Author: Brian Burdett

“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.”
– Psalm 146:1-2

It’s been a long and difficult year for so many. However, all the things the psalmist goes on to praise God for remain true today. His plans remain eternal. He is still creator of heaven, earth, sea, and all that is within them. He still keeps faith forever – His promises are certain and His love for those made righteous by Christ cannot be shaken. He still executes ultimate justice for the oppressed and provides for those in need while calling and empowering His people to do the same. He loves and cares for the immigrant, the widow, and the orphan while opposing the wicked.

God is, and always will be, worthy of praise. When our circumstances get us down and our thoughts turn inward to ourselves, let the people of God take those thoughts captive and turn them to the contemplation of the majesty and glory of Almighty God. He is merciful and gracious, patient, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. He is just, holy, good, righteous, and kind. He is wise, powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present. He will neither leave us nor forsake us.

Praise God today. Praise Him tomorrow. Praise Him every day that you draw breath!

“For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.” – Ezra 8:22-23

When times are tough and threats are everywhere, it’s all-too-easy for the people of God to forget that our most powerful tools are fasting and prayer. As humans, those don’t seem like enough – we feel that we must do more! That’s a terrible mistake. Earthly power, cultural acceptance, physical security, and government approval all pale in comparison to the power available through boldly coming before the throne of God with our requests! Our fasting focuses our prayers and our prayers invoke the limitless power of God to address the limited challenges we encounter.

As one year ends and another dawns, there are so many challenges facing us as followers of Christ. We must proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the face of increasing skepticism. We must teach the unchanging faith of God in the face of our ever-changing culture. We must speak on behalf of the unborn and support and minister to the most vulnerable among us. We must make disciples who make disciples. We must create Christian community during a time of increasing isolation.

Sustained faithfulness and effectiveness in all these things is beyond our earthly ability! Though we would prefer dramatic displays of strength, we must instead discipline ourselves to fasting and prayer. We must learn to rely, as the early church did, not on our own resources, capabilities, and connections but upon God’s daily provision of grace and strength along with His enduring power to knock down strongholds and open closed doors.

“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” – Psalm 145:4

God has always had one primary plan for preserving the faith across the centuries: personal sharing from one generation to the next. Churches, organizations, institutions, and schools certainly have an important role to play. However, the most fundamental structures God created to preserve and advance the faith are personal relationships.

Each generation is called to pass their faith on to the next. Parents telling children the great stories of the Bible and their own personal experiences of God’s greatness and faithfulness. Grandparents giving testimony to God’s work in their lives and their ongoing relationship with Christ. Older believers nurturing the faith of younger relatives, neighbors, and students.

If you’re a follower of Christ with younger people in your personal sphere of influence, then you have a responsibility! You don’t have to be a highly trained pastor or Bible teacher. You just need to be willing to speak of God’s greatness, kindness, mercy, love, holiness, and righteousness in your own life. What has God done for you personally? You should be eager to share what Christ did for you on the cross and encourage the next generation to receive those benefits for themselves by faith.

Who in your life needs to hear about the mighty acts of God?

“Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build.” – Ezra 4:4

If you stop to think about it, this is a profoundly sad statement. God had moved the spirit of the mightiest king on earth to send the Jewish exiles home to Israel to rebuild the temple. God had overseen their safe travel back and provided for the work. Nonetheless, when the locals got upset, the people of God became afraid to do what God had commanded and provided for them to do. They forgot everything God was doing in their midst and focused on the opposition in front of them. Fear defeated faith.

Sad as this is, this isn’t an isolated incident in the history of God’s people. Nor is it merely a relic of the past. When God commands us to act, it’s still normal for there to be opposition. In fact, if there were no opposition, we should probably make sure we’re actually in God’s will!

That said, when the opposition comes (and it will), how will you react as a follower of Christ? Will you live in fear? Will you be discouraged from doing what God has called you to do? No!

We must not let the discouragement of friends, family, neighbors, opponents, or strangers keep us from doing the work God has prepared for us. We must be diligent in sharing the Gospel, ministering to those in need, and advancing God’s Kingdom here on earth. Don’t let people discourage you from actively following Jesus every single day!

“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:” – Ezra 1:1

There’s been an awful lot of angst-filled hand-wringing about leaders this year, hasn’t there? That’s certainly quite natural. However, desperation, anger, hatred, and fear about earthly leaders isn’t appropriate for Christians! Such an attitude misunderstands and even insults God’s power and sovereignty. Too many Christians act like functional atheists in believing that God needs help or that Christ or the church needs earthly protection.

God has always been completely clear: He alone makes nations rise and fall. He alone appoints leaders, both good and evil. He is 100% in control of history and uses even ungodly pagans like Cyrus to accomplish the things He promised and willed to do.

Christian, don’t put your love and hope in any earthly leader. Ever. Trust in God alone. Don’t compromise your Christian witness because of your dislike of any earthly leader. Be Christ toward that leader, toward those who disagree with you, and toward those who agree with you.

The world isn’t going to end because of some earthly leader. God is just as much in control today as He has always been. You do what Christ has commanded you to do. Let God take care of the rest!