“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” (Matthew 6:9)

One of the best ways to get to know God is to learn the different names that describe Him. Each of His names describes something about Who He is and what He does. One of the most often-used names of God in the Bible is the name Father. What is a father? What is a father like? Why might it be important that God is called a father? How should I think about a fatherly God?

To be a father, you have to have children. Usually a father lives with the children he helped bring into the world. Some fathers are fathers because they have adopted a child. If a husband and wife adopt a child, it means they go and get a child who does not have parents for some reason, and they take him into their home. An adoptive father treats his adopted child the same way he would treat a biological child.

A father is responsible to take care of his children. He provides them with food, clothes, a place to live, things they need, and maybe even some things they just want. He does that because he loves his children and wants to see them healthy and happy. No human father could ever be a perfect father, but most human fathers try at least to be good fathers. A good father teaches his children right from wrong, and he helps them to do what is right. Sometimes he has to discipline his children for doing wrong. Have you ever been disciplined by your father for doing wrong? If so, it was because he loves you and wants the best for you. A father also helps his children make the right choices. He hugs his children and tells them he loves them. He is there to comfort his children when they are hurt or are sad, or when they have a bad day.

God is a father, too. He has many, many children. His children are those who have turned away from their sin and are trusting in Him. He is everybody’s God and everybody’s Creator, because He created everyone, and it is because of Him that everyone has breath and life. But He is known as “Father” only to those who trust in Him, His adopted children. If we are God’s adopted children, it means God brought us into His family just like a human father adopts a child and brings him into his family. If we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior, Jesus is like an “older brother” to us. He has gone before us and made it possible for us to have father-child relationships with God.

God adopts children into His family because He loves them and wants the best for them. Because He loves us, He provides food and houses and air and every good thing in our lives. He teaches us right from wrong by giving us His Word. He helps us to under-stand His Word by His Holy Spirit and the parents and teachers He gives us. He also disciplines us when we do wrong because He knows doing wrong will hurt us. In these ways – through His Word and through the things He gives us – He reminds us that He loves us. And He is always there to comfort us when we get hurt or have a bad day.

What is so much more special about a father-child relationship than other kinds of relationships? If you have turned from your sins and trusted in Christ, then you are not just God’s “pet.” He doesn’t just feed you and teach you new tricks. You are not God’s “invention” or “robot.” You don’t exist just because God wants to boss you around or boast about all the neat talents He’s built into you. If you really have turned away from your sins and entered into God’s family by adoption, then you are (and always will be!) His child. God’s children can expect Him to act like a father.

Is God truly your father? Have you turned away from your sins? Are you trusting in Christ as your Savior and “older Brother”? If so, how do you feel about being a child of God? It should make you happy because you can trust He is always there for you, no matter what happens. He loves you very, very much – not just as any father, not just as any good father, but as the only perfect Father.

God is the heavenly Father of any who trust in Christ as Savior.

My Response:
» Do I know God as my Father?
» Am I happy and thankful for all He does for me?
» Do I really love Him as a child loves a father?

Home Page

“Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.” (Judges 5:3)

During this Christmas season, some people are going out to do “caroling.” “Caroling” is when a group of people gather together and visit the homes of their family and friends, where they sing Christmas carols – songs about Jesus’ birth. Sometimes they bring cookies or hot chocolate or presents to give to the people they visit. But most of all, they give their time – they come sing as a way of saying “Merry Christmas!” and cheering up people who might be feeling sad or lonely. Often, groups of carolers will visit nursing homes or hospitals, in hopes of bringing some Christmas cheer to the residents and patients. Elderly people or sick people are usually unable to get out around town, or else they may not have friends and family – which is especially hard during the holiday season.

Some carolers even go out into the streets or public shopping malls and stand together and sing as crowds of people walk by. Unlike other times of the year, Christmas is a time where it is considered acceptable to sing religious songs in public. Even people who do not really know Jesus as their personal Savior are happy to hear Christmas carols as they go about their errands and do their last-minute Christmas shopping.

Have you ever gone caroling? Some of the more popular carols are very familiar songs to us – like “Silent Night” or “Joy to the World” or “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.” Have you ever gotten so excited about singing Christmas carols that you discover you have forgotten to listen to the words you have been singing? In all the hustle and bustle of Christmastime, it can be easy to forget why we have so many popular songs about Jesus’ birth.

The whole celebration of Christmas is a very big reminder that God does exist, that we are a world full of natural sinners, and that we need a Savior. For some people, Christmastime is a very difficult season because it brings them face-to-face with the reality of God and their sins against Him. But it is also a time of great hope, because Jesus came to Earth to seek and save sinners like us.

During Israel’s early years as a nation, the people were ruled by judges whom God appointed. During the time of the judges, the Israelites often behaved very wickedly. They did not act like God’s people at all. The world was full of sinners, people who did whatever they thought was right for themselves – not even caring whether God thought their choices were right. But there were some people who knew God and loved Him. Deborah was a godly leader during the time of the judges. In the book of Judges, chapter 5, we can read a song that Deborah sang publicly in praise to God.

In Judges 5:3, Deborah sang, “Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.” She did not mind who heard her. Even the greatest rulers alive back then (kings and princes of other nations) could not compare to the Israelites’ God, Jehovah. From her heart, Deborah sang about God and all that He had done for His people, because she knew He was worthy of public praise.

This Christmas, you might have an opportunity to sing in public. Not just in front of the church and people who know and love your LORD, but maybe even in front of unbelievers who do not know Him. Isn’t it good news that God has come to Earth to seek and save sinners like you, and like those sick people or those shoppers at the mall? A God like that is worth singing about. We should not be bashful or scared when it comes to praising God. No one compares to Him, not even the greatest of human beings. We should listen to the words we sing, and we should mean them from our hearts, because God is worthy of genuine, heart-felt praise from His people.

God deserves to be praised publicly by His people.

