Walking With Jesus

Atonement

“So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.” (Romans 5:11 NLT)

When I think of atonement what immediately comes to mind is: “at-one-ment” because that’s exactly what atonement does, it makes us one with our Savior. In 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Paul elaborates on exactly what this means when he writes: “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know Him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ.”

Being made right with God is an act of God received by faith by anyone willing to admit they can’t possibly save themselves, in the sense, they cannot EVER earn their right standing with God, thus never enter heaven. Rob Turner gives us insight when he writes: “Trying to atone for your sin is like scooping out the ocean with a teaspoon. Which do you want to hear? ‘Get to work’ or ‘it’s already done’?”

The same word that is translated “atonement,” can also be translated “reconciliation”, and means: “adjustment of a difference, reconciliation, restoration to favor,” which in the New Testament means “restoration of the favor of God to sinners that repent and put their trust in the expiatory death of Christ.” “Expiatory” means to do something on someone else’s behalf, as Jesus died, not for His own sins, but for the sins of all those who would repent and turn to Him for eternal life.

Atonement results when we admit we don’t have it all together, will never get it all together and must depend on the completed work of our Savior on Calvary’s Cross in our place and on our behalf. When that happens, the Lord extends His hand and offers us a forgiveness we haven’t earned or deserved on the sheer basis of His grace – His free, unmerited, and underserved favor.

Have you taken that step? Have you accepted the Lord’s offer of atonement, and found new life in Christ alone by faith alone? It’s literally transformational! It will change your life in positive ways you never dreamed possible. The beautiful words of Helen H. Lemmel come to mind when she penned the words of the hymn “Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus.” “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.”

Having a right relationship with Jesus is more than a proposition, it’s an eternal friendship that results in our world being turned right-side-up. We can finally see ourselves and everything else in their proper perspective. Giving the Lord Jesus first place in our lives gives us guidance in ordering every other area of our lives. Family, work, play, church, friendships and everything else takes their proper place in light of our love for and devotion to the Lord Jesus.

If you’ve never made that decision or believe you’ve wandered too far, please tap on this highlighted link and allow Ron Hutchcraft to walk you through a very understandable explanation of why we need a Savior and how to begin a relationship with Him. You’ll be eternally grateful that you did.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

When Religion Becomes Dangerous

“On judgment day many will say to Me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and performed many miracles in Your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws.’” (Matthew 7:22-23 NLT)

It’s very easy to get caught up in our own goodness. Aside from following non-Christian religions that teach another way to a heaven (there’s only One way to the heaven of the Bible) through various human disciplines. Even within the Christian Faith it can be a small step to seeing ourselves as much better than we actually are.

We tend to think we’ve cleaned up our proverbial “act,” when we stop smoking, drinking, drugging, using profanity, or we turn from pornography, immorality, homosexuality, gossiping or whatever other form our transformation may take, and we start to feel really good about ourselves. And that’s not all bad, we should be happy with ourselves, but ultimately all glory, honor, and praise belong to our powerful God who made those changes possible.

Religion becomes dangerous when we take credit for what only God can do. Salvation from sin is wholly God. Our only contribution is our confession, repentance, and voluntary submission to His Lordship. Jesus did all the work for our salvation on the Cross and it’s only activated by faith in Him, never by our good works or our own efforts.

Ron Hutchcraft says it well when he writes: “Somehow, in the middle of lots of Christianity, it is possible to miss Christ. It’s possible to be very religious, very involved with Christian things, and to miss Jesus and to miss heaven! How does this happen? Jesus said that what these people missed was ‘doing the will of my Father in heaven.’ Well, in John 6:40, Jesus tells us exactly what that is. ‘My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.’ That’s what God the Father wants. That’s what He demands as the only way to get into heaven. It’s not doing Christian things or believing Christian beliefs or observing Christian rituals. It’s putting your total trust in His Son as your only hope of having eternal life.”

Have you made that decision? Have you yielded your life and allegiance to Jesus alone by faith alone? You may have attended church your whole life, live a very moral life, serve and are active in a great church, but if you’ve never opened your heart and life to the Lordship of Jesus, you won’t be going to heaven (see verse at top of the page).

