Good News 04-23-25 | Daily Devotions

A Doctor’s Depression

April 23, 2025

How God Became My Healer

By Kathryn Butler

“When I was at my lowest and life seemed a never-ending shadow, God gave me what my broken soul needed most: himself.”

“Dear friend, if the bleakness of depression envelops you, cling to God’s word. Earmark Psalms that reveal his mercy, his sovereignty, and his steadfast love and faithfulness. Return to them as the deer returns to the clear, cool stream (Psalm 42:1).”

“When depression enshrouds you, and even when you cannot discern a way forward, know that hope in him endures (1 Peter 1:3–5) and that in Christ nothing—not even the throes of depression—can tear you away from his love (Romans 8:38–39).”

(Read the article here.)

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/a-doctors-depression

Heavenbound

April 22, 2025

A compilation

Audio length: 10:48

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God’s plan for us is not just to eat, drink, be merry, and then die. There is so much more to life than this. In reality, we are heavenbound. It is for this reason that the apostle Paul said, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). And because life does not end here on earth, we need to fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is able to translate us from this life to the next life in heaven. …

To emphasize that we are not earthbound but heavenbound, the apostle Peter said, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). We should therefore not think and act as if this world is our permanent home. We are merely passing by. The ultimate goal is heaven, the home of the redeemed. Therefore, in actuality, we are on a journey. This journey is exciting, challenging, and yet rewarding.

When we embark on a journey to heaven, it is exciting in that we are expectant of good things happening along the way. It is even more exciting when we are given an idea of what is waiting for us at the end. … Therefore, “let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). Yes, our own journey to heaven is exciting, as we grow in our knowledge of the Lord and have a good view and understanding of what awaits us in heaven. …

Our journey to heaven is rewarding. While trials and challenges will try to dampen the excitement that we have at the beginning, our effort will pay off if we press on towards our goal. The apostle James said, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). Therefore, let us not lose sight of the greater reward. The trials and obstacles that come our way in this journey should not derail us. …

In this journey, we need to walk by faith. Heaven is a wonderful place, but we can only get there through our Lord Jesus Christ. Without Jesus, we cannot enter heaven. For this, I thank God for Jesus and for his love. The words of the apostle Peter are so true, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8–9). Amen!—Teck Uy¹

The eternal riches of heaven

When we learn to keep our eyes on heaven and God’s promises for our eternal future with Him, it helps us to endure the challenges of today. If we’re only looking at what’s happening around us today, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture of eternity.

The Apostle Paul said, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19). We have to look beyond what we’re experiencing today to the future: the rewards, the joy, the surcease from life’s battles. We have so much to look forward to, and as we remind ourselves of all that God has promised for those who love Him, the day-to-day difficulties, sorrow, and pain will be easier to bear.

Jesus said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. … My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1–3).

Keeping a heavenly perspective takes stepping back from the day-to-day responsibilities and challenges of life and focusing on the bigger picture of God’s plans and purposes. It’s remembering that you are on earth for a short time, and that one day you will shed all the struggles, difficulties, and problems of this life, and only the eternal and lasting things will come with you.

Paul wrote in the book of Romans that he considered that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). We can’t always understand God’s purposes for what we are experiencing, but we can be assured that even if “now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror,” then we will “see everything with perfect clarity.” And what we know today may be “partial and incomplete,” but “then we will know completely, just as God knows us completely” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

When you invest your time and life in that which has eternal value—God’s kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33)—you are storing up treasures in heaven. “And where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:20–21).—Maria Fontaine

The heavenward journey

When my oldest child died, I knew that my life would never be the same. In the initial months that followed, I expected that the change would be entirely negative. However, not all of the differences were painful. The Lord did something unexpectedly positive that has remained with me ten years later.

On November 10, 2013, my son lived in my house. On November 11, 2013, he lived in heaven above. Heaven was no longer an abstract, theological concept. It was now my son’s home. … After my son’s death, the Lord created a change in my mind, heart, and life that I would describe as a “heavenward shift.” … I became consumed with heaven in a manner that eternity had a constant presence in my perspective in the routine matters of daily life. …

And then I met my “friend,” the apostle Paul. As I read his letters with fresh eyes, I noticed that Paul integrated heaven into just about everything, including somewhat mundane matters of life. … What I discovered in the apostle’s theology of heaven is that the eternal realities of every Christian’s salvation should naturally create a magnified consciousness of heaven in all of us.

At the core, Paul believed that the coming of Jesus constituted the long-awaited divine visitation of God, known as the Day of the Lord. … Believers, upon conversion, are transferred into this heavenly realm on earth, which Paul often refers to as the Kingdom of God, the new creation, the age of the Spirit, or the light. We are delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). Hence, our current citizenship truly becomes heaven the second we put our faith in Christ (Philippians 3:20).

In addition, the Lord blesses us with particular blessings of the future heavenly life during our time on earth. We come into union with Christ, which will be the bedrock of our heavenly joy. He declares the current, heavenly blessing of union with Christ in Colossians by saying, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Furthermore, Paul described the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as the present “guarantee” or “down payment” of the future communion with God in the heavenly life. As a result of all these new realities brought about by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, Paul lived with a foot in heaven and a toe on earth. …

The heavenward journey begins with knowing the present and future eternal realities of your salvation. They will bring you such life, hope, and joy! Having a heavenward life, where eternity comprises the perpetual backdrop of your day-to-day consciousness, is a gracious work of the Holy Spirit in your heart, mind, and life. Seek his truth about heaven and pray for this work. The Lord may surprise you with an inspiring pivot in your spiritual life in the same way that he unexpectedly has turned ashes to beauty in my life.—Cameron Cole²

Published on Anchor April 2025. Read by Jon Marc. Music by Michael Fogarty.

¹ Teck Uy, “Heavenward,” Friends of Jesus Christ, Canada, January 21, 2018, https://friendsofjesuschrist.com/2018/01/21/heavenward/

² Cameron Cole, “Looking Heavenward Transforms Our Sorrow,” Crossway, April 18, 2024,

https://www.crossway.org/articles/looking-heavenward-transforms-our-sorrow/

The Two Builders

April 21, 2025

By Peter Amsterdam

Audio length: 7:45

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Within the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told His disciples a parable designed to drive home the importance of doing what He taught. Matthew’s and Luke’s versions of the Sermon on the Mount both end with the parable of the two builders, one whose house stands and the other whose house collapses.

The account of the two builders in Matthew 7:24–27 reads as follows:

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

The account of this same parable in the Gospel of Luke has some differences in details. The textual differences are minor, and some commentators explain that Luke, writing for Gentile Christians, slightly adapted the parable in a manner that would make the word picture more relevant to them, while Matthew’s text reflects first-century Palestinian building practices.

Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great (Luke 6:47–49).

Matthew’s wise builder makes sure that his house is built on a solid base of rock, whereas the man in Luke digs through the topsoil until he reaches the bedrock below, building the foundation of the house on the rock. They both make the same point—that building on a strong foundation makes the house strong. The one who hears Jesus’ words and does them is like this builder.

The second builder avoids the hard work of digging down to bedrock and rather chooses the easier way, building on the surface without a solid foundation. Luke says the second builder constructed his house on the ground without a foundation, whereas Matthew makes the same point by saying the house was built on the sand.

Upon completion, both of these houses would look pretty much the same, and under normal conditions, one couldn’t tell the difference. But what a difference there was! In first-century Palestine, most houses were built in the summer months in order to avoid working outdoors in the rainy season. The summers are hot, and digging a foundation during that time of year would be difficult. But the hard work was necessary to build a house that would stand strong.

The difference between the two houses is seen when the rain comes. Israel’s wet season is from mid-October to March, with the majority of the rain falling in January. When there is heavy rain, it can produce runoff from the hills and mountains, which sweeps away anything in its path.

It is such a situation that Jesus refers to when He says, “the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house.” A heavy rain with wind and flooding assailed the house built on rock, but it stood firm. The house with no foundation collapsed. Both houses faced the rain, wind, storm, and flood; but only the one with the firm foundation stood unharmed.

Luke focuses on the flooding, and the waters assailing the house and causing it to fall. This word picture may have resonated more with those he was writing for, who lived in areas outside of Israel and would have been more familiar with rivers overflowing and causing flooding. In either case, the house without the foundation fell.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught about discipleship and living in God’s kingdom. Then He put forth the challenge to do the hard work of applying what He had taught. The Jewish people to whom He was speaking were familiar with the concept of hearing and doing what was taught in Torah, but Jesus was specifically speaking about hearing and doing “these words of mine.” He made the point that His teachings were on par with the teaching of Scripture. He later said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35; Luke 21:33).

