December 15, 2022

Isaiah 49:14-16

14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Early in my marriage, I had a nightmare that Rachael had just forgotten me. I had to remind her of who I was and that we were married. It wasn’t dementia, she forgot me like you might misplace your keys. That nightmare is a real fear for many Christians, especially when we suffer. Has God forgotten us? 

These verses from Isaiah are amazing. A woman would never forget her nursing baby. Even if she did, God would never forget us. He has proved it by carving us into His hands. More permanent than any tattoo, Jesus could show doubting Thomas the holes that the nails had made. Those scars of love are still with Him and should preach a sermon to our fearful hearts every time we remember them.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I trust that You will never forget me, even when the enemies surround me or dark depression comes.

December 14, 2022

1 Corinthians 4:5

5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. 

We don’t judge other people because Jesus commanded it and because we use such vastly different standards for others and ourselves (Matthew 7:3-5). We don’t judge ourselves because God is our judge and the Gospel is our identity. In 1 Corinthians 4:5 we get one more reason to withhold our judgment on others: we just don’t know enough.

“Don’t judge my story based on the chapter you walked in on.” We don’t know other people’s history, the set of gifts and intelligences they were given, or the motivations in their hearts as they act. How can we be so quick to assume we know all this and can therefore pronounce a judgment of good or bad? It’s so manifestly proud and hypocritical. Determine today to believe all things and hope all things in love toward others. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, I resign as a judge over the Universe. Thank You for correcting my thinking.

December 13, 2022

1 Corinthians 4:4

4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.

As hard as it would be, I do see the appeal in something like Islam. In that rigid religion if you do the right things someone will pronounce you Good. No matter how nagging your insecurities, if you follow all the commands all the time then you can walk around with your head held high. Of course, everyone who tries such a thing ends up proud or decimated by the attempt. It’s just not possible to stand up under God’s judgment.

That total inability is the beginning of the gospel and why we need the gospel so much. We can’t stand before God’s judgment, but Jesus can. We have to stand in Him. If you know that all the way down then you can live the kind of life that religion promised but never delivered. You can pursue good things and hate wicked things while still able to quiet shame and guilt with assurance of God’s acceptance in Jesus. Is that how you think?

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to live in a gospel way not in a religious way.

December 12, 2022

Proverbs 31:10

10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.

Today is my wife and I’s anniversary and she is both excellent and far more precious than jewels. A precious stone may reflect beauty on the wearer. They may give the people around you something beautiful to see and make the world a more lovely place. But an excellent wife gives you the joy of real love. She brings you honor as the world wonders, “How did he get her?” I look at my wife and feel the same confusion mixed with just buckets of joy.

How is it possible that God would use this idea of a bride to talk about the Church? As a loving husband looks on an excellent wife, or a king shines in his radiant jewelry, God looks on you and me and finds joy. I expect Him to look at me like I look at something stuck to the bottom of my shoe, but no. That kind of love is beyond imagining and it rests, with all its intensity, on you.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I cannot understand Your love, but I’m so grateful for it.

December 9, 2022

1 Corinthians 4:3

3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.

In 1 Corinthians we are told not to be judged by people and our culture gives a surprised “Amen!” Culturally, we’ve been told to follow our heart, to make our own right and wrong for ourselves for generations. But then, the Scripture checks us by saying we don’t judge ourselves either. Let this light shine over your identity: you are not what people around you say you are, or even what the shame and insecurity in your own head say you are. You are who God says you are. 

As we’ll see as we dig into the scriptures further, God goes way further than we would in the way He judges and in the way He loves. You are both way worse than you thought and infinitely more loved than you ever dreamed. If you can stop judging yourself and start trusting God’s truth about who are then Heaven itself will open up to you.

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for loving me despite it all my sin!

December 8, 2022

Romans 5:1

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Reality shows leverage the moment of judgment. Talent shows squeeze every last ounce of tension from the moment before a judge allows a contestant to continue or sends them home crying. Imagine being in a more serious version, in a real courtroom. The presiding juror hands the decision to the judge to read, then gets it back as everyone sweats with anticipation. Your freedom, maybe your very life, hangs on that judgment.

The gospel tells us a different story. We have been, in the past, justified by faith. It has already happened. The judgment has already come and you are declared innocent. Even now, right now, you have peace with God through Jesus Christ. It isn’t a hope for the future but a present reality. Live in the incredibly free joy of that most lovely truth!

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank you so much for giving me certainty of my future in Jesus.

December 7, 2022

Hebrews 10:30-31

30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

If I forgive you, does that mean you got away with it? Doesn't it seem like the only person who will pursue justice on my behalf is me? I know movies have those dogged detectives who stay up at night looking at giant tack boards of clues and pictures, but can I count on justice in my life? I think that may be the biggest hurdle to forgiveness.

The hard truth of scripture is that God is the judge who will bring about vengeance on any and all who do evil. No one escapes, and His justice is perfect. That means I can forgive, but it also means I really, really need forgiveness. I may not be a picture on a detective’s cork board, but God has seen the way I’ve lived. Go to Jesus to be forgiven for your sin! Otherwise, well, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, please forgive me my debt of sin as I forgive those who hurt me.

