Blog Archives - The Apologetics Blog

God's Works

7/23/2014

Psalm 139:14b "Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well."

Lately I have made a habit of walking outside at night to stare up at the night sky. Every time that I see the stars, I think about the how vast space must be. What I am seeing is actually light-years away! It is awe-inspiring. It reminds me of the awesomeness of our Creator.

God has done more marvelous works than creating the sun, moon, and stars. He also created everything on earth, including you. He put each and every one of us together while we were still in our mother's womb. He even gave each of us a unique fingerprint. That shows how much He cares.

God made you, and He doesn't make junk. Each and every one of us is valuable in His sight, whether or not we realize it. If you haven't stopped to think about this, do so for a little while. You will begin to have a more in-depth understanding of God's goodness. In the end, this inspires worship.

Praise God

7/23/2014

Psalm 139:14a "I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made."

God took care when He created us. We are not merely an assortment of random matter. Rather, God took the time to form us in our mother's womb. King David realized that he had been "remarkably and wonderfully made". The same can be said for each and every one of us.

God took care when He created us. He knows how many breaths we will take in our lives, and He allows us to take each and every one. This is sufficient reason to praise God each and every day. Even when the times get tough, God still gives us breath.

If we want to know how much God cares about us, we need to look no further than our own bodies. God did not have to create the clotting mechanisms in the blood, but He did. God did not have to give us the mental capacity to understand as much as we do in modern times, but He chose to give us this mental capacity. Everyone has a reason to praise God.

Value

7/22/2014

Psalm 139:13 "For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb."

God values human life. Before we were even born, God began investing in our lives by forming us in our mother's womb. After we were born, God still valued our lives enough to send His Son to die in our place. God values us.

God even valued our lives before we were born. Before we were born, He knew how many hairs would be on our heads. He knew every step that we would take. He knew every choice that we would make. He had a plan for our lives before we were even born. He began investing in our lives before our birth.

The value that God places on our lives can be taken as a demonstration of how much He loves us. Not only did He have a plan for our lives before we were born, but He also sent His own Son to die in our place. God wouldn't have given up that much if He did not love and value us. Because God values human life so much, we need to value it, as well.

We even need to value our own lives. There are some days when I look in the mirror and don't like the person I see. However, I don't see things the way God sees them. God values us even when we don't value ourselves. God loves us, even when we don't love ourselves.

The Spirit-Led Mindset

7/21/2014

Romans 8:6 "For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace."

The way we think is just as important as the way we act. We don't usually think about this when we get the results we want out of our actions. Choosing to think differently can have a real impact on the way we live our lives. Paul the apostle was not shy in talking about the way we think.

There is a major difference between the Spirit-led mind-set and the mind-set of the flesh. This difference comes because, well, the flesh does not always want the same things for our lives that God's Spirit wants. God can see the entire chessboard, and ultimately places the pieces on the board in the strategic location that is best. We can only see a limited part of the chessboard and have a tendency to try out our own plans instead of trusting the Chess-master.

Whereas the mindset of the flesh ultimately tears us down, the Spirit-led mind-set ultimately builds us up and brings us closer to God. The mind-set we have can have a godly effect on our lives, or it could be the beginning of our self-destruction. Which effect it has depends on the mind-set we have, and the mind-set depends on who (or Who) is in charge of our lives.

If we really want to change the way we think, there is no better place to start than prayer and meditation on God's word. Set aside a time to talk to Him and to listen for Him to talk back. Seek Him, and as you follow Him you will find that your way of thinking changes. The more you pursue Him, the more radically your mind-set will change. This change is ultimately for our good and God's glory!

Don't Despise The Youth

7/20/2014

1 Timothy 4:12 "Let no one despise your youth; instead, you should be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."

Think of one person that you look up to because of their walk with God. Some of you thought of someone who was old and experienced, while others of you thought of someone young and full of life. Even though each of us may have thought of people of different age groups, all of us thought of someone who walked with God.

Since I became a Christian some 9 years ago, I have run across several people younger than I who have set an excellent example for anyone in the church to follow. Even though I am older than those to whom I refer, I still look up to them. It is not someone's age that makes them an example, it is the lifestyle they live as they walk with Christ.

For those of you who are reading this who consider yourselves young, do not allow others to tell you that you cannot set an example for Christ. Set the example. Study Scripture. Run the race. Follow God.

