He is the Rock; His work is perfect; for all His ways are just. He is a God of faithfulness and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.

— Deuteronomy 32:4

It doesn’t matter if everyone in the world joins hands and votes unanimously that God’s truth is false—it still remains true. It remains true whether I believe in it or I don’t believe it. Whether you accept it or you reject it does not alter the fact that God’s truth does exist and never changes.

Over against the relativism of our time, I think we need desperately to reassert what Jesus Christ said. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32).

Jesus is declaring here that there is truth. He didn’t say, “You will know a truth.” He didn’t say, “You will know your truth.” We hear this today by those who say, “Well, that’s true for you, but it’s not true for me.” Jesus said, “You shall know the truth.”

God’s truth is true for everyone. Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6). He is not a truth, part of the truth, or somebody’s truth but not somebody else’s truth—He is the Truth. How ironic it is that Pontius Pilate could say with a sneer, “What is truth?”—when standing before him was Jesus Christ, Incarnate Truth.

Question to ponder:
Why is it so hard for people in our culture to fathom absolute truth?

… the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble by the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

— 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Many people are desperately in need of comfort. They may be experiencing financial pressure, homelessness, physical suffering, sorrow over a handicapped child, bereavement, disgrace due to sin, a life of loneliness, the aftermath of an abortion, fear and uncertainty, marital breakup, weariness of the flesh, a besetting temptation, a family suicide, the death of a spouse, a shattering divorce, or grief over a prodigal child. The list goes on and on and on. Surely, it is true that people need comfort.

The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter, and the Father is the God of all comfort. Jesus comforts us by His presence. Thus, we have a whole trinity of comfort.

In the very early years of our church, a wonderful young Christian mother had a two-year-old son climb the fence in their back yard when she was on the phone. He fell into the canal and drowned. I sat in her home for hours the next day trying to comfort her.

Person after person came in, but she later told me, “There were only two people who were really able to comfort me, and they were both mothers who had lost a child.” They knew how it felt and they were there in her time of need. Just by our presence we can comfort people in the time of their grief.

Question to ponder:
Can you think of someone who might need comfort and how you could possibly help?

My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations…

— James 1:2

Peter, as well as James, tells us that we should not be amazed when the fiery trials come upon us. It should be expected that our faith would be tried by fire that it might come out as pure gold. Therefore, God puts us through these trials of fire, that we may be sanctified and refined.

Christ looks into our hearts. Is your heart troubled this day? Is it filled with anxieties, with insoluble problems? Christ, indeed, empathizes with you. Not only does He feel your trouble, He alone is sufficient and adequate to deal with it. He has promised that He will turn all things together for our good.

There is no one who does not face troubles in this world. “But man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward,” as the saying goes, and this is true. We don’t get through this “valley of tears” without learning why it is so named. But Christ is there with us. He has promised, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). He is right here with us. He will see us through all our trials.

Question to ponder:
Have you ever looked back at a trial and understood why you could “consider it pure joy”?

Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

— John 11:40

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the transfiguration of Christ. Jesus took the disciples north of the Sea of Galilee to Mount Hermon, and there they went up to the top of that Mount of Transfiguration. He left the other disciples and took the inner circle, John, James, and Peter, a little bit farther. There they saw Christ with Moses and Elijah, who appeared from the dead and talked with Him. At that time, Christ allowed something of His divinity to shine through the veil of flesh and His garments were glistening white. They were so brilliantly white that the disciples could hardly bear to look upon them.

But when that was over, Peter felt a speech coming on, and so he said, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three sanctuaries: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Mark 9:5). Then there came a thundering sound out of the clouds. It was the voice of the Father, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him” (v.7), which is gracious, heavenly language for “Peter, shut up and listen. Maybe you might learn something.”

Peter might not have been very eloquent, but his heart was right—it is the longing of every Christian that we might stay, that we might dwell where God is.

Question to ponder:
How do we dwell where God is in this life?

But I have a few things against you: You permit that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess

— Revelation 2:20

We live in a very tolerant society. One example of this is that you will never see anybody on a talk show, no matter what they have done—whether they’ve committed murder, adultery, or rape—you’ll never hear a whisper that they are sinners. It is because we are a “tolerant” people. All other virtues have disappeared except that of tolerance. Nobody would dare say, “Tch, tch, you shouldn’t have done that. That is a sin, and you are a sinner.” That is never heard in this society.

God is not tolerant, however. Every single sin of whatever kind that is perpetrated on this earth will be punished by God. Every single sin that you have committed and I have committed will be punished by God, either on us in hell, or on Christ at Calvary. God is infinite justice. He cannot tolerate sin. He lives in a totally 100 percent spotless, pure and holy heaven. Sin is not tolerated there.

We Christians do believe in and practice a tolerance; but remember this: tolerance is the last virtue of a completely immoral society.

Question to ponder:
What is the difference between tolerating a person and tolerating sin?

