Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” – 2 Peter 1:3

This probably isn’t the Thanksgiving you imagined at the start of the year. This probably isn’t the Thanksgiving you planned even a couple of months ago. This year has tested us, stretched us, isolated us, frustrated us, hurt us, and divided us. But we still have many things to be thankful for!

This year has clarified what’s truly important. It’s clarified what can’t be taken away by circumstances, situations, crises, and governments. It’s made clear how precious it is that in Christ God has already given us everything we need for the eternal life we already enjoy.

Give thanks for God’s glorious, overflowing, undeserved grace in revealing Himself to us. He didn’t have to make Himself known, but He did. Give thanks for God’s grace in saving us by sending His own beloved Son, Jesus, to suffer and die for our sins. Give thanks for God’s grace in inviting us to believe in Jesus and receive forgiveness for every sin, no matter how terrible, and eternal life in Christ. Give thanks that God has given and preserved the Bible to teach us about Himself and Jesus, how to truly follow Jesus, and how to live our lives and navigate this ever-changing world.

Give thanks for God’s goodness and generosity that we don’t have to pay for these blessings, we don’t have to earn them, we don’t have to deserve them, but that God gives them out of His love, kindness, and mercy. Give thanks that in Christ, we are united with God, one with Him, filled with His Holy Spirit, comforted by Him, strengthened by Him, challenged by Him, transformed by Him, and deeply loved by Him. Give thanks for the many wonderful things in your life that can never, ever be taken away!

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:6-7

God cares for you! Could there be anything more wonderful to be thankful for than this in this messed up, painful, discouraging, frightening, lonely, and confusing year? As you reflect on those things for which you are thankful, move this to the top of the list: the Almighty Creator of the Universe cares for you personally!

God loves you. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then God has adopted you as His own precious son or daughter. He loves you deeply. He hears your cries, your sorrows, your triumphs, your agonies, and your frustrations. He understands your pain and your fears. He invites you to literally toss every anxiety of your heart and mind at Him in prayer so that you may enjoy peace and rest deep within your soul.

So this Thanksgiving, it’s OK to laugh and it’s OK to cry. It’s OK to acknowledge it’s been a rough, tough, rotten year and that you’ve never felt less in control. Rather than letting that ruin your Thanksgiving, let it humble you before your loving Heavenly Father. Give thanks that while you are weak, He is strong, that while you feel lost at times, God is firmly, wisely, and wonderfully in control. Give thanks as you’ve never done before because God cares for you and every detail of your life!

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” – 1 Peter 4:12-13

Well, we can’t say that we weren’t warned!!! Fiery trials are an expected part of the Christian life. There’s nothing enjoyable about them, but they are normal. Hard times will come upon us as we walk in faith. We shouldn’t seek them out, but we should know they will find us anyway. This makes complete sense – our Lord Jesus went through terrible trials. Why should His followers be exempt?

Scripture is consistent in teaching that we shouldn’t just grit our teeth, complain, and trudge through trials when they come. No, we’re told over and over again to rejoice during them! We are to rejoice during terrible tests of our faith and our faithfulness. We aren’t to rejoice because we like pain or because we’re supposed to pretend the trials don’t hurt. These trials hurt terribly!

We are to rejoice precisely because they hurt so bad! We are to rejoice because in the fiery trials we share in the sufferings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus endured every temptation and suffered terribly as He was betrayed, arrested, abandoned, humiliated, tortured, condemned, and brutally killed. Jesus suffered terribly as He endured God’s rightful wrath toward our sin on the cross.

As we suffer in Christ, we share in Christ’s suffering and it reminds us that we will also share in His glory. We will share in His resurrection. We will share in His eternal presence. We will share in His inheritance in heaven and the new earth. The fiery trials of our lives, when experienced in Christ, point us to the eternal joy, comfort, peace, and delight that lies ahead of everyone who believes in Jesus. Rejoice!

“The one who lives with integrity will be helped,
but one who distorts right and wrong will suddenly fall.”
– Proverbs 28:18

Increasingly we live in a truth-optional culture. It seems that truth is quickly thrown overboard to advance nearly every cause on almost every side of every issue. If truth is inconvenient or facts don’t fit the preferred narrative, they’re ignored. Lies are simply made larger and louder. The end apparently justifies the means and power and victory seem to be our highest goals.

At the same time, right is increasingly called wrong, wrong is increasingly declared to be right, evil is celebrated and good is castigated. Good is bad, bad is good. This is the world in which we live today.

As Christians, we must NEVER participate in any of this! It doesn’t matter the goals we could accomplish if we participated. It doesn’t matter the consequences of refusing to participate. As servants of the God who cannot lie, we must live with integrity, confident in God’s help, even if the rest of the world goes against us. Our integrity can never be stolen from us, but we can very easily surrender it. We must not speak lies, share lies, repost lies, shade truth, tweet or retweet false information, or support those who do. We must be intentional and diligent in checking anything we pass along to make sure we don’t foolishly surrender our integrity and Christian witness.

Likewise, there’s only one source and standard of right and wrong and it doesn’t change. God’s Word, the Bible, must be our source of right and wrong. We must never celebrate or participate in the ongoing distortion of right and wrong. We’ll likely pay a near-term price for that, possibly quite severe. We’ll certainly be unpopular, considered backward, primitive, and cruel. Nonetheless, to do otherwise guarantees a sudden and eternal fall one day. Great will be our ruin if we twist the truth and switch right and wrong!

“Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” – James 5:11

As a church we’ve spent a good deal of time considering the steadfastness of Job. There is great blessing in steadfastness! When we stay the course, faithfully following God wherever He leads, despite long periods of suffering, loneliness, anxiety, and fear, God blesses and rewards that. God honors our worship, prayer, service, and evangelism during hard seasons.

As we all know, God doesn’t move on our schedule. He moves on His own perfect timetable that works everything together for good. We must never give up hope, for we know that God will triumph, reward, and bless in the end. During long, dark, and difficult times we are strengthened by the knowledge that God knows and sees everything that we do for Him. He is most glorified when His people remain faithful for as many months, years, decades, or centuries as it takes to accomplish His will.

So be patient this winter. Be steadfast. Sing and praise and pray, even when you don’t feel like it. Worship God whether you feel like it or you don’t. Serve and share Christ even when you hurt and know that an eternity spent with our compassionate and merciful Lord lies before you in Christ!