Author: Brian Burdett

“Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.” – Romans 3:27

No matter how well you have your act together, the grace of God is a reminder that there’s no room to brag. No matter how carefully you follow every rule or law… no matter how good, nice, moral, or generous you may be… it’s nothing compared to God’s amazing grace! Your best good works could never be enough to wash away your sinful thoughts, words, actions, or inactions. No matter how hard anyone tries to scrub themself clean, no one can wash the stain of sin from their soul. Despite our best efforts, the imperfect can’t make ourselves perfect.

But God’s grace makes us perfect in His eyes. God’s grace washes our sin-darkened souls completely clean. And His grace is given entirely through faith in Jesus Christ, His sacrificial death on the cross, and His resurrection. Our restoration and reconciliation to God can only come as a gift from God, never by being “good enough”. It is a gift lovingly given by our Creator so that we’ll never, ever be able to boast or brag about what we did to get right with God.

As followers of Jesus, we’re called to pray, to worship, to love, to serve, to obey. But these things do not save us. We don’t get to brag about these things as if we’d in some way helped ourselves escape the consequences of our sins. These things are the right response to God’s grace. We do them out of joy and delight that by grace we are precious children of God. These things are the joyful expression of the love we have been given by God through faith in His Son. There is no room for boasting about what we’ve done, just boasting about how awesome our God and Savior is! #FollowJesus

“I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.’”
– Psalm 16:2

Where do ALL the good things in your life come from? The Lord! None of us have anything good apart from God giving it to us. He is not only the Source and Sustainer of our lives, He is the gracious Giver of every single good thing we will ever have. It is by His will, His sustaining grace, and His strengthening and equipping of our bodies and minds that we enjoy every blessing in life. EVERY BLESSING!

It’s not just that God gives us every blessing. It’s that He gives us the ability to enjoy those blessings. Apart from Him, even our blessings would feel like curses. We simply have no good apart from Him. All the good in your life flows from God in Heaven. Contemplate this truth until you fully believe it in your heart. Then take time to rejoice and thank Him for everything. Be specific about the blessings God has poured out on your life. Try to list and count them all, though you surely won’t be able to. Live a life of gratitude and #FollowJesus

“Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” – Romans 1:32

What Paul wrote in the second half of Romans 1 might as well have been written directly to and about our modern American culture. We have become a people who know so much and yet are completely darkened and foolish in thought. God is not widely worshiped, honored, or thanked. Instead, he is loudly and proudly rejected or reduced to a cartoonish imaginary figure. We know so much about creation and the creatures all around us that many have come to functionally worship those rather than their Creator! We indulge in and applaud every kind of lustful sin and appetite, claiming those things define who people are.

Followers of Jesus must not fall into this dark, sinful, and foolish pattern of thought! It doesn’t matter what our culture says, does, teaches, or mandates. Those who call Jesus Lord must be careful to obey God’s righteous decrees. We must NOT give approval to those who reject them. This is a serious challenge for Christians navigating our culture today. We must not only reject sin in our own lives, we must be extremely careful not to approve of sin in the lives of others. We must not put our stamp of approval on the greed, cruelty, or sexual immorality that are widely celebrated in our culture. We must not falsely declare that because God is gracious, merciful, and loving He is OK with sin of any sort.

God is holy and righteous. We must be holy and righteous. And we must hold firmly to His holiness and righteousness in all that we say, do, or give approval to. Take a few minutes to carefully read Romans 1:18-32. Consider whether you have accidentally or intentionally given approval to any of the sins described there in order to keep peace or gain popularity in your family, community, school, or work. Christians must be loving at all times, but we must also clearly hold to, and present, God’s holy, righteous standard. #FollowJesus

“Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?”’” – Jeremiah 36:28-29

Powerful people often hate God’s Word. Evil people always do. So do immoral, sinful, cruel, and selfish societies. It was true thousands of years ago and it’s still true today. That hatred can’t change the truth of God’s Word. Efforts to silence God are ultimately futile. God has spoken and His Word will endure! The desperate desire of political, financial, and cultural elites to suppress God’s Word will ultimately fail. Those efforts certainly won’t change the eternal fate that has been written by the unchanging hand of God.

Ignoring God’s Word isn’t a winning strategy. Not for the powerful and not for ordinary people. Neither is arguing with God’s Word. Neither is trying to destroy or undermine God’s Word. Neither is twisting God’s Word for personal purposes. The only winning strategy when it comes to God’s Word is to listen to it, embrace it, and obey it! That brings life and blessing. That brings transformation and wholeness. That is the power of God’s Word.

What do you do when you discover that you disagree with the Bible? When you don’t like what it has to say? When the Bible disagrees with your politics or social mores? When it points out some sin or shortcoming in your life? Do you argue with it, ignore it, or submit to it? Do you try to change God’s Word or change yourself? There is only one response that brings life and blessing. Hear God’s Word and obey it! #FollowJesus

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” – Judges 21:25

The Book of Judges is a biblical horror story that unfolds over 400 years. It chronicles Israel’s ever-deeper descent into cruelty, sinfulness, selfishness, and violence. Why did this happen? Because the people were governed by their own appetites, opinions, ideas, and judgments rather than the word of God! They submitted to no authority other than their own. Countless lives were shattered because of it.

Godlessness isn’t freedom, it’s death! God had given them everything they needed to enjoy long and blessed lives in the Promised Land. But they ignored it and did whatever they felt like. Whatever they hungered for. Whatever they rationalized. Whatever they excused. They lurched from one terrible decision to another as they “lived their truth” with disastrous consequences. They fought, kidnapped, raped, murdered, and committed genocides among themselves. All while periodically asking God’s advice and blessing in their terrible situation.

The only way out of such a disastrous pattern – then and now – is to stop making yourself the king of your life! Submit to God as your King. He alone is the perfect, just, and wise King Who can bless your life forever. Stop listening to the voices and influences that lead you deeper into sin and disaster. Embrace Jesus as your Lord and enter into peace with God, Follow Jesus and let His guidance and commands give you true freedom and blessing. Let His love fill your soul, pushing out the fear, contempt, and cruelty that so easily infects our sin-darkened hearts. #FollowJesus