If the foundations are broken, what can the righteous do?

— Psalms 11:3

All nations that have ever existed have either been founded upon some theistic or anti-theistic principle. This is true whether we think of the Hinduism of India, the Confucianism of China, the Mohammedanism of Saudi Arabia, or the Atheism of the former Soviet Union.

If we know our history, we know that America was a nation founded upon Christ and His Word. Those foundations, indeed, are crumbling in our time. There are those in our country today who are busily tearing apart that foundation, those who would gnash their teeth at the idea that this is a Christian nation. They will not be satisfied until they have removed every vestige of our Christian heritage—not only from the minds of the people, but also from the monuments of this country.

We see the hatred people have for God and His Christ, and we tremble at the enormous assault on all things godly. What can the righteous do? Often in history God has raised up one person who has turned things around. One person is not too small. He has called us to be faithful to Him. John Quincy Adams once said, “Duty is ours. Results are God’s.”

Question to ponder:
Is God calling you to help make a difference “for such a time as this”?

Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, because He at all times lives to make intercession for them.

— Hebrews 7:25

The Apostles’ Creed declares that Jesus “sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” What does that mean? It indicates a completion of His work of atonement and the beginning of His work of intercession. Hebrews 10:11–12 tells us that every priest stands daily ministering and offering sacrifices that can never take away sins. But Jesus, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.

Christ has finished His work as our High Priest. His blood made full atonement for all our sins. Now He sits in the seat of authority at the right hand of God. Not only has He taken away our sins and made us right with God, He invites us to come boldly before His throne. Christ Himself hears our prayers and intercedes with the Father on our behalf. Jesus is our advocate with the Father and therefore we can pray with confidence.

Question to ponder:
Picture yourself clean and spotless, standing before God Almighty Who awaits your prayer. How will you pray and what will you ask for?

Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart departs from the LORD.”

— Jeremiah 17:5

For every effect, there must be a sufficient cause. What is the reason, the etiology, of this disease, which is eating away at the very core of America? There is, without question, an absolutely new philosophy, a philosophy of secularism, of humanism—or, as it is called, “secular humanism.” This philosophy has taken over the educational elite of this country and if they have their way, it will be imposed upon virtually every teacher, school, and textbook in America.

There are those who like to decry this and say that secular humanism is a myth. I read an article recently that said secular humanism is something invented by television evangelists. The American people are often so credulous that they will believe such an idea in spite of the fact that there is in existence the American Humanist Association—of which John Dewey was the first president. There is also The Humanist Magazine, which must have obviously dropped out of the sky because, according to them, there is no humanist organization printing it.

Humanism is not to be confused with humanitarianism, which is doing good for humanity. Humanism is trust in man, in opposition to God. But God’s Word declares: “There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD” (Proverbs 21:30).

Question to ponder:
Are there any ways in which you trust in yourself rather than in God?

And whoever compels you to go a mile, go with him two.

— Matthew 5:41

Centuries before Christ, Cyrus the Great was a mighty monarch of the Persian Empire, which stretched from one end to the other of the known inhabited world. He invented the first national postal system, probably because the decrees of the king of the Medes and the Persians were inviolable and could not be changed, so it was important that the people heard about it when the king made a decree. In the process of putting that huge postal service in place, Cyrus the Great issued a decree that the couriers could require any person to carry any burden on his person, his mule, his cart, a horse, in a ship or whatever, for one mile. After that, he could not impress or compel him any further.

The Romans adopted this postal system, along with the custom of compelling a person to carry a burden for a mile. It was a very onerous thing for the Jews, who already detested the fact that they had to pay taxes to the despotic and tyrannical Roman conquerors.

When Jesus said we should go a second mile, it was unthinkable to His Jewish hearers. It was unconscionable. Then they would have to walk two miles back—that’s four miles. Does Jesus know what He is asking? Ah, yes, He knows. Jesus not only taught it by precept, he taught it by example. It is one of the most difficult things anyone will ever learn to do. It is the art of true Christian forgiveness carried through to the end.

Question to ponder:
How can you apply the second mile principle in your life today—showing kindness to someone who may not deserve it?

One thing I have asked from the LORD … to see the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.

— Psalm 27:4

Christianity has been a great patron of the arts—from paintings to music to the great cathedrals.

Now there are those who have supposed that the second commandment against graven images forbids the use of visual arts altogether. However, God also gave all of the instructions for the building of the tabernacle, and in that tabernacle were all manner of visual arts. On the veil that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies there were flowers and pomegranates and palm trees and many other things. Note what it says about the high priest’s clothing: “And you shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty” (Exodus 28:2).

God is a God of beauty. He changed the chaos into the cosmos—a thing of beauty. The very word means order and beauty. Cosmetology is the practice of beautifying the face. God is the great artist who beautifies His creation, giving us the magnificent sunsets He paints for us every evening. He gives us the glory of the budding flowers and the beautiful trees and plants that we all enjoy. God is not opposed to art. He is the Great Artist. What God forbade was idolatry, the worship of an idol or even of the true God through an idol.

Question to ponder:
What place does art play in your life in general and in your spiritual life particularly?

