By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

— Psalm 33:6

Evolution simply says that the whole universe is made up of nothing but matter; that matter, time, and chance—the trinity of materialism—have brought all things into existence and, therefore, there is no God. A great multitude of people believe this because it is what they have been taught. The results of this teaching have been devastating.

The root of the problem of most of the great ills that have afflicted society and still afflict it today is the teaching of evolution. It has been called “The Big Lie.” It has deceived hundreds of millions of people and has probably brought about more deaths than any other view in the history of the world.

For example, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were committed Darwinists. They were trying to speed up evolution by creating a master race. They exterminated millions of “undesirables” because they viewed them as genetically inferior—this included Jews (the largest sub-group of victims of the holocaust), Gypsies, Slavs, and others. The holocaust was “Darwinism on steroids.”

But God has revealed Himself in His creation and in His Word. What a difference a worldview can make in society!

Question to ponder:
What would be the value of human life if evolution were true?

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

— Philippians 1:6

Once a man went to see a play in three acts. He came back and recommended it to a friend and said, “It was a marvelous play. You will just love it. It is so uplifting and exhilarating. You will be greatly encouraged.”  So his friend went to see it.

The next day the man saw his friend and said, “Well, how did you like it?”  “How did I like it?  I hated it. I thought it was just terrible. How could you possibly have thought that a play like that was good?  Why, the child was kidnapped, the father lost his job, and the mother was in the hospital. I was terribly depressed. How could you possibly have thought that a play like that was good?”  The man said, “But that’s not the way it ended.”  Then his friend said, “Oh, I don’t know how it ended. I got so depressed I left after the second act.”

Well, my friends, there is a final act to life. We pass through a curtain that leads us to the final act of the drama of God’s redemption. Without our belief in that we could not believe that all things will ultimately work together for our good. If you’re a Christian, God is at work in your life. Paul promises that He who began a good work in us will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. This good news puts everything in our lives in perspective and gives us great hope for those who are now fallen away from the truth.

Question to ponder:
Do you remember some of the things God did when He began the good work in your life?

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

— Romans 8:28

A physician may prescribe some medicine for us. Previously, when we would take the prescription to a pharmacist, he would gather the various chemicals from his shelves and with mortar and pestle he’d begin to mix them together. Now the interesting thing is that not infrequently there might be found among those various ingredients things which, of themselves, would be quite deleterious to your health, if not in fact, fatal. For example, arsenic is found in many medicines and yet if you were to take it by itself it would kill you. But when all the ingredients in the prescription are mixed together, they provide something that is beneficial to your health and produces healing. So it is in our lives.

The Great Physician is at work in our lives, causing all things to work together for good for those who know Him and are called by Him. The root Greek word for “working all things together” is synergeo, from which we get the word synergy. Romans 8:28 speaks of God’s synergy.

Question to ponder:
Can you think of a recent example in your life where God worked all things together for your good?

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

— Romans 8:28

We live in what appears to be a very hostile universe. Just a few thousand feet beneath us is molten lava waiting to consume us. A few thousand feet above us there are deadly cosmic rays that would slay us in a moment. The entire universe is governed by the basic law of entropy, which is determined to crush us in the final extinction of all things. This world is filled with war and pestilence and famine, sickness, disease, decay, and death. How can we say that all things are working together for good?

God is the One who is supernaturally working all things together for our good. They don’t just happen naturally. But God, the great Almighty alchemist, is taking whatever ingredients that come into our life, and working them for our good. All things, whatever they may be.

Question to ponder:
Is your universe hostile or friendly? How about in the light of Romans 8:28?

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

— Romans 8:28

This is one of the greatest texts in all Scripture: “All things work together for good to them who love God.” No other text covers as much territory; no other text offers any more than that; no other text conveys such hope and such comfort as that. Unfortunately, for many people, no other text seems more difficult to believe. In face of all of the problems that we know in this life, some would say it cannot possibly be true.

Paul never said that everything was good. Indeed, there are many things in this world which are anything but good—terrible diseases, drastic accidents, wars, hurricanes and earthquakes are certainly anything but good. They are ghastly and horrible things. And yet God has made it plain in this text that whatever event—however grim, however ghastly, however calamitous it may be in itself—as soon as it touches your life the hand of the Almighty will reach down and take it captive and hold it ransom. And God will not let it go until it yields up its treasure to your soul. That is the promise of the Almighty.

Question to ponder:
Are there some difficult circumstances in your life right now? Does it change your perspective to know God will bring good out of them?

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.

