Q: What does it mean to be “in Christ”? Suggested Daily Reading: John 15:1-12 A: Jesus uses the example of a vine and its branches.  If a branch is connected to the vine it is healthy and produces fruit.  But what happens if the branch is separated from the vine?  In a short time it dies and its fruit withers.  A branch cut off from its vine no longer receives the life-giving sap and nutrients it needs to live.  A branch on its own, not connected to its life-source, is good for nothing.  It will be discarded. To be “in Christ” means to abide in Him.  It means to be connected in a living way to Jesus.  We are like branches.  If we are connected to Jesus then His life flows into us and we live spiritually and bring forth fruit to God’s glory.  What fruits honor the Lord?  Fruits of love to God and love to others.  If, however, we are separated from Jesus Christ, then like branches cut off, we wither and die.  Then we will not produce any good fruit, but only sin.  We will be good for nothing, but instead like dead branches, only gathered to be burned. How can you know if you are abiding in Christ?  Read verse 10 again.  The more we abide in Christ, the more we will love the Lord, His will, His Word and His commandments.  When we love to keep God’s commandments and our deepest desire is to love Him above all and others as ourselves, then we know that we are abiding in Christ.  The only way our branch can produce such spiritual fruits is when we receive spiritual life from the spiritual vine, Jesus Christ.  Separated from Jesus, we only produce sin and its fruit, which is death. Despite your sins and failures, if your heart’s deepest longing and prayer is to live more Christ-like, to love God more, and to produce more fruit to God’s honor, then you are connected to the spiritual vine, Jesus Christ.  You are abiding in Him. Are you abiding in Christ?  What means can you use to become connected with, and to deepen your connection with the Lord?  How can you improve your personal use of God’s means of grace?

God’s Law Q: What is the real meaning of God’s law? Suggested Daily Reading: Matthew 22:34-46 A: The heart of God’s law is love.  God wrote His ten commandments on two tables of stone.  The first table (commandments 1-4) require love to God and the second table love to others (commandments 5-10). Jesus explained this truth clearly in the daily reading.  Some of the Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus.  The most respected rabbis (teachers of the law) in Jesus’ day differed regarding which of the Ten Commandments was the greatest.  The Pharisees wanted to divide the people in their support for Jesus.  If he agreed with one rabbi, those who followed another would be upset and depart from him.  Jesus, however, answered the question by stating the heart of God’s law:  “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). Is the heart of God’s law the heart of your life?  Above everything else, do you want to live a life out of love to God and others?  If so, this is evidence that God has graciously worked salvation in your heart.  Since our fall in sin, each person loves him or herself.  We love that which serves and pleases me, but we do not want to serve God or deny ourselves to serve others. While we must produce thoughts, words and actions of love to God above all and our neighbors as ourselves as the result of saving grace in our hearts, no person, not even the holiest saint, can keep God’s law perfectly.  We all sin and come short.  Thanks be to God that he sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!  Jesus paid the debt for our sins and shortcomings and He also perfectly kept God’s law.  His perfect righteousness is granted to all those who repent and believe on Him.  What a wonderful truth! Do you live for yourself or do you fight against this focus in your life?  A true Christian struggles against putting him or herself first.  A Christian wants to live out of love to God and others and to fight against self-centeredness.  Is this your prayer and struggle?  Why can this be a real internal war?

