Notes of Faith August 6, 2023

Notes of Faith August 6, 2023

WayMaker: Sign

The sweetest joys and delights I have experienced, have not been those that have arisen from a hope of my own good estate, but in a direct view of the glorious things of the gospel... I felt an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express... to be full of Christ alone; to love Him with a holy and pure love; to trust in Him; to live upon Him; to serve and follow Him.

~ Jonathan Edwards

She comes running through the door for me first, like she’s some prodigal’s father, widely wasteful with lavish love. “Your heart brave, too, Mama? Your heart brave like mine?”

Shiloh’s crawling up in the bed to kiss me, hiking up her t-shirt for me to see the raised scar from her heart surgery that parts her chest like a Red Sea Road, scars always a memory made into skin, a memory you can touch.

“Ah, baby girl, Mama doesn’t have a brave heart or scar like yours.” I’m smiling, but my eyes are searching the face of her papa coming in tentatively behind her. He’s the one who bears all my scars. I want to trace every one of the scars I’ve made, whisper sorry, beg mercy.

“But Mama? You got heart lines though, Mama, see?” Shiloh’s tracing lines and leads from screens to my chest.

“Shiloh? What’s Mama’s heart always tied to?”

And in one supernova explosion, Shiloh breaks into this dazzling smile, like she’s a morning star rising after a glacial dark. “I knowwwww, Mama, I always know.” And she dances her fingers on her chest and then flings both her hands toward me. And I’m laughing, mirroring her, fingers dancing on chest, then stretching both hands toward her, she and I both saying it in unison, same rhythm, same heartbeat: “My heart is always tied to your heart.”

She throws back her head and laughs, like she is soft light dancing over a singing brook, and I’m drenched in the loveliness of her. Hearts tied, hers and mine.

Attached, we are free to love.

“Darryl?” I stretch my arm out toward him standing in the doorway... pat the side of the hospital bed. “My heart is tied to yours too... my heart is yours too.”

My heart for yours, my walk with yours,

my life bound to yours,

till my last breath, then always and forever.

He shakes his head slowly, his eyes desperately sad, wounded. Shiloh’s pulling out books and crayons from her backpack, half-singing to herself, her half a heart beating steady between surgeries. My heart is in all kinds of failure. Darryl’s standing here, the way a man can, though his heart’s breaking slow.

“I’m sorry. I am unspeakably sorry.” I can feel it, embodied in me, with the weight of my pneumonia lungs and how hard it is to breathe: “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction,” says the Word,1 destruction literally meaning narrowness, while straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to the expansive life. The way of sin is wide-open and easy, but it narrows until life becomes crushed. The way of life is narrow, but “it broadens out into the spaciousness of life.”2

The pathway of least resistance leads to the least life. It’s the narrow pathway of great resistance that leads to the great life.

What can I even stammer but this: “I have sinned against Heaven and you. I am unspeakably sorry for all the ways I’ve turned my own way, gone my own way, failed in all kinds of heartbreaking ways. Ways that kinda actually broke your heart.”

“Oh, Ann.” He sits down on the edge of the bed. “You’re not alone... every single one of us has wanted our own way, gone our own way, in different ways.”

I drop my head to his chest. And I break, a dam, and everything runs liquid, free.

I’ve been addicted to me.

My addiction is to self. It is an excruciatingly painful thing to cut open your heart and see: My addiction is me.

I have committed idolatry.

I have broken the first commandment:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. — Exodus 20:2–3

Instead of laying myself down on the altar as a living sacrifice before God, I’ve put myself, my needs, my wants, my dreams, before God, before Darryl, before my love-covenant to both. Instead of trusting God to take care of me, I have turned and gone looking for all the lying ways of this hurting old world to comfort me. Instead of entering into the sufferings of Christ, who keeps His covenant to suffer with us, I have kept looking for the way out, any way out, always looking for an exodus out of pain. And where we keep looking for a way out of our heartbreak, we only drag a whole lot of beautiful souls into more heartbreak.

Christianity is never only the mental assent of faith in Jesus, without requiring the lived attachment, trusting faithfulness to Jesus.

I bear heartbreaking witness to the way of my ways: Nothing destroys a life like idolatry. Nothing destabilizes a life like centering self. Nothing will turn your life into a colossal mess like turning inward. All your incurvatus in se will leave you begging for a cure.

Though the roads will look different for each of us, always: The only way out and through is to enter into the sufferings of Christ. Only the One who keeps His covenant to suffer with you can carry you the whole way through.

Always: The only way out is to turn outward, love reaching out to God and others.

And always, always, always: If you don’t set yourself apart for a SACRED way with God, you set out to tear your own life apart.

I’m wild to go home and tear out that clematis, that was my own wayward, turned-inward heart, that was just about the death of me, and I am desperately ready to die to self to wake to the one SACRED life I always dreamed of.

When I look up, everything is swimming and blurring, and my chest feels like a narrowing vise.

Instead of gazing on the beauty of God Himself, we’ve all kept gazing on a way, a dream of another life without suffering that we’ve made into some kind of god to us. Instead of turning toward God, we all keep returning to the garden to go our own way and eat the damned apple, and then try to convince ourselves and all the world that it tastes divinely sweet, when the truth of it is, we have never chosen to taste and see the eternally satisfying rich goodness of God.

Each of us has curved our own way and away from God, rejecting His ways through suffering, His way of wooing us through heartbreak, His way of taking care of us through everything, when it’s only His way that will make the most fulfilling way.

I brush my cheeks with the back of my hand, look up into Darryl’s eyes, and I can read God. God doesn’t break attachment and abandon those who break His heart in a thousand ways. We break God’s heart, and God calls us beloved; we’ve gone our own way, but God won’t let us go. We run, and God seeks romance.

I loved him…

I took them up by their arms... I led them with cords of kindness,

with the bands of love,

and I became to them as one who eases the yoke

on their jaws,

and I bent down to them and fed them...

