The heavens declare the glory of God … and night unto night declares knowledge.

— Psalm 19:1-2

We all look at the moon, admire the moon, sing about the moon—the moon in June. It brings out tunes and all of that, but what does the moon really mean to us?  Let me say this: If there were no moon, there would be no you. For example, the moon is God’s cleaning-maid for the earth. It cleans up the oceans with its tides. Without those tides and without the moon, all of our shores and all of our bays would be filled with billions of tons of garbage, stench, and debris. The highest priced landscape would be as far from the seashore as you could get, especially on the leeward side.

Furthermore, the moon’s gravitational pull mixes the atmosphere. Just as it works on the sea, it works on the atmosphere and mixes oxygen with the water in the waves breaking on the shore. When you watch waves breaking on the shore, you are watching the ocean’s lifeline in progress. Oxygenated water is required by plankton, which is the foundation of the whole marine food chain without which all marine creatures would die. The moon, which just “accidentally” happens to be there, just “accidentally” happens to be the right size in the right place and the right distance away from the earth to exert the proper gravitational force on tides and the atmosphere.

Day by day, night by night, God’s creation itself brings Him glory for those who will but listen.

Question to ponder:
What aspects of creation fill you with awe about God?

I can do all things because of Christ who strengthens me.

— Philippians 4:13

We were created by God to do great things, to soar high and to make an impact upon our world for Him. In fact, most of the great men and women who have accomplished impressive things in this world have been men and women who have dreamed dreams of what God, by His grace, could do in their lives.

I suppose everybody has dreamed dreams. The problem is that we all as children had great visions, but alas, as we grew up, most of those dreams faded away. They are destroyed by that pesky voice that whispers, “You can’t do it. You never have, you never could, and you never will.”

So like acid rain that falls upon our dreams, they slowly disappear. Our great visions fade and our ambitions corrode because we believe the negative words of the devil: “You can’t, you can’t, you can’t.” And so, we invent all kinds of reasons why we can’t.

The apostle Paul had no such limitations. He said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).  Paul is not talking about PMA—a “Positive Mental Attitude.” He did not say, “I can do all things through PMA”—but through Jesus.

May God help us to realize that we can do all things through Christ. He is the creator of dreams and the source of our strength.

Question to ponder:
Is there something great or small that God has put on your heart to accomplish for Him?

Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

— 2 Corinthians 3:17

Memorial Day is a time to remember those brave men and women who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Tragically, hundreds of millions of people do not live in liberty. Ironically, freedom is something that is easily taken for granted. It is like the air we breathe. It is not until it is gone that we even think about it.

John Adams, our second president, made a declaration to future years, saying this: “Posterity: You will never know how much it has cost my generation to procure your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.”

One great truth that Americans have forgotten, I believe, is that the source of liberty comes from only one place: it comes from God; it has come from Christ, who alone can make people free. Wherever the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ with its emphasis upon grace and the Cross has been preached, it has been followed by civil and political liberty.

Would that the flame of freedom and liberty that burned so brightly in the hearts of our founders be fanned into a flame again in America. This Memorial Day is a good time to begin.

Question to ponder:
Are you thankful for your freedom? Is there any survivor of a fallen soldier that you can thank today?

…strengthening the minds of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith, to go through many afflictions and thus enter the kingdom of God.

— Acts 14:22

Probably few of you would know who the New Testament character Joseph of Cyprus was. But you probably would recognize him if I used the other name given to him: Barnabas, meaning the “Son of Consolation,” or the “Son of Encouragement”. That was his name and he was famous for comforting other people. Does anyone like that come to your mind?

I know a Christian who is always encouraging others. I cannot think of this individual without thinking of the fact that this man is an overflowing reservoir of comfort. He is always concerned about other people and about their difficulties and trials. You would never find out about his trials because he was so concerned about others. He is a blessing and benediction to all who know him. He is truly a Barnabas, a son of consolation.

Go out and be a blessing as you encourage someone this day.

Question to ponder:
Can you think of a person to imitate who is an encourager of others?

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

— Psalm 23:4

Human beings are often in need, in trouble, in pain. People need comfort. We try to find it in various places, from a mother’s hug to a bottle of wine.

We can certainly get comfort from each other. But Christ is the only source of real comfort for us. What is the purpose of His comfort in our lives? Of course, it is to assuage our heart’s needs, to ease our aching spirits, to uplift us, to reanimate us, to encourage us, to help us on the way to continue fighting the battle. Also, it is, as Paul says, “that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble.”

There is nothing more painful than suffering that seems to be without purpose. Let me tell you, however, there is no such thing. Paul says that we are comforted in all of our tribulation so that we may be able to comfort others in their trouble with the same comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted by God.

God’s comfort works because God can handle our pain and trouble. When it is past, we can look back and see His hand and then reach out and comfort others.

Question to ponder:
Can you think of some difficult time in your life that later enabled you to help someone going through the same thing?