In telling this parable, Jesus challenged the listeners with a choice: to hear His teachings and ignore them, or to hear them and put them into practice. His point was that those who hear and do what He has taught are wise and those who don’t are foolish.

Storm and flood language is used in the Old Testament to describe life’s difficulties: “I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me” (Psalm 69:2), as well as God’s judgment (Isaiah 8:7–8; Ezekiel 38:22). The collapsing house is ultimately a picture of judgment. At the same time, the parable can be seen as referring to the testing believers encounter in this life.

This parable, which came at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, was spoken to Jesus’ disciples, and is likewise directed to all of us who believe in and follow Him (Matthew 5:1–2). Christians are expected to apply the teachings of Jesus to their lives, and when we don’t, we are like the foolish builder whose faith and endurance fails in time of testing. The touchstone of discipleship, of true belief, is the doing. Hearing God’s Word without obeying it and applying it isn’t sufficient. According to Jesus, the one who does not live by what He taught will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Our faith, our discipleship, is meant to be sound and enduring, growing and maturing. In the same way that digging down to bedrock and building a foundation was hard work in first-century Palestine, listening to and learning from Jesus’ teachings and applying them daily takes great effort. It’s hard work to live the teachings of Christ, but it’s foundational if we are to become strong and mature in our faith and withstand the storms of life. If we make the commitment and put in the effort to hear and do what He teaches, then we will be like the wise builder whose house stood strong.

As Jesus’ brother James wrote, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).

Originally published June 2016. Adapted and republished April 2025. Read by Jerry Paladino.

The Glory of Easter! —Part 2

The Glory of Easter

Maria Fontaine

2022-04-12

Quotations on the death and resurrection of Jesus

Here are some more beautiful thoughts on the theme of the death and resurrection of Jesus. As Christians, it’s such a core part of our lives, our purpose, our very existence.

I pray that the following quotes can be a powerful reminder of who we belong to and a tool to inspire those who are seeking truth to look to Jesus in their times of need and find everything they have longed for.

Genesis ends with Joseph’s death. Deuteronomy ends with Moses’ death. Joshua ends with Joshua’s death. The Gospels end with Jesus’ resurrection. And that changes everything.—Tony Merida

Come, and see the victories of the cross. Christ’s wounds are thy healings, His agonies thy repose, His conflicts thy conquests, His groans thy songs, His pains thine ease, His shame thy glory, His death thy life, His sufferings thy salvation.—Matthew Henry

“What are we to make of Christ?” There is no question of what we can make of Him, it is entirely a question of what He intends to make of us. You must accept or reject the story.—C. S. Lewis

Our God is a God of restoration, not destruction. He is a God of renewal, redemption, regeneration, resurrection. God loves to redo and restore. “I am making everything new!” he announced (Revelation 21:5). Gone will be hospital waiting rooms, gone will be tear-stained divorce papers. Gone will be loneliness, foreclosure notices, and abuse. Gone will be cancer. God will lay hold of every atom, emotion, insect, animal, and galaxy. He will reclaim every diseased body and afflicted mind. “I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).—Max Lucado

Maria: The world and the news are constantly throwing death at us. War and disease and poverty, the destructive forces, abound. But Jesus overcame death, He conquered death and rose again, and that is the hope we need to pass on to this suffering world. He lives, and because of that we—and they—can live too!

It cost God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things; but to convert rebellious wills cost Him crucifixion.—C. S. Lewis

Two thousand years ago, in the Middle East, an event occurred that permanently changed the world. Because of that event, history was split. Every time you write a date, you’re using the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as the focal point.—Rick Warren

Maria: I like that quote. Throughout the course of a day or week, I bet we all find ourselves writing dates with the year included. If every time I do so, it served as a reminder of the resurrection, I would be developing a habit that will help me place greater focus on hope, and is therefore a habit that is well worth developing!

Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and Hope triumphant say
Christ will rise on Easter Day!—Phillips Brooks

Maria: To reflect on how Jesus overcame death at His resurrection is so encouraging today, in the face of the negative, difficult, and evil things of this world. With all the problems of everyday life that each of us has to deal with, we need to know and be reminded that Jesus is with us every step of the way. He has overcome. We can rest in Him even in the midst of life’s battles.

We can afford to follow Him to failure. Faith dares to fail. The resurrection and the judgment will demonstrate before all worlds who won and who lost. We can wait.—A. W. Tozer

The church came into existence not to promulgate some political programme or campaign for moral renovation; but primarily to bear witness to the fact that God had intervened in history, raised Christ from the dead, and that forgiveness of sins could be received in his name.—John Lennox

If a man can predict his own death and resurrection, and pull it off, I just go with whatever that man says.—Andy Stanley

“Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men” (Lamentations 3:32–33). Does God ordain? Permit? Plan? Allow? The verb is not so much the important thing as the noun: God. And God is love.—Joni Eareckson Tada

The resurrection completes the inauguration of God’s kingdom. … It is the decisive event demonstrating that God’s kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven. The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it.—N. T. Wright

Maria: Just think of that! We’re part of God’s kingdom that He launched on earth through the resurrection. That’s an important vision to keep in front of us. We’re not just people scattered around the world, trying to do the best we can for Him and to survive—we are part of His kingdom. And we are also His ambassadors. That’s a high calling!

Belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith. It is the Christian faith.—George Carey

The resurrection of Jesus changes the face of death for all His people. Death is no longer a prison, but a passage into God’s presence. Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there. You can nail it to a cross, wrap it in winding sheets and shut it up in a tomb, but it will rise!—Clarence W. Hall

Jesus lives! And because He lives, we live too. Death is conquered. He has overcome! Hallelujah! This life we live now is only the beginning! Let’s keep sharing this grand news with others in this hurting world. He has conquered death, and that is His promise of life for all who believe!—Joni Eareckson Tada

* * *

Jesus: My resurrection life within you is more actual energy than you’ve probably ever realized or utilized. You have the Spirit of My Father who raised Me from the dead dwelling within you, and just as He raised Me from the dead, so can He quicken your earthen frame by His Spirit. That’s one of My wonderful truths and promises I’ve given to you, and this resurrection power that is within you through Me has given you the same power to rise above. Claim it as yours!

* * *

Maria: Happy Easter to all God’s children! I hope this series of posts uplifts your hearts and focuses your vision on God’s kingdom and your personal invitation to it, delivered to you by Jesus. What a wonderful cause for celebration!

Celebrating Easter—Why the Resurrection Makes All the Difference

Peter Amsterdam

2022-04-11

As we celebrate Easter, we are celebrating God’s way of bringing salvation to us. In His love for humanity, God made a way for us to enter into an eternal relationship with Him, and the means was through His Son coming into the world, living as a human being, and laying down His life for us. Jesus did just that. He came into this world out of love, lived as we live, and gave Himself over to be crucified. His death made it possible for us to truly know God and to live with Him forever.

Jesus was God’s Son. We know this because of the account of Him given in the Gospels, and through the rest of the Bible. He did and said numerous things which spoke to the fact that He was God’s Son. His resurrection from the dead, which we celebrate every Easter, was proof that He was all that He said He was—that He was the long-awaited Messiah, and that He was God the Son.

Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man over seventy times throughout the Gospels. While on occasion He stated that He was the Messiah, He generally didn’t refer to Himself as such. The title of Messiah carried with it preconceived ideas in the minds of the people of His day and expectations of a political nature. Continually claiming to be the Messiah would most likely have prematurely brought Him problems with the Jewish leaders as well as the Roman government. It would also have brought up the stereotypical ideas about the Messiah which were prominent in those days—someone who would throw off the shackles of the Roman oppressors and physically free the Jewish people.

By referring to Himself as the Son of Man, a non-messianic title from the book of Daniel that the Jews of Jesus’ day were familiar with,¹ Jesus was using a title which allowed Him to speak modestly about Himself and to include aspects of His mission such as His suffering and death, which weren’t considered part of the Messiah’s role. At the same time, in line with what is said in Daniel, it enabled Him to express His exalted role, while avoiding the messianic misconceptions of the time. In using the title Son of Man, Jesus could speak of His mission on earth—which included His suffering and death, His second coming, His role in judgment, and His glorious future—without using the politically charged title of Messiah.