How can I give you up, O Ephraim?... My heart recoils within me,

my compassions grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger;

I will not again destroy... for I am God and not a man.

(Hosea 11:1, 3–4, 8–9 ESV)

There is no way God will ever abandon us; there is no way He will ever give up on us.

He can only give us hesed-lovingkindness. The way the WayMaker’s heart beats toward every struggler, and sufferer, and straggler wandering is nothing less than:

My compassion grows warm and tender. — Hosea 11:8 ESV

“God in whose hand are all creatures, is your Father, and is much more tender of you than you are, or can be, of yourself,” assured Puritan John Flavel.3

The clematis may curve and attach this way and that, and our hearts may curve away and grow cold toward God, but God says, “I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath” (11:9 ESV). The WayMaker’s ways are not our ways, they are higher, with stratospheric covenantal commitment, meteoric compassion, heaven-high hesed-lovingkindness. It’s not our perfect ways that persuade God’s heart, but it’s our imperfect ways that make His heart passionate for us. The WayMaker works in ways far higher and kinder than ours, and He never stops working to take care of us in ways that are working more good for us than we ever dreamed: “With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us?” (Romans 8:31–32 MSG, emphasis mine).

“I desire steadfast love [hesed] and not sacrifice” is what God says (Hosea 6:6 ESV). “For trust did I want, and not sacrifice and knowledge of God more than sacrifice.”* God, who gives us only hesed-lovingkindness, desires faithful, hesed-attachment love from us—that we trust the ways He takes care of us, that we acknowledge how He is more than a good Father, that He is a loving, kind Father, and that we are safe to go His way.

Cheap faith says one has only to believe. But the truth is: Real Christians aren’t merely the believers. Even the demons believe (James 2:19). Real Christians are actually those who turn, faithful followers who keep turning and turning, to be the faithful trusters. Christianity is never only the mental assent of faith in Jesus, without requiring the lived attachment, trusting faithfulness to Jesus. Why in the aching world don’t we give our trusting, hesed-faithfulness back to a God who hesed-loves us like this? Because we don’t intimately yada-know Him. To truly know Him is to truly trust Him. To bear witness to an honest revealing of God’s heart is to only find God’s heart for you appealing. It is a “misapprehension of God [which] is at the root of all hostility to God in the human soul.”4 If we really knew God, how could we ever have a divided heart?

How often do we want God to divide some Red Sea for us, yet we are the ones with a divided heart?

Excerpted from WayMaker by Ann Voskamp, copyright Ann Morton Voskamp.

We all too often treat God like a genie or Santa Claus desiring to get something that we want, rather than having a relationship with our Creator and Savior. We cannot make God to be something that He is not, and should we endeavor to do so, we are the ones at a loss, missing out on the greatest of loving relationship. Let us seek God for who He is, trusting with every seed of faith that He gives us, reaching to the heights and depths of knowing Him and reveling in His glory! His love for us is magnificent and precious because He is magnificent and precious.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 5, 2023

Notes of Faith August 5, 2023

The Pro-Child Life

Three Ways We Love the Littlest

Article by Scott Hubbard

Editor, desiringGod.org

Ever since Eden, God has given children a crucial role in the coming of his kingdom. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring,” God told the serpent (Genesis 3:15). And so, ever since Eden, there has also been a long and desperate war on children.

The biblical story shows us just how ruthless this world’s anti-child forces can become: Pharaoh casting Israel’s sons in the Nile (Exodus 1:22). Demonic “gods” bidding parents to pass their children through fire (Jeremiah 19:4–5). Herod slaughtering Bethlehem’s boys (Matthew 2:16).

Our own society is not above such bloodshed: more than sixty million invisible headstones (from the last fifty years, and still counting) fill America’s fields. Much of the modern West’s aversion to children appears, however, in subtler forms. Today, we are having fewer children than ever, later than ever. We diminish, and sometimes outright despise, stay-at-home motherhood. And too often, we treat children as mere accessories to our individualism: valuable insofar as they buttress our personal identity and further our personal goals — otherwise, inconvenient.

As Christians, we may be tempted to assume that this war on children exists only out there. But even when we turn from the world of secular individualism and carefully consider ourselves — our hearts, our homes, our churches — we may find strange inclinations against children. We may discover that anti-child forces can hide in the most seemingly pro-child places. And we may realize, as Jesus’s disciples once did, that children need a larger place in our lives.

Pro-Child on Paper

As with most Christians today, the disciples of Jesus grew up in a largely pro-child culture. Their views of children may not have been as sentimental as ours sometimes are, but they knew kids played a key role in God’s purposes. They remembered God’s promise to send a serpent-crushing son (Genesis 3:15). They regularly recited the command to teach God’s word “diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:4–9). They cherished God’s faithfulness to a thousand generations (Exodus 34:7).

But then, one day, some actual children approach the disciples. And as Jesus watches how his men respond, he feels an emotion nowhere else attributed to him in the Gospels: indignation.

They were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant. (Mark 10:13–14)

The disciples likely had the best of intentions. To them, these children (or their parents) were acting inappropriately; they were coming at the wrong time or in the wrong way. Not now, children — the Master has business to attend to. They were about to discover, however, that far from distracting the Master from his business, children lay near the heart of the Master’s business.

In the process, they also warn us that claiming a pro-child position does not mean living a pro-child life. You can theoretically value children and practically neglect them. You can say on paper, “Let the children come,” while saying with your posture, “Let the children keep their distance.” You can look with disdain on the anti-child forces in the world and, meanwhile, overlook the precious children in your midst.

We, like the disciples, may hold pro-child positions. Our churches may have pro-child programs. But actually being pro-child requires far more than a position or a program: it requires the very heart and posture of Christ.

Heart of Christ for Children

“Jesus loved children with a grand and profound love,” Herman Bavinck writes (The Christian Family, 43). And do we? Answering that question may require a closer look at our Lord’s response when the little children came to him.

How might we become more like this Man who made his home among the children, this almighty Lord of the little ones? Among the various pro-child postures we see in Mark 10:13–16, consider three.

