Speaking to God with Confidence - Hebrews 4:16

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." The Hebrews writer encourages the Hebrew Christians to “draw near” to God's throne because they have the privilege of a personal relationship with God. Christians can come before God confidently and without fear that they will incur God's wrath because they have a High Priest, Jesus, Who identifies with His people because of his human experience and the sufferings he endured. Therefore, take your needs to God in prayer and speak plainly and honestly but with respect and reverence, knowing that Jesus was tempted in every area of human life just like you, yet He remained sinless, thus qualifying Him to intercede before God's throne for you.

God's X-Ray Vision - Hebrews 4:12

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." The Hebrews writer reminds the Hebrew Christians about the faithless disobedience of the exodus generation of Israel. Faithless disobedience does not go unnoticed by God. The Word of God acts as God Himself to expose one's innermost thoughts and intentions. God's Word is like an x-ray that can penetrate a solid object and take images of the inside of the object. So we cannot hide any thought or motive from God's x-ray vision. God sees what is on the inside and we are accountable to God for not only our actions and behavior, but for the motives and intentions influencing our behavior. Therefore, let us constantly examine ourselves by letting God's Word penetrate our hearts and minds so that pleasing God becomes our primary motivation.

Who Is a True Christian? - Hebrews 3:14

"For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." Whether you believe that Christians who are once saved are always saved or if you believe that Christians can fall away, the sober warning in this passage should be taken seriously by Christians of both views. Being a Christian means you have resolved to be faithful to God no matter what happens in your life---it is a lifetime resolution. When a Christian experiences the ups and downs of life and remains faithful to God, it builds a confidence and assurance that one does, in fact, share in the eternal life of Christ. Because being a Christian doesn't always come easy, this verse provides a grave warning to everyone who claims to be saved to examine yourself carefully to be sure that you have the fortitude and resolve to persevere in your faith in Christ. Never mind trying to figure out who is a true believer and who is not; build up your own endurance because you belong to Christ if you hold fast your confidence to the end (vs. 5, 14).

The Thin Silence of God - 1 Kings 19:12-13

"And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” The emphasis on Mount Carmel where Elijah had battled the prophets of Baal had been on God's spectacular ways. Now the emphasis on Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, is on God's quiet ways. God was not to be found in the spectacular elements of the storm outside the cave: the wind, the earthquake, and the fire, but instead He spoke in a low whisper. The Hebrew is literally a thin silence. Listen closely because God speaks and reveals Himself in quietness, a whisper, a thin silence.

Complacency, Faith That Limps - I Kings 18:20-40

"And Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.' And the people did not answer him a word." (vs. 21). The Hebrew word for "limping" occurs again in v. 26, where the prophets of Baal “limped around the altar.” The irregular steps of their ritual dance portray an inability to move properly. Elijah compares the worship of the people to the irregular ritual dancing of the prophets of Baal saying that because the people of Israel refuse to choose between the Lord and Baal and want to retain both, their faith is limping. And because of their limping faith--their complacency--they were easily deceived and led into spiritual corruption. God requires our complete commitment, our total belief. "Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness" (Jeremiah 48:10).

The Principle of God's Provision - 1 Kings 17:8-16

"For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'” (vs. 14). We sometimes think that God provides for us by giving us more of what we already have. For example, if we are experiencing financial difficulties, we pray for more money; if our home is too small, we pray for a bigger one; if our car is too old, we pray for a newer one. In God's Kingdom, however, God provides for us by increasing or extending our need or deficiency rather than giving us more of what we already have in abundance, especially when our deficiencies are offered totally and willingly to the Lord. The story of Elijah and the widow of Zerapheth clearly demonstrates this principle. The prophet Elijah encountered a widow and her young son during a severe drought in Israel. The widow and son were about to eat their last meal using the last remaining flour and oil left in the house. Elijah asked the widow to first feed him before feeding herself and her son. Although the widow was not herself an Israelite and a child of God’s promise, she recognized Elijah as the representative of God’s covenant and obeyed Elijah’s request to give the very little she had to feed the prophet of God. The demand of total surrender of everything to God—even her last means of subsistence—was not given without the promise of God’s blessing and provision as stated in this verse. God’s pattern for supplying His provision is to supply deficient resources that are offered totally and willingly to the Lord.

