Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“And rend your hearts and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.”
– Joel 2:13

God is Who He Is. He truly is gracious and merciful, giving us good things we don’t deserve and relenting from giving us the harsh things we actually deserve. God truly is patient and faithful in His love for us, with a strong desire to forgive us for our foolishness rather than punish us for our sins. The greatest proof of His nature is the sending of His Son Jesus into the world to die on a cross to atone for our sins.

However, when we realize the error of our ways and the horror of our sins, we must honestly confess and repent. We must truly return to God, not just make a show of returning while continuing to indulge in our same behavior. In Old Testament times, God’s people would often put on a public display of sorrow for sin by tearing their clothes. However, God isn’t interested in outward displays of sorrow or repentance. He wants our hearts to genuinely be sorrowful for rejecting His authority. He wants us deeply aware of the seriousness of our offense and the magnitude of His grace.

God doesn’t want us to change our clothes, He wants us to change our ways! If you ever find yourself deep in sin and feeling distant from God, remember that He’s always present and ready to forgive in Christ. He longs to embrace you in love. However, you must truly confess your sins to Him – agreeing with Him that you have rebelled against Him and run after what was right in your own eyes. You must truly repent, not merely saying you’re sorry, but living a changed life free of that sin. Whenever we sin, we must figuratively tear our hearts and truly return to God, submitting to His authority, grace, mercy, and love. He will always forgive. #FollowJesus

“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” – Romans 10:13-14

Here’s some good news that comes with responsibility! The good news is that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved. Everyone! Everyone sincerely seeking the joy and salvation that’s only available through Jesus will find it. There’s no application or approval process, no pre-qualification, and no background check. Everything was taken care of by Jesus on the cross and now salvation is available freely to everyone by God’s grace through faith in Jesus.

The responsibility that goes along with that good news is that people can only call on the name of Jesus if they’ve heard His name. They may yearn for salvation but will never know how to be saved, forgiven, freed, adopted, and loved until they’ve heard the good news that Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, made those things possible. How will they hear? Only if Christians tell them.

For 2000 years, people have heard the name of Jesus and called on Him for salvation because Christians have told them about Jesus. Not just super-Christians. Not just professional Christians. Ordinary Christians living their daily lives and telling people about Jesus as they work, play, shop, study, and relax.

Around the world, there are over 3 billion people who currently have virtually no chance of ever hearing about Jesus to be able to call on Him. That will only change if Christians devote more time, talent, and treasure to going, sending, and praying for them to hear. Closer to home, you’d be astonished at the number of people you encounter every single day who’ve heard the name of Jesus, but have no idea who the Bible says He is. While “everyone” might know His name, most don’t know and haven’t heard the Good News. They need to hear it. From you.

Work and pray for the spread of the Gospel around the world. But speak Jesus as you go about your daily life. Make sure those around you have heard so that they can call on His name and be saved. #FollowJesus

“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” – Romans 10:1-2

Today, there are countless people around the world who are genuinely zealous to know God but don’t. They know God exists, they acknowledge and perhaps even want to submit to Him. They yearn to know their Creator but they don’t have saving knowledge of Jesus. They have zeal for God but not according to knowledge, just as Paul describes. They’re missing knowledge about Jesus. Jesus was very clear that He is the one and only way, truth, and life. Apart from knowing Him as He truly is, the resurrected Son of God, it’s impossible for anyone to come to God the Father.

The question for you, if you’re a follower of Jesus, is “Is it your heart’s desire and prayer to God that they might be saved?” Paul was filled with concern for them. It drove much of his work and caused him great sorrow. His soul ached for those who wanted to know God but didn’t know Jesus. He prayed for them, wept for them, and shared the saving knowledge of Jesus with them. Is your heart filled with a desire for those who are seeking God apart from Jesus to know the truth? If not, spend time thinking about them, their zeal, and their present eternal fate apart from Jesus.

This is a call to evangelism and to missions. God’s mission is to redeem people for Himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation by grace through faith in His Son Jesus. Are you part of His mission? If not, spend time reflecting on Paul’s concern for those who hadn’t yet embraced Jesus and pray for God to give you a similar burden for those zealous for Him but lacking saving knowledge of Jesus.

As a follower of Jesus, get involved in doing His Great Commission to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching people to obey Him. Learn about missions and the global effort to reach the unreached peoples of the world. Pray for God’s mission and missionaries. Contribute to God’s missionary work by sending missionaries, welcoming missionaries, supporting missions financially, and going yourself. Let your heart be burdened for those who don’t yet know Jesus, then do something about them! #FollowJesus

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” – Romans 8:16

Certain things happen the moment you put your trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You become new creation. The righteousness of Jesus is credited to you. Your sins are forgiven. You receive eternal life. You are united with Jesus Christ. You are adopted by God as His beloved child. And the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, begins to live within you, sealing you as belonging to God forever. Your body becomes God’s temple on earth. All that happens in an instant.

That begins a lifelong process of following Jesus, sacrificing and serving Him while growing and changing in the power of the Holy Spirit to become more like Jesus. Over time, the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) should begin to appear in your character, replacing your rough edges. This process will be uneven. You will have successes and you will have failures. Sometimes you will feel close to God and sometimes He will feel distant. Sometimes you will grow rapidly and sometimes you will doubt your own salvation. You may well doubt God’s presence in your life at times.

It’s for these times of doubt that Paul reminds us of the Spirit’s testimony. If you’ve seen spiritual growth in your life, then you can trust that you truly are God’s beloved son or daughter. If you aren’t the same person you were when you first believed in Jesus, you can trust God’s presence in your life. If you’re changed for the better, you can trust that God’s Spirit is working in you, even if He’s moving slower than you’d prefer. If you have more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control than you did previously, you really are sealed by the Spirit. If you have a spiritual gift that you’re using for God’s Kingdom, you can be certain of your citizenship in that Kingdom. When you doubt, review the testimony of the Spirit in your life and continue to faithfully #FollowJesus.