VIDEO The Wobbly Bridge

He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. Romans 4:20

When London’s Millennium Bridge opened in 2000, it became known as the Wobbly Bridge because it would shake and shimmy for no known reason. After some research, engineers found the cause. When the bridge moved just a tad, people adjusted their weight and stance. When enough people exerted energy trying not to fall, it created a human-caused wobble—a problem that has since been corrected.

With our world seesawing around us, people everywhere are trying not to collapse.

As Christians, we have a stabilizing factor built into our personalities. We have God’s peace amid uncertainty. Jesus brings stability in an unstable world. We don’t need to waver because we are strengthened by faith in the promises of God.

Just as God kept His promise to Abraham, making him father of many nations—God will keep His promises to you. He is ever present, so don’t be afraid of world events. He is with you every moment of every day. You can be confident in His presence, strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.

We can speak peace to our hearts, because God hath spoken peace to us….O keep that peace, by looking up to Jesus Christ every moment. George Whitefield

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Abraham: The Old Testament Pattern of Saving Faith, Part 4 (Romans 4:18–25)

Sister to Brother

Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. 1 Timothy 5:1–2

When a leader asked if I’d speak with her privately, I found Karen in the retreat center counseling room red-eyed and wet-cheeked. Forty-two years old, Karen longed to be married, and a man was currently showing interest in her. But this man was her boss—and he already had a wife.

With a brother who cruelly teased her and a father devoid of affection, Karen discovered early that she was susceptible to men’s advances. A renewal of faith had given her new boundaries to live by, but her longing remained, and this glimpse of a love she couldn’t have was a torment.

After talking, Karen and I bowed our heads. And in a raw and powerful prayer, Karen confessed her temptation, declared her boss off-limits, handed her longing to God, and left the room feeling lighter.

That day, I realized the brilliance of Paul’s advice to treat each other as brothers and sisters in the faith (1 Timothy 5:1–2). How we see people determines how we interact with them, and in a world quick to objectify and sexualize, viewing the opposite sex as family helps us treat them with care and propriety. Healthy brothers and sisters don’t abuse or seduce each other.

Having only known men who demeaned, used, or ignored her, Karen needed one she could talk with sister-to-brother. The beauty of the gospel is it provides just that—giving us new siblings to help us face life’s problems.

By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

How can seeing others as your brothers and sisters help you treat them with “absolute purity” (1 Timothy 5:2)? How do you think Paul’s advice helps both sexes to flourish?

Dear Father, help me to treat others with respect and purity.

Faith or Feelings?

Since God is faithful to equip us, we don’t have to fear difficulties in our path 2 Corinthians 3:4-6

Trusting God is easy when life’s good or we’re feeling competent. But is that genuine faith or a form of self-reliance? The apostle Paul said, “Our adequacy is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5). If the Lord calls us to do something that seems impossible or unreasonable, He will equip us for it. However, if we let feelings of fear, inadequacy, or unworthiness cause us to doubt Him, we could miss the opportunity. 

Sometimes we’re afraid to venture into a new endeavor, because we’re listening to the wrong voices. The devil is always trying to deceive us and plant doubts in our mind so we won’t trust the Lord (John 8:44). He hates to see a believer put aside fear, choose to believe God, and move forward in obedience. 

A challenging assignment from the Lord is often a fork in the road. When God presents an opportunity to serve Him, we must decide if we’ll take His path even though we might feel unqualified. We’re called to live by faith, not fear. If you are standing at a crossroads, remember that your adequacy is not in yourself but in God, and nothing is too difficult for Him. Trust Him and take a step. 

The Absence of Sin

“Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:13)

For thousands of years the followers of God have battled against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world” (Ephesians 6:12) led by Lucifer, that old serpent, the arch rebel and self-appointed accuser of the saints of God. Although assured of the ultimate victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, Christians have often suffered cruelly at the hands of Lucifer and his followers.

