TO KNOW CHRIST AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN

TO KNOW CHRIST AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

We need a refuge.

 In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

Psalm 11:1-3 (ESV)
 
If the foundations of truth are eroded, the ethical structure will collapse. If we as a nation want to establish truth rather than discover it, we will end up being victims of our own ignorance and easy prey for the Godless.
 
We have attempted to legislate righteousness by establishing rules and regulations that adjust to and protect our sinful habits, which will eventually be our undoing.
 
Eventually, all will realize that they need a refuge and that the only safe refuge is God. Those who understand this early in life and hold to it are safe in this life and the next. Those who ignore it will never be safe, or even be able to enter the "rest" God offers those who take refuge in Him.
 

Monday, May 19, 2025

Circumstances can be good, bad, or neutral.

 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, "There is no God." His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

Psalm 10:4-5 (ESV)
 
It seems as if the Godless prosper at times, and the Godly cannot help but wonder why. Perhaps it is because our definition of "prosper" is not what it should be. Those who find comfort today are not necessarily prospering. Those who seek pleasure in the moment may find momentary pleasure, but be at a loss for any long-term hope.
 
Reality is only partially visible, and what we see is easily manipulated. Throughout history man has manipulated his apparent reality to make it look as if he has it all together. What happens behind the scenes is often cloaked in privacy, available to few.
 
However, God sees all. There is no "secret" reality to Him. Although we live through the lens of perspective, God has no perspective. He has assured us that those who listen to Him will enjoy success today, even if we do not see it as success. The key is listening to God, not manipulating the circumstances to make us look or feel successful.
 
Circumstances can be good, bad, or neutral. They can be byproducts of poor decisions or seemingly random. If they are byproducts of poor choices, I need to repent and make better decisions. If they are out of my control, I need to rest in the fact that my Heavenly Father is in control and He has a plan.
 
We should never allow our perspective to distort the truth.
 

Friday, May 16, 2025

God Never Changes

 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment. You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished. But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 9:1-10 (ESV)
 
God never changes. He strengthens those who obey Him and look to Him for strength. Those who look for strength in something or someone else will never find it.
 
For now, the choice is ours.

Thursday, May 15, 2025

The universe has no will of its own.

 

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:1-4 (ESV)
 
In context, humans are large in purpose even though we are small in stature. In a massive universe, we are barely noticeable other than to the creator and sustainer of the universe, who seems to have created it for our benefit.
 
The universe is one way we get to see the glory of God and be trained on how to display the glory of God in our own lives. Night after night the universe speaks of God's creative and sustaining power. Day after day we can see His care, ability,  and love as He provides for us.
 
The universe has no will of its own, but I do. How do the choices in my life show God's love, faithfulness, and care?
 
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Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Vulnerable?

 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.

Psalm 7:12-16 (ESV)
 
Bending the bow and having one in the archer's sites means trouble for the one being hunted. God does not miss. The arrow God fires will be on target and will take down the intended target. There is no way to fight Him, no defense, and no possible way to avoid His arrow.
 
To live our lives focused on ourselves makes us vulnerable to Satanic schemes as well as the arrows of the judgment of God.
 
For now, the choice is ours.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

There will be an end.

 The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. Psalm 7:8-11 (ESV)

 
God is not tolerant; He is patient. Every day, He puts up with those who are created acting like they did the creating, making it impossible for the created to succeed, and causing God to feel indignation every day.
 
God does not just see our actions; He sees our hearts. We often see the actions and are incapable of judging the reasons, though we often try.
 
There will be an end to things, and the evil and wicked of this world will end. Only what is done, with the right heart, will last for eternity. In simple terms, those who are evil will have a wasted life and death.
 

Monday, May 12, 2025

Things are no different today.

 O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

Psalm 7:1-5 (ESV)
 
David had enemies who wanted to destroy him. He did nothing to deserve their hatred. Just as he did nothing to cause the hatred, he could do nothing to ensure his enemies would not destroy him.
 
He was very aware that he had to trust in God. He was put in a position at a young age to learn this valuable, life-transforming principle, and he learned it well.
 
Things are no different today. We, too, must learn to trust in God or face utter failure and defeat.