My Response:
» Am I acting like a worldly person even though I say I am a Christian?
» How can I praise God publicly with my actions and words (and even songs)?
» Is there someone I can encourage today with the good news of the Savior?

Home Page

“Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)

Have you ever been walking on a dark forest path at night? If it is pitch-black all around you, or if it is foggy all around, then you cannot see much of anything. It can be a little scary walking alone on a path like that.

If you had a little keychain flashlight with you, it would be a little less scary, wouldn’t it? It’s amazing how much comfort one tiny little light can provide if everything around you is dark and unknown. And it would be even better if you had a large floodlight to carry, or maybe if some lamps are placed along the pathway to help illumine (light up) the way for you. You could take each next step with confidence. You might not be able to see very far down the path. You might not be able to see where it’s going to end up, but at least a floodlight or some lamplight could give you enough to help you keep going those next few steps.

But imagine that you had no flashlight. No floodlight. No lamplight. Not only are you wishing for some light to help you feel less afraid, but you are also in need of light to help you get around! You are in a real hurry to get OUT of this dark, scary forest as soon as you can. The only problem is – you cannot see the path at all!

Now, in your mind, imagine a miracle happens: In a single instant, the sun comes up and fills the whole forest with brilliant light. Of course you can see far enough to take your next few steps, but you can see so much more than that! What a tremendous comfort! You can see exactly where the pathway is leading, you can see whether there are any snakes or bears hanging around the pathway, and you can also see the beauty of the forest all around you – beauty that had been hidden before by the darkness.

Many times in the Bible, sinners are described as being lost or confused or in darkness or hopeless. If you think you might feel lost and hopeless in a dark forest, just think how much more serious it is to be lost and hopeless in spiritual darkness. And if you think you would be happy to have a tiny flashlight or some lamps along a dark forest pathway, just try to imagine how much more we ought to be thankful that God offers us a brilliant spiritual future if we will look to His Son Jesus as the only One Who can save us out of spiritual darkness. No repenting sinner is truly without hope or without comfort – not if he or she will trust Jesus Christ for salvation and forgiveness from sin.

The first chapter of Luke is an introduction to the story of Jesus’ birth. In it, sinners are described as “them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,” and Jesus is described as “the dayspring from on high.” Jesus is the miracle, and His coming as a baby was like a miraculous, comforting sunrise (“dayspring from on high”). He is the One Who has come “through the tender mercy of our God” in order “to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79) Are you walking in spiritual darkness today? Look to Jesus.

Through God’s mercy, Jesus is the only One Who can deliver us from spiritual darkness.

My Response:
» Do I really know what it feels like to be lost and hopeless in spiritual darkness?
» Who is the only Savior able to deliver me from my sinfulness and give me peace?
» Am I trusting in Jesus and relying today on His guidance?

Home Page

“And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us.” (Luke 1:76-78)

Before opening gifts at Christmastime, many families have the tradition of reading the Christmas story as it is told in Matthew 1 or in Luke 2. But the first chapter of Luke is a very interesting introduction to Luke’s second chapter. In Luke 1, God records the story of how Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, was born. John was to come before Jesus (John was born six months before Jesus), and his purpose in life was to foretell (tell everyone ahead of time) that salvation was coming and that remission (forgiveness) of sins was coming – in the form of Jesus Christ Himself.

Zacharias, John’s father, was a priest. He knew very well that the sacrifical system that the Jews followed back then was supposed to be a picture of their faith in a coming Christ, a Messiah Who would come to bring them redemption, once and for all. John’s birth was a miracle, because both of his parents were very old – too old, humanly speaking, to have children. But Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit when John was born, and he prophesied what God had to say about John: “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us.” (Luke 1:76-78)

As John grew older, he began to preach the message he was born to preach. He told the people that God was sending His Messiah (the Christ, the Anointed One) to save repentant sinners. God used John to give the gift of the knowledge of salvation. He sent John ahead of Jesus to prepare the way for Jesus – to prepare the way of salvation.

People who listened to John and followed his teachings identified themselves with him by being baptized. Their baptism represented their belief that they needed to repent of their sins in preparation for the coming Christ, Who was going to bear those sins away (get rid of those sins) by His own righteousness. When Jesus came along and began His public ministry, the very first thing He did was to come to His cousin John and be baptized. Why did Jesus, Who lived a sinless life, want to be baptized with a baptism that showed His agreement that repentance of sins was necessary? Well, Jesus was going to take the sins of repentant sinners upon Himself. And He wanted His righteousness put on those sinners’ accounts. So He identified Himself with sinners by being baptized and agreeing publicly with John.

The people who listened to and followed John the Baptist still could not see the full picture of Who Christ was and why He came – but God used John to point the way. Here was the son of a priest who had been helping to sacrifice lambs in the temple for years. Here was John, preaching in the wilderness and pointing at Jesus Christ and saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world…. Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:29b and 36)

When Zacharias prophesied over his newborn son, he spoke of God’s tender mercy as the reason why God had sent the knowledge of salvation and remission of sins. God’s whole plan of redemption is an amazing gift, and He mercifully sent messengers and prepared the way for Christ’s arrival. Because of John’s message, we can know better how to respond to Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sins.

In tender mercy, God sent John to prepare the way for Christ and publish the message of what Christ would do for His people.

My Response:
» Have I ever thought much about John the Baptist being a part of God’s plan for salvation?
» Have I repented of my sins and trusted in Christ as the One Who can bear them away?
» Am I truly grateful to God for His merciful provision for the remission of sins?

Home Page

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” (James 1:2-3)

Have you ever had a bad day? A really bad day? Hannah was having one of those days. First she missed her bus to school – so she had to call her mom to come and give her a ride to school. Hannah’s mom was not happy with her. Then when Hannah finally got to school, the popular girls made some jokes about the outfit she had decided to wear.

It was only 9 o’clock in the morning, and Hannah’s day had already gone from bad to worse. She plopped down at her desk and sighed out a short, quiet prayer under her breath: “Lord, why don’t those girls like me? What am I doing wrong?”

