Creator Credit

Like Nebuchadnezzar strutting on the walls of Babylon (Dan.4), or Herod taking his bows in his royal robes (Ac.12), or the nine lepers thoughtlessly strolling on their merry way (Lk.17), when moderns carelessly deny God the credit for their origins or their daily blessings they cannot think that they will be exempt from the same divine response. Certainly God, above all others, deserves credit for his works. The Bible does not remember Nebuchadnezzar, Herod and the nine lepers as self-made role models, but as warnings. They are reminders that when the Creator decides to bless our lives and our world with beauty, pleasure or prosperity we, as his creatures, should always take the time to humbly praise him for being the gracious Giver. The Psalmist tells us to “Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts” (Ps.105:1-2). Let’s embrace that directive, open our eyes to God’s works and boldly give him the credit for the great things he has done.

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The God Who Is

God, by definition, is “Almighty.” In our desire to “humanize” God and relate to the softer and gentler side of Deity we often lose sight of the fact that the God who actually exists is a God who possesses all authority, all power, and all dominion. He is a Being who is unchallenged in his rank, sovereignty, and supremacy. He speaks things into existence, and at will chooses things to come to an end. There are times in life when we sense the profundity of this core truth with fresh insight—usually in some circumstance when we’ve reached the end of our own strength. Hannah, for instance, facing her own inability and experiencing God’s sovereign power over her reproductive life exhorts her generation: “Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth… The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts” (1 Samuel 3:3, 6-7). Don’t wait for some crisis or trial to sharpen your focus on the God who is. As the psalmist wrote, “Let the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm… Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you” (Psalm 33:8-9, Psalm 20-22).

For more sermons and devotionals on The God Who Is, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org. 

Worship the REAL God

Worship and good theology must go hand in hand. When Jesus dialoged with the woman at well in John 4, he reprimanded the Samaritans with the words, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know” (John 4:22). Paul did the same when he spoke to the Athenians in Acts 17, and told them, “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23). Just as in those days, the problem with a lot of today’s worship of God is that people aren’t really worshipping God. Tragically many worshippers are busy adoring a god of their own imagination. It is understandable, that as fallen and sinful creatures, we would foolishly prefer the holy and sovereign God to be someone other than he is. But the Bible is clear that a genuine and acceptable offering of worship to the true God requires accurate thoughts about who he truly is. So be sure that you are not exalting an imaginary god—one that has been conveniently constructed to mirror your own values and character. And instead, resolve to always be a diligent student so that you might better understand and actually worship the God who has revealed himself in the pages of his word.

For more sermons and devotionals on Worshiping the REAL God, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org. 

Biblical Standards

Christians are often accused of defying logic and reason to become superstitious mystics when we run to quote our Bibles as the authority on what is true and how we should live. The problem with this accusation is that thoughtful Christians contend (perhaps not loudly or cogently enough) that it is supremely logical and reasonable to understand the Bible as God’s authoritative voice on life and reality. Christians are not asserting a belief in an illogical universe, but one that is best understood as the product of a transcendent and personal God, who can, and arguably has intervened in this universe from time to time throughout its history – the greatest and most dramatic intervention being the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And because the Bible specifically predicted that intervention centuries before it happened, along with a slew of other historical events, Christians have logically deferred to this Book as the avenue through which God has communicated to his creation. If then this God exists, and he has given us reason to be confident that he has spoken to us in the Bible, then it would be illogical and irrational for us to ignore his authoritative words in our quest for truth and in deciding how we will live our lives.

For more sermons and devotionals on Biblical Standards, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org. 

God's Calling

When we read of people in the Bible provoking God to anger we ought to take note – especially when the people making God mad are his own children. The last thing we should want is to follow in the erring footsteps of our elder brothers and sisters. One such cautionary incident took place on the day God called Moses to lead Israel’s exodus from Egypt. If you’ll remember, Moses didn’t handle the commissioning very well. His reluctance to do God’s will was irritating, to put it mildly. Moses attempted to resist God’s call by “reminding” God of all the resources he did not possess. “I don’t have the reputation!” “I don’t have the credibility!” “I can’t speak eloquently enough.” The Bible tells us that “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses” (Exodus 4:14) because of all of his excuses. God preferred that Moses take his inventory with a different perspective. It wasn’t about what Moses didn’t have; it was about God’s ability to use what Moses did have. “What’s that in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2) and “Who has made man’s mouth?” (Exodus 4:11) were the questions that mattered. Sometimes God’s will for us may seem daunting, but remember that when we step up to do what God asks even a measly shepherd’s stick becomes “the staff of God” (Exodus 4:20). So don’t irritate God this week, stop trying to remind him of what you don’t have, and trust him to take what you do have to fulfill his calling on your life.

