Category Archives: 100 Top Blogs

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Two-Faced People

They Talk Peace To Your Face, Then Moonlight for The Devil

SYNOPSIS: Hypocrisy is not a crime, rarely is there any kind of sanction for duplicity, and for certain, being two-faced carries no real social stigma. Yet there is One who doesn’t keep quiet about the nasty ways of the one who says one thing to your face and another behind your back. God’s righteous gaze cuts through the syrupy surface of their lives with utter moral clarity and labels the wickedness of their hypocritical hearts, calling them what they truly are: workers of iniquity. The Bible’s advice about two-faced people: avoid them…and don’t be them!

New Article: Two-Faced People

Moments With God // Claim Psalm 28:3

Do not drag me away with the wicked—with those who do evil—those who speak friendly words to their neighbors while planning evil in their hearts.

There is a category of people whose behavior for some reason we seem to excuse—but God doesn’t. He doesn’t find them acceptable; they and the unseen attitudes of their hearts he finds deplorable. Who are they? They are the kind of people who will say one thing to your face, then another behind your back. Even worse to God than what they say about you is what they think about you in their hearts. The psalmist says they speak peace when they are in front of you, but even before you are gone, their minds are flooded with ill will toward you.

We call them two-faced; the Bible calls them hypocrites. And while two-faced people are unpleasant, our culture pretty much excuses their behavior and accepts their ways. Hypocrisy is not a crime, rarely is there any kind of sanction for duplicity, and for certain, being two-faced carries no real social stigma. Yet there is One who doesn’t keep quiet about their nasty ways. God’s righteous gaze cuts through the syrupy surface of their lives with utter moral clarity and labels the wickedness of their hypocritical hearts, calling them what they truly are: Workers of iniquity.

Now I realize that at this point in your reading you might be thinking this is anything but an encouraging little devotional thought for the day. And truthfully, it is not. Rather, this is an exhortation. And the exhortation I have for you is twofold:

One, it is most likely that you will rub shoulders today with the kinds of people David describes in this psalm. As the Message puts it, they “moonlight for the Devil.” Be cautious around them. Discern their hypocritical hearts and don’t be tainted by their iniquitous ways. If you allow them into your inner circle, watch out: they will ensnare you. So be careful, be very careful!

And two, don’t be one of them. It is so easy to fall into this kind of two-faced living. Ask God to keep you from hypocrisy. Don’t fall into the trap of saying one thing but thinking another in your heart. Ask God for integrity of word and thought.

That’s what David prayed: Keep me from them and keep me from being one of them. I hope you will pray that too!

Take A Moment: Try praying another prayer of David found in Psalm 139:23-24 with the specific motive of cleansing your life of hypocrisy: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

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Tears in a Bottle

Our Tears Are God's Reminder That He Cares

SYNOPSIS: What is it that is making you cry today? A fractured relationship that’s breaking your heart? A hope that has been dashed or a dream that has died? It is a failed family or a personal sin or the consequences of a past mistake that continues to haunt you? What is it that is making you feel such deep sadness? Entrust those tears to God, and let the very next one that fills your eyes and spills down your cheek be a reminder that your tears never really just dry up and fade into a painful memory, they go right into the bottle of that One who truly cares!

The tears you cry

MOMENTS WITH GOD // CLAIM: Psalm 56:8

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book

Aren’t tears a mysterious part of what it means to be human? It is strange that we have the capacity to cry—to expel water from our eyes when we are sad. It seems to serve no real purpose—although science can explain the physiological “why” and mental health experts can explain the psychological “why”.

That still leaves the question of “why” tears—why were we created with that capacity?

Perhaps this psalm provides a clue. Maybe they are to remind us that God cares about the things that make us sad enough to shed tears. So much does he bear our sorrow that he collects our tears in a bottle, as the New Living Translation says, or as other versions put it, “he records them in his ledger.” In other words, God takes note—implying that he is not only aware of our sadness, but he will not forget it.

What is it that is making you cry today? A heart broken by a fractured relationship? A dashed hope or the death of a dream? A failed family? A personal sin? The consequences of a past mistake that continues to haunt you? What is it that you feel such deep sadness over?

It is likely that no one truly knows the depth of what you are feeling right now. Maybe no one will ever see those tears that have rolled down your cheek—and the intense hurt that caused them. Even if they do see your tears, how sad it is that long before your pain is healed, people will forget and move on.

But there is One who sees…and One who cares…and One who never forgets…and One who will never move on! And He wants you to know that, my friend. And that One, your Heavenly Father, simply asks you to take comfort in His compassion for you:

The Lord is like a father to his children,
Tender and compassionate to those who fear him. (Psalm 103:13)

And that compassionate, loving Heavenly Father likewise asks you to place your trust in him. In fact, so strongly does he desire your trust, that he extends the invitation twice in Psalm 56 just to make sure you really know his heart for you:

In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me? (Psalm 56:4,10-11)

I hope you will do that. Entrust those tears to God. And let the very next tear that fills your eyes and spills down your cheek be a reminder that your tears never really just dry up and fade into a painful memory, they go right into the bottle of that One who truly cares!