We can do a lot of very impressive things, miraculous things, but with the wrong motive, and we gain nothing. Do you know that Satan can also perform miracles? In 2 Corinthians 11:12ff Paul speaks of false apostles who are “deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ.” Their deliberate aim is deception and there are many who fill the pulpits of the world who fit this description. Then Paul shares this insightful statement: “But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

And that’s another very real danger when we shift from simple faith in the completed work of Christ on the Cross and start keeping score of all the ways we’re contributing to our own goodness. It’s a short step to seeing ourselves as our own “savior,” and allowing Satan to deceive us into believing we’re truly born again when in reality we’re frauds, fakes, and pretenders. Please don’t let that happen to you.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Have You Made the List?

“A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!’ Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, ‘I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?’ Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.” (Acts 19:13-16 NLT)

If you’re a follower of Jesus, does anyone know? And if not, why not? What’s the point of being a “closet Christian”, if there is such a thing? Do we not understand that choosing Christ is choosing death to ourselves and life to those to whom the Lord sends us? Is this not the pattern of Paul’s Missionary journeys?

Paul explained to his friends from Ephesus, in Acts 20:18-24: “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike – the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.

And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.”

We exist to invest ourselves in the pursuit of Christlikeness, resulting in the selfless pursuit of sharing God’s love and life with others. When we do that our name lands on at least two lists – God’s list in the Lamb’s Book of Life and the devil’s list, marking us for Satanic attack seeking to stop us from our efforts to win others from the life he has planned for them.

You see, God isn’t the only one who has plans for us and just as our efforts for the Lord disrupt Satan’s plans, our lack of effort on the Lord’s behalf forwards the devil’s plans. Hell’s highest compliment is when the enemy chooses to attack us to keep us from spreading God’s Word with those headed to a Christless eternity. If the enemy isn’t bothering us, perhaps it’s because we’re not bothering him.

It’s interesting to me that the demons in the verses above knew Paul. Jesus is a no-brainer, but if they knew Paul’s name, my sense is they know the names of many others. I’m reminded of the effective men of God who have fallen because they yielded to temptation from which they never recovered. Pride is a terrible enemy with whom to do battle, but is the logical result of an effective satanic attack.

When we put more confidence in our own ability to live the Christian life than we do in the power of the Holy Spirit, we’re destined for failure. It’s never a question of “if”, only a question of “when” we’re going to fall prey to the enemy’s attacks. To believe we are invincible in our own strength and “spirituality” is to lay down the banner of Christ and succumb to the enemy’s advances.

Have you made God’s list? My prayer is we’ve got targets on our backs the size of China that are identifying us as agents of the Holy God who are major threats to Satan and his devilish emissaries.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Choose Your Kingdom

“Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.’” (John 18:36 ESV)

*This New Year’s Day Devotional by Ray Majoran is just too good not to share. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to subscribe to his daily prayers and beautiful photos by tapping on his name (highlighted above) then going to “subscribe” at the top right of the page. Please read carefully and attentively to his challenging words. Blessings, Ed 😊)

As we step into a new year, my challenge for you is simple, but not easy: choose your Kingdom.

“Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com” *“Choose Your Kingdom”*

It seems increasingly clear that many Christians are living with divided loyalties, caught between two kingdoms. There is the lower-case kingdom of this world (with its anxieties, rewards, distractions, and constant noise) and there is the Kingdom of God, which calls us to seek first what is eternal and lasting (Matthew 6:33; Colossians 3:1-2). These two kingdoms move in very different directions, and over time, they shape us in very different ways.

Jesus warned about the subtle pull of security built on possessions. He told of a man who stored up grain for himself, convinced that his future was finally safe, only to learn that very night his life would be required of him (Luke 12:15-21). It’s a sobering reminder that we cannot store our way into peace, nor can we carry any of it with us. Wealth and comfort promise control, but they cannot secure our souls.

So the invitation is this: entrust yourself fully to God. Set your attention on what truly matters — loving your neighbor, walking in faithfulness, and sharing the hope of the Gospel with a world that is desperate for meaning (Matthew 22:37-39; Matthew 28:19-20). These are the things that endure beyond calendars and accomplishments.

And as you consider this challenge, be mindful of how easily the enemy tries to anchor our hearts to what is temporary. He draws us into endless debates that carry no eternal weight, distracts us with outrage and noise, and even convinces us that we are doing these things for the Lord, all while our focus quietly drifts away from Christ and His Kingdom (2 Timothy 2:16; 1 John 2:15-17).

