Thank you all for your prayers for Helen and Esther, Helen’s mom.

As of the writing of this post, it has been exactly a week since Esther’s stroke. Esther has been making progress and has been transferred to an intensive inpatient rehab department as of Thursday. She is making progress every single day. She still doesn’t know who she is nor who Helen is. But she knows Helen has been taking good care of her.

Helen will be in LA for at least a few more weeks until we can figure out what will happen with Esther.

In the meantime, please keep the prayers coming. We need prayers for healing and prayers for wisdom. Regardless of what happens, we know God is in control. Regardless of the outcome, we know God is good. No matter what happens, stroke doesn’t win, death doesn’t win, loss doesn’t win. Jesus is Esther’s Lord and Savior and there is nothing a stroke nor death can do to claim Esther.

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:2-3).

Those of us who grew up in church circles will be familiar with the first of these verses – Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. However, we may not be as familiar with the second verse.

There are two things:

1. We are called to preach the word. Not our opinions, not our thoughts, not what we think is right. We are called to preach God’s word. God’s word dictates what is true and what is wrong, what is good and what is sin.
2. There will be a time when people will reject God’s word and surround themselves with “teachers” who will say just what people want to hear.

Paul wrote these words two thousand years ago. Yet, these words are absolutely relevant today.

Our society has a hard time accepting the truth because the lies being uttered from some pulpits is exactly what they want to hear.

Friends, the word of God comforts and strengthens. AND if the word of God does not correct, rebuke, it’s probably not the word of God. If the word of God never corrects and rebukes, it would mean we are perfect just the way we are. And we all know that ain’t right.

The word of God absolutely comforts and strengths. AND it corrects and rebukes. And that’s a good thing.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).

Fear of God? Our world doesn’t do this very well. We much prefer the love of God. I think most of us would agree that we are messed up as repeat sinners. We live that out pretty much every single day of our lives. So, we like to think about the love of God. A God who loves us.

That’s ok. God does love us who are repeat sinners.

AND we also need to know that the love of God is not to be taken advantage of.

The place where our world gets stuck when thinking about the “fearing God” thing is not because we don’t understand the word fear. The place where our world gets this all wrong is that we don’t understand “God.”

If we knew “God,” fearing, honoring, loving, respecting, obeying God would be a no brainer.

Do you know God?