Walking With Jesus

Where’s Your Confidence?

“I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for.” (1 John 5:13-15 NLT)

There is never any reason to have confidence in ourselves when it comes to spiritual progress or success, especially when praying. To grow in grace is to depend entirely on the ministry of the Holy Spirit working in and through us. Any progress we make in living, loving, praying, serving, worshiping, witnessing or in any other way is only and always by the grace of God engineered and accomplished through the Spirit of God.

Yes, of course, the Spirit always works in cooperation with us, but there would be no work in or through us without the Spirit. We’re the vessel, He is the source, resource and power. There would be no growth and development without the seed of faith planted in our heart by the Spirit of God. Our confidence must always and only be centered and focused on the Lord Jesus and the invaluable work He has done on the Cross and is doing in and through us by His Spirit.

R. C. Sproul said it well when he wrote: “We rest on confidence in the efficacy of the prayers of Jesus, not our own consistency as Christians.” Efficacy essentially means effectiveness, value, or fruitfulness of something. So, in reference to the efficacy of Jesus’ prayers, we have full confidence that every prayer He ever prayed was heard and answered in absolute accordance with the will of God the Father. EVERY prayer of Jesus WAS answered in a manner that pleased Him and honored His heavenly Father.

Isn’t that what we want when we pray? Our confidence can never be in how spiritual we are, how close we believe we are to God, how refined we’ve become in formulating our prayers, how well-versed we are in the Scriptures, how long or often we pray, how well practiced we are in our prayer language, or in any other man-oriented means of measuring success or evaluating our effectiveness in prayer.

Our confidence in prayer must always and only be focused on the One who answers prayer, not on the one who offers it. Human effort, while certainly required, is never the sole factor in not only whether a prayer is answered, but whether a prayer is even heard. A prayer offered with pride and self-confidence will never reach the ear of God, only those that are offered from a contrite heart and spirit that is aligned with God’s heart and mind.

Growth in prayer is a gift from God that is derived from a heart that longs to please and honor Him, not simply to use Him to get answers that would satisfy or edify us. When I pray, I ask in full confidence that the Lord is hearing and will answer as I’ve asked. If He doesn’t, He often lets me know why. If I’m being selfish, asking awry or in an inappropriate way, He corrects me and helps me understand a better way to ask.

Once we get to the place we believe we have “this prayer thing down pat,” is when we’re allowing the enemy to gain too much ground in our heart and mind. Prayer is conversation with the Lord that issues from a heart that seeks to be in tune with the heart of God. How is that possible? It’s possible as we learn to love Jesus more than we love our sin; when we learn to desire God’s will more than our own will. Then it becomes easier to pray in line with God’s heart because all we want is for Him to gain glory in and through us and to do that which pleases Him the most.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

What Makes a Person Good?

“As Jesus was starting out on His way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to Him, knelt down, and asked, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call Me good’ Jesus asked. ‘Only God is truly good.’” (Mark 10:17-18 NLT)

This is the story of the rich man who wanted to justify himself by acknowledging “factual” things, but avoiding what was separating him from the Lord. There is reason given in the text to believe the young man recognized Jesus’ deity, that Jesus truly was God in human form; he also said he knew the Commandments and kept them, which is questionable, but his bondage to his wealth was completely hidden from him. How like so many of us today who come to church every Sunday, without a clue we are miles from the God we supposedly love and serve.

Is that judgmental? More an observation than a judgment. We’re to be “fruit inspectors,” primarily of ourselves, but when someone who professes faith in Jesus is clearly not living like Jesus, it becomes apparent that something isn’t right. Should we simply ignore it and go about our business? Perhaps, it depends on how closely we’re walking with the Lord and to them. If the Lord says to ignore it, we ignore it; otherwise, we do whatever He directs us to do.

Jesus obviously had insights into this man’s heart that others who knew him didn’t have. On the outside he was the kind of man every Pastor would want on his Board and in leadership. He has money, influence, lives a decent life, has so much going for him, Jesus just isn’t his first love. A person isn’t good because of what they do or don’t do, they’re good because of who owns their heart.