Within the Gospels, Jesus was the only one who used the title Son of Man in reference to Himself. He used the title to claim the authority to do what only God could do, such as forgive sins. “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”²

He also referred to Himself this way when telling His disciples about His coming crucifixion and resurrection on the third day. He spoke about the Son of Man giving His life as a ransom, teaching that His death was a vicarious sacrifice, that He was laying down His life for the salvation of others. “As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.’ And they were greatly distressed.”³

Jesus foretold that as the Son of Man, He would lay down His life for us: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”⁴ And so He was crucified, died, and was buried—and then rose from the dead. Because He rose, we have affirmation that His heavenly Father set His seal upon Him, and that His sacrificial atoning death has given us eternal life.⁵

Another way in which Jesus used the phrase the Son of Man was when speaking of His second coming, when He will return to the earth to establish His rule and to pronounce judgment. The book of Daniel speaks of “one like a son of man” coming on the clouds of heaven. This reference to a human-looking figure with authority, glory, worship, and an eternal kingdom evokes an image of power normally reserved for God.

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.⁶

When Jesus speaks of His return, He refers to what Daniel saw in his vision. He explains that He will come “in the glory of His Father, coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, seated on a glorious throne, at the right hand of Power.”⁷

He also speaks of the time of judgment which He will preside over, as His Father has given Him the authority to execute judgment. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”⁸ These claims Jesus made about executing judgment are extraordinary—far beyond what any human could or should claim. However, Jesus, as the Son of God, has this authority, and His claims were validated by the fact that God raised Him from the dead.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is referred to as the Son of God, both by Himself and by others. His Sonship is woven throughout the Gospels, especially in the things He said about Himself. From the Gospels we understand that He existed eternally with the Father before the creation of the world as the Logos, the Word of God, and that He made all things. The Logos then became flesh, in the person of Jesus, who through the life He led taught us about God and His love.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.⁹

We are told of His Sonship in the birth narratives, where His paternity comes directly from God through the conception of the Holy Spirit, and therefore He is called the Son of God.¹⁰ He was named Jesus, which means “Yahweh is salvation”—Yahweh being one of the names by which the Jewish people know God.

When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan at the beginning of His mission, the voice of God stated that Jesus was His Son. “When Jesus was baptized, … He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”¹¹ Close to the end of His mission, when He was transfigured, God once again declared that He was His Son.¹²

Jesus had a unique relationship with the Father through knowing Him as only His only begotten Son could. The Father has also “given all things into His hands.”¹³ When asked by the Jewish leadership if He was the Son of God, He answered in the affirmative: “The high priest asked Him, ‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’”¹⁴

The statements Jesus made about Himself and His relationship to God, claiming to be equal to God, at times accepting worship,¹⁵ and claiming to do the work of the Father were seen as outlandish and blasphemous. The Jewish religious leaders who considered Him a false messiah came to the conclusion that He needed to die so that the Romans wouldn’t destroy the nation because of Him.¹⁶ While the Jewish leaders didn’t have the authority to kill Jesus themselves, they were able to have Him crucified by the Roman authorities. The supposed false messiah who claimed to be God’s Son was crucified, and the problem was seemingly taken care of.

But then … He rose from the dead. And His resurrection proved that all He said He was, all the authority He claimed to have—the messiahship, the power and dominion, the judgment, and His Sonship—was genuine. He is who He said He was.

Had Jesus not risen, had there been no resurrection, then everything that God’s Word says about Him would be false. Our faith, as Paul said, would be worthless.¹⁷ But the resurrection proves that our faith is of inestimable worth. It proves that Jesus is God the Son.

Because of the resurrection, we are assured that through belief in Jesus we have eternal life. That’s what Easter is all about. That’s why it’s a day to praise and thank Him for His sacrifice, for laying down His life for us. That’s why it’s a day to worship God for the wonderful plan of salvation which He enacted. That’s why Easter is a wonderful day to make a personal commitment to share the good news that Jesus is risen and His free offer of salvation is available to all who will receive it. Happy Easter!

Originally published April 2014. Excerpted and republished April 2022.
Read by Jerry Paladino.

¹ Daniel 7:13–14.

² Matthew 9:6 ESV.

³ Matthew 17:22–23 ESV.

⁴ Matthew 20:28 ESV.

⁵ John 6:27.

⁶ Daniel 7:13–14 ESV.

⁷ Matthew 16:27, 24:30, 26:64.

⁸ Matthew 25:31–32.

⁹ John 1:1–3, 14 ESV.

¹⁰ Luke 1:31–32, 35.

¹¹ Matthew 3:16–17.

¹² Matthew 17:5.

¹³ John 3:35.

¹⁴ Mark 14:61–62 ESV.

¹⁵ Matthew 14:33.

¹⁶ John 11:47–50.

¹⁷ 1 Corinthians 15:14.

The Triumphant Message of the Resurrection

April 18, 2025

By Charles Stanley

Dr. Stanley shares what God’s Word reveals about the resurrection of the saints. Make peace with death—taking comfort in the knowledge that God’s plan for you extends far beyond your final breath into an eternal life with your heavenly Father.

Run time for this video is 24 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-S74xV8hus

The Glory of Easter

April 17, 2025

Quotations on the Death and Resurrection of Jesus

By Maria Fontaine

Audio length: 10:49

Download Audio (9.9MB)

I cherish the memories I have of celebrating Easter as I grew up. Our church gathered every Easter morning on the top of a hill where we watched the sun rise, sang songs of praise, and thanked Jesus for having risen, bringing new, never-ending, transforming life.

I believe that the Lord uses many things in nature to remind us of spiritual truths, like the sunrise reminds us of Christ’s resurrection from the darkness of death into the glory of a new dawn.

In celebration of Jesus’ wonderful gift of the resurrection, I’d like to share a few Bible verses and quotes from a variety of Christian authors on the subject.

* * *

I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.—John 11:25–26

The best news of the Christian gospel is that the supremely glorious Creator of the universe has acted in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection to remove every obstacle between us and himself so that we may find everlasting joy in seeing and savoring his infinite beauty.―John Piper

The joyful news that He is Risen does not change the contemporary world. Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice. But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice.—Henry Knox Sherrill

No matter how devastating our struggles, disappointments, and troubles are, they are only temporary. No matter what happens to you, no matter the depth of tragedy or pain you face, no matter how death stalks you and your loved ones, the Resurrection promises you a future of immeasurable good.—Josh McDowell

The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and boast, the pangs of life will sting for a while longer, but don’t worry; the forces of evil are breathing their last. Not to worry … He’s risen!—Charles R. Swindoll

Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him, everything else thrown in.—C. S. Lewis

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.—Pope John Paul II

The story of Easter is the story of God’s wonderful window of divine surprise.—Carl Knudsen

Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless.—Charles M. Crowe

After death, something new begins, over which all powers of the world of death have no more might.—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with Him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent [coming] splendor.—Charles H. Spurgeon

God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, “I love you.”—Billy Graham

Maria: We can hold on to the reassurance of God’s great love for each one of us, knowing that “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

Death used to be an executioner, but the resurrection of Christ makes it nothing but a gardener. When he tries to bury you, he’s really planting you, and you’re going to come up better than before.—George Herbert

Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning of God’s new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord’s Prayer is about.—N. T. Wright

The earliest Christians believed in the resurrection not because they couldn’t find a dead body but because they found a living Christ.—Barry McCarty

While the resurrection promises us a new and perfect life in the future, God loves us too much to leave us alone to contend with the pain, guilt and loneliness of our present life.—Josh McDowell

Jesus Christ did not come into this world to make bad people good; He came into this world to make dead people live.—Author Unknown

The point of the resurrection … is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die. … What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it. … What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether. They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom.—N. T. Wright

Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus Christ is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection. It was the resurrection which transformed Peter’s fear into courage and James’ doubt into faith. … It was the resurrection which changed Saul the Pharisee into Paul the apostle and turned his persecuting into preaching.—John Stott

Maria: It was the resurrection that sent the disciples courageously into all the known world of their day, and the resurrection that helped the martyrs fearlessly face death. The resurrection of Jesus is the great motivator!

