Read the first verse of Matthew’s gospel. Jesus knew David’s ways. He witnessed the adultery, winced at the murders, and grieved at the dishonesty. But David’s failures didn’t change Jesus’ relation to David. The initial verse of the first chapter of the first gospel calls Christ “the son of David” (Matt. 1:1 KJV). The title contains no disclaimers, explanations, or asterisks. I’d have added a footnote: “This connection in no way offers tacit approval to David’s behavior.” No such words appear. David blew it. Jesus knew it. But he claimed David anyway.

He did for David what my father did for my brother and me.

Back in our elementary school days, my brother received a BB gun for Christmas. We immediately set up a firing range in the backyard and spent the afternoon shooting at an archery target. Growing bored with the ease of hitting the circle, my brother sent me to fetch a hand mirror. He placed the gun backward on his shoulder, spotted the archery bull’s-eye in the mirror, and did his best Buffalo Bill imitation. But he missed the target. He also missed the storehouse behind the target and the fence behind the storehouse. We had no idea where the BB pellet flew. Our neighbor across the alley knew, however. He soon appeared at the back fence, asking who had shot the BB gun and who was going to pay for his sliding-glass door.

At this point I disowned my brother. I changed my last name and claimed to be a holiday visitor from Canada. My father was more noble than I. Hearing the noise, he appeared in the backyard, freshly rousted from his Christmas Day nap, and talked with the neighbor.

Among his words were these:
“Yes, they are my children.”
“Yes, I’ll pay for their mistakes.”

Christ says the same about you. He knows you miss the target. He knows you can’t pay for your mistakes. But he can. “God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins” (Rom. 3:25 NLT).

Since he was sinless, he could.

Since he loves you, he did. “This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:10 NLT).

He became one of us to redeem all of us. “Jesus, who makes people holy, and those who are made holy are from the same family. So he is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters” (Heb. 2:11 NCV).

He wasn’t ashamed of David. He isn’t ashamed of you. He calls you brother; he calls you sister. The question is, do you call him Savior?

From Facing Your Giants
© (W Publishing Group, 2006) Max Lucado
Used by permission

Question: Are we sometimes “ashamed of Christ” when we are talking with non-Christians? (See Mark 8:38)

Do you struggle with guilt and want to talk to someone about it? Contact an online mentor today.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:10-13)

When I first became a Christian at age 22, I thought church was only for perfect people. Or at least people who could act perfectly on Sunday mornings. I didn’t understand that the purpose of the church is to give a hand to the sick, not pat the healthy on the back.

Jesus often ate at the same table with “sinners”, and when he did, the Pharisees questioned why He did so. Jesus responded by saying “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12) Author Brennan Manning puts it this way: “The church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners”. That’s encouraging, because I often don’t feel much like a saint. Do saints lose patience with their brothers and sisters in Christ? Lose their temper? Sometimes even lose that passionate fire for the gospel?

The apostle Paul recognized his own moral failures when he says: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.” But Paul continued by noting “for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” (1 Timothy 1:15-16)

So at the same time as we acknowledge our sin, by trusting in Jesus’ righteous sacrifice on the cross for our sins, we can gather together to strengthen and encourage each other in our faith, so that we can continually strive towards becoming “perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

Lesson: Never feel unworthy of worshiping God in repentance and faith with your fellow believers, because Jesus welcomes you to His table!

Question: Do you sometimes feel guilty or unworthy of worshiping God? Why do you feel that way?

WHAT IS HELL REALLY LIKE?

Contrary to popular belief, hell is not a physical place of unending physical fire. Rather, hell is described in the bible metaphorically as a place of both darkness and flames. Clearly both of these images can’t be true or they would cancel each other out (flames would light up the darkness). These images were used to clarify the reality and seriousness of hell. Flames were typically used in the Old Testament to indicate judgment and darkness indicated separation and loss.

Thus, rather than unending torture, at the root of hell is a relational separation from God characterized by utter agony and despair. Hell is truly the greatest loss imaginable. To be in hell is to be excluded from the very source of life, goodness, and hope—God himself.

Does this mean hell is not that bad? I often ask my students if they would prefer a broken arm or a broken heart. Most prefer the broken arm. Why? Because they realize emotional pain can sometimes be even greater than physical pain. The Bible uses physical imagery such as flames to help us grasp the emotional horrors of hell. Hell is the worst possible situation that could ever happen to a person.

WHY DOES GOD SEND PEOPLE TO HELL?