In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote: “You cannot make men good by law: and without good men you cannot have a good society.” If that’s true in society, and I believe it is, how much truer is it in the Church. I’ve seen firsthand how “good” people worm their way into leadership of a small church, only to commandeer the direction the Pastor believes the Lord was leading them to go. For that reason, and many more, I believe hell will be full of very good people whose god was money, power, or some other ungodly source.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in an address at Western Michigan University in the 60’s, after acknowledging that law cannot make someone good, said: “But we must go on to say that while it may be true that morality cannot be legislated, behavior can be regulated…It may be true that the law cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless…It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me but it can keep him from lynching me and I think that is pretty important, also. So, there is a need for executive orders. There is a need for judicial decrees.”

So, what does make a person good? Jesus said in Matthew 12:33-37: “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”

Do you love Jesus? Does His Spirit live in your heart? How do you know? What’s coming out of your mouth? How are you investing your time and money? Are you consistently praying for and speaking with the lost about salvation and hope in Jesus? Have you established a meaningful and ongoing relationship with a Christ-centered, Bible teaching, Gospel proclaiming Church? Are you serving in and through that church? Our goodness can only be reflected in and through our commitment to the King and to His Kingdom.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Trust In The Midst of Uncertainty

By Elizabeth Gunter Powell

*As I do the 15^th of each month, I’m giving you the privilege of being blessed by Sylvia Gunter’s ministry. Today’s devotion is written by her daughter, Elizabeth. If you’d like to learn more about Sylvia and her vital ministry, just click here. Blessings, Ed 😊

The world feels scary and out of control. We live in the midst of headlines that unsettle us, situations we cannot fix, and questions with no clear answers. It is so easy to focus on the circumstances and become overwhelmed with fear, doubt, and despair. When the ground feels like it is shifting beneath our feet, vulnerability rises quickly. The enemy is eager to exploit these moments, whispering the lie that God is distant, distracted, or uncaring. Left unchecked, those lies can leave us feeling exposed, isolated, and alone.

In times of crisis, trust is a powerful weapon. I define trust as assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, and truth of God. When troubles come, we can ground ourselves not in what is happening around us, but in the unchanging truth of who God is for us. God longs for us to know Him and to truly trust Him as Father. When our accuser wages war against our minds, we can draw from a deep reservoir of who God has revealed Himself to be and the promises He has spoken over us.

Trust begins more with what and Whom you know than with what you feel. Paul gives us this profound statement of trust: “That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

Trust thrives when we know we are loved. Trust believes the best about God and His nature toward us, because love always trusts (1 Corinthians 13:7). Trust actively lives in expectation of seeing God come through, even when circumstances are hard and outcomes unclear. A God-conscious heart anticipates the goodness of God, even in the dark.

Trust looks for evidence that He is working—both when we can clearly see Him and when we can’t. For the past 25 years, there is a phrase our family has clung to when times get hard: “The moon is round.” It comes from a song by Allen Levi.

The lyrics explain that, from our perspective, the moon appears to constantly change from full to half to a quarter, and sometimes to just a thin sliver in the sky. Some nights, clouds cover it completely. But the truth remains: the moon is always round. God can seem like the moon. Sometimes His presence is unmistakable and easy to see. At other times, we can’t discern what He is doing at all, and we are invited to trust that He is still there in all His fullness.

God does not change. God does not leave us. Even when He feels distant, He is near. In moments of crisis, it may be hard to see Him or sense His presence. In the middle of hard days, when I try to pray and don’t have the words, sometimes all I can say is, “The moon is round.” It is my way of saying, God, I don’t know what You are doing, but I trust You.

If you look up tonight, you may not see much of the moon because of the phase it is in. But we can all look into the darkness and trust that the moon is still there and still round. Both globally and in the deeply personal issues many of us are facing, where answers feel scarce, and clarity feels distant, God is inviting us to lean into Him and trust once again that the moon is round.

Pray with me:

Father God,

In a world that feels uncertain and unsteady, we come to You as Your children. You see our fears, our questions, and the places where our hearts feel overwhelmed. When the noise around us is loud, and the darkness feels heavy, help us to lift our eyes and remember who You are.