To preach Christianity meant (to the Apostles) primarily to preach the Resurrection. … The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the (book of) Acts. The Resurrection, and its consequences, were the “gospel” or good news which the Christians brought.—C. S. Lewis

In short, I didn’t become a Christian because God promised I would have an even happier life than I had as an atheist. He never promised any such thing. … Rather, I became a Christian because the evidence was so compelling that Jesus really is the one-and-only Son of God who proved his divinity by rising from the dead. That meant that following him was the most rational and logical step I could possibly take.—Lee Strobel

If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said. If he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.—Timothy Keller

The truth is, Satan and God may want the exact same event to take place—but for different reasons. Satan’s motive in Jesus’ crucifixion was rebellion; God’s motive was love and mercy.—Joni Eareckson Tada

Maria: When we ponder the vast love and mercy that we have received from God through Jesus’ life on earth, His crucifixion, resurrection, and victory over death and sin, how can we not praise Him, follow Him, trust Him, love Him, and tell others about Him?

Originally published April 2022. Republished on Anchor April 2025. Read by Debra Lee. Music by John Listen.

The Son Must Rise: What Made Easter Inevitable

April 16, 2025

By David Mathis

On this world-changing Sunday morning, Jesus’s closest disciples first assumed his body had been taken and laid elsewhere. “As yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead” (John 20:9). Must rise. In Jesus’s mind, and in the courts of heaven, and in the pages of holy Scripture, the suffering and subsequent resurrection of the Messiah were not just possibilities or likelihoods. These were not options. They were musts. Jesus had said it before, and later that day he would explain it again—that it was necessary, that it must have happened this way.

(Read or listen to the article here.)

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-son-must-rise

God’s Pursuit of Humankind

April 15, 2025

A compilation

Audio length: 12:27

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All throughout the Bible, we see the ongoing charge for us to pursue God and we see the story of Him pursuing us. In Jeremiah 29:13 God tells the Israelites, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” From the time of creation, God has been pursuing relationship with humanity.

The purpose of our creation was for communion with God, and the story of the Bible is the story of God pursuing relationship with us. When Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from God among the trees in the garden of Eden. God is the one who pursued and came after them; “the LORD God called to the man” (Genesis 3:8–9).

God has always had a desire to reconcile us to Himself; He sent His son Jesus “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). From creation to now, God has been pursuing connection with us because He loves us. Jesus came and lived and died for the sake of God pursuing us (John 3:16–18).

Before we ever seek and find God, He is the one who first draws us to Himself (John 6:44; see also Psalm 53:2). … Because God is our Creator, He knows us well and cares about us individually (Matthew 10:29–31; Psalm 139:13). He values us so much that He created us in His own image (Genesis 1:27). God pursues us so that we may know Him and true life in Him.

Those of us who have come to know God are privileged to be used by Him here on earth as witnesses for Him and of His goodness. In part, God pursues people by using other people to share His truth and tangibly express His love. Jesus charged the disciples to continue on with His work as witnesses of the reconciliation that He desires: “You will be my witnesses … to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Since then, believers in Jesus have been spreading the good news of the gospel: God is pursuing a relationship with each one of us, and Jesus made the way.

Once we are believers, God continues to pursue us through the Holy Spirit who indwells us. … The Spirit is God pursuing us and enabling us to pursue Him back so that we may have a close relationship with Him and bear spiritual fruit (John 15:1–11). The Spirit is here to pray for us and help us in our weakness (Romans 8:26). He illuminates God’s Word (the Bible) to us so that we can know God better. … [The Spirit] guides us in life and reminds us that we have been adopted by God and can rest steadfastly in hope in Him, trusting that He will fulfill His promises (Ephesians 1:3–14). …

We serve a God who pursues us and who loves us more than we can fully understand (Ephesians 3:14–19). What an amazing gift! What an amazing God!—Compelling Truth¹

God’s quest

Throughout Scripture, God reveals Himself as a seeker. We find Him on a continual pursuit for something. We find the Father seeking (John 4:23), scanning the earth from heaven (Psalm 14:2), His eyes running to and fro throughout the planet to find something (2 Chronicles 16:9). We find Jesus telling us that He has come to seek (Luke 19:10). We find Him giving us a deeper glimpse into His heart by comparing Himself with a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to seek the one lost (Luke 15:4–7), with a woman combing through her entire house on the search for a lost coin (Luke 15:8–10), with a father who incessantly scans the horizon for the return of the prodigal son (Luke 15:20), and with a merchant seeking fine pearls (Matthew 13:45–46). …

Right from the beginning of creation, God reveals Himself as One who is seeking communion with human beings. In the garden of Eden we find God walking beneath the trees searching for Adam. God knew where Adam was and already knew what happened; still He came searching and calling for Adam. In the first pages of the Bible, God wanted to point out one thing: Right at the root of this Book, the entirety of creation and all of history we find God in search for man. “Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:8–9). …

How is it possible that at the core of the completely self-sufficient, eternally happy and completely satisfied God we find the all-consuming flames of desire for His creation? … And how is it possible that He would choose something so weak, broken, and imperfect as the object of His pleasure? No other book in all of history has given a clearer account on the utter depravity of man. Yet it’s the same Book that tells us we are the delight of the Holiest being of all. We are told that we are dark, yet lovely (Song of Solomon 1:5), we are told that we are sinful and gone astray (Romans 3:23), yet we are called the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45). …

We have yet to grasp the intensity of God’s desire for us. In the eyes of God we are the precious pearl and somehow worth enough to sell everything in order to get it, worth so much to Him that He would give all, even His life, to obtain it, so precious that the Everlasting would embark on such a vehement pursuit for the hearts of the ones He created.

In the incarnation and crucifixion of Jesus we see how relentless He is in His pursuit for the human heart. Jesus willingly died through the hands of His creation to show us how far His love would go. Once and for all He proclaimed that He’ll stop at nothing, that no effort and no price is too high to win our hearts.—Benjamin Schäfer²

A love story

In the Bible, God often uses metaphors or word pictures to describe our relationship with Him; for example, a shepherd and sheep (John 10:7–15), a father and child (2 Corinthians 6:18), a vine and branches (John 15:1–5), and a bride and groom (Isaiah 62:5).

Although the Bible contains 66 books, commentators have often noted that it is really one book with a consistent theme. It is a love story. Like every love story, this one has a beginning, some ups and downs, and a dramatic conclusion.

This love story truly starts “in the beginning” when God created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. He fashioned them exactly as He wanted, breathed the breath of life into them, and then admired His handiwork: “This is very good!”

Unfortunately, the first man and woman chose to reject God’s offer of an eternal, perfect, intimate relationship with Him and instead chose to wander away into the pursuit of self and sin. Without God, humans who were created to enjoy intimacy with Him instead experienced loneliness, confusion, and pain. Throughout the millennia, we have tried all sorts of things to recover the feeling of fulfillment that this lost intimacy provided, but nothing was able to satisfy.

In the end, although we were the ones who turned our backs on God, it was He who initiated reconciliation. In His love, He knew that there was only one solution. Despite the cost, He chose to willingly send His own Son to lead the way back to Him.

What does that mean for us? It means Christianity is not simply a religion, or rules or rituals. Christianity is a relationship—and not just any relationship, but one that the Bible likens to a marriage, where there is meant to be intimacy, transparency, open communication, and shared hopes and desires. The Bible tells us, “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name” (Isaiah 54:5), and that we are “married to Him who was raised from the dead [Jesus], that we should bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:4).—Ronan Keane

Inexplicable love

Motivated by unexplainable love, God pursues humanity. No matter our state in life—married, single, dating, living for God or running from Him—God seeks to win the affection of our hearts by relentlessly and faithfully pursuing us.

We see a clear depiction of this pursuit in our key verses, John 3:16–17: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

The love John refers to in this scripture is agape love, which is sacrificial and considered the highest form of love that exists. This love was costly for God, but He pursued us through the radical act of sacrificing His Son. … And even more astounding is that God demonstrated His lavish and sacrificial love while we were sinners. …

But God’s pursuit of us did not end with Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection. For all our days, He will continue to pursue us with His unexplainable love. If you long to be romanced and pursued, may this be an encouragement: You are the object of God’s affection. He has relentlessly pursued and will continue to pursue you.

Dear God, thank You for pursuing me. Continue to remind me of Your steadfast love for all my days. Help me to rest in the fact that I am lavishly loved by You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.—Kia Stephens³

Published on Anchor April 2025. Read by Gabriel Garcia Valdivieso. Music by John Listen.

