our lives. We’re born, we live a certain length of time, then we die. That holds true for every single human being. There’s no variance to this pattern. Some may live longer than others, but every person has a beginning and an end.

God is different, however. The scriptures tell us that He has always been. He was not created by another entity, and He has never not existed. There’s no time in history when God wasn’t around. He created the concept of past, present, and future as we know it.

Our human brains struggle to make sense of this. How can something or someone have always been in existence? It’s not possible, our minds scream. Yet, it’s true. 

If we can truly wrap our heads around this fact, then we’ve come a long way toward accepting all the truths we’re told about God in the Bible. 

If we believe that God is all-powerful, then surely we can grasp the fact that He flooded the entire earth, or parted the sea so His people could escape capture, or resurrected His Son from the dead.

We, ourselves, can’t do any of these things; it’s not within our power to do so. This fact makes it quite difficult to believe that these things are possible. We simply must suspend disbelief and realize that there are things that a divine being can do that we simply can’t. 

I believe that’s why the Bible begins the way that it does. In Genesis, we’re told in detail how God created the heavens and the earth, then populated the earth with a man and woman and a multitude of animal species. 

He just puts it all out there right off the bat. If we can accept the truths found in Genesis, the rest of the Bible shouldn’t be a problem for us. 

The question is, do you believe the narratives found in the Bible? If you struggle to believe what you read in scripture, ask God to strengthen your faith; He’ll do it. He wants us to wholeheartedly accept Him and His ways.

To do so, it’s necessary to put aside human logic and accept the fact that God’s divine nature can’t be explained using our limited logic.

If you can do that, you can begin to commune more fully with God and worship Him as the Divine Creator that He is.

Just remember—it’s not always supposed to make sense. If it did, we wouldn’t need faith. And we’re told in Hebrews 11:6a that without faith it is impossible to please God.

So exercise your faith today. Don’t worry about understanding God. Simply worship Him by pondering on His glorious attributes. 

Now Is the Time For Eternity

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

There’s really nothing more important than salvation and our eternal destiny. If we really stop and think about it, it’s horrifying to picture someone cut off from God forever, lost and suffering in hell. It’s almost too awful even to imagine it—the thought of eternal suffering with no end in sight.

As humans, we cannot fathom eternity. Even if we live a long life by human standards, most of us would be fortunate to see a century of life on this earth. This length of time in no way compares to eternity. We have no experience that can give us an inkling of what that is like.

But when I begin to think about eternity, I don’t want anyone to suffer for that duration. And I don’t believe God wants that either.

That’s why He sent Jesus, his Son, to be our Savior. He made a way for us, His creation, so that we might live with Him forever. He did that because He loves us, even though we are imperfect sinners.

We don’t really deserve God’s mercy and love, because of all the wrong things we do each day. Yet, he loves us anyway, despite our flaws. 

Because of Jesus’ human birth, death, and resurrection, we have access to God’s saving grace. Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins once and for all when he was crucified mercilessly on the cross 2000 years ago. 

If you’ve never accepted this grace, then now is the perfect time to do so. All you have to do is believe that Jesus is Lord over all and came in the flesh, invite Him into your heart as your Savior, repent of your sins, and ask Him to help you live a sin-free life.

Then, find a Bible-believing church to become a part of and get baptized as a sign of your renewed life. It will be the best decision of your life. You’ll then be a believer in Christ and can rest easy at night knowing that your eternal destiny is sealed.

Becoming a Christian won’t make all your trials and challenges magically disappear, as many times in the Bible we’re told that we’re likely to suffer for the sake of Jesus if we’re his disciples. 

But you’ll have the reassurance that God is with you every step of the way, through the good times and the bad.

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Heb.13:5b

What could be better than that?

With God on our side, life can be a wonderful adventure each day, no matter what we’re faced with.

So, go ahead, make the decision to let Jesus be Lord of your life. There’s no better time to do it than now.