We choose to trust You not because everything makes sense, but because You are faithful. Anchor our hearts in the truth of Your character. Silence the voice of the accuser and replace it with the assurance of Your love. When we cannot see what You are doing, remind us that You are still at work, still near, still good.

Teach us to rest in knowing that You do not change. Guard what we have entrusted to You. Strengthen our faith to believe the best about Your heart toward us. Fill us with a quiet, steady confidence that even in the darkness, You remain whole, present, and powerful.

And when all we have are simple words, let it be enough to whisper, “The moon is round.”

We trust You, Father.

Amen.

Strength To Equal Your Days: 365 Days of Prayers and Blessings is a year-long journey of encouragement, filled with daily reminders of God’s love, faithfulness, and strength. Each page invites readers to pause, pray, and be refreshed by timeless truth.

It’s the perfect gift for anyone who could use a touch of hope and peace: friends, family, coworkers, or even yourself. Give a gift that nourishes the soul and strengthens the spirit: 365 days of hope, faith, and blessings.

The Fate of the Lost

“Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will remove from His Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” (Matthew 13:40-43 NLT)

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the eternal “fire” of hell, isn’t literal and will not destroy the souls of the condemned. Quite to the contrary, they will have an eternity to ponder their negligence and stupidity for what they ignored in this life. But the seeming logical question remains: “How can a loving, kind, compassionate God level such a harsh sentence for the disobedience of His creation?” I will offer some highlights, but for a more complete explanation click on this link to the Bible Hub.

As I consider the answers to that question I first turn to the nature of God. He is not only loving, He’s also just. To ignore sin in us as human beings is to ignore that which separates us from Him. It’s like saying to our new bride: “Sure, I understand your need to continue to see other men but just come home some of the time so that I can remember how much you love me.” It’s idiotic. No man in their right man would desire a marriage like that. But even as I write that, I realize there ARE men like that, which simply deepens our understanding of how far we’ve strayed from our Creator.

Satan sears our conscience and deadens our spiritual senses to enable us to ignore God and pretend He doesn’t exist, as illustrated by the quote in the picture above. It doesn’t stand to reason that the same God who rewards those who love and obey Him for all eternity wouldn’t punish those who break His laws, ignore His commands, and deliberately separate themselves in this life, in the same way. There is a very real sense in which those who have rejected the Lord in this life are finally getting what they’ve always wanted, to be separated from the Lord, but in eternity they will finally understand what that means.

Revelation 21:4 outlines some of the ways the Lord rewards His own when John writes: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” What is clearly implied by each of these benefits? His eternal presence! The Lord Himself is the Treasure, the reward, not the benefits He offers. They’re the proverbial “icing on the cake.” He’s the “cake”, the prize, the reward and to be with Him in this life and the next is the greatest benefit of our devotion to Him.

So, are we to assume if Jesus is the issue, then when people reject Him, it’s not worthy of eternal punishment? That’s laughable. It’s ironic to me that those who would reject God on the basis of the severity of the punishment leveled against those who reject Him are blinded to the reality that that same God is giving them a means of escape of that punishment. Yet, they knowingly choose that punishment rather than open their heart and life to Him now so that can begin to enjoy heaven here on earth.

The word used most frequently in the Old Testament that is translated death is “thanatos”. According to Strong’s Concordance the term means: “the death of the body: 1a) that separation (whether natural or violent) of the soul and the body by which life on earth is ended. 1b) with the implied idea of future misery in hell. Death is often used as a metaphor, the loss of that life which alone is worthy of the name, 2a) the misery of the soul arising from sin, which begins on earth but lasts and increases after the death of the body in hell.”

It continues, but that should suffice to illustrate that the Bible’s use of the term “death” means separation from God, either by sin in this life, or for all eternity in hell in the next. This is obviously not a subject to be taken lightly, and my heart is grieved even as I type.