¹ “Does God pursue us?” Compelling Truth.org, https://www.compellingtruth.org/does-God-pursue-us.html

² Benjamin Schäfer, “God’s Pursuit Of Man,” A Yearning Heart’s Journey (blog), January 29, 2014, “https://yearningheartsjourney.blogspot.com/2014/01/gods-pursuit-of-man.html

³ Kia Stephens, “God’s Pursuit of Us,” Proverbs 31, “February 1, 2023, https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2023/02/01/gods-pursuit-of-us

Lessons from the Cross

April 14, 2025

By Virginia Brandt Berg

Audio length: 6:54

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As we near Good Friday, we remember the cross of Christ. In Luke 23, the 34th verse, we find these words, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

So many of Jesus’ expressions from the cross were expressions of His wonderful love. He prayed for His enemies when He said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” in the hour of their triumph over Him, and in the midst of the shame and suffering that they delighted in showering on Him. Yet He poured out His love in prayer for them. I think that is a call to everyone who believes in the crucified Christ to do likewise. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

Then the next expression of love from the cross: “Woman, behold thy son,” and [to John], “Behold thy mother.” The very same love that cared for His enemies cared for His friends. Jesus knew just what the anguish must be in the heart of His widowed mother, and He committed her to the care of the beloved disciple John. Even so, we who are disciples of Christ must not only pray for our enemies, but also prove our love by loving those who are around us.

Then we read about the thief who was hanging next to Jesus who said, “We are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (See Luke 23:41–43.) Jesus was demonstrating His love for the penitent thief. He had appealed to Christ’s mercy to remember him, and what an immediate answer he got to his appeal!

So whether it was the love that prays for enemies, or the love that cares for friends, or the love that rejoices over a penitent sinner, Christ proved that the cross was a cross of love, and the crucified One is the very embodiment of love that surpasses all knowledge. (See Ephesians 3:17–19.)

With every thought we have of what we owe to that love of the cross, I pray that God will help us prove that the mind of the crucified Christ is our mind, that His love is not only what we trust in for ourselves, but what guides us in loving others and our loving interaction with the world around us.

I lived for some time once with a person who was perfect in her social graces and read the Bible continually and was perfect in church attendance. But her life was like an icicle of coldness. There had been resentment there, and that resentment had turned into a lifelong grudge against a certain person. It just seemed to drain the love and joy out of her life.

So often when I think of that person, it reminds me of the little boy who was in the orphans’ home, and some very wealthy people came to take him home because it had been decided that he could go with them. They began to tell him of what he would have, what would be his possessions in their beautiful big house, and how someday he was going to have a real live pony, and how they would get him a watch that was his very own when he became a teen, etc. But his little heart was hungry for just one thing. When they got through with the possessions that they would give him and what they were going to do for him, he looked up with appealing eyes and said, “Can you spare a little bit of loving?”

I used to think of this when with that particular woman, as I had to abide in her home for a while. “Oh, can’t you spare just a little bit of loving?”—Because I was going through a great trial myself at that time.

Human love has weaknesses, but Christian love is divine, it is God-given. Romans 5:5 says, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” And 1 Peter 3:8 says: “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” A divine brotherly love will bind Christians in a solidly united family. Jude 1:21 says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God.”

As long as Christians walk in love, they will enjoy fellowship with their heavenly Father. But Satan has many tricks, and he tries so hard to draw a Christian outside the bounds of love, and he will do it if he possibly can.

If you want to grow spiritually, walk in love and continually try to practice the love of Christ that is in your heart. But when a Christian starts to criticize and loses his loving spirit, he stops growing, for he is no longer walking in love.

A Christian needs to watch and pray. Not watch and criticize, but watch and pray! Beloved, those who do wrong don’t need criticism; they need prayer and lots and lots of love. God’s Word says in Romans 12:10, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”

In Hebrews 10:24 God’s Word says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” And may I just add this: That love begets love. One person walking in love will encourage others to do likewise. It’s such a catching thing, the love of Christ in action, and it spreads from heart to heart.

God’s Word says in 1 Peter 4:8, “Above all things, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” Love doesn’t talk about the mistakes of others. This scripture tells us that love covers with a veil of silence the mistakes of others.

God bless you as Good Friday approaches and you think about Jesus Christ, who manifested such love from the cross.

From a transcript of a Meditation Moments broadcast, adapted. Published on Anchor April 2025. Read by Lenore Welsh.

False Accusations

Word Topics

1998-01-01

Definition: False accusation is very closely related to slander. Slander is a false report maliciously uttered, with the intention of injuring the reputation of another.

Accusing others falsely, or “bearing false witness,” as it is usually referred to in the Bible, is specifically condemned and forbidden by the Lord.

Exodus 20:16 — [The Ninth Commandment says:] Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exodus 23:1,7a — Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. ^7aKeep thee far from a false matter.
Proverbs 24:28 — Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.

Accusing falsely is a form of lying.

Proverbs 6:16,19a — [The Lord hates] a false witness that speaketh lies.
Proverbs 10:18 — He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.
Proverbs 12:17 — He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.
Proverbs 14:5 — A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.

At the root of false accusations there are very often the serious sins of pride, selfishness, bitterness, jealousy or envy, as illustrated by these examples from the Bible:

Genesis 39:7-18 — [Joseph was falsely accused of rape by his master’s wife:] And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. ⁸But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; ⁹There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? ¹¹And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within. ¹²And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. ¹³And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, ¹⁴That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: ¹⁵And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out. ¹⁶And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home. ¹⁷And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me: ¹⁸And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
Numbers 16:3 — [Korah and his cohorts jealously accused Moses and Aaron:] And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?
Esther 3:2,5,8 — [His pride wounded, Haman maliciously accused all the Jews to King Ahasuerus:] And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. ⁵And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. ⁸And Haman said unto King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.
Daniel 6:1-5 — [Jealous men set a trap whereby they might accuse Daniel to King Darius:] It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; ²And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. ³Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. ⁴Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. ⁵Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
Luke 23:1,2 — [Jealous and hypocritical religious leaders falsely accused Jesus to Pilate:] And the whole multitude of them arose, and led Him unto Pilate. ² And they began to accuse Him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ a King.
Acts 6:8-13 — [Confounded by Stephen’s inspired witness, his “rivals” conspired to accuse him falsely:] And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. ⁹Then there arose certain of the synagogue … disputing with Stephen. ¹⁰And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. ¹¹Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. ¹²And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, ¹³And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law.

Those that accuse others falsely will be chastened by the Lord.

Psalm 94:9,10a,16,21-23 — He [God] that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see? ^10aHe that chastiseth the heathen, shall not He correct? ¹⁶Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? … ²¹They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. ²²But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge. ²³And He shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off.
Proverbs 19:5,9 — A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. ⁹A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.
Daniel 6:24 — And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.
[See also: Deuteronomy 19:16-20, which describes the manner in which false accusers were disciplined under the Mosaic law.]

We must be careful to avoid tit-for-tat, finding fault with those who justly or unjustly accuse us or point out our errors.

Proverbs 24:29 — Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.
Matthew 7:12 — Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
1 Peter 3:10 — For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.

When we are accused falsely, the Lord may want us to take it patiently, as He did.

Matthew 5:11,12 — Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. ¹²Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Isaiah 53:7 — He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.
Matthew 27:12 — And when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.
1 Peter 2:19-23 — For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. ²⁰For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. ²¹For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: ²²Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: ²³Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.
1 Peter 3:16 — Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation [behavior] in Christ.

30 – Living Christianity: The Ten Commandments (Truthfulness)

Living Christianity

Peter Amsterdam

2020-10-27

(Points for this article were taken from The Doctrine of the Christian Life by John M. Frame ¹ and Kingdom Ethics by Glen H. Stassen and David P. Gushee.²)

The ninth commandment states:

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.³

This commandment addresses truthfulness. It is presented in the context of giving witness in a trial, and commands that someone who is testifying must not lie. However, it is not limited to testifying in a legal scenario; it also speaks to being truthful in our everyday lives. This concept is also seen in verses such as:

Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD.⁴

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.⁵

Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.⁶

The focus here will be on two aspects of truthfulness: vows and oaths, and lying.

Vows and Oaths

Throughout the Old Testament, we read of individuals swearing oaths or making sacred vows. At that time, when a vow was given or an oath was sworn, whatever was agreed upon was legally binding in the same manner as when two parties sign a contract today.

Some examples are:

Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” And Abraham said, “I will swear.”⁷

Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.⁸

Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”⁹

[Hannah] vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”¹⁰

Within the Old Testament, God Himself is also depicted as making vows and swearing oaths. An example is the promise He made to Abraham.

By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.¹¹

Making a vow and swearing an oath in God’s name is stating that what we are saying or agreeing to is truthful, and that we are willing to suffer God’s judgment if we break our word. An oath is a sign by which we guarantee that our promise, our word, is authentic and that we will keep the promises we have made.

If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.¹²

In the New Testament, we find examples of vows made.

Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.¹³

Within Paul’s writings, we find other statements where he appealed to God’s name to give assurance that what he was writing was the truth.

I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth.¹⁴

In what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.¹⁵

God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.¹⁶

As Christians, part of our faith and our example is to be honest and trustworthy. When we make a vow or swear an oath, we have given our word and we should do our utmost to fulfill what we have agreed to do. Because we want to be truthful and to fulfill our commitments by doing the things that we promised to do, it is necessary to prayerfully and wisely consider the promises we make or the things we commit ourselves to. When we make promises or take vows, we do so before God, and having given our word before Him, we are bound to carry them out. Any vows or oaths one makes should be made only after much thought and prayer.

Lying

The ninth commandment—You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor—encompasses the sin of lying. While truth is an accurate representation of the facts, lying is any deliberate misrepresentation of the facts. Scripture tells us that Jesus is the embodiment of the truth, as stated in John 14:6:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

This is reiterated in the Epistles as well, where we read that the truth is in Jesus.¹⁷ We’re also told that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.¹⁸

By contrast, Scripture teaches that Satan is the source of falsehood and lies. Jesus called Satan a liar and the “father of lies.”¹⁹ He introduced the first lie in the garden of Eden when he implied that God was lying.

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”²⁰

Scripture makes it clear that God is vehemently against dishonesty.

Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD.²¹

In Proverbs 6, we read that there are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him. One of the things on that list is a lying tongue.²² We’re also told that a false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.²³ A false witness will perish.²⁴

Truthfulness is important because honesty is grounded in the character of God; therefore we are to be truthful, because God is truthful. The apostle Paul refers to God who never lies.²⁵ Jesus and the Holy Spirit are both referred to as the truth.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”²⁶

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.²⁷

The Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.²⁸

God’s Word is also referred to as truth.

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.²⁹

Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true.³⁰

As believers, we are called to emulate God; because He is truth, we are to be truthful.

Is it ever morally acceptable to lie? The easiest answer is no, we should never lie, and for the most part that is correct. However, there are some very rare situations when it would be morally acceptable to not tell the truth. There are biblical examples of individuals lying to save life. In Exodus chapter 1 we read about the Hebrew midwives who were ordered by the king of Egypt to put all Hebrew baby boys to death. They disobeyed, and when the king questioned them about it, they lied, saying it was “because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives.³¹ Another Old Testament example of someone lying to save life is seen in the story of Rahab, who deceived the soldiers of Jericho to save the lives of the Israelite spies.³²

One nonbiblical example is found in the life of Corrie ten Boom, whose family was hiding Jews in their house during the occupation of Holland in World War II. When she was asked by the Gestapo if there were Jews hiding in the house, she lied to the authorities in order to protect lives. In such a case, the obligation to save lives was more important than the obligation to tell the truth, especially when telling the truth would result in the likely death of innocent people.

While rare incidents may occur where it would be morally acceptable to not tell the truth, the vast majority of the time telling the truth is the morally right thing to do, and is in alignment with the nature and character of God.

As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way … by truthful speech, and the power of God.³³

(To read the next article in this series, click here.)

Note

Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

¹ John Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing), 2008.

² Glen H. Stassen and David P. Gushee, Kingdom Ethics (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press), 2003.

³ Exodus 20:16. See also Deuteronomy 5:20.

⁴ Proverbs 12:22.

⁵ Proverbs 19:9.

⁶ Ephesian 4:25.

⁷ Genesis 21:22–24.

⁸ Genesis 25:32–33.

⁹ Genesis 28:20–22.

¹⁰ 1 Samuel 1:11. See also: Genesis 50:5–6, Joshua 6:26, 1 Samuel 14:24, Nehemiah 13:2.

¹¹ Genesis 22:15–18. See also Genesis 26:1–5.

¹² Numbers 30:2.

¹³ Acts 18:18 KJV.

¹⁴ 2 Corinthians 1:23.

¹⁵ Galatians 1:20 NAS.

¹⁶ Philippians 1:8.

¹⁷ Ephesians 4:21.

¹⁸ John 14:17. See also John 15:26, 16:13.

¹⁹ John 8:44.

²⁰ Genesis 3:2–5.

²¹ Proverbs 12:22.

²² Proverbs 6:16–17.

²³ Proverbs 19:9.

²⁴ Proverbs 21:28.

²⁵ Titus 1:2.

²⁶ John 14:6.

²⁷ John 16:13.

²⁸ 1 John 5:6.

²⁹ John 17:17.

³⁰ Psalm 119:142.

³¹ Exodus 1:19–20.

³² Joshua 2:1–24.

³³ 2 Corinthians 6:4–7.

A Bruised Reed He Will Not Break

April 11, 2025

By Timothy Keller

For centuries, in their teaching and worship, churches have focused on the subject of the mission of Jesus Christ. What did Jesus come into the world to do? In the final chapters of the book of Isaiah, Isaiah prophesies about a mysterious figure that is called the Servant of the Lord. In the New Testament, the writers identify the Servant of the Lord with Jesus Christ. However, there are some things that the prophecies tell us that even the Gospels don’t tell us about Jesus, His work, ourselves, and what we bring that we find nowhere else but in the book of Isaiah.

This podcast will focus on chapter 42 of Isaiah, which depicts a Servant King, a Healing King, and a Suffering King. Run time is 42 minutes.

https://podcast.gospelinlife.com/e/a-bruised-reed-he-will-not-break/

Running the Race Set Before Us

April 10, 2025

Treasures

Audio length: 12:17

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Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.—Hebrews 12:1

In Hebrews chapter 11, which has been referred to as the “Faith Hall of Fame,” the Bible recounts the stories of the heroic men and women of faith of the Old Testament. Starting with Abel, the chapter gives a brief summary of the faith and obedience of renowned biblical characters such as Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Rahab, David, and the prophets. In Hebrews 12, the picture is painted of a stadium where the runners are set to run a race, and these heroes of the faith are depicted as the cheering section in the heavenly stadium, eagerly watching as present-day believers run the same race that they once ran.

Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we are then exhorted to “lay aside every weight” (Hebrews 12:1)—the things that slow us down or hinder us from running the race that God has set before us. Sometimes runners wear weights while training, in order to build up their muscles, and at times the Lord allows us to wear a few weights to test us and strengthen our spiritual muscles. But when these have served their purpose, we are told to lay them aside and run the race.

We are also told to lay aside “the sin that so easily entangles us,” or ensnares or clings closely to us. What is sin? The New Testament uses a variety of words when speaking of sin, which are translated as transgress, miss the mark, failure, wrongdoing, deviate from the right path, unrighteousness of heart and life, ungodliness, unbelief, disobedience, and falling away. In short, sin is turning away from God, His Word, and His will. So, “let us lay aside the weights and the sins”—anything that holds us back from doing our best to be what God wants us to be and pursuing His will and ways in our lives.

Then, after laying aside all these weights and distractions and sins, we are called to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Not only do we have to believe in God, but we have to do His will and His work. As long as you are striving to walk in His will and His ways, you’re running the race.

We can only have the endurance and perseverance to run the race by putting our faith and trust in the Lord. If we don’t have our eyes fixed on God, we can be tempted to lose heart and quit when challenges arise and we grow weary. But the Apostle Paul points out what’s at stake and the high calling we are pursuing: “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:14).

We have each been called to run a race that has been marked out for us by the Lord, and we’re to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, being faithful to follow the Lord however and wherever He has called us. The only way we can have the endurance we need to run and finish this race is by “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” We have to keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus and consider all that He endured for our salvation so that we don’t “become weary and discouraged in our souls” (Hebrews 12:2–3).

Keeping the faith

In his first epistle, the Apostle Peter writes about the eternal gift we have been given in Jesus of being “born again to a living hope” and “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” that is being kept in heaven for us (1 Peter 1:3–4). He then goes on to speak about the trials and tests that all believers will face in this life: “Though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6–7).

The Bible teaches us that the Lord will sometimes allow us to go through times of trials and tests to grow our faith and draw us close to Him. The story of Job in the Old Testament provides a good example of this.

We read in the Bible that God spoke about Job to Satan, saying “There is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8). But Satan challenged God, saying, “No wonder he fears You! You have hedged him about on every side to protect him and You have blessed the work of his hands and given him many possessions. Let me work him over and we’ll see if he remains faithful!” (Job 1:9–12).

So God allowed Satan to inflict many tests and afflictions on Job. Job lost his family, his wealth, and his health (Job 1:13–19). His initial reaction has resounded throughout history, as “Job fell on the ground and worshiped.” And he went on to say, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:20–21).

