Psalm 37:28 says, “The Lord loves justice,” We know that the definition of justice is, “getting what is deserved.” We also know as Romans 3:23 says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

Justice, therefore, would mean that since we miss God’s standard, that we cannot receive God’s reward, heaven. Somehow justice for our sins must be paid. Picture the symbol of justice, the scale, and all of our sins stacked on one side.

Jesus Christ balances the scale, by taking the punishment for all of our sins. God’s love for us gives us the way out of receiving the justice we deserve, and places it on Jesus. As John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” and verse 18 says, “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him.”

By believing in Jesus as our Savior, we are essentially pardoned from the justice we deserve, and that is the ultimate show of God’s love.

Dear Lord, how wonderful your love for us is, and how perfect your plan is to execute both justice for all and salvation for those who believe. Help us be joyful for this great gift and share it with others. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Coronavirus, Global Warming, Climate Change, Overpopulation, etc. we hear in the media about all the calamities we should be afraid of. This is not a new phenomenon.

In the Old Testament, Isaiah the prophet was told by God that Assyria was soon going to conquer Israel. He said, however, in Isaiah 8:12-14, “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He is the one who will keep you safe” NLT

Without a doubt there are risks and dangers in our lives, but we need to remember who controls all. We should put our “fear” in God’s power not the risks and dangers of the day. We need to put our faith and hope in God who has the power to deliver us from our fears here on earth, and any fear of what happens after we leave our earthly life.

Dear Lord, help us remember that you are in control of everything on earth. When we truly put our faith in you we have nothing to fear. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

There is a never ending discussion about the conflict between religion and science. In reality it is not a debate between God and Science, it is a debate between a belief in God and a belief that there is no God.

For those of us that believe in God, there really is no conflict between science and religion. We believe God created everything, and therefore science is the study of God’s creation.

Often people’s success at discovering, learning, excelling and achieving sets them up to believing that they can know and control everything. I believe, as a result of manipulation by the Devil, this positive drive to achieve can be turned into arrogance. This manipulation began in the Garden of Eden with the temptation of Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5 The desire to be “like God” tempted Eve to disobey God’s rules.

The similar motivation occurred in the story of the Tower of Babel. Genesis 11:3-4 writes “The people who lived there began to talk about building a great city, with a temple-tower reaching to the skies—a proud, eternal monument to themselves.” The people discovered technology allowing for construction of tall buildings, and followed this into arrogance.

Throughout the years discoveries are made, and theories are developed expanding our knowledge of the Universe. It has become quite clear to me that the fundamental dispute in this God vs Science debate is the “world view” that we start with. If we believe God created it all, we will marvel at these new discoveries of God’s fantastic creation, but if people don’t want to believe in God, they can use new discoveries to come up with interpretations to support their disbelief in God.

Dear Lord, We know that the attempts to lead people astray will continue until you return. Help us remember to use the intelligence you gave us to understand your creation rather than being manipulated into exalting ourselves over you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

We have probably all seen those cartoon situations showing the character in the midst of a decision between right and wrong, and a little angel sits on one of his or her shoulders encouraging the right action, and a little Devil sits on the other shoulder encouraging the wrong alternative.

This is very much the situation that goes on in the lives of Christians. It is described in a number of places in the Bible, including Galatians 5:17 where Paul writes “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” TLB

It is our challenge to follow the spirit rather than our nature, but as written in Romans 8, “the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.” We are not on our own, we can ask for help.

Dear Lord, help us follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance and reject the temptation of our nature to do wrong and go against your will. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Did you know that there is much more evidence for the Bible’s authenticity than any other ancient text. We have copies of New Testament manuscripts that were hand written within 100 years of the events, and have over 20,000 copies of original ancient texts. They have been found in Africa, Europe and the Middle East with very little variation (99.5% consistency). In contrast, there are less than 1000 ancient copies of Homer’s Illiad, and they were written over 500 years after Homer first wrote it. The assurance of the Bible’s validity is well beyond any other ancient text. In modern times, over 100 million Bibles are sold each year, and it is estimated over 5 billion have been printed.

Paul wrote the letter to Timothy that we read as 2 Timothy around 67 AD while Paul was in prison in Rome. He said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right. It is God’s way of making us well prepared at every point, fully equipped to do good to everyone.” What a great gift the Bible is for us.

Dear Lord, thank you for giving us the Bible to guide, inspire, motivate, and educate us. Help us to read it regularly to help bring us closer to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.