My life’s goal as a believer in Jesus is to pray and work in every conceivable way to reach everyone I can by any means I can for as long as I can to the glory of the One with whom I will spend eternity. It’s not even that my highest priority is that people miss hell, it’s that I don’t want anyone to miss Jesus. It’s a choice we must make with eternal consequences, but one that must be made before death. To ignore that fact is on us, not God. He’s opened a way to Him, but it’s up to us to take it.

If you’d like to come to your senses and yield your life and allegiance to Jesus while you still can, please tap this link anewstory.com.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Another Look at Death

“But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22 NLT)

There is a sense in which as believers in the Lord Jesus we never really die, we simply move from life to life; from physical life to eternal spiritual life. It’s interesting that Paul uses the metaphor of sleep in verse 20. The New Living Translation simply translates verse 20 as “He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died,” but the King James Version uses the expression “the firstfruits of them that slept.”

There are those who build a case that when anyone dies, including believers, it means they go into an unconscious state of sleep, being unaware of anything that is then happening. If Jesus was to be an example of that concept, it fails because Jesus obviously didn’t sleep. Yes, of course His body rested (slept?), but His spirit was active, alive, and according to Peter (1 Peter 3:18-20) visited those whose spirits were in prison, but obviously not asleep, otherwise, how would they have known of the Lord’s presence preaching to them?

The metaphor of “sleep” in death is also an issue with eternal life or punishment in death for unbelievers. In Matthew 25:46 the Bible says: “And they (the unrighteous) will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” The same word is used to describe the longevity of the life of the righteous and the life of the unrighteous. There’s no mention of sleep or rest from punishment or celebration of life with Jesus.

Additionally, the story Jesus shares in Luke 16 refers to two people who die, a rich man and Lazarus, neither of whom went to sleep, but immediately into torment or the comfort of Abraham. Ecclesiastes 9:5 can seem contradictory when the Bible says: “The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered.” But the Bible doesn’t contradict itself, so there must be another explanation. The key to understanding this text is knowing the context of the whole of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Its focus is on life from a completely human perspective, apart from God. For a better understanding of this passage click here.

Death, which is the final manifestation of sin, is separation from the life of God. That’s what sin does, it separates us from the life of God, His love, power, presence. Separation does not imply sleep or lack of knowledge or emotional unawareness. Quite to the contrary, the torment of hell isn’t about physical torture, but the mental and emotional anguish of the lost being fully aware of what was forfeited by their denying the Lord Jesus ownership of and Lordship over their lives and their clear understanding as to how it could have been avoided. If you don’t yet know Jesus, please don’t let this happen to you. Click on anewstory.com and let Ron Hutchcraft walk you through a simple plan to find Jesus today.

Obviously, a human body could not withstand the flames of an eternal fire. This, too, is a metaphor to describe the agonizing pain of something that is too difficult to withstand but should heighten our awareness of our need to make a decision for the Lord now, while there’s time. But it should also alert us of our need as believers to do all within our power to reach lost people with the truth of eternal life while we can.

Of course, this raises the question of why a loving God would allow someone He supposedly loves to agonize for eternity for their sin? That’s a great question. Let’s look at the answer in tomorrow’s post.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Sin That Leads to Death

“If you see a Christian brother or sister sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death.” (1 John 5:16-17 NLT)

Realizing this is a passage that has been debated for centuries, I’m not pretending to know with certainty that I have the answer, but I do believe the Lord has given me insight to at least begin to understand what John is saying here. In this context I’m reminded of Proverbs 7:4-23 where Solomon describes a young man caught in the trap of a seductive woman. Verses 22-23 are the most revealing to me when he writes: “He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter. He was like a stag caught in a trap, awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life.”

On the other hand, I think of Joseph, held captive by the Egyptians, who was sought after by Pharaoh’s wife to be seduced, but the writer of the Hebrew letter said of Joseph: “He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.”

The sin that leads to death is not a single sin we commit, but a lifestyle in which we seek the pleasures and satisfaction of the world that rob us of the joy, peace, and satisfaction that only Christ can give. It may be a lifestyle of affluence where money is our god, and we seek the pleasures it can afford; or a homosexual lifestyle where our pleasure is sought in ungodly sexual relationships; or even in heterosexual promiscuity where sex is essentially our god that we seek; or habitual lying, cheating, stealing, or unbelief in whatever form it rears its ugly head we set a pattern with our life that digs our grave and builds our coffin around us.