God does not “send” people to hell. Rather, people freely choose to reject God’s gift of salvation. God has given people freedom of will, which means some may be “always resisting the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51). God desires that everyone believes in him (2 Peter 3:9). But the sad reality is that many people do not want to submit their lives to God.

Heaven and hell are not surprise outcomes. Hell is the natural consequence for people who reject God in this life, just as heaven is the natural outcome for those who embrace Him. Our eternal destiny logically and naturally flows from how we lived and operated on earth. Hell is both punishment and the result of a mind set against God. In fact, heaven would be hell for those who do not want to be in God’s presence.

IS HELL UNJUST?

One might object to hell on the grounds that the punishment of hell is disproportionate to the crime. As some might put it, “How could wrongs in this life merit an eternal punishment?” One response is simply to admit this objection but realize that those in hell might be punished for eternity nonetheless. It might be that those in hell originally had a sentence that did not merit eternal punishment, but their unrestrained sinful nature continually leads them to sin and thus amount penalties which are never satisfied.

Second, it is actually false that sins committed in this life only merit a temporary penalty. The weight of an offense depends on the nature of the being offended. Plants, animals, and humans are three different types of beings that warrant different punishments for crimes committed against them. Injury to a human deserves a greater penalty than injury to a cat. Since God is infinitely greater than any human offenses against Him merit an eternal penalty.

DOES GOD SEND CHILDREN TO HELL?

There is biblical precedent to believe in an “age of accountability” in which children who die go directly to God’s presence. Isaiah 7:16 mentions a period before a child is morally accountable to God, before the child, “knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right.” David lost a child conceived in his relationship with Bathsheba. In 2 Samuel 12:23 David says, “I will go to him, but he will not come to me.” There will be no one in hell that would not have chosen God had they simply been given more time to repent.

WHY DOESN’T GOD FORCE PEOPLE TO GO TO HEAVEN?

God created human beings to have a meaningful relationship with him, even though he knew some would reject him. God didn’t want robots; he wanted a creation that would freely choose to love him. For God to force people into heaven against their desires would be to deny them their dignity. Rather than treating them as valuable beings, he would be treating them as means to an end. When people say “no” to God He respects their wishes.

There are more questions and issues that could be raised against hell than I have dealt with here. Hopefully this has given you some thoughtful responses to some common objections. Was hell the only option for God? It is just and moral? Is it logical? Clearly Jesus thought it was… and so do I.

Take the next step:
Are my sins to big to be forgiven?
10 questions about faith
Have more questions about God? Talk to a mentor.

While looking for something I had carefully put away so that it wouldn’t get lost, I realized that I forgot where I had put it. As I went through drawers and closets, unopened in no telling how long, I was amazed at what I found, most of it filled with the unwanted and unneeded, some of it even unopened, I came to the conclusion that we were just “over stuffed” with needless stuff everywhere.

I have just finished reading my third book on the adventures of Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton’s 1914-17 expedition to Antarctica. It is fascinating. It was one of the greatest survival stories of all time. When he advertised for recruiting twenty six crew members, more than five thousand applied, notwithstanding the fact that the advertisement read, “chances of survival slim.”

Perhaps you remember the story. They sailed from Buenos Aries on the Endurance across to the Wendell Sea. Endurance became trapped in ice and was eventually crushed by the expansion of thousands of tons of ice. The crew was faced with spending the winter on the ice and then sailing lifeboats to Elephant Island and ultimately to South Georgia. It was one of the greatest tests of human survival ever and under Shackleton’s leadership, all survived.

The scene in the movie was so vivid when they salvaged what they could from the endurance and set out towing sledges across the ice. They needed everything they needed to survive. They could not afford to take anything that was not necessary for survival. Shackleton took gold coins out of his pocket and threw them in the snow, as an example for others to follow. He said that if they made it out safely, they would not need things like that and if they didn’t, they would be of no value.

There’s a spiritual parallel here. The writer of Hebrews 12 tells us: let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

What are you holding onto that bogs you down and hinders you in your walk of faith? What ultimately meaningless “stuff” are you hoarding that holds you back in your spiritual growth? Whatever it is, get rid of it so that your life may be full and your spiritual walk unburdened with the things of this earth.

In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat. (Isaiah 10:27)

Well it is that time of the year again, an annual experience when I get a report on my most up to date physical condition. I have been to every kind of ologist there is and have too many times been asked to dress in an undersized grocery bag. I have been poked, prodded and stuck more times than I can imagine.

