July 17, 2014
Paul quoted David’s psalm (Psa. 32:1-2) to support his explanation about how being made right with God is not by works, but by faith alone. When we place our faith in Christ and receive forgiveness and salvation, His blood not only covers our sin, it washes it away. Our “record” is “cleared.” The Lord did not clear them by merely erasing them. This would not satisfy His justice. No. He cleared our record by charging our sin to Jesus’ record, so that God’s wrath and justice was poured out on Christ. There is now no condemnation left for us who believe (Rom. 8:1). What joy! Our record is cleared of sin!
July 16, 2014
We are not able to keep the law of God. It is holy and perfect. We are not. Yet, God made a way for us through Jesus, who fulfilled the law and paid sin’s penalty in our place. When we “place our faith” in Christ, God counts us as righteous. A great exchange has taken place. Jesus took our sin, our death and our separation from God. So that we might receive His righteousness, His eternal life and His Sonship. Jesus paid it all, so that we might be “made right with God” by simply “placing our faith” in Him.
July 15, 2014
After others expressed their fearful advice to David, he responded with confidence in the Lord’s sovereignty. Their advice suggested that the “foundations of law and order” in their nation had “collapsed” and that the best thing for David to do was to “fly like a bird” and hide in the mountains. But David declared his faith that God still reigns, that God still sees and knows in spite of circumstantial evidence to the contrary. When we despair that our nation and our world is filled with injustice and violence, and it seems that God is absent from the earth’s affairs, we can declare our faith in the Lord’s sovereignty. We can call on the One who still rules and watches closely. He will answer in His good timing.
July 14, 2014
The Lord knows all our hopes, but surely He moves towards helping the helpless. Those who think themselves strong and in control, need no god. They are their own. Yet those who recognize their helpless state, cry out and the Lord hears. As Jesus taught, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3). Admit your helplessness, so that the Helper might answer.
July 13, 2014
The beauty and order of creation points to the unseen Creator, yet sin has lowered humanity’s vision to the visible creature. With an innate need to worship, they praise nature instead of nature’s God. This fallen focus puts a lie at the center of their thinking, so that their thinking devolves into foolishness and futility. This falsehood cannot be exposed without spiritual power. Mere words and human persuasion will not suffice. Sin has blinded their eyes and their minds are darkened. Only the power of God and the preaching of the gospel can shine the light of truth and reveal their need to repent and be saved.
July 12, 2014
Today is my 56th birthday and this verse is more dear to me than ever. I have always loved it, but as I get older my love of the gospel “Good News” grows while my other cares decrease. When I was younger I had many cares. I sometimes struggled with being a people-pleaser. I wanted people to like me, to approve. I wanted to come across as being intelligent and witty. But I learned that people weren’t persuaded by intellectual arguments or cool cultural allusions. They needed the gospel. Only the gospel has the power to persuade and save. It is the power of God at work in me and in all who believe. I am thankful to God that He has given me another year of life to preach the Good News. I am not ashamed.
July 11, 2014
Paul was under house arrest in Rome for at least two years (Acts 28:30). During this time he was able preach the gospel without restraint to all who would listen. What the enemy had meant as death, the Lord had turned into a platform for declaring life. Paul’s captivity led to great freedom for his ministry and hearers. Instead of focusing on his difficult circumstance, Paul saw it as an opportunity to preach Christ. I wonder how many Roman guards became Christians during this 2 years? They were Paul’s captive audience day after day as he taught from the Scriptures.
July 10, 2014
The psalmist David wondered at the immensity and beauty of the night sky in comparison to the small stature of humanity. He poses a rhetorical question concerning God’s care for man, then answers it in the psalm with observations about man’s creation and authority under God. We can almost picture David gazing at the night sky and writing this meditation. Putting the words to music, he opens and closes the psalm with praise of God’s majesty. “O Lord, our Lord,” he writes, moving his attention from the great Creator (O Lord) to the personal Redeemer of Israel (our Lord). For the Lord God is both transcendent and immanent. He is omnipotent and holy, yet personal and present. The God who made everything cares for you.
July 9, 2014
Marriage is God’s idea. It is His provision for man’s need for companionship and oneness. This oneness is three-dimensional, involving the physical, the soul and the spirit. It is God’s plan for having children and parenting. The Bible opens and closes with a wedding and God is intimately involved in both. This proverb describes God’s favor in the finding of a good wife. She is to be treasured and received as a gift from God. When a husband and wife view one another as a gift from God to be received and cherished, they begin to experience the oneness that He intended.
July 8, 2014
Leadership gurus often instruct their clients to write a personal purpose statement to bring focus to their life. Paul was a man who often declared his personal purpose statement. Here, he announced his purpose to “testify to everyone” about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. When a life is lived with such singular purpose, it burns like a laser with focused energy. Paul said, “This one thing I do,” not these thousand things I dabble in (Phil.3:13). What’s your life purpose?