December 6, 2022

1 Corinthians 3:11

11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

So whose truth is really true? We live in a world that’s pretty sure of two things which can’t both be true. We believe each person can decide on what is true for him or herself, and we believe the lots of people who disagree with us are evil. You are encouraged to “live your truth”, unless of course it involves stepping on mine. So is truth something individuals come up with or is it something true for everyone?

The Bible is clear about where truth comes from. God’s view on truth is the True Truth. What He says goes. If you then, like you should, question who knows God’s truth, look with us at Jesus. That life and teaching which has unlocked the hearts of so many billions across time and culture is a sublime indicator. Look to that foundation and live. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to tell the world Your Truth with humility and out of love.

December 5, 2022

Matthew 7:3

3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

God doesn’t have to give us the reasons behind His commands. I can’t explain all of my decisions to my children because sometimes the reasons are beyond their reasoning. Here though, God gives us a pretty plain sense of why we shouldn’t judge. We are hypocritical judges who use different standards for ourselves and other people. 

We are willing to tolerate and even approve of massive transgressions in ourselves while at the same time finding the smallest infractions in our neighbors. Imagine a society where each legal case was decided by completely different, and arbitrary, laws. One person is fined $100 for murder while another is hanged for jaywalking. I don’t want to live in that world. Be glad that God, the only righteous one, is our Judge.

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for bringing order to the moral universe. Teach me to see myself and others the way You do.

December 2, 2022

Matthew 7:1

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.

I don’t know what the civil war would have felt like. Brother against brother, the country was filled with people who loved and hated the same people. Our world today is taking on some of that tinge. We are mandated to vilify a huge number of people, and while it used to be a manageable group, it’s now just about everyone. It's here that Jesus’ radical command strikes like a lightening bolt. 

Jesus has commanded the finger waving Pharisees and the easy-going tax collectors to hand God’s responsibilities back to God. It just isn’t our job to judge other people. Right is still right and wrong is still wrong, but we can never overstep our role. We tell the world about sin and about God’s grace and forgiveness not as God’s judges, but as fellow sinners amazed by God’s grace. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to see things through Your eyes, loving all and trusting You to judge.

December 1, 2022

Romans 5:1

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

They say war is Hell. The Bible makes it clear that war with God will inevitably end up in Hell. He is always undefeated, a perfect record against all challengers. His enemies have to be a hopeless, pitiable rabble. How terrifying then that God considers us His enemies. We rebel and rebel and disregard and disrespect Him in 1,000 ways daily. Being His enemy, what incredible joy would we have in finding peace with Him?

An old preacher said, “Peace is joy at rest. Joy is peace dancing.” In Christ, we are either resting in peace or whirling around changing the world with joy. God Has made peace with us through Jesus. He took His own Son and paid our debt of Hell on the cross. We need to more regularly honor God for that peace and relish the sensation of a cease-fire with the All-Powerful.

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for giving me peace and making peace at such an unimaginable cost.

November 30, 2022

Psalm 130:3-4

3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 

If you’ve tried to talk to people about the Bible, you’ve probably heard them set the Old Testament against the New. The Old Testament God was angry, vengeful, and a judge. The New Testament God is forgiving, kind, and grandfatherly. If that were true, it would mean God perjured Himself, as if He was simply making it up as He went along. Does the message of the Old Testament anticipate and set the stage for the message of the New Testament? Are they the same?

The message of the New Testament is summed up perfectly in the Gospel. God has made a way to forgive sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Does the Old Testament prepare us for that message? Look at the verses above. We are sinners before God and yet He forgives. Let the weight of the whole bible assure you: God can forgive you. Do you trust Him? 

Prayer prompt: Lord, I praise You for Your unending work of salvation for sinners like me.

November 29, 2022

Psalm 124:4-5

2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, … 4 then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; 5 then over us would have gone the raging waters.

Israel had a thing about water. When you read through the Bible, Israel was never a sea-faring race. Think of what they saw when they looked out over the waters: the flood in Genesis, the storm that took Jonah, the monster Leviathan that God described to Job, and the chaos of dark waters that took many sailors down to death. While a sunset over the ocean is definitely beautiful, Israel was also right. 

When we see the waters like the Psalmist, then we’re ready to see how our God makes a way through death. All of Scripture shows us, in more and more elaborate ways, the beauty of God’s salvation. Israel passed through the Red Sea on dry ground. They passed through the Jordan on dry ground. Jesus went down in baptism, then went down in the tomb. When He came back up, He declared for all time a way through death. Let that picture explode on your imagination and inform your praise!

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to see Your salvation and praise You for it every day!

November 28, 2022

Psalm 124:2-3

2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, 3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;

Every time I go into the canyons, I hope I get to see one of those massive boulders come rolling down. Along the trails they sit where they landed, some as big as RVs, weighing thousands and thousands of pounds. I try to imagine the power, the noise, the sheer magnitude of that event. I would love to see it… from about 300 yards away. Any closer would be too terrifying. Anything under that stone is toast.

