Author: Kerry

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21

Overcome

Rome, 165 A.D. According to early Church history, the Christians living there at that time do not have an easy life. Persecution seems to be on the rise. Then conditions grow worse. A plague arrives. As many as two thousand people in Rome die every day. The dominant cultural mindset has little regard for the dead and the dying. Anyone with the financial means to move out of the city does so.

The Christians, however, do not. The Christians stay, and they stay for a reason. Because God has demonstrated mercy to them in Jesus Christ, they desire to demonstrate mercy to the sick and the dying in Rome. They care for them, bury them, and do not do this just for a little while. They do it for the duration.

Whenever Satan and this broken world team up to make life difficult for me as a Christian, it’s easy for my old sinful self to talk me into feeling overcome, defeated, resentful, bitter. When I do, I conveniently forget that nowhere in the Bible does God ever guarantee that I can expect my life to be comfortable, convenient, trouble-free. On the contrary, God’s Word fairly shouts that I can expect pushback of every kind. To forget God’s voice on this matter is more than some simple oversight. It’s deliberate, sinful denial—sinful denial for which I need to repent.

But the wondrous thing is this. When I once again receive the refreshment of God’s forgiveness through faith in the One who suffered and died to wash me clean—that very forgiveness empowers me to look at the difficulties in my life with new eyes. When the troubles of this world press down upon me, I can see them as opportunities for my fruits of faith to shine. As the old saying goes, the light of my candle is much more visible in times of darkness than in times of light.

And remember those early Christians facing all that trouble in Rome? Many, many new souls came to faith in Jesus during that time. As people watched these Christians reflect God’s love for them in Christ, they wanted to learn more.

Prayer:
By the power of your love and forgiveness, Lord Jesus, move me to overcome evil with good. Amen.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
Romans 12:19

Revenge

“Revenge is a dish best served cold.” This old saying about revenge goes back at least to the early 1800s. It means that taking revenge on someone is more satisfying when you allow a good amount of time to pass by first. From caper movies like Ocean’s 11 to westerns like Once Upon a Time in the West, the cold dish of revenge makes for a compelling plotline.

But there’s a downside to revenge. English philosopher Francis Bacon put it quite well. He wrote, “A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green.”

God, of course, knows us far better than we will ever know ourselves. He knows that revenge is simply a broad opportunity for my old sinful self to run amok. In the name of righteous indignation, it’s an opportunity for my old sinful self to indulge in all kinds of toxic impulses, from bitterness and resentment to arrogance and self-absorption. All of which threatens to harden my heart. All of which threaten to pull me away from the only Savior you and I are ever going to have.

When Jesus walked this earth on our behalf, not once did he ever give in to the temptation to plot revenge on someone who had wronged him, not even as he hung on the cross. And because of Jesus’ perfect faithfulness, God has washed us clean through faith in his Son—and that includes even our poisonous thoughts of revenge against someone who has wronged us.

Cleansed and embraced by our Savior, you and I are now free. In the words of Francis Bacon, you and I no longer have to study revenge, keeping our own wounds green. Instead, you and I can bask in the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. We can entrust all things to our just and good God. Instead, you and I can get on with the business of proclaiming Jesus Christ with our lives.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, when someone wrongs me, purge my heart of revenge. Fill me with the same spirit of forgiveness you have shown me. Amen.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “. . . God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”
Genesis 45:4,7

Joseph’s Eyes

And so there Joseph stood. As the Prime Minister of Egypt, he had just revealed to his brothers his true identity. He was their brother, Joseph—the very one his brothers sold into slavery many years earlier.

In that moment, Joseph could have fixed his eyes only on his brothers. He could have filled his field of vision only with what they had done to him so many years earlier.

But he didn’t. Instead, by God’s grace, Joseph’s eyes rested on his Lord. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Joseph could see that God’s hand had been guiding his life all along. He could see that God’s hand had caused even the past actions of his brothers to submit to his good and gracious will.

Like Joseph, you and I can have times when we can easily fix our eyes only on those who have hurt us. Perhaps there’s someone who has disappointed us. Perhaps there’s someone who has humiliated us. Perhaps there’s someone who has abandoned us.

If that is where we fix our eyes, however, then we are placing our eyes precisely where Satan wants them to be. For when we look only at those who have hurt us, then we are blocking our line of sight to see the hand of God.

But that’s why Jesus came. As our substitute, he lived a life of perfect trust in his heavenly Father’s will. Even when he endured the cruelty of sinful men, Jesus knew that his heavenly Father would guide it all for good. The result was full forgiveness for our every sin. The result was a home for each of us in heaven. The result was a place for you and me in God’s family through faith in his Son. That, and God’s promise that he will guide all things in your life for good.

And here’s the best part. It is his very forgiveness of our sins that empowers you and me to lift up our eyes and see God’s guiding hand.

