Month: January 2025

Inclusive AND Exclusive

“For God so loved the world…” (John 3: 16).

“For God so loved the world…” begins the most well-known verse in all of the Bible. And, for good reason. This verse describes God’s desire for his created world better than any other passage. When it comes to the love of God, there is no other faith or religion that comes even close to what our God offers.

There are no stipulations, no requirements, no barriers, no prerequisites. God loves the world. You can’t get more inclusive than that.

That’s what makes Christianity so different than any other religion or faith system. All others require things before a person is received into faith. They must believe the right things and behave the right way in order to belong.

Not so with Christ. Jesus accepts all sinners. Brown sinners. White sinners. Yellow sinners. Red sinners. ALL sinners. Even repeat sinners.

You can’t get more inclusive than that.

As you start this week, know you start with God’s love. You start with God’s invitation to receive eternal life and to start living that kingdom living immediately. You don’t have to wait until you die before you start living kingdom life. In the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray, we say, “May your kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven…” That’s exactly what that means. We start living kingdom life the moment Jesus becomes our Savior and Lord.

Happy Monday!

God’s Word

“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.

Fully Alive

“The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).

God made man from the dust of the ground. And when he was made, the man had the shape and form of man, but there was no life in him. Only when God breathed into the man the breath of life did the man come alive.

  • Looked like a man
  • Shaped like a man
  • But wasn’t fully alive until God breathed into the man the breath of life.

There are many today who go through life having the form and the shape of a living being. But there is no life in them. They have no idea why they are alive. They have no purpose and no direction. They merely exist.

The breath of God is God’s Holy Spirit. It is only when the Spirit of the living God comes to dwell with us can we be fully alive. We will never know what it means to be fully alive and living until we receive the Spirit of the living God.

A person without God will look like a living being, but there is no life in them.

To fully live means to fully live under the direction and the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God. This is an ongoing, continual “yes” to the whispers and the leadings of the Holy Spirit. This is the process of becoming more like Christ. For it is when we become more like Christ, that we become fully alive.

As we live into this new year, may we obey the leading of the Holy Spirit of God so that we resemble Christ in our thoughts and deeds. Don’t just endure 2025. Let us become fully alive!