… God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their sins against them, and has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation.

— 2 Corinthians 5:19

How are we reconciled with each other? By repentance and faith. By faith we rest in the atoning blood of Christ and claim that cleansing stream. We are made one with Him, being one with Christ and one with the Father, and then we can be one with one another.

There must be reconciliation from man to man, woman to woman, individual to individual. That is accomplished by repentance and confession. As you think about your relationship with God, are there things separating you from Him—things you have not repented of, things you have not turned from, things you have not confessed, things you have not claimed His forgiveness for? As you think about your brothers or sisters, are there those from whom you are estranged?

We have been reconciled to God by the death of Jesus. Therefore, we should be reconciled with others—especially to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Question to ponder:
Are there those whom you are holding grudges against? Are there those who have hurt you that you need to forgive or whom you have hurt and need to confess that sin to?

And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

— Matthew 22:39

Our society puts an inordinate amount of emphasis on self-image. Look out for #1 (that is, yourself), cry the pundits. How is a good self-image achieved and does it matter?

A self-image is very much like happiness. Someone once wrote about the “unhappy pursuit of happiness.” The unhappiest people are the ones who pursue happiness, because happiness is not something you can find by directly pursuing it. It is something which is a by-product of pursuing something else. It is something we discover when we are not really looking for it.

When we serve God and Christ and help other people, when we fulfill His commandments, when we see our lives being used to build up other people, to transform their lives and to bring in the Kingdom of God, we discover that God has already taken care of our desire for a good self image and we have a very adequate sense of who we are. A self-image is not some balloon inside of us that has to be pumped up; it is simply our reflection of who we are and what we are doing in this world. A right picture of God leads to a correct picture of self.

Question to ponder:
What is the relationship between Christ-confidence and self-confidence?

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you.

— Matthew 6:33

There are many people who begin life with a very poor self-image. They are helped along the way by others who criticize them, ignore them, make fun of them, pooh-pooh their ideas, and contribute to their general feeling that they really have nothing to offer, that they are not worthwhile, that nobody wants to hear what they have to say, and certainly that no one could care how they feel. Therefore, they withhold all of these things and the result is a breakdown in communication.

Do you help contribute to a poor self-image in your spouse or in those around you? Many men do so by continually putting their wives down, by being sarcastic and not interested in their ideas. They may find themselves increasingly living in a lonely world and losing out on a great deal. Do you treat your wife that way? There are women, of course, who do the same thing. They enjoy putting their husbands down. They try to lord it over them and belittle them.

I believe that if we seek God’s kingdom first and His righteousness, then all things shall be added to us. Included in that list is a healthy self-image. I am uncomfortable with an unhealthy emphasis on self-image. As we love God and our neighbor as ourselves, a healthy self-image tends to emerge, because we are made in His image.

Question to ponder:
Can you think of anything you can do to build up anyone around you?

For we have not followed cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

— 2 Peter 1:16

It is interesting that in the radical left wing of Protestantism, back about two hundred years ago, they were concocting in their ivory towers all kinds of theories about how the Bible was not the Word of God, how these were but mythological stories, inventions of creative minds, things that never happened in this world at all.

Interestingly, about the very same time, there was another science that was beginning; it was the science of archaeology. In fact, Napoleon contributed to it. When he went to invade Egypt, he took with him scientists who examined all the many wonderful finds in Egypt and gave great impetus to the new science of archaeology. Since then archaeologists have dug up hundreds of thousands of different finds confirming the Bible over and over again and totally demolishing the liberal radical documentary hypothesis of the Old Testament. Today no reputable Old Testament scholar would maintain the kind of things that were previously taught in many seminaries (including the seminary I attended), because it has been given the coup de grâce by archaeology.

Nelson Glueck, the renowned Jewish archaeologist said, “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.” Dr. Paul L. Maier, a noted scholar of ancient history, said, “There is no question but that archaeology is the Bible’s best friend.”

Question to ponder:
How does God defend His own Word?

Then I said, “Here am I. Send me.”

— Isaiah 6:8

In 1956, five American missionaries were killed in the jungles of Ecuador by fierce Indians. One of them was Jim Elliot, who famously said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

In his senior year at Wheaton College, Elliot wrote some words in his diary, which I recall reading and being awestruck that any college senior could write such words: “[God] makes ‘His ministers a flame of fire.’ Am I ignitable? God deliver me from the dread asbestos of ‘other things.’ Satu­rate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be a flame. But flame is transient, often short-lived. Canst thou bear this, my soul—short life? … ‘Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.'” Some seven years later, that fuel was consumed.

What is it that holds us back from total surrender or unconditional service? We are often afraid that God will ask us to do something too hard or too difficult.

I am sure Jim Elliot did not regret his decision. (Certainly his writings before his death would indicate as such.) Whatever God calls us to do, it will be an adventure, and He promises to go with us every step of the way.

Question to ponder:
Can I commit myself to God at a deeper level? Is there anything I am holding back from Him?