Be An Example of Charm and Class - Colossians 4:5-6

"Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." The Apostle Paul encourages the Colossian Christians to be what we would call  "charming" or "classy" to non-Christians. Their conversation should be polite toward others and  filled with wisdom and understanding about the gospel message. Paul's comments assume that the Colossian believers regularly interact with non-believers in their local community. Paul wants the Colossian Christians to make a good impression on non-believers in a way that would commend the gospel to them. To win people to Jesus, you must be an example in your behavior, conduct, and conversation of the love and grace of God. The best way for non-believers to find Jesus is to see Him in you!

Working for the Lord - Colossians 3:17

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." This admonition from the Apostle Paul is an assurance that you do not have to be involved in full-time ministry to be working for the Lord. Whether you are a teacher, truck driver, accountant, real estate agent, or whatever career you have, you should work hard at it and do a good job. What you are doing is for the glory of God, which gives it dignity, worth, and importance. According to this admonition every Christian is involved in full-time ministry because you should do your work in the name of Jesus—as if working for the Lord. This principle applies to both employers and employees.

Identity Safeguard - Colossians 3:3-4

"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." Although resurrection is a future event, those who have been redeemed by Christ have died to their own self and have taken on a new identity in Christ. This new identity is now “hidden with Christ in God.” “Hidden” in this context means to protect, preserve, or keep secure in the sense that one might hide something valuable to keep it safe. Thus, the individual identities of the redeemed of Christ are safe with Him. Jesus guards our identity; He knows who each of His redeemed are and He is saving a place for each of us in heaven. The place we call heaven is an assurance that our new identity in Christ is sustained by God so we may obtain full possession of it when we are resurrected. So resurrection life is at work in you now! We live life in the present as those who are on their way to heaven. As each day passes our lives grow more blessed as we draw nearer to the One Who is the source of our new life and new identity. Therefore, you should "set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth" (vs. 2).

The Cost of Disobedience - I Kings 13

God sent a prophet from Judah to King Jeroboam of Israel to rebuke him for building altars for sacrifice other than at the temple in Jerusalem. The prophet pronounced that the altar at Bethel would be torn down because it was an improper altar. Jeroboam attempted to curry favor with the prophet possibly to get the curse on the altar reversed by inviting the prophet to dine with him. The prophet delivered his message and was commanded by God to return immediately to Judah using a different road than the one he came on, perhaps to prevent the possibility of others corrupting the prophet. However, the prophet stops over at another so-called prophet’s house and dines with him before returning to Judah. The first prophet then was killed by a lion along the road as he returned to Judah and was buried in a tomb in Israel rather than with his own family in Judah. True prophecy will bring forth the judgment it promises. When God speaks to you, don't revise His plans to suit your own needs or pride and don't let others persuade you otherwise, because even God's own prophets, if they are disobedient, cannot escape God's judgment.

I Pledge Allegiance to Jesus - Colossians 1:13-14

"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Just as God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt under the old covenant, He has now delivered us from the domain of darkness, that is, from the realm of Satan and the powers of evil. The moral dilemma each of us must confront is not how sinful we are but whose side we are on. You are either a citizen of the evil kingdom or a citizen of God's Kingdom (unfortunately, the default is the evil kingdom). While this conflict between good and evil is of cosmic proportions, its legal resolution is individually transacted when one transfers citizenship from the evil kingdom to God’s Kingdom as a result of God's redemption and the forgiveness of one's sins through God's Son, Jesus. There is no middle-of-the-road, no opting out, no riding-the-fence in the matter of your eternal destination. Your citizenship is either in the evil kingdom or God's kingdom. Don't put Kingdom citizenship off any longer. Swear allegiance to Jesus and become a citizen of God's Kingdom today!!

