Not of Works

 

It is by grace you have been saved, through faithmdash;and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

—Ephesians 2:8-9

This verse offers a very powerful lesson for us. Please let me share what I hope will serve as a helpful illustration:

More than forty years ago, and over a period of many years, I accumulated an enormous amount of credit card debt. Almost all of that debt came about because I seemed compelled to help others by spending money to obtain things they needed. I did this for my church and other organizations to which I belonged. I did it for my friends and even for people I did not know well. I realize now that it was a kind of mental aberration where I was trying to boost my self-esteem by showing generosity to others. The end result was that I sunk deeply into debt.

Over time, and through the amazing grace of God, I was able to work my way out of over $100,000 in credit card debt spread across nine credit cards. As you might imagine, the interest payments alone were quite daunting. Nevertheless, God mercifully provided increases in salary and, more importantly, a new attitude toward my spending that allowed me to reduce my debt to zero and maintain it there ever since.

In the midst of this herculian effort, a check arrived in the mail from someone I had known in the past, but whom I had not seen in nearly ten years. This individual was known to be quite wealthy. The letter accompanying the check indicated that he was sending me this money because he had felt prompted to share in the recent sale of his extensive property holdings. He remarked that he had always appreciated a seminar that I had led at his principal company—an event that had taken place nearly twenty years before.

As you might imagine, I was stunned by the generosity of this unexpected gift. Here was someone who had no idea whatsoever of the financial challenge that I was trying to work my way through. He was someone with whom I had always had a friendly relationship, but whom I would not have necessarily considered a close friend. Yet, he had responded to some prompting and sent me a substantial gift.

I certainly did not deserve this amazing gift. He had paid me quite well for the seminar that I had provided those many years ago. He had no reason whatsoever to reach out to me at this time. Still, here was an unexpected gift that would help me pay down my debt even faster than I had imagined.

I wrote a very grateful letter to this benefactor, thanking him for his kindness and trying to express how timely his unexpected gift had been. I also bowed my head and thanked God, for I believed that it was very likely that God had prompted this man to act so generously towards me.

In the verse at the beginning of this blog post, the Apostle Paul reminds the Christians in Ephesus—and us, as well—that the salvation we have received from God has come to us as a precious gift of God’s grace. We have received this gift by the faith that God the Holy Spirit has generated within us.

We had nothing whatsoever to do with this gift. We did not deserve it. We did not earn it. In fact, nothing that we had ever done, or ever would do, qualified us to receive this amazing gift from God. Our salvation from the just penalty for the sins that we had both inherited and committed has come to us purely because of God’s unfailing and undying love for us.

As we begin another day, we should clearly praise God for His great love. And, we should willingly, even eagerly, share what He has done for us that others around us will know what God can do for them, as well.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Act of Worship

 

I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God— this is your spiritual act of worship.

—Romans 12:1

As a teenager, probably no other verse of Scripture was quoted as much in our youth group meetings than the verse at the beginning of this blog post. I imagine that the timing of my young life—growing up in the late 1950s and early 1960s—played quite well into the reasons why our leaders chose to emphasize this verse.

I grew up in the time just before the great sexual revolution of the mid to late 1960s. Though they existed, birth control measures were not readily available to young people. Sexual experimentation that took place in those days was far more limited than it has become today. Church-going teenagers were constantly being urged to maintain sexual purety until they were married. So, you can see how this verse might play well into the strategy of youth group leaders who were trying to help teens avoid the shame of premarital sexual relations and the possibility of pregnancy outside the boundaries of marriage.

Of course, this verse means a great deal more than simply urging people to remain sexually pure. The Apostle Paul lived at a time where many sins of the flesh were quite commonplace. Here, Paul urges “Christ’s-ones” to willingly give the physical modality of their beings, represented by their bodies, over to God as living sacrifices.

Since certain religions required actual physical sacrifice unto death, Paul contrasts those horrible religions with the Christian faith that wants its believers to give themselves alive to God as a spiritual act of worship. How much more pleasing it would be to give oneself to God while still alive and able to obediently serve Him.

As we begin each new day, this urging of the Apostle should become a watchword for us. We should daily determine to give God our human physical modality as a symbol that we have subjected to His perfect will all of our four human modalities. In giving God the stength of our bodies, we also give Him our hearts, minds, and souls.

When we turn every aspect of our humanity over to the supernatural control of the Holy Spirit, only then can we begin to experience the maximum joy of full obedience to God. With God in control of our lives, we can go forward serving Him with the totality of who we are as human beings.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Withered Flowers

 

All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.

—1 Peter 1:24-25

It has become quite a cliche for some jilted lovers to send wilted, dead flowers as a parting gift to the one who has broken off his or her relationship with the one who has become jilted. To me, it seems like too nasty a dirty trick. But, the number of times the popular culture has encorporated this action into the storyline of television programs and movies indicates the nature of how this practice has taken hold.

I wonder if you or I would like to be thought of as a bunch of withered flowers? And yet, that is exactly the image that the Apostle Peter uses in the verse at the beginning of this blog post.

In the particular passage of Scripture in which these verses appear, Peter urges those receiving his letter to understand that God expects Christians to move toward holiness. In theological terms, we call this “sanctification.”

After God has revealed to someone that He has chosen that one to belong to Him and provided salvation through the death, resurrection, and ascension of His Son, Jesus, God intends for His chosen ones to move away from the godlessness of this sinful world toward the world to come where the main characteristic will be holiness. This is not something that we believers can do by ourselves. Rather, it is a lifelong process that is fueled by the Holy Spirit, who dwells within all humans who have acknowledged the gift that God has given them.