Q: Some say that texting our friends is not good.  Is it? Suggested Daily Reading: Luke 10:38-42 A: When reading the verses listed above from Luke 10 observe that Martha was busy preparing a meal and getting things ready to serve it.  Were these appropriate things to do?  Yes.  Was there anything wrong with what she was doing?  No and yes.  No, in the sense that there is nothing wrong with preparing a meal and serving it.  It is right to do this for our family and guests.  But Martha was wrong when she became preoccupied with it.  It absorbed her thoughts and time.  She could not even pause to concentrate on that which Jesus was teaching.  She was so caught up with preparing and serving a good meal that nothing else seemed to matter!  A thing that is right in itself can become wrong, when it is over-emphasized and given too much attention in our lives.  Martha’s priorities were reversed. Is communicating with your friends an appropriate thing to do?  Yes.  Is there anything wrong with texting your friends?  No and yes.  No, in the sense that there is nothing wrong with communicating with your friends.  That is, so long as your communication demonstrates love and honor to God and love and concern for others.  But texting can become wrong if we become preoccupied with it.  If we can hardly concentrate on real events at hand, because we are texting, we have a problem.  If we cannot focus with undivided attention on more important issues, we are wrong.  Then our priorities are reversed. Just like Martha’s food preparation, something that is right in itself, in this case texting with friends, can become wrong when it is over-emphasized and given too much attention. Dan keeps in touch with several friends wherever he goes.  His school does not allow cell or smartphones, but Dan sneaks his in anyway and texts friends whenever he has a chance without getting caught.  Sandra frequently texts friends while she’s talking to others.  Sam can’t wait until dinner is over at home because someone texted him and he hasn’t responded yet.  Jocelyn interrupts a conversation with her Mom because someone just texted her.  These four young peoples’ priorities have become reversed.  A thing that is OK in itself has become wrong. We must be on guard against outright sin, but also against making legitimate things sinful in our lives by over-emphasizing and becoming preoccupied with them.  Are there areas in your life that need to be reigned in, and others that need more emphasis?  How will you accomplish this?  How can God and His Word help?

Q: What do you mean by a “practical atheist”? Suggested Daily Reading: Matthew 7:15-29 A: Are you an atheist?  “No”, you answer.  “I believe in God.”  But what is a practical atheist?  A practical atheist is one who believes in God, but lives his or her life as if God does not exist. Bob attends a public high school.  The group of guys that he wants to hang around with do not believe in God.  Bob does believe in God, but he does not say anything or act in any way that his friends would know this.  He believes in God inside, in his heart.  But he lives on the outside as if there is not a God.  Nothing shows in his words or actions that he is a believer.  He is living as if God is not real. Shirley is facing some important decisions.  She needs to decide which courses to take for next school year.  She is struggling whether to go to university or to become a secretary after she finishes high school.  She needs to know in order to choose the right courses.  A guy who is quite nice has asked her to go with him to his sister’s wedding and reception in two weeks.  The concern is that he is not a Christian.  Shirley is struggling with what to do.  Last night she even had trouble sleeping.  But Shirley is not bringing her concerns to God in personal prayer.  She is living as if God is not real. These are examples of practical atheism.  Everything we say or do either reflects practical Christianity or practical atheism.  For example, if we laugh with the crowd when a person makes fun of someone else, or if we say something thoughtful and kind instead.  Or if we join in with others to mock a certain teacher, or we say something respectful. Also when we wear something immodest because everyone does, or if we dress attractively but modestly.  Every decision we make and every action we take demonstrates either practical Christianity or atheism. Are you living a life that is more Christian or atheistic in practice? Are you growing in living with more Christianity and less practical atheism in your motives, thoughts, words and actions?  What areas in your life do you especially need to pray for and work on?

Is Jesus really God? How can I prove that He is? Suggested Daily Reading: Matthew 1: 18-25 My Dad and I were speaking with two Jehovah’s Witnesses.  They claimed that Jesus is a son of God, the first born and the highest of all creatures, but not equal with Jehovah God.  They stated that speaking of Jesus as God the Son is a false teaching of our church.  They observed that many places in Scripture speak of the Son of God, but challenged us to find one text in the Bible that speaks about Jesus as the God the Son. And we could not think of one that did! However, the Bible establishes that Jesus is God and equal with Jehovah God in the following 4 ways, by giving Jesus: 1. Divine names (names given to Jesus that only can be given to God) – “ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given … and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6; see also such references as Matthew 1:23, Jeremiah 23:6, John 1:1; etc.) 2. Divine attributes (qualities given to Jesus that only can be given to God) – “For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9; see also such references to Jesus being everywhere present (Matthew 18:20); eternal (John 1:1-2); all-knowing (John 2:24-25); almighty (Revelation 1:8); unchangeable (Hebrews 13:8); etc. 3. Divine works (works that Jesus does that only God can do) – “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3,13; Jesus also forgives sins (Mark 2:10); preserves the saints (John 10:28); resurrects and judges all (John 5:21-22); subdues all to him (Philippians 3:21); etc. 4. Divine Honors (honors given to Jesus that can only be given to God) – “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father” (John 5:23; see also such references as Hebrews 1:6, Matthew 28:19, II Corinthians 13:14, Revelation 1: 4-6, etc.) What a wonderful truth it is that Jesus is both God and man in one person! Thank God for the wonderful gift of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!  Why would He not be able to save us if He was not really human, and really God? Do you need and love Him as the only possible Savior for such a sinner as you are?

