This post was written by Matt Meyer, CCM board member and director emeritus.

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law plead against them” (Proverbs 28:4).

After a number of weeks of coming for counseling, a young
Chinese woman recently* called on God to forgive her sins. For several weeks
before that, she was sure that God was real and good and that she was a sinner,
but she was having a hard time connecting her sin with the death of Christ on
the cross. When she was asked to describe what she meant by “being a sinner,”
it was clear that her focus was horizontal instead of vertical. She thought she
was sinning against her husband, her family, and herself. When she finally
understood that our sin (or lawlessness as John describes it) is first against
God, the lights came on. “I’ve broken God’s laws,” she repeated numerous times
as the realization finally hit home.

Do we have the same sense that we are breaking God’s laws
when we avoid Bible passages that hit too close to home or perhaps are just a
little too inconvenient?

This woman had a number of good questions that followed her
prayer of confession. What church should I attend? Do I need to support the
church now? How do I pray? How often should I pray? I’m such a little baby, and
I need to learn so much.

As we worked through the Lord’s teaching on prayer, we also
turned to 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything
give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Instead of worrying about everything in the Bible, we
suggested that she start by just practicing these three verses diligently.

“But this is impossible,” she responded. 

We assured her that this was the point. If you really try to
give thanks for everything, you will find yourself praying continually—either
confessing your sin of thanklessness, or asking God to help you be thankful, or
praising Him with thanks. Then, when you are thankful, rejoicing will surely
follow.

Like this new believer, we need to be diligent that our joy
is not burdened by active disobedience or unconfessed sin.

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who
keep the law plead against them” (Proverbs 28:4).

In the Living translation, the second half of this verse
reads: “those who obey the law fight against evil.” Like much of the Bible,
this verse is much more understandable and applicable than we would at first
think.

Isn’t it enough to have just read or even memorized the
passage? No. James commands us to “become doers of the Word, and not
hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

Matt Meyer

*Written January 2007.

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

“‘Haven’t you read,’ he replied, ‘that at the beginning the
Creator “made them male and female,” and said, “For this reason a man will
leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become
one flesh”? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined
together, let man not separate’” (Matthew 19:4-6).

The marriage service says that marriage is a “holy estate.” Christian
marriage is more than physical, economic cohabitating and child-bearing and
rearing. It is a spiritual fellowship; it is an earthly picture of Christ and
His body, the Church. 

“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the
husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body,
of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives
should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just
as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy,
cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to
himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but
holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as
their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself” (Eph. 5:22-28).

In the last two years,* I have seen eight Christian
marriages break up after over twenty years of marriage. I am watching several
more in the process. Is there an attempt to stop it? Yes! However, there is
encouragement for divorce from counselors, attorneys, family members, and
Christian friends.

Intruding, teaching, and discipline may be in order, but
what is really needed is the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Each of you
know friends of yours who are in this situation. Pray for the heavy hand of God
to be upon them until there is repentance. 

If there is any sign of trouble in your marriage, repent to
God and call for help from the saints. 

In case this all sounds too discouraging, we know of several
marriages that have been wonderfully saved through prayer.

*Written in 2004.

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).

You would think this should not be a difficult piece of
advice to follow. The voice of God thundered from Sinai in the second command:

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything
in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not
bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,
punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of
those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6).

Within the month, the people of Israel were busily building
an idol, a golden calf. It did not last long.

Rachel, Jacob’s wife, stole her father’s household gods. All
of the sons of Jacob had idols.

“So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with
him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and
change your clothes.’ … So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and
the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem” (Genesis
35:2, 4).

King David’s wife, Michal, had an idol.

“Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering
it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head” (1 Samuel 19:13).

Jeroboam built two golden calves, one in Bethel and one in
Dan.

In this age of tolerance, we have accepted foreign idols as
legitimate, alternative forms of worship. To speak against the idolatry of other
religions is considered bigotry, intolerance, and hatred of other people. The
results of speaking against the secular culture are even harsher.

“Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the
nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods
that cannot save. Declare what is to be, present it – let them take counsel
together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past?
Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and
a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the
earth; for I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:20-22).

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so
that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and
not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).

God commands us to obey Him. If we do not keep His commands,
He has the ability to forgive us. It is either obey or confess, and He has made
provision for both.

Christmas is coming up soon. We can think of it as a time of
giving or as a time of getting. The basic expression of love is giving.
The basic expression of selfishness is getting. If you think of everyone
according to God’s commands, we are to love the Father, we are to love our
neighbors, we are to love the brothers, we are to love our enemies—and the
conclusion is that we are to give to these people we love. We are to give for
whatever is the highest good of the person we are giving to. We are not to give
in order to get; we give because they need what we are giving. This is love.