“Yeh, but isn’t EVERY sin pattern like this?” Yes, but remember John is speaking to the Church. He’s speaking to those who have professed faith in Christ and are supposedly seeking to live godly lives. What if the sin that leads to death is being committed by professing believers who have lost their way? They may have made a commitment to the Lord at one point and regularly attend church. They may not miss services very often and may even hold leadership positions, but their hearts aren’t owned by Jesus.

Like the young man in Proverbs, the lure of being a “successful Christian” outranks and overshadows their need to be a slave of Christ? Jesus fades as the image of ourselves grows larger. Our sin gets swallowed up in our success and status as a “leader” and we no longer need God’s grace, as our grace is sufficient. It happens to Pastors as well as those who are lay leaders of congregations large and small.

It’s frightening to me the number of “Christian” Denominations that have accepted homosexual behavior and lifestyle as “normal” and “acceptable,” even though the Bible clearly teaches it is sin and is NOT acceptable to a holy God. Can’t any of these people turn from their sin and be forgiven? Yes, of course, but that’s the point, the sin that leads to death sees no reason to repent; thus, they can never be forgiven. To not ask is to forfeit our privilege of being forgiven.

Ultimately, the only sin that cannot be forgiven is the one for which no forgiveness is asked, but to be so ingrained in an ungodly lifestyle we wrongly believe is okay with God is a road that leads straight to hell.

Admittedly, this is a gray area, so my “policy” is to not make a hasty judgment, so, I continue to pray for lost people regardless of their circumstances until they come to Christ, die, or the Lord makes it clear there’s no longer any reason to continue to pray for them, which to date hasn’t happened.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

AI and Smart Wisdom

By: John Stonestreet and Dr. Timothy D. Padgett

*As our understanding of AI broadens it seems our fears increase. Let this helpful article see AI in its proper perspective under the leadership of our Risen Savior. Blessings, Ed 😊

Recently, Jensen Huang, CEO and co-founder of NVIDIA, was asked to name the smartest person he knew. He replied by suggesting that the meaning of“smart” has been made obsolete by machines. He then offered an updated definition:

I think long term the definition of smart is someone who sits at that intersection of being technically astute, but human empathy and having the ability to infer the unspoken, around the corners, the unknowables.

Recently, my Colson Center colleague Dr. Glenn Sunshine suggested that if a scholar from hundreds of years ago was shown what AI can do, he’d be both impressed and disappointed. “You know a lot,” he might observe, “but you understand nothing.” As much as our machines can do, more is not always better. Having all the information and data from history, science, literature, art, philosophy, and medicine constantly accessible at our fingertips is hardly making us wiser.

Last month, a quote from the novel Dune went viral on X. It read, “Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” Of course, Frank Herbert, who wrote the sci-fi series, was basically repeating an earlier observation from C.S. Lewis.

In a recent controversial essay entitled “Something Big is Happening,” Matt Shumer, CEO of OthersideAI, sparked an intense and wide-ranging conversation with this stark admission:

I am no longer needed for the actual technical work of my job. I describe what I want built, in plain English, and it just . . . appears. Not a rough draft I need to fix. The finished thing. I tell the AI what I want, walk away from my computer for four hours, and come back to find the work done. Done well, done better than I would have done it myself, with no corrections needed. A couple of months ago, I was going back and forth with the AI, guiding it, making edits. Now I just describe the outcome and leave.

Shumer is not bragging. He’s alarmed about the future of work and the need for humans to do it in the world he is helping to create. You might say that he is concerned that AI will replace human work. We should also consider how our technologies have replaced human wisdom.

Nearly a century ago, in his “Choruses from ‘The Rock,’” TS Elliot foresaw this confusion:

Endless invention, endless experiment,

Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;

Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;

Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.

All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,

All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,

But nearness to death no nearer to GOD.