Q: Why should I attend church every Sunday? Suggested Daily Reading: Romans 10:10-17 A: I was talking with a very sincere person.  She told me that “church is not her thing.”  She believes that she experiences God’s presence more from “being alone with God in nature.”  She claims that she learns more by “sitting on a hill overlooking a lake and thinking about God on Sunday” than from sitting in church. This friend may be sincere, but she is sincerely mistaken.  Observing God’s work in nature can teach us that there is a God, and we can see and learn something of His wisdom, greatness, presence and preserving power in this way.  But nature will never teach us the core truths of salvation.  For example, would observing nature ever teach us of: Our total sinfulness and depravity? God’s law and gospel? The only Savior of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ? The Holy Spirit who can work repentance, faith and obedience in our hearts? The way to love, obey and follow the Lord? No, to learn these deeper and saving truths we need the Bible, God’s Word.  During church worship services, God’s sent servants, His ministers, preach to us as God’s ambassadors from His Word.  By the grace of the Holy Spirit, pastors explain the meaning of a part of Scripture and apply its truths to the minds and hearts of those gathered for worship. God has instructed us to gather together for worship every Sunday; “not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is…” (Hebrews 10:25a).  God is pleased to bless the preaching of His Word (Isaiah 55:10-11). If someone wanted to catch fish to eat, would they go to a shallow stream where a few minnows could be found, or to a deep river pool, where there are many large, healthy fish?  Do not “fish in the shallow streams” of nature, when you should be “fishing in the deep pools” of God’s Word and the preaching of it. Do you value your opportunities to attend church worship services?  Are you actively praying for a blessing for your pastor, church members and yourself?

Q: What is meant by experiential religion? Suggested Daily Reading: Acts 26:24-32 A: Think of a doctor who specializes in working with people who have cancer. He believes that cancer is real. He diagnoses cancer and provides treatment plans for his patients every day. But today is different. This doctor is informed that he has cancer! This knowledge is not the same. This truth about cancer is life-changing. His priorities change. Last week, this doctor was busy planning a trip to Mexico and excited about purchasing a new car. But now these things are not important – he has cancer! His cancer becomes an over-riding concern. He needs to be cured! The doctor now experiences what it is to personally have cancer. Experiential (or experimental) religion means personally experiencing true religion. A person can know what the Bible teaches about sin in the same way that the doctor knew a lot about cancer. One can believe that the histories about Jesus recorded in the Bible are true, like King Agrippa believed. Yet, these people have not personally experienced these truths. Like King Agrippa, they remain not fully persuaded to actually repent from sin, embrace Jesus Christ and serve Him as their King. When I personally experience that I am a sinner, then sin becomes the greatest problem. It changes priorities, as it changed the doctor’s priorities when he experienced that he personally had cancer. It then becomes most important to be personally cured from our disease of sin. However, I experience that I cannot do this, as I add to my sin every day. The Lord Jesus Christ then becomes so precious! He is the only doctor who can heal my life-killing disease of sin. Without Him, I die! When I experience something of His saving grace, how I want to love and serve Him in return! This is more than simply believing truths about sin and Jesus. Experiential religion is personally experiencing these truths in a real way. Is your knowledge of sin, of salvation in Jesus and of love to obey Him, only factual, or by God’s grace, is it also experiential? How will the results of only factual belief be different from experiential believing? #Acts