God's Answer to Prayer- Philippians 4:6-7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." The Apostle Paul echoes Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matt. 6:25–34) that believers are not to be anxious because they entrust themselves to God, their Heavenly Father. Thus, Christians can present all their difficulties to God by prayer and supplication and God will answer. Now Paul does not say that God will grant all our requests. Rather, Paul says that in answer to prayer God's peace will guard our hearts and minds. Paul's use of “guard” has the connotation of God's peace guarding believers' hearts and minds and giving them an inward peace in much the same way that Roman soldiers guarded Philippi as a military garrison making its citizens feel safe. God's answer to your heartfelt prayers is His peace, which safeguards your heart and mind from anxiety.

Going Up - Philippians 3:14

"But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Paul emphasizes the need for progress in Christian living by first telling the Philippians to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (vs. 2:12) and then by telling them to press on toward the finish line of their life like in a race or an archery target (vs. 12, 14). Whether a finish line or a target, it is a heavenly goal toward which we are racing or aiming and the prize is heaven and being in perfect fellowship with Jesus Christ forever. God is calling us up to Him and we heed that upward call by pressing on with all our strengh through this life and toward eternal life.

Salvation Work Out - Philippians 2:12-13

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. The Apostle Paul is not suggesting the the Philippians should try to earn their salvation by doing good works. Once a person has received the gift of God's salvation, then it must be lived out through the realities of daily life by continual obedience to God. Each believer in Christ progressively comes to experience all aspects and blessings of salvation: "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own" (Philippians 3:12). Paul says that it is actually God's grace and presence in the Holy Spirit working in you that enables and empowers you to live a responsible and productive Christian life that accomplishes God's will.

Death Wish - Philippians 1:21,23

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain...My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better." The Apostle Paul says in another place that when those who belong to Christ die, they go immediately to be with God (II Corinthians 5:6-8). Here Paul says that his life in this world is about serving Christ. Paul seems to have a death wish. He says death is an advantage because when he departs this life through death then he goes to be in the presence of Christ. So we pass through death of the physical body on the way to full possession of eternal life, which is obtained through bodily resurrection when Christ returns at His second coming. The place we call heaven is an intermediate and temporary state or place where the Christian's identity in Christ is preserved by God as he or she is on the way to being resurrected and obtaining full possession of eternal life. Thus, what we are and do in the present life in the body matters because it is preserved by God in heaven when we die and then reaffirmed in the future eternal life when we are resurrected.

God's Dwelling Place - I Kings 8:27

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!" Solomon built a temple for God and the presence of God came and filled the temple. Solomon recognized that even though he built a temple for God and the presence of God was manifest in the temple, God's dwelling place was not on earth or between the cherumbims over the ark of the covenant in the temple that Solomon built. Solomon understood that the temple was a special place with God's name on it (vs. 29) and so God would would look toward it from His heavenly dwelling place and hear their prayers (vs. 30). Now that God's redemption is available to all people through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, then the manifestation of God's Holy Spirit dwells within each believer: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?" (I Corinthians 6:19). Each of us who believe are God's temple and His name is on us and He hears our prayers by the indwelling Spirit.

How to Pray - Ephesians 6:18-19

"Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel." Although the Apostle Paul tells us the when, how, who, and why of prayer in these two verses in Ephesians, we first should consider the context in which he is giving this admonition. In the preceding verses Paul told the Ephesian believers that there is a war going on--a spiritual war: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (vs. 12). Paul says that believers are soldiers in this war against evil and must put on the spiritual armor provided by God to fight in the batttle: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, boots of readiness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (vs. 13-17). Once believers are outfitted for spiritual warfare, there is one more thing--pray and here's how:
When? Pray at all times or continuously: "And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1).
How? Pray in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words" (Romans 8:26).
Who? For all the saints and especially for Paul himself: "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people" (I Timothy 2:1).
Why? That the gospel may be proclaimed boldly. Paul assumed that all Christians participate in proclaiming the gospel and that is why they need to be prayed for. Those who proclaim the gospel are engaged in spiritual warfare and need to put on the whole armor of God and be prayed for so they can be strengthened to proclaim the gospel strategically and courageously: "At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison" (Colossians 4:3).