With a long face and an upset stomach, Hannah opened her math book. It was time for class to begin. What Hannah didn’t realize was that her teacher, Mrs. Nofzinger, had been standing by the bulletin board and overheard her prayer.

After math class there was a short reading time. This was Hannah’s favorite time because she could bury her head in a book and forget about the rest of the class, especially those girls who liked to tease her.

That’s why Hannah was disappointed when Mrs. Nofzinger asked her to go down to the water fountain during reading time and get some water for the classroom’s plants. “Why me?” Hannah thought to herself. “Why not send one of the ‘popular’ girls – they probably don’t care about reading, anyway!”

Just another little thing to add to her list of stuff going wrong today. But she picked up the pitcher from the back of the room and walked down to the water fountain.

As she was walking back to her class, she could see Mrs. Nofzinger waiting for her in the hallway. She said, “Hannah, I would like to talk with you. Don’t worry – you aren’t in trouble.”

Taking the water pitcher out of Hannah’s arms, Mrs. Nofzinger said softly, “Hannah, sometimes God puts us in situations that we don’t understand. And sometimes those situations can be hard to live through. I have the feeling that you know exactly what I mean – am I right?”

With tears starting to fill her eyes, Hannah nodded. Mrs. Nofzinger went on. “God is at work in every situation in our lives. He is with us during the good times and with us during the hard times. In fact,” she added, “God sometimes even sends difficult situations so that our faith can grow, and so that we can grow closer to Him.”

They talked for a few minutes, and then reading time was over. Before they went back into the classroom to water the plants, Hannah’s day had gotten a whole lot better. Her teacher had explained that if we have faith in God, it must grow. And the only way for faith to grow is for it to be tested. That is why James 1:2-3 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

Now, you might be wondering how anyone could say that God was the One testing Hannah’s faith. Weren’t the “popular girls” teasing her and saying mean things? Yes, they were, and they will be held accountable to answer for their wrongdoing. But God is bigger than those girls, and He is in control. He could have shut up their mouths (like He did for Daniel in the lions’ den) and stopped them from being cruel, but in Hannah’s case, He chose to have her go through that hurtful experience on top of everything else that was “going wrong” with her day. Why? So she would grow stronger in dependence upon Him.

Are you counting the hard things in your life as things to rejoice in? Are the tests of your faith a joyful thing for you? They ought to be. Think about this: People lift weights to stretch and exercise their muscles – to put their muscles to the test – so they will get stronger. God works with us to make us stronger in a spiritual sense. He sends us circumstances that put our faith to the test. He wants to test our faith to see if we will depend on Him, because it is only through Him that we can be truly strong.

Because He is good, God often puts our faith to the test to help us grow stronger spiritually.

My Response:
» What are some examples of situations where I needed to trust God?
» How has God caused my faith to grow ?

Home Page

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Galatians 4:7)

Whenever Drew would go to a birthday party or some other public event, the last thing his dad would say before Drew walked out the door would be, “Remember who you belong to, son.”

Of course, Drew knew good and well to whom he belonged – he belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Smith, his parents. But that wasn’t all Drew’s dad meant by his comment. Drew was supposed to think about his relationship with his parents, and how he should act because of the relationship. Drew was more than just a friend or a worker for his parents. He was their son. As their son, Drew could expect love from his parents, and he knew that his parents expected certain actions and attitudes from him.

If you are trusting Christ as your Savior, God has a Father-son (or Father-daughter) kind of relationship with you. You belong to Him in a special way. He has created you, so you belong to Him as an invention would belong to its inventor: A creature belongs to its Creator. But if you are a new creature in Christ, you also “belong” to God in the sense of being a part of His household. He provides for you better than any human father ever could. He loves you more than any human father ever could. Since God is your Father, He has a right to expect you to respond a certain way to Him and to do certain things for Him.

So how should you act toward God, if you belong to Him? You should do what your Father commands, and you should do it from a willing, loving heart. You should do things that make God’s name look good. You should love Him just as He loves you (very much!); and, most of all, you should thank Him for making you His child. He sent His own Son to die for your sins so that you could have a relationship with Him. Since God has made you His child, you should act like the son or daughter that you really are.

If God has made you His child, you should act like you are His child.

My Response:
» Can I think of ways to make God’s name look good today?
» Have I been thanking God for making me His child?

Home Page

 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Who is the light of the world? In the Bible, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). But Jesus also tells His disciples, “Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).

How can both Jesus and His followers be the light of the world?

Think of a mirror. Have you ever held up a mirror and seen sunlight reflecting off of it? It seems as though a beam of light is coming straight out of the mirror. But the light does not really come from the mirror! It comes directly from the sun, and indirectly from the mirror. Sunlight merely bounces off of a mirror. On its own, the mirror would not be able to generate light, would it? The sun itself is the source of the light.

It is similar with Christians. Jesus is the ultimate Source of their “light.” On their own, Jesus’ followers could never produce that kind of light; but, as Christians become more like Jesus Christ, they shine their light by reflecting (showing) what Jesus is like. It is not a Christian’s goodness that shines, but the goodness of Jesus. The “light” comes directly from the Son, and only indirectly from the Son’s reflection in His people.

When others see the good things Christians do – like being kind, loving, or patient – they should think of Jesus and praise God the Father. God should always get the glory for the good things we do, because all we do because of Christ reflects back to God and His glorious plans.

The goodness of Jesus should shine through Christians.

My Response:
» Do I “shine my light” by doing good things that show others what Jesus is like?
» Do I point to God and give Him glory by the good things I do?

Home Page

“The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty.” (Numbers 14:18a)

This verse (Numbers 14:18) shows in one place how God can be so forgiving and yet still so holy. He will not let sin go by without dealing with it (“will by no means clear the guilty”), but He will deal forgiveness out to those guilty people who come to Him asking (“longsuffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression”).

