Why bother living right? After all, everyone else seems to be living any way that makes them happy. Couples live together without ever marrying yet still attend church without criticism or shame. Others divorce because they are no longer happy together. And in many other ways, those who claim faith in God live lives that look more like the world rather than faithful Christians.
So why not? Are they just lifestyle choices that don’t make that much difference? Are the things in the Bible mostly suggestions for a better life? And if they really are sin, since God is willing to forgive sin, why not just live any way we want and confess them later?
Do you have any uncommon friends? You know the ones, friends who encourage you and help you grow in your walk with God? And what kind of friend are you, a common friend or an uncommon friend? While each person is precious to God, he or she may or may not be an uncommon friend. Common friends abound. They are the norm. But uncommon friends are rare blessings from God!
Also, read about how we are not only saved by grace but kept by grace and about the importance of preaching the gospel to ourselves every day.
What does it mean that God “remembers our sins no more”? Does it mean He forgets? And does He expect us to forget when others have hurt us? What can we do when those past hurts keep coming to our minds? Discover a helpful process that can truly help us walk out forgiveness.
Also, have you ever wondered “Where is God?” when you’re hurting? Why doesn’t He seem to be answering your prayers? Why does He allow hardships to continue? What might He be doing when trials drag on?
What if God gave you a dangerous assignment? What if it meant risking your reputation or your career or your financial security or some other temporal benefit?
Would you be willing to go? Would you raise your hand and say, “I will go and if I perish, I perish”?
Also, our passage in Proverbs warns us about the slavery of debt and Paul, in our New Testament reading, hits us with the issue of sin and then shows us God’s cure.
Most of us are familiar with the proverb: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” But we all know kids who were raised in church and, yet, have walked away from God. What went wrong? Did their parents miss something? Did God fail to keep His Word? Do we have a parental guarantee that our children will always walk with God?
Also in today’s post:
As we start the book of Esther, we’ll look at what God was up to, and the un-fairy-tale-like ending for the other young virgins taken as “potential queen for a night.”
And from Romans, we’ll read about God’s warning to us concerning the danger of self-righteously judging others. So, as you can see there’s a lot to talk about in these passages.
An unwillingness to accept and believe the truth about God can start an individual or a society on a dangerous downward spiral. But that rejection is not done in ignorance. Romans 1 tells us that creation alone provides each of us with enough knowledge to know there is a God. It’s not a lack of truth. Instead, men and women suppress the truth because they don’t want to hear it and they don’t want to respect God’s authority in their lives. The consequences are evident in our world today.
Many of those who reject the truth most vehemently are, also, the most educated in our society. Our schools, colleges, universities, and many professions are full of people who think they are wise with all their science, business acumen, and knowledge. But though they claim to be wise, God says they’re fools if they reject Him and His authority!
It’s what has been called “The Great Exchange.” We get to exchange our failures for His perfect obedience, our sin for His righteousness. If Christ is our Savior and He lives in us, then God’s faithfulness, mercy, and righteousness are ours!
Nehemiah 8.10 says, “… the joy of the Lord is your strength.” How did the people in Nehemiah’s day go from brokenness over their sin to joy? Why should we find joy for the same reasons?
Also, read about the importance of different spiritual gifts, why it’s so important to understand the character of God, and how God uses the storms in our lives.
We have all known once seemingly faithful pastors and other believers who have fallen into sin or simply let their walks with God fall by the wayside. Too often they leave destruction, even despair, in their wake. What about you? Could you be drawn away from God’s call on your life by flattery, fear, money, success, favor with the right people, or other distractions? What can we learn from Nehemiah about protecting our testimonies, our jobs, and our ministries from those things?
Today our churches are full of people who do religious things. They go through the motions and may even look like faithful Christians to others. But God is always looking at the heart. Many of them have never understood or embraced the gospel and so have not experienced genuine heart change. Others are trying to appear one way while living another. When they do, it’s just empty religion and not pleasing to God. Could any of this apply to you or me?