For the most part, all checked out well, but I still don’t like those sentences that begin ……”but for a person of your age.” I am blessed with good family medical history and I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t hang around with those who do. But, this year, as with most years, there is that one factor … weight. Some doctors refer to it as obese and refer to the charts. Those docs who know me on a first name basis use the word “fat.” I tell them that I am not overweight, just two feet short according to the charts.

So, here I go again, off to shed the pounds. It’s easy. I have done it many times and lost hundreds of pounds. Mark Twain once commented how easy it was to quit smoking, as he had done it hundreds of times.

No, it’s not easy. It is plain hard work and once you get to the target goal it is a bear to stay there. Let’s face it, I like to eat and that it the root of my problem. It creeps up gradually pound by pound and all of a sudden I am, well … fat again.

Sin is like that. Our natural man likes to do it and it creeps up on you sin by sin and soon you are drowning in it. We can try to wish it away, desire it to be away and even pray it away, but there is nothing passive about resisting sin. It, like losing weight, is just plain hard work. As humans, we like to sin, because Satan wraps it in such beautiful packages.

Physical weight has its consequences. Someone recently asked me how many fat people I knew who were over seventy. It was a sobering question. Sinful weight also has its consequences, often deadly. Isaiah (10:27) talks about a burden lifted from our shoulders.  It is an image of deliverance from oppression and calamity.

It is time for all of us to throw off the sinful burden our shoulders and the yolk around our neck. Get serious. Get real. Sin will take you under and drown you, so we all need to work hard to throw it off.

As for me, I am a man on a mission … a mission to shed the pounds, so if you see me, shake my hand, but please don’t offer me a Twinkie.

“Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” (Luke 11:14)

Imagine you’re doing work on a deck and you fall on a rusty nail. It’s a small puncture but you keep working. Meanwhile, anaerobic bacteria begin to metabolize and cause infection. You don’t treat it and soon you have lockjaw, facial spasms, difficulty swallowing, and muscle rigidity. You start to get full body spasms and they continue for weeks until one day you die… if you don’t treat it.

Sin is the same way. It loves to fester in a grudge. The puss and poison of bitterness will eat away at your soul and enslave you… if you don’t treat it.

But treating it is hard. It’s open-heart surgery. We feel justified in our grudges! We think our bitterness is warranted and our rage is necessary for justice. Justice? Consider our Lord Jesus Christ:

He was crushed for our iniquities.

He took up our pain.

He bore our suffering.

He was stabbed for our sin.

His punishment brings us peace.

His wounds heal us.

We receive unwarranted forgiveness every day. We must also give it. The giving and receiving are two in one. Love God and your neighbor by accepting forgiveness and also forgiving.

Recall the people who have hurt you. Have you forgiven them? Reach back in your memory to your childhood and ask, “Does hate still linger there?”

Don’t listen to the voice that tells you, “Things are fine, let’s move on.” Search your heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to search you as well. Uproot and kill the weeds of hate in your soul and humble yourself before God and man. Ask for forgiveness and be made new right now.

Lord, I understand that my salvation is not fair. You forgave me when I did not deserve it. And so, as I have been forgiven, so I must forgive. Holy Spirit, help me give up my grudge. Draw out the poison from my heart. In Jesus’ name I rebuke the unclean spirits in my heart and confess I have allowed them to fester. I repent and ask that you Lord Jesus to make me new. Cleanse me oh God from all unrighteousness. I trust you to heal and cleanse me and praise you for being the Great Physician. Amen.

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Galatians 4:4-7)

The big picture of Christmas does not start in Bethlehem, or in the manger, or with angels announcing the Savior’s birth. The big picture of Christmas begins all the way back in the Garden of Eden, though God knew well before that exactly what would happen. Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord and thereby poisoned the entire human race with sin. Every single person from then on has sinned against God.

Long before that time, God was already preparing the ultimate sacrifice to erase the sins of everyone who would receive His offer. God referred to the coming Messiah by saying Satan would bruise His heel. (Genesis 3:15) Christ’s ultimate victory over the devil is forecast in the same verse: “He will bruise your head.” Then God killed an animal to create coverings for Adam and Eve, an indication that blood had to be shed on a person’s behalf for him or her to be forgiven of sin.

Scripture and human history books reveal the Father’s continuous preparation for Messiah’s arrival. God promised to bless all nations through Abraham, and Jesus is of Abraham’s lineage through the patriarch’s great-grandson Judah. And God used Alexander the Great?sinner though he was?to spread the easily understood Greek language throughout the world. In that way, there was already a common language when the disciples began to travel and share the Good News.

Christmas did not begin in a Bethlehem stable or end on Calvary’s cross. God’s plan is eternal, and He prepared it all for you.
The Christmas story starts in Bethlehem but Christmas brings with it many gifts. Take our study on the Gifts of Christmas.