Forgive Us Our Debts

7/19/2014

Matthew 6:12 "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."

As I read this passage in preparation for today's devotional, I thought about all the people who have hurt me and asked myself, "Have I forgiven all of them?" If I still held something against anyone who came to mind, I knelt down on my knees and told God that I forgive them. After this, I felt so much better than before I chose to forgive them.

When we come to God to ask for forgiveness for our sins, we need to ask ourselves if we have forgiven those who have wronged us. If we expect God to forgive us for our offences against Him, and if we are supposed to follow the example that God gave us through Jesus, shouldn't we also forgive those who have wronged us in the same way that Jesus asked God to forgive those who nailed Him to the cross? The answer is yes.

Sometimes, people in our life will continue to hurt us. We don't have to sit there and take the hurt, but we do have to forgive those who have hurt us. If someone keeps hurting us, we may need to cut them out of our life. However, we still need to forgive them.

Our Daily Bread

7/18/2014

Matthew 6:11 "Give us today our daily bread."

When was the last time you asked God for something? When was the last time that, after you prayed, you trusted Him to do things? Even if He didn't do things the way you thought they should be done?

While giving the model prayer, Jesus showed the disciples that they should pray for daily bread. The life of Jesus is a testament to His faithfulness in living this principle out and setting this example for His disciples (for one example, see John chapter 6). Jesus not only taught the disciples to pray for their food, but to, in obedience, trust God to provide it.

What if we began to live life this way? What if we were to pray, each and every morning, that God would provide us with what we need? What if we trusted Him to do this? What if we changed our lifestyle to reflect this trust in God?

God's Will Vs. Our Will

7/17/2014

Matthew 6:10 "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

When you wake up each day, what is the first thing that you do? If you don't do this already, what if you were to take a few minutes each morning to spend with God. During this time, inquire about what He wants you to do today.

We want to do things our way because we think that we know best. We want to do things to be accomplished according to our plan by doing things the way that we want. If we would stop long enough to realize that we don't know best, we would be in much better shape.

When Jesus was praying the model prayer, He asked for God's will to be done "on earth as it is in heaven." Did you get that? By showing the disciples to pray this way, Jesus was in essence saying that it is not our will that needs to be done here, but God's will. Not only should we live this, but we should pray for it!

The next time our knees hit the ground, we should make it a priority to pray that God's will be done, not our own. Then, we should resolve to obey Him when He tells us what His will is. In this way, God is able to use us to accomplish His will.

Honoring God's Name In Prayer

7/16/2014

Matthew 6:9b "Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy."

Jesus began His famous "Lord's Prayer" with a request that God's name be regarded as holy. What does this mean for us today? What does it mean to honor God's name as holy? How does this affect us?

The fact that Jesus opened His prayer with these words should have a special meaning to us. Before can go any further in prayer, we must acknowledge God as Father and come to Him in a spirit that honors His name as holy. If we don't, we have missed the entire point of coming to God in prayer.

To honor God's name as holy means to revere Him, His name, and His character. How can we honor God's name as holy if we take His name in vain? We must acknowledge His name as the Name above every name and place Him in His rightful place in our lives. Only then can we humbly come to God in prayer.

Since we are commanded to pray, we must keep these things in mind every time we hit our knees. In our daily walk with God, we must walk in the understanding that God is holy and His name is to be honored. When we walk this way, God is pleased.

An Example In Prayer

7/14/2014

Matthew 6:9a "Therefore, you should pray like this:"

Do you pray? If your answer is yes (and it should be), the next question is this: How do you pray? The simple answer is that we look to the example that has been given to us. That example came through God's Son.

Jesus was teaching His disciples, when He turned to the subject of prayer. After instructing His disciples not to pray like the hypocrites pray, Jesus demonstrated to His disciples how we should pray.

First, Jesus taught us that we should pray to God in secret. We should not seek glory from men when we pray. Prayer is meant to be a time spent with God. Therefore, to use prayer as a means of receiving glory from men makes one a hypocrite.

After instructing His disciples to pray in secret, Jesus shows the disciples how we should pray. These famous words have become known as "The Lord's Prayer" (Matthew 5:9-13). We should use this as a model when we pray. If He has given us the example, shouldn't we follow it?