Deception

Readings for today: Genesis 27-29

I flunked out of college after my sophomore year. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go home because I was actively lying to my parents. I didn’t tell them about my heavy drinking. I didn’t tell them about my excessive partying. I didn’t tell them I was skipping class and no longer showing up for my work study. And back in those days, they didn’t really have any way to verify the truth of my story though I am sure they knew something wasn’t right. The story they heard from me was that I was doing well but just wanted a year off. A “gap year” before gap years were popular. I would remain in Boulder and work and live before registering for school the following year. Sadly, one lie led to another and another. My relationships suffered. I began to feel isolated and alone. Sure, I covered well but I was dying inside. Finally, I came clean. First, to my girlfriend at the time. A godly woman who is now my wife. Then my close friends. Then my brothers. And last of all, my parents. Though it was freeing, it was a painful process. Eventually, we recovered but I had to work hard to regain their trust.

The first word that comes to mind when I think of Jacob is deception. Here was a young man who deceived his disabled father. Took advantage of his blindness to steal his older brother’s birthright and blessing. Rather than come clean and face the music, he ran away from home under the auspices of “finding a wife.” When he reached his uncle’s home, he didn’t share what happened but accepted his hospitality under false pretenses. Little did he know that he’d met his match. Two could play the “deception” game. So Laban was able to marry both his daughters off to Jacob and get fourteen years of labor in return. One can only imagine the impact both men’s deception had on the family dynamic. Family meals must have been awkward affairs especially since Jacob favored Rachel over Leah. Then Leah began to have children while Rachel remained barren. More awkwardness that will lead to all kinds of competition and deception and accusations between the women. All part of the ripple effect of Jacob’s initial sin.

How many of us have a similar story to tell? How many of us have felt the ripple effect of sin in our own lives? How many of us have experienced the pain that comes along with it? How many of us have lied or deceived those we loved only to find it backfiring on us later in life? It can be tempting in a moment to shade the truth. To exaggerate. To withhold a certain amount of information. Sometimes for what we may think are good reasons. But deception only leads us down roads with dead ends. We end up in cul-de-sacs of our own making. Life and relationships get stuck and don’t go anywhere. And if, by the grace of God, we find a way through, it will not happen without a lot of pain and suffering. Much better to tell the truth. Live transparently and vulnerably and honestly before others.

Readings for tomorrow: No readings on Sundays

Growing Old

Readings for today: Genesis 24-26

I had the privilege this week of spending time with some of the most incredible pastors on the planet. They are committed and faithful and passionate about the Lord and the people they serve. Some are going through hard times. Some are experiencing seasons of great blessing. Some are young and just getting started in their professional career. Others are older and nearing the end of the road in their ministries. Some are middle-aged like me who are just beginning to realize there is more behind us than in front of us. It’s sobering when you start to see the end. And I am thankful these pastors are aging with deep grace. They want to make sure those who come behind them are successful. They want the transition for their churches to be smooth. They are doing all they can to prepare themselves emotionally and spiritually for the day when they preach their final sermons.

I thought of these pastors as I reflected on the life of Abraham today. Our reading today says “Abraham was now old, getting on in years, and the Lord had blessed him in everything.” (Genesis 24:1 CSB) It also says, “This is the length of Abraham’s life: 175 years. He took his last breath and died at a good old age,  old and contented,  and he was gathered to his people.” (Genesis‬ ‭25‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭CSB‬‬) What a gift! Abraham finished his race, “old and contented.” I can think of nothing better. As he looked back on his 175 years on earth, he could see God’s blessing in everything. He recognized he had lived to a “good old age.” He had been given more years than he deserved and lived more life than he could possibly have expected. He had lived long enough to see his child, the child of promise, grow up. He had lived long enough to see his family and clan and tribe increase. He was wealthy in so many ways. Finally, at a specific time ordained by God, he was “gathered to his people.” He died surrounded by those he loved.

I hope I am able to finish like Abraham. To grow old with grace and complete confidence in the plans and purposes of God. To finish my race knowing I am simply one small leg on a much longer course and my job is to pass the baton well. It’s one of the many reasons why I appreciate the pastors I was with this week so much. They want to do the same. No matter how many years God gives us, there will come an eventual end. How are you preparing for that day? Have you entrusted it to God? Are you resisting growing old or embracing it, trusting God with what comes after you?

Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 27-29

Promise

Readings for today: Genesis 20-23

The theme of promise runs strong throughout the Bible. And perhaps surprisingly, it is God who makes most of the promises. Why might that be surprising? Because in an ancient near east culture, it was the subjects who made promises to the king, not the other way around. It was the lesser parties who made promises to the greater. The less powerful who served the powerful. Devotees of the pagan gods of the Canaanites made all kinds of promises to their gods when they offered their sacrifices with little to no guarantee of any return. But the God of the Bible is different. He is both the Promise-Maker and the Promise-Keeper. It’s why the great 20th century rabbi, Abraham Heschel, once remarked that all human religions detail humanity’s search for God but the Bible tells the story of “God’s search for man.”

Think about all the promises God has made humanity thus far. He made promises to Adam and Eve, even after they were cast out of the Garden. He made promises to Cain, even after he murdered his brother. He made promises to Noah and his family. He made promises to Abram and Sarai, in particular, the promise of a child. A son through whom God would work His great salvation plan. Yes, Abram and Sarai tried to take matters into their own hands with Ishmael and God was gracious. He blessed Ishmael but he wasn’t the child that was promised. God will not allow anyone or anything to stop Him from delivering on His promises. So Isaac is born. Abraham is one hundred years old. Sarah is ninety. God turns Sarah’s initial laughter at the absurdity of the idea of a child into joyful laughter as everyone who hears her story rejoices with her over what God has done.