…If the LORD is God, follow Him, but if Baal, then follow him…

— 1 Kings 18:21

Examine all history, sacred and profane, and you will find few, if any, contests comparable to the one described in 1 Kings 18 when Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal. It was a matter of life and death for the people involved, for the nation itself, and through them for the whole world, as Satan made this grand attempt to destroy the faith of Israel.

Elijah asked the Israelites a classic question: “How long will you stay between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). With that, the contest was on.

Baal was the god of the sun, the “giver of life,” the god of fire. So the religion of Baal worship was threatening to crush out the religion of Jehovah, the worship of the true God. Elijah, one of the few prophets of Jehovah left in the world, was the only one who was willing to stand up and confront the overwhelming odds against him—the power of the throne, the power of the false temple of Baal, and all the people who were against him. But God was with Elijah, and God gave him the victory.

Question to ponder:
How can we stand for Christ in an increasingly hostile world?

One of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned with a loud voice glorifying God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. Jesus said, “Were not the ten cleansed? Where are the nine?”

— Luke 17:15-17

This passage shows something of the nature of ingratitude. It is an astonishment to God that His beneficences do not, indeed, call forth expressions of gratitude. Ingratitude is a very serious sin.

This is certainly brought out in the first chapter of Romans, where Paul describes the sinfulness of the heathen world and catalogs a great list of sins. Read the last half of the first chapter of Romans and you will see how the heathen world had sunk deeper and deeper into the vilest forms of depravity. Finally, when you trace it all back, what do you find? “[A]lthough they knew God, they did not glorify Him or give thanks to Him as God … Therefore God gave them up to dishonorable passions” (Romans 1:21, 26).

Ingratitude and thanklessness are wellsprings out of which flowed eventually all of these other sins. The person who commits all these sins mentioned in Romans 1 is a person who is not grateful. You cannot be praising God and thanking God for what He has done for you while engaging in the type of activities described this chapter.

Question to ponder:
Why is ingratitude a gateway sin into what Scripture calls “dishonorable passions”?

I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

— Psalm 119:16

We are living in a time when Biblical ignorance is widespread. Except for a small proportion of those who faithfully and daily study the Word of God, Americans are a Biblically illiterate people. But the Bible is the greatest of treasures. It is the indestructible Word of God, the unconquerable Word of God. Dr. A. Z. Conrad said this about the indestructible Word of God:

Century follows century—there it stands. Empires rise and fall—there it stands. Dynasty succeeds dynasty—there it stands. Kings are crowned and uncrowned—there it stands. Emperors decree its exterminations—there it stands. Despised and torn to pieces—there it stands. Storms of hate swirl about it—there it stands. Atheists rail against it—there it stands. Agnostics smile cynically—there it stands. Profane, prayerless punsters caricature it—there it stands. Unbelief abandons it—there it stands. Higher critics deny its inspiration—there it stands. Thunderbolts of wrath smite it—there it stands. An anvil that has broken a million hammers—there it stands.

Not only is the Word of God indestructible, but its vital importance extends to every phase of our lives.

Question to ponder:
In your opinion, what is the greatest truth of the Bible?

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

— Matthew 18:21-22

Not only do we have a great reward in Heaven when we forgive, but we present a great witness right here. Nothing witnesses so powerfully to the glory and truth of the Gospel as when a Christian forgives his enemy.

Some years ago there was a war between Muslim and Christian Turks. One of the Christian officers was captured and became a prisoner of a Turkish official. This Muslim officer treated the Christian with the utmost cruelty and hatred and tortured him.

Then the circumstances of the war changed. The Christian prisoner was released; the torturer was captured and placed before the Christian. The Turkish officer’s face and eyes showed the fear and dread that filled his heart. He knew this man was going to retaliate against him with great vengeance. However, the Christian man said to him, “You do not need to be afraid. I am a Christian and I will not return evil for evil. I forgive you for what you did to me.”

The Muslim was so astonished, he said, “I will not die a Muslim, but I will die a Christian, for there is no religion but that of Christ which teaches forgiveness of injuries.”

What a marvelous testimony it is to do good to them who have done evil to us. Remember my friends, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

Question to ponder:
Have you ever prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do?”

…do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of temptation in the wilderness.

— Hebrews 3:8

I am sure that in the great day of the Second Coming, there will be millions who will cry, “Oh, God, have mercy upon me; oh, Lord, help me.” But my friends, it will be too late. It will be everlastingly too late for the door of grace will now be irrevocably shut. There will be no time for repentance then. There will be no tomorrow. There will only be the endless ages of eternity without God and without hope.

People will see that the Son of man has come to this earth, not as a lamb to be slain, but the Lamb in His wrath and anger. They will then cry out unto the hills and unto the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:16).

If you are a Christian, you can say with joy, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly,” and the very thought of His return brings rapturous joy. But those who are not followers of Christ will be filled with terror and awe.

Either we let the Lamb receive the wrath of God for our sins by trusting in Jesus and His finished work on the Cross, or we will face the wrath of the Lamb of God when He returns.

Question to ponder:
Does it sober you to think that Jesus Christ, who allowed Himself to be man-handled by sinful men, will one day execute the wrath of God against unrepentant sinners?