Do you believe Jesus is coming back soon? If so, what does it mean to live in light of that truth?
When we don’t, we may end up living like the people in Jeremiah’s time who needed God’s rod of judgment, as we will see in our Old Testament reading.
And as we dig deeper into Psalm 119, we will see how knowing and contemplating God’s Word can help us stay clear of sin and grow in our understanding of God and His will.
Solomon said that God has put eternity in our hearts. Most of us have had those times, perhaps even as a child, when we wondered about eternity and what would happen when we die. Even believers can wonder about eternity. If not where we will spend it, we wonder what eternity will be like.
Today, TV producers and movie-makers, while not focused on death and eternity in a godly way, seem obsessed with the afterlife. Movie and TV screens are full of vampires and the so-called living dead, a perversion of the kind of eternity that God places in our hearts.
But there was a time when the dead came out of their graves and the Bible says it will happen again. But instead of bodies ravaged by death and filthy grave clothes, they will receive bodies fitted for heaven.
Have you ever heard someone say, “I might as well live it up, I’m going to hell anyway?” Maybe that’s you. The feeling that our spiritual condition is hopeless and not worth the effort is nothing new. Is there hope for us if we feel like we have gone too far and that our sin is beyond redemption?
Also, read about God’s faithfulness to those who continue to follow Him even in the midst of an evil world, how our hearts can so easily deceive us, and how important it is for all of us to give and receive encouragement.
Magic, mediums, spiritists, and witchcraft, what does the Bible have to say about these things? And what about Christians and our participation in Halloween? How can well-meaning, God-loving Christians have so many varying views on that subject?
The world says, “Follow your heart.” But Is that really good advice? Is it possible that our hearts can lead us down the wrong road? What does the Bible have to say about the heart and why would we do well to heed its warnings?
Also read about God’s discipline of His children, godly friendship, and how Paul handled the need to offer constructive criticism.
These are challenging times to be a believer. There is a huge clash of worldviews. The truthfulness of God’s Word is being attacked on many fronts. Perhaps, you are being attacked personally for standing for the truth. How should a believer respond to those attacks?
Also, read about the source of our strength, the value of staying where God has placed us, and the importance of earnestness in prayer.
James said God’s Word is like a mirror. What do we look for when we check our appearance in a mirror? Possibly to see what doesn’t look right, where we might have dirt on our faces or something else that isn’t how we want to look. What should we look for when we look into the mirror of God’s Word? Paul’s letter to the Colossians gives us some ideas. In fact, the chapter might be considered a checklist for Christian maturity. Why not take a look into the mirror of God’s Word and ask yourself, “Which of these characteristics describe me and which don’t?”
Itching ears, false worship, and the queen of heaven: what do they have to do with one another? We might say they all have to do with our theology or how we view God and his Word.
And we all have some kind of theology. It may be formal or it may not. It may even be the result of things we have heard and practiced for many years, even as children. But because something is popular, our religious tradition, or “the way we have always done it,” doesn’t make it biblical.
In today’s Old Testament passage, God condemned the nation of Israel for their false religion and idolatry. Centuries later, when a Samaritan woman met Jesus and pointed out what was popular in her religious tradition, He told her, “… those who worship [God] must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4.24)—spirit, with the right heart attitude, and truth, according to His Word.
So what has formed your theology? And is it biblical?
Recently we’ve talked about how to have peace in place of the anxiety and distress so many are facing today. We also looked at various kinds of legalism, including how it might look in our parenting, how some of our politicians are too much like one of Israel’s kings, the test of genuine faith and so much more.
A quick scan of the links below will show you the wide variety of subjects we’ve covered. There are links to the posts here on the website and to the YouTube version.
I hope you’ll check out a few.
God had a problem with those in Jeremiah’s time. So, He sent the Prophet to warn them of coming judgment. Instead of listening, their leaders assured the people they were fine with God. After all, they were His people, they had His temple and He would never let it be destroyed. And when the Prophet and others tried to speak the truth, it was a reproach to them. They hated it and refused to listen.
Sadly, many of our leaders today have, also, compromised the truth. Rather than biblical morality, they are more concerned about popularity, being politically correct, and being re-elected than the well-being of the nation, spiritually or otherwise.
Even many of our spiritual leaders seem more concerned with not offending anyone than with speaking the truth. While we can’t fully understand all the motives, it seems that selling books and filling their churches are more important. Even whole denominations have twisted the truth to accommodate the culture in which we live and have deceived many.
And from our New Testament reading, how did the Apostle Paul pray? Could his prayers become a model for ours and hold a key to how we should pray for our families, our leaders, and our nations?
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