Living By The Word

  “ Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. ” (2 John 1:3) At the start of and throughout each new day, we should offer heartfelt expressions of praise and gratitude to a holy God of mercy and grace who is worthy of all honor and glory. This just and righteous God will one day judge our lives and how we’ve used the time, talents, and resources that He has entrusted to our stewardship. First, though, the L ORD offers by the gifts of His grace and mercy, the opportunity for forgiveness and salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. We can be eternally grateful that our praiseworthy Creator is a gracious and merciful God. Grace and mercy are Christlike qualities that we should seek to cultivate in our lives as believers empowered by the Holy Spirit. Opposite sides of the same coin, divine grace and mercy are the roots of God’s willingness to forgive even the most grievous of our sins...

  “ If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ” (Romans 10:9) Over the course of our lives, we develop personal belief systems that guide our thoughts, words, and actions. As a kid growing up in a loving home, I was taught traditional Christian values that define who I am. Today, however, these cherished principles that I try to live by are under brutal attack by a worldly society that is quickly turning away from Christian morals and the absolute truth of God’s inspired Word. At the risk of ridicule and persecution, Christians must steadfastly defend our deeply held convictions and boldly obey our command by Jesus Christ to share our faith and the gospel of salvation with non-believers in a loving way. Modern society falsely claims that there are many roads to heaven, but the ultimate reality is that Christ is the only way! Jesus said to him,  “I am   the way,   the truth, an...

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;   but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.   For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21) What earthly treasures are dear to your heart? Many misguided people center their lives on the pursuit of money and other idols that they love and value above the development of a personal, soul-saving relationship with God. That’s a sad commentary on life in a godless modern society, especially given Jesus’ warning in this passage from the Gospel of Matthew that the riches and material possessions of this world are temporary, fleeting, and subject to theft and destruction. We must recognize that all we have is a product of the goodness and grace of God, the giver of every good and perfect gift. When we recognize Jesus as our Savior and faithfully seek to...

  “ So Jesus answered and said to them,  “Have faith in God. ” (Mark 11:22) Sadly, our Christian faith can fluctuate with our changing fortunes. As flawed human beings, our trust in God often ebbs and flows as we move from joyful times to sorrowful periods in our lives. That reality was demonstrated biblically, for example, when the trusting father of a boy possessed by a deaf and dumb spirit from childhood cried out with tears before Jesus healed his son , “ Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) Even devout believers who seek to live in trusting obedience to God occasionally lapse into moments of unbelief, particularly when we experience hardships and difficulties. Satan is constantly at work trying to deceive us and create doubt in our minds, but we need to remember that Jesus Christ lives in us through the Holy Spirit. We are thus empowered to be overcomers “because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ” (1 John 4:4) When fear...

  The skies do not lie! “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1) I seek to worship and serve an awe-inspiring God of unimaginable goodness, abounding grace, and matchless glory. As certain as the daily rising and the setting of the sun, He is faithful to bless those who trust and obey Him. “For the LORD God is a sun and a shield. The LORD will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)

  “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)   Vital links and integral components of modern transportations systems, graceful bridges are among the most beautiful and functional parts of the world’s great infrastructures. These stately structures, of course, span obstacles such as bodies of water, valleys, highways, and other barriers for the purpose of providing safe passage over the obstacle that could otherwise prove detrimental or be impossible to cross. Bridges connect people and places that would otherwise remain physically apart and isolated.   Extending this concept to the spiritual realm, a loving God created mankind in His own image and gave us the will to freely make our own choices. When our earliest ancestors Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God rather than to obey Him, deadly sin infected humanity, separating us from God and putt...

“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) We all know how difficult and stressful it can be to break through the automation and talk to a living, breathing human being when we’re trying to resolve problems or transact business over the telephone. Even if we are fortunate enough to ultimately get a customer service representative on the line, the often nerve-racking experience usually involves waiting on hold for long periods of time. Dealing with government departments, large corporations, and other impersonal agencies can be a real nightmare because of limited accessibility due to heavy demand for their products and services and the ever-growing complexity of the society in which we live. “ For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. ” (Ephesians 2:18) We sometimes throw up our hands in frustration when it comes to interacting with bureaucratic organizations and institutions in an increasingly indifferent world. As Christians, however, we c...

  “ For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ” (Matthew 6:14) In order to please God and pursue a lifestyle befitting His children, Christians must readily forgive those who have wronged us. We cannot expect God to forgive us of our sins if we are unwilling to pardon others who have trespassed against us. Believers are directed to go about, to quote Colossians 3:13, “ bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also  must do . ” Modeling the ultimate example of forgiveness, Jesus cried out from the Cross for God to show compassion to those who brutally crucified Him, saying, “ Father,   forgive them, for   they do not know what they do. ” (Luke 23:34) A few years later Stephen, the first Christian martyr, echoed Jesus’s prayerful plea as he was being stoned to death.   Acts 7:60 says that Stephen “ knelt down and cried out wit...