For more sermons and devotionals on God's Calling, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org 

God's Goodness

When joy gives way to sadness and light of good days fades into a dark season of personal pain it is common to hear God’s people questioning the goodness of God. That may be a natural response to our discomfort, but it is not the right one. Instead, Psalm 107 calls those who are hurting to purposefully “give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” (Psalm 107:1). His goodness, the psalmist reminds us, can be seen in the ways that God has delivered us from previous bouts with trouble and pain. In speaking of God’s goodness the psalmist employs a vivid word that should always prompt Christian thanksgiving, he writes: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so” (Psalm 107:2) While there may be many earthly “salvations” from trouble for which to praise God, there is no doubting God’s kindness to us when we consider our eternal “redemption” from the consequences of our sins. With that in mind, Psalm 107 poignantly prompts us to consider our part in our present pain. The song proposes that many of our troubles come when we “rebel against the words of the Lord” (Psalm 107:11). Boldly the lyrics declare, “Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction” (Psalm 107:17). Yet with all of this, the goodness of God is seen in the reminder that when sinners “cry to the Lord in their trouble, he delivers them from their distress” (Psalm 107:13, 19). It may be a dark season for you, but God is good. Even if your pain is self-inflicted, remember God is gracious to deliver.

For more sermons and devotionals on God's Goodness, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org 

Tolerance

We live in a society where the advocates of “tolerance” are increasingly intolerant. We should be careful not to miss this hypocrisy. These loud and angry voices decry views and beliefs that fail to conform to their own. Under the banner of “freedom” modern secular voices emphatically denounce the freedom of Christians to assert their convictions regarding God’s written revelation, Christ’s lordship, and the biblical data regarding the coming judgment. I can sympathize with the natural tendency to recoil at the assertion of these sobering realities, but one cannot rationally claim to be “open-minded”, “accepting of diversity” or “tolerant”, while vehemently attacking those who are convinced of the reality of God and a pending accountability. For centuries the idea of “tolerance” described the peaceful coexistence of those with divergent views. Today our culture employs the word “tolerance” to justify a rancorous campaign to insist that everyone conform to their intemperate values. We can be sure that until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ we will live in a world that chafes against the authority of God and his written revelation. That will continue. But we should not buy the rhetoric that holding to an increasingly unpopular view is “intolerant.” Christians should continue to peacefully and respectfully stand up and speak up for the things that we will all be held accountable for one day. This is what our Lord desires and requires.

For more sermons and devotionals on Tolerance, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org

Superstitions

While Christians affirm that God is supernatural, we of all people should not be superstitious. Yes, we recognize that from time to time in biblical history God has spectacularly suspended natural law as a strategic way to display the credentials of his Son, and to authenticate a select group of prophetic messengers. And yes, we also appreciate the overarching providence of God as he purposefully works within the framework of history and natural events. But we should be careful to note that the Bible condemns those superstitious tendencies that always seek to assign a spiritual relationship to a set of natural circumstances. This presumed cause-and-effect relationship can lead to a variety of erroneous and sinful conclusions. Consider when Paul’s hand was bitten by a snake and the superstitious people of Malta wrongly assumed he must have been a criminal (Acts 28). Or remember when the worldly Israelites lost a military battle and foolishly assumed that if they brought the ark of the covenant into the next battle they would win (1 Samuel 4). Think of the Pharisees who had constructed and employed an entire set of superstitious methods and devices in hopes of conjuring up good for their lives (Mark 7). Or envision the women of Judah who were chided for including mystical amulets in their daily wardrobe (Isaiah 3). We must be careful then to be sure we exclusively trust in God, not in any of the superstitions of our culture. We must be certain to rely on God’s word, and not the speculative connections between one thing and another.

For more sermons and devotionals on Hard Truth, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org 

Prayer Perspective

We need to remember the greatness of the God to whom we pray. We often pray small prayers for small things because we’ve forgotten the transcendent majesty of our God. Far too often, our perspective is trivial, temporal, and insignificant because we rush to our requests without considering just how “hallowed” his Name actually is (Matthew 6:9). When Nehemiah prayed for the challenges he faced, he reminded himself that he “prayed before the God of heaven” (Nehemiah 1:4). Prior to laying his supplications before God he addressed him as “Yahweh, God of heaven, the great and awesome God” (Nehemiah 1:5). It is good for us to say with Jeremiah, “Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17). As God himself has said, “Every beast of the forest is mine” and even “the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10). So maybe our prayer list needs an overdue adjustment that comes from remembering that when we pray we are addressing the all-powerful, all-sufficient, everlasting King who has, and always will have, the ability to do whatever he chooses to do (Psalm 115:3). So pray big, mindful that he “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

For more sermons and devotionals on Hard Truth, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org

