Daily Devotions: If God Lied... Titus 1:2

Titus 1:2   …a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…

It all comes down to one thing: does God lie?

I’ve written for months about the struggle that our church is currently experiencing. Very soon changes are going to occur which will alter who we are and what we believe. If find it very disconcerting and am deeply troubled. I’m far from perfect and nowhere near as sinless as I should be, but there’s one clear truth that I have believed in no matter how much of a faithless failure I have been: God does not lie.

In recent times, we have become so used to compartmentalizing truth from feelings, integrity from interpretation, and honesty from our emotions that we’ve deluded ourselves into thinking that God is okay with what we choose to do. So what if God called something abominable in the past, He needs to loosen up and get with the 21^st century program. Who cares if some sins once affected our salvation, God needs to get over it and get on board society’s band wagon!

In other words, God lied. Or He was mistaken or misguided. Or He wasn’t being serious or meant to be taken literally. God lied; He might not have meant it, so we’ll forgive Him and let Him join us.

This is why I am unsettled and troubled. If God lied in the past, then He is capricious and not worthy of our worship. If we are deluding ourselves, then we are on the road to perdition where only repentance can save us.

If God lied, then Christ was forsaken on the Cross and there is no salvation.

If God lied, then Christ’s body turned to dust and there was no resurrection.

If God lied, then we are the most pitiable of fools and there is no point in having or sharing faith.

If God lied, then Christianity is a curse and there is no life after death.

Maybe now you understand my struggle.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You told us that You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If that is certain, then we are guilty of leading ourselves astray, away from the Truth, with no hope of Life to come. Break down the walls of our convenient compartmentalized choices and make us see the stupidity of our erroneous ways. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions of today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is John’s latest drawing called “Happy Place.” It’s a rendering of sunrise at Ormond Beach in Florida. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5186/5561482881_b0270db4e6_b.jpg

An 8x10 inch print is also available which you can view on Ebay at http://tinyurl.com/4h3z468

New Year Devotions: Christ's Chosen One

Ephesians 4:19           Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. 

The trouble with Paul is that he knows humanity so well and bluntly speaks the truth. He could have written today’s verse a couple of seconds ago because it’s highly relevant to the issues that the Church and our society are currently facing. We seem to have lost our sensitivity to God and instead we indulge in our sensuality. Instead of being fully devoted to Him, we are desirous of fulfilling our own pleasure.

Let’s be honest with ourselves: we are all contaminated by the brazenness of our culture. We view things we should never see. We act out scenarios we should never do. We tolerate sexual idolatry and excuse it as artistic, sophisticated, and modern. In short, we fall far short of what God expects and end up expecting Him to accept our sinful lifestyles and embrace our selfish whims.

The older I get, the odder the world seems. Traditional values are treated disrespectfully and the Word of God is woefully described as being outdated, hypocritical, and irrelevant. Even so called church people, who hardly ever open or read their Bibles, seem to believe that their own opinions, ideas, and tolerances trump God’s advice, guidance, and truth. Paul is berated as being hostile, homophobic, and hypocritical by Christians who could not walk two paces in his shoes. They honestly and arrogantly believe that they know better than Christ’s Chosen Apostle simply because they live in the here and now as opposed to living in the way back then.

I shudder to think about God’s wrath which will come as a complete shock to this present generation of ungodly people. They will not know what hit them and will never understand why they are so completely wrong. Unless they make time to repent, they will never be released from the cultural weeds that are choking their spiritual sensitivity and replacing it with ungodly sensuality.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, how dare we diminish the writings of Paul; after all, he was Your Chosen Apostle. Forgive our Biblical ignorance and spiritual arrogance. Reclaim our souls and restore our minds to Your ways, Your works, and Your words. In Your Holy Name, we fervently pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest winter drawings. It’s called “Edinburgh Blizzard” and depicts the world-famous castle and Princes Street during the 2010 snowstorm. If you would like to view a larger version, please go to the following link: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5049/5282150038_e7aeb19b56_b.jpg