“God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.”
– Psalm 46:1-3

Indeed, God is a very present help in times of trouble! Note well that the psalmist isn’t surprised that trouble comes. He expects trouble as a normal part of life. We should too. God doesn’t shield His followers from experiencing trouble. He provides refuge and strength for His people during trouble!

There will be times when the world feels completely unstable and uncertain. It will feel like the familiar ground beneath you is shifting and collapsing under your feet. However, God is steady, stable, and certain. Seek Him diligently, in good times and bad! Make Him your refuge and your strength. Too often we try to “gut it out” or “figure it out” on our own. We turn to self-help remedies or we self-medicate through any number of distractions or addictions to numb ourselves to the chaos around us. Instead, we should turn to the Lord! Cry out to Him, for He is very present! He may feel absent or distant, but that’s just your heart deceiving you. God IS present with you!

When you feel like the waters are rising and raging all around you, seek the peace of God. Take shelter in Him, knowing that whatever happens in the world around you, your future and your soul are secure in Him. He will give you the strength you need to endure and glorify Him. He will give you the grace for each moment, hour, and day of trouble – if you will seek Him moment-by-moment, trust Him hour-by-hour, take refuge in Him day-by-day, and serve Him in His strength.

“Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.” – Luke 17:3

Isn’t it strange how often in church life we manage to do the exact opposite of what Jesus told us to do? Here, Jesus teaches an important lesson on how to live harmoniously and in holiness as the body of Christ. Yet we often do the opposite – avoiding confrontation while failing to forgive.

Jesus tells us to rebuke our fellow Christian when he or she sins. This, doesn’t mean gossip about them, ignore them, internalize our anger toward them, flame them on social media, ice them out in church, or humiliate them. It means practicing the bold, loving, humble, gentle, direct, honest confrontation described in Matthew 7:3-5. This is something we’re commanded to do – for their good, our good, and the good of the body of Christ (the church)! Rebuking fellow Christians isn’t optional.

Then we’re called to forgive then afterward when there’s repentance. That can be even harder! This isn’t a call to superficial or fake forgiveness where nothing is actually forgiven. This isn’t a call to a forgiveness where you store up ammunition to throw in their face down the road. This isn’t a call to ongoing, low-level retribution. This is a command to forgive the way God forgives you for your sin! This is a call for total, complete forgiveness in which relationships are healed and the wrong is never spoken of again. Gospel forgiveness is hard, but it’s made possible because Jesus died to make it possible!

So, are you ready to rebuke and forgive? Continuing to do the opposite, as we so often do, poisons the body of Christ, poisons relationships, and poisons our own souls. Rebuking and forgiving aren’t easy, but they’re absolutely necessary!

“And he said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.’” – Luke 16:15

God is interested in what’s inside us, not what’s outside. Appearances don’t interest Him, inner realities do. So much of what we (all of us, Christian and non-Christian alike) chase after, elevate, and celebrate is exactly what Jesus says here — an abomination! In this context, He was particularly describing the pursuit of wealth, but there’s many such abominations in our hearts!

We pursue, elevate, and celebrate wealth, fame, “influence”, radical individuality, power, and the destruction (literal or figurative) of those with whom we disagree. We exalt these things, we celebrate them, and we build empires upon them. Nonetheless, they’re an abomination in God’s eyes! As followers of Jesus, we must reject these things in ourselves (and they’re definitely present within us).

God desires hearts of holiness, love, mercy, and justice. He desires humility, faithfulness, and kindness. He wants us to pursue heavenly wealth and riches rather unjustly pursue earthly treasure. The virtues God cherishes aren’t celebrated in our culture. They are largely rejected, mocked, or ignored. Often they aren’t even celebrated in our churches, frequently being rejected there as well. Nonetheless, God knows the truth about us. Seek His exaltation, not that of others! Ask Him to reveal to you any pursuits and passions you may have through which you seek or enjoy the praise of others but which God finds abominable.

“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” – Luke 15:7

It’s incredibly easy to underestimate the joy and priority God places on the salvation of the lost! In Christian life, we often get focused on our own needs, our growth, and the affairs of our particular church or ministry. These are good and important things, but they can easily crowd out the spread of the Gospel – by us personally and by our churches. And yet, that’s our most fundamental task!

In our pursuit of good and important things for those who are already saved, we must never forget, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus Himself left behind crowds with legitimate needs to prioritize His saving message of repentance. The sharing of the good news of Jesus Christ, the work of planting gospel seeds, watering them over time, and serving in the harvest fields must take priority in our lives and churches.

We get excited when someone we know and care about puts his or her trust in Christ. We get excited when someone we don’t know puts his or her trust in Christ. However, our delight and celebration is nothing compared to God’s! God knows each person perfectly and cares profoundly for all. His love and desire is for each person carefully crafted in His image to repent and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God’s joy and celebration when one who was lost turns to Him and is reconciled through Christ’s work on the cross is unimaginably wonderful. As His people, let us always remember God’s joy and prioritize the important task and privilege Christ has given us to bear witness to Him!

“And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.” – Deuteronomy 18:21-22

There are a startlingly large number of people in the present day claiming to be Christian “prophets”. The prospect of this sounds quite exciting – a new word from God for today! Many Christians find this compelling, while others find it confusing. What should we say about these prophets??? Christian, Beware!!!

Laying aside the deep, complex, and important theological question of whether prophecy is even going to happen today since the canon of Scripture (i.e. the Bible) was completed, let’s briefly look at this phenomenon from a few perspectives. First, since God perfectly revealed Himself through Jesus Christ and explicitly revealed Himself through Scripture, it seems unlikely that He would also continue to send forth numerous prophets after that was completed. Perhaps a few, but certainly not so many!

Second, we should expect any modern “prophets” to function in a manner consistent with God’s prophets throughout history. The bulk of Old Testament prophecy wasn’t devoted to foretelling the future, but to critiquing the spiritual and moral failures of God’s people (today that would be the church). Because God is a God of order, we should expect the same. True prophets should be expected to devote the bulk of their words to critiquing the church for failures of love, mercy, and justice. That doesn’t generally seem to be the case!

Third, many of these so-called prophets have a track record of error. The Old Testament was clear: if a prophet gave a prophecy that was false, he or she was a false prophet. In those days, they were to be executed. Today, rejecting and ignoring them completely and permanently should be sufficient. Many of these so-called prophets have already made outlandishly false prophecies and should be shunned.

Fourth, prophets of God should always present a message consistent with the Scripture and teaching of God’s character. A prophet inciting Christians to behaviors or attitudes inconsistent with the character of Jesus Christ is a false prophet.

Ultimately, what a “prophet” believes to be a message from God may come from one of three sources: God, Satan, or self. Discerning that source can be tricky, but every Christian must nonetheless be discerning for him or herself. Don’t be fooled into following someone just because you’re attracted to what he or she claims to be revealing from God. Scripture says such false teachers will proliferate in these last days. Christian, beware!