As this new year begins, keep the main thing the main thing. Refuse to be sidetracked. Guard your attention, your affections, and your time.

2025 is a year you will never get back. What’s behind us cannot be changed, but what lies ahead can still be shaped by faith, obedience, and trust in God’s purposes. Choose wisely which Kingdom you will live for.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Sovereign King, You reign with an authority that does not rise or fall with nations, trends, or moments. Your Kingdom does not come from this world, and it is not sustained by the power this world values (John 18:36). We praise You as the One whose rule is righteous, whose purposes endure, and whose truth stands firm when everything else shifts. You remain faithful across generations, steady and unmoved, calling Your people to live under Your gracious reign.

As we stand at the beginning of a new year, we acknowledge how easily our hearts drift toward what feels secure, visible, and immediate. We confess that we often measure life by what we can store, protect, or control, even as You remind us that life does not consist in the abundance of possessions (Luke 12:15). Turn our attention again to what lasts. Shape our desires so they are formed by Your Kingdom and Your righteousness (Matthew 6:33), and teach us to trust You with both our needs and our future.

Strengthen us to live as citizens of Your Kingdom while walking faithfully in this world. Guard us from distractions that carry no eternal weight. Keep us anchored in love for our neighbors and bold in bearing witness to the Gospel You have entrusted to us (Matthew 28:19-20). As this year unfolds, help us choose daily where our allegiance lies, so our lives reflect the rule of Christ with clarity, humility, and hope.

ONE QUESTION

How does Jesus’ statement that His Kingdom is not of this world challenge my assumptions about power and success?

The Most Important Question About AI

By: John Stonestreet and Dr. Timothy D. Padgett

*As we begin 2026 it seems more important than ever to think correctly about Artificial Intelligence (AI), not only to enable us to see ourselves more clearly, but to enhance our view of God. This article from the Colson Center challenges, informs, and I pray, enlightens us in, not only a better understanding of AI, but a better understanding of ourselves and God. Blessings, Ed 😊

A recent story at Fox News described a new app that allows people to cut out the middleman, so to speak, when talking to God. “The ‘Text With Jesus’ app allows users to message AI-generated biblical figures, including Mary, Joseph and Moses.” Despite being lambasted for the app, its creator reports that many users are “embracing the new way of worship.”

Eerily reminiscent of the story of the Israelites and the Golden Calf, this is yet another example of the many “should we” questions created by Artificial Intelligence. And there are many. In a recent interview with MSNBC, actress and director Justine Bateman slammed TV and movie producers for choosing cyber-shortcuts to genuine human creativity:

“I think they sort of like to think of themselves as being tech barons themselves or something. But this, doing projects that don’t involve humans is not … in the film business anymore. They don’t know what it’s like to make a film.

A few weeks earlier, Zelda Williams, daughter of the great Robin Williams, issued this plea to her late father’s fans:

Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad. Stop believing I wanna see it or that I’ll understand, I don’t and I won’t … to watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to ‘this vaguely looks and sounds like them…’ just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening. … You’re not making art, you’re making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings.”

A few months ago, former CNN reporter Jim Acosta interviewed an AI avatar that claimed to be Joaquin Oliver, one of the students killed in the horrific 2018 Parkland (FL) school shooting. Not to be outdone, at least three megachurches played an AI version of Charlie Kirk the Sunday after he was assassinated, with one pastor announcing the clip as “what Charlie is saying regarding what happened to him this past week.”

Continuing down this rabbit hole, the BBC recently reported that the Chatbot Truth Terminal had managed to “earn” millions in cryptocurrency. Not only that, but according to its creator, “Truth Terminal claims to be sentient.” But, he continued, “it claims a lot of things. It also claims to be a forest. It claims to be a god. Sometimes it’s claimed to be me.” The program is now pushing for its own legal rights as a person.

What each of these stories reveals is how confused we are about the fundamental question that must be answered when it comes to Artificial Intelligence. In fact, we are confused about what the most important question even is. Many people wrongly think, as one author posted on X, that we need to decide what humans should do and what AI should do:

“You know what the biggest problem with pushing all-things-AI is? Wrong direction. I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes.”

However, the question is deeper than who (or what) should do what. The most important question is who are we as humans? What makes humans exceptional and distinct from machines?