TAKE A MOMENT: What is it that is making you cry today? A heart broken by a fractured relationship? A dashed hope or the death of a dream? A failed family? A personal sin? The consequences of a past mistake that continues to haunt you? What is it that you feel such deep sadness over? Why no other human being may know how deeply you feel, or if they do know, they may not care all that much, just remember, there is One who is collecting those tears as you lift your brokenness to him.

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Of Filthy Rags And Transformed Hearts

Our Righteousness Comes From Christ Alone

Our righteousness—and let’s be clear, we do have to be righteous to be acceptable to God—comes from Christ alone. You see, God sent his Son to die on the cross—hanging there as our sin—in order to pay the just punishment for sin that we deserved. That is our only hope, that Jesus became sin—our sin—and in so doing, he likewise became our righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says it well, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” It is only through the power of Christ’s resurrection and our death to self (Philippians 3:10-11) that our heart—the core of who we are, that which represents every fiber of our existence—will get transformed. And ?it is out of a transformed heart, and only that, that our tongue can confess Jesus is Lord. Then, and only then, are we saved.

The Journey: ~Romans 10:9-10

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

You cannot be saved by your good works—no matter how hard you try, your “good” is not good enough for the perfectly holy and completely righteous God who alone grants salvation.

Nor can you be saved by your moral perfection—no matter how moral or how perfect you are. As the Old Testament prophet Isaiah points out, your righteousness is about as good as a “snot rag”. (Isaiah 64:6). I have actually cleaned that up a bit, because the Hebrew words for filthy rags, ukabeged ehdim, literally means, “like as rags of menstruation.” (NIV Study Bible Notes)

Sorry if that disgusts you, but it’s Scripture—so blame Isaiah. The point being, both our acts of righteousness, and the quality of righteousness that we hope they produce, are disgusting to God. So if you are disgusted by Isaiah’s language, think of how God is repulsed by our efforts to get him to save us.

So what hope is there for our salvation? Well, no hope resides within us. None whatsoever. Ephesians 2:1 says “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” All a dead person can do is lay there and be dead, let alone try to be righteous before God.

No, our righteousness—and let’s be clear, we do have to be righteous to be acceptable to God—comes from Christ alone. You see, God sent his Son to die on the cross—hanging there as our sin—in order to pay the just punishment for sin that we deserved. That is our only hope, that Jesus became sin—our sin—and in so doing, he likewise became our righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says it well,

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

How dishonoring to God’s grace and Christ’s atonement when we therefore try to save ourselves by our acts of righteousness and our efforts at moral perfection. The sooner we realize that, the sooner we will, like Paul in Philippians 3:8-9,

“Consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them [our best efforts] rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”

It is only through the power of Christ’s resurrection and our death to self (Philippians 3:10-11) that our heart—the core of who we are, that which represents every fiber of our existence—will get transformed. And it is out of a transformed heart, and only that, that our tongue can confess Jesus is Lord.

Then, and only then, are we saved.

So relax about trying to be righteous and morally perfect! Jesus did it for you. God accepts Christ’s efforts on your behalf as good enough, so you don’t have to be good enough. All you have to do is accept it, believe it, and conform your life to it!

This week, read Romans 10:1-21, and then memorize Romans 10:9-10,

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

Consider this: Why are these verses such a centerpiece to the Christian message? How does your own view of salvation line up with what Paul has written? Do you think your Christian friends have a good grasp on what it takes to be saved, and if not, how can you engage them in a spiritual conversation about this matter?

A Simple Prayer:

God, thank you for saving me. It was not because of anything I had done, nor was it because of my own worthiness. Simply out of your mercy and grace, you saved me through Christ’s sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. My salvation is completely on you, none of it is on my. I am grateful!.
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My Days Are Numbered

The Opera Ain’t Over … Till God Says It’s Over

God planned me, built me, watches over me, can steer me back on track when I wander, will keep me safe until the Divinely allotted numbers of days ordained for me are up, and then take me to the next life that he has prepared for me. My life will be over when he says it’s over!

Going Deeper // Psalm 139:16

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

How many days do I have left? I don’t know. No one does, except God. He knows the exact number of years, days, hours and seconds that I will occupy my address on Planet Earth; the exact moment that my death will occurs.

Now that may not seem like a cheery thought to you, and in fact, most people would find that sobering, at best, and frightening, at worst. Not me. I find great comfort and security in knowing that God has my life so ordered that I will neither die a day sooner nor live a day longer than what has already been recorded in his book. You see, life and death are far above my pay grade, so I will happily let Father God take care of that department, thank you very much.