1. PRESENCE

First, Jesus created a warm and welcoming presence for children.

Something in the demeanor of Jesus suggested that this Lord was not too large for little children. Young ones apparently hung around him with ease, such that he could spontaneously take a child “in his arms” while resting with his disciples in Capernaum (Mark 9:36). Later, as Jesus enters Jerusalem, children gladly follow him, shouting their hosannas (Matthew 21:15–16). And then in our scene, parents and children approach him apparently without hesitation (Mark 10:13).

“Something in the demeanor of Jesus suggested that this Lord was not too large for little children.”

What about Jesus communicated such an unthreatening welcome? We might note the times he helped and healed children, like the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:41–42) or the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:14–15). Yet these stories are also examples of a far larger pattern in Jesus’s ministry, which was noticeably bent toward those the world might consider “little”: lepers, demoniacs, tax collectors, prostitutes. He was not haughty, but associated with the lowly (Romans 12:16). And children, seeing this lover of lowliness, knew they were not too lowly for him.

If we too want to become a welcome presence for children, we might begin by bending ourselves toward lowliness in general. Upon entering our Sunday gatherings and small groups, and as we move through our cities, do we see the lost and lonely, the bruised and broken? Do we wrap gentleness around vulnerability and bestow honor on weakness? If so, children are likely to notice our humble, bent-down hearts, a presence low enough for them to reach.

2. PRIORITY

Second, Jesus made children a practical priority, giving them generous amounts of his time and attention.

If anyone had good reason to shuffle past the children — “Sorry, kids, not now” — it was Jesus. No one had higher priorities or a loftier mission. No one’s time was more valuable. Yet no one gave his priorities or his time so patiently to those we might see as distractions. On his way to save the world, our Lord paused and “took [the children] in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them” (Mark 10:16). His life and ministry were full, but not too full for children.

In our own lives, prioritizing children calls for active planning, a willingness to devote portions of our schedule to play and pretend. But as Jesus shows us, prioritizing children also calls for responsive receiving, or what we might call living an interruptible life.

Children are master interrupters. Tugs on the jeans and cries from the crib, impulsive addresses and immodest stompings — kids have a way of ruining well-laid plans. The more like Jesus we become, however, the more readily we will embrace our ruined plans as part of God’s good plan. And we will remember that if Jesus could pause to linger with little children, then we too can pause our own important tasks, bend down on a knee, and give children the eye-level attention of Christ.

3. PRAYER

Third, Jesus prayed and pursued children’s spiritual welfare.

When the children came to Jesus, he not only received them and held them; he not only looked at them and spoke to them. He also laid his hands on them and, in the presence of his Father, bestowed a benediction upon their little heads (Mark 10:16).

We don’t know how old the children were, but they were young enough to be brought by their parents (Mark 10:13). They were young enough, too, that the disciples apparently saw little spiritual potential in them. Not so with Jesus. The Lord who loves to the thousandth generation sees farther than we can: he can discern in a child’s face the future adult and budding disciple; he can plant seeds of prayer in fields that may not bear fruit for many years.

Do we invest such patient spiritual care in children? When we pray for our friends, do we bring their little ones, by name, before the throne of grace as well? Do we find creative ways not only to joke and play with the kids in our churches, but also to share Jesus with them in thoughtful, age-appropriate ways? And do our evangelistic efforts take into account the not-yet-believers walking knee-high among us?

Oh, that each of us, parents or not, would join the mothers and fathers in Mark 10, desperate to hand our children into the blessed arms of Christ. When we hear him say, “Let the children come,” may we respond, “We will bring them.”

Posture, Not Programs

If our treatment of children looks more like the disciples’ than our Lord’s, then our problem, at heart, is that we are not yet children at heart. “Let the children come to me,” he says, “for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mark 10:14–15). We have become too big; we have outgrown grace. For the doorway into the kingdom is small — so small that we can enter only if we kneel to the height of a little child.

To oppose the anti-child forces in this world, we need more than a pro-life position, a high view of motherhood, and a robust Sunday school program. All these we may have and more, and yet still become the objects of Jesus’s indignation.

We need a posture, a spirit, a kinship with the living Christ, who left the highest place for the lowest, who became a child so we might become children of God. The more we love Jesus, the more we will love children. The more like him we become, the more powerfully will our presence, our priorities, and our prayers say, “Let the children come to him” — and the more the children will come.

I love children. They smile and laugh easily. It is a joy to vicariously participate in their activities and dream of days long past because it still brings a smile to my face and happiness to my heart. We that believe in and follow Jesus are all children of God. Let us welcome and draw these children to the throne of grace that they may find mercy and help in time of need! Pray for all children of the world that desperately need Jesus!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 4, 2023

Notes of Faith August 4, 2023

Don't Doubt the Devil

The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. — Romans 16:20

Who is responsible for the infamy, terror, and agony that we see all around us? How can we account for the sufferings that we all experience if evil is not a potent force? Education has, in truth, impeded our minds. Because of allegedly scientific findings, some have lost their belief in the supernatural powers of Satan, while others worship him.

George Galloway summed up this dubious contribution of current education when he said, “The theory that there is in the universe a power or principle, personal or otherwise, in eternal opposition to God is generally discarded by the modern mind.”

The modern mind may discard it, but that doesn’t cause the evil principle itself to disappear! Once asked how he overcame the devil, Martin Luther replied, “Well, when he comes knocking upon the door of my heart and asks, ‘Who lives here?’ the dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, ‘Martin Luther used to live here but he has moved out. Now I live here.’ The Devil, seeing the nail-prints in His hands, and the pierced side, takes flight immediately.”

What can you do when you are confronted with evil?

*

“The devil trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”

Resist and Pray

Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. — 1 Peter 5:9

A poet once said, “The devil trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”

We can depend upon the blood of Christ when we are under attack. There are times when we simply must hide behind the person of Christ and ask Him to handle our problems. Jude says, “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee” (v. 9 KJV). That’s what we need to do — call upon God.