Ephesians 3:20 says, “God is able to do far more than we can ever ask or imagine.” I think this is why God is the one making all the promises in Scripture. Because we wouldn’t even know where to begin. We don’t know what to ask for much less have the imagination to comprehend all God has in store for us. Our minds our bounded by what’s possible, meanwhile God promises the impossible. Our hearts are so easily discouraged when things don’t go our way, meanwhile God is using all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. We are finite creatures who are limited to what we can see, touch, taste, hear, and smell. God is infinite and not subject to the laws of the universe He set in place. What God has promised, He will deliver. You can take it to the bank. In fact, this is the very definition of saving faith. Romans 4:21-22, “Abraham was fully convinced  that what God had promised, he was also able to do.  Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness.”

Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 24-26

Ishmael

Readings for today: Genesis 17-19

You may be familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous phrase, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.” Though he found himself in the midst of a titanic struggle for civil rights in our country, he was confident God was on his side. Bending what humanity intended for evil for the ultimate good. I see a similar dynamic in play when I reflect on the life of Ishmael.

Born of a slave woman. Set aside in favor of another. Cast out of his home to die. Robbed of any inheritance due to the jealousy of another. The odds were stacked against Ishmael. He could easily have perished in an ancient near east context where internecine family rivalries could be fierce and bloody. Furthermore, he was the product of sin. Conceived due to Abram and Sarai’s lack of faith. A potential threat to the covenantal promises of God. As such, he could easily have come under God’s judgment. But the arc of God’s grace is long. The wideness of God’s mercy cannot be measured. The breadth and depth of God’s love cannot be plumbed. So Ishmael is included in God’s blessing. He is given his own set of promises. He will be fruitful and multiply. He will become the father of many tribes. He will become a great nation.

Ishmael is a great example of how God takes even our sinful human choices and bends them to His sovereign will. He can use even our lack of faith at times to bring about his purposes in the world. This is hard for us to understand. We too often believe the lie that there are some choices we cannot come back from. Some decisions that take us past the point of no return. Some sins that are more heinous than others that condemn us to hell. None of it is true. God’s grace is greater than we can possibly imagine. It is greater than our greatest sin. It is greater than our worst mistake. It is greater than any horrible decision we may make. It’s why we sing, Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 20-23

Belief

Readings for today: Genesis 14-16

What does it mean to believe God? Too often, we apply a modern lens to our reading and interpreting of Scripture. We fail to acknowledge that though the Bible was written for us, it was not written to us. It was written to a particular people who lived at a particular time in a particular culture with a particular worldview. One that is far different than our own. We live in a post-Enlightenment world. A world shaped and formed by rational processes. A culture built on the dictum, “I think therefore I am.” Therefore, when we talk about “belief”, we shift into the realm of philosophy. Abstractions. Theories. We ask a set of questions that would never have even crossed Abram’s mind. We ask things like, “Is there a god? How would I know? What evidence is there for or against god?” These questions are the hallmarks of what Charles Taylor calls the “disenchanted world.” A world where the bias is against God. A world where God has to prove His own existence. A material world where “reality” is confined to what our five senses can confirm.

Abram lived in a far different world. An “enchanted” world where the spiritual was just as “real” as the material. God was taken for granted. His existence provided the foundation for all of life. “Belief” in Abram’s world was not philosophical. Those questions were assumed. It was deeply practical. Abram didn’t just believe in God as an abstract concept. He trusted God with his life. He trusted God would make good on His promises. He was fully convinced God was able to do what He said He would do. So when God tells Abram he will have a son, Abram believes God. He trusts God. He puts it in the bank. And this is why Abram is declared righteous.

Faith does not make one perfect. Abram is obviously not a perfect man. One chapter after he is declared righteous for believing God will provide a child, he takes matters into his own hands. He grows impatient and decides to follow his own plan and the plans of his wife, Sarai. The Hagar/Ishmael story is a tragic one though God eventually brings good out of Abram’s sinful decision. Hagar will be saved. Ishmael will become great in his own right and the father of many nations. Sadly, many of those nations will become the blood enemies of the descendants of Isaac, the promised child. But still Abram is lifted up as righteous. And this is the insight that hit the Apostle Paul like a thunderbolt. His righteousness must come by faith not by sight. It must be dependent on Abram’s trust in the Lord not the works of his hands. Despite his many mistakes and failures, Abram truly believed God. He trusted God. He followed God. He put His life in God’s hands over and over again. This is what it means to believe in a biblical sense and it remains our challenge to this day.

Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 17-19

I Will

Readings for today: Genesis 12-13

I will. Such powerful words. Especially in a world where we too often expect “I won’t.” It’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve had to learn in my life. God’s will for me is good not evil. God’s will for me is blessing not curse. God’s will for me is joy not sorrow. God’s will for me is peace not conflict. God’s will for me is love not hate. God is positively disposed towards me. He wants to give me good gifts. He has an eternal inheritance stored up for me. He has a plan for me. A plan to give me hope and a future.

For most of my life, I believed God’s primary words to me were “I won’t.” You can’t. Thou shalt not. It shaped how I perceived God. I perceived God as a stern judge. A harsh taskmaster who didn’t tolerate failure. I had an unhealthy fear of the Lord. A relationship based on fear and shame and trembling. I assumed God punished me for every misstep. Every mistake. Every wrong turn. I assumed God was just waiting to cast me out. Send me to hell. Torment me eternally. The pressure to perform was immense. The pressure to be perfect was overwhelming. To be honest, I cratered under it. I collapsed. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have the strength or ability to manage it. So I turned to all sorts of things to cope with my failure to live up to God’s commands. None of them satisfied. Not for very long. Then I heard the gospel for the first time. I heard about the unconditional love of God. The free gift of God’s grace. The infinite depths of God’s mercy. It was life-changing.

I cannot begin to express how much the shift from “I won’t” to “I will” impacts my life. Every morning I wake up and my first thought is to say “Good morning” to God. I sit quietly in the warmth of His presence. I sense His smile upon me. No matter what I am facing that particular day, I know my Father already knows and has it handled. I may not have it all figured out. I may not have the wisdom or strength to handle the challenges. But I walk with confidence because I know God’s power is made perfect in my weakness and He will work all things to my ultimate good.