When Peter describes humans as grass that withers and dies and flowers that fall, he contrasts this temporal condition with the Word of God that stands forever. Peter is urging his readers to put aside all those things that are tied to the life and death cycle of this world and to cling instead to the Word of God that lasts forever.

As we begin another new day, we will do well if we immerse ourselves in God’s written Word. The more we read, meditate, and learn about the God who has chosen us to belong to Himself, the more we will be able to choose to follow Him in obedience along the pathway of sanctification—that is, the pathway towards holiness.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Judging the Heart

 

The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

—Hebrews 4:12

The writer of the letter to the Hebrew Christians scattered across the then-known world spends a great deal of time emphasizing what we might jusifiably call “right living.” If they are to experience the fullness of the Christian life, right living is a choice that all followers of Jesus must make.

In the verse at the beginning of this blog post, the writer strives to illustrate how important and how powerful God’s written Word is to the success of a Christian’s ability to move toward right living. The writer uses terms of military power quite familiar to the people living at this time.

The written Word of God is so powerful that it is like a sword that has been sharpened on both edges. It can penetrate to the depths of whatever it pierces. Just as such a sword will split bodily tissue and divide bone, muscle, and connecting tissue, so the written Word of God can divide the soul and spirit—that is, the human modalities of the emotional being and the spiritual being. Furthermore, the written Word of God judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

In our current societal norms, we tend to emotionalize almost everything. We particularly emotionalize all matters that relate to our spiritual human modality. We accept the falsehood that all matters relating to spiritual things must have a huge emotional connection. This is simply not true.

Human spirituality exists separately from emotion. That is not to say that the spiritual modality—often referred to in Scripture as our “soul”—does not affect the other three human modalities: heart, mind, and strength. But, the very essence of our spiritual modality exists free from any anchor the other three modalities may try to attach to it.

Thus, the written Word of God has power to divide our spiritual modality from any adverse connection to the other three human modalities that may hinder spiritual formation and development. Unlike the characterizations that our society may try to espouse, our spiritual connection to God exists in the supernatural realm. Our God is a spirit and our connection with Him resides in the spiritual world—a world beyond anything that exists in the common daily existence of our society.

The written Word of God, the Bible, makes the spiritual and supernatural come alive. It does so by judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. In other words, we control our emotional human modality by allowing the spiritual human modality to regain and maintain its rightful control over all three of our other human modalities, but especially the emotional modality.

If this seems too weird, please keep remembering the words of Jesus found in John 4:24:

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Thoroughly Equipped

 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

—2 Timothy 3:16-17

As a firefighter in the mid-1960s, I can remember the efforts I took to make certain I always had the right equipment available to me when an alarm sounded and we had to respond. I even made a checklist that I would review before I began each shift:

• helmet
• boots
• bunker pants
• coat
• gloves
• flashlight
• pocket spanner wrench
• pocket knife
• self-contained breathing apparatus

Without the proper equipment at hand, I could not do the various tasks I might face when we arrived at a fire.

In the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post, the Apostle Paul urges his son-in-the-faith, Timothy, to make certain that Timothy keeps himself thoroughly equipped in order to accomplish every good work. Paul explains that the way to do this is to maintain a very close relationship to the written Word of God.

Paul insists that all Scripture comes to us from the very mouth of God. Paul uses the phrase “God-breathed” to describe how God has inspired the various authors to write down His words.

The Apostle continues, in this lesson for Timothy, to assert that the written Word of God is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training in righteousness. Each of these specific uses of Scripture has a subtle, yet important, distinction.

As one who will lead a group of Christians as their pastor, or minister, Timothy must understand each of these distinctions. And, while Paul does not elaborate on these distinctions in this passage, he surely knows that, through past times of sharing, he has made clear to Timothy the various occasions where it will become necessary to use each one.

For our part, we need to remember this lesson, too. God’s written Word has great power and great importance in our spiritual formation and development. We depend on the Bible to help us learn more and more about this God who loves us with His everlating love. By setting aside time each day to read and meditate of what God’s written Word teaches, we open ourselves up to become vessels of knowledge that we can then share with others who may cross the pathway of our lives.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

A Timely Word

 

A man finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word!

—Proverbs 15:23

Sharing a timely word offers a person one of the very best things that one can do. Sometimes the timely word consists of encouragement. Almost everyone responds positively to hearing someone else share with them some encouraging words. In the midst of a very discouraging day, hearing words of encouragement can lift a person out of despair and open the door that leads to hope.

In the Bible, one of the Apostle Paul’s companions on his missionary journeys was called Barnabus. That was not his given hame. Rather, it was a nickname that others gave to him because he was always saying something that lifted the spirits of those to whom he spoke. Barnabus means “Son of Encouragement.” How wonderful it would be if someone gave you or me that name. It would be truly significant to have someone call us by a name that acknowledged the fact that, when we spoke, we brought encouragement to others.

Sometimes, a timely word brings warning or admonition. Often, people don’t like to hear words of warning or admonition. I once had the privilege of attending a church where the pastor definitely had the spiritual gift of prophecy—not the ability to foretell the future, but the strong gift from God of declaring the truth of God’s written Word with Holy Spirit amplified power.

I looked forward each week to hearing the message that God had laid on this dear servant’s heart. But, I was definitely in the minority. Most other people in this congregation came to dislike, even despise, this pastor. Why? Because the words he spoke in his sermon each week had such great convicting power. You could not listen to one of his sermons without sensing the Holy Spirit pushing you to respond by making a change in the way you chose to live your life. Many people did not like that feeling.