Now, the Bible says that we are to “resist the devil, and he will flee” from us (James 4:7 KJV). But before that, God says, “Submit yourselves… to God.” If you have fully submitted, 100 percent yielded and surrendered yourself to Christ, then you can “resist the devil,” and the Bible promises he will flee from you.

The devil will tremble when you pray. He will be defeated when you quote or read a passage of Scripture to him and will leave you when you resist him.

Does the devil flee from you when you pray in Jesus’ name?

Excerpted from Peace for Each Day by Billy Graham, copyright Billy Graham Literary Trust.

Submit to God and resist the devil…that is what we must do! I pray for you as well as myself that we first submit to God so that we can resist the schemes of the devil.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 3, 2023

Notes of Faith August 3, 2023

School Days! Prayers for Teachers

At the beginning of the school year, let's pray for our teachers and support them as they guide and teach our kids!

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

— Matthew 18:1-3

Father God, You have created so many gifts in this world. Praise Your precious name! Daily give me wisdom to know how to love the young children in my class, even in the tough moments. Give me patience to deal with unexpected classroom situations. Fill my heart with sweet memories of every child.

Bless each student in my class, especially those from troubled homes. Let them feel my love and attention, and please protect their innocence. Show me how to be their steady, dependable guide.

Thank You for the sweetness and goodness of children. Thank You for calling me to the task of teaching these little ones and for honoring me with this precious responsibility.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

*

Lord, bless our teachers.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. — James 1:5

God, you are Jehovah-jireh, the giver of everything. You take care of me even before I can ask for help. You gave me the talent to teach. When I am feeling uninspired and need new ideas, reignite the passion in me. Give me wisdom, and help me use my imagination to create new ways to reach my students. Let me be an effective teacher by using my gifts from You.

Help my co-teachers tap into their talents and use them well. Let your glory shine in their skills so we can celebrate the achievement of our students through Your mighty work.

Thank You for the talents You’ve so generously poured on my colleagues and me. Thank You for abilities that make us diverse and beautiful in Your eyes.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

*

He will yet fill Your mouth with laughter and Your lips with shouts of joy.

— Job 8:21 NIV

Lord, You reign over all things and delight in Your creation. You have given me a gift in each student I work with. Their joy is infectious and their laughter contagious. Their humor is often just what I need to get through a tough day, and I praise You for that.

Help my coworkers find enjoyment in what they do. Let the laughter of children resonate in their hearts.

Thank You for laughter and its healing properties. Thank You for the memories made with my students every day.

In the name of Jesus, amen.

Excerpted from Pocket Prayers for Teachers by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

I have been a teacher of the things that I have learned, whether music, or the Word of God. It is a pleasure to share everything that God has given to me. I have treasured many teachers and now have them in my family. I am very blessed. Let us pray for our school teachers as they prepare for a new year starting very soon.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 2, 2023 Part 2

Notes of Faith August 2, 2023 Part 2

Just read this article and did not realize before reading it that we might have people in our midst that Satan is attacking saying, “Has God really said that He will come and take you to be with Him…even if you fail Him and continue to sin?” We must not listen to the liar and deceiver but to God and His Word that proclaims truth!

Are you experiencing partial rapture trauma?

Nathan Jones: A fairly recent news story came out reporting that some Christians are coming down with what’s called “post-rapture trauma.” In other words, the person learns about the Rapture of the Church, but knowing about it ruins their lives because they spend their whole life worrying about whether they are actually going to be raptured or be left behind.

Christians know this errant doctrine to be called the Partial Rapture Theory. It’s this idea that only some Christians will be raptured up to Heaven while those not anticipating Christ’s return will be left behind to endure the Tribulation in some sort of purification ritual.

To find out if the Partial Rapture Theory is truly biblical doctrine, we are joined by Tyler, the host of the YouTube channel Generation 2434. Tyler is one of the new faces to Bible prophecy, and so new, in fact, Tyler, why don’t you tell us what Generation2434 means?

Tyler of Generation2434: Sure. Generation2434 comes from Matthew 24:34 where Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”

Back in early 2020, I felt like the Lord was calling me to get on YouTube, which is something I never thought I would do. Okay, well, I have to have a YouTube channel name, so what do I call this new ministry? After I had prayed, that’s the verse I felt the Lord had placed on my heart, and so I named my channel after Matthew 24:34.

Tim Moore: The importance of passing this message — that Jesus is coming soon — to the next generation is absolutely critical. Christians for the last 2,000 years have looked forward to Jesus’ return, and many of them are very faithfully looking and expecting Him to return at any moment.

The Rapture Defined

Nathan Jones: First, let’s define what the Rapture is for those who don’t know about the Rapture, and then let’s get into defining what is a Partial Rapture, if there’s even such a thing?

Tyler of Generation2434: In Jesus’ own last words in Revelation 22:7,12, and 20, He promises, “Behold, I am coming quickly!” Therefore, there are a lot of Christians out there who don’t even want you saying Jesus is coming soon. But, I would look at Scripture and say that when Jesus said, “I come quickly” the word “quickly” also means “soon.” Then people want to define “soon.” That’s where interpretations can get a little bit more fractured and murky.

Regardless, the Rapture is very clearly defined in the Bible, such as in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. In these passages, Jesus promises that He is coming to gather all of those who are His — believers who are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption — which I believe that day to be the Rapture. Christ is going to summon all who are called His children and take us to be with Him, as He says in John 14:1-3, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” This is what is clearly spoken of in the Bible — the Rapture.

I believe in what is called the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, meaning that the Rapture is going to occur before the prophesied Tribulation period begins. Titus 2:13 says that we are to be “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” The Rapture is the blessed hope for every believer in Christ.

Rapture Anxiety Woes

Tyler of Generation2434: It saddens me to see something that we’re told should be used to “comfort one another with these words” in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 seems to be stressing some people out. CNN even wrote this article on Rapture fatigue titled “For some Christians, ‘rapture anxiety’ can take a lifetime to heal.”

