Category: Verse of the Day

This ain’t no “rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion,” folks — this is a “living relationship” between God and me.  If you thought you could do it on your own, i.e., living the righteous life and keeping every known and made rule to look and feel good, why then would you need God to do anything at all for you?  You would be self-sufficient and would find your way around in this life as well as the after-life, but you can’t do it on your own.  That is what Paul is saying here.  Paul tried it as have many others before and after him, and arrived at the conclusion that it is futile doing so.  I could not agree more!  And that last line of his says it all, “If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.”  What are you doing, gentle reader?

So, you find yourself faltering in your faith, perhaps wondering why you even try, and whether it’s worth anything at all?  Well, you are not alone because many generations of Christ-followers have more than likely felt the same way.  And here you have the author of this book, writing to the first century believers — and to you and me as well — to “keep your eyes on Jesus.”  I think that is an excellent strategy for life through life, don’t you think?

There’s a time for everything — a time to fall, and a time to seek forgiveness.  This is David’s way of telling himself, telling the world, and most of all, telling God he’s sorry.  If you’ve ever been that way yourself, perhaps this might serve as reminder for how to make things right.

Well, isn’t that the truth?  Because woe is unto the person who thinks he is bringing any goodness at all to God!  No matter how good we think we are or not, it is God who is good and remains good.  We, on the other hand, have our moments through the course of our lifetimes.  And even those shining moments that may seem stellar to us from our human perspective are what the prophet Isaiah calls “filthy rags.”  But the good news is that no matter what, we are covered under the umbrella of the saving grace of God for those who believe in the redemptive work accomplished by God incarnate on the cross.  May it be that Paul’s words speak to us today, and may we rest in the knowledge that all our many failings have already been forgiven.

So, what is the big deal about all this love business?  What does it mean to love?  Is it all words and no action?  Is it all action and no words?  Is it a bit of both?  Are the two mutually exclusive?  Or not?  Well, I think it IS a big deal, and I do believe the two are most certainly NOT mutually exclusive; if anything, they go hand-in-hand.  So, here’s hoping you’ll take a moment to see how exactly you are living out this essential command!

That is exactly how it is with us too, sometimes, don’t you think?  We just look on in amazement at what God has done — at least, that is how it is for me.  When I think about the very many ways that I have at times found myself after a long struggle of facing crossroads and waiting for a sign; when I have found an elegant solution despite all my doubts; when I have received more than a sign, but a vehemently resounding thunder-clap of a sign affirming God’s love, care, and protection for me — it is at times like these, that I too, am left speechless like Peter and John — and what’s more, it is for far less a matter than what these two disciples had just witnessed.  I hope and trust that you too, gentle reader, will have your own experience of such speechless wonderment when you see what God has done for you.

Isaiah, the prophet, served as God’s mouthpiece to the children of Israel, and much of the advice is good even to this day to both Jews and non-Jews alike.  If anything, reading these prophecies is affirmation of the great love, goodness, protection, provision, and promise of the Almighty God to the people that He had made a covenant with.  And if you think all this is quite generous, think again about how overwhelmingly generous this God is in the new covenant that was made with the entire human race:  the covenant sealed in the sacrifice of Jesus that resulted in the gift of life eternal to every person who believes.  How does that strike you?  I hope that you give it some thought today.

Failure to believe.  That is why, and only why.  Not because of anything else — certainly not because of the weight of guilt and sin that we enter into this world with when we are born, and certainly not because of the burden of guilt and sin that we accumulate over the course of our lifetimes.  Nay, it has nothing to do with any of that at all.  If we find ourselves facing the eventual prospect of death and no hope beyond death, it is only because of our failure to believe.  To believe in the plan of redemption that has been made freely available to all through the sacrifice of the one who knew no sin but was made to bear the sin of the world so that the price for redemption might be acceptable to the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God Almighty; and whereby the act of belief and acceptance in this gift signals a contrite spirit of confession that recognizes that one cannot save oneself with acts of righteousness, but that salvation lies in the acceptance of the grace of God.  Where do stand on this matter, gentle reader?