It is sobering to realize that a force sits above your head which will end you with as much force as that boulder. It will defeat you with as terrible a crash and as inevitable a result. There is only One who can save us from death. Only One can lead us through it. Have you put all your trust in God to bring you through those waters to Himself?

Prayer prompt: Lord, I trust in You alone to save me from my sin.

November 25, 2022

Psalm 139:23-24

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

I used to hear these verses in the voice of the Pharisee. Pharisees were confident of their righteousness before God. They were the kids who looked forward to exam day because of their confidence in an A++. “See if, because I’m sure there isn’t, if there be any grievous way in me.” But the whole of Psalm 139 shows it wasn’t that way for the Psalmist, and it’s not that way for the Christian.

The Christian knows sin because we have seen the cross. At the cross, God showed what we deserve for our sin and put the nail, or literally the nails and spear, into our self-righteousness. Knowing our own guilt, we must confess. Confessing, and being forgiven, we come back to God again and again asking to be made clean. He can show us where things in our lives need to change. Go to Him ready to ruthlessly root out any grievous ways.

Prayer prompt: Lord, show me what must change and lead me as I walk in that new way.

November 24, 2022

Psalm 50:1-2

1 The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

Lord Byron, a British poet, said the world has two types of people: the boring and the bored. The bored would be the worldly-wise who, having experienced much, are now never surprised or delighted by anything. The boring are the simple folks who see a miracle in even the mundane like the sun rising or a child laughing. I know which I’d rather be, and which the Psalmist is. Which are you?

Are you able to look up at something as common as the sky and worship? There is a lie that being regularly near something makes it less valuable, or at least less exciting. Feel the sun on your face, spilling it’s rays from millions of miles away, and pray again to your God. Commit today to thanking God for each of the miracles you get to see and experience. Be Thankful!

Prayer prompt: Lord, wake me up to the wonder of the ordinary.

November 23, 2022

Ephesians 2:10

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

In Christ, we praise God that we are Fully Known and Fully Loved. We are known by God even in all our sin, but He still loves us and loves us fully. We can add another phrase after reading Ephesians 2:10, we are Fully Engaged. Now that God has saved us and called us, He invites us to ride with Him. In many ways, the adventure can now begin.

There are uncountable examples from stories of the hero beginning the adventure. We all get goosebumps when a new name, a new identity, and a new view of the problems of the world coalesce into a grand beginning to the adventure. God’s horse snorts and paws the ground as He waits for you to mount up with Him and ride! What good work has He prepared for you today?

Prayer prompt: Lord, I am ready! Help me to see the tasks You have for me today.

November 22, 2022

Psalm 139:14

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 

Crowds line up to see the latest Apple or Tesla product. Those wizards make cool things, and the little logo is enough to excite potential buyers. If they make it, I’m interested. Think for a moment about taking that principle all the way to the extreme. If God made a smart phone or a car, how amazing would that be? With no constraint in materials, wisdom, skill, or capital God would make something beyond imagining. 

Now, what has God actually made? He hasn’t invented a Tesla like Elon Musk, He invented Elon Musk. God didn’t start Apple, but He did invent Steve Jobs and actual apples. God did condescend to create something we can see and enjoy and the crown of that creation is humanity, even you. You aren’t something worthless to be thrown away in rebellion, but something that can be redeemed and sanctified to a high shine. Praise God for the impeccable craftsmanship evident even in you.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made!

November 21, 2022

Psalm 139:7-8

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If you read the verses we talked about yesterday, you feel the joy of the Psalmist in God’s presence. He is with us and loves us and such knowledge is too wonderful for us. Then these verses come and make our reaction more authentic. After the initial rush of amazement, God’s presence continues to be with us. He’s with us even when we might wish His Holy gaze to look somewhere else for a moment or two.

The blessing of God’s presence can also spark a resentment. If He’s with me, I can’t pretend to be in charge. I can’t live however I choose. I can’t entertain pride or walk with a strut. It makes me want to hide away and create a smaller pond in which I can be the big fish. Yet, where can I hide from His presence? He won’t allow me to keep living in rebellion. That is even greater love.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I confess that I try to hide sometimes, but I can’t. Thank you for coming after me.

November 18, 2022

Micah 6:8

8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

We recognize when a situation is over our pay grade in our professional lives, so why can’t we do that in our walks with Jesus? As a teacher, I know that there’s only so much I can control inside or outside of my classroom. I know clearly what I am expected to do based upon the contract that I signed. So what expectations does Jesus have of us?

God reminded me of this lesson when my husband was recently injured during his work with the National Guard. Maybe those of us who are control freaks should re-read the “contract” we signed when we chose to follow Jesus. It’s time that we “delegate” those worries to the One who is fully equipped to handle them.”

Written by Hope Church member and local teacher Jessica Edwards.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please teach me to come to you with the burdens that only you can bear.