This anxiety is very similar to the days when Jesus was first here. The Pharisees used the Mosaic Law to put their people under bondage. But then, Jesus came with His message of grace and faith. We know from Scripture that we are saved by grace, through faith, and not by our works, as it says in Ephesians 2:8-9. Therefore, Ephesians 4:30 is something that’s really important to understand — that when we are saved we are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. That means that all of those who are His, whether you’re dead in Christ or alive, will be taken in the Rapture.

But then there’s this message out there which falls very much under the law of bondage. It declares that unless you are performing spiritually at a certain level, or unless your eschatology is correct, or that you’re actively anticipating the Rapture, then you’re just not going. The funny thing is, almost every time, it’s the ones who are saying that you have to be performing at a certain level are the same ones who also believe that they are the only ones meeting their requirements and so will be raptured. I’m concerned about that.

Tim Moore: According to Romans 4:5-8, for all who are saved, it’s not on the basis of our works. We are saved to then do good works. We still fall short every day. Romans 7:24 says: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Not, “What a wretched man that I was.” The author of Romans knew that due to his own fallen sinful nature, he would still tend to stray.

One of my favorite hymns goes: “Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” And so, if I’m relying upon my own faithfulness, even as Scripture calls me to aspire to faithfulness, I’m still hopeless. My hope is not in my own faithfulness or my own understanding, rather my hope is in Christ and His faithfulness because He is always faithful.

I’ve got to tell you, one of the worst jokes I ever saw was played on a dear family member of mine. Her siblings decided that they would hide, and my wife and I would do the same so that when one of my daughters came home nobody would be there. She would end up thinking she’d been left behind. It ended up being rather traumatic for her for those few seconds until we realized she wasn’t realizing that this was just playing Hide-and-Seek. We had to come out of hiding and comfort her and assure her that she will not be left behind for she had put her trust in Jesus Christ.

I’m absolutely confident, more so than ever, that Jesus will be true to His word and return and take His Church up to Heaven.

Tyler of Generation2434: Amen! I get messages from people all over the world who are trying to turn the Rapture from being the blessed hope to a great anxiety. They’re saying, “Yes, Jesus is coming soon, but you may not be ready for it because you may not be performing well enough to have earned going.”

The Biblical Remedy

Nathan Jones: Tyler, what do you tell them? What is the Bible’s argument that it’s not just some Christians who will be raptured but all who are saved?

Tyler of Generation2434: I go back to Ephesians 2:8-9 which says that we are saved by grace through faith. Salvation is a package deal. First Thessalonians 4:13-18 says that whether you’re dead in Christ or one of those who are alive and currently remain, we will all be caught up together to meet Jesus in the air.

The only thing that makes you worthy of salvation and the Rapture is the shed blood of the Lamb of God. First John 1:7-9 is very clear on that. We place our faith in the blood Jesus shed on the cross. We are then covered by His righteousness alone. It’s never about our own righteousness. And so, if Jesus knows you, if you are His, if you’re covered by the blood of the Lamb, whether you’re dead or alive, when the moment the Rapture comes, you will be going up to be with Christ.

Tim Moore: John captured in John 3:16, “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It’s an “either-or” promise. Then, at the very end of that same chapter, in John 3:36 he says, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” That’s it! If you believe in the Son, you have eternal life. And, for the one who does not believe the Son, they will not see eternal life, for the wrath of God abides on them.

And so, to go back to your expressing people’s concern if they did enough to obey, well the obeying is in the believing. We obey in terms of trusting the Word of God — the testimony of God — knowing that the mechanism for our salvation is the blood of Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are now sealed and delivered unto eternal life. So, it’s either the wrath of God abides on you, or you have eternal life. That is truly our blessed hope!

Tyler of Generation2434: Yes, it’s so important to understand that salvation is not a merit-based thing, rather it’s a belief-based promise in Christ. The rapture is the very same. The Rapture is not a merit-based, performance-based event, rather it’s a belief-based event. It’s based on faith in Jesus Christ.

Nathan Jones: And if you take the Bride of Christ analogy to its full extent, when I married my wife, I didn’t marry half of her — the part that was anticipating our marriage. The other half didn’t need to stay behind and endure tribulation until it purified her to make her righteous, which is the argument for the Partial Rapturists who believe some Christians have to go through the Tribulation to purify themselves. No! “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin,” as 1 John 1:7 reveals. Jesus is going to take the entire Bride. He just doesn’t leave parts behind.

Tyler of Generation2434: In John 19:30, Jesus said while on the cross, “It is finished.” Therefore, Christians don’t need to earn anything more towards our salvation, or somehow purify ourselves in order to become saved. The shed blood of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can make us pure and worthy to go to Heaven in the Rapture.

Tim Moore: Knowing the firm foundation on which we stand in Christ, we encourage people to be looking for our blessed hope. In other words, there’s a promise of blessing just in the anticipation of our Lord’s return. Paul talks about this in 2 Timothy 4:8, “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” It’s considered righteousness for longing and anticipating Christ’s coming.

That eternal crown is not something that I deserve in and of myself, rather it is credited to me by God. Even as I receive it, I’m going to cast it back at Jesus’ feet as an act of worship. So, in all things, our works point back to Jesus Christ.

Nathan Jones: Put your hope in Jesus Christ alone. For those who know Jesus Christ as their Savior, one day you will be either raptured up to Heaven or you’ll die and be resurrected. Either way, you’ll be with your Lord and Savior. Nobody saved will be left behind to endure the Tribulation. You can count on that!

If you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, you will see Him soon! Our lifetimes are but a vapor that vanishes quickly. Jesus is eternal and desires that we be with Him. He is coming back to take those who believe in Him… ALL who believe in Him. God’s grace and mercy are more than wonderful! See you all, soon.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 2, 2023

Notes of Faith August 2, 2023

The Power of the Blood

Have you ever thought about why the Earth needs the moon? Do you know how whirlpools form, what makes something glow in the dark, or the incredible properties of blood? Enjoy today's devotion from How Great Is Our God, the follow-up to the bestselling devotional Indescribable, with 100 devotions that showcase the greatness of our Creator.