Abram must have experienced something similar in his own life. Look at all the “I wills” in these two chapters. I will make you great. I will bless you. I will make your name great. I will give you this land. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth. These are powerful promises, especially for a man who has experienced so much grief and hardship in his life. A man whose wife is barren and whose future prospects seem dim. A man whose legacy will end with his death. Abram must have thought his life was full of “I won’ts.” But God was faithful. He turned Abram’s “I wonts” into “I wills” and the rest is salvation history. What would it look like for you to approach today with the understanding that God “wills” your good? Are you willing to trust Him?

Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 14-16

Family

Readings for today: Genesis 10-11

God loves families. God created the first human family. He ordained the first human marriage. He created humanity to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. So He commanded Adam and Eve. So He commanded Noah and his children. So He will command Abram and Sarai in just a few chapters. God’s desire is for humanity to fill the earth. Rule in His name over all He has made. This is why the Tower of Babel is such a problem. The people would not scatter. They were refusing to “fill the earth.” Instead, they sought to make a tower that would stretch to heavens. A physical signpost they could look to as they wandered so they always knew they would be safe. Much like ancient mariners who always tried to stay within sight of the coastline, the people were too scared to accomplish the mission God had set out for them. So God, in an act of grace, confused their languages and scattered them Himself. He pushed them out of the nest. And the people spread out across the globe, each developing their own language and customs. However, no matter how far afield they went, they still remained part of the same family. A family God loves with all His heart.

God loves the human family. In fact, He loves us so much He chose one particular family to bring about His covenant promise. They don’t know it yet but God has great plans for them. If you stop at Genesis 11, there is nothing remarkable about this family that would suggest what’s to come. Nothing foreshadowing the miracles and signs and wonders God will do in and through and for them. In fact, there are problems with this family. Sarai is barren so it seems the family name will be carried on through Nahor rather than Abram. Haran, the father of Terah, has died in Ur and something prompts Terah to take his clan to Haran. What it is, we don’t know. God has yet to reveal it to us. While they settle in Haran, tragedy strikes again and Terah dies, leaving childless Abram and Sarai, along with Nahor and Milcah, to decide what to do next. Should they return to Ur? Stay in Haran? Continue on to Canaan? Again, if you don’t know the story, these are open questions.

God loves the human family. God loves Abram and Sarai’s family. God loves your family. Perhaps you’re facing some open questions today? Perhaps the future of your family seems unclear? Perhaps you’re wrestling over what to do next? A relocation? A career change? Kids leaving home? Parents moving into graduated care? There are so many open questions in life. The other day, one of my daughters left for Australia for six months. We put her on a plane with no idea what she will experience while she is over there. She is nineteen years old. So much of her life in front of her. So many different directions she could go. So many things she could see and do. We have no idea what God has waiting for her only that God IS waiting for her over there. And He will be faithful. Just as He was faithful to Abram and Sarai and all who have come before us.

Readings for tomorrow: No readings on Sundays

Memory

Readings for today: Genesis 8-9, Psalms 12

Remember. It’s an important word. Even more, it’s an important spiritual practice. As we begin a new year, it’s important to look back on the previous year and remember all that God has done for us. Perhaps even make a list. Count our blessings. Recall to mind the number of ways God made Himself known to us in our struggle, heartache, grief, and pain. 2024 will forever be the year I lost my father. He died suddenly on a Saturday morning in March. As we gathered at the house to wait for the coroner to finish her work, I felt the presence of God. I remembered how God brought my father to faith when we were in Israel. I remembered his baptism in the Jordan River. I remembered the many ways God had softened his heart over the years. And I am thankful. 2024 is also the year my son left for college. I remembered the struggles we went through in high school. I remembered the challenges he overcame. I remembered the people God brought into his life to help him change. Grow in his self-confidence. And now he is launching out on his own. I am thankful.

And God remembered Noah. Does this mean God had forgotten? Noah and his family had slipped God’s mind? God lost track of them as He ran the universe? Not at all. God remembered Noah is another way of saying “God was faithful to Noah.” God would not forget Noah. God would remain true to His promise. The floodwaters recede. The earth reappears. The act of new creation is completed. Noah is given a renewed creation mandate to be fruitful and multiply. But I imagine the PTSD of what they went through was strong. So God gives them a sign. A rainbow in the clouds. Every time the clouds gather and they feel the fear inside - “is this going to be another flood?” - God makes the rainbow appear so they will not worry. They will know God has not forgotten His covenant. God will never again flood the earth in an act of judgment. “I have placed my bow in the clouds,  and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant  between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature. The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the permanent covenant  between God and all the living creatures on earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and every creature on earth.” (Genesis‬ ‭9‬:‭13‬-‭17‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

What signs has God given us of His faithfulness? A child born in Bethlehem. The cross. The empty tomb. Jesus Christ is the ultimate sign that God will be faithful to His covenant. Jesus is the sign that God always remembers. He will not leave us or forsake us, much less forget us. He loves us with an everlasting love. He has made a permanent, eternal covenant with us through the blood of His Son. Seed time and harvest. Cold and heat. Summer and winter. Day and night. None of these shall pass away until God’s covenant finally comes to completion when Jesus comes again in glory. Until that great day comes, we are called to remember God’s covenantal works. Cling to God’s covenantal signs. Trust God’s covenantal love.

Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 10-11

Favor

Readings for today: Genesis 6-7

Favor. It’s a core human need. A primal desire within all of us. We all want to be looked on with favor. We all want the approval of others. We all want to be supported, blessed, encouraged, esteemed. A friend of mine reached out the other day. He’s got an important interview next week. I told him I would pray for him to have favor with the interview team. Another friend is seeking to close on a home. She needs her mortgage application to come through. I told her I would pray for her to have favor with the lender. A couple I’m working with is struggling. One of the things I pray regularly over them is favor. I pray they would favor each other even as they seek the favor of one another.

Noah found favor with God. What an incredible statement. In the midst of all the pain and heartbreak in the world, one man still seeks God. One man still walks with God. One man is found righteous with God. Blameless in his generation. Does this mean Noah is perfect? Of course not. Part of our problem is we always think favor has to be earned. We think favor is something we achieve. If I do something for you, you will look with favor on me. But that’s not really favor at all, is it? Not at least the way the Bible talks about favor. Favor flows from relationship. Favor is the natural response of God to a heart that is turned towards Him. Abel’s heart was right with the Lord so He looked on his offering with favor. Noah’s heart was right with the Lord so God chose Him to be a new Adam. As such, he represented a fresh start. A fresh start for humanity. A fresh start for the world.