Q: If everything is already determined and decreed by God, why pray? Suggested Daily Reading: Genesis 24:1-28 God does not need us to inform Him of our thoughts or needs in prayer.  He already knows them perfectly.  Prayer will not change God’s will.  All is included in His eternal decree.  But, God encourages us and lovingly commands us to pray.  Why?  Because prayer honors the Lord and it is good for us.  It helps us to humble ourselves before God, to recognize our dependency on Him for everything. Also, prayer helps us  to see His answers to prayer and to thank Him for it. Abraham’s servant received a difficult task.  He had to travel a great distance, to visit a strange land and to bring back a woman who would be willing to marry Isaac.  This woman would need to leave her friends, family and country to marry a man that she had never met!  Read Genesis 24: 12-14 again.  Do you see how prayer enabled this servant to humble himself before God and express his dependency upon the Lord?  His prayer will also help him to see God’s answer and to thank Him. But first, imagine this story without prayer.  If the servant had not prayed, he might tell others, “Do you know what happened?  It was the greatest coincidence ever!  Just when I arrived at the well, Rebekah came and I met her.  She was a relative of Abraham, invited me to her home and agreed to go back with me to marry Isaac.  I was so lucky!” But Abraham’s servant did not speak like this.  Why not?  Because he prayed.  After he met Rebekah and she had drawn water for his camels, we read, “And the man bowed down his head, and worshiped the LORD.  And he said, Blessed be the LORD God…” (verse 26-27).  Prayer helped him to see God in the events that took place that day.  Prayer enabled him to thank and worship God. Do you see God’s hand and thank and praise Him for events in your daily life?  If not, the cause may be a lack of daily, specific prayer.  Prayer helps us to eliminate thinking and speaking of luck or chance or coincidence.  It promotes recognizing and testifying of God.  Daily prayer is a means to reveal more clearly to you that God knows and provides for your needs.  What rich benefits and encouragements attend a life of daily prayer and close communion with God! #Genesis #Prayer

Why is education promoted as being so important? Suggested Daily Reading: Matthew 25:14-30 God has blessed each of us with unique abilities and talents.  You and I are responsible to develop and use our God-given talents in ways that honor God, benefit others and care for ourselves.  In the language of the parable in today’s Bible reading, we are not to bury our talents, but to multiply them.  To put them to good use. Education does not give us innate abilities and talents.  God does.  But education is a means that God can bless to multiply my God-given talents and make my use of them more effective.  Consider, for example, a person with musical gifts, who takes several years of intense piano lessons.  This person’s abilities and gifts can be greatly multiplied, recognized and shared with others by means of his or her music education.  Think of the person with mechanical gifts or teaching talents, how beneficial the results of this person’s mechanical education can be! We all are responsible to God to recognize, multiply and use the talents He has given us.  We are accountable to God to value and develop the talents He has given us to prepare for our life on earth, but also for our eternal existence in our life to come.   We are to use our God-given talents for the good of others: in my family, church, work and society.  General education is a means to multiply our personal thinking skills, communication abilities, confidence when interacting with others, and opportunities for future employment. As with all gifts from the Lord, Satan can counterfeit these, and twist God’s beneficial gifts into harmful influences.  Education removed from the foundation of God, His Truth and His Word can be used in harmful ways.  Atheistic education can multiply the effectiveness of leading people to believe a lie instead of God’s truth.  Our foundation is critical (Mt. 7:24-27). We are to continually learn.  We are to be of a humble, child-like, and teachable spirit.  Education should be a life-long process.  But we are not to just learn new things or deeper truths for ourselves, but to use our education to glorify God and benefit others. How well are you learning and serving?  Are you praying and trying to serve God and others with your talents and gifts?  While schooling plays an important role in our education, why is education not limited to schooling?  How can we foster a humble and teachable spirit, even as we learn more?

How can I trust God when I cannot understand Him? Suggested Daily Reading: Job 11: 7-12 Imagine a three year old looking with eager eyes at a container of rat poison pellets.  Her Father told her not to touch them because they are bad.  “They will hurt you”, he said.  Should she trust her Dad?  She doesn’t understand him and it seems what he told her makes no sense.  She thinks anyone can see that those pellets are candies, and candies are good! We understand that she should trust her Father.  He knows far more than she does, as a three-year-old girl.  Her experiences in life are very limited.  Her Father knows much more.  The instruction he gave her is right, even if she cannot understand it. Like the three-year-old with her Dad, we cannot understand God either.  He created us and all things.  He knows infinitely more than we do.  He knows what is good for us, but also what is harmful.  What may look like fun “candies” may really be “poison.” In the daily reading above, Job could not understand God and why so many terrible things suddenly happened in his life.  Job’s three friends did not understand this either, even though they thought they did.  No one knew about Satan’s permission to try Job’s faith at that time.  But later we understand that Job’s faith and God’s grace shine more brightly through this experience.  Many have experienced this same truth through different trials in their lives. If we could fully understand the thoughts of God then we would be equal with Him!  But we know that God is infinite, limitless in His wisdom and strength, far above and beyond our finite, limited understanding.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”             (Isaiah 55:8-9). Trust and obey!  You will never be sorry if you follow the Lord and His Word. Think of a Bible character like Abraham or Joseph or Daniel, or another who demonstrated firm faith in God.  Did they experience times when they could not understand God, or that it seemed God was directing things in confusing and difficult way for them?  How can a dark background of trials and afflictions cause the jewel of faith and trust to shine more brightly?

