“Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.” (Psalm 119:97-99)

Love is complex, meaning that love involves many things. To love someone means that you also love the things about that person. This is most true of our love for God. We love Him, and that leads us to love everything about Him. One of the many treasures to love about God in His Word. The Psalmist used words such as, “law,” “commandments,” and “testimonies,” to refer to God’s teachings. His attitude toward God’s Word is interesting. He acknowledged the benefits of His Word, saying they made him, “wiser” than his enemies” and they were, “ever with” him. The Psalmist thought about God’s Word, made it a part of his day. He loved it for what it would produce in his life: wisdom, boldness, and understanding. Do we love God’s Word the same way? Do we allow ourselves to be taught His ways? God’s Word can produce lasting results. Have you given Him permission to change your life through His Word?

Reflection Questions:

Which passage of Scripture that means the most to you as a Christian. Why is that passage so important to you?

One of the benefits of God’s Word is that it convicts the individual of sin in his/her life. Is there an area of your life that God is convicting you of through His Word?

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

As a New Testament church, the source of our instruction is not driven by social commentary. The source of our instruction is not personal agendas or platforms. The source of our instruction is not past personal experiences. The source of our instruction is God’s Word. Why? It is God’s Word that reveals man’s condition, as well as the remedy for that condition. It is God’s Word that searches, convicts, and cleanses the heart of man. It gets down to the “joints and marrow” of our bodies and shines a light on the places in our hearts we like to keep hidden. The lost person does not need to hear what we think. The lost person does not need to hear a softened, watered down version of the truth. We owe them more than that. His Word is living, it is active, and it has a definite and determined plan. The Christian has the promise that as God’s Word goes out, it will not come back void. Although we may not see immediate fruit from our teaching and evangelism, we can trust that God will do a great work within the hearts and lives of the people who hear. There is no such promise if we make our instruction about us or about things that will not last. This world needs the unchanging, truthful, and living Word of God. Anything else is an injustice to the hearers whose spiritual lives depend upon it.

Reflection Questions:

In your opinion, what does the writer of Hebrews mean by saying that God’s Word is, “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart?”

What challenges exist today that make it more difficult for the church to keep the Word of God as the focus of our instruction?

“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.  Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. (Acts 17:16-18)

While in Athens, Paul’s spirit was burdened by the idol worship and diverse religious beliefs he witnessed throughout the city. In the verses above, we can see the different kinds of people that Paul encountered. Those caught up in the ancient Greek religions of mythology regularly worshipped idols of their gods. There were Jews who worshipped in the synagogues, along with Epicurian and Stoic philosophers sharing their thoughts in the public square. These two groups were followers of early philosophers and believed that if there were, in fact, gods, they are remote and uninterested in the affairs of men. The phrases, “and some said,” and “others said,” indicate there were additional religious beliefs held by the people of Athens. The same thing is at work today. Wherever we go, there are people who believe something altogether different than what we do. People are becoming increasingly “spiritual and religious,” but are unaware of the One True God and His Son. The remainder of Acts 17 describes how Paul reached the people of his day with the gospel, but did so in a context and manner they would understand. This is our challenge today in evangelism: presenting the unchanging message of the gospel in a way that the Honduran sugar cane farmer and the CEO of a Fortune 500 company can understand and embrace. Reach them where they are.

Reflection Questions:

How might you change your gospel presentation to fit the lives of the farmer and CEO   mentioned above?

What are your thoughts on the planting of churches to reach specific groups of people?

“Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12)

Peter had been involved in the healing of a paralytic. When asked for alms by the paralyzed man, Peter responded with a well-known response, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). His celebration over his new-found legs captured the attention of the religious leaders. Subsequently, Peter and John were arrested and questioned by the High Priest as to the source of the power by which they healed the paralyzed man. They responded with the quotation above. Boldly, Peter asserted that it was because of Jesus Christ they were able to do what they had done. His response reminds us today of two important truths. First, it is Jesus who makes us whole. Peter said, “it was by Him this man stands before you whole.” Second, there is no one else who can do it. Again, Peter said, “for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Jesus provides a healing that no one else can. There is much talk today about the many ways that a person can be saved. The Bible is exclusive in its claim that salvation is found in Jesus alone. He is our Savior and Lord. He is the church’s message today.

Reflection Questions:

What other means do people depend on to get them to Heaven? Write down those that come to mind.

If someone challenged your belief by saying that “salvation is through Christ alone” is     narrowminded, how would you respond? Does it matter?