Despite the terrible losses on every front that Job went through and struggled to make sense of, the Lord won a great victory out of what looked like a terrible defeat in the making. When things couldn’t have been going worse for Job and his future couldn’t have looked darker, he declared, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). This is a beautiful testimony of sustaining faith in the face of great suffering, defeat, and discouragement.

The Lord rewarded Job for his faith, and we read at the end of the story that “the Lord restored the fortunes of Job … and gave him twice as much as he had before, and … blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42:10–12).

While some experiences we face may be very painful at the time, we have God’s promise that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).—Not some things or certain things but all things.

One thing is certain: God knows what He’s doing, and He loves us and cares for us as our heavenly Father. Whenever we don’t understand why He allows something to happen in our lives, we have to continue to trust Him, and bring every care, concern, worry, and anxiety to Him, knowing that He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). We can’t always know why God allows certain things to happen, and in some cases, we may never know till we get to heaven. His Word says that just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9).

One of the great questions of this life is why God allows seemingly bad or evil things to happen to people, and specifically to Christians, as His children. We can see part of the answer to that question and understand some of the reasons, but we won’t fully comprehend this until the next life when we can see the whole picture. As Paul wrote: “All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

In the meantime, we have to trust God no matter what we face, even if we don’t understand why some things happen. It could be that God permits some things to happen in our lives that we don’t understand, as Job experienced, to test our faith as we learn to trust Him no matter what. We can recite to ourselves, as Job did: “Though I have been facing tough times and I don’t understand why, yet will I trust Him! Though I face the loss of a loved one or affliction threatens me or someone close to Me, yet will I trust Him. Though I can’t make sense of what is happening in my life or the world around me, yet will I trust Him.”

The Bible even tells us to “count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2–3). That’s the greatest victory of all, when you face overwhelming challenges that seem impossible to overcome, and yet you still persevere in your faith and unwaveringly trust the Lord. That pleases the Lord greatly when you choose to trust Him in the face of loss, tragedy, disaster, or agony.

After Hebrews 11 commemorates the martyrs and saints of the past, the chapter goes on to say that “these all died in faith” (Hebrews 11:13). That is the greatest thing that could be said of them. They died without receiving all that God had promised them—some were even martyred—but they never lost faith; they never lost heart. They died trusting God, in anticipation of the promise of a heavenly country to come, which God had prepared for them (Hebrews 11:14–16).

Despite the trials and challenges of life we as Christians will face, we can “rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” because we know that we will “obtain the outcome of our faith—the salvation of our souls” (1 Peter 1:8–9). We can count our blessings even in the midst of our trials and struggles, as we keep our eyes on the promised prize waiting for us at the end of the race. We stand on the Bible’s promise that “blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

Paul’s reflections as he neared the end of his life journey offer great encouragement to all who love the Lord. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7–8).

May God bless you as you continue to keep the faith, run the race, and fight the good fight of faith, with your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Published on Anchor April 2025. Read by Reuben Ruchevsky.

Through the Looking Glass

April 9, 2025

By Nina Kole

I’ve found that it’s rare that a TV commercial will teach me something important. Most are terribly boring or obviously making unrealistic promises. You know the story: fit, beautiful people eating junk food, or that tired-looking mom suddenly looking fresh with a sparkling kitchen after changing her dish soap. Others obviously try to play on your emotions by starting with some moving story, only to end up promoting some unemotional product.

However, every now and then someone gets an interesting concept and shows us something that makes us think. There’s one commercial that went viral. It was called Real Beauty Sketches by Dove.¹

A sketch artist, who had worked for the San Jose Police department for many years, was brought into the studio to sketch women who sat behind a curtain, where he couldn’t see them. He asked them to describe themselves and he would sketch them as they saw themselves: a large forehead, jutting chin, a round face, stringy hair, and so on. Someone who had sat next to these women in the waiting room would then come in and describe them the way they saw them. This person mentioned good traits that these women actually had, but had never noticed or appreciated about themselves.

The sketch artist then hung these two portraits next to each other. Invariably, the sketch according to the other person’s description was more beautiful than the person’s own description. Both looked very much like the person (which showed that this portrait artist was an amazing artist), but one portrait focused on the “bad” traits while the other focused on the good.

This showed me that dwelling on the worst aspects of yourself only seems to draw attention to them. Have you ever had a friend who went on and on about something they didn’t like about themselves, and eventually you start to notice it when you hadn’t before?

That’s where I think inner beauty comes into the picture. If I describe someone who I think has inner beauty, it would be someone who is kind, friendly, outgoing. Even if they’re shy by nature, they would still not be afraid to start up a conversation, and most of all, they don’t come across like they’re thinking about themselves all the time. They may try to look nice, but you don’t see them continually primping or fussing throughout the day worried that a hair may have gotten out of place. Sure, they have flaws like the rest of us, but they don’t spend all their time worrying about it.

I personally love makeovers—seeing someone look better with a fresh haircut, more flattering clothes, and tasteful makeup. But more than the physical difference, you notice the confidence they receive when they see their new improved selves. They smile more, they “walk a little taller,” they laugh more easily because they feel better about how they look. That feeling of confidence contributes to the makeover as well.

The good news is that you can get the same boost to your confidence without a big makeover. There’s a great quote that says that there are three versions of every person: the way you see yourself, the way others see you, and the way God sees you. Let’s break those down.

The first version—the way we see ourselves. This probably is the least flattering, and the version where you’ll most likely hear the most about the flaws. Okay, you may be one of those people who think they’re absolutely wonderful and a breath away from perfection. But if you tend to judge yourself harshly, focusing on your faults and failings, then you’re in the same boat as most of us.

In Romans, Paul asked his fellow disciples, “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” (Romans 9:20). Whoever he was talking to must have not liked things about themselves.

The next version—how others see us—is usually more positive. We can see this from the example of the Dove commercial I talked about. Sure, there may be judgmental people who are critical or just plain mean, but in general, I think you’d be surprised to see how many others admire you for things you have never fully appreciated.

Try to make a note of the next time someone gives you a compliment and allow it to boost your confidence. Rather than brush it off, stop and thank the Lord that someone notices there is something nice about you.

Now the third and ultimate version—the way God sees us. He’s the architect that designed and created us, and He loves us as we are. Now in today’s society, we allow the media and fashion trends to determine what is beauty. In the olden days, ladies wanted to be plump and have lighter skin—this showed that they were wealthy and could afford lots of food, and that they didn’t have to work out in the sun. Now your typical model is lean and tanned and pretty much the opposite of what used to be considered beautiful.

In some countries in Africa that I’ve lived in, naturally thin women try hard to gain weight because being bigger and curvier is more attractive to the men in their culture. Also, losing weight can be a sign that you’re ill. In fact, a common greeting after not seeing a friend for a while is to say, “You’ve grown fat!” This was much to my chagrin as a teenager, until I learned the good nature behind the compliment. It means you look well and not poor or sickly.

I’m a big fan of looking and feeling healthy and fit, but it’s important to step back and realize that healthy can come in various packages, and you shouldn’t feel that you have to fit into anyone else’s version. Since you’re a creation of God, you should take good care of the body He gave you so that you can live a long and productive life. Everyone has their battles to fight in life, and one goal to ask the Lord to help you with is to see your own good traits and focus on them.

Easier said than done, I know. I battled with eating disorders for many years and tried every diet and cleanse under the sun, but it was only when I was older and made peace with myself and accepted the Lord’s help to focus on other things in life that everything became much more balanced. Now I enjoy life so much more.

I have some really beautiful friends, but they’re far more beautiful because of the kind of people they are. They’re a joy to be around, they care for others, and their so-called flaws just seem to disappear because I love being around them, and when I’m with them I see their fun, easygoing, loving nature.

Golda Poretsky said, “Beauty shouldn’t be about changing yourself to achieve an ideal or be more socially acceptable. Real beauty, the interesting, truly pleasing kind, is about honoring the beauty within you and without you. It’s about knowing that someone else’s definition of pretty has no hold over you.”

If you can work on being a better person on the inside, the Bible says the outside will follow. “A happy heart makes the face cheerful” (Proverbs 15:13). “Wisdom lights up a person’s face” (Ecclesiastes 8:1).

We are not attractive because we look a certain way; we are attractive because we are children of God.

Adapted from a Just1Thing podcast, a Christian character-building resource for young people.