How does one find favor with God? The same way Abel did. The same way Noah did. The same way all the saints of the Old and New Testaments did. By faith. We look to God by faith. We seek God by faith. We nurture a relationship with God by faith. We follow God by faith. We trust God by faith. We orient our hearts towards God by faith. A man named Augustine once wrote, “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God.” Restlessness is what happens when we aren’t sure we are favored. When we aren’t experiencing favor. When we have lost favor. It could be with our spouses or children or friends. It could be with colleagues at work or at school. It could be in our community. Most of all, our hearts will be restless until we find favor with God. Make it your aim in 2025 to seek favor with God above all else.

Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 8-9, Psalms 12

Communion

Readings for today: Genesis 3-5

Communion. It’s what God created in the beginning. Communion with Him. Communion with one another. Communion with the world He had made and all that is in it. Communion is a blessing. It is sweet and intimate. It connects us. It is marked by joyful and mutual submission. It serves as a blessing to all who enjoy it. It’s a relationship that benefits everyone. When humanity lives in communion with God, we live openly, freely, transparently. We are protected from any kind of shame or guilt or coercion or manipulation. We have nothing to fear. Nothing to be anxious over. Nothing to worry about. And these benefits flow into the other relationships we enjoy in life. Relationships with family and friends. We find our communion with one another deepening and becoming more rich and full and sacred. Furthermore, these benefits convey to the work we do in the world. Our gratitude for the blessing of being able to enjoy and exercise dominion over all God has made. The land flourishes. Society thrives. God is honored. This is what God intends for us.

Alienation. Sadly, we chose to chart our own path. We chose to go our own way. We allowed the lust of the flesh - the fruit of the tree was good for food - and the lust of the eyes - the fruit of the tree was delightful to look at - and the pride of life - the fruit of the tree was desirable for obtaining wisdom - to warp our perspective. The result was alienation. We became alienated from God as we sought to hide from Him in the Garden. We became alienated from one another as we sought to shift the blame and entered into a power struggle. We became alienated from creation itself as it became resistant and hardened to our desire to exploit it for our own benefit. As one African theologian put it, this is what happens when we choose communion with the “ancient serpent” over communion with God.

Communion and alienation. We make choices every single day to pursue one or the other. From the moment we wake up in the morning until the moment we lay our head down at night, we are making decisions that lead to deeper communion with God, one another, and the world around us or greater alienation with the same. And we cannot claim ignorance. God has shown us what a life lived in perfect communion looks like in the Person of Jesus Christ. He has literally come to earth to show us the way. To mark the path. To map it out for us. The fundamental question for us is the same as it was for Adam and Eve. Will we believe God or will we trust the serpent? Will we trust God or will we trust ourselves to discern right from wrong, truth from error? Will we rely on the wisdom of God or will we seek to be wise in our own eyes?

Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 6-7

Word

Readings for today: John 1:1-3, Psalms 8, 104

Words. Words are important. They are essential to communication. We use words to express ideas, give shape to thoughts, and bring definition to the world around us. We use words to convey meaning and purpose and values. Words have power. The power to hurt and the power to heal. The power to hinder and the power to help. The power to curse and the power to bless. When we use words well, the world around us experiences life and love and joy and peace. When we use words poorly, the world around us experiences death and hatred and grief and violence. Words are critical to understanding our world and our place in it. Words are vital in discerning truth. Words are the key to learning wisdom.

As important as our words are, they are ultimately finite. They are limited. They cannot begin to describe the majesty and glory of our Creator. Our words fail when it comes to describing God. We can use every word that has ever existed in every language throughout human history around the globe and still not scratch the surface of God. He is beyond human words and human expression and human language and human understanding. This is why we need the Word.

Word. The Word is different than human words. The Word is God’s expression of Himself. God’s revelation of Himself. God communicating Himself to us in a language we can understand. Jesus is the Word of God incarnate. The Word of God made flesh and blood. But He has always been the Word. He was present and active at creation, speaking the universe into existence. He was present and active even before creation, existing in eternal fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. One God, Three Persons, Blessed Trinity. In the beginning was the Word. John is deliberately recalling the opening words of Genesis to convey a fundamental truth. The Word is God. The Word is with God. The Word is the Creator God. And all that has come into being was made by Him and through Him.

This is a stunning revelation. Almost all of the creation narratives of the religions of the ancient world involved a great war between good and evil. Good typically wins and dismembers evil, thus creating the world and all that is in it. Creation birthed in conflict. The universe formed by violent processes from the beginning. Much of modern science would agree though they would depersonalize and demythologize it. The Big Bang is a violent explosion that results in a rapid expansion of matter. Stars are formed when molecular clouds collapse under the weight of their own gravity thus creating the conditions for nuclear fusion. When massive stars reach the end of their lives, they can turn into black holes with a gravitational pull so intense nothing can escape, not even light itself. Meteors pummel moons and planets throughout our solar system. Asteroids cruise through the universe primed for collision. It’s not a safe environment at all. So one can understand why the ancients believed what they believed.

This is what makes the creation story in the Bible so remarkable. God speaks the world into existence. God tames the chaos through Word not power. God makes everything good. God sets everything in order. God rests on the seventh day. There is nothing analogous to it in any other religion in the world. It’s one of the many reasons to believe it is divine revelation not human myth. It’s simply not credible to think that any human being or human society would come up with this on their own.

Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 3-5

Genesis

Readings for today: Genesis 1-2

Genesis = origin, creation, in the beginning. Studying the opening chapters of the Bible gives us a window into God’s realm. It gives us a picture of what our world was intended to be. It gives us a glimpse of what our world one day will be when God Himself returns to make all things new. As such, it is worthy of our most intense study. This is the world our hearts long for. This is the world that echoes in our genetic memories. It’s the world we were made for which is why our world feels so foreign, strange, and alien at times.