… according to your days, so shall be your strength.

— Deuteronomy 33:25

What is the greatest ability we can have when it comes to serving God? Is it the ability to preach great sermons and lead thousands to Christ? Is it the ability to cross the ocean and serve in some great missionary enterprise? Is it the ability to stay home and rear children in the Christian faith? All of these things are important and have their place.

I believe, however, that the greatest ability that the Christian needs is availability. Are you available to God? Are you available to Him today and each day to use you?

When we make ourselves available to God, He equips us for every good work He wants us to do. He gives us the strength to accomplish that which He has set before us.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV). Someone recommended taking that verse and repeating and emphasizing separately each succeeding word. “I can do all things through Christ,” not merely the apostles, or the martyrs or super saints, but “I can do all things through Christ.”

That is a promise to you. Do you believe it? “I can do all things … I can do all things.” I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Question to ponder:
If you knew you couldn’t fail—because God was in it—what great thing would you attempt for His glory and others’ good?

… Always be ready to give an answer to every man who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, with gentleness and fear.

— 1 Peter 3:15

Some years ago, I heard Dr. Somebody-or-Other taking calls from Christians on a radio show. They were calling in and challenging him on various things, and he was chewing them up and spitting them out. Not one Christian could answer any question he asked them.

They would explain why they believe with statements like, “Well, because I’ve got it down in my heart.”

This atheist answered, “Well, I don’t have it down in my heart, and I don’t believe it either”—and he hung up.

The Scripture says that we should always be ready to give an answer as to why we believe anything we claim that we believe. The Bible is not based upon blind faith, but on God’s acting in history, past and present.

Just to give one example: when Jesus was born, carried out His ministry, was crucified and raised back to life, He fulfilled hundreds of prophecies that were written hundreds of years before He came. Only God knows the future. Only God could have written that story.

All around us, we have unbelievers today challenging us on what we believe. We hear challenges on television, radio, books, magazines, motion pictures, and the internet as to why we believe any of this “stuff” we say that we believe. Let us always be ready with reasons for our faith.

Question to ponder:
How can you prepare to give a good answer to people who challenge your faith?

Enter at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who are going through it, because small is the gate and narrow is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

— Matthew 7:13-14

We live in a time when the majority report is virtually always ungodly, unchristian, immoral, and defeatist. We hear it all the time. It blares at us from our radios, our television, our newspapers, and magazines. The majority report is ever before us, which is: Forget about what God has said. Forget about Him altogether.

This is the “popular” way. Sometimes we have agreed with the majority and said, “Yes, God’s way is too hard.” Nevertheless, His way is the “strait and narrow” road that leads unto life. It is the wide gate, the broad way that the Bible says leads to destruction.

Every one of us has to decide whether we are going to go with the popular view, the majority view, or we are going to follow the minority report, which is a report of faith.

Are you able to face the real difficult things of life, to stand for Christ when it is unpopular to do so? God has a special blessing for those who stand firm for Christ and the truth, even in the face of great unpopularity.

Question to ponder:
How can you stand for Christ, when it is unpopular to do so?

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

— Genesis 1:27

The 500th anniversary of Copernicus’ birth was celebrated in 1973. Copernicus showed that the earth was not at the center of the universe, a scientific finding used to displace the earth and man from their presumed place of central importance in the cosmos. In celebrating the Copernican revolution, his followers were celebrating the demise of man and, more importantly, the demise of God.

However, at the celebration Brandon Carter, a highly reputed astronomer from Oxford, discussed his discovery of certain strange and almost inexplicable things in the world of particle physics and astronomy. They all seemed to that suggest that this world, and the whole universe, have been made for the purpose of hosting intelligent life on this planet—namely man.

He noted, for example, that if the mass of the proton were just a tiny fraction larger or smaller, the entire solar system would collapse. Many similar physical constants, which appear optimized for human existence, point to the fact that this universe seems to have been designed for mankind.

Carter’s “anthropic principle” says that this universe has a “purpose.” This is a dirty word to evolutionists, who have substituted “chance” for “design” and “purpose.”

But suddenly, at the 500th anniversary of the Copernican revolution, when the final spike was being driven into the significance of man, the anthropic principle was born. Despite man’s attempts to deny God, He has left His fingerprints all over the universe.

Question to ponder:
Why did God create the world?

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

— Proverbs 16:32

When it comes to anger, someone has said that people tend to be of two different types. There are those who blow up and there are those who clam up. Some people do both. Paul deals with that in Ephesians 4:26. He says, “Be angry but do not sin.”

There is such a thing as righteous anger but the sin related to anger is when this bursts forth in all sorts of vicious speech. When we rail against another person, give place to malice, explode, and tell other people off. We have then given way to sin; we have given place to the devil.

So Paul tells us in verse 26 that we are not to let our anger explode. Furthermore, he says, “No not let the sun go down on your anger.” That is, do not close up like a clam and keep that hot boiling anger within you. There are some people who can keep it in for years, blocking any sort of communication.

But by His grace, many people are able to control their anger, to “be angry and sin not.”

Question to ponder:
How has the Holy Spirit worked in your life to control your temper?