Prayer:
Lord, lift up my eyes to see that your hand is always at work in my life. Amen.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “. . . [D]o not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.”
Genesis 45:4,5

Old Enemies

The story of Joseph is one of the most extraordinary accounts in the entire Bible. Sold into slavery by his own brothers, Joseph endures years of twists and turns until he finds himself serving in the extraordinary position of Prime Minister in Egypt. When famine strikes the region, his brothers come to Egypt looking to purchase food. The climax of the account arrives when Joseph finally reveals to his brothers who he really is. The sheer emotion of the scene is potent.

As soon as he reveals his true identity, however, Joseph displays a deep concern. His brothers are now in shock. They are now having to confront the terrible thing they did to Joseph so many years ago. Joseph is afraid that the distress and despair his brothers feel will overwhelm them.

Perhaps you have never sold a sibling into slavery. Chances are excellent, however, that you, too, have dark moments in your past. Maybe it’s something you said or did. Maybe it’s something you failed to say or do. Maybe there was a long period when you were too arrogant, lazy, afraid, or self-absorbed to do all kinds of things you should have been doing all along.

Such dark moments are perfect weapons for the devil. With them, he can smother you with guilt and block out the light of hope. With them, he can isolate and shove you into the solitary confinement of despair.

Enter Jesus. On our behalf, God the Son lived the kind of life you and I have failed to live. In our place, God the Son suffered and died for our every sinful failure, our every wasted moment. And now he lives. He lives to assure you and me that the old enemies of guilt and regret and despair no longer have the final word. Jesus does.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, by nature I was once your enemy. But now you have made me your friend. Your blood has washed my guilt away. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Amen.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.
Romans 12:9-16

The Importance of Family

We all know and appreciate how important our families are. Family is there for you when you are really in need, they laugh with you and cry with you, and stand with you through the good times and the bad. Family members are linked together with a strong and common bond.

That bond is not always genetic.

There is a spiritual bond among fellow believers, and together we make up a spiritual family. I am so very privileged to have a group of brothers and sisters in the Lord—and so are you.

Remember your spiritual family. It’s far too easy to take them for granted. When times are good, we may feel that we don’t need a relationship with the people at church. When times are bad, however, their thoughts, prayers, acts of kindness, and deeds of love are priceless. If you need help and support from your fellow believers—ask! We are all willing to be there for you. If you don’t need any help and support at this time—someone needs you! Ask and look for anyone who needs encouragement and go out of your way to help them. We have all received so much from God. What a joy it is to be able to give a little back and help a brother or sister in the Lord. A Christian family is priceless!

Prayer:
Lord, thank-you for my brothers and sisters in Christ. May I be a blessing to them, and may they be a blessing to me. Amen.

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7,8

Refreshment for the Thirsty Soul

The oldest tree in the world is thought to be a bristlecone pine tree named Methuselah, located in California’s White Mountains. The estimated age of this tree is almost 5,000 years, meaning that it has remained standing and living through many seasons of extreme California heat. Over this long time, the roots of this tree were consistently able to reach life-sustaining water.

The length of our days on earth will never reach 5,000 years, but our experience with life on earth can be much the same as it has been for this tree. There are times we feel the heat of life: pressure at work, family demands, or daily troubles and challenges.

Jesus knows how hard those moments are. He felt the heat of this world too. He walked its dry dirt, felt its hurt, and saw its pain. He knows what it’s like to be thirsty for love that many people did not show him. And though he didn’t need forgiveness for any sin, he still knows the hellish pain of being punished for every sin, as he offered his perfect life on a cross as a sacrifice, all to assure us that there is no heat or drought or sin on earth that will keep us from standing forever in the perfection of heaven.

So, you don’t need to worry. But if you do from time to time, you always have a stream of Living Water to which you can satisfy your thirsty soul. You have the words of the Bible, which is where you will always find Jesus and his promises to be with you.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me such perfect promises of love and forgiveness to trust as we walk through life. Let me never fail to refresh my thirsty soul with the truth of all that you have done to save me. Amen.

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Strength in Christ Uncovered

Although he is one of the most famous Christians of all time, the apostle Paul knew he was weak. In our Bible reading for today, he writes about a figurative “thorn in [his] flesh” that “tormented” him with regular reminders of his inadequacy to successfully handle his struggles against the sinful world and his sinful flesh. He begged and pleaded that God remove this thorn from him so he could find relief. But God did not remove it and not because he wanted Paul to suffer. Rather, he wanted to teach Paul about the strength we find in resting our entire lives in his grace.

We are weak too. Our lives regularly prove it. We are weak against various temptations, despite often promising to do better. Our resolve is often easily weakened as we live in a dying world filled with unspeakably difficult troubles and brokenness. Yet the Bible assures us that we are already victorious over all these things, not because we regularly prove our strength against them, but because Jesus was already strong enough to defeat sin, death, and Satan with his perfect life, innocent death, and resurrection.

