Month: January 2025

Hebrews 12:18-19 “You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking.” Another translation says His voice and message was so harsh that the people begged Him not to speak. God has always treated His people with honesty, and there have been times when His honesty and discipline may have seemed harsh to the Israelites. But just as we must discipline our children, He also saw the need to discipline His people. We live in a time when lies and dishonesty run wild, and at times (I hate to say it) even in the Christian household. But that is not the way of Christ whose name we bear. Jesus was honest with people, but He knew how to speak with love. For instance, in Mark 10: 17-22 it tells of a rich young man who asked Jesus how he can obtain eternal life. Jesus of course tells him to obey all the commandments which the young man says he has been doing all his life. But Jesus knew what held this young man back, it was the importance he placed on his possessions and money, so Jesus said to give it all to the poor. This was probably the last thing the young man wanted to hear, so he walked away. And what about the story in John where Jesus exposes the sinful life of the Samaritan woman? Or in Matthew when Jesus tells Peter he will deny Him three times? Peter’s fear of man made him feel it was necessary to do this. When Jesus was resurrected, He asked Peter three times “Do you love me?” This forces Peter to confront his weakness and see his need for change. In each of these cases, Jesus knew their weakness and knew without change their journey would end without eternal life. It was out of love that Jesus spoke the truth of their weakness. When we speak truth to others it should be tempered with love not cruelty, that being said there will be times when truth is not taken the way it was intended, and this is unfortunate. I’ve always believed that the way we say things is as important as what we say, Jesus knew the importance of honesty spoken with love. Jesus spoke truth in order to save others, this is a love that is so deep, so enduring that words cannot even begin to describe it. How much more love can a person have then to be willing to take on the sin of another and suffer death, let alone to take on the sin of all men and suffer death on the cross? So, do we not owe it to Him to speak honestly with tenderness and love when we see someone heading down the wrong path? And if we are the one traveling down the wrong path, do we not owe it to Him to take this honesty with the love it was given in? No matter which side of this conversation you are on, it is difficult because we are imperfect. Our feeling get hurt, we get defensive, we try to justify our actions or words, we say things that come across harsh and maybe even a little vengeful. Both sides of such a conversation need time, time to choose their words carefully and time to consider the correction that is being given. Give with love and receive with love – keeping in mind that we all have weakness and are imperfect, and there will be times when each of us needs someone to guide us back to that straight and narrow path. Proverbs 27:6 tells us “Faithful are the words of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” Remember God’s words to the Israelites, don’t cover your ears and beg Him to stop, don’t ignore the things you don’t want to hear, we all have things we need to work on. It doesn’t matter if you were raised in the church or if this is the first day you are opening your Bible, none of us are perfect. Often times it is easier for others to see our imperfections, our weakness, our mistakes – then it is for us to see them. That’s why honesty is so important, it is one way of expressing deep love and affection for others provided that the honesty is seasoned with love. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

2 Peter 3:18 “…you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” In this letter from Peter, he talked about false teachers, the last days and Christ return. At the end of his letter, he warns us to be on guard so we would not be fooled by those who would attempt to mislead us. So how do we do this? How do we protect ourselves against those who would attempt to mislead us? We do this by growing in grace and knowledge. Peter says we MUST grow in grace and knowledge, think of this as not a simple suggestion but as a command. There are some professions where you are required to take continuing education courses in order to keep your job. So why are we willing to continue to learn for work, but we are a little less enthusiastic when it comes to our faith? Is your life more important than your paycheck? Yes, I know we cannot live in this world without money, but without God we cannot live at all, with Him we find eternal life. With knowledge comes understanding and growth which leads to change. Unfortunately change has gotten a bad rap over the past couple decades, many see no reason why they should change. But just as with growth comes change so change comes with growth. If you are in a relationship and one of you is growing and changing but the other remains the same, this will eventually cause division. How many times have you heard someone say their divorce was because they simply “grew apart”? In other words, one person was growing while the other was satisfied with standing still. Are you the same person that you were at 5 years old? How about at 11 or 16, 20 or even 30? Hopefully your answer is no because otherwise you have learned nothing in life. Just as our life is filled with growth, so should our Christian walk be filled with growth. Not all of us will grow at the same rate, some of us will have to work hard for that growth and understanding while others will find it less difficult. The important thing is we don’t give up; we don’t stop learning; we don’t stop growing. Peter saw the importance of spiritual growth, he knew it was an ongoing process that would help us to develop a deeper appreciation of God’s word and a closer relationship with Him. Don’t be the person who is standing still, don’t be the one who “grew apart” from God because you were unwilling to grow and to change. Others wrote about growth: 1 Timothy 4:15 tells us “Practice these things; immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” In Jeremiah 12:2 we read “You have planted them and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit.” We need to be intentional with our spiritual growth, we often hear about the transformation that takes place when we accept Christ – but it cannot not stop there. As we grow and mature in faith, we will begin to take on the qualities of Christ; His love, compassion, forgiveness and empathy will begin to manifest in our personalities. We will begin to apply all He has taught us, to understand and use the difficult times as tools to learn and grow, to find true peace and joy through His word. Finding a church, a group or even just a friend that encourages our spiritual growth is important because have no doubt, once you start moving forward, once you make that commitment to learn and to grow, the enemy will do his best to discourage you. Rob him of that joy, if he knocks you down, get back up; remember when God is with you no one will ever be able to keep you down. He is our strength. OK, so my last few posts have been on growth, but next week we are moving forward and hopefully growing as we do. Until then may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