If we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

— 1 John 1:7 NLT

Blood. Some people faint at the sight of it, but you couldn’t live without it!

Blood is made up of red and white blood cells floating in a liquid called plasma.

Red blood cells are a kind of delivery system. They carry oxygen and other nutrients to all the cells in your body, and then they carry away all the waste, like carbon dioxide. Blood is pumped through your body by the heart. Your heart is one strong muscle, and it’s fast too — it can pump blood to every cell in your body in less than a minute! Blood travels through tubes called blood vessels. The vessels that carry blood away from your heart are called arteries, while the ones that carry it back to your heart are called veins. The white blood cells are the warrior cells. They work together with your immune system to fight off germs and diseases.

Your blood is pretty powerful and important stuff! But the blood of Jesus is even more powerful.

Because He is the Son of God, lived a perfect life, and never sinned — not even one single time — His blood can carry your sins away and give you the forgiveness you need to live forever with God. All you have to do is believe and obey Him. When Jesus gave His life for you on the cross, it was both terrible and beautiful—terrible for the way Jesus was hurt, but so beautiful for the gift of love and forgiveness and heaven He gave to you and me.

Lord, it’s hard to think about Jesus’ death on the cross, and I’m so sorry for all He suffered. But I am so grateful for His blood that washes my sins away.

HOW GREAT!

Excerpted from How Great Is Our God by Louie Giglio, copyright Louie Giglio.

You can’t live without blood. You can’t live spiritually without the blood of Jesus that saves you from eternal death and judgment. Life, all life, is truly in the blood!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 1, 2023

Notes of Faith August 1, 2023

Pray Until Something Happens:

The King's Speech

PUSH: Pray Until Something Happens

by Jurgen Matthesius

Where the word of a king is, there is power; and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” — Ecclesiastes 8:4

In the 2010 Oscar-winning film The King’s Speech, actor Colin Firth plays the part of King George VI, whose ascension to the throne of Great Britain would be accompanied by his severe speech impediment. King George knows that to rule effectively and be taken seriously, he must have command over his diction. He hires a speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush, who gives the king the confidence to enunciate words that he formerly struggled with, helping him to recover both his cadence and his self-assurance. It is an incredibly moving film, one that highlights the importance and power of the spoken word.

God, who is the King of kings, creates everything by the Word of His mouth. In fact, His Word is supreme in the universe. Nothing and no one can undo what He has spoken and what He has declared. In Genesis chapter one, God creates the heavens and the earth, light and life, by nothing more than speaking. His Word is the beginning and the end of all things.

PUSH prayer is prayer that is based upon the Word of God. If you can see God’s Word as seed, you will see that within this seed is the will of God. Every seed reproduces after its own kind. It cannot do otherwise. An orange seed cannot produce bananas and an apple seed cannot produce watermelons. This is because within each seed is its DNA.

Each word of God contains the DNA of God within it and it is sent forth for no other reason than to establish or bring about His will.

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. — Isaiah 55:11

The Word of God is so powerful that the Bible says in Matthew 13 that when the Word of God is sown and the recipient does not understand it, the devil comes immediately and snatches away what was sown (Matthew 13:19). The devil is terrified of the Word of God because he has no power over it. However, he has the power to snatch it away and he attacks it, resisting it relentlessly. When we speak God’s Word we are engaging in spiritual warfare. The devil hates the Word because it brings forth light and diminishes darkness.

Prayer is most potent when we speak and declare the Word of God.

It acts like a battering ram, pushing back the siege walls of the kingdom of darkness. It releases into the atmosphere that which overcomes darkness, bringing forth light. Jesus spoke into a tomb and a dead man walked out. In the middle of a tempest, Jesus stood on the bow of the ship and said “Peace, be still!” and immediately the storm subsided and the sea became as calm and smooth as glass (Mark 4:39). PUSH is prayer that is based upon the Word of God, fueled by the Word of God, carrying the goal of accomplishing the Word of God.

Excerpted from PUSH: Pray Until Something Happens by Jurgen Matthesius, copyright Thomas Nelson.

Prayer should be like breathing…we do it to sustain our lives. Our spiritual lives are sustained by constant communion with God. We will present the desires of our heart to God. He will speak. We must listen and respond in obedience to the heart of God. This kind of prayer will PUSH us to do the will of God. Let us endeavor to follow Jesus and always do the things that please our Father in heaven. Why don’t you take time to pray right now . . .

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith July 31, 2023

Notes of Faith July 31, 2023

Our mission is to redeem the time, because prophecy will be fulfilled no matter what. But we need to redeem the time. Ephesians 5 – see that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise redeeming the time, because the days are evil. I don’t have good news about how the world is going to be. The world is not going to be better. The days are evil. We live in a very evil world. The mystery of lawlessness is already at work. We are watching the birth pangs in the global scale but we’re watching even in the local scale a growing sheer portion of evil everywhere, all around us. And we must redeem the time. Every day counts, every minute that we live here. This is a minute that God gave you to live for Him and to share about Him. Redeem the time.

Amir Tsarfati: Redeem the Time

There are many things in life that come and go and others that are for a season. Fortunes, for some, are gained and lost and, later, gained again. People will move in and out of our lives, as we traverse the seasons of life. Friends often change, surroundings and jobs change, and one thing moves into our lives as another moves out.

But there is one commodity of life that cannot be replaced or renewed once it is gone, and that is time. When a moment in time is gone, it is gone forever.

Ephesians 5:15-16

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

The Greek word translated as “circumspectly” means “exactly”. It can also be translated as “diligently or perfectly”. The contextual meaning of the word is established by the previous verses, which tell us:

Ephesians 5:8-11

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.

As children of the light, we need to watch our step and walk exactly as the Lord has prescribed – in goodness, righteousness, and truth rather than in fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. The Holy Spirit then speaks through Paul advising us to redeem the time even in evil days.