So as we think of Christmas, think of Jesus Christ who was
the greatest gift to all of us, and give in terms of that.

I would like to draw attention to a few scriptures about our
enemy and our relationship to him.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark
world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”
(Ephesians 6:12).

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened
in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of
his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us
who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he
exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right
hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and
dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but
also in the one to come” (Ephesians 1:18-21).

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the
ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are
disobedient…. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:1-2, 6).

My point is that though our struggle is against the 1)
rulers, 2) authorities, 3) powers of this dark world, and 4) spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly realms, and although we were once dead in
transgressions and sins and followed the ruler of the kingdom of the air, we
are now seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, far above
all rule and authority, power and dominion.

In other words, our struggle with spiritual evil is one
where we are with Christ, far above our opponents. Our struggle is not one of
defeat.

“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all
wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor,
struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Colossians
1:28-29).

I often hear Christians say that they are “struggling.” They
usually mean that they are being defeated. But “struggling” in the Scripture is
winning, not losing.

The struggle here seems to be more intense. The attacks on
the saints are heavy, but we are on the winning side.

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted
with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest
with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who
will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with
someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke
16:10-12).

Stealing is a common characteristic of the natural man. It
is sin (Exodus 20:15), and in most states and nations it is also a crime. When
we think of it as crime, then we are grateful that we have not been caught.
When we think of it as sin, we know that we are always caught.

Most stealing is not through burglary or hold-ups or
shoplifting. It is being dishonest in very little and being dishonest in much.
Crime is measured in petty larceny and grand larceny. Petty larceny is a
misdemeanor, and grand larceny is a felony. The penalties are proportionate to
the crimes.

Sin is also measured in size; however, the size does not
affect the penalty. The wages of sin is still death. And the very little
sins lead to the great sins.

We are naïve to think that the dishonesty present in any major
financial scandal started out with big sin. If what Jesus said was true, then
the guilty ones had not been trustworthy in little matters. They had been
dishonest in little things first.

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

Merry Christmas! When Jesus came to this earth, He did not
come alone. He was attended by a multitude of the heavenly host. How many this
is we do not know. It was a lot. “And suddenly there appeared with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying [not singing], ‘Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased’”
(Luke 2:13-14).

There was a similar event recorded in Revelation, also about
the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God.

“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering
thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled
the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were
saying: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’ Then I heard every
creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all
that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be
praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’
and the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:11-14).

Here it speaks of angels in myriads of myriads and
“thousands of thousands.” A myriad is 10,000. Here it is plural, more
than one myriad of other myriads. If it were one myriad times one myriad, that
would be 10,000 x 10,000 or 100 million. This was myriads of myriads, which is
a minimum of 200 million plus thousands of thousands, millions more.

Jesus’ birth got praise to the Father and peace to men. His
death got more praise in Heaven. That is the reason for the mass angelic praise
at His birth and after His death and for His death. The heavenly host did not
sing here. This Christmas, let’s just say in unison what they said in unison.
At Easter we can say, in unison, what the hundreds of millions said in Heaven.

The following is the reason for the birth and death of Jesus:

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in
their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds
the power of death—that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

St. Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is
gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for
me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire
to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary
for you that I remain in the body” (Philippians 1:21-24).

“We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from
the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

I am not anticipating going to be with the Lord imminently,
but it will not be in the distant future.* I am ready to go. This readiness has
nothing to do with merits; I had none and have none.

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and
enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy,
being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our
Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but
because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by
the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our
Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs
having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:3-7).

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We
have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still
powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a
righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in
their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of
death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in
slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

This is what Christmas is all about.

*Written December 2008. Jim went to be with the Lord in
2022. 

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the
present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory
for ever and ever. Amen” (Galatians 1:3-5).

“But when the time had fully come,
God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law,
that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).

These two verses give us the reason
for Christmas:

·       to rescue us from this present evil age

·       to redeem those under the law so that we might receive the
full rights of sons

Rescue, redeem, receive, from “the
present evil age” to “full rights as sons.”

Here are a few of my favorite verses in Scripture:

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other
name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,
so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things
that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot
understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person
with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not
subject to merely human judgments” (1 Corinthians 2:14-15).

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are
steadfast, because they trust in you” (Isaiah 26:3).

“But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden
faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:12-13).

“Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise
by the standards of this age, you should become ‘fools’ so that you may become
wise” (1 Corinthians 3:18).

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows
favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is
blameless. Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you” (Psalm
84:11-12).

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
(Philippians 4:4).

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will
for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will
be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

There are many more.