My last post was about the importance of personal spiritual growth for us all. This time I would like to talk about steps we can take to encourage or enhance our spiritual growth. First of all, the fact that we recognized the need and are willing to take steps towards spiritual growth is a major step in the right direction. We all need the guidance and direction that God’s word provides but sometimes it’s difficult to know how and where to start. Going to church on Sunday is a good starting point, but there is more to it than that. If we endeavor to put Him first, He will provide a way for us to grow.

Often times when I’m writing up this post, God will lead me in more than one direction. Sometimes I see the connection right away, other times, as is the case with this post, I find myself searching for the connection. So here goes: A new year often signals a new beginning, a time of renewal, commitment, promises and contemplation for the future. God has laid on me the need and the importance of personal spiritual growth for myself and for each and every Christian. Whether you call yourself Baptist, Pentacostal, Non-denominational or if you are Messianic Jew, it does not matter, what matters is we are following in the footsteps of Christ and remain true to His word. This year, 2025, we need to ask ourselves how strong we are in God’s word and if we think we are strong then it is time to stop, back up and realize we are at our weakest when we THINK we are at our strongest. Because that is when we start to read God’s word less, when we begin to think that certain things don’t apply to us, that His word is outdated, and we can pick and choose what we want to follow, and we start to lean on our own understanding. This is when we begin to pray with less conviction and prayer becomes a ritual instead of a conversation. And this is when we begin to have fewer conversations with others about God’s word. This is when we need to pray for wisdom and understanding, to pray for a humble heart that will allow us to see just how little we know. This is a time to go deeper into His word and look at the things we may struggle with. This year could be a year of great change for us all, whether that change is for the better is up to us. If we resolve to grow stronger in His word, to deepen our relationship with Him and to help others grow in His truth then chances are the changes will be good. Whether you are someone who was raised in the church or are just beginning your journey there is always a great deal you can learn. If we are stagnant, if we believe there is little left for us to learn, then the consequences could be devastating. In 2 Timothy 3:1 it tells us that in the last days there will be difficult times, what if this is the beginning of your difficult year? Will you have the strength and courage to go on? Do you rely enough on God? Do you put Him first in your life? Right now, I imagine many of you jumping up and down yelling “I do! I put God first!” And that very well may be true, but consider this: do you have the strength and courage to endure what Jesus described in Matthew 24? You may read verses 6 and 7 about wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes and say, “Oh yes! I could handle that.” But read on. And as you read think about this: could you endure the hatred and persecution that Jesus endured? If you were place upon that cross and told that all you had to do to save your life was to deny Christ – would you be strong enough to endure? Would you be strong enough to watch someone you love go through that? Or would you cave in and deny Him in order to save your life or the life of a loved one? It has happened in other countries and continues to happen; we just aren’t likely to hear about it. Just because we have not personally seen it or experienced it does not mean you will never experience it. My intention is not to frighten anyone, but instead it is to follow God’s direction and to encourage. To encourage you to commit to spiritual growth, to encourage you to develop not only a deeper relationship with God but to develop a deeper dependence on Him. To encourage you to depend on Him for wisdom and knowledge, for strength and courage and for the ability to maintain your integrity even if the world around you falls apart. Jesus never sugar coated His message, and it may be time for us to understand that we should not sugar coat it either. There are many who believe Christians will not see much of what was spoken about in Matthew 24, and they may be right – but what if they are not? Personally, I think we will see much of Jesus prophetic words take place, and while there are things in life we can change – we cannot change prophecy. If He says it will happen, then we can count on it happening. In Matthew 24:22-23 and in verse 31 Jesus mentions the “elect”, and while there is some debate on exactly who the elect consist of, there is agreement on the fact that these are God’s people. Some of you may be thinking this post is a little on the discouraging side, but it is not, because when Christ is involved, there is hope. Look at the example of Paul, all he suffered through, yet he found strength through his knowledge and his love for Christ. Whether your future is filled with sunshine and roses, or with turmoil, the key to having peace is in Christ. Let us make 2025 the year we begin a new journey. A journey that will allow us to maintain our integrity towards Christ, to find peace no matter what we are faced with. A journey that will help us to grow in our relationship with God. A journey that will strengthen us and those around us. Resolve to look at every part of our life through the eyes of Christ, to improve, to grow, to help others grow and to use Him to turn our weakness into strength. Let this year be a new beginning.