Author: Servant of the Lord

The Word Of God Is Living And Active. It Divides Soul And Spirit And Discerns The Thoughts And Intents Of Our Hearts.

Times change. But the word of God doesn’t.

It doesn’t need to updated to a better version. It doesn’t need patches.

God’s word doesn’t change because God doesn’t change. He doesn’t need to update himself.

His word is not just “writings and sayings” but it’s an expression of His heart.

The word of God is living and active. It divides soul and spirit and discerns the thoughts and intents of our hearts.

The word of God is expressed in its fullest by the person of Jesus Christ. He is the word of God. Unless I know Jesus, God’s word doesn’t make sense. It’s boring and old fashioned to be frank.

But when I’m “born again” his word comes alive… rich, deep, clear and simple. I need to know Christ to know the word of God.

I don’t know how it happens but being born again is real. It means “born from above.” The gospel of John describes it as being born “of water and the spirit” meaning birthed through repentance and the Holy Spirit.

If we sincerely ask Him, He’s willing to give that gift.

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 3:3 – Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 3:11 – I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

  • Mark Saunders

Salvation Confidence

But let us who live in the light think clearly, protected by the body armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. NLT

1 Thessalonians 5:8
green leaf tree beside body of water
Faith compels us to stay rooted in Christ

The Lord is not the Lord of confusion. He clearly gives us understanding about the things we need to know. He clearly reveals to His children the truths of the Gospel so that we can grow in faith and be more effective witnesses for Him. He protects us from false teachings by making His Word known to us. We, who are children of God, must always protect the light that we have been given so that we can think clearly. Sin darkens the light and that is when we begin to get cloudy in our thinking and confused.

Our protection from darkness is our body armor of faith and love. Faith compels us to stay rooted in Christ. It compels us to seek out truth through Him. It compels us to listen to the Holy Spirit as we read the Word. It compels us to filter all that we hear through the Word. It compels us to get it right so that we don’t get led astray and sin against God. Faith is evident in our desire to accurately know the truth of God’s Word and then live it.

Love is our love for God. If we love God, we will want to get things right. We will want to know what He says and not necessarily what others say He says. Our love for God protects us because we don’t want to misinterpret or misapply what God says. We want to get it right because He is the lover of our souls and we want to please Him.

We think clearly when we are confident in our minds about our salvation. We know we are saved by how we think about Christ and His role in our lives. Children of God have a desire to let Christ rule their hearts. They have a desire to honor and please the Lord. They want to put into practice the pure life of Christ. They want to honor Him by becoming like Him. They are not content with the status quo but always want to improve the quality of their spiritual lives. The mindset of the redeemed is clearly set on becoming more and more like Christ.

Salvation confidence is seeing life through the lens of faith. It is finding one’s purpose for living and meaning for life in Christ. It is being spiritually-minded instead of being worldly-minded. It is living with hope rooted in Christ. It is wanting to please God and not man. It is bearing fruit in one’ life that is consistent with the fruit of the Spirit.

We’re Not Called To Make Peace With The World By Compromising, Instead We’re Called To Make Peace With God.

Keeping the peace often involves compromise. The result is fragile.

The Christian life is not one of compromise. Jesus says blessed is the peace maker but he also says he came to bring a sword.

person holding water

We’re not called to make peace with the world by compromising, Instead we’re called to make peace with God.

This is where we need wisdom from above… to find the line between “not compromising” and “being religious.”

The opposition Jesus faced came mainly from “religious people.” On the other hand he embraced “sinners.”

Apostle Paul said he was ready to be all things to all men in the hope he might win some of them for Christ.

Having made peace through Jesus Christ, he wanted others to come to the same terms of peace with God. He became a peacemaker in that sense.

But at other times his refusal to compromise the truth of the gospel brought great conflict with non believers as well as strong confrontation with other Christians.

How do we discern where the line is drawn? It’s not being zealous or “religious” or “acting out of principle” that will help us. Rather it’s a work of maturity in our own lives as we desire to carry the heart of God – we can’t “learn” that – it’s formed in us as we continue to submit to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.

Matthew 10:34
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.

  • Mark Saunders

Expect Christ To Come

1 Thessalonians 5:2 New Living Translation (NLT)

For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.

I live in a state of expectation. I expect the Lord to come just about any time. I do not expect life to go on as it is now for very much longer. I have no way of knowing when the Lord is coming, but when He does, I know that He will catch everyone by surprise. He will not give us any other warnings than what He has already given us in His Word. He will come as a thief in the night.

silhouette of a bird above clouds

Since we know that He will come without any warning, how should we be living? We should always be in a state of readiness. We dare not get lazy and let our guard down. We must always make sure that we are living holy lives before God. We must be obeying Him in every area of our lives. We must be serving Him and be witnesses for Him. We dare not let the thought that He may not come for a while cause us to get careless in our walk with Him. We must always strive to deal with sin whenever it crops up in our lives.
Since we don’t know when the Lord is coming for sure, we should be actively involved in helping as many people as we can to know Him. We need to be sharing our faith with all that we can. We should be praying for those we know who are lost. We should be taking advantage of the opportunities we have to sow the seed of the Gospel. We should be praying for those who are actively working in the harvest field. We should be striving for the peace and unity in the Church and not participate in those things which divide her.

There is no question that Jesus is coming and He is coming at a time we will least expect it. We must always stay ready so that we are not unprepared and left behind when He comes. Are you ready?

Trusting God in Difficult Times – Psalm 11 Meditation by Tim Keller

A special series of meditations by Tim Keller — “Trusting God in Difficult Times.” This new series is meant to encourage you to trust God more deeply and to meditate on his word and what it promises, to give you strength and hope in difficult times. After the meditation, Tim will be joined by Kathy Keller for a short Q&A.

These meditations are brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you’ve enjoyed this meditation and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/youtube and making a one-time or recurring donation.