For the last hundred years or so, in the wake of Darwinism, the essential question was how and why humans were different than animals. Many believed there was no essential difference. For example, the evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote,

“We are here because one odd group of fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could transform into legs for terrestrial creatures; because the earth never froze entirely during the ice age; because a small and tenuous species, arising in Africa a quarter of a million years ago, has managed, so far, to survive by hook and by crook. We may yearn for a higher answer, but none exists. “

What we should have known were the implications of this belief for morality, meaning, and social cohesion.

Today, to settle the “should we” questions about Artificial Intelligence, we have to know whether humans are different than computers. Are we “meat machines,” as some have said, or something more? That question will help us distinguish between Elon Musk’s promises to restore health and ability to people with disease and injury and what he calls “cybernetic enhancements” through “human-AI fusion.”

The problem with his idea, that humans can “effectively become one with the AI,” is not just that it is too science fiction-y. Given his vision, track record, and resources, it’s not even that such dreams are beyond his reach. His confusion is the confusion of our time: What does it mean to be human? What is it about us that is distinct and exceptional?

As We Say Goodbye to 2025

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NLT)

In bidding 2025 farewell I’d like to continue a few thoughts from the last few days but also emphasize that time is a gift to be invested, not to be wasted.

When the Lord chooses us for salvation, He chooses us to give a new priority to the use of the time we have from that point forward. We don’t have any way of knowing if that will be one minute or 100 years, we only know our life belongs to Him to do with us as He chooses. Obviously, not everyone who professes faith in Jesus understands that from the outset. It takes time to learn things like that and many turn back or turn away before they learn what a relationship with the Lord is really all about.

Will they go to heaven if they turn away or turn back? What concern is that to you or me? That’s between them and the Lord alone. It’s His call, not ours. We become like the laborers who worked all day and became jealous of the ones who worked only an hour yet were paid the same as us. Our only concern needs to be to give a full day’s work for a full day’s pay. That’s where time comes in.

My sense is there were those who were hired in the last hour who actually put in more effort and did more work in their one hour than some did in eight hours (see Matthew 20:1-16). Additionally, it’s not only what we do or how much we accomplish, but the attitude with which we work that pleases and honors the Lord. The more time we waste worrying about what everyone else is doing, the less effective we’re going to be in the work we do.

I think of the elder brother who never left home in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 that we looked at yesterday. Realizing relationship is the issue, not sonship, can we agree the son who stayed at home was just as lost as the one who ran away? Yet, there’s no indication in the story that the son who stayed at home ever desired a relationship with his father. What’s my point?

Simply this, both the brothers put in their time while growing up, but the younger brother ran away and left his older brother to labor for the father. They both put in their “time,” one at home and one in a far country, but neither saw what they were doing as a benefit to the father, only what they could or should get out of their service for themselves.

Everything the father owned was for the benefit of his sons, but neither took advantage of his generosity until the prodigal returned home. As a blood-bought child of God, are you taking advantage of your heavenly Father’s wealth that He has made available to you in and through His holy Son, the Lord Jesus? Are you harnessing your privilege to speak with Him often, training your spirit to hear His voice and obey His directives?

Are you investing the time you’ve been given to deepen your relationship with your heavenly Father? If not, why are you taking up space on this planet? He’s the reason you’re here, so, unless you’re using your time to pursue a relationship with Jesus, you’re treading water at best, and drowning at worst.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

What If He’d Never Come Home?

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20 NLT)

A lot of division arises between the proverbial “camps” over this parable. Today, by God’s grace I will share what the Lord has shared with me, you do with it as you will.

Parables have one main point. They are not allegories that reveal many lessons through many aspects or avenues of teaching within one story. The main point of this parable, as was the main point of the other two parables in this series (lost sheep and lost coin) was the lost boy was found.

The argument has been made that the lost son would have been saved because he didn’t lose his sonship, but the reality is, every living human being is born of God. No human being has life except it’s given by God. Life begins at conception because that’s what God has ordained, but because God is the Author of our biological life doesn’t in and of itself guarantee we will go to heaven. The son was lost before he left home.