The Greek word exagorazō, translated as “redeeming”, is interesting. It means “to buy up, to rescue from loss”, and it can also mean “to improve the quality”. This means that when the days are evil and full of darkness, we can improve the quality of our lives and the lives of those we encounter. How? By walking exactly the way the Lord want us to, which is not in fellowship with the world of darkness.

As the days grow darker and more evil in the perilous times of the last days, God has a plan for us to follow. His plan is not simply how to survive, but also how to thrive as the birth pang like the progression Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 advances. It is no mistake that you are alive right now, and, for such a time as this, God has a plan and purpose for your life.

Psalm 37:23-25

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.

While it is true we may not always have all the things we “want”, it is equally true that we will never be without “who” we need. He orders our steps in a delightful direction, and, when we stray from it, He upholds us with His hand. David said, in paraphrase, I’ve been at this for a while and have yet to see God forsake anyone who is righteous through belief in Him. That includes all who believe in these dark days.

Psalm 1:1-6

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, qnd in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

In a time when Christians are surrounded by the counsel of the ungodly and scorners who want us to walk the same path they are on, God has ordained that we walk in His ways no matter what the rest of the world is doing. There has never been a time in history when the word of the Lord should not be our delight, for there is never a time when it will not keep us feeling like a tree planted by rivers of water. His word will always bear fruit in our lives no matter what season of history we may be living in.

So let’s not waste time walking in ungodly counsel or standing in the path of sinners or sitting with the scorners. The Lord has something much better for us! His counsel, His paths, His rest.

If you feel like you’re in a dry season right now and need to “improve the quality” of life in perilous times, make sure you’re on the right path all the time because any other path is a waste of time.

God’s way is always best! Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus,

Doing nothing of value is what we spend most of our time doing. Okay, I may not be talking about you, but I am speaking of myself. All too often time is wasted. And we all only have so much left to use. Let us strive to make every moment valuable to God. The reward is unimaginable and overwhelming! Give God glory for your life . . . every moment!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith July 30, 2023

Notes of Faith July 30, 2023

Hold My Hand

I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, and I tell you. “Don’t be afraid. I will help you.” — Isaiah 41:13 NCV

Remember when you were little and an adult would hold your hand when crossing the street? They would look down at you and say, “What do we do when crossing the street or walking in a parking lot?” You’d parrot what they had told you over and over in your little kid voice: “We grab an adult’s hand and look both ways.” I think that universal advice is the world’s version of Isaiah 41:13.

In everything you experience, work through, and survive, God wants you to remember to take His hand.

In fact, when you forget to take His hand, He will still hold yours and lead the way forward. Then He leans down, takes your face in His hands, looks you in the eyes, and tells you, “Don’t be afraid. I will help you. I will guide you. I will show you the way. I will never leave you. I won’t forsake you either. I am here. It is good and if it isn’t good right now, it will be. I won’t let go of your hand. I promise it will get better. Do not be afraid, I’m here.”

Is there something you are going through right now that you haven’t grabbed God’s hand through? What’s it like to know He has your hand right now and that He is helping you?

Jesus can and will be your peace.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. — Numbers 6:25–26

Sometimes God can be intimidating. Sometimes we may even feel a little scared of Him. He is the Creator of all things. There are some of those tougher stories we read, especially in the Old Testament, where His wrath is kind of frightening. Don’t be fooled — even in those tougher stories, God’s love, faithfulness, and grace are present.

Some of the greatest lies that anxiety tells us are that we aren’t enough, that no one cares, that no one can help us, and that we are alone. None of this is true. You have a God who loves you. You have people who love you, who can and will help you. God’s face shines on you with a grace that meets you where you are and lets you know that He is with you. Even on those tough days when you aren’t turning toward Him, He will turn toward you. And not only will He turn toward you, meet you, and sit beside you with so much love, He will also give you peace.

He gives you peace because He is peace.

Even when you don’t have peace because anxiety feels like it has stolen it, Jesus can and will be that peace.

If it is a sunny day and you can go outside, go ahead and do this exercise there. Allow your face to feel the warmth of the sun and take a deep breath. Otherwise, imagine that it is a beautiful, sunny day and you are sitting in its warmth.

Write down something you’re struggling to find peace with. How will peace ease your anxiety? Now close your eyes and take a deep breath. Ask Jesus if today, even if only for this moment, He will be your peace and help you feel peace.

Excerpted from 100 Devotions for Kids Dealing with Anxiety by Justine Froelker, copyright Zondervan.

I can feel the peace and joy of holding the hand of Christ even at my age, for I am a child of God! I pray that you can see yourself holding His hand, being hugged in His arms, totally loved and protected by our Creator and Sustainer. He loves us more than we can know and understand until we leave these corrupted earthly bodies and join Him in heaven, transformed into our glorious and perfect eternal state. May we daily take the hand of Jesus and journey through the day in the safety of His leading.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith July 29, 2023

Notes of Faith July 29, 2023

The Age Old Question: Did God Really Say?

One minute, I was on a high of living my best life now! I had it all — my good ol’ boy husband, Justin, who would take a bullet for me, healthy children, a dream home nestled in the heart of East Texas complete with white picket fence and a kitchen overflowing with friends on any given night. I had a good reputation in my thirty-thousand-member hometown (no small feat) and the respect of my church as a leader, and as a woman (again, no small feat in the Southern Baptist, white evangelical, Bible Belt of the world).

Then in the very next minute, my entire life came crashing to the ground.

After months of dismissing her gut instinct, my best friend Rachel, decided to dig deeper into her husband, Ty’s, phone records. When she did, she unknowingly unleashed the beginning of our end — the day my secret, 3-year affair with Ty finally hit the light of day.

I think all of our life-altering ends find their beginning in the same four words Satan posed as a question to Eve in the garden: “Did God really say?”

“Kasey, did God really say he doesn’t need your help running the universe?”

“Did God really say you are enough right where you are?”