Have you ever met an “unforgiving” person? When someone refuses to forgive something, we say that person is “holding a grudge.” God does not hold grudges. If you confess your sins, 1 John 1:9 promises that God is faithful and just to forgive them and to cleanse you from all your unrighteousness. If you are repenting of the things you have done against Him, God will not hold them against you. Instead, those things are covered by the righteousness of Christ.

How about you? Are you longsuffering and patient with other people? Do you “put up with” them, or do you choose to “hold a grudge” over them? Do you show mercy to your sister or brother? Do you forgive your friends when they do something wrong against you? Are you the kind of person who loves holiness but also loves to be merciful? It is hard for human beings to be like that!

Only God can be perfectly longsuffering. Only God can show mercy that great. Only God is powerful enough to forgive people who sin against Him. We can pray that God will help us have the strength and patience we need to forgive others. We can pray that God will help us be humble enough to ask Him to forgive our iniquity and clear us of our guilt.

God is merciful and powerful enough to make repentant sinners “not guilty.”

My Response:
» Am I humble enough to confess my sins to God and ask for His forgiveness?
» Can God forgive me and still be holy? How?

Home Page

“Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.” (Jeremiah 1:4-7)

Lucas and Aunt Jo were riding in the back seat of a taxi cab. This was Lucas’s first time ever to visit New York City, and he was really excited. This morning, Aunt Jo had taken him to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. In a book at a museum there, they had looked up the name of Lucas’s great-great-grandfather, who had come to America from Germany in 1906.

Lucas wondered if his great-great-grandfather had been able to speak English when he first moved to America. He wondered how long it had taken him to learn it. Lucas loved learning languages. He had been studying Spanish through a video class at home two days a week, and he was already able to say a few sentences.

The taxi-cab driver looked back at Lucas in the rearview mirror. From his brown eyes and dark complexion, Lucas wondered whether the taxi-cab driver was Latino, and if maybe he spoke Spanish. Maybe this man was an immigrant, too, like the ones Lucas had learned about at Ellis Island. Maybe this man would one day have great-great-grandchildren coming to visit New York City for the first time. In his mind, Lucas tried to come up with the right Spanish words he could say to ask the taxi-cab driver some questions, but he just couldn’t think of what to say or how to say it. Besides, he was not even sure whether the man would know Spanish!

Those of us who are trying to learn more and more about the world God put us in can find it overwhelming! There are so many people on the globe, and they are all kinds of people. They speak different languages. They have different hobbies and interests. They look very different from one another. They have different kinds of relationships with one another. They live in many different types of places. There is no way any human being alive today could know or talk to everybody on the planet today – not even with the help of modern technology.

But God can know. He created people. He invented their languages. He is able to understand all their cultural differences, and he knows the dreams and needs of each and every person alive. Not only that, but He knows the dreams and needs of every person who has already lived and died, and of every person who will ever live and die in the future! Do you think this is incredible? It would be unbelievable, if we were talking about just a human being. But this passage in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4-7) teaches us that our Creator knows us more closely than any other person.

Lucas might wish he could talk to people who have already died and asked them questions – people like his own great-great-grandfather! Or Lucas might wish he knew even enough Spanish to be able to ask the taxi-cab driver where he had come from. Maybe Lucas would have liked to see all of New York City, to really learn it and know it “inside and out.” But Lucas could do none of those things. Why? Because he is only human. We can be thankful to know a God Who is great and good enough to understand everything about everyone.

Because He is God, God knows us and everything around us better than anyone.

My Response:
» Do I get overwhelmed sometimes just thinking of all there must be that I do NOT know?
» Who can I trust to know everything and everyone more closely than anyone else?
» How can I show that I believe God is as great and good as He says He is in His Word?

Home Page

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

When you are tempted to sin, how does it happen? Does a sinful thought just pop into your head (like Wouldn’t you like to taste that cookie your mother told you not to touch?)? Do you give in to temptations to sin right away, or do you try to fight sin?

Our fleshly nature can be very smart. It can invite us to sin. We tell ourselves lies about what sin can do for us, how “little” some sins can be when compared to others, and how it is fine to sin now as long as we live better later on. We can make all kinds of excuses and reasons for sinning. There is a part of each one of us that is inclined to give in to the arguments of sin. We want to be “happy,” even if not truly happy, and even if it is only for a season. And sin sells us a lie that it can bring us happiness.

When we believe the lies of the world, the flesh, and the devil, we will eventually discover that sin never brings us the good it pretends it can. Sin always brings destruction. There is an old song that goes, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go; slowly, but wholly taking control. Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay. Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay.”

On the other hand, every sinner always has an open invitation from God, and this open invitation is definitely a better one! God invites sinners to come and reason together with Him, not listen to the lies of the flesh any longer. God offers fellowship with Himself. He offers forgiveness of sin and a “clean slate” that lets us start all over again. When He declares us righteous based on Jesus Christ’s righteousness, He makes us just as if we had never even sinned in the first place.

The next time the world, the flesh, or the devil seem to be calling out to you and throwing out “good reasons” to sin, remember that Someone else is calling out to you, too. He is saying, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Really, isn’t it obvious Whose invitation is better? Isn’t it clear which invitation you ought to accept?

Unlike our enemies, God invites us to be forgiven and to become able to fellowship with Him.

My Response:
» Am I struggling lately with temptation to a particular sin?
» Am I in the habit of saying “yes” to sinful desires instead of considering what God would want?
» How can I show in my life that I believe God’s invitation is more worth accepting?

Home Page

 “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 40:28)

“Hey, Tim – will you look at that moon?” James poked his friend’s sleeping bag.

“Hm-m-m?…hey – I was just falling asleep!” Tim rolled over on his back.

“Sorry – it takes me awhile when I’m in the back yard like this. So…how long do you think the moon has been hanging up there in space like that?”

“Well, it’s been there at least for the ten and one-half years that I have been alive.” Tim yawned.

“Seriously, Tim. My Sunday school teacher said that God created the world about 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. So if the moon was created on the third day, then it could be close to 10,000 years old.”