Or, as C.S. Lewis put it in The Abolition of Man,

For the wise men of old, the cardinal problem of human life was how to conform the soul to objective reality, and the solution was wisdom, self-discipline, and virtue. For the modern, the cardinal problem is how to conform reality to the wishes of man, and the solution is a technique.

What has been lost in the uncritical embrace of technological advancement are the insights of ancient wisdom. Lost in the consistent pursuit of ease and pleasure are the habits that cultivate virtue. It’s not fundamentally a question of being for or against specific technologies. It’s that it is not sufficient to be technically “smart” if we are not also morally wise. What matters most for our collective futures are not which capacities and tools we can develop, it is what sort of people we are.

Knowledge can be dangerous when in the hands of the foolish, the immoral, or the wicked. Wisdom is not just the ability to “see around the corners of life.” Rather, it is the ability to live in light of what is true and good. It is about knowing the realities of the world, seen and unseen, and bowing to the One who created it this way.

Mom Ears

*Please read these powerful words of Ron Hutchcraft with an ear to the Lord’s heart for the women, especially the mothers, in your life. Blessings, Ed 😊

Two words, but a valuable reminder about how important Mom is and why she is. I had occasion to stay at my son and daughter-in-law’s house while I recovered from a painful injury. They set me up with a wonderful little “apartment” in their basement – recliner, remotes (of course), kitchenette. And like all the babies in our family, a night monitor. Now, I needed some help in the middle of the night, but I hadn’t touched the pager. Suddenly, I hear my daughter-in-law’s feet coming down the stairs. In my 3:00 AM haze, I said, “But how did you know?” She smiled and gave those two little words: “Mom ears.”

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Mom Ears.”

There’s something a lot of us have to celebrate in the mother that God put in our life. Those Mom-ears who heard our silent cries over the years, who heard our need when others would only see our deed. Who heard the unspoken fears, the unspoken pain, and carried them to the throne of God. Sadly, mom-ears have also heard mean words that they didn’t deserve, angry words that left a scar, rebellious words because we didn’t want to hear what we now know was wisdom. But somehow, a Mom heart could reach for some of God’s amazing grace, and forgive, even though wounded.

As a dad, I learned early how important it was for me to seek and respect what my wife heard in our kids, believe me. Those times when I got home and I was ready to drop a bomb on a disobedient child, she would intervene with “actionable intel” of what was going on behind the scenes in their life. I’m not sure moms fully know their massive power to define their child’s life for better or worse.

Proverbs 31:26 says, “She speaks with wisdom on her tongue.” And in a verse worth considering, our word for today from the Word of God in Proverbs 14:1 it says, “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.”

Sure, I know moms who’ve turned their God-given Mom-ears to the seductive song of our world, “all about me.” And their children languish under the awful cloud of “I’m not worth much. My Mom doesn’t think so.” Deafened moms can’t hear themselves nagging, controlling, criticizing, diminishing – hoping to make a “super kid” and crushing them in the process.

The Mom-ears that have tended to miss their children’s cries are those who stopped listening to the One who gave her those children. Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.” It’s so easy to succumb to the selfie drumbeat of “my rights, my pleasure, my flourishing.” And a sort of deafness can grow. Deaf to those quiet little cries in the night, the intuition to drop everything and listen to someone I love. The Heavenly Father’s promptings as He (in the words of the Bible) “gently leads those who have young” (Isaiah 40:11).

But thank God many of us were blessed, not with a perfect mom, but with a mother whose ears truly heard us. If you have a mom with those wonderful “ears,” would you tell her how her finely-tuned heart shaped your life and changed your life while you can.

If you’re a Mom who wants to have better ears for your children, just know there’s amazing power to do that. In the Jesus whose relentless love led Him to die for our sins, which are the great relationship-wreckers. There is no greater life-force on earth than a woman whose ears are always open to the voice of God and the voices of those she loves.

And for the one who listens to all this with little to celebrate – because your Mom really wasn’t one – there is a higher hope. Because God has said, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion for the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will never forget. See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands” (Isaiah 49:15-16). That’s right, with nail prints.

His ears listen all day, all night for the deepest cries of your heart.