So if I truly and correctly understand this profound truth, then I am freed from the fear of death to fully live the life that God has planned for me. I can enjoy an intimate walk with the One

  • Who was intimately involved in each minor detail of my day (Psalm 139:1-4)
  • Who never lets me out of his sight (Psalm 139:5-8)
  • Who guides my every move with his Fatherly hand (Psalm 139:9-10)
  • Who is not limited by my circumstances (Psalm 139:11-12).

In fact, God is so involved in my life that he was even there at the moment my mother and father conceived me in love, and he superintended even the most infinitesimal details my physiological and temperamental formation.

God knows me! He knows everything about me. He planned me, built me, watches over me, can steer me back on track when I wander from his purpose (Psalm 139:23-24), can be completely trusted to keep me safe until the Divinely allotted numbers of days ordained for me are up, and then take me to the next life that he has prepared for me.

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand” (Psalm 139:6, NLT), but it won’t keep me from enjoying this day and praising the One who is in charge of it!

Go Deeper: Throughout the day, declare, “God is in charge of me!” Then live like it’s true—because it is!

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God Has Been Good

A Final Reflection for 2018

On a personal level, as I review the ups and downs of this past year, I have to agree with God’s self-testimony: “I have given you success. I have had your back—day and night. I have given you everything you needed.” Yes, in looking back over 2018, and for that matter, over all of my life, I can honestly say, “God has been good.”

Going Deep // Focus: Deuteronomy 2:7

For the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the Lord your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.

In Deuteronomy 2, Moses is recounting the wilderness journey of the Israelites over the forty years between exiting Egypt and possessing the Promised Land. Mostly in this chapter, he gives a blow by blow account of their battles with enemy nations who opposed their travel—nations who paid dearly for their opposition to God’s plan. And in the middle of his account, Moses makes this amazing statement of how God has tenderly cared for Israel at each step of the way. Actually, Moses is directly quoting the Lord himself. In the statement, we see God’s own assessment of how he has carried his people all these years:

I have given you success.
I have had your back—day and night.
I have given you everything you needed.

Now of course, as Christians, you and I know that to be theologically true of God. He cares for us; he carries us. We sing about it every time we gather for worship. We remind one another that very truth to encourage us through the rough spots of life. Intellectually, we affirm in our minds that the Lord will provide—he is Jehovah Jireh, after all, the God who supplies all of our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Yet, if we are to be honest about it, there are seasons where we question God’s care. There are spells where we don’t feel too successful, and we wonder if God even notices. We go through a deep disappointment or a painful failure or a tremendous loss, and we can’t see any evidence whatsoever that the Lord had our back. We pray for an answer—a provision, a healing, a breakthrough—and get a big fat nothing burger instead of everything we needed.

Most of us would never say that out loud—a few brave, unfiltered souls would, but you and I are too “holy” to say anything like that—but we are thinking that very thing to ourselves. Maybe in our prayers we let it slip, “God, where were you?” While disappointment with God is not something we like to dwell on and certainly don’t broadcast, it is a part of the journey for most, if not all believers. Yet God still says the same thing to us as he did to the Israelites: I have given you success, I have protected you, I have provided everything you needed.

Think about those statements from the view of the Israelites on their journey. They spent forty years meandering through a desert, with no end in sight, instead of making their beds in the land God had promised them. They were thirsty to the point of death on several occasions. They were sick and tired of eating the same thing day after day for forty years. They had to fight for their lives against enemy nations bent on destroying them—with bigger and better equipped armies than Israel’s. My guess is there were plenty of people on plenty of occasions who felt deeply disappointed with God’s care and provision.

Yet those emotions are based on just a relatively short slice of history—both the Israelites and ours. We see things in brief moments of time and make assessments about God. If we are in a season of success and wellbeing, we overflow with joy and thanks to God. But if the season is filled with disappointment and loss, we wonder where God is. The point is, they are just that: seasons. Seasons have a beginning and an ending. And while we only see what is right in front of us, God is over it all, watching out for us, allowing according to his impeccable wisdom what will develop our character and our faithfulness through experiences of joy as well as sorrow, and always leading us to where he desires to take us.

On a personal level, as I review the ups and downs of my seasons, I have to admit to the self-testimony the Lord gives:

I have given you success.
I have had your back—day and night.
I have given you everything you needed.

In looking back over all the seasons of my life, I can honestly say, “God has been good.” That indisputable fact leads me to declare trust in his goodness in any current season, whether pleasant or rough.

Yes, God has been good. I bet you can say that too!

Thrive: Review your life this past year—both the good and the bad. Now offer up a declaration of trust by telling the Lord, “God, you are good!”