“That is a long time to be hanging around in one place. Now I know for sure the moon’s not made of cheese!” Tim laughed at his joke.

“But Tim, that’s not long at all to God – He’s been around forever.” James folded his pillow in half and tried to wedge it more comfortably under his head.

“How could someone live forever? That would mean that He was never born and that He would never die.”

“Exactly, Tim. But God’s not just anyone – He is the ‘Eternal God.’”

“Wow – I think I would get tired or bored living that long. He must be really old.” Tim leaned on one elbow and looked at James in the darkness. “Do you think God has white hair?”

James tried to think of a way to explain, but it was hard. “Well, I know He doesn’t look like us, and He doesn’t age the same way we do. He doesn’t have to live by time like we do. He doesn’t have to use any calendars or clocks.”

“No? But how does He know when to do things? Doesn’t He ever forget?”

“Shhh! If you keep asking questions so loud, you’re going to wake up my parents. Maybe even the neighbors! Anyway, I’m not sure how God can live eternally, but He does. And I don’t think He forgets things. I’m glad you’re coming to church with me tomorrow. We can talk to my teacher about it.” James yawned. “But if we are going to be ready in the morning, don’t you think we should try to get some sleep now?”

“Oh, all right, then,” said Tim, a little more quietly this time. “I just hope I can remember all my questions until morning. Now I’m the one who’s wide awake!”

Our God lives forever.

My Response:
» Have you ever just sat and thought about how long forever is?
» From his conversation about the Eternal God, how might James go on to tell Tim about salvation?
» Do you feel more secure, knowing that God is everlasting?

Home Page

“Whom the LORD loveth he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” (Proverbs 3:12)

Sometimes parents have to correct their children. Perhaps someone has had to correct you recently! Correction doesn’t feel too great, does it? It is humbling to be told you were in the wrong about something. But correction is helpful, too, because it points out what is wrong and explains how to make it right. If your mom or dad correct you in this way, it is because they love you. They want what is best for you, so they help you avoid behavior that will bring bad consequences.

God also loves you and wants what is best for you. When you obey God, it brings glory to Him and good to you. When you disobey God, it dishonors Him and brings bad consequences to you. God wants your life to bring glory to Him, so He corrects you when you do bad things.

One way God corrects us is through His Word. The Bible points out the things that are wrong, and it explains how we can change to make things right. As you read the Bible, watch for verses that correct you. These corrective verses are special expressions of God’s love for you! It might be humbling to have to admit that you have been wrong about something, but remember – correction is loving! And how can it be loving for God or anyone else to tell you that you have messed up? because it keeps you from making bad mistakes with bad consequences. Responding rightly to correction will change your life for God’s glory and your own good.

God’s correction of His children is proof of His love for them.

My Response:
» When I read the Bible, do I look for God’s correction?
» When God or my parents correct me, do I receive it as an expression of love?

Home Page

“Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you…. And the house of Israel called the name thereof manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” (Exodus 16:4a, 31)

Every evening at dusk, Granny Ludlow fills her bird feeders with bird seed. In the morning, the birds are probably amazed to see that there is more seed for them to eat. Granny wonders what the birds would be saying if they could speak. Maybe they would be asking, “Where did this fresh food come from? It was almost gone yesterday when we went back to our nests. Does the seed grow overnight?” Granny can imagine them feeling a little confused. Perhaps they are chirping to one another in their own bird language: “Having enough to eat every morning is a mystery we don’t understand – but we sure are happy when we see the food again!” It doesn’t really matter what the birds think, though. Granny gives them food every day because she cares about them and enjoys providing for them.

When Moses was leading the Israelites through the wilderness to the Promised Land, the people were hungry and needed food for their health and strength. Moses couldn’t just go to the grocery store and buy food for thousands and thousands of people. He depended upon God to supply what they needed. At first, the Israelites were not very happy with Moses. They told him, “Ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (See Exodus 16:1-8.)

God heard his people’s complaints, and He knew their needs. He told Moses that He would “rain bread” from heaven. The people called it “manna.” God gave clear instructions about how much manna they should keep and eat each day, but some did not obey Him. They did not believe Him that there would be enough food for them the next day. So some of the people gathered more than they needed for one day and planned to keep it overnight to save it for the next day – just in case God did not provide for them the next day, they thought. But those people who thought they could outsmart God were sorry for it. The manna they kept overnight got wormy and spoiled. It had to be thrown away, anyway. Instead, they should have trusted that God, Who provided for them today, would also provide for them tomorrow.

God was the Provider, and He decided what He would provide. God gave them plenty of manna each day, to be gathered during the morning. After the sun rose higher, the manna for that day would melt away. In the evenings, God gave the people meat to eat. He wanted the Israelites to know they needed to depend on Him instead of trusting in their own wisdom or in their own abilities. Human beings are not God, and God wants us to know Who He is and what He can and will do for us – for His glory, and for our good. He says, “Ye shall know that I am Lord your God.” (Exodus 16:12b) God wants us to trust Him and to believe that He will provide all that is needed in our lives. Today, thank God for all He is and all He does for us daily. Isn’t He deserving of our trust?

God’s character and works have proven trustworthy over and over again.

My Response:
» Do I believe that the God Who provided what I needed yesterday can and and will provide what I need for tomorrow, too?
» Do I have a spirit of gratitude for all that God has given me?
» Am I trusting God daily to take care of me?

Home Page

“That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” / “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” (1 Thessalonians 2:12 / Ephesians 5:17)

William Law was born in 1686, and he died in 1761. Maybe you have never heard of him. He was not a celebrity or a politician or a war hero. He was not even a popular evangelist or a missionary martyr. Whatever he did in his life was not “important” enough to get him fame or to keep him memorable to us who are living now, more than 200 years after he has gone to be with the Lord.

But William Law – whoever he was – wrote this:

      “From morning to night, keep Jesus in thy heart,
       long for nothing, desire nothing, hope for nothing
       but to have all that is within thee changed into
       the spirit and temper of the holy Jesus.”