“I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house;
 I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.”  (Psalm 101:2-3)

I admit it. Last night, I watched one of my favorite TV shows, even though it had a sub-plot that bristled my beliefs.  I have to ask myself why I did that. How much do I set before my eyes that is worthless?

In our visually oriented world of technology we absorb so much in a day, much of it subconsciously. How easy is it to watch a TV show that subtly slips in immorality, alternative lifestyles, casual sex, drugs, violence, selfishness – and those are the good guys!

I’m not saying we should be mentally productive 24/7, or be constantly reading our Bibles when we are not doing anything else. Vegging out is necessary now and then. But, we need to be careful what enters into our eyes, ears and brains – and into the eyes, ears and brains of our family. And, we need to remember this — integrity is what you do when no one else is around to watch you. Even though our pastor or fellow church members are not there on our couch when we choose our type of entertainment, God is.  How often do we walk with integrity of heart within our homes? Last night, I didn’t.

We must be willing to click off a show, even in the middle of a plot, if it begins to project something that is not biblically sound. Is finding out “who done it” so important that you or I can put up with a flavoring of sin and think it doesn’t affect us?

My mother used to say that idleness is the devil’s playground. Today with TV, internet, iPads and MP3s, more than ever we need to be wary of what is being “fed” to us in the process of entertaining us. And, I think we need to be more vocal when something offensive is slipped in.  We should write to the TV producers and game makers to tell them our views and objections to the material they produce. Otherwise, how will they know?

Question: What have you watched in the past 24 hours that maybe you shouldn’t have?

“And now, dear children, continue in [Jesus], so that when He appears we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.” (1 John 2:28)

Continuing in Jesus supplies us with what we need to turn from sin, to love our brother and to walk in the light. Confidence does not come from never making a mistake or never sinning; it comes from Jesus. Only Jesus provides a way for us to stand unashamed in the presence of God. That means that our assurance springs from continuing to look to Jesus as our atoning sacrifice, the One who speaks to the Father on our behalf.

The temptation to sin hounds us; we can’t reach perfection.

Patient, humble, long-suffering love doesn’t flow from our hearts naturally. Lies of the world trap us in darkness, block our way to the light. All that seems impossible by human effort becomes possible through Jesus.

To continue in Jesus means to seek His face daily, look to Him for guidance, trust He is good and in control, surrender my will to Him, to repent when He convicts me and obey what He commands. Then, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, as we seek Jesus, we sin less. Moment by moment, the power of the resurrected Christ enables us to love. As we stay in close communication with Him, we walk in the light.

God, this is what I want. I desire to continue to walk with Jesus every day of my life; to continue to learn from Your Holy Spirit and be taught by Him; to continue to humble myself before You – the one true God; to continue to submit to You and be transformed by Your power.  Amen.

Questions: What does continuing in Jesus mean to you? How do you put continuing in Jesus into practice?

As church pianist I started to play the introduction for the choir during the morning service. After several measures, I glanced at the keyboard and was so startled that I almost missed a beat. There, on middle D, lay a stunned cockroach flailing its legs. Obviously it had run into the path of my flying fingers.

What could I do? Gritting my teeth, I went on, gingerly trying to avoid middle D, but not always able to do so. (The choir number would be in the Key of D!) Finally, halfway through the first verse I was able to flick the now-deceased roach onto the floor. (Well, that’s one way to kill a roach!)

Some problems we may face are not so easily resolved as a cockroach on a keyboard. They might not be brushed off during the first phase of the situation. We may have to live with them longer than the first verse. But I have learned that if I just keep looking to the Lord for grace and trusting Him with a problem, He takes care of it one way or another.

Sometimes as we pray, He shows us ways to make the situation easier, as I did by avoiding the “middle” D while I played. Sometimes He shows us how to deal with the situation, as I did by flicking that roach to the floor during a whole note in the melody. (Thank heavens for piano “hold” foot pedals!)

Then during or after the resolving of the problem, there’s the cleanup.  After church I went to the rest room and washed my hands off using liquid soap. But in dealing with life’s problems, we may often need a more comprehensive spiritual cleanup.

It may be necessary to ask the Lord to forgive us if we have sinned. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).  We may discover a need to forgive any who have hurt us. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

And let’s never forget the One Who guided and helped us! Let’s thank and praise Him for His help and deliverance.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever” (Psalms 107:1)

Question: Are there problems you’re facing that you haven’t yet brought to the Lord in prayer?