Often, when we go through seasons of fear and anxiety, it feels as if we have been ambushed at every angle. We sense that the world is out to get us. The threat seems real and can overwhelm our thoughts and emotions. In these times, God’s truth in His Word provides clarity.

The Bible tells us that our God is a deliverer. He provides redemption and forgiveness. The Lord does not sit by and watch us experience grief. Instead, He actively intervenes on our behalf. Scripture declares that the Lord delivers, protects, and guards us against our opposition. He shelters us from our fear. He answers when we call out for help and rescues us in our distress.

Our responsibility as believers is to rest in His love. We are to dwell in the safety that is His goodness. When we feel fear instead of faith, we are to look to the Lord for our answers and cry out to Him with our needs. Our rest comes when we trust in who God is and hold fast to the knowledge of how He has worked in the past.

How do you need to experience God’s deliverance in your life today? God handles the demanding work for us. He asks us to simply rest in Him. When was the last time you experienced God’s abiding love for you where you simply depended on Him?

Father God, thank You for Your unconditional love. Thank You that I can come to you when I feel tired and scared. Help me rest in the comfort of knowing that You will cover me no matter what I go through. I praise You for Your loving-kindness. Thank You for the ultimate deliverance You gave me through Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Often, when we go through seasons of fear and anxiety, it feels as if we have been ambushed at every angle. We sense that the world is out to get us. The threat seems real and can overwhelm our thoughts and emotions. In these times, God’s truth in His Word provides clarity.

The Bible tells us that our God is a deliverer. He provides redemption and forgiveness. The Lord does not sit by and watch us experience grief. Instead, He actively intervenes on our behalf. Scripture declares that the Lord delivers, protects, and guards us against our opposition. He shelters us from our fear. He answers when we call out for help and rescues us in our distress.

Our responsibility as believers is to rest in His love. We are to dwell in the safety that is His goodness. When we feel fear instead of faith, we are to look to the Lord for our answers and cry out to Him with our needs. Our rest comes when we trust in who God is and hold fast to the knowledge of how He has worked in the past.

How do you need to experience God’s deliverance in your life today? God handles the demanding work for us. He asks us to simply rest in Him. When was the last time you experienced God’s abiding love for you where you simply depended on Him?

Father God, thank You for Your unconditional love. Thank You that I can come to you when I feel tired and scared. Help me rest in the comfort of knowing that You will cover me no matter what I go through. I praise You for Your loving-kindness. Thank You for the ultimate deliverance You gave me through Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Hell must exist for one essential reason: respect. God has made us free and respects our freedom to choose His Kingdom or not. The Kingdom of God is not a mere abstraction. It has some very specific values, and these are realized and experienced perfectly in Heaven.

The values of the Kingdom of God include love, kindness, forgiveness, justice to the poor, generosity, humility, mercy, chastity, love of Scripture, love of the truth, worship of God, and the centrality of God.

Unfortunately, there are many people who do not want anything to do with those values, and God will not force them to. Everyone may want to go to Heaven, but Heaven is not merely what we want it to be; it is what it is, as God has set it forth. Heaven is the Kingdom of God and its values in all their fullness.

There are some (many, according to Jesus) who live in a way that consistently demonstrates their lack of interest in Heaven. They do this by showing that they are not interested in one or many of the Kingdom’s values. Hell “has to be” because God respects people’s freedom to choose to live in this way. Because such people demonstrate that they do not want Heaven, God respects their freedom to choose “other arrangements.”

In a way, this is what Jesus says in John’s Gospel, when He states that judgment is about what we prefer: And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil(John 3:19). In the end, you get what you want: light or darkness. Sadly, many prefer the darkness. The day of judgment discloses our final preference; God respects that even if it is not what He would want for us

Hell must exist for one essential reason: respect. God has made us free and respects our freedom to choose His Kingdom or not. The Kingdom of God is not a mere abstraction. It has some very specific values, and these are realized and experienced perfectly in Heaven.

The values of the Kingdom of God include love, kindness, forgiveness, justice to the poor, generosity, humility, mercy, chastity, love of Scripture, love of the truth, worship of God, and the centrality of God.

Unfortunately, there are many people who do not want anything to do with those values, and God will not force them to. Everyone may want to go to Heaven, but Heaven is not merely what we want it to be; it is what it is, as God has set it forth. Heaven is the Kingdom of God and its values in all their fullness.

There are some (many, according to Jesus) who live in a way that consistently demonstrates their lack of interest in Heaven. They do this by showing that they are not interested in one or many of the Kingdom’s values. Hell “has to be” because God respects people’s freedom to choose to live in this way. Because such people demonstrate that they do not want Heaven, God respects their freedom to choose “other arrangements.”

In a way, this is what Jesus says in John’s Gospel, when He states that judgment is about what we prefer: And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil(John 3:19). In the end, you get what you want: light or darkness. Sadly, many prefer the darkness. The day of judgment discloses our final preference; God respects that even if it is not what He would want for us

Salvation is not by works, but by grace. 