What is God’s world like? It is a world of order. A world where everything has a purpose and place. The sun, moon, and stars in their courses above. The birds in the air. The fish in the sea. The mammals and insects and other creeping, crawling things on the earth. It’s world full of life and beauty and biodiversity. Each plant and animal reproducing according to its kind. It is a world designed by God specifically for the enjoyment of humanity. The creatures He made in His own image. The creatures He set in the world to care and to keep and to steward it towards ever-greater heights of fruitfulness. Note how God carefully crafts the environment so that humanity can flourish. Light. Atmosphere. Land. Water. Flora and fauna. Animals galore. And God sets us in this world to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and exercise dominion over all He has made. Not domination. Dominion. This is a critical distinction. We are not set up as tyrants but as servants. We are not given authority to rule but to serve. The world doesn’t exist for our pleasure alone but for the glory of God.

God’s world is a community. It is the place where the dimensions of heaven and earth meet and God walks with us in the cool of the day. It is the place where God and humanity engage in deep, covenantal friendship as humanity lives out her purpose and obeys the commands of her Creator. It is the place where human beings find intimacy with other human beings. Adam and Eve. Bone of my bones. Flesh of my flesh. And all of it is good. Very good in fact. This is the world God designed. This is the world God desires.

Yes, we are far from this world. Yes, chapter three will bring disruption to this world. But today we sit, if but for a moment, and imagine the world as God intended it to be. A world without chaos, violence, injustice, suffering, or pain. A world of perfect peace and grace and generosity and service where those bearing the image of God perfectly serve their Creator with joy and satisfaction, stewarding the life of the garden God has planted. Partnering with God to help all of creation thrive. And so we join our voices with church since at least the 4th century singing the ancient hymn, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen. Amen.

Readings for tomorrow: John 1:1-3, Psalms 8, 104

All Things Made New

Readings for today: Revelation 21-22, Psalms 48

I love the image of a new heavens and new earth. Creation redeemed. Creation renewed. Creation restored to its original glory. God finally putting an end to sin and evil and death once and for all. This is the fulfillment of God’s salvation plan. It’s the final act of the divine play that’s been working itself out since the opening words of Genesis. And as you let these words sink into your soul, take note of a few important things.

First, the new creation will be like a bride adorned for her husband. I remember well my wedding day. My wife has never looked more beautiful. Never more pure. Never more perfect than at that moment she walked down the aisle. (I have never felt more unworthy either!) The same is true for the new creation when it comes. God has always intended to have a relationship with His creation. He desires depth. Intimacy. Complete and total transparency. The kind of relationship we can only dream about this side of heaven. The kind of relationship of which human marriage is but a foretaste.

Second, there is no Temple. God is fully present and we are fully able to experience His presence in our glorified, resurrected bodies. God literally takes up residence with us. He can be seen. Touched. Heard. He wipes away our tears. He heals our infirmities. He makes us finally, completely, and utterly whole. There is no need for sun or moon for God will be our light. There is no need for walls or guards for God is in perfect control. There is no need for judgment or punishment for all the nations of the earth will walk in the light of the Lord and will bring Him the worship He deserves.

Third, there are no divisions in the new creation. No human distinctions to keep us apart. Every dividing wall of hostility will finally be torn down. The New Jerusalem is built on the foundation of the twelve apostles and her gates represent the twelve tribes. In other words, God will gather His people - Jew and Gentile alike - together and make them one. He will gather His people from every tribe, tongue and nation before His throne and all that separates us will fade away like mist before the Lord.

It’s a beautiful picture, is it not? Now here’s the challenge. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we ask for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We ask for the church to be a living reflection of this future glory. We ask for God’s will to be done in our lives. In our community. In our nation. In our world. How are we living and acting and speaking and treating others so that they see the new heavens and new earth emerging in our midst? How are we presenting to the world a picture of heaven? How are we giving those around us a foretaste of what’s to come through what we say and do?

Becoming more like Christ is more a marathon than a sprint. It involves a long obedience in the same direction. I hope you’ve gleaned that if nothing else from your reading this year. God is at work across the centuries and across the generations. His primary desire is to make us more and more into the image of His Son. To restore us to the image He originally intended for us to bear. May the Lord continue His work in us and among us and through us until He comes again! Maranatha!

Readings for tomorrow: Congratulations! You finished!

Our Refuge and Strength

Readings for today: Revelation 17-18, Psalms 46

I lived in Princeton, New Jersey on 9/11. Many of my friends and colleagues interned in New York City. Many of the families my wife worked with in her after school program worked in New York City. On the morning when the planes hit the towers, I was turning left from Canal Pointe Boulevard onto Alexander Street to go to campus. I was listening to the radio when the news hit. Every station I checked carried it. Every person delivering the report was in shock. Like everyone, I was in disbelief. I could not wrap my mind around the events. I could not begin to imagine the scope of the tragedy.

An acquaintance of mine was serving as a pastor off Fifth Avenue at the time in the city. When the towers fell, he put on his clergy robe and ran out into the streets. He threw open the doors of his church and people streamed in seeking sanctuary. A safe place. As he watched them mill about the auditorium, he knew he needed to say something. But how does one begin to put words to the national nightmare we were experiencing? My friend turned to Psalm 46. He read the Psalm aloud over and over again. God is our refuge and strength. God is our present help in time of trouble. We do not need to fear though the earth gives way for God is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Our stronghold. Be still and know that I am God. As he recited those words, a sense of peace came over the place. The people began to calm down. They began to weep. The initial shock began to wane. They provided what food and water they could. They let people stay as long as they wanted. The church stayed open 24/7 for days as people kept coming, looking for help. Looking for hope. My friend kept returning to those Psalm.

There is nothing more powerful than knowing God is with you in the midst of tragedy. Nothing more comforting than knowing we are never alone no matter what we may go through or face in life. God is the one unmovable, unshakeable, unbreakable reality in existence. Everything else is on the clock. Father Time is undefeated whether you are talking individuals or empires. The universe itself is dying every day as more and more of her energy is spent. This is why we look to God. We know we cannot count on the things of this world. We cannot depend on the people of this world. We cannot place our trust in princes or kings, prime ministers or presidents. There is only One who is faithful. Only One who is good. Only One who has the authority and power to be our refuge and strength. Be still and know God, friends.

