Tag Archives: Grace

Acts 17

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22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” (copied from biblehub.com)


Photo of lithograph from wikipedia

From God,s Perspective

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Divide a second into the smallest possible pieces. Less than one of those segments is the entire life of any man in the fullness of eternity. The blink of an eye.

(How do I put this thought into words so that I won't offend anyone, yet share an immense perspective? But if people want to be offended they'll find some reason.)

The salvation of humanity is important enough for God to send his beautiful Son to be crucified by His people, yet on their behalf. And not just they, but any who will believe.

How many of us, and how often, have we either bottled up or stood directly in the way of the Gospel?

We say we love him. And in many ways that's absolutely true. But how often have we seen the importance of the Gospel from God's perspective?

We've heard the story: God sent His only Son that He may be the propitiation for our sins. From the moment God placed His Son's soul in Mary, to the very last breath He took, His life among us was The Supreme Sacrifice.

No love of Man can compare.

What is the will of God?

“Here We Go Again.”

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Every time I read the Bible, I come to those certain places that give me reason to pause. Sometimes I overlook the difficulty and read on anyway. But the older I get the less capable but I am of overlooking the difficulty without taking a moment to prepare myself for what comes next.

The difficulty is this:
God delivers Life to man in a certain place and time. It is always well received, as it should be. But not long after, evil summons its strength to come and eradicate the work of God.

It is lovely to read the joy God has sent to earth. It has become almost unbearable to witness the response of evil Man. Evidently this continual sequence of events is necessary in this godless world. Perhaps, so is my response.

Does anyone else feel this way?

Billboard Hysteria

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Two women were complaining about all the Bible billboards down south. One said she was tired of being inundated about sin, Jesus, and condemnation. She made some remark to excuse herself for being callous to the words. Something like, “I know the gospel is important, I’m just tired of it being in my face all the time”.   Surprisingly, her friend agreed.  

Are you tired of hearing about God? You might want to get used to it. He owns eternity, you know. And the conversation about his glorious Son Jesus is never ending. Such people as those women are not likely to have a good time.

A Profitable Life

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The beautiful stories in the Bible, where God displayed protection for his people, are not just stories. He is willing to save his people of faith from anything in the world can deliver against them.  

Years ago, there was a video of a man on an island carrying a cross toward flowing lava. He was hoping that a symbol of God’s majesty in Christ would stop the destruction of his town. The man was set on fire from the heat.  


Do you expect God to rescue you from everything? He will. But the word “everything” includes a whole lot more than this world can hold. There are the things of heaven, compared to which nothing in this world can hold a candle.  


Death, turmoil, confusion, and violence are the nature of this place. You’re bound to get some of all of it. Trust him anyway. He has a place in his kingdom for all who put their trust in the Son of the Living God. It is written, “they will never be put to shame”.


Try hard to remember, God’s desire is not to give you a pleasant life here. That would make a mockery of his kingdom. His desire is to prove his love to you so that you can have a rightful place in glory. See what the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 11.  


32 “And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;e they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.”

True Peace

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Interesting to me: people know about what they’re going to read here.  But how many still chase after things it won’t last, only because they want to avoid God.   


The definition of true peace does not lend itself to the opinions of Man. True peace is not the absence of turmoil. Therefore you can’t buy it with ignorance.  

True peace does not come to us by diligent ritual. Even if all things went well for the perfectionist, what peace he thinks he has can be destroyed by a speck of dust.  


And the one who thinks they will gain peace by not involving themselves in the difficult things of God, is undone by the simple miraculous beauty of a butterfly.  


True peace has one origin and one substance. To gain it we must appear in the fire of condemnation that radiates from the Living God’s throne. True peace will always come dressed in the humiliation of our own eternal weakness.  


True peace can only be had by learning to trust Jesus in everything. Every other opinion regarding peace will be shattered.  


There is no institution on earth where you can go to begin your journey into true peace. In this, even the church can’t help you. The Church can only point to the One who is willing and able to give you Life.  


Where you need to go is the last place you want to go, but the absolute place you will arrive; the throne of the God who made you.