The God Who Is There

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

Psalms 14:1

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God has made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

Romans 1:18-20

King David said it well, only a fool would say there is no God.

We are not left to wonder about God’s existence, we are presented with the evidence of His existence.

Paul in his letter to the Romans explains that God has revealed Himself to all men. God created the universe and all that is in it. If man simply looks at a new baby, he can see that only the hand of a divine God could create something so wonderful.

Only a fool having seen the universe could deny the creator of it all - the strong, powerful, true God.

 

Care For One Another

 

Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

When we have big problems, we help each other along. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are there to pray with us, encourage us and to help us.

We should not be timid about asking for help and we should not be timid about extending help. It is what we do for one another.

No burden is too heavy to bear when others help us carry it.

Walk Boldly

 

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Colossians 2:6-7

When we walk with Jesus, we consider what we do in life with an eye to doing the best we can to represent the love of God in the world.

Asking the question, "What would Jesus do?" gives us pause to consider that perhaps erring on the side of mercy serves both mankind and our Lord in a way which is beyond that which we might ordinarily do.

Walk boldly with Jesus.    

That Will Show Them

 

But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

1 John 3:17

In his writings John is affectionate toward us and he is also a tough task master. He lets us know that if we say we are Christians, we need to behave in a Christ like manner and do what Jesus commanded us to do – love one another.

One day, my mother sent me to the grocery store to buy a loaf of bread. A head of me in line was Mike. It was summer and he was wearing a dirty undershirt, torn pants and no shoes, and he was paying for a loaf of bread with deposit money from pop bottles he salvaged from an overgrown lot next to the store. Mike was short six cents and the cashier sent him back outside to find three more bottles. Bread was twenty-eight cents a loaf then. Don’t you think someone standing in line could have paid the six cents? Nobody did.

Mike was shown tough love. It could be argued that it did not hurt Mike to dig through the weeds for pop bottles, but if someone would have said, “Let me get that for you,” and paid that last six cents, Mike might have seen God’s love.

Don’t miss an opportunity to show God’s love.

Stop Spending, Start Living

Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;

And You who have no money come, buy and eat.

Come buy wine and milk

Without money without cost.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And delight yourself in abundance.

Incline your ear and come to Me.

Listen, that you may live;

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you….

Isaiah 55:1-3

God says we do not need to use brute force to muscle our way through life. There is a better way, His way. Satisfaction does not come from accumulating great piles of things. Satisfaction comes from knowing God, and the free gift of God, His Son – Jesus.

Spending money on things to make us happy is only a temporary fix. Things break, rust, and expire, but the love and mercy of God is forever.

Stop spending. Start Living. Get to know Jesus.

 

God Hears Us

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

1 John 5:14

In Christian circles there is a lot of discussion regarding what we should and should not pray for. There are those who say to pray for our own needs is selfish, and there are those who say that since God is intimately acquainted with us and loves us that should not shy away from asking God for what we need and want in life. I vote with the latter group.

We can pray for others and for the world and for ourselves.

God wants us to bring everything to Him. God cares that you are having financial problems and God cares that you need a better car. God cares about where you live, where you go to school, and where you work. God is interested and has an interest in us. God wants us to do well and be well. We are not being selfish when we bring our needs and desires to God; we are being obedient to the scripture.

When we ask, God hears us.

 

The Confession Leading To Salvation

But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is to bring Christ up from the dead).”

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” –that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

Romans 10:8-11

There is only one confession of any consequence to Christians. That is the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead. We believe this and we are saved. Faith alone leads to salvation.

We should not confuse the confessing of our sins with this the true confession. Yes, we may still confess our sins, but the true confession leading to salvation is that of our faith in Jesus Christ.