Every one talks about saving the world, but neglects to see the world is full of individual lives; that our work begins with helping those nearby in the simplest ways.
Faith knows God is in our corner even in rounds where we feel ourselves taking a beating; that Christ declares our victory before the bell has even rung.
Faith sees God’s hand over every step of our spiritual race, including any missteps.
The next time you feel hopeless and helpless in your war with sin, remember that Jesus Christ is on your side, and His Spirit will never forsake His post within you.
Paul told the saints at Ephesus to put on the “helmet of salvation.” This was to say, an assured faith in Jesus Christ is essential for the believer’s battle with this world. Hope that is grounded on the promises of God is the armor best-suited to protect the mind as we push onward, upward, against so many opposing ideas and temptations.
There is more treachery in doubting the grace of God to restore a sinner than there is in the sin itself, by which he fell.
After a Christian sins, he may collapse into a paralysis of guilt and despair. What he ought to do instead is trust God for mercy, resolve again to live by the Spirit’s power, and keep moving forward. Imagine a soldier stumbling over a trip-wire in a battle; instead of continuing to fight, he just lays there sobbing, “my commander must hate me! I am a failure!” The commander yells back at him, amid the noise of bullets whirring past, “I knew you were weak on your own beforehand, that is why I am with you! Now get up and fight for me and your brothers! You are no good on the ground—stand up, man! Fight!
Christianity affirms humanity to the extent that delicacies of daily life, as playing in the rain or enjoying good food and drink, become valid expressions of faith when done in a spirit of grateful trust toward our Father.
Why Do We Highly Value the Opinions of Famous People?
It is an alchemy of the modern age, that the cult of celebrity is so able to transform the limited proficiency of entertainers into a presumption of all-around expertise, one which the public too often accepts for gold. Men and women whose vocal cords vibrate nicely are somehow assumed to also possess definitive knowledge on every subject they might pontificate upon; their views on government, environment, and spirituality are held above the conclusions of professional historians, scientists, and ministers. The magic of celebrity makes every Bono a de facto Plato; his opinions are revered as godlike revelation. Homer’s proverbial warning not to heed the voice of sirens remains as true as ever. Therefore do as Odysseus: fill your ears with wax whenever you hear celebrities spouting their ideas with disproportioned authority, or else risk being enchanted by fame into acknowledging an otherwise unqualified perspective.
The worldly wicked prefer pleasures in the present at the expense of future blessedness. They will awake in the life to come with no inheritance stored up, but only judgment and wrath.
Regarding Psalms 17:13-14, “Deliver my soul from the wicked…men of the world whose portion in this life.”