Four Things God Cannot Do

For years on playgrounds everywhere church kids have been stymied by the agitator’s questions, “Can God do anything? And if so, can he make a rock so big he can’t move it?” While children may struggle with the answer, I hope the rest of us do not. Thankfully, we can offer a resounding “No!” and feel good about it – really good! God tells us that he is a God who cannot do several things. And for that we should be eternally grateful! Consider the amazingly gracious promises he has made and inscribed for us in the pages of the Bible. All of our hope and strength regarding those promises is derived from the fact that God cannot do at least four things as it relates to those commitments. First, God is holy and therefore is incapable of deceiving us (2 Timothy 2:11-13). All of his good promises are true because he could not and would not ever lie to us (Titus 1:2). Second, God is omniscient, always knowing all that can be known (Psalm 139:1-6). And because he is omniscient he cannot possibly forget a promise that he has made (2 Peter 3:8-9). Third, God is immutable and therefore cannot change (Malachi 3:6). A gracious promise he makes in 750 BC will not be rescinded because he has grown, matured, or changed over the centuries (Psalm 102:25-28). Fourth, God is omnipotent, possessing all power (Jeremiah 32:17). Therefore, all of his good promises will succeed because nothing has the power to thwart his purpose – he simply cannot fail (Romans 8:31-39). Every promise about our future is certain and sure because God cannot be less than he is. He cannot lie, forget, change or fail! And that should provide us with a kind of confidence that engenders “strong encouragement” each and every day (Hebrews 6:17-19).

For more sermons and devotionals on God's Truth, please go to the Focal Point Ministries website at www.focalpointministries.org

Communion

Examining yourself before communion...

The Bible tells us that we need to take a good, long look at what is going on in our hearts when we partake in the Lord’s Supper. “Let a person examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup,” Paul told the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11:28). In Corinth this intended act of “communion” with the Lord had become a thoughtless and even selfish church ritual. Their minds had clearly shifted from Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice and had wandered elsewhere. We must not ever let that happen to us. We must stay mentally engaged when we partake of these elements. They have been ordained to soberly remind us of the high cost of God’s forgiveness (1 Peter 1:18-19). Eating and drinking them vividly depicts our union and solidarity with Christ as our Savior, Lord and Source of spiritual life (1 Corinthians 10:16). We should also take the time to examine ourselves to ensure that our relationship with Christ is authentic and genuine. Not only recalling the inauguration of our relationship with Christ, but also seeking to discover if there is any unconfessed sin impeding our current fellowship with God (1 John 1:6-9). Lastly, we would be remiss to ingest these symbols of Christ without a heart that is purposefully thankful. Paradoxically, the Lord’s Supper is not only a reminder of his brutal death, but it is also a celebration of the incredibly generous grace of God and the invaluable privilege of being forgiven. Partake with a grateful heart that can say along with generations of Christians, “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

The Correct View

To maintain a proper view of God we have to work to regularly affirm God’s sovereign and authoritative role as the King and Shepherd of our lives. We cannot think accurately of God without consciously adjusting our view of ourselves. If God is the exalted Director and Guide, then we must purpose to see ourselves as his followers and learners. The ancient worshippers of Israel regularly reinforced this essential perspective by singing lyrics like these from their inspired repertoire of worship songs: “Know that Yahweh is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3). Those may seem like obvious biblical affirmations, but how easily we are enticed to live as though this were not the case. So when you are tempted to see yourself as self-sufficient or self-directed, realize that your theology has instantly become heretical. For God to be God in our lives, we must rightly view ourselves as his obedient and responsive sheep, who are ready and willing to faithfully follow our Great Shepherd.

Defending Truth

1 Peter 3:15 commands all Christians to stand up for the truth and defend the hope of the gospel. It also commands that this be done with “gentleness and respect.” Unfortunately, there is something about defending the truth that can quickly deteriorate into heated arguments, belittling statements, and insulting remarks. It shouldn’t. God expects his ambassadors to stay in control of their emotions and maintain a godly decorum that is worthy of our stately King. Christ’s victory is already settled. His triumphant return is not dependent on our frenzied quarrels. The truth is settled. Christ has already won. Our objective is to provide dignified and respectful corrections to those who call his truth into question. While our emotional disturbance is understandable when people malign our God, the Spirit’s goal in our speech is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). It may seem paradoxical, but we are called to fight for the truth gently and respectfully. So don’t get out there and attempt to defend Christ’s honor in a dishonorable way. Keep your cool, and let your defense be seasoned with the courtesy and dignity that befits God’s royal family.

Worry

Jesus regularly chided his disciples for their worry and anxiety. Worldly concerns about “what bad things might happen to us” are not befitting for followers of Christ. The ultimate and eternal dangers, in our case, have been solved and settled by God’s grace and Christ’s finished work. Our relationship with him is unaffected by the hazards, risks or perils which lie around the next bend in life. After all, as Jesus often said, there is nothing that can be done about most things we tend to worry about. “And which of you by being anxious,” Christ asked, “can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26). God sovereignly holds tomorrow’s pains and pleasures, failures and victories in his omnipotent hand. Of course God wants us fully engaged in life – but it’s the life right now he wants us focused on, not the potential “what ifs” that lie ahead (Matthew 6:34). So exercise your faith in a powerful God who sits enthroned over your future. Trust him, and let the hourly use of your faith drive out any anxiety concerning tomorrow.