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of temptation in the wilderness

— Hebrews 3:7-8

I remember some years ago a young man from a Christian home came to see me in my office. He was living a wild life and I spoke with him for a good while. I explained to him the Gospel and urged him to turn his life over to Christ. He said to me, “Dr. Kennedy, I want you to know that I believe everything you said. I know it is all true. I know it because my parents taught it to me as a child, and I want you to know something else. I have every intention of receiving Christ as my Savior. I have no intention of leaving this world without doing that—but not now; I’ve got some real living to do first.”

He got up to leave, and as he opened the door, I stopped him. I said, “Let me leave one text with you as you go. The Bible says, “Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy” (Proverbs 29:1 NIV). He paused, looked back at me, turned again, and left.

A few days later I received word that he was riding his motorcycle on the freeway when a truck with the tailgate down stopped unexpectedly in front of him and he was instantly decapitated. I couldn’t help but think of my parting words to him: “Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.”

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” (Proverbs 27:1 NIV) Now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation.

Question to ponder:
Do you know of any people you should talk with about the state of their souls?

I must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.

— John 9:4

My friend, have there been kind and loving things you have planned to say to your child? Have you been planning to spend time with your son before he becomes a man? Has there been some praise you wanted to give to your wife or husband? Has there been some kindness you have been thinking about doing but have always put it off. You were just too busy.

We have no tomorrow. There is no yesterday. We have only today. “This is the day that the Lord has made …” (Psalm 118:24). We always and only live in today.

There is a thought that has impacted my life, and I would like to share it with you. I would like for you to seriously consider what this day would be like if at midnight tonight you knew you would die. How would you change this day? What would you do today that you have not really been planning to do at all? Or tomorrow? Or the next day? Or the next?

If each day were the last day we were to live on this earth, can you imagine how much more kindness, how much more love, how much more encouragement, how much more praise there would be in our homes?

Question to ponder:
Is there anything you have put off that you need to do today?

Give, and it will be given to you: Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will men give unto you. For with the same measure you use, it will be measured unto to you.

— Luke 6:38

Tithing is God’s method of sanctifying and maturing Christians, and making us more like Christ. Since selfishness and covetousness are two of the root problems of humankind, we need to learn how to cut out that taproot and be set free.

Malachi 3 is the only place in the Bible where God says, “Test Me.” Can you believe that? What an incredible condescension. God says to put Him on trial—”Test Me now in this … if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing, that there will not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).

Those who will trust in the Lord will find that He indeed will “open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing, that there will not be room enough to receive it.” God’s challenge to give is a test of faith that proves whether our god is gold or the true God, because where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.

Question to ponder:
Have you experienced that it is more blessed to give than to receive?

As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field he flourishes. For the hot wind passes over it, and it is gone, the place where it was is not known.

— Psalm 103:15-16

Once, when leaving a building, I opened a door thinking it was an exit, only to discover that I had stepped into a tiny broom closet! Of course, I stepped out instantly and closed the door. I probably was in there only one or two seconds at the most. Now, wouldn’t it be extraordinarily odd, if I were to spend the rest of my life talking about that little closet?

Since it is without doubt if we have placed our trust in Christ, that we will spend more than 99.99 percent of our lives in Heaven, why do we spend all of our time talking about this “little closet,” which will be but a fleeting moment in the prospect of eternity?

According to the Bible, this world is simply the foyer to eternity—a testing ground where the talents and the abilities that God has given to man are to be used and exercised. What is important in this life is what we do for God’s glory with the talents that God has given to us. But what we do about Jesus Christ in this life determines our eternal destiny.

When we view our earthly existence as a prelude to eternity, we see this world in an entirely different light, and this affects our view of this life as well.

Question to ponder:
How much of your time do you spend thinking about eternity?

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall.

— 1 Corinthians 10:12

We need to stay as far away from sin as we possibly can. Flee temptation, for none of us are immune to the tempter’s snare.

Joseph faced the temptations of Potiphar’s wife, who wanted him to have sex with her. But he resisted, even at the cost of going to jail. Daniel in Babylon resisted the temptations of a godless society. Countless millions of others have, likewise, taken a stand for Jesus Christ. The responsibility ultimately is ours.

The Bible is very clear about temptation. There is a theological phrase that describes what we are supposed to do about temptation. I want you to remember it. I want you never, ever to forget it. It is not all that difficult. I think it should be understandable to everyone. That is, whenever you are confronted with temptation, remember this phrase: Run like crazy. “Flee temptation,” the Scripture says. “Flee youthful desires” (2 Timothy 2:22).

Many people have supposed they could flirt with temptation. How many among the army of addicts to alcohol, tobacco, and drugs have thought they could flirt with temptation: “Oh, it will never get the best of me.” They have fallen ignominiously on their faces before it. How many have flirted with sexual temptations and have found themselves falling headlong into an abyss of sin that has ruined their lives.

Question to ponder:
Have you ever thought that you would never fall into one sin or another?