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 19-20, Psalms 47 (No devotionals on Sundays)

Doubling Down

Readings for today: Revelation 14-16, Psalms 45

I still remember the last time I gambled in a casino. I was in my mid-twenties and I was in Las Vegas attending a medical technology conference on behalf of my employer. One night I went down to play a little blackjack. Now, the goal of blackjack is to get to 21 or as close to it as possible and beat the dealer and I was on a pretty good run that night. Up a couple hundred bucks when the dealer dealt me two sixes. Terrible hand. Especially since he was showing ten. So what did I do? Made the worst decision possible. I split the sixes. Why was that a bad decision? Because most likely I’m going to pull tens, end up at sixteen which is even worse than holding twelve because it’s still not close to twenty and increases my chances at busting exponentially and I’ll be in for double the bet. So the next card comes out. It’s another six. What do you think I did? Split them again. The guy next to me was like you’re crazy. Even the dealer was shaking his head. He pulled the next card. Another six. I split a third time. So now I’ve got four sixes, I’m in for quadruple my bet, the dealer is showing ten, and pretty much everyone at the table is laughing at me at this point. The next four cards came out. All tens of course. Now I’ve got four sixteens. Literally the worst possible scenario. So I hold on all four. I’m going to make the dealer play his hand. I’m not going to bust for him. Luckily, he busts out and I win big. The people around the table go crazy…all because of my stupidity.

Ever since the Garden of Eden, humanity has been doubling down on one bad decision after another. Every individual. Every generation. For tens of thousands of years. And unlike the dealer that night in Vegas, God never busts. His justice never fails. His judgments remain true. His righteousness is eternal. Take a moment and think about your own life. Think about the decisions you make every single day. How many of them are selfish? How many of them are sinful? Now multiply that by the billions of people who live around the globe today. Multiply it again by the billions who have lived throughout human history. Do all of that and you might begin to understand the sheer number of sins that must be accounted for. Must be paid for. Must be dealt with.

And why is it important that our sin be dealt with? Why can’t God just forgive and forget and move on? Because our sin has real life consequences. In our individual lives. In our marriages and families. In our work and schools and communities. At the extreme end, I think of the inmates I ministered to at New Jersey State Prison. The sinful choices they made that put them behind bars. The sinful conditions they lived in that contributed to their terrible decisions. The horrific consequences of their actions. I think of the men and women and children I met in an IDP camp. Internally displaced by the civil war in northern Ethiopia. Dying from starvation and disease. All because of the sinful choices of their tribal leaders and the sinful choices of the United Nations relief agency who wouldn’t give them enough food because of their ethnicity. History is clear. Man’s inhumanity to man knows no limits. The list of humanity’s crimes against herself and against our world is endless. As I said before, we’ve been doubling down and doubling down and doubling down since the beginning.

This is why the Book of Revelation prophecies that all of human history will culminate in a final battle called “Armageddon” where the nations of the earth will gather with the dragon and the beast and the false prophet to try and overthrow God once and for all. If you didn’t know, “Armageddon” is actually a place. It literally means “Har Megiddo” or “hill of Megiddo.” I’ve been there. It overlooks the Jezreel Valley in Israel and controls one of the most significant trade routes in the ancient world. The valley is fourteen miles wide and sixty-seven miles long. Several battles have been fought here over the centuries going all the way back to the Old Testament Book of Judges. Deborah and Barak fighting the Canaanites. Gideon fighting the Midianites. King Saul and King Josiah of Israel both fought and died in this valley. In more modern times, Napoleon routed the Ottomans on this battlefield. Because of all the conflicts, the cities in and around Armageddon have been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Megiddo itself was rebuilt twenty times. And it is here, according to Revelation 16, that the kings of the earth will assemble, having diverted and dried up and crossed the great river Euphrates in a kind of reverse Exodus, to fight their final battle against the Victorious Lamb.

Now imagine how sad this must make God. Can you imagine the grief He must feel as the creature He loves most, the creature He made in His own image, the creature He died to save, doubles down on their sinful, selfish ways, trusts the lies of the dragon, the beast, and false prophet rather than the truth of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and seeks to overthrow Him so they can rule and reign in His stead? Imagine how you would feel if this was your own child? Your own flesh and blood turning against you? And God has billions of children around the world and throughout history. And all of them were created to worship God and enjoy Him forever. Friends, God doesn’t want to fight with you. God doesn’t want to be at war with you. God doesn’t want you to struggle or suffer. God doesn’t want you to be anxious or afraid. God laid down His life for you. That’s how much He loves you. And He has such an amazing plan for your life. He wants to give you hope and a future. He wants to bless you with every spiritual blessing. All He asks is that you stop trying to run things on your own. Stop trying to control things. Give Him the throne of your life. Trust Him to lead and guide you. Turn from your selfish, sinful ways and embrace Jesus. Embrace all He has done for you. Accept all He has won for you.

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 17-18, Psalms 46

A Different Kind of Christmas Story

Readings for today: Revelation 12-13, Psalms 44

The twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation gives us a different view of the Christmas story. A different taken on human history. A different understanding of the war that is taking place all around us every single day. In this chapter, John is given a vision. A pregnant woman clothed with the sun, moon, and stars. A great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns. A male child who is born to rule the nations. Now we know we are moving into allegorical territory because John tells us as much. What he’s witnessing here is a sign. A symbol of what’s taken place since before the foundations of the world.

Contrary to popular belief, the Christmas story didn’t begin in a stable in Bethlehem. It actually began in the Garden of Eden when God put enmity between the woman and the serpent, promising in Genesis 3:15 that her child would crush the serpent’s head. And ever since that day, Satan, identified in Revelation 12:9 as the “great dragon” and the “ancient serpent”, has been trying to prevent the fulfillment of God’s promise by attacking the offspring of Eve. He incited Cain to kill Abel, Pharaoh to kill all the male Hebrew children, Saul to attempt to kill David, Haman to plot genocide against the Jewish people in the Book of Esther, and, of course, Herod to kill all the infants in and around Bethlehem in an effort to kill Jesus. It seems clear both from the Bible and human history that Satan particularly focuses his fury on Israel. God’s chosen people.