“Kasey, did God really say Justin is the right guy for you — forever? What if Justin really knew you — who you’ve been, what you’ve done? Would he stay then, love you then?”

“Did God really say you must not eat from just any tree in the garden?”

No wonder Paul compared the Christians of Corinth to Eve’s worst day when he confessed how scared he was for them. Paul was afraid that just like Eve, they would be deceived by the serpent’s cunning and their minds led astray from their sincere and pure devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Even now, his warning echoes through the corridor of our twenty-first-century church that, just like our first mother, Eve, smack dab in the middle of everything she could possibly want or need, God’s chosen can still be lured into believing it isn’t enough. That even the most authentic and committed Christ-followers can find themselves beguiled by Satan’s charms, blind to the truth and belly-up in painful repercussion.

May we not forget that Satan’s ultimate fight is with God.

And because Satan knows he is not powerful enough to land an attack on his true nemesis, he will use all of his time and resources to wage war on the next best thing — God’s real, authentic children.

Like Eve, my intention was never to distrust God. Like her, I loved God, knew Him and spent daily time with Him. It was unlikely I would turn my back on Him over something as simple as attraction to the wrong man. Like Eve, I had to think about my decision, spend time turning the fruit over and over in my hands — smell it, position it on the mantel so I could stand back and stare at it a few weeks before biting into it.

Also, like Eve, I did something much more devastating than just take a bite of fruit; I used my love for God to justify disobeying Him. Over time, I convinced myself that God needed my help. Help running my marriage, my friendships, my life.

Satan’s ultimate fight is with God.

The longer I pondered Satan’s question, the more reasonable it became. Maybe I did understand parts of Ty that Rachel didn’t. Perhaps Ty did need my emotional support if their marriage was to be successful. Maybe Justin really wouldn’t care that I sneaked out of bed each night to “counsel” Ty over the phone, it being ministry, accountability, community, and all. If the fruit helped our marriages be wise and more like God, why wouldn’t I eat it?

In those moments after hearing Ty’s voice for the last time, alone in my house in the silence of napping children and surrounded by five loads of unfolded clothes, the next sound I heard caught me off guard in every way.

Laughter.

My own.

And not just tiny, breathless sighs or a chuckle but hysterical, from the belly, loud enough to wake my kids and throw my feet scissor-kicking in the air kind of laughter.

It sounds horrible, I know. Here I am holding a ticking time bomb that will destroy everyone around me and I’m laughing.

Had anyone else been in the room, I would have felt embarrassed or guilty. But as years of shackles fell to the ground and the weight of secrecy lifted from my shoulders, my heart erupted in such pure freedom that it could not help but spill over with laughter.

Rachel knew the truth. Ty said it was over. Maybe I could finally be free.

The courage to confess my adultery was suddenly forced upon me. I was no longer in control, no longer blind or deceived. My mind was more awake and clear than it had been in years.

I had no idea what life would be like one hour, one week, or one year from this moment. My mind raced in a million directions. Would Justin leave, take our kids, what was Rachel thinking, would she take their kids? All I knew was that life would never be the same. Out of sincere gratitude for that fact, I laughed.

Maybe life could finally make sense now that I wasn’t running it. Now that plates were no longer spinning above my head, I could finally take a good, hard look through all of the broken pieces on the floor.

The lie I pampered and put makeup on and played with in secret could be seen for what it was — fear. Fear I would never be enough, fear no one could love the most honest version of me, fear that I, a devoted church girl, was capable of scandalous, horrible things just like the next girl. Fear that I was exactly who I thought I was — needy.

Most people think that fear is a lack of faith. But it takes great faith to fear. Faith is hoping in something we cannot see. Fear functions in a similar way. When we are scared, it is easy to have faith in the “what if” scenarios we make up in our heads but are not necessarily true. At its core, fear is not lack of faith.

Fear is questioning God’s love for us.

How clever, Satan. We call your bluff. Use God to turn us against him. Distract us just long enough to switch the awe-inspiring fear of God into the pride-inducing fear of man. Use the cloak of godliness to disguise the subtle shift from “God is enough” to “I’m not enough.”

Which leads me back to what God really said…

God really did command Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and warn them that to do so would bring death. But what Eve seemed to forget in her conversation with the serpent was what else God really said. “You are free. Free to eat anything and everything else. Free to create, work, have sex. Free to rest in the life-sustaining peace that because I am God, you don’t have to be.” (See Genesis 2:15-17.)

God really did say that He alone is the measure of all that is true, good, and right in this world. He placed a tree in the middle of our lives to remind us of our mortality and His sovereignty over those attributes. He knew how devastated we would be when our version of truth, goodness, and justice proved to be ever-changing, misunderstood, and packed with impossibly high standards.

So, we remember our freedom tree, the tree of God’s sovereignty, His full command over all created beings. Like Adam and Eve, we’ve been given this one life, our one story, to know and understand God’s grand, eternal purpose — the best story.

So, it’s not enough to say that God uses our lives if He does not also design them.

What God permits, He permits for a reason. And that reason is His design.

Because He didn’t stop it — for me, for you, and for millions of people throughout history — He has a purpose for it. And if we don’t believe our lives are designed and purposed by God, we will waste them.

This is our story — the beginning of our end, when God takes His rightful place as the greatest love of our lives. This is the moment we finally take Him up on his offer to be exactly who He says He is.

Adapted for Devotionals Daily by Kasey Van Norman from her book Nothing Wasted.

This may not be your story – adultery – that is, but not letting God rule and reign in our lives is true of all of us, as we continue to sin. David, though he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and murder, laying plans for her husband to be killed in battle, prayed to God saying, I have sinned against You, and You alone. That does not mean that he did not sin against Bathsheba and her husband, but David sinned against God first…in his heart. We also, in our sin, sin against God first. He has given us guidelines that are pure and perfect, bringing joy and happiness to His creation. Let us endeavor to be pleasing to God and receive His blessing of pure and perfect joy and happiness!

Pastor Dale