Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“But I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.”
– Psalm 52:8

God’s steadfast love (“hesed” in Hebrew) is spoken of over and over again throughout Scripture. It’s central to His character. He is the God of steadfast love. His love is quite unlike our shallow human (especially 21st century) notions of love. God’s steadfast love is unwavering and unchanging. It isn’t conditional or transactional. It doesn’t increase or decrease based on His mood, the weather, what we’ve done for Him lately, or the situation of the world.

God’s steadfast love is an unshakable foundation upon which we can build our lives. The Psalmist describes God’s love as the source of perpetual nourishment and life-giving abundance that makes him like a green olive tree. By making the commitment to trust in God’s love forever, he knows he is forever fruitful and healthy.

During this time of uncertainty, difficulty, frustration, anxiety, and genuine suffering, put your trust in God’s steadfast love. Though the world around you may feel hostile and strange, God’s love will provide all you need to thrive. This is the love that never fails. This is the love that sent His Son Jesus into this world to suffer and die for our sins. This is the love that raised Jesus from the dead and the love that fills us with a fountain of living water when we put our faith in Jesus. This is the love that forgives our every sin and mistake in Christ and the love that in Christ we will enjoy forever and ever in God’s presence.

“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!”
– Psalm 51:2

The good news is that delightedly God answers this prayer through Jesus Christ! When we put our faith in Jesus, embracing Him as Lord and Savior, God forgives us. Whatever we have done, or whatever we do, when we confess it to God and ask His forgiveness in Christ, we have it. Jesus took the penalty for our sin, so that God could forgive us graciously, mercifully, kindly, and lovingly.

When you ask God’s forgiveness, understand that His forgiveness is total! It isn’t grudging, it isn’t conditional, it isn’t simply being stored up to throw back in your face later. God freely forgives us, cleans us up, and restores us to Him. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise or use your guilt to manipulate you!

If you’re struggling with guilt from something in your past or present, ask God’s forgiveness and understand that it’s yours immediately and completely. Let your guilt go, because in God’s eyes, it’s already gone! Know deep in your soul that in Christ you are a new creation, you are clean, you are forgiven. In Christ you have meaning, purpose, and value as a human being. Say good-bye to guilt and shame and embrace your loving Savior Jesus. Find peace in the presence of God your Father.

“So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.” – Joshua 6:20

We live in an age that routinely sits in judgment on the plans of God, the revealed will of God, and the nature of God Himself. We think it right, necessary, and appropriate to determine which parts of God’s Word, will, and plan “make sense” to us, which seem appropriate for our image of a God of the Universe, and which are “still relevant”. Anything we don’t agree with personally we explain away or rationalize ignoring. Even people who claim to love God tend to pick and choose from God’s Word like someone walking down a long buffet line.

Enough! As we see in the story of the fall of Jericho, our responsibility and right isn’t to question God’s plan and decide whether He makes sense from our perspective. Our responsibility is to respond in faith, simple, childlike faith, and actually do what He says. Sometimes God’s plan makes no sense to us. There may well be aspects of His design with which we disagree. But He is the sovereign Creator of the universe and He operates at a completely different level of understanding than we do!

We need to embrace Him as Lord and when we do, that means actually embracing His design for our lives rather than constantly questioning it. The Israelites had to think God’s plan to bring down the city wall was crazy. But they followed it anyway. Faithful, joyful, confident obedience when we don’t understand is often the test the refines and strengthens our faith. When we obey in faith, rather than constantly critically judging God in reason, we are likely to ultimately realize the wisdom of God and catch a glimpse of His glory. When we obey despite not understanding or agreeing, we will be blessed!

“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” – Luke 22:19

When Jesus established what we call the Lord’s Supper, He made clear what He was about to give up for our benefit: everything. Through His miracles, wisdom, and sin-free life, Jesus made clear that He was the eternal Son of God. Then He prepared to surrender His body to abuse, torture, and excruciating death, for our sake. His body, given for us.

His body would be broken and His innocent blood spilled for our benefit. By this sacrifice Jesus would establish an entirely new covenant between sinful man and our holy God. This would not be a covenant of laws, rules, do-this, don’t-do-that, self-discipline, good works, or animal sacrifice. This new covenant, long prophesied and anticipated, was a covenant of grace – of God’s unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor, blessing, love, and forgiveness for His sinful people through faith in Jesus Christ His Son.

Forgiveness, cleanness, and eternal life were given to us through a holy body broken for our sake. Thus Jesus commanded us to remember His sacrifice. By doing so, we remember that we’re saved not by our own goodness but by His. We’re reminded that we’re saved not because of what do, but because of what He did once for all of us. We give humble thanks for the willing sacrifice of our glorious Savior!

“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.”
– Proverbs 10:11

We live in an age of outrage that substitutes volume and venom for wit and wisdom. Research indicates that being negative gives the appearance of being smarter and many today have embraced that “intelligence”. Then we lament why everything is so messed up (actually we don’t, we just blame someone else)!

Proverbs 10 has a great deal to say about what we say, the words that come out of our mouths. If Christians read Proverbs 10 and took it to heart, the world would begin to be a better place! For those who are truly in Christ, our words should and will be life-giving, nurturing, and nourishing to the hurting and wounded that surround us. We always should be sharing words of hope, comfort, welcome, encouragement, and loving correction. Always. Solomon says that for those who are wicked, words are lies and weapons, tools of deception and destruction. Sadly this has become the norm today. Thus we stand at a point where our culture is more about scoring points and firing up our friends and allies than coming together to actually deal with hard problems.

Jesus is quite clear in Matthew 15:17-20 – the words that come out of your mouth reflects the actual content of your heart. This should challenge each person who calls themself a follower of Christ. What words flow out of your mouth in public, in private, and online and what do they say about your heart?