Israel is the woman in labor because she is the one who will give birth to the Messiah. She is God’s chosen instrument to bring the Messiah into the world. He will be the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies. He will be the Lion of Judah. He will inherit the throne of His ancestor David. He will be called Son of God and Son of Man and Son of the Most High. He will be known as Immanuel, God with us. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He is the true offspring of Eve, born to crush the serpent’s head in final victory. And just in case you’re still not sure who this child is, his name shall be called Jesus, the One born to save His people from their sins. He alone will rule with a rod of iron according to Psalm 2:9 so there can be no doubt about the identity of this child.

But what about the dragon? John clearly identifies him in Revelation 12:9 as the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. Thirteen times in Revelation, Satan is described as a dragon. The seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns recalls the fourth beast from the prophetic dreams of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. The stars that were swept to the earth by his tail are those angels who rebelled against God along with him and his goal from the beginning of time has been to derail the will of God. Disrupt the plan of God. Destroy the people of God. How else can you reasonably explain the persecuted history of the Jewish people? How else can you rationally justify the rampant antisemitism that exists throughout the world today and throughout human history? Why is it that they have been singled out for attack time and again, in nation after nation, culminating in the Final Solution of the Nazis? Why do so many around the world today make all kinds of excuses and justify all kinds of terrorism against the Jews, even in the face of the horrific events of October 7th? I believe the answer is clear. Behind it all lurks the great dragon, doing everything he can to destroy those whom God loves. So the veil clouding John’s sight has been lifted. The political and social and moral struggles we engage in here on earth, the battles between good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice, are not just physical but spiritual in nature. Our battle is ultimately not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. And thank God Jesus won the victory. God has made a mockery of what Satan believed to be his greatest triumph. Just when the great dragon thought he had finally devoured the child of the woman, God snatched that child from his grasp. Raised him from the dead. Caught him up to heaven. Seated Him on His throne. Gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth and the name that is above every name.

Are you ever tempted to look at the world around you and think that Satan has the upper hand? Do you ever question deep down in your heart if Satan might know how to fight the battles of this world better than God? Do Kingdom principles like turn the other check, bless those who persecute you, love your enemies, preach Christ and Him crucified, choose the weak things of this world, deny yourself, pick up a cross, and follow Jesus seem like losing strategies to you? Naive? Foolish? Too weak to meet the demands of this particular cultural and political moment? Well, if you’ve learned anything from the readings this year, you know that’s exactly how God works. He chooses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. He chooses the weak things of this world to defeat the strong. He makes the cross a throne. He makes the crown of thorns, a crown of victory. By His stripes we are healed. By His wounds we are made whole. By His death, He reconciles the world to Himself. By taking judgment on Himself, He bought us peace. Through His miraculous resurrection, we are given the gift of eternal life.

Friends, at Calvary, God takes what Satan believes to be is his greatest triumph and turns it into his utter defeat. Drives him from heaven. Throws him down to earth where he is no longer allowed to accuse us before God. Think about that for a moment! There is no one left in heaven to accuse you! No one left in heaven to condemn you! No one left in heaven to attack you! There is only Jesus who lives to intercede for you. There is only Jesus who promises to save to the uttermost those who draw near to Him. There is only Jesus, our great and faithful high priest, who passed through the heavens, to sympathize with us in our weakness, to be tempted in every way just as we are, and who offers Himself in our place. Merry Christmas!

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 14-16, Psalms 45

The Call of Christmas

Readings for today: Revelation 10-11, Psalms 43

I find most people live with a sense of cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, everyone generally agrees that our world is not in great shape. There is too much violence. Too much pain and suffering. Too much disease. Too much inequality. Too much resource disparity. Too much anger. Too much hate. And we generally blame God for not stepping in. Not taking care of things. Not leveling the playing field. Not solving our problems. Not restraining evil. At the same time, everyone generally agrees they want to be free. Free to make their own decisions. Free to live their lives the way they want. Free to pursue the fulfillment of their desires. So we don’t want God to tell us what to do. Don’t want God to challenge our choices. Don’t want God to restrict our behavior. But we can’t have it both ways. The fundamental reality that the Bible affirms is that we are free, moral agents, created in the image of God, capable of great good and great evil, fully responsible for the decisions we make and the impact those choices have on others and this is why we are subject to God’s judgment.

God loves the world. He loves everything He has made. He loves every creature He has made. He loves every human being He has made. And that’s why God hates what we’ve done to the world. He hates what we do to each other. He hates what we do to ourselves. And He holds us responsible for each and every action and non-action. He holds us responsible for each and every word we say or don’t say. He holds us responsible for the way we respond to those around us and especially the way we respond to Him. He created us to worship and to serve Him forever. And when we reject His creative purposes for our lives, we live for ourselves, and living for ourselves is what ultimately leads us to ruin. God, however, will not abandon us. He will not abandon the world He has made. He is coming again to judge the earth and everyone in it. He is coming again to make all things new and take control of His world once and for all. Listen again to how the Apostle John describes it, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. The twenty-four elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God, saying, We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry, but your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.” (Revelation‬ ‭11‬:‭15‬-‭18‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

Thanks be to God that we know the end of the story! Now the challenge is for us to live with God’s glorious end in mind. Live now as if the kingdoms of this world have already become the Kingdom of our God and His Messiah. Live in the reality of God’s reign and rule on earth. This is the call to the church. This is the call to every Christian. And this call is renewed each and every Christmas.