That allows each of us to always say, along with Paul, that “I am strong.” I am strong in Christ Jesus.

Prayer:
Gracious Savior may your victory over sin, death, and Satan always be the first place I go to seek my strength. Amen.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7,8

Confidence in Christ Uncovered

The prophet Jeremiah said that someone who is rooted in the Lord: 1) does not fear when the heat comes, 2) has no worries in the year of drought, and 3) never fails to bear fruit. Those are three powerful illustrations that lead to three very natural questions we frequently use to help us evaluate how we’re doing in life:
What am I currently afraid of?
What am I currently worried about?
And finally, where have I failed to bear fruit in my Christian life?

These are questions that not only help us evaluate how we’re doing in our Christian lives; they also often bring an unwelcomed guest into our lives when we’re trying to answer them. A guest that shows up as a voice saying: “Shame on you” for being or feeling any of those things. “Shame on you” for being the kind of person who’s afraid or worried, though God commands us not to be. “Shame on you” for failing to be all that God tells us to be.

That’s a hard voice to hear, and it’s a hard voice to silence once it starts talking. This is why Jeremiah so intentionally points us to the “him” we can confidently put our trust in.

That “him” is Jesus. He was never afraid that all our failures wouldn’t be forgiven, since he was the one fully responsible for making it happen. Jesus knows the frequency of our fears, worries, and failings but also wants us to know that, because of our connection to him by faith, we stand here today as those who do not need to be worried or afraid of any trouble or sin.

Prayer:
Gracious Lord Jesus, help me to always place my confidence in your perfect and completed work as our Savior. Amen.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7,8

Roots Uncovered

In Mpumalanga, South Africa, there is a place known as the Echo Caves. The caves are fascinating enough by themselves, as they take you through a breathtaking view of stalagmites and stalactites miles under the ground. But what this area is most well-known for are the fig trees growing above the caves. As far as fig trees go, there’s nothing all that special about how they look or how the figs taste. What makes these trees unique is the part you cannot see until you go into the caves. What makes them famous are their roots.

Researchers and spelunking scientists have followed the roots of these 10-foot-tall trees deep into the Echo Caves and discovered that the roots go down about 400 feet. That’s 40 times as tall as one tree, making it the deepest known root system in the entire world. The roots that bring hydration to these trees from 400 feet underneath the earth’s surface so they can live, survive, and thrive in what is an incredibly harsh, dry climate.

It’s not only a somewhat interesting science lesson, but it’s also an illustration the Bible often uses of how we can survive an environment that isn’t always easy to live in.

Indeed, those who root themselves in God’s Word are connected with a Savior whose power over death gives us comfort and strength as we suffer through harsh seasons of loss and suffering. The consistency of our Savior’s unfailing love keeps us stable as we endure the winds of change that sometimes bring in challenges we never saw coming. The forgiveness our Savior earned for us fills us with hope, strength, and confidence as we daily battle with sin and temptation.

Remain rooted in all our Savior is, and all he so graciously did on our behalf, and he will never fail to provide all that you need to keep going.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, keep me forever rooted in your gracious love for me. Amen.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.
Luke 6:23

Joy Uncovered

A teacher had a memorable way of reminding his students what joy looks like in the life of a Christian. He had the word “JOY” hanging vertically on one of the classroom walls. After the letter “J,” he hung the phrase, “Jesus first.” After the “O,” it said, “others second.” After the “Y,” he put, “yourself last.” Jesus first. Others second. Yourself last.

What that looks like is easy enough to understand.

Putting “Jesus first” means that having Jesus guiding our entire life by his Word means more to us than anything. It means that the forgiveness he earned has a bigger impact on our self-esteem than even our worst sin. And that his gracious promises have a bigger impact on our mood than our fears, worries, or frustrations.

Putting “others second” means caring about meeting the needs of others more than we care about meeting our own. It means being patient and kind with those who so far have only given us reason to feel frustration.

And finally, considering “yourself last” means that whatever happens to us on earth and whatever anyone else thinks of us really is the least important thing our heart is ever considering.

The basic principles are easy enough to understand. They aren’t so easy to put into practice.

Jesus himself made it clear to the whole world exactly what place he considered himself to be in—last. The humble Son of God, who guided his entire life according to God’s will perfectly, was persecuted on a cross and insulted in ways that we cannot imagine, really did not consider what happened to him on earth to be as important as the one thing his heart wanted more than anything—YOU—completely forgiven for every sin that would keep you from the place where you will never again mourn, your heart will always be whole, nothing important will ever be missing, and your joy will be everlasting.

The secret to joy rests entirely on what Jesus has already done for us. We help others find that joy by letting the heart of Jesus shine through us.

Prayer:
Gracious Savior, fill me with joy that comes from your perfect work on my behalf, and give me all I need to faithfully share the joy of the Gospel with others. Amen.