I find myself being more cheerful and more excited about each day for no obvious reason. I know what it is, though. I’m feeling like this:

“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.” Psalm 95:1-2

This is the kind of stuff that fills my heart most of the time. I’m confident that He is in control. I’m convinced He knows what He’s doing. This is not blind trust or blissful ignorance here. This is trusting in a God with a record of coming through for His children. This is believing that whatever comes to pass, God will use it for good and to glorify Himself.

I still think about those other things. They just don’t have any affect on my joy.

“Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’” Nehemiah 8:10

Is your joy the joy of the Lord?

I heard a different take on this passage today. I had always understood it to be referring to those who claimed to follow Jesus, but were, in fact, following someone who doesn’t really exist. If you look at the Jesus described by the Jehovah’s Witnesses or by the LDS church, you’ll see that he is not the same Jesus we worship. Jesus will not know those who have followed someone or something else.

I now believe this passage also refers to those who know who Jesus is, but have not confessed Him as Lord and chosen to follow Him. How do you know if someone knows Jesus, but isn’t a follower of Jesus?

“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:17

Does that mean that we need to do good works to be saved? Absolutely not. But, if you claim to follow Christ and there are no good works to speak of, then your faith is in question. Real faith is a faith that works. The evidence will be clear.

So, if you claim to follow Jesus and say to Him, “Lord, Lord,” but have produced no fruit. It’s time for a gut check. This is an all or nothing deal. Whatever you think your reasons are, I’m pretty sure they won’t convince Jesus when He says, “I never knew you.”

As I read through the story of the Philistines capturing the Ark of the Covenant, it seemed almost like a script. The enemy captures one of the most precious belongings of the Israelites and they want to put it on display to brag about it. They start by putting it in front of their god. Twice, though, they find their idol fallen face down in front of the Ark. Soon, people begin developing tumors and other unpleasant health problems. The leaders move it from town to town as it goes from being a prize to a curse. Finally, they send it to Ekron:

“So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.
As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, ‘They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.’ So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, ‘Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people.’ For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy upon it.” 1 Samuel 5:10-11

I take comfort in this story and here’s why: There are many who want to redefine God out from under us. They want to steal Him and turn Him into something else that they can control or, at least, ridicule. My comfort is that they don’t get it. Every victory they think they have is empty. God will not be denied. God’s plan will not be altered. Defeating or outsmarting Christians will not defeat God.

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Galatians 6:7

We should continue to stand for truth. But, if you have a setback, don’t worry. God won’t allow Himself to be boxed up or ignored. He stills rules with absolute authority.

“to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1:4

I don’t know about you, but I am plenty happy about that regardless of what’s going on in my life.

If you are married, God has transferred responsibility of your wife to you. He will ask you to account for her when the Day comes. You cannot claim blindness or powerlessness.

If you are a father, God has given you responsibility of your children. That responsibility changes over time, but He will ask you to account for them, too.

I thought about the weight of this responsibility as I read about Eli. Here was a man of God who did all the right things as a priest. He had the responsibility to train his sons to do the same. He gave them responsibility to minister to the people as they came to worship and sacrifice to God. But…

“Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the Lord.” 1 Samuel 2:12

Eli heard about this and gave them a stern talking to, but they didn’t change. Eli had probably missed the opportunity to correct them and discipline them earlier in their lives. By this time, though, they had no interest in following God. As you read the story, you’ll notice Eli did not remove them from their positions, either. He let it slide.

God noticed. He passed along a message to Eli via another man of God:

“Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?” 1 Samuel 2:29

There’s a convicting statement: “Why do you honor your sons more than me?” Eli was being held responsible for the sin of his sons because he had an opportunity to correct it. Eli chose, instead, to let God be secondary to what his sons wanted.

It can be hard to correct our children at the moment or even soon thereafter. But, Eli’s example shows that it’s next to impossible to correct much later. Don’t let misbehavior linger. Don’t let it slide. Don’t be left standing before God having to answer for your responsibilities with nothing better than a shrug.

“Diligent hands will rule,
but laziness ends in slave labor.” Proverbs 12:24

I have lost count how many old friends or acquaintences are working low wage hourly jobs that are meant for teenagers because they were too lazy to prepare themselves for a career when they were younger. This verse is not saying that everyone working a ground floor, minimum wage job is lazy. It’s saying that if you are lazy, that’s all you’ll be destined for.