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 12-13, Psalms 44

Sacrifice

Readings for today: Revelation 7-9, Psalms 42

I have the great privilege to be part of one of the great Kingdom movements of our time. I have met thousands of indigenous missionaries who are planting churches in rural villages all over the Horn of Africa and beyond where the gospel has never been preached. They risk their lives to go to places like Somalia, Yemen, Djibouti, and Sudan. They confront pagan priests, witch doctors, Muslim imams, rival tribal gangs, and local warlords. They face all kinds of political and social and cultural pressure. They are often beaten and left for dead. They go hungry. They go thirsty. They are homeless. They are isolated and in many cases, on their own. But still they persevere. Though they may be arrested and go to prison. Beaten and go to the hospital. Killed and go to the morgue. They do not stop. They will not stop. I believe these are the ones described in Revelation seven when John sees in his vision those who have been given white robes, who have come out of the tribulation.

Why do these men and women do it? Why do they risk it all for the sake of the gospel? Why do they lay their lives on the line day after day, despite all the hardship, suffering, and pain? They believe with all their hearts that God will one day wipe away every tear. God will one day heal every hurt. God will one day repay every injustice. God will one day judge those who persecute them. How can they have such confidence? They believe what God says in His Word. “For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night  in his temple. The one seated on the throne will shelter them: They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any scorching heat. For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; he will guide them to springs of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation‬ ‭7‬:‭‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭CSB‬‬) This is the future they have in view. They do not expect to have it easy in this world. They come from a context where every day is a struggle. Every day is filled with suffering. Every day is a battle for survival. So they do not place their trust in the things of this world and instead, look to the world to come.

Would that we would do the same! In my context, it is easy to fall in love with the world. The desires of the flesh. The desires of the eyes. The pride of life. All of these are eminently attainable. All of them are available to me. Given enough time. Given enough resources. Given enough access and opportunity. I can pretty much do what I want. I can live a pretty comfortable, if not luxurious life. But that isn’t God’s plan for me. He has something so much greater and more fulfilling in mind if I will simply trust Him. Obey Him. Follow Him. Sacrifice everything for Him.

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 10-11, Psalms 43

Worthy is the Lamb

Readings for today: Revelation 4-6, Psalms 41

Is there life beyond death? Is there existence beyond our own? Is there a world beyond our world? These questions seem to haunt the human race. We cannot seem to escape them no matter how hard we try. Sure, some of my atheist friends believe these questions are meaningless because there is no existence beyond what we have in the material world but their opinions are the extreme minority. Some of my physicist friends believe we already have the answer, eventually the universe will become cold and lifeless as all the energy runs out but again, that answer doesn’t seem to satisfy. So why is it that human beings for thousands of years have wrestled over these questions? Why have they developed elaborate rituals and systems of belief in order to come up with explanations? Why are we always looking for something more? Something transcendent?

I believe it’s because God has set eternity in our hearts. It’s part of what it means to be made in His image. Somewhere in our genetic memory, there is an echo of Eden. A fleeting recall of a time when we walked with God in the garden in the cool of the day. And our souls long to go back there. Sadly, we cannot seem to find our way. We stumble through this world, blindly groping after an existence that remains forever beyond our grasp. Thankfully, God is faithful. He will not allow us to remain in our lost and helpless and hopeless condition. He sends His Son to save us. To redeem us and to make all things new.

The Book of Revelation gives us a window to the future. We know how the story ends because God has revealed it to us. He has answered all our questions. He has settled all our doubts and fears. He shows us a world without end. A world perfected by grace. A world full of love and devotion. A world without sin and death and fear and pain. A world where all of creation joins the angels and elders and saints who have gone before us in praise to God’s glorious name. Read these words from Revelation 5 again and let your soul join in the praise…

“When the Lamb of God took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before Him. Each one had a harp and golden bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation. You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth. Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. They said with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing! I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say, Blessing and honor and glory and power be to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever! The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.” (Revelation‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬-‭14‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 7-9, Psalms 42

Contending for the Faith

Readings for today: Jude 1, Psalms 39

How does one contend for the faith? It’s an important question and many are asking it these days. In certain circles, “contending for the faith” means reigniting a “crusader” mentality and using any and all means necessary to reimpose the Christian faith in our country. The rhetoric coming from these camps is harsh, judgmental, condemnatory, militaristic, and postures the people in these camps as the true defenders of the faith. In other circles, “contending for the faith” means bringing change and reform to some of the core doctrines that have made up the Christian faith for centuries. Contending for the faith means saving it from itself by adapting it to fit the patterns of the world. Still others believe we need to “contend for the faith” by withdrawing from the world entirely, setting up neo-monastic communities where the true faith can be preserved. I believe Jude would reject all of these.

We have to remember that Jude lived in a world not unlike our own. He lived in a world of many different religions. He lived in a world where there was extreme political and social pressure. He lived in a world full of suffering and pain, death and disease, gross injustice, slavery, and oppression. Jude was an evangelist and church planter. He sought to contend for the faith in a very complex socio-political-religious environment. He was a Christian missionary from an ethnic Jewish background who sought to take the gospel to his own people. It’s why he quotes from books like Enoch and the Testament of Moses as he seeks to persuade them to stand firm in their faith. But rather than call them to arms or call them to compromise or call them to retreat, Jude calls those he writes to to “contend for the faith” by living a life of faithfulness to Christ. Listen to how he describes it again, “But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Have mercy on those who waver; save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.” (Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭23‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

Build yourself up in the holy faith. Fellowship with other believers. Worship God together. Study and submit yourself to God’s Word. Pray in the Holy Spirit. Pray for God’s wisdom. Pray for God’s power. Pray for God’s grace and mercy and love to fill your hearts. Keep yourself in the love of God. Make walking in God’s love in all relationships your aim. Never sacrifice God’s love. Never abandon or lose hope in God’s love. Wait expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Always live with this great end in mind. Always keep your eyes fixed on heaven not on earth. Always keep in mind where all of human history is headed and live in this world as you will in heaven. Have mercy on those who waver or doubt. Do not judge or condemn. Save others by snatching them from the fire. Always be reaching out to those who do not yet believe and be willing to cross every barrier or boundary to share God’s love with them. Love the sinner even as you hate what sin is doing to their hearts and minds and lives. This is what it means to contend for the faith in Jude’s world and our own.

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 1-3, Psalms 40 (No devotionals on Sundays)