The Bible is very clear that we cannot earn our way into eternity with God. Our works are merely evidences of our faith, not the basis for salvation.

The reason it's unnecessary to perform good works in order to secure salvation is that God himself, through the work of Christ, has performed all the work necessary. However, one of the very reasons God saved us is so we would perform good works, and if we do not perform good works we are in disobedience to His Word. The Bible is clear on the source of our salvation: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spririt" (Titus 3:5).

Many of us have confused the doctrine of justification with the doctrine of sanctification.

According to the Bible, after a man is justified before God, he begins a lifelong process of sanctification where he grows in holiness and obedience to God's law. Justification is the starting point for sanctification (Romans 6). Justification removes the guilt of sin and restores the sinner to a relationship with God. Sanctification eliminates sinful habits and makes the sinner more and more like Jesus Christ. Justification takes place outside of the sinner in the court of God. Sanctification takes place in the soul and the spirit of man. Justification takes place once and for all. Sanctification is a continuous process of growth, as we "run the race" to the end of our lives. The work of sanctification is never complete in the life of a Christian.

Many Christian leaders and laymen are doing good deeds for which they are to be commended, but many have not surrendered to a true relationship with their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Christian faith declared in the Bible is one of trust in a relationship with a Person, rather than in a religion, institution or organization.

Relationship not Religion

When we stand before God one day, He will not ask us whether we are Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran or Methodist. He will only ask us why He should allow us into His kingdom. How will you respond to that question? Will you tell Him what denomination you belonged to or that you attended church every Sunday? Will you try and tell Him you were a "good and moral person" who did works of charity? The biblical truth is that God doesn't consider any of these responses to be worthy of admission into heaven. Our prayer is that we'll all be able to respond to Him with an answer that He will honor: "I have confessed Christ before man and You Lord, and it is by grace alone that I come into your heaven."

Christianity is not really a religion; it is a relationship with God. It is trusting in Jesus and what He did on the cross for you (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), not on what you can do for yourself (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christianity is not about ornate buildings, flamboyant preachers, or traditional rituals. Christianity is about truly accepting and obeying Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Salvation is not by works, but by grace. 

The Bible is very clear that we cannot earn our way into eternity with God. Our works are merely evidences of our faith, not the basis for salvation.

The reason it's unnecessary to perform good works in order to secure salvation is that God himself, through the work of Christ, has performed all the work necessary. However, one of the very reasons God saved us is so we would perform good works, and if we do not perform good works we are in disobedience to His Word. The Bible is clear on the source of our salvation: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spririt" (Titus 3:5).

Many of us have confused the doctrine of justification with the doctrine of sanctification.

According to the Bible, after a man is justified before God, he begins a lifelong process of sanctification where he grows in holiness and obedience to God's law. Justification is the starting point for sanctification (Romans 6). Justification removes the guilt of sin and restores the sinner to a relationship with God. Sanctification eliminates sinful habits and makes the sinner more and more like Jesus Christ. Justification takes place outside of the sinner in the court of God. Sanctification takes place in the soul and the spirit of man. Justification takes place once and for all. Sanctification is a continuous process of growth, as we "run the race" to the end of our lives. The work of sanctification is never complete in the life of a Christian.

Many Christian leaders and laymen are doing good deeds for which they are to be commended, but many have not surrendered to a true relationship with their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Christian faith declared in the Bible is one of trust in a relationship with a Person, rather than in a religion, institution or organization.

Relationship not Religion

When we stand before God one day, He will not ask us whether we are Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran or Methodist. He will only ask us why He should allow us into His kingdom. How will you respond to that question? Will you tell Him what denomination you belonged to or that you attended church every Sunday? Will you try and tell Him you were a "good and moral person" who did works of charity? The biblical truth is that God doesn't consider any of these responses to be worthy of admission into heaven. Our prayer is that we'll all be able to respond to Him with an answer that He will honor: "I have confessed Christ before man and You Lord, and it is by grace alone that I come into your heaven."

Christianity is not really a religion; it is a relationship with God. It is trusting in Jesus and what He did on the cross for you (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), not on what you can do for yourself (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christianity is not about ornate buildings, flamboyant preachers, or traditional rituals. Christianity is about truly accepting and obeying Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Broken people don't focus on the sins and issues of others. No, they are so aware of their need for a Savior that they work on themselves. Broken people don't demand their rights. No, they often lay them down. Broken people don't dodge responsibility for their actions. No, they are fully willing to accept the consequences of their sin.

I've heard more stories than I care to relate to you about people who can't or won't take responsibility for what they've done. They play the blame game and run like crazy until they are far from the situation. If you've fallen into sin, own it. Even if you feel like you did something because of someone or because that someone didn't meet your needs.

Newsflash: You sinned. You made the choice to sin. You need to make it right. No matter what anyone else did first. You are still responsible for you!

Action Steps
Do you find that you dodge responsibility for your actions? Do you ever blame someone else for your sinful actions? Spend some time with the Father today and ask Him to reveal to you why you take this path so often.