What is your idea of “success”? Is it that you would make a lot of money? Is it that people would know your name and remember all the things you did in your life? For William Law, “success” meant becoming more and more and more like Jesus Christ, from the inside out. He wanted to keep Jesus as his main goal. He wanted to be Christlike more than he wanted anything else. We don’t remember much about William Law today. In the world’s eyes, he was probably never very “successful.” But Christians can learn from his writings, and Christians can learn from his personal example.

If you are trusting in Christ as your Savior, is it your desire to learn God’s will for your life? God’s idea of “success” is not that a person does a lot of famous things or earns a lot of money. The Bible teaches that God wants Christians to glorify Him by becoming more and more like His Son, Jesus Christ. That is God’s idea of “success” for His people. This is what God wills; this is what God wants. 1 Thessalonians 4:3a says, “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.”

Sanctification is the process of becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. Sanctification is what William Law was longing for. Why? Because it was William Law’s greatest desire to please God by becoming like Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

To trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, yet never think about Him, never read the Bible, never pray to Him, and never tell others about Him – that must be a disappointment to Him. Because of Who Christ is and what He has done for us, becoming more like Him should be our greatest desire – no matter what else we are able to do in our lives, and no matter what else we might be remembered for.

God is pleased when we are becoming more like His Son.

My Response:
» Am I more concerned about pleasing myself or pleasing God?
» What is my idea of a “successful” life, and does it match up with God’s idea of “successful”?
» How have I been changing to become more like Jesus Christ?

Home Page

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments.” / “For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” (Psalm 111:10a / Proverbs 2:6)

Have you ever made a choice that you thought was a good choice at the time, but you learned later that it was a very poor choice? This happens a lot to many of us. Why? Because we are human. Unlike God, Who is all-knowing, we human beings do not know everything. Unlike God, Who is perfectly holy, we human beings choose to break laws and to sin against God and other people. Unlike God, Who is all-wise, we human beings are not able to see the future or guess what might happen in the end, so we make foolish or silly mistakes sometimes.

It is part of our nature to want to feel accepted. You may feel you will be better liked if you follow the “wisdom” of a crowd. You may think that if everyone else is doing it, it must be a good thing. But a crowd of human beings is not any better than one human being when it comes to making good choices. A group of people needs God’s wisdom just as much as one individual person needs God’s wisdom.

God wants all of His children to make wise choices that honor Him. He knows we are human and that we have limitations, but He freely offers His own wisdom to us instead! If we will follow the counsel and advice of the Lord, and if we will walk in the “light” that His Word gives us, then we will learn to be wiser ourselves, and we will make wise choices.

From the moment you wake up until the time you go to bed you make many choices. These choices could affect your life for many years to come. There are many people who think about their past choices and wish they could “do it over again” – but they can’t. Older Christians who have been seeking God’s wisdom for a long time have some experience that could help you when you are not sure what God is teaching you. These wise people are one way God can give you wisdom. Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” It always helps to ask a wise person for help, and there are many people who genuinely care about you and want to see you make the choices God would want you to make.

Most of all, God gives His wisdom through His Word. Read Proverbs 4 to learn more about God’s wisdom. Remember, even when other human beings fail us, God is our best Resource for wisdom when we need it. The book of James says that God invites us to ask Him for wisdom, and He gives grace to humble people. Are you humble enough to admit that you need God’s direction and advice, or are you trying to make right choices all on your own?

God gives His wisdom to those who are willing to ask for it and follow it.

My Response:
» Am I too proud to admit that I need God’s help with choices I have to make?
» When I am not sure about something, is it my habit to ask God first for help?
» What makes God the best Counselor I could ever have?

Home Page

“For we ourselves were sometimes foolish, disobedient…but after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared.” (Titus 3:3a, 4)

Have you disobeyed your parents recently? How did they treat you the next day, after you disobeyed? They probably gave you food to eat, provided you with clothing to wear, and allowed you to keep living under their roof, at the very least. They may have even done something especially nice for you, like served one of your favorite foods or fixed one of your toys that was broken. Your parents’ love for you does not change after you disobey them. Your parents continue to show love and kindness to you, day after day, even when you disobey or disappoint them. That’s because loving you is natural for them. You are in their family. Loving you is part of who they are as your parents.

The Bible tells us that God loved us even when we were not in His family. Romans 5:8 tells us that He showed His love for us while we were outside His family, still lost in our sins. Titus 3:3-4 tells us that He loved us even after we had been foolish, disobedient, and hateful. If you are saved today, God loved you and showed mercy to you after you had sinned against Him thousands of times. He brought you into His family and made you an heir of eternal life (Titus 3:7). He saved you just because of His mercy. He showed kindness and love to you – because that is His nature. It is part of Who He is. God is kind to sinners.

Are you ever tempted to think that God is not kind? Have you ever thought that, because He has not given you some of the things you want, He does not love you? God has already proven His love and kindness toward you. He has already shown you much greater love and kindness than you could ever hope to deserve. He will not keep back His kindness from you now. Sometimes God waits to give us good things, and sometimes He refuses to give us things because they would harm us. When you are tempted to doubt God’s kindness and love, just look back to the day that He saved you. He loved you when you were still a sinner – and He will always love you. It is part of Who He is.

God is kind and loving toward sinners.

My Response:
» Have I remembered God’s gift of salvation today?
» Have I thanked Him for His love and kindness?

Home Page

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” (1 John 1:9)

Have you every wondered how God can really be just (fair, righteous, faithful) in His choice to forgive a sinner’s sins simply because this sinner confesses his sins?