“The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,
but knowledge comes easily to the discerning” Proverbs 14:6

This one speaks to the intelligensia that sees themselves as enlightened and sophisticated when they say that they are open-minded and consider all ideas. Well, that’s great, but if you aren’t discerning enough to throw out the garbage then finding knowledge will be like looking for a needle in haystack. The discerning mind filters out the garbage immediately and, therefore, only has to consider those things that are likely true. Since so much of the world is producing junk philosophy, that doesn’t leave much to consider. That makes it easier to pick out the real nuggets of wisdom. Of course, if your filter is the Word, then it’s all true.

Some may call me closed-minded, but my mind is open enough to let in the truth of God. I don’t want anything else.

To tolerate someone used to mean that you would be civil and not impede them in their actions and beliefs. Nowadays, it is expected that if you claim to be tolerant, you actually accept the beliefs of others to be equally valid to your own. When you express disagreement you are said to be intolerant. Being tolerant sounds lovely and peaceful until you think for a minute and realize that it’s illogical and silly. How can contradicting beliefs all be true?

You see this silliness on display when public figures say things like, “My faith works for me.” The implication is that there are other options that may work for other people. Sorry, truth doesn’t allow itself to be bent like that. Something is either absolutely true or it isn’t. There is no maybe when it comes to issues of God and Jesus.

“Into your hands I commit my spirit;
redeem me, O Lord, the God of truth.” Psalm 31:5

“I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws.” Psalm 119:30

I count thirty instances of Jesus saying, “I tell you the truth,” in the Gospel of Matthew alone.

Jesus is THE truth. You cannot politely claim that the beliefs of others are just as valid as yours. They are not. Either you are right and others are wrong or vice-versa.

You should simply explain why you believe that Jesus is the only way, but do NOT imply that Jesus is one option among many. You are not proclaiming the Jesus of the Bible and you are not proclaiming the truth.

Stay true.

God was very clear on how this should work (especially in a society like ours where we are not jailed for our faith or forced to commit sinful acts by the state):

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.” 1 Peter 2:13-17

Are we to restrain from standing up for truth? No. Are we to give up fighting for righteousness when we have a setback? No. Are we to accept the laws of the land and follow them inasmuch as they do not conflict with God’s law? Absolutely. Are we to submit to the rulers of the lands we live in? Yes. God has placed these men according to His will. We are to display our Christ-likeness by submitting to the authority. If you rebel against this situation, you are rebelling against God.

So, if you are a citizen of the United States, he IS your president. You don’t have to agree with him, but you do have to submit to his authority. Of course, you are free to campaign for his opponents as much as you like.

This is a tough task. It’s hard to rejoice all the time. I used to think it was hard to rejoice when things are hard. Now I know that the hard times are not when you’re vulnerable. It’s the comfortable times when you slip up. It’s the times when you’re coasting that you forget to rejoice in God.

Last Sunday, four middle-aged guys sat in the row in front of my family. My first impression was that I would have expected to see them walking out of a tavern rather than sitting in church, but I was glad they came. After introducing themselves, I gradually picked up that these guys had probably met at an addiction support group hosted by another church. One fellow had invited the other three because he had heard good things about our pastor. They all seemed genuinely excited to be there and I guessed they were all new Christians.

I was humbled by the pure joy they had in just hanging out together, worshipping God, and listening intently to the message. They greeted us with bear hugs. They sang loudly. They prayed vigorously. They could barely contain themselves. I was challenged in regards to my own joy. Was mine so obvious and overflowing? Would others grin in spite of themselves like we were while watching them?

I love watching the exuberance and enthusiasm in new Christians. It reminds me of what I should be feeling.

I found out later that one of those guys gave his life to Christ right after the service in the prayer room. Now I was really humbled. They all had more energy than I did and at least one of them hadn’t even been saved at that moment! Who was I to say I had achieved anything worth bragging about in my walk?

“Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in his salvation.” Psalm 35:9

I’m digging for that joy again. I will rejoice in the Lord always (or, at least, more often).

Rejoice!

“Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” ” Matthew 27:54

God at work. Wow, what a thing to behold!

Lives and events are transformed on God’s terms. I cannot fathom how close God was on that dark hill with events so profound that they surrounded the most important event in all of history.

He lives and He loves.