Whether we give words of encouragement or words of admonition and warning, we do well when we allow God to nudge us to speak a timely word to the people God brings across the pathway of our lives. We can become obedient instruments of God’s mercy, grace, and abiding love whenever we speak timely words to others.

As we begin another new day, let’s determine to allow God to use us to speak timely words to others. Our own souls will become enriched if we allow God to use us in this way.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Let Me Help You

 

Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

—Galatians 6:2

I have always lived a very independent life. I suppose this began in childhood. As an only adopted child who lived in a neighborhood where no other children lived, I became quite used to doing things for myself.

The last twenty years of my life have become quite a struggle, as increasingly I have lost the ability to do most things for myself. But, the beauty of my infirmity rests in the fact that God has given me this blessing so that I would learn to appreciate the loving care that I receive from others. So, the verse at the beginning of this blog post has come to mean so very much to me, even though I am always the one on the receiving end of the burden bearing of others.

The hardest part for me, as I try to learn how best to depend on the burden bearing of others, has come from the frustration I feel when I cannot do things for myself that, for most of my life, I did mostly without even thinking about a particular task. Please let me explain through this illustration:

Recently, the church I attend moved from our previous location at a hotel meeting room to a different building. The church I attend is now renting space from another congregation whose service times fall earlier on Sunday morning, giving our church the ability to hold services at a more normal time frame, just before noon. In setting up our sound system during a work day, I became very frustrated and my frustration gave those around me the false impression that I was angry.

Our sound equipment resides in a large professional equipment case. The case contains four wireless microphone receivers, the sound system 18-channel mixing engine, and a digital recorder. At this new location, we will plug the output from the equipment in this case into one of the normally unused inputs of the existing church’s sound system. This will allow us to use our normal equipment without disturbing the equipment setup used by the existing church.

A problem arose when no one present during our workday knew how to turn on the power to and operate the controls of the existing church’s sound system. The power switch, controls, and mixing board for that system exist on a raised platform at the rear of the sanctuary.

If I had been able to climb the two steps up onto that platform, because of my 62 years of working with professional sound system equipment, I would have known exactly what to do to turn the existing system on and how to set the controls so our sound system would operate properly through that existing system.

But, I can’t climb stairs—even two short steps. In trying to explain to someone else what he needed to do, my frustration with myslef came out in a way that offended a third person who was present.

When I was told how I had annoyed and offended the other person, I was heartbroken. I had never intended my frustration with myself to cause harm to someone else. I was ashamed and immediately placed a telephone call to the offended person in order to apologize. Fortunately that individual very graciously received my apology.

You see, the hardest thing for me to do is to contain my frustration with myself so that I don’t cause others to feel offended. Far too often, people perceive my frustration with myself as anger. They don’t realize that I am not angry—I am only frustrated with my inability to do the kinds of things that, in the past, I have always been able to do without help from anyone else.

I have to coach myself in every situation to not allow my frustration with myself to cause harm. In other words, part of allowing others to bear my burdens requires me to accept their burden bearing with grace and gratitude. Instead of frustration with my inability to do things for myself, I must learn how to experience the joy that God intends when someone willingly extends their help to me.

Burden bearing comes alive as a two-way street. The one who gladly gives of himself or herself in order to bear the burden of another fulfills the law of Christ. At the same time, the one whose burden is borne by another must also humbly and thankfully receive that burden bearing as the true gift from God that it is.

I’m trying very hard to learn this important lesson. Perhaps in sharing my own struggle with you, it will help you to view the subject of burden bearing in a new way. At least that is my fondest hope for this particular blog post.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Best Desire

 

I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.

—Psalm 40:8

Have you ever wanted to do something so much that the desire consumed you? I have.

Beginning in seventh grade and extending all the way through high school graduation, the President’s Council on Physical Fitness required all teenagers to endure physical education class five days a week throughout the school year. That 50-minute long period each day always represented the most miserable time of the day for me.

In those long ago days, if some advertising agency ever needed the perfect example of someone whose personal physical fitness hovered near zero, I could easily meet that need. I can imagine the poster or television commercial advertisement that ad agency might make:

“Want to live as long as possible? Don’t be like this fat slob! Go to the gym and become physically fit and you will live a long and fruitful life!”

In any case, during all six of those torturous years, I longed to wake up some morning with a new body, new strength, new innate ability, and a new attitude. I dreamed of becoming transformed from “Mr. Fat Slob” to “Mr. Handome Athlete.” I could almost feel the change in people’s outlooks towards me. Where once they laughed at my inability to accomplish the tasks required of those who were physically fit, I now had moved to the top of the chart. Football? Basketball? Softball? Gymnastics? I had become a star.

You may argue that had I really wanted to achieve all of that I could have done so. But, I didn’t and I couldn’t. I remained the fat slob who finally arrived back at the starting point twenty minutes after all of the other cross country runners had completed the race.

In the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post, King David expresses his overwhelming desire to do God’s will and also describes the solution to achieving that goal in a very few words. David shares that he is consumed with a desire to become obedient to doing what God wants David to do. And, David expresses his understanding of the way to achieve his great desire: to keep God’s law within his heart.

As followers of Jesus, David’s desire should become our desire. David’s solution to reaching the goal expressed by his desire should become our pathway in life. Just as David learns how to become one who does the will of God by keeping God’s law within his heart, so we should learn how to become obedient servants of God by keeping the truth of His written Word, the Bible, within the very core of our being.