The word “justice” in the Bible first appears in the Old Testament, in Leviticus 19:35-36. For example, God commands Israel to have “just” balances and “just” weights. Justice always involves at least two parties. Not parties like birthday parties, but parties like people. If you go to the grocery store to buy a pound of apples, and the apples cost fifty cents, then you have an obligation (a responsibility, a duty) to pay the shopkeeper that fifty cents. There is an understanding, an agreement, between two parties – between you and the shopkeeper. You know you owe him fifty cents, and he knows he owes you a full pound of good apples for your money. If you hand him only thirty-five cents, you are not holding up your end of the bargain. You are not being just. And if the shopkeeper were to give you less than a pound of apples but still charge you fifty cents for less than a pound, then he would be unjust toward you.

“Justice” has a lot to do with “fulfilling one’s obligation.” In other words, a just person is someone who is fair, who does right, who keeps his word, who acts consistently with what he has agreed to do.

So, going back to the original question: How can God, Who is perfectly just, forgive a sinner who is unjust, and declare that sinner to be just? Doesn’t any sin deserve punishment? Doesn’t the book of Hebrews in the New Testament teach that “without shedding of blood is no remission (forgiveness of sin)”? So how can a just God choose not to punish a guilty sinner? How can a just God choose instead to declare that sinner just (as though the sinner had fulfilled all his obligations)?

Maybe this story will help us understand:

There was once an island village whose chief was known for his goodness and justice. One day, a serious theft was reported in the village. Someone had stolen someone else’s pet goat. Immediately, the chief called together his whole village and declared that if the thief was caught, he would be punished. The thief would be beaten twenty times with a stick, and he would have to give back the pet goat.

A few days later, another theft was reported! Someone’s cow had been taken. This time, the chief increased the punishment to fifty beatings. Still, the thefts continued! Finally, the chief declared the maximum penalty would be given to this rebellious thief. The thief would be beaten one hundred times! Such a severe punishment would nearly be enough to kill a very strong man!

The search for the thief continued until the villagers finally found the guilty person: It was the chief’s own elderly mother! All the people of the village loved their chief and took pity upon him and his poor mother. They came to the chief and encouraged him to let her go without punishment. They told him it would be all right to make an exception for his elderly mother in this case. Surely such a harsh punishment would kill the poor old woman. But the chief refused to go back on his word. He had to stay just. He had to stick to his decisions.

On the day set for the old woman’s punishment, all of the villagers gathered to see what would happen. The chief’s feeble old mother was tied up to a pole, and the executioner was waiting for the chief’s signal to start the punishment. The chief nodded his head, but at the moment the executioner lifted up the stick to start beating the woman, the chief grabbed his arm. Then, the chief took off his shirt and and went to his mother and wrapped his body around her tiny frame. Then he told the executioner: “NOW, you may begin the beating!”

The Bible says God’s decision to forgive repentant sinners is just. How can that be? Because Jesus Christ, Who Himself is God, has already taken the full punishment for sinners. Just as this island village chief took his guilty mother’s punishment upon his own body, Jesus Christ took the punishment for our sins upon Himself and died in our place. In that way, God’s justice was fully applied and satisfied. God the Son took the part of the sinner’s party, fulfilling all His obligations, taking all the sinner’s punishment. And God the Father took the part of the righteous Judge, fulfilling all His obligations, and declaring the punishment to be done and the sinner to be righteous, because of Jesus Christ’s righteousness.

God is perfectly just in forgiving sinners whose sins are covered by Jesus Christ.

My Response:
» Am I trusting in Jesus Christ as the One Who can take the punishment for my sins?
» Do I sometimes have doubts about whether God is really just and fair in all He does?
» What does the Bible teach me about God’s character?

Home Page

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” (1 John 1:9)

One of God’s most wonderful attributes is His faithfulness. Unlike man, God never fails to do what He says He will do. The Bible is full of examples of GOD’s promises to man, each one designed for God’s glory and man’s best good and happiness.

After an elderly Christian lady passed away, her children and grand-children gathered in her house. They found her Bible in her room. The old woman had never been without her old copy of God’s Word while she was alive. When her children and grandchildren opened it up, they found it was marked all over with these two little letters:

      T.  P.

At first, the woman’s family could not figure out what all the “T”s and “P”s could mean. They were written there, in her careful handwriting, next to so many verses!. But then, in the back page of her Bible, they finally found an explanation for them: “T” stood for “Tested” and “P” stood for “Proved.”

Slowly, the children and grandchildren of the woman began to understand what had happened. Over the years, this Christian lady had been “testing” and “proving” the promises of God. She had been reading verses, learning about the kind of God Who would write such promises, and then she would claim them in her life. She would read something like “But my God shall supply all your need” and she would pray about her needs based on that promise. Over and over again, year after year, this dear lady had put God’s promises “to the test.” And year after year, over and over again, God’s Word had “proven itself” to be faithful and true.

One of God’s greatest desires ever since He created human beings is that they would learn to trust His Word. Our unbelief is a great sadness to Him. God is faithful, which means we can put our faith in Him. We can trust Him, because His Word is true, tested and proved over and over again. Even when we cannot understand God’s thoughts and actions, we can trust Him that He knows what He is doing. Other human beings, even the greatest and strongest ones, will have to let you down sometimes. God is the One Person most worthy of our trust. Because God is faithful, we can be full of faith in Him.

In 1 John 1:9, God is inviting us to confess our sins, because they separate us (keep us apart) from Him. God promises that if we will confess (agree with Him about) our sins, then He is faithful and just (righteous, perfectly able) to forgive us of those sins and cleanse us from all our sinfulness and shortcomings. The Bible is full of examples of awful sinners (sinners who were just as we are). These sinful men and women tested this promise of God and found that it proved true for them in their lives. David was one of those sinful men. David committed adultery, lying, and murder. Even though those were serious sins against an infinite God, God was still able to wash them away. God keeps His Word. He is faithful to His Word, and He is faithful to us. We can trust that His mercy and love are great enough to cleanse us from all our sins and guilt.

God, Who is faithful, invites us to trust His promise to forgive our sins.