Q: Someone told me that if I try to strictly obey God’s law that this is legalism, and that legalism is wrong.  Is this true? Suggested Daily Reading: James 1:19-27 A:  What would you think of a guy who tells everyone that he really loves his girlfriend, but he is not very interested in doing things that please her?  In addition, it doesn’t bother him when he does things that hurt her feelings or things that he knows she doesn’t like?  What would you think of his so-called “love”?  We would likely say that this guy may think that he loves his girlfriend, but his actions show that he does not.  His love appears either not to be real or not very deep. If we confess that we love God, then we should want to do that which is pleasing to Him. We should fight against doing things that we know are against His will.  How do we know what is pleasing and displeasing to the Lord?  We learn this from His Word, the Bible.  So when we want to obey God and His Word from our heart this is a sign of loving God.  Loving obedience is a good thing.  It is not wrong.  When we want to do that which God commands us to do, this a fruit of love.  Jesus teaches us, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 14:15). Legalism, however, is when we add commandments or teachings of our own that are not in the Bible.  This goes beyond God’s Word.  If we strictly follow our own or other people’s man-made rules, that is legalism.  When we follow men’s teachings instead of God’s teachings, trying to earn our salvation by our own works, instead of Jesus’ righteousness, this is legalism. Obeying God out of love and respect to Him, is what we are called to do.  This is biblical obedience.  This is right and good.  Trusting in our own or others’ rules and trying to earn my righteousness by strictly following them is legalism.  This is wrong. Are you praying and trying to serve and obey God out of love in return to Him?  Are you also fighting against adding your own ideas or other people’s rules to God’s and becoming proud of your obedience and trusting in your righteousness for your salvation?  Meditate on this truth: our good works of obedience can never earn our salvation, but they are necessary as a result of our salvation.  How clearly can others see that you love God from what you say and do and from what you do not say and do? #James

Q: Is there a God? How can I know for sure? Suggested Daily Reading: II Peter 3:1-13 A: You can know that there truly is a God by observing: His Designs – If you find a bolt and nut that fit; the one threads perfectly into the other, you know that someone designed the one for the other.  Think of the complexity of one living cell, or the workings of your eye and brain, or the design of male and female.  Who created all this?  God did. His Beauty – When you study a beautiful painting, you know that the artist who painted it has an appreciation for beauty.  Who designed a beautiful sunset, flower or butterfly?  God did. His Morality – Observe a young child touching a forbidden object.  You can see that this boy or girl knows that his or her behaviour is wrong.  Who made this child with an inward sense of right and wrong?  God did. Our Longing for Perfection – All people are born with a longing for perfection.  We search for abiding satisfaction and meaning in many different ways, but we will only ever find it in an infinite God.  Who implanted a deep need for a perfect and eternal relationship in all people?  God did. Our Spirituality – All people across the world reveal spiritual and religious needs and beliefs.  Who placed these deep spiritual needs in all people?  God did. His Assurance – Think of a person who receives a letter from a loved one.  Does she doubt the reality or the love of the writer?  Why not?  Because this person has experienced the truth of the writer’s love in her own heart.  Likewise, God’s people have experienced and are assured of the truth of God’s love in their hearts.  Who communicated this love to those who believe in Him?  God did. His Word of Truth – The Bible speaks to the spiritual needs of all people throughout history.  It is also without error.  Who proclaimed such infallible and heart-renewing truths in a way that can reach all people?  God did. His Plan of Salvation – The Bible speaks of salvation being freely and graciously given by God to sinners.  God gave His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who willingly suffered and died to pay the full price to deliver His children from sin and its punishment and to grant them eternal life.  This message is unique.  Why does no other religion in the world offer salvation as a free gift to mankind?  Who designed and implemented such a gracious plan of salvation?  God did. God is real.  Is He real in your thoughts, prayers, words and actions?  If so, are you growing in knowing and loving God?