Heaven demands we be born again of the Spirit through an act of faith evidenced through our willingness to repent and turn from our sin through confessing our need of God, submitting our will to His authority and obeying His directives. That’s the decision the prodigal ultimately made. Notice what the Bible says in Luke 15:17-19: “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my faither and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’”

Salvation isn’t based on sonship, every person is a “son” or “daughter” of God by virtue of our physical birth, it’s based on relationship. It wasn’t that the prodigal didn’t have a father, it was that he had no relationship with His father. Had he died in the foreign land without a renewed relationship with his father, continuing to live in his “lostness,” he would never have had a relationship with his father; thus, as we think of it in “spiritual” terms, he would have remained lost and not gone to heaven.

So, the logical question becomes, have YOU come home to the Father? It’s not simply about what we say, a “profession of faith,” if you will, it’s about repentance and confession, coming home to the Father, confessing our sin and yielding our life and allegiance to His Lordship – becoming His servant, His slave. It’s ironic on some levels that we can only become our Savior’s slave as we become submitted to our Father’s authority.

Sonship opens the door to the privilege of divine Ownership. We recognize that on many levels our lives were never our own, they were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 7:23) through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the Cross. We can quibble about how much a professed believer sins and still gets to go to heaven, but here’s the deal – every one of us, without exception is a sinner saved by grace and will be haunted by Satan’s lies and temptations as long as we have air in our lungs.

Can we just please leave it to the Lord to make the final call as to who belongs to Him and who doesn’t. Ultimately, we have only ONE person to be concerned about – the beautiful or ugly mug that stares back at us from the mirror. Focus on that ONE person and make sure they’re ready for heaven, then the Lord will lead us to others we can help get ready.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Eternal Security

“You didn’t choose Me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using My name. This is My command: Love each other.” (John 15:16-17 NLT)

What I will share with you today will be understood and believed by many of you, but you must understand that my “indoctrination” into the Christian Faith came through a Wesleyan-Arminian branch of Christianity. I learned a lot as a new believer and don’t begrudge the teaching I received; it just focused on the “bent” the people who taught me had been taught themselves, just as those who taught you shared from their “bent.” Am I now a Calvinist?

Nope, I’m a Christian, a Jesus follower, seeking to learn from Him through His Spirit what the Bible teaches, not conform to what Brothers Wesley, Arminius, Calvin, MacArthur, Piper, Keller or any other popular Pastor/Speaker might teach. I’ve learned to weigh what I read and hear in light of what the Lord is showing me the Bible teaches, because if it doesn’t make sense to me in light of Scripture, it doesn’t make sense.

So, back to the subject at hand. One common phrase that’s used that ruffles some feathers is “Once Saved, Always Saved.” That’s always troubled me because of those I’ve seen who make professions of faith, then for various reasons, walk away from the Lord and, to my knowledge, never return. Did the Lord “waste” a choice on them? Were they never saved? Did they just never grow up or mature enough to grasp what a gift they’d been given?

Why does that matter? It’s completely between them and the Lord. Here’s the truth: it’s none of my (our) business! It’s completely between them and God. I don’t have to understand the heart of God completely in every circumstance. Because of my sinful nature it’s hard for me to see “fairness” and “equality” without seeing – “What’s in it for me?” If “they” can make a profession of faith, genuinely connect with God, then walk away and still go to heaven, why do I have to stay faithful, serve, strive, discipline myself to walk in faith, still failing more times than I care to admit?

Here’s the bottom line as I see it. Our salvation is 100% based on the completed work of Jesus, not on my/our performance. The only investment we have is our faith, which is also a gift from God. (see Ephesians 2:8-9 ). The Lord extends to us an invitation to follow Him, we say “yes,” and the rest is up to Him in terms of our security. I can’t earn or deserve salvation, so, what makes me think I can sustain it? It’s ALL by faith in His completed work.

So, can I just stop making any effort to strengthen and grow in my relationship with the Lord and just “coast” into heaven? To even think that would cause me to believe you were never saved in the first place. Why would I say that? Because having walked, fallen, failed, gotten up, walked, fallen, failed, etc. for more than 60 years I wouldn’t think of stopping now, regardless of what anyone else says or does.

My intimacy with the Lord has grown so strong, so sustaining, so life-giving, so enjoyable, so downright fun, to walk away from the Lord would be like walking away from life itself. He IS my life, so, as long as this old body has breath, I will seek to continue to grow closer to my Lord, loving Him more dearly, walking with Him ever more nearly every day.

Am I eternally secure in Jesus? I have no doubt! And here’s the great news for you if you’ve yielded your life and allegiance to Him – so are you! Let’s look at this from another angle tomorrow.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

He’s All We Need!