See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, and death and disaster. What I am commanding you today is to love the LORD your God, and to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments …

— Deuteronomy 30:15-16

God has set before us the “maker’s manual.” If you obey the commandments, you will do well. If you don’t, you will destroy yourself. The commandments are basically simple, but they are not easy. If we seek to live a godly life, we can only do this by His power and by His grace.

Human success or failure in this life is largely dependent upon the requisite yielding of ourselves in obedience to the commandments of God. It is not some great mystery. It is simply doing what God told us to do. Apparently, there are many people in this nation and the world who are mostly ignoring those commandments or outright disobeying them. That, of course, is to their own hurt and detriment.

We do not keep the law in order that we might be saved or be acceptable to God; but having been transformed by Christ, having been forgiven and redeemed by Jesus Christ, having been made new creatures by His grace and His mercy, we now desire to live by His Commandments and His law. God gives us a new heart, a heart that delights in our God and a heart that desires to live by His statutes.

Question to ponder:
We are told to keep God’s commandments in word, thought, and deed. Which one is hardest for you?

Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

— John 8:12

Jesus made extraordinary claims about Himself. For example, He declared, “I am the light of the world.” What a profound statement to issue forth from the lips of any man. If anyone were to make a statement like that today, we would suppose that either he was the world’s greatest egomaniac or he was completely deranged.

The astounding thing is that we receive such words as these—”I am the light of the world … I am the good shepherd … All that ever came before me were thieves and robbers … I am the resurrection and the life … I am the way, the truth and the life”—from the lips of Christ as if they were commonplace. There is only one of two ways that we can react to this. We must either draw back in revulsion at such claims or else we must fall down on our knees and worship.

When the High Priest heard these claims of Christ, he reacted the first way. He tore his robes and shouted, “Blasphemy!” On the other hand, when the Magi came and saw the Christ child, they bowed down and worshiped Him. So too the disciples worshiped Jesus after His resurrection.

Question to ponder:
What does it mean to worship Jesus Christ?

The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression …

— Numbers 14:18

We want justice. We want everything to be fair. God is a just God, and we tend to know deep down what is right. In God’s justice, He will by no means clear the guilty. Because He is a just God, He must punish evil. We have all fallen short and what we need is not justice, but mercy. So Christianity is beyond fair. God does not treat us as we deserve. He is a God of mercy. Justice would not be good for us.

Christianity is not just. Christ didn’t come to bring us justice; He came to save us from justice. If any one of gets justice, we would be condemned. That is what we deserve. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

There are some in our midst who think that they have nothing to worry about on judgment day. No, they don’t need Christ, thank you very much. “Religion is just a crutch for the weak,” they say. They don’t recognize the magnitude of their sins before a holy God. They will be in for a great shock when they stand before the Lord when He returns.

But if you know Jesus personally, you recognize that without His shed blood at Calvary, you would have no hope. You would only be staring God’s justice in the face, with no hope for mercy.

Praise be to God for sending us Jesus Christ and for forgiving our sins and extending mercy to us.

Question to ponder:
God’s mercy is new every morning. And His justice never sleeps. Reflect on the relationship between justice and mercy.

The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.

— Psalm 103:19

Jesus is the Lord of heaven and earth. He is not just the future ruler, but His reign began (though not in its fullness) with His death and resurrection. His kingdom is ever expanding over the hearts and minds of men. He is the conquering King.

When Jesus began the battle, the Captain of the well-fought fight was minus an army, yet every enemy He slew was revived and enlisted into the army of the King. As the King travels across the world, the army behind Him grows, becoming so vast a horde that no man can number it. We see that all the soldiers of the conquering King are but those who were first conquered by Him. These are they who shall come into the great city above wearing crowns on their heads and holding prizes for valor in their arms. They shall come to the very throne of God to lay their spoils at His feet.

Christ is the Great Conqueror. He has succeeded gloriously in all that He has done. He has conquered not only men and empires, but He has conquered even Satan and the world of demons—not with the sword, but with His Cross and the empty tomb.

Question to ponder:
What difference does it make today that Jesus our Savior is also the King of kings?

Let God be true but every man a liar.

— Romans 3:4

The humanistic religion, which is the foundation of our recent legal revolution, is based upon evolutionary theory. It holds that man has evolved from inanimate matter and exists in a universe without God and is therefore responsible for developing his own laws, which are not in any way answerable to a supreme being. As a result our laws have become more man-centered and godless.

It is interesting that for almost 2,000 years, much of civilization—including laws—was theocentric or God-centered. In the last several decades, however, there has been a great shift taking place and now the law is becoming anthropocentric; i.e., man-centered. Anthropology is replacing theology as the principle focus of attention. Self-image has become an overriding concern on the part of numerous writers. We are told that the most important thing is to develop a positive self-image. We are told that unless we love ourselves, we cannot love others; that self-love is an indispensable prerequisite to useful living—even Christian living in this world.

Humanism is just another way of talking about atheism. There was a time, years ago, when it was not politic to be an atheist, and so, instead of that, they switched to humanism. Atheism says “down with God”; humanism says “up with man”—but the end is the same. But God will not be mocked forever. He will arise in due time and judge all.

Question to ponder:
Do you think you have any godless humanistic tendencies in your own thinking?