The Opposite of Joy

“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.” (Romans 15:13 NLT)

What first comes to mind when you think of joy? If the first word that came to mind was “happiness,” you’d probably be in good company. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “joy” as: “a feeling of happiness that comes from success, good fortune, or a sense of well-being.” What do all of these things have in common? They are human emotions motivated by human activity. Why is that a problem? Because humans fail and emotions lie. How we feel about something doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with true, biblically defined joy. Joy isn’t self-generated or doesn’t come from external stimuli; it’s a gift from God.

Joy in Scripture is derived from God, is a gift from Him and can be activated by our relationship with the Lord and with the Lord’s people. That’s why the late Tim Keller had it right when he said: “The opposite of joy is not sadness, it’s hopelessness.” To be hopeless is to be lost, it’s trying to live life without Jesus. A person may live in a huge mansion, make zillions of dollars a day, but they’ll never understand what joy is if they don’t have a personal, love relationship with the Creator of the Universe.

Hope, according to Strong’s Concordance, is “joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.” And since Jesus is the Author of eternal salvation, to not know Him is to not have joy or confident expectation of anything beyond what this world can offer. What can the world offer? Pleasure, brief happiness based on external stimuli, conditional relationships, and fleeting success, none of which are a source of lasting joy.

What does the Lord offer? Eternal hope that doesn’t depend on the fleeting promises of this world, but on the eternal promises of the One who gave His life for us. The One who said: “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you!” The One who said in John 6:37: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.”

Was He speaking of literal hunger or thirst? No, of course not, He was speaking of the deep, agonizing, aching hunger for peace, contentment, joy, meaning, and satisfaction in knowing you have an eternal home in heaven that can only come through a relationship with the Lord Jesus. It’s the deep contentment knowing that you’re living for more than yourself and what you can accomplish with your life here on earth.

Yes, of course, there have been some great achievers who didn’t know Jesus, but the glory of their achievements died with them. There is no eternal reward for human effort. The only effort that will get any of us to heaven is the effort of Jesus on our behalf. Yes, of course, we put forth human effort to maintain godly disciplines: to serve Him, worship Him, and share Him with others, but none of that effort can earn us a place in heaven. Only what Jesus accomplished on the Cross on our behalf can pay the penalty for our sin and free us from our bondage to sin, death, and the grave.

The only antidote to hopelessness isn’t happiness, it’s holiness. It’s peace with God that comes through a personal surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. How does that happen? Please tap anewstory.com and let Ron Hutchcraft walk you through a very simple, straightforward path to yielding your life and allegiance to the Lord. It’s a decision that you will never regret, especially not in eternity.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Excuses

*I have often used portions of the beautiful prayers of my friend Ray Majoran, but this prayer so moved and challenged me that I had to share it in its entirety. Let the Lord use Ray’s words to bless you as they did me. Blessings, Ed 😊

“Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’” (Luke 14:16-24 NLT)

Merciful Lord, You are the generous God who prepares what we could never earn, for You have opened Your kingdom through the finished work of Christ. Your call is weighty, and Your invitation is rich with undeserved grace. We praise You for the mercy that seeks sinners, and for the truth that Your house will be filled.

We confess how often we delay in answering Your call. We excuse our silence, postpone obedience, and persuade ourselves that there will be a better time to speak of Christ, a better season to serve, and a more convenient day to repent. Yet Your Word says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15). Teach us to fear the drift of a heart that keeps looking for the right moment while neglecting the clear command before us. Help us to be faithful with the Gospel, and keep us from the folly of waiting for perfect conditions to obey You (Ecclesiastes 11:4).

For those who have not put their faith in Christ, resolve every excuse and expose the emptiness of every lesser priority. Cause each person to seek You while You may be found (Isaiah 55:6), and grant repentance before another day is wasted. Fill us with urgency and a deep concern for souls, so that our lives would demonstrate that Your invitation is too glorious to ignore and too urgent to postpone.

ONE QUESTION

Have I allowed work, possessions, goals, or relationships to become polished excuses?

ABOUT THIS PHOTO

Location: India

Ray’s Camera Settings: 24mm, ISO 100, 1/640s, f/5.6