Building God's Temple - I Kings 6:12

“Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you." I Kings 6 describes the construction of the temple of God by King Solomon. Solomon built God's temple of stone and cedar (vs. 7,9). The temple was three stories high (vs. 8). The inside of the temple was inlaid with gold (vs. 22). It took Solomon seven years to build it (vs. 38). You, also, are building a temple for God: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?" (I Corinthians 6:19). Instead of a temple made of stone and cedar and inlaid with gold, your body is the holy place where God's presence now dwells. The Holy Spirit dwells in you and when you walk according to God's will He establishes His word with you. To build God's temple, study the Bible and allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to reveal God to you, thus establishing you in His word and obedience to His will.

Playing in the Big Leagues - Jeremiah 12:5

"If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?" When Jeremiah began to prophesy about the apostasy of Judah and its future captivity in his hometown of Anathoth, he received death threats from his own countrymen. Then Jeremiah complained to God about this persecution and this verse is the beginning of God's response to Jeremiah. God asks Jeremiah, if he is so distressed by the men of Anathoth ("men on foot"), how does he expect to deliver God's message to the king, the court, and the priests at Jerusalem ("horses," understood as "men on horses")? God is essentially telling Jeremiah (pardon the baseball metaphor), if you can't compete in the minors, how do you expect to make it in the big leagues? In our walk with God we often act like minor league players. Some problems or troubles come our way and we complain to God about our difficulty, make excuses for ourselves, and lose focus on the main assignment that God has given us. God wants to call you up to the big leagues. God has some important matters--matters of life and death--for you to handle for Him. If you let the routine problems of life stifle you, then how can you expect to accomplish the plans and purposes God has established for you?

Trust Me, I'm a Christian - 1 Kings 3:28

"And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice." I Kings 3 includes the story of King Solomon's prayer for wisdom and then his first official act where he applied the wisdom God gave him. Two women brought a child before King Solomon each claiming he was her son. Solomon pronounces his judgment that the child should be divided in two and a half given to each woman. One woman asked Solomon to instead give the child to the other while one was satisfied with the child being and divided in half (and killed). Thus, Solomon knew the woman who wanted to spare the child's life was, in fact, the real mother and he gave the child to her. Then we read that all the people in Israel hear about the judgment that Solomon rendered in this case and they knew that God had given him wisdom to execute justice in the land. In other words, Solomon was perceived to be a trustworthy leader because he had God's wisdom and he used this wisdom to render justice. Do people perceive you as trustworthy? Each of us must use the wisdom God gives when we are born again to speak and act justly and thus, be trustworthy in the sight of God and in the sight of other people.

How To Tell the Truth - Ephesians 4:15

"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ." Christians are purveyors of truth and the Apostle Paul implicates a right way and wrong way to tell it. We can use the truth to point out the shortcomings of others. We can use the truth to accuse those who don't believe like we do. We can use the truth to shame those who don't conduct themselves according to the same standards of behavior as we do. We can even use the truth to justify our own mistakes, unbelief, and misbehavior. Paul says we should take great care in how we tell the truth by telling it only with love. God has made you a steward of His Truth. His Truth is a precious commodity and when you decide to speak it, you must take concern in how you proclaim it. Truth is not to be spoken in haste, in anger, or with hatred, but only in love. Paul says when you learn to speak the truth in love, then you are showing signs of Christian maturity.

