“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Here is another place where we get realism instead of encouragement. Yet how important is this reminder for those who are following Jesus? If you want to follow Jesus well, you are going to face persecution of some kind. In fact, if you’re not facing at least some amount of persecution, you may want to look at how you’re doing in the faith. Read the rest…
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
This is something we see emphasized more indirectly in John’s Revelation as well. The closer we get to the end of this world, the worse things will get; the worse people will get. Read the rest…
“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’ than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.” (ESV)
We live in the day of the self-made, internet-created celebrity. YouTube has been the source of numerous stars today. So have Instagram and Snapchat. To become such a person you must promote yourself. Relentlessly. You must be constantly on the lookout for opportunities to get other people to pay attention to you. And, if you have the right blend of talent, gumption, and luck, you can make a lot of money this way.
And yet, what is ultimately the fruit of such an endeavor? Given the stories about or often the character of such folks, it’s not good. We live in a celebrity-worshiping culture. We are constantly on the lookout for people to elevate to celebrity status in order to give them our devotion. In doing so, we not only debase our own lives, but also the lives of the people being worshiped.
Still, many recognize this celebrity worship and crave it. They crave it and so they do whatever they can to gain it for themselves. Yet again, what good does this do? Wisdom and observation would again answer: Very little.
What Solomon calls for here is a much better way: Do your best where you are and let it be recognized naturally. Let your godly character be the thing everyone notices about you first and foremost. Become known as a person who can be depended upon when things get tough. Produce work that lifts people up and points away from you to God.
If you are advancing yourself and your image, you just may get the acclaim you seek, but there is a very good chance it will come at the expense of your soul. And with that sold away, when the acclaim departs (for self-sought acclaim nearly always departs much sooner than we expect it to) what will you have left? Instead, glorify God in all things and let the chips fall where they may. He will receive the acclaim now, and you will receive acclaim from Him when the time is right. That will be a fame that won’t fade.
“For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
God doesn’t have mercy on us for His sake. He doesn’t extend to us His steadfast love because it does something for Him. He does it for us. He does it because His love naturally moves outward and we are the only creatures in the world made in His image. He does not deal with us according to our deeds, but quickly offers mercy when we cry out to Him for our sake. He doesn’t want to see us destroyed. He wants to see us live abundantly and flourish. Read the rest…
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
For anyone who would argue that the God of the Old Testament is somehow different from the God of the New Testament by being much angrier and more focused on judgment, you have to explain away passages like this one. And this is not the only time this characterization appears in the Old Testament. Read the rest…
The Nexus 