My Response:
» Have I ever done something that I regret so much that I wonder whether God could really forgive me of it?
» Is God ABLE to wash away my sins when I confess them to Him?
» Is God WILLING to wash away my sins when I confess them to Him?
» Is God WAITING to wash away my sins when I confess them to Him?
» What is keeping me from confessing my sins and shortcomings to God right now?

Home Page

.”For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10 – and read verses 1-10 for context)

In Bible times, Jewish tax-collectors were hated men. Do you know why? They were considered to be traitors – because they worked for the Roman government. They were considered to be thieves – because they cheated their own countrymen out of money that was not rightfully supposed to be taken. Maybe you have heard a song about Zacchaeus, who was a Jewish tax-collector during the time of Jesus’ ministry. Zacchaeus may have been rich, but he was hated by his fellow-Jews, and he was not a happy man. His riches and his job did not make him happy. If Zacchaeus believed that quitting his job as a tax-collector would help him be friends again with his countrymen and help make him happy, he might have tried it – but he must not have thought that, because he did not quit collecting taxes. Instead he decided to try something unusual: He decided to listen to what Jesus had to say.

Zacchaeus was not a tall man. In fact, he was such a short man that he could not see Jesus above the crowds of people who gathered around Him. So Zacchaeus climbed up into a tree to get a better look. This might have been humbling for such a rich man, to climb up into a tree like a little child trying to see over the crowd. But maybe Zacchaeus was used to being mocked by his fellow-Jews, anyway, or maybe he just wanted to see Jesus so much that he didn’t care what people might think of him.

This little man was open to Jesus’ message. He was learning a lot about himself and how short he had fallen of God’s glory. The Bible says that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. From his place up in the tree, Zacchaeus was getting a glimpse of his own sinful heart.

Suddenly, all eyes were on Zacchaeus. If he was able to hide before, there was no possible way of hiding now. Jesus had looked up into his tree and told Zacchaeus to come down. Jesus was inviting Himself to Zacchaeus’ house for supper. What was this little sinful man’s reaction? Zacchaeus got down out of the tree joyfully and took Jesus to his home. The Jewish people were not happy about Jesus’ decision to dine in the home of Zacchaeus, of all people – a cheating, stealing, unpatriotic tax-collector!

Neither Zacchaeus nor Jesus seemed to mind what the people were saying. For Zacchaeus’ part, he had learned that he was a sinner, and he was sorry for what he had done. He stood before Jesus and told Him he had decided to give half of everything he owned to the poor, and he promised Him to pay back four times the amount of anything he owed to anyone he had cheated. After promises like that, Zacchaeus would probably not be a rich man anymore, at least not for a long time! The Bible does not say he stopped collecting taxes after that, but he was a saved tax-collector after that, not a cheating or traitorous tax-collector. And best of all, Zacchaeus was a joyful man after that.

Jesus wasn’t listening to the people’s complaining, either. When Jesus heard Zacchaeus’ testimony of faith and repentance, He said, “This day is salvation come to this house”! And Jesus did eat with Zacchaeus and his family, even though the people said He was eating with sinners. Jesus said He had “come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Maybe the people did not think they were sinners who needed saving, but Zacchaeus knew for a fact that he was lost and needed to be saved from his sin. Because this little man humbled himself and placed his trust in the only Savior of lost sinners, he was gloriously saved. Jesus did not come to help those who think they can save themselves; He came to help those who know – by faith, through grace – that He is their only hope for salvation.

Jesus came to seek and save sinners who need His salvation.

My Response:
» Do I sometimes look at others and think of them as worse sinners than I am?
» Did Jesus really come to save only the sinners who look better off than other sinners?
» How can I, like Zacchaeus, show others by my life that I have changed my mind about sin and following Jesus?

Home Page

“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” (John 14:8-11)

Do you ever look up at the sky and just wish you could see God? How many human beings living today have ever seen God? How many of us can say exactly what He really looks like? How many of us can say we have ever sat on His lap or talked to Him face-to-face or walked with Him on a road or watched Him feed crowds of people with a miracle meal? How many of us have ever seen God cry or bleed or eat or take off His shoes or be born?

Since God the Father is a spiritual being, He does not have a body in the same sense that people have a body. But Jesus is also God, and He came to Earth to be born in the form of a human being. Unlike spiritual beings, human beings are visible (able to be seen with human eyes).

The people who lived in Jesus’ time had the opportunity to “see” God with their own eyes. Mary and Joseph saw Jesus’ birth, and the shepherds were there to visit Jesus as a newborn infant. Jesus’ friends and disciples had all kinds of chances to see Him live, to see how He responded to what happened around Him, to see what He could do for people, and to see how good and great He really was. Many people were watching Jesus during His last days, and both unbelievers and believers alike were amazed at His words and actions. He lived a sinless life, was crucified unjustly, and rose again from the grave! Only God could have done what Jesus did, and Jesus was God incarnate (God in the flesh, God in person). Jesus’ life on Earth showed everyone the things that God the Father wanted to show about Himself. God told us about Himself in the written Word, and He showed us about Himself in the Living Word: Jesus Christ.

None of us alive today have ever gotten to see Jesus “in person,” either, because He already ascended (went back up) into heaven to be with God the Father again. But it is because of what Jesus did – His perfect life, His sacrificial death, and His glorious resurrection – that we can one day “see” God ourselves. Jesus made it possible for people who trust in Him to have spiritual life! And those of us alive today may not get to meet Jesus in person until eternity, but we have the ability to read about Him and to learn more about God the Father through the story of Jesus’ life and His words. Through Jesus, you might not be able to look up into the sky and “see” God with your own two eyes right now. But you can know more of what God the Father is really like because of Jesus’ life, and you can look up into the sky and talk to God the Father because of what Jesus has already done.

If we know Jesus, we can know God the Father through Him.

My Response:
» Do I really KNOW Jesus and God the Father, or do I just know lots of things ABOUT them?
» How can I keep on learning more and more about God the Father?
» Because of Jesus, am I now able to have a relationship with God the Father?

Home Page