“I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (Romans 1:14-16)

To be “in debt” means “to owe something to someone else.” We understand the concept of debt. Most people go into debt when they buy a house, a car, or secure a loan for college. When we become a Christian, we have a double-indebtedness. We are indebted to those who shared Christ with us. We owe them a “thank you” for loving us enough to share Jesus with us. We are also indebted to the lost. The gospel has been entrusted to those who have been changed by it. The reality that we have been changed by the gospel creates an obligation to share it with those who have not.

Questions for Reflection:

Would you be a Christian today if the person who shared Christ with you possessed your current passion for evangelism?

What gets in the way of you discharging your duty to others when it comes to sharing your faith?

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

Paul was very clear with the Corinthians about the nature of the true gospel. The gospel is good news. It is the good news of His death. Jesus died. He was not rendered unconscious by the actions of the Roman soldiers at Golgotha. He died. This, too, is important. If Jesus had not died, He could not have been God’s sacrifice for our sin. He was buried and was resurrected. This is important. His resurrection testifies that the prophecies surrounding Him were true and that the words He spoke during His earthly ministry were also true. A dead Savior can’t save anyone. Our baptism is the picture of His death, burial, and resurrection. The gospel is not anything we want it to be. The gospel is not man’s thoughts on how to get to Heaven. The gospel is not one way of many. Man’s only hope of salvation is found in the resurrected Jesus. The gospel is God’s way of restoring man to Himself. It is this gospel that Paul not only taught, but that he had also received himself. Share what you know.

Question for Reflection.

What are the substitutes man has put forward in place of the biblical gospel?

How would you describe the way you felt when you believed the gospel and placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?

Shouldn’t everyone have the opportunity to feel the same way?

A little over a month ago I completed my final DMin ministry project. Included in this project were 20 devotionals (five per week for four weeks) distributed to adult Sunday School classes that served to reinforce the four purposes of Sunday School. I will be sharing those devotionals here during the month of June.

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Why evangelize? One reason: lostness is real. Paul paints a very unflattering picture of what the life of a lost person looks like. Terms such as “dead,” “trespasses and sins,” and “children of wrath” are ones with which we would rather not be associated. They do, however, accurately describe our lives before Jesus saved us. We did what we wanted, lived how we wanted, and said what we wanted to with no regard for God and His holiness. Paul said that our natural tendency was to satisfy our fleshly, earthly desires. In this condition, we were completely separated from God, and had we died in that condition, we would have been eternally separated from Him. Millions and millions of people, perhaps your friends and family, are in this state of lostness today. It is not God’s desire for people to perish in their lostness. It is His desire that all come to repentance. Those who have been saved by God’s grace have a story to tell, a story of redemption and rescue.

Questions for Reflection.

What comes to your mind when you think about the condition of the those who are lost and far  away from God?

It is very likely that you know someone who is lost. Would you commit to pray for them daily?

1 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans. ” 2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.”

Often you will find powerful and challenging stories of God’s dealings with His people in the more obscure and skimmed-over books of the Bible. Such is the case with the book of Hosea. It is one of those books that rarely sees the light of day. It is one of those books where there are likely few, if any, hand-written notes in the margin. It is one of those books that you need the table of contents to find. That being said, the book of Hosea contains, in my opinion, one of the clearest portraits of God’s love to be found anywhere in the Bible. It is the story of God’s man Hosea and his prostitute wife Gomer. God directed Hosea to marry this woman with knowledge of her past and, what she will do in the future. Gomer continues in her ways and finds herself the property of another man who is not her husband. In the beginning of chapter three we find Hosea, again following the voice of God, off to take back his wife. Hosea finds his wife this time on an auction block, for sale, available to anyone with enough money. Imagine the shame in Hosea’s eyes and on his face as he sees his adulterous wife for sale. Imagine the anger swelling up inside of him as he looks upon her and sees what her sins have done. Imagine the whispers and finger-pointing of those present at the auction that day. Imagine God demanding this much obedience. So, Hosea pays the price and buys back his wife. Most definitely a story of crazy love.

Hosea’s relationship with Gomer is a symbol of God’s love for the nation of Israel. Time and time again they left the faithful love of God and played the harlot to other gods. However, God remained true. This story is also about us. Hosea bought his wife off the auction block. The word for “bought” in verse three is the word ‘redeem’, which literally means “to purchase with a price”. There was a time in our lives what we were in a similar position to Gomer; enslaved, imprisoned, and held hostage to the power and control of sin. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross for the sins of mankind was the ransom price that it took to free us. He has bought us back. He redeemed us. His blood was the purchase price. How do we respond? Do we seek constant communion with Him in prayer, or do we seek Him only when we can’t handle things ourselves. Do we share His wonderful love with others, or do we hope and count on someone else to do it? Do we follow his direction and guidance in our daily lives, regardless of where he leads, or do we just tell God that we know better?