VIDEO Solid as a Rock

In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Psalm 62:7

Almost since its founding in 1875, Prudential Financial Insurance Company has used the Rock of Gibraltar as its logo. Meaning, an investment with Prudential is as solid as the massive limestone mountain in Gibraltar. Indeed, “solid as the Rock of Gibraltar” signifies anything that is solid, dependable, and immovable.

The actual Rock of Gibraltar has stood for millennia on the southwestern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar that separates Europe from Africa. It is nearly 1,400 feet high with a sheer face that illustrates the idea of “solid as a rock.” Such an image was common in biblical times—the psalmist pictured God as “my rock and my fortress and my deliverer” (Psalm 18:2). It’s easy to see why God would be pictured as a rock: He is strong, immovable, and affords protection to all who take refuge in Him. Thousands of years of carnage and culture have not moved the Rock of Gibraltar—nor have they moved our God.

God and His Word are the only immovable shelters in a world of uncertainty. Renew your trust in Him today and live an immovable life.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand: all other ground is sinking sand. Edward Mote

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Psalm 62 – My Only Rock, My Only Salvation

Mirror Test

Whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it . . . will be blessed in what they do. James 1:25

“Who’s in the mirror?” the psychologists conducting the self-recognition test asked children. At eighteen months or younger, children don’t usually associate themselves with the image in the mirror. But as kids grow, they can understand they’re looking at themselves. Self-recognition is an important mark of healthy growth and maturation.

It’s also important to the growth of believers in Jesus. James outlines a mirror recognition test. The mirror is “the word of truth” from God (James 1:18). When we read the Scriptures, what do we see? Do we recognize ourselves when they describe love and humility? Do we see our own actions when we read what God commands us to do? When we look into our hearts and test our actions, Scripture can help us recognize if our actions are in line with what God desires for us or if we need to seek repentance and make a change.

James cautions us not to just read Scripture and turn away “and so deceive [ourselves]” (v. 22), forgetting what we’ve taken in. The Bible provides us with the map to live wisely according to God’s plans. As we read it, meditate on it, and digest it, we can ask Him to give us the eyes to see into our heart and the strength to make necessary changes.

By:  Katara Patton

Reflect & Pray

What do you see when you look into the mirror of Scripture? What changes do you need to make?

Dear God, please help me use Scripture as a mirror into my life, my motives, and my actions. 

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The Holiness of God

God is perfectly just and merciful

Revelation 4:1-11

The scene in today’s passage gives us a glimpse of a holy God who is worthy of mankind’s worship. He’s perfectly pure in His thoughts, motives, choices, and actions, and His holiness is also revealed in His separateness from all evil and transgression. Since God cannot tolerate or ignore sin, every wrong must be punished—with the penalty paid either by the offender or by an adequate substitute. And Jesus Christ is the fully sufficient substitute who paid what every one of us owed. What’s more, He’s the only one who can reconcile sinful mankind to God. 

The Son of God took on human flesh and lived a sinless life. Then, as 1 Peter 2:24 (NIV) tells us, Jesus “bore our sins in his body on the cross” to pay the penalty of divine wrath. His resurrection is the proof that the sacrifice was acceptable to His heavenly Father. All who trust in Christ as their substitute are reconciled to God, but those who reject the Savior must themselves bear God’s wrath for their sin.

If we’ll acknowledge our unworthiness, confess our sins, and trust in Christ and His sacrifice on our behalf, our sins will be forgiven. The Judge of all humanity declares us not guilty. What’s more, He also credits us with Christ’s righteousness. And someday we’ll join the saints in heaven praising our gracious, holy God. 

Sin Not

“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” (Ephesians 4:26)

There are many occasions when a Christian may be rightly angered by some ugly word or incident and thus be strongly tempted to respond in kind. Our text, however, reminds us that such a reaction for a Christian is sin, and it urges us to get control of our anger before sundown. We are not to let our anger fester until it breaks out in action.

A very similar command was given long ago to Old Testament believers also. “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah” (Psalm 4:4). When angry, it is far better to wait and communicate with God about it in bed than to bring recriminations in the street (or, perhaps, in the home) against the ones who have angered us.