The truth of God’s written Word should permeate every one of our four human modalities: heart, soul, mind, and strength— or, our emotional being, our spiritual being, our intellectual being, and our physical being. If we strive to make that desire become a reality, we will achieve the same kind of peace that King David achieved.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Joy Restored

 

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

—Psalm 51:12

When we fall into the depths of despair, we do not need to stay in that deep, dark place. While we may often have no control over the circumstances of our lives that may drag us into the place of despair, we do have the ability to call out to God and ask Him to lift us up and out of the pit.

In the verse at the beginning of this blog post, King David finds himself in despair. Try as he might, David cannot turn the tide that rushes over him. The Prophet Nathan has come to David and disclosed that God has observed David’s sin with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of Bathsheba’s husband. David feels mortified and consumed by sadness at the sin he has committed. David mourns over his sin. And, as a result, David falls into a place of despair.

One of the qualities that makes King David a good example for us comes to the surface when we observe David recognizing that he has a way out of despair. David calls on God to lift himself out of the pit by restoring the joy that comes from the salvation that God has provided. We can do exactly what David has done.

When we find ourselves feeling dragged downward into despair, we can bow our hearts and heads and ask God to lift us up. We can pray the same prayer that David prayed. We can ask God to restore our joy—the joy that comes when we receive the salvation that God has given us. We do not need to stay in the pit. We have a way out.

In our darkest hours, God has given us this lesson from King David. We can ask God to restore our joy and grant us a willing spirit. Our ability to face the trials of this life comes from God, who gives us the strength and fortitude to bend our human will to His perfect will. When we do that, we can again feel our joy restored.

May God remind us of what He has done for David. As Stuart Hamblen wrote so meaningfully:

The chimes of time ring out the news
Another day is through
Someone slipped and fell
Was that someone you?
You may have longed for added strength
Your courage to renew
Do not be disheartened
For I have news for you

Chorus:
It is no secret what God can do
What He’s done for others
He’ll do for you
With arms wide open
He’ll pardon you
It is no secret what God can do

There is no night, for in His light
You'll never walk alone
You'll always feel at home wherever you may roam
There is no power can conquer you
While God is on your side
Take Him at His promise
Don’t run away and hide

Chorus:
It is no secret what God can do
What He’s done for others
He’ll do for you
With arms wide open
He’ll pardon you
It is no secret what God can do

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

True Delight

 

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

—Psalm 37:4

Have you ever felt delight? Maybe you remember some time in your childhood when your parents gave you a special gift. You opened the package and felt such gratitude that a big smile of surprise creased your face and an expression of great joy escaped from your lips.

I remember one Christmas when I had asked for a very special toy. The toy was a robot sitting on top of a car. I could move the helmet on the robot’s head forward and underneath were buttons I could slide up or down in order to control the pattern the car would follow when I turned on the power switch. The robot sitting on the car was about 12-inches tall and the car was probably 7-inches wide and 15-inches long. So, this was a rather large toy.

Because we were quite poor, I later had a strong sense that my parents had saved over a very long period of time so that they could buy this toy for me. I look back on that experience from a vantage point of 65 years later with a certain amazement that my parents loved me so much that they would make such a sacrifice.

Even more, when I think back over all the days of my life, I feel enormous gratitude that God loved me so much that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to become a human, to suffer on the cross of Calvary, to die, and to rise again, so that in Christ”s suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension He has redeemed me—paid the penalty for my sins and given me an eternal home in heaven.

As if that great gift of God’s unfailing love was not enough, as the verse at the beginning of this blog post declares, God has taught me through the words of King David that if I delight myself in the Lord, He will give me what my heart desires.

Now I realize that this verse has a very clever meaning. On the one hand, it means exactly what it declares. But, it also indicates that if I delight in the Lord, He will place into my heart those desires that please Him.

In other words, in our obedience to God, He will transform our desires from ones that are rooted in our earthly, selfish mindsets into desires that honor Him and give Him glory. That, my dear ones, is a wonderful, wonderful reality, It is a reality in which we can and should live.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Pleasing Words

 

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

—Psalm 19:14

A couple of years ago, back in the days when I walked with two canes, I had decided to make a rare appearance at our nearby mall. As I walked slowly through a moderately sized group of shoppers, a young woman, probably in her early twenties, stopped as she walked toward me.

“Do you realize what a fat, ugly pig you are?” she blurted out. “You should stay home and spare us from looking at your fat, horrid body and ugly face!”

As you might imagine, I was startled. The very fact that someone I didn’t know would even speak to me in such a public place was a surprise. That her words and her tone of voice held such hostility was even more startling.

I didn’t say anything to her. I just kept walking slowly toward the store I had come to the mall to visit. But, her words haunted me.

I am very well aware that I am morbidly obese. I have been extremely fat since I was a young child. I inherited an endomorphic body type from my birth mother. As I have recounted on this blog previously, I had always been told my birth mother was so obese that she was able to conceal her pregnancy from everyone until the day she gave birth. So, I come by the tendency to be fat, you might say, “naturally.” As to looking “ugly,” it certainly is true that I will never be asked to pose as a male model for a fashion magazine.

I recount this story, not to solicit pity, but to illustrate how powerful words can become in shaping our thinking. In fact, I should not care one bit about what some woman I do not know said about me. Instead of thinking very much about it, I should dismiss her observations completely. After all, she doesn’t know me at all. Apart from the little value her words might have to use as an illustration in a blog post, what she had to say means nothing. Yet, words do have great power.