As Christians, the aching longing in our hearts for peace is really none other than the Holy Spirit Himself grieving at sin, and our own new, holy nature “groaning” to be free in its expression of the divine nature. It is the nature of the child of God to “hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). It is the normal thing for one “raised” up and already seated “in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6) to long for the shackles of the “body of this death” (Romans 7:24) to be loosened. Under ordinary circumstances, our spiritual being—“the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24)—knows that we are “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13). Such knowledge openly declares that we “desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city” (v. 16).

If we have lost sight of the place that Jesus has gone to prepare for us, we become both forlorn and despoiled. But if we treasure the great truth that we will spend eternity with our Lord in His “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness,” we are comforted and encouraged, recognizing that both sin and all its effects will be absent. HMM III

Wisdom—Correct Doctrine Plus

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. —Psalm 25:5

The old Jewish believers of pre-Christian times who gave us the (to modern Protestants little-known) books, the Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus, believed that it is impossible for an impure heart to know divine truth.

For into a malicious soul wisdom will not enter; nor dwell in the body that is subject unto sin. For the holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and remove from thoughts that are without understanding, and will not abide when unrighteousness cometh in.

These books, along with our familiar book of Proverbs, teach that true spiritual knowledge is the result of a visitation of heavenly wisdom, a kind of baptism of the Spirit of Truth which comes to God-fearing men.

This wisdom is always associated with righteousness and humility and is never found apart from godliness and true holiness of life. POM083-084

We need to learn that truth consists not in correct doctrine, but in correct doctrine plus the inward enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. POM084

What a Tranquilizer!

I have loved you with an everlasting love.—Jeremiah 31:3

“How little real love there is for God,” says theologian Arthur W. Pink. He suggests that the low level of spirituality in today’s church is caused by our hearts being so little occupied with thoughts of the divine love. “The better we are acquainted with His love—its character, its fullness, its blessedness,” he says, “the more will our hearts be drawn out in love to Him.”

We focus now on the fact that God’s love is eternal.

God being eternal, it follows that His love also is eternal. This means that God loved us before earth and heaven were called into existence, that He has set His heart upon us from all eternity. This is the truth set forth in Ephesians 1:4-5, where we are told that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. What a tranquilizer this is for our hearts! If God’s love for us had no beginning, then it has no ending either. It is from “everlasting to everlasting.”

Another thing we need to know about the love of God is that it is a holy love. This means that His love is not regulated by whim or caprice or sentiment, but by principle. Just as His grace reigns not at the expense of righteousness but “through” it (Rm 5:21), so His love never conflicts with His holiness. This is why John says that God is “light” before he says God is “love.” And this is why, too, the Almighty never lets us get away with anything. He loves us too much for that. His love is pure, holy, and unmixed with excessive sentimentality. God will not wink at sin, not even in His own people.

Prayer

O Father, the more I learn about Your love, the more my heart is set on fire. Increase my understanding, for I see that the more I comprehend how much I am loved, the more secure I am in that love. Amen.

Further Study

Rm 8:18-39; 1Pt 1:17-21

What was Paul convinced of?

Are You Coming to the Celebration?

But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.—Luke 15:29

God is concerned with bringing people from death to life. His heart rejoices over each person who returns to Him from a time of rebellion. If your heart is like God’s, you, too, will rejoice when a sinner returns to the Father.

Jesus’ parable about the prodigal son is as much about the older son who remained as it is about the wayward son or the father. Year after year the older son labored for his father, waiting for a future reward. He had seen the brokenness his brother’s rebellion had caused his father. Yet when his brother returned, the older son did not rejoice with his father. He felt no pleasure in seeing his father happy. His concern was for himself and the injustice he perceived he’d been dealt. He felt like a martyr and totally missed the blessing of celebrating with his father.

It is possible to serve God year after year and yet have a heart that is far from Him. You might be one of the hardest workers in your church and yet be filled with bitterness because others do not share your load. You can become so preoccupied with your spiritual labors that when God works miracles in the lives of those around you, you cannot rejoice.

If you serve the Lord out of duty or habit, but not out of joy and gratitude, you will feel like a martyr. You will envy those who are experiencing joy in the Lord while you feel weighed down by the work you are doing. This is not the abundant life your Father has planned for you. Come to the celebration, spend time with the Father, and share in His joy!