The Lord Jesus Himself is always our example, “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:23).

Anger is often one of the most difficult areas to overcome in the Christian life. As James says, “The tongue can no man tame…Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God….My brethren, these things ought not so to be” (James 3:8-10). Nevertheless, what man cannot tame, God can!

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20). “Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19). Anger may come, but to act in anger is sin. HMM

Adore: a Precious Word

Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people. —Isaiah 49:13

Fascination with God must necessarily have an element of adoration. You may ask me for a definition of adoration in this context. I will say that when we adore God, all of the beautiful ingredients of worship are brought to white, incandescent heat with the fire of the Holy Spirit. To adore God means we love Him with all the powers within us. We love Him with fear and wonder and yearning and awe.

The admonition to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,…and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37) can mean only one thing. It means to adore Him.

I use the word “adore” sparingly, for it is a precious word. I love babies and I love people, but I cannot say I adore them. Adoration I keep for the only One who deserves it. In no other presence and before no other being can I kneel in reverent fear and wonder and yearning and feel the sense of possessiveness that cries “Mine, mine!” WHT088-089

God’s child wants nothing more than the opportunity to pour out his or her love at the Savior’s feet. WHT089

Sovereign Grace

For you are saved by grace through faith … it is God’s gift.—Ephesians 2:8

In order to understand grace, we must see it in relation to a Sovereign. As one writer puts it: “Grace is bound to be sovereign since it cannot by its very nature be subject to compulsion.” This is why we often refer to it as free grace. There is no reason for grace but grace.

I believe the old definition of grace cannot be improved upon: “Grace is the free, unmerited favor of God.” At the heart of all true communion with God there lies this gripping truth: God took the initiative. He is more inclined toward us than we are toward Him. We cannot earn His affection. We have simply to receive it. Always the initiative is from God.

When you originally came to Him, you came because He first drew you. The very faith by which you lay hold of Him is not of yourself; it is, as our text says, “God’s gift.” Every step you make on your spiritual pilgrimage is possible because of His grace.

I know this teaching affronts many modern-day men and women because they like to feel that they can “work their passage to heaven,” as one preacher puts it. This is like someone in debt for a million pounds trying to get the one to whom he is indebted to accept his resources of a few pence as being sufficient to clear the debt. Listen to the Word of God again and let it sink deep into your soul: “For you are saved by grace through faith … it is God’s gift.” Grace is a gift. You do not have to achieve but simply receive.

Prayer

O Father, once again my heart is moved as I realize it was not my merit but Your mercy, acting in grace, that drew You to me and me to You. All honor and glory be to Your mighty and everlasting name. Amen.

Further Study

Rm 5:1-21; Tit 3:7

How does Paul define grace?

Write out your own definition of grace.

Weak with Those Who Are Weak

Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?—2 Corinthians 11:29

Christians do not live in isolation. When we sin, there are repercussions throughout the Christian community. When a brother or sister suffers, we are affected. Our calling is not to be solitary Christians but to be members of a priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9).

It was impossible for Paul to remain unmoved while there were believers in Corinth who were spiritually weak. When he learned that false teachers had caused Christians in Corinth to stumble in their faith, Paul burned with indignation. Paul told the church members at Corinth to rejoice when a church member rejoices and to weep when a fellow member weeps (1 Cor. 12:26). We depend on one another, and this influences everything we do. Jesus said that even when we pray, we are to begin by saying “our Father” (Matt. 6:9). We must do everything with our fellow Christian in mind (1 Cor. 14:12).

It’s possible to become so preoccupied with your own spiritual journey that you do not get involved in your church. You can become so focused on what God is doing in your own country that you are oblivious to the suffering and persecution that your fellow Christians face in countries around the world. If other believers around you are rejoicing or hurting, and you are unaffected, you have become desensitized to the people of God.

Ask God to place a burden on your heart for fellow believers. Make yourself aware of their needs. Pray for them and adjust your life to God’s activity in their lives.