The Scripture verse with which I opened this blog post shares a prayer of King David found as the closing phrase in one of David’s great Psalms. As with many Psalms, this Psalm 19 comes in the form of a prayer. David expresses to God a desire to have God control every aspect of David’s being, including the words that come out of his mouth. Since David realizes that the words he might speak come from deep within the core of his being, David also asks God to control the meditation of his heart. In other words, David desires God to place within the depths of David’s being thoughts, wishes, hopes, and dreams—those things that would prove pleasing to God.

I believe this is a prayer we should take to heart. Each day during this coming week, I invite you to join me in praying this prayer. As we start each new day, let’s do so by asking God in prayer:

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

No God But You

 

How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.

—2 Samuel 7:22

I once overheard this conversation between two individuals who sat next to each other on a four-hour cross-country plane ride:

“I must confess that I have never met anyone quite like you.”

“Is that so? And, is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Oh! That’s a very good thing!”

I must tell you that I smiled as I listened to these two people become friends. What a lovely conversation. One person recognizes the unique qualities that the other person has displayed during their few hours of conversation. The other person receives that affirmation with a certain joy and thankfulness. This represents a truly positive outcome from spending several hours on what could have become just another routine flight.

On the one part, I must congratulate the first person for having the ability to perceive the value of the person in the next airplane seat. On the other part, I must congratulate the second person for offering enticing conversation that provoked such a positive response from the seatmate. Both parties deserve recognition for their contribution to this new-found and growing relationship.

In the Scripture verse that begins this blog post, King David prays a prayer of gratitude to God. David’s prayer follows a lengthy prophesy that the Prophet Nathan delivers to the King on behalf of God. Nathan outlines exactly the many ways in which God intends to bless David, as David reigns over Israel. Quite naturally, in great humility, David prays his thanksgiving to God in a most eloquent prayer.

In his prayer, David makes the declaration contained in this quoted verse. David acknowledges that God is great, that there is no one like Him, and that He alone is the one true God. David’s declaration is very much like the one I heard on that airplane, as two people became acquainted with each other and the first person declared: “I must confess that I have never met anyone quite like you.”

Pondering God’s unfailing love for us, thinking about all that He has done for us and continues to do for us, feeling gratitude that, through the in-dwelling Holy Spirit, God continues to lay out a pathway for our lives, as we begin this new day, it would be very well for us to give to God this same acknowledgement that King David gave. We can rightly say to God: “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you!”

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Nonconforming

 

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

—Romands 12:2

Our society in the United States has become increasingly one that requires people to conform to norms dictated by those who believe they control everything. For the most part, this has become the exclusive domain of those who think in so-called “progressive” ways. Of course, progressivism actually represents political, social, even spiritual contexts that move ever more deeply into a society that would follow the dictates of Karl Marx and his cohorts.

While few seem willing to declare it openly, through progressive teaching in our education system, including institutions of higher learning, young people get a strong push towards Communism and the unified state-control of all aspects of life. A majority of people, especially young people, miss the fact that this push destroys every aspect of the freedom on which our national foundation rests. Instead of offering a “progressive”—that is, a forward, ever-improving direction—this philosophy will doom our freedoms to obliteration.

In contrast to this social, political, and spiritual push within our society to conform, we find the Scripture verse quoted at the beginning of this blog post. This verse follows another very crucial instruction from the Apostle Paul that I will share in a later blog post this month. For now, let’s examine what this verse from Romans 12:2 instructs.

The teaching from the Apostle seems quite clear:

• Stop doing what you have been doing!
  
  
• Do not conform to the pattern of this world.
  
  
• Become transformed by the renewing of your mind.
  
  
• As a result, you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is for your life.
  
  
• Once you do this, you will discover that God’s will is good, pleasing, and perfect.
  
  

As you can clearly see, this teaching of the Apostle Paul completely destroys the direction in which our current society has chosen to move toward. In place of every aspect of our lives controlled by a centralized federal government, God intends for us to make full use of the freedoms that He has given us and to surrender our selfish and flawed human will to His divine and perfect will. He wants us to give ourselves wholeheartedly to Him.

As we begin a new day, let’s not lose sight of the fact that God has given us the freedom to choose this day whom we will serve. I have no idea what pathway you will choose. But, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, and Him only.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Careful Planning

 

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

—Jeremiah 29:11

The motivational speaker concluded his two-hour lecture on successful management with these words:

“Plan your work and work your plan!”

As he finished speaking, I looked at the three pages of notes that I had taken and thought that his summary offered a fair representation of what he had taught during that session.

From my study of the Mind Styles™ insights provided by Anthony F. Gregorc, Ph.D., I also knew that actually sitting down to analyze goals, enabling objectives, and strategies, and to then formulate a concrete plan would prove very difficult for individuals who had very little Concrete-Sequential in their array of Mind Styles. Those with a dominance of the Abstract-Random or the Concrete-Random Mind Style would much rather do anything other than disciplined planning.

Part of the power of the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post rests in the fact that the Master Planner of the universe has stated that He has plans for His dearly loved children. The Prophet Jeremiah has recorded this declaration from God in a letter that Jeremiah sent to those from Israel who found themselves in exile in Babylon.

The entire letter contains very specific instruction as to what those in exile should do. To give them proper encouragement, God makes the declaration in this verse. He tells these ones in exile that He remains in control of every aspect of their existence. He has a plan for them. It is a plan that He has created and knows. He tells them that His plans for them will prosper them and give them hope for a future.

As I’ve stated in previous blog posts, some of my more liberal Christian friends sincerely believe that such a verse does not apply to us today. I heartily disagree. Just as God had Jeremiah send these words to those in exile in Babylon, as I read this verse I sense how much it applies to us “Christ’s-ones” today.