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The Quest for Holiness is the Great Business of Life

Don't Forget - God Is Holy

There is something deep within my spirit that cries out to know God in his holiness. I’m guessing that is your longing, too. Perhaps I really don’t know what I am longing for, or what it will require of me. Nevertheless, there is no greater thing in this life than the pursuit of holiness. As Professor Leland Ryken has noted, for the Puritans, “the quest for … holiness was the great business of life.” The great business of life—that is what it must become for us if we are to truly worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

Enduring Truth // Focus: Psalm 96:9

Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

I don’t know that we really “get” the holiness of God. And that’s too bad. We throw that term around a lot—holiness—and we have a sense that his holiness is not to be trifled with, but I don’t think we know how to wrap our minds around the concept of a holy God.

We know God as a loving Father—guiding, providing and protecting. That one’s easier to absorb, at least in theory. We know God as revealed through his Son, Jesus—compassionate, servant-hearted, gentle and caring. We know God through the infilling of the Holy Spirit—empowering, energizing and enabling us to do his bidding. But the holiness of God—do we really know him that way?

The saints of old did. When God passed by Moses in the cleft of the rock, Moses tasted the holiness of God. When Elijah called down fire from heaven on the false prophets, the people saw the holiness of God. When Ananias and Saphira were struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit, the church knew the holiness of God. When the Apostle John received his revelation, we are told that he “fell at his feet as though dead.” (Revelation 1:7) The pure in heart were somehow able to partake in the holiness of God without being consumed by it; the impure weren’t so fortunate!

Leland Ryken noted that “for the Puritans, the God-centered life meant making the quest for spiritual and moral holiness … the great business of life.” I wish that for you—and for me, too—that holiness would be the great business of our lives; that we could partake in God’s holiness without being consumed by it. Frankly, though, I’m not sure how we can come into that kind of experience—and perhaps I don’t really know what I am asking for. Yet there is something deep within my spirit that cries out to know God in his holiness. I’m guessing that longing is in your heart, too.

How do we posture ourselves for an experience of the holiness of Almighty God? Andrew Murray wrote, “Nothing but the knowledge of God, as the Holy One, will make us holy. And how are we to obtain that knowledge of God, except in the inner chamber, our private place of prayer? It is a thing utterly impossible unless we take time and allow the holiness of God to shine on us.”

Beyond the positional holiness imputed to us at salvation and the empirical holiness of our obedience to Christ, may the Lord grant us a deeper, transformational revelation of Divine holiness so we can truly worship Almighty God in the splendor of his holiness.

Thrive: Offer this simple but sincere prayer to the One who hears and answers prayer: Oh that I may know the beauty of your holiness![/shareable]

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Beware the God of Money

You, Wealth, God and Eternity

Jesus talked more about money than about heaven or hell. The focus of many of his parables was that very subject. So was the subject of a good number of his teachings. That’s because Jesus fully understood the death-grip money could have on the human soul. Greed, materialism, selfishness, competition, worry, just to name a few, and worst of all, the love of money, always crowd out our love for God along with the joy and hope we have in him.

Enduring Truth // Focus: Luke 16:11

And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?

It has been said that Jesus talked more about money than about heaven or hell. Many of his parables centered around that very subject, as did his other teachings. That’s because Jesus fully understood the death-grip money could have on the human soul.

Whether or not there was (or is) a literal god of money, I don’t know. Some have supposed that is what Jesus referenced when he spoke of “mammon”. But for sure, the love of money leads to all sorts of problems in this world, and in our lives: Greed, materialism, selfishness, worry, just to name a few. Worst of all, the love of money always crowds out the love of God. That is why Jesus said in Luke 16:13 (NLT),

No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

In other words, we are to love God and use money—not vice versa.

Yet as critical as what Jesus said about God and money is, there is yet another facet to this teaching that you as a Christ-follower need to understand: How you use money now will have a direct bearing on the Kingdom authority God wants to release to you in this life, and in his eternal kingdom. That is what Jesus meant in Luke 16:11 when he said if you can’t be trusted with wealth in this world, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?

How you are handling your wealth—your money, home, cars and possessions—is not just isolated to the physical world of the present. It is, in reality, a test-run that will determine the extent to which God will entrust to you authority in realms much more important—the spiritual realm of the Kingdom Life now and the eternal realm of the ageless world to come.

Ask yourself this question today: Who has me? Money or God? Am I loving God and using money? Or in reality—and just take a look at your checkbook register or your Quicken summary if you are unsure what reality is—are you bowing at the altar of Mammon?

Thrive: Offer this prayer: “Lord, help me to use my money, to the very last cent, in a way that is pleasing to you. When I stand before you some day, may you say of me that I loved you and used money to store up wealth in the eternal kingdom.”