God's Superheroes - Ephesians 3:20-21

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever." A superhero is a person who has extraordinary or superhuman powers and is dedicated to protecting the world from evil. In this second prayer of Paul in the letter to the Ephesians, the apostle prays for the spiritual strength of the Ephesian believers (and, consequently, all believers). Paul basically prays that the Ephesian believers will be God's superheroes! Paul prays for the power of God that is already at work in the Ephesian believers by the Holy Spirit Who dwells in them to do extraordinary or superhuman feats! In the same way, pray that God will use you to accomplish feats for Him and His glory beyond anything that you could ask for or think of and don't be surprised if He makes a spiritual Superman or spiritual Wonder Woman out of you!

Turning Disobedience Into Blessing - II Samuel 24

In this final chapter of II Samuel, King David sent Joab, his military commander, to take a census of Israel. By numbering the people for military purposes (vs. 9), David apparently showed a lack of trust in God to supply the necessary men when needed and wrongful pride in the hundreds of thousands of forces at his command (see vs. 10). As a consequence of David's sin God offered David three choices: 1) three years of famine in the land; 2) three months of fleeing from his enemies; or 3) three days of pestilence in the land. David chose pestilence reasoning that he would rather fall into the hand of God than men because God's mercy is great (vs. 14). So God sent pestilence into the land, and even though it killed 70,000 men (vs. 15), God stopped the destruction before it came upon Jerusalem. Then God told David to build an altar on a certain hilltop near Jerusalem. God accepted David's burnt offerings and responded to David's plea for the people of Israel. This altar site becomes significant in the future for as the parallel account in 1 Chronicles 22:1 indicates, this hilltop threshing floor becomes the site on which Solomon builds the temple of the Lord. So God used David's act of disobedience to accomplish His purposes for Israel! God is sovereign over His creation and His plans and purposes are not hindered by our disobedience. God is almighty to the extent that He can use even the evil and sinful actions of individuals to work His good purposes.

Three Things Christians Should Know - Ephesians 1:15-21

"That you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe" (vs. 18-19). Paul prays that God will give the Ephesian believers (and, consequently, all believers) a specific knowledge and understanding of: (1) their future hope of resurrection to eternal life; (2) the vastness of God's inheritance that they have received in Christ; and (3) the greatness of God's power that has been transmitted to them through Christ--the same power demonstrated in resurrecting Christ from the dead and seating Him in power over creation. That's a lot to learn so let's get busy studying and praying so "having the eyes of your hearts enlightened" (vs. 16), we can comprehend all that God has purposed for us "not only in this age but also in the one to come" (vs. 21).

Supreme Faux Pas? - Ephesians 1:4, 9-10

“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him...making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” The way we usually begin the story of God's redemption of humanity is that that God created a perfect world—a beautiful, wonderful place where communion with God was as easy as an afternoon walk through a garden. Then Adam and Eve, who were God’s own created beings, disobeyed Him resulting in a catastrophic rift between God and His own creation. Seemingly, God’s perfect world was defiled and so He developed a plan to fix it. When we begin the story in this way, it suggests that God made a big mistake when He created a universe that resulted in human beings falling out of fellowship with Him. In Paul's greeting to the Ephesians he begins the redemption story from its actual beginning. Paul makes it clear that God planned for the redemption of humanity even before the creation of the world! God wondrously and purposefully created this world and its redemption has always been God’s plan before the beginning of time. So God is not trying to fix any supreme faux pas He made during creation. Instead, God is expressing supreme love through His creation. And supreme love is best demonstrated through redemption: “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that He may have mercy on all.” (Romans 11:32). God's love and the redemption of His creation and human beings has always been God's plan--let's tell the story that way.