We have been exiled from intimate fellowship with God by the sin curse that has befallen us since the Garden of Eden. Even in the United States of America—which wise men founded on straightforward Judeo-Christian principles—we have, in my lifetime, become more and more distant from God’s ideal way of living. In a sense, we have become exiled from the God who loves us.

So, when I read the words in this verse, I strongly sense the Holy Spirit applying them to our own circumstances, as modern day followers of Jesus. God knows the plans He has for us. Through the whole counsel of God, He declares that He has a plan to prosper us spirtually and not to harm us, to give us hope and a future. Truly, as we obediently follow the pathway God lays out before us, we can recognize that these words remain true for us, just as they proved true for those in exile in Babylon.

We must begin this day by praising God for His faithfulness to us. He loves us with His unfailing, undying love. He has our best interest at heart. He has a plan for us. Let us obediently stay on the pathway that He lays out before us. And, with hearts filled with humility and gratitude, let us cling to Him with all of our four human modalities: heart, soul, mind, and strength.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Straight Paths

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

—Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust is a learned response. Some people seem to trust easily. Others have greater difficulty in giving their trust. Each one handles trust because of what the experiences in their lives have taught them. I assert once again: trust is a learned response.

With that in mind, we can examine the verse at the beginning of this blog post in light of what our life experiences have taught us. Almost everyone prefers to have the pathway of his or her life laid out in a straight direction, so it becomes possible to see where one is headed. In fact, if the pathway is straight enough, the traveler can see quite far into the future and develop confidence that if he or she stays on that straight path, the road ahead will have some predictability.

Of course, life really isn’t all that predictable. We never really know what perils may await us, hidden in the bushes alongside the straight pathway. Nevertheless, if we can see far enough ahead to take a deep breath and strike out in a forward direction, we can move on with some degree of confidence.

Thus, the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post has become the guiding principle for many followers of Jesus. Conceptually, if we trust in the Lord with all our being and determine to not lean on our own understanding—that is to say, resting solely on how we perceive life to be—and if we acknowledge God’s divine hand on our lives, then He will provide a straight pathway for us.

As a teenager, I was encouraged to find and adopt a verse of Scripture by which I would determine to guide my life. Along with any number of my peers, I chose this verse. I am so glad that I did. The truth of the Scripture verse has proven completely accurate over the course of my life. Whenever I have set aside my own understanding, trusted in God, and acknowledged His Presence as the guiding force in my life, He has laid out the pathway of my life in a straight direction.

Yes, I have had numerous perils along the way. In many cases, those perils arose from my own foolishness. In other cases, I had afflictions that came as the result of living in a sin-cursed world—the kind of perils that everyone faces in this life. Through every trial and difficulty, in the good times and in the bad times, God has always proven faithful to the words of this verse.

Without hesitation, I can commend this verse to anyone who desires to bend their selfish human will to God’s divine and perfect will. I urge everyone who will read this blog post to do exactly what this verse says to do. I can guarantee that anyone who obediently follows the guidelines of this verse will never be disappointed.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Hold Fast

 

You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

—Deuteronomy 13:4

Someone once described an extremely well-educated person as a person who knew more and more about less and less until they knew everything about nothing. I don’t exactly resonate with that sentiment. I happen to believe that education and skills-training has great value. In fact, I had the privilege during my time as the Director of Training for a large insurance company to lead a team that completely revamped the training program, turning it into a skills-based certification program. So, make no mistake, I hold education and skills-training in high regard.

Nevertheless, I can somewhat understand what the person who coined that description of higher level education intended to describe. I have known individuals who had so immersed themselves in knowledge about a particular subject that they could hardly function in the broader world.

A bit of a practical example of that came to mind recently when I read a post on Facebook by someone who had completed seminary training at a liberal seminary, in order to become a pastor. This person argued that many Evangelical Christians pick and choose key passages from the Old Testament that surely do not apply in our modern age. This pastor insisted that the Evangelicals like to quote these Scripture passages even though, in the opinion of the individual writing the Facebook post, they quote the passages out of the context in which the passages originally applied. This liberal seminary-trained pastor asserted that the Old Testament no longer applies to today.

As I read this Facebook post, I did a bit of a double-take at this last assertion. I did so because the entirety of Scripture—Old Testament and New Testament—provides us with what scholars call “the whole counsel of God.”

Of course, certain rules and regulations contained within the Mosaic Law no longer apply to us because—when God sent His Son, Jesus, to earth—a New Covenant was established. At the same time, as Romans 11 clearly states, God has grated us Gentile believers into the vine of His chosen people, the Jews. We remain Gentiles. But, God has chosen us, just as surely as He chose the people of Israel to be His special ones.

The point I am leading to lies in the fact that as “Christ’s-ones,” we have much to learn from, and to cling to, the truth contained in the pages of the Old Testament. A case in point is the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post. This verse from the Mosaic Law found in the Book of Deuteronomy—the last Book of the Torah—gives us instruction that certainly applies to our walk with God today.

Notice the elements of this verse:

• Walk after the Lord your God
• Fear Him
• Keep His commandments
• Obey His voice
• Serve Him and hold fast to Him

As we begin our walk with God each day, these five precepts certainly have great power to guide our lives. As enabled by the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, we can move through the events of each day following a pathway that is marked by obedience: in our walk, in our reverence to God, in our obedience to His commandments, in listening for Him speaking to the depths of our innermost being, in serving Him and holding fast to Him. Most surely, those marching orders give us a wise way to live.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

No Other Savior

 

“I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.”