— Psalm 127:3

If there is one thing which is made abundantly clear, both in the Old and New Testaments, it is that children are a gift from God. They are loaned to us for a little while and we, as parents, are responsible for giving them a godly education. We are to rear them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—that line upon line, precept upon precept, His truth is to be taught to them.

In our society, children are not always looked upon as a blessing. But God’s Word is clear. The psalmist goes on to say, “Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them,” and a full quiver has eight to fifteen arrows!   To have children is a wonderful gift and a great opportunity to be a part of God’s creative process.

If you have children, thank Him for them daily and ask constantly for His help to raise them. Jesus promised to lead gently those sheep who have lambs.

Question to ponder:
Take some time to reflect upon the gift of children and pray for your own children or for a child who is special to you. How can you bless him or her today?

Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!

— revelations 9:10

Did you ever consider the fact that marriage is a major theme of the Bible? One theologian noted that the Bible opens with a marriage, and it closes with one. Jesus is the bridegroom who left heaven to seek out a bride. When we become believers in Him, we become part of the bride of Christ.

Marriage was God’s idea in the first place. Marriage is above all a picture of Christ and His bride, the Church. Perhaps this is why Satan aims his big guns at marriage, to tear it down any way he can.

In the Old Testament it was a great disgrace for a wife to be barren. Many a wife lamented and wept over her barrenness. We are the bride of Jesus Christ. He is our bridegroom. It is even more disgraceful to be spiritually barren, and yet how many Christians weep over their barrenness?

It is a great honor for a Christian to have spiritual children, as well as physical children—our spiritual children being those we have led to Christ. It is a great privilege as Christ’s bride to invite others also to participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb. True Christian marriages proclaim God’s plan to the world and benefit all who partake in it.

Question to ponder:
What can we do to strengthen our marriages so they truly proclaim God’s plan to the world?

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

— Proverbs 9:10

We hardly ever hear any more that so-and-so is “a God-fearing person.” What has happened to “the fear of God” in our land, much less in many of our churches? Jesus said that we should fear God. We should fear God, not for fear of punishment (Jesus has taken our punishment), but for fear of disappointing Him. We may be forgiven, yet still bear the scars for our sins. We should fear the results of sin in our lives.

If you had a father who loved you, you can remember that at times he chastened you. And if your Father in Heaven has received you, He has also chastened you. I can add my testimony to that of thousands of others who have lived in past centuries and say that the chastening of the Lord is not pleasant. I have experienced it as you have. Indeed, I can say: “I fear the rod of my Father.” But that is a wholesome fear.

In a world that has come to the place where it despises authority and rebels against parents and schools, state and police, and everything else, it is well that we be reminded that it is good for us to have a reverential awe and fear of the great and holy God who has made us. This fear is elicited when we contemplate sin and not when we contemplate our Father, for there His love also draws us.

Question to ponder:
The love and the fear of God—what is the relationship between the two?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

— 2 Corinthians 5:17

Can the leopard change its spots? Can the Ethio­pian change his skin? Of course not. No more than human beings can change their nature; but that is pre­cisely what Christ does. He doesn’t merely change our outward behavior; He changes our nature. He comes within us and plants therein a new man and a new nature—a new creation created by God—a new you.

In Christ, we now desire things we didn’t desire before. Christ did that to me. God placed a screw­driver in my “wanter” and turned it upside down, and to my utter amazement, I now wanted things I had never wanted before.

Charles Spurgeon said that if you were to take a hog out of the mud and the mire, out of the trough and the herd, and by some magic wand transform him into a prince sitting upon a throne, he would not be changed as much as when God Almighty by His grace transforms a depraved sinner into a prince of the Royal Realm. He is now a child of the King of kings, living in a dominion that has neither end nor limit of extent.

Question to ponder:
How can your new nature be nourished today?

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

— Matthew 11:28

Jesus is inviting us to come to Him with our burdens, to take our troubles to the foot of the cross and lay them down.

One verse I particularly like is found in I Peter 5:7 where he says: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” The Greek verb used here for casting shows a person with a great burden on his back, coming to Christ and rolling that burden off into the arms of Jesus.

What burden is right now weighing you down, tensing your muscles, robbing you of your serenity? Cast all your care upon Him.

It seems so simple to take it all to Jesus. It is simple, but it is not easy. We tend to take our problems to the Lord, then five minutes later we go back and pick them up to carry them again. If we shall learn to leave them there at the foot of the cross, we must learn to trust Him. Instead of picking our burden back up, we must say, “I have given this burden to the Lord. It is in His capable hands, and I can leave them there.” That is how we find rest.

Question to ponder:
What are the burdens you are carrying today? Take them to the foot of the cross and leave them there.