Getting Connected - Galatians 6:15-16

"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation." The Apostle Paul says the cross that crucified Christ has also crucified the world to him as a result of his faith in Christ. Paul is saying that the worldly system of this present life has no power to attract him; it no longer has any appeal to Paul; it is dead to him. Similarly, Paul is dead to the desires and attractions of the world, for Christ is now his new master and no other. The cross of Christ provides us with total separation from the worldly system of this age. This total disconnect with the world occurs because a total or complete connection with Christ has been created in us. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The Principle of Displacement - Galatians 5:16

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." The desires of the flesh mean not just bodily cravings but all the ordinary desires of fallen human nature including sexual immorality, jealousy, and anger (see vs. 19-20 for a complete list). The fruit of the Spirit includes love, joy, peace, and self-control (see vs. 22-23 for a complete list). The only way to conquer the flesh is to yield to the Spirit. Jerry and Marilyn Fine call this the principle of displacement. When you walk by the Spirit, it displaces your natural tendency to gratify the desires of the flesh. Walking by the Spirit refers to a pattern of conduct governing of all of one's life. Walking by the Spirit includes both direction and empowerment--making decisions and choices according to the Holy Spirit's guidance and acting with the power the Spirit supplies to execute these decisions and choices and to live righteously. You walk by the Spirit when you cultivate your relationship and fellowship with God so that the fruit of the Spirit displaces the desires of the flesh.

The Hope of Righteousness - Galatians 5:5

"For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness." The Apostle Paul has been explaining to the Galatians that Christians cannot obtain righteousness by circumcision and obedience to the Mosaic law and if you abide by one part of the law you are subject to obedience to all the law. Therefore, Christians do not place confidence in their own righteous actions or behavior to be justified before God, but they wait for God to work His righteousness in them and bring it to completion when they face God at the final judgment. So the righteousness we hope for is not something we can concoct for ourselves, but rather it is something God imputes upon us because of the sacrifice of Christ. Yet, we endeavor to live righteously in this life but in order to please God who loves us and not so God will grant us righteousenss. God grants righteousness to us because of Christ and He imparts His Spirit upon us to help us live righteously. Through the Spirit we have hope and wait for righteousness to culminate in our lives at the time when we stand before God justified by our faith in Christ.

Your Troubles May Be God's Will - 2 Samuuel 19:1-8

Sometimes we let our own personal problems and feelings overshadow what God is doing all around us. Such is the case with King David upon hearing of the death of his son and heir apparent, Absalom. David's army of Judah had just defeated an army of the other tribes of Israel in a civil war that Absalom led against David. David's army prevailed and Absalom was killed in the fighting. When David heard the news of the victory and of Absalom's death, he immediately went into mourning for his son: "So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard that day, 'The king is grieving for his son.'” (vs. 2). David let his own grief overcome not just his kingly responsibilities but even his gratitude to God for saving the nation. Joab, King David's friend and the commander of the army, rebuked David telling him that because he has covered his face with grief, he has covered with shame the faces of his loyal servants. So David listened to Joab and made peace with his men and began behaving as king: "Then the king arose and took his seat in the gate. And the people were all told, 'Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.' And all the people came before the king" (vs. 8). Don't let your difficulties dim your view of God's plans and purposes because what seems like trouble to you may actually be the result of God's loving care for you.

A Lesson from the Almond Tree - Jeremiah 1:12

"Then the LORD said to me, 'You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.” The almond tree is native to the Mediterranean area of the Middle East and was the first tree to bud in the spring, and so it was said to “watch for spring.” Jeremiah had a vision and God asked Jeremiah, "What do you see?" Jeremiah's response and God's reply are a play on words to make an important point about Jeremiah's future ministry. The Hebrew word for almond sounds like the Hebrew word for watching. Jeremiah says he sees an almond branch, and God says He is watching over His word to perform it. In other words, God's word is alive and active and so His words will become actions. Jeremiah can expect that when he speaks God's words, the words will come true because they are of divine origin (vs. 9–10). God is still watching over His word today, putting His words into actions. When you study God's word and speak His word to others, His word has power to transform the lives of those hearing it and speaking it