—Isaiah 43:11-12

As a teenager, I had the privilege of spending time at two Christian summer camps. One camp, Camp Findley of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, was located on the lovely Findley Lake in western New York State, just 45 minutes from my current residence. I met my wife of 52 years there when I was just 15 years old. The second Christian summer camp, Odosagih Bible Conference, was located on the western shore of Lime Lake in Machias, New York—in central western New York State, southeast of Buffalo, NY—just about two hours from my current residence. The significant impact of these two Christian camps on the spiritual formation during my teenage years cannot be denied. I had the privilege of hearing many encouraging and motivating Bible teachers.

On particular Bible teacher at Odosagih Bible Conference was Marlin C. “Butch” Hardman, at that time the Director of Youth for Christ International in Washington, DC. Butch Hardman began one teaching session with these words:

“In this life, if you cannot be smart, handsome, or cool, at least be unique.”

I have thought about that potent phrase many times over the years. The fact that Butch Hardman was smart, handsome, and very cool also made him quite unique among the people that I knew in those younger days of my life. Nevertheless, his suggestion that a person develop those characteristics that make one unique has always had the ring of truth to me.

In the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post, God declares that He is unique. He states that He alone is the one and only savior. He alone is the one true God. He alone is the only one with the power to create. And, He alone is the only one with the power to save.

As we begin another day, let’s remember that the One who has chosen us to belong to Himself is the only one who can save us from the penalty of our sins. That is the very reason why God sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die in our place. God has saved us. He has called us to Himself. He sustains us. He delivers us from the powers of sin, death, and Satan. Our God is totally and completely and absolutely unique. He is no strange god. He is our God!

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Trapped in the Desert

 

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

—Psalm 63:1

Think for a moment with me, if you will. What was the time in your life when you felt the most thirsty you have ever felt? You wanted a drink of water so badly that you could hardly stand it. Your mouth was chokingly dry. You couldn’t produce any saliva if you tried. Or, maybe, you have never had such a circumstance. Maybe you’ve never felt the need for a drink of water to that extent.

In the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post, the Psalmist David built an entire Psalm on the theme of intense thirst. In this case, King David likened the need for a drink of water to quench a thirst in his very soul. Just as an extremely thirsty person seeks for that soothing drink of water, so King David declares that his soul thirst for God. David declares that he earnestly seeks God because God is the only refreshment that can meet the need of the entirety of David’s being.

Have you every felt such a need? Has there ever been a time in your life when you so greatly longed for God that knowing He was present soothed your soul like the coolest drink of water soothes the thirst of a person trapped in the hottest desert? I have had such an experience on a number of occasions in my life.

In each of those times when my soul needed refreshment, God was always present. He was the One—the only One—who could satisfy the need of my soul.

Dallas Holm has written a song that illustrates this truth with a truly moving melody that supports these words:

The world will try to satisfy
That longing in your soul.
You may search the wide world o’er
But you’ll be just as before!
You’ll never find true satisfaction
Until you’ve found the Lord,
For only Jesus can satisfy your soul.
Satisfy your soul, only…

Chorus:
Jesus can satisfy your soul,
And only He can change your heart and make you whole.
He’ll give you peace you never knew,
Sweet, love and joy and heaven too,
For only Jesus can satisfy your soul!

If you could have the fame and fortune,
All the wealth you could obtain.
Yet you have not Christ within,
Your living here would be in vain.
There’ll come a time when death shall call you
Riches cannot help you then,
So come to Jesus for only He can satisfy.
Satisfy your soul, only…

Chorus:
Jesus can satisfy your soul,
And only He can change your heart and make you whole.
He’ll give you peace you never knew,
(Sweet), love and joy and heaven too,
For only Jesus can satisfy your soul!

Christina Escamilla sings this lovely song:

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Everlasting Rock

 

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

—Isaiah 26:4

We learned in Elementary School science class how the flowing water of a river or stream will bear against the rocks in the river bed or stream bed and, over a long period of time, wear the surface of the rock until it becomes very smooth. Such water-smoothed rocks become quite valuable to builders who use these smooth rocks for fill in certain construction applications.

Imagine for a moment that there might exist a rock that water cannot affect. Such a rock has such hardness, such permanence, that no matter to what that rock may become subjected, it retains its original shape and substance. We know that no such rock exists on this earth. If we look at some great feat of nature, such as the Grand Canyon, we have all the proof of this reality that we need. Even the dense rocks of the mighty walls of that canyon cannot stand against the flow of water during hundreds, even thousands, of years.

But, a rock does exist that fits the definition of the rock that never changes. The Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post talks about just such a rock. And, God is that everlasting rock. Nothing can change Him. God tells us, in Revelation 1:8:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

As a result of this unyielding permanence of God, we can do exactly what the verse at the beginning of this blog post tells us to do. We can trust in the Lord. We can trust in Him because he never changes. No matter how fluid the circumstances of our lives may seem, God remains the same. He is the everlasting rock.

Each day, as we move out into the world of our lives, we can trust in the Lord to lead and guide us. He never changes. He will always give us all we need to live for Him and serve Him.

Back in the early 1970s, Stormie Omartian and Ronald S. Harris wrote a song that celebrates the very essence of this truth:

Life is moving faster than it ever has before.
What tomorrow brings us, isn’t certain anymore.
So many paths from which to choose,
Don’t know which way to run.
But every road leads nowhere except for one.

Praise the Lord, He never changes.
I talk to Him, He’s always there.
He comforts me on every level,
Takes the burden that I bear.
Praise the Lord, He never changes.
He’s never any other way.
And He’ll be the same tomorrow,
As He was and is today.