“At the moment I have all I need – and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:18-19 NLT)

Have you ever been in desperate need? Like sinking in quicksand with no one within miles kind of need? Here’s the tragedy – lost people are slowly sinking in the mire of their sin, yet have no apparent awareness of their need, while here we are with the rope of their only hope securely anchored in Jesus, but we’re too frightened to hand it to them. What’s wrong with that picture!

Pastor Rick Warren wrote: “Sometimes in life, you don’t realize God is all you need until God is all you have—and that’s exactly what he wants you to learn.” There was a time in my life when I learned that valuable lesson. It seemed I was all alone. In my heart I felt no one cared and I had no one to turn to. Of course, that wasn’t true, but truth doesn’t matter when you’re in the middle of a pity party.

But that’s when the Lord showed up and said to me: “Are you an idiot! What about…then he began to list all the names of people who loved me and stood with me.” NOT! He doesn’t work that way. He gently and quietly shared with me that I wasn’t alone because He was with me and He was all I needed! Fortunately, He’s never allowed me to forget that, and I pray it’s a lesson you’ll learn and never forget.

Charles P. Jones, the songwriter, got it right when he penned the words of the beloved hymn “All I need” the chorus of which says: “Wisdom, righteousness and pow’r, Holiness forevermore, My redemption full and sure, He is all I need.” Why are we so blind to God’s all sufficiency until we come to the end of ourselves and our limited means of meeting our own needs?

As we stand on the threshold of this new year, might it be an excellent opportunity for us to open our hearts and minds to the reality that in and of ourselves, we’re never enough. We’re not strong enough, rich enough, talented enough, smart enough, holy enough; we can’t serve enough, love enough, pray enough, or attend enough meetings to ever earn or deserve self-sufficiency.

If we could ever be good enough to be free of our sin without Jesus, He would never have come to die in our place to pay the penalty for our sin that we could never have paid in all eternity. Jesus is all we need because He’s God poured into human flesh. He lived as we live, died as we die, and suffered every human emotion that we will ever experience.

He sees what we can’t see and feels what we can’t know He feels when we’re suffering. He sees not only how we feel, but why we feel that way and alone understands the answer to our suffering rests in our trust in Him. If only we’d learn He’s all we need, we’d immediately turn to Him in every moment of our lives, believing that whatever it holds, He holds our hand and will walk with us through it.

Please don’t enter this new year without Him. Please tap on the highlighted link and let Ron Hutchcraft walk you through a simple, straightforward explanation as to how to place your trust in Jesus and allow Him to become the Lord of your life. Jesus is literally all you need. Everything else that you think you need or have ever needed comes from and through Him. He is our Provider. Always has been. Always will be.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

God’s Promises

“For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ (which means ‘Yes’) ascends to God for His glory.” (2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT)

What is a promise? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary it is: “a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified; a legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made a right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act.”

When someone makes a promise to you, doesn’t it stand to reason that the promise is only as reliable as the character of the one who makes the promise? Satan is a liar by nature; he knows only how to lie. John writes in reference to the unbelieving Jews in 8:44: “For you are children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Compare that with Paul’s words to Titus in chapter 1:1-2 when he writes: “This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God – who does not lie – promised them before the world began.”

Estimates range from 2,000 to over 8,000 promises that God’s makes in the Bible, depending on the nature of the promise and to whom it is given, but every promise God makes is as good as kept because God doesn’t know how to lie. It’s not in His holy nature to vary in any degree from the truth regardless of the context. I love what C. H. Spurgeon wrote: “God’s promises are longer than life, broader than sin, deeper than the grave, and higher than the clouds.”

What do you most need in this season of your life? Do you need hope? Check out Romans 15:13 where Paul writes: “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

How about peace? See John 14:27 where Jesus says: “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” Or forgiveness? Remember the words of the Lord to Paul when He spoke to him on the road to Damascus in Acts 26? His specific mission for Paul was “…to open their eyes (Gentiles – you and me), so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in Me.”

Or comfort? I think of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 1:4-5 when he writes: “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with His comfort through Christ.” God keeps His promises. As His trusting child you can believe without doubt He will give you everything you need to be everything He died to enable you to become for Him.

Here’s the bottom line – whatever we need God promises to supply it. Paul summarizes this in Philippians 4:19 when he writes: “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