Friends and faces come and go like ashes in the wind.
Attitudes arise that I just don’t fully understand.
The things that you can count upon, grow fewer every day.
But when that number gets to one,
That One will show the way.

Praise the Lord, He never changes.
I talk to Him, He’s always there.
He comforts me on every level,
Takes the burden that I bear.
Praise the Lord, He never changes.
He’s never any other way.
And He’ll be the same tomorrow,
As He was and is today.

The Heritage Singers have recorded this delightful song. I urge you to listen to the music in this video:

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Seek God

 

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;

—Isaiah 55:6

The Prophet Isaiah was faced with the monumental task of holding people accountable to the Laws of God. As a prophet, Isaiah represented God to the people of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. This Kingdom consisted of Jewish people from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with some from the Tribe of Levi. Unlike their northern neighbors—the Jewish people from the remaining 10 tribes—Judah had remained much more faithful to God. As a result, God had given them wise prophets who led them through the times of distress for several hundreds of years.

In fact, Isaiah served as a prophet through the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, or a period of time of at least 64 years. For this period in history, a 64-year-long time of service was exceptional. During this time, Isaiah faced the struggle of constantly teaching the people the value of obedience to God and he spent a great deal of his efforts in trying to encourage deep spiritual formation on the part of the people God had placed under Isaiah’s care.

It should pose no surprise to us that, in the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post, Isaiah urges the people in his care to seek the Lord. Basically, Isaiah tells the people that God has made Himself available to them. While God has done this, it will prove wise for the people to take advantage of this special grace that God has given them. As long as God makes Himself available, the people should actively and ardently seek Him.

How should they seek God? By calling upon Him. In other words, if God has chosen to make Himself available, the people should call upon Him to help them live their lives in the best possible way.

Such an admonition certainly applies today for those of us whom God has called to Himself. We “Christ’s-ones,” or Christians, have the most fortunate circumstance that God has chosen to reveal Himself to us and call us to follow Him. No matter to what branch of the Christian faith we may belong, the reality remains that one way or another God has called us to Himself. In so doing, God has extended His grace to us. Why has He done this? Because He is a merciful God—that is, He is full of mercy. God is also overflowing with love. So, we can say with confidence that in His unfailing love and mercy, God has extended His grace to us and called us to Himself. He has united us with Himself through the sacrifice of His one and only Son, Jesus, whose precious blood has paid the penalty for our sins.

Having called us to Himself and transformed us from mere creatures to actual children—as clearly described in John 1:12. Because we are God’s children, we must heed the words of the Prophet Isaiah and seek the Lord because He has chosen to make Himself available to us. In seeking God, we must call upon Him because He has made Himself near to us.

As we begin another new day of life, these words from the Prophet Isaiah should breathe new energy into us. The very fact that, as God’s dearly loved children, He has drawn near to us, we should take full advantage and call upon Him. He is waiting to welcome us. He is longing to have fellowship with us. He wants to make our lives fairly glow with His divine Presence in and through us. So, let’s not hesitate to do as the Prophet suggests—this day and every day.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Safely Trusting

 

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

—Proverbs 29:25

At this particular time in our lives, there seems much to frighten us. In addition to the dreaded SARS-Cov-2 Pandemic, we also have a host of other fearful happenings. Other diseases seem to flourish these days. More and more people we know seem afflicted with heart disease, or some type of cancer, or failing mental accuity, or… Well, you can add to this list, I’m sure.

With so many sources of fear in our lives, it is more important than ever for us to find a source of hope that we can cling to in the midst of our darkest hours. That’s why the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post has such great importance.

King Solomon, one of the wisest men who ever lived, wrote this verse as part of the Proverbs he wanted the people of Israel to remember and by which they should set the course of their days on this earth. The verse, in particular, calls us to remain aware of the potent negativity that fear can bring into our lives.

The antidote to fear arises when we place our trust in God. In fact, King Solomon contends that trust in the Lord brings with it a safety that overcomes the negativity of fear.

As we begin this new day, let’s lay aside the fear that so easily grips our lives. Instead, let’s put our trust in the God who loves us with His everlasting, unfailing, and undying love. He is the one who can overcome fear in our lives. We remain safe when we trust in Him.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

A Great Heavenly Reward

 

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

—Matthew 5:11-12

At the beginning of the famous sermon of the Lord Jesus Christ found in Matthew 5, 6, and 7—the passage that Bible scholars have titled the “Sermon on the Mount”—we find a list of items that begin with the word “blessed.” Often referred to as “The Beatitudes,” these items chart a pathway for the life of one who believes in the life-transforming power of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

• Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  
  
• Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
  
  
• Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
  
  
• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
  
  
• Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
  
  
• Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
  
  
• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
  
  
• Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Then, we come to the last of this list of pathways to blessing. It is found in the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post:

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

In an age where many people despise the idea that there is a God who rules over the universe, a God who is holy and condemns sin, a God who expects people to worship Him, we who believe find ourselves experiencing both subtle and not so subtle persecution. In some parts of the world, this persecution has terrible physical consequences. Here in the United States, the persecution has a more psychological substance. Whether physical or psychological, the persecution is very real.

Our only hope comes from understanding that those who believe will become persecuted and this persecution comes with a great reward from the God who loves us and whom we serve. So, we need to take heart, hold our heads upright, and speak forth the praise of which our God is worthy.

We must not hide the Light of Christ under a bushel of our fear or reluctance. We must forthrightly proclaim that we belong to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In so doing, we will fulfill the purpose for which God has called us to Himself and redeemed us from our sins through the precious blood of His one and only Son, Jesus.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}