¹ “Dove Real Beauty Sketches,” YouTube (6:35 minutes), April 18, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=rrHoDJinMQI

Courageous Courage

April 8, 2025

A compilation

Audio length: 10:05

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Sometimes in our lives we are called to make big decisions. At such moments, we can be overcome by the fear of failure, humiliation, poverty, and pain. When this happens, we need to remember that courage does not consist in the elimination of fear, but in the management of it. No one who has shown exceptional courage has been without fear. They have simply learned how to master it well. Joshua needed to be brave when crossing the borders into the Promised Land, a place where giants roamed.

God didn’t remove Joshua’s fears. He spoke a word that enabled Joshua to conquer his fears. So often the real giants are not in the land, they are in our hearts. God’s Word is simple: “I am with you every step of the way.” If we are walking in His will, He is with us. If He is with us, who can stand against us? Whatever the big decision is in your life right now, be brave. Have courage. Master your fear through the application of God’s magnificent promises.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified … for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).—Mark Stibbe¹

Today I look back at my childhood worries with amusement. I realize now that I’ve always felt lacking in courage. The other day, however, I happened to look up the definition of courage when writing an article. “Courage” originated from the French word cœur for heart. One etymology site says that the original French word meant “‘heart, innermost feelings, temper.’ In middle English [it was] used broadly for ‘what is [on] one’s mind or thoughts,’ hence ‘bravery,’ but also [meaning] ‘wrath, pride, confidence, lustiness,’ or any sort of inclination.”² Today, courage is defined as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.”³

In the Bible there are countless stories of men and women who did courageous things. Hebrews 11 lists many of these courageous folk. “What more can I say? I would run out of time if I told you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Through faith they conquered kingdoms, brought about justice, realized promises, shut the mouths of lions, put out raging fires, escaped from the edge of the sword, found strength in weakness, were mighty in war, and routed foreign armies” (Hebrews 11:32–34).

Looking at the brave men listed in this chapter, the origins of the word “courage” take on greater meaning—their hearts were in the right place. These men had something wonderful in common—the source of their courage.

We will all go through times that will be emotionally or mentally difficult and that will require moral courage—the will to do what we know is right. And I think that what we’ll do in such a time can be traced to something very simple. I think it will be what we’ve stored up in our heart that will determine the strength of our courage.

Everyone loves a good hero story. But in real life, you don’t get to decide whether you’ll have the opportunity for a huge heroic moment—if you get to rescue someone, or somehow or another save the day—but you do control what you put in your heart. That’s how you can be prepared for these larger-than-life moments, as well as those everyday moments that require courage.—Roald Watterson

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.—Acts 4:13

In the Bible, courage is also called “good cheer” as in Mark 6:50 when Jesus gave the command to the disciples who saw Him walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee and coming toward them. The Greek word translated “courage” and “good cheer” means literally “boldness and confidence.” In the Bible, courage is the opposite of fear. When God commands us to fear not, to be of good cheer, and to have courage, He is always commanding against fear, which is the opposite of courage.

But God doesn’t simply command courage with no reason behind it. In nearly every incident where God says “fear not,” there follows a reason to have courage, and that reason is God Himself, His nature and His perfect plans. … In each incident, we see God commanding courage, not because it is natural for man to be brave and courageous, but because, when God is protecting and guiding us, we can have courage because we are confident in Him. …

[Courage] is the result of understanding the foreknowledge and sovereignty of God, whose plans and purposes cannot be thwarted and whose omnipotence makes every circumstance of life subservient to His will.—GotQuestions.org⁴

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.—Dale Carnegie

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop and look fear in the face. … You must do the thing you think you cannot do.—Eleanor Roosevelt

Waiting to develop courage is just another form of procrastination. The most successful people take action while they’re afraid!—Author unknown

One wet and miserable morning in Ohio, Ray Blankenship was making breakfast when he looked out the window onto the open stormwater drain that ran alongside his house. What he saw terrified him—a small girl being swept down the drain. He also knew that further downstream, the ditch disappeared with a roar underneath the road.

Ray ran out the door and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the little girl. Then he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. He surfaced and was able to grab the child’s arm. They tumbled end over end.

Within about one meter of the drain going under the road, Ray’s free hand felt something protruding from one bank. He grabbed ahold and held on for dear life. “If I can just hang on until help comes,” he thought. But he did better than that.

By the time fire-department rescuers arrived, Ray had pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock. On April 12, 1989, Ray Blankenship was awarded the US Coast Guard’s Silver Lifesaving Medal. The award is fitting, Ray Blankenship was at even greater risk to himself than most people knew. You see, Ray can’t swim.—Reported in Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Published on Anchor April 2025. Read by Jon Marc. Music by Michael Dooley.

¹ Mark Stibbe, God’s Word for Every Need (Destiny Image Publishers, 2017).

² Online Etymology Dictionary, s.v., “courage (n),” http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=courage

³ Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “courage,” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/courage?show=0andt=1305771775

⁴ GotQuestions, “What does the Bible say about courage?” January 4, 2022, https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-courage.html

Tremors and Trust

April 7, 2025

By Maria Fontaine

Audio length: 11:46

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We’d all like to be pictures of perfect peace during the adversities of life, our faces beaming with light, as we calmly look upward with absolute serenity. But over the course of our lives, we all encounter times when reality is a bit more “down to earth.” In fact, reality can sometimes be all the way down, in the mud and pain and sorrow and suffering of this world.

But whatever you may be facing in the present, He can help you to find the way through it. Something that gives me strength to persevere when I’m facing battles is looking at what Jesus Himself went through. His greatest victory over death and sin came by way of betrayal, agony, torture, unspeakable pain, and death. So, when I don’t always feel so glorious in the process of growing, learning, and gaining valuable victories, I take comfort in knowing that our Great Shepherd understands when I get tired and worn down by the struggles of this life.

This season has been pretty stressful for many of us, myself included, and though things have been victorious overall, it has taken a toll on me. The Lord spoke to me about this in the following prophecy:

You have had a lot to carry recently, which at times took you to the limits of what seemed bearable, but I had a purpose in allowing this. Through this time, you have learned that what you face is often going to be too much for you to carry on your own, but it will never be too much when you’re giving it all to Me.

As David used to say, you sometimes have to see where it’s not at in order to discover where it is at. You didn’t experience all this just to show you what you can’t do or to leave you feeling overwhelmed. The purpose of My allowing you to be stretched to the limit was to convince you of what you can do if you let Me lead you each step of the way.

You have learned to apply the principle of trusting and not worrying in new ways, when you had to put it into practice under difficult circumstances. You had to see the limitations of some of your past approaches so that you could see the new areas of growth and learning that I’m guiding you into.

You now know that you can’t try to work more hours, juggle more things, and spread yourself thinner and thinner. As a result, you’re beginning to relax more, and that is manifested in your sleeping better and taking things more as they come. Rather than struggling to carry problems you can’t do anything about, or problems that might arise in the future, you are placing more and more of these in My hands and focusing on the present and what needs to be your priority today. You’re allowing yourself to be who you are, who I created you to be, the way I created you, rather than trying to carry the problems and weights yourself.

Lots of people have the idea that when they gain a victory in some area of their life, they should feel invigorated and bursting with joy and luxuriating in glory. But in reality, at the end of the battle, a fighter who has won the victory is almost always exhausted, beaten up, bruised and bloody from the fight. You’ve poured out every ounce of strength and fight you could muster. Now it will take a while to recover and to begin to fully realize that the victory is won and the enemy has been defeated. The wisdom you have gained in the process is changing how you see what needs to be done next.

This is a picture of where you are at right now. While you feel like you still have a way to go before My healing is fully manifested in some areas of your health, you are starting to see glimpses of My answered prayers. Now is a time to consolidate your progress, to allow yourself time to rebuild, and one way to do this is through getting as much sleep as you can to strengthen your body.

You’ve experienced many things that have helped solidify your faith in Me. You’ve gained a deeper conviction than ever before of the need to bring life’s challenges to Me, and to let Me show you new ways to deal with whatever life brings along your path.

Maria: For some years, off and on, I have experienced a condition called essential tremors, mostly in my hands. The cause is unknown and so is the cure. At times the tremors can make it difficult to do things that require a steady hand, such as writing.

I’ve been accustomed to waking at night and having the Lord give me thoughts and ideas, which I would quietly write down so as not to disturb Peter. However, during these last months, the tremors had begun to hinder my doing this as they had made my writing illegible, especially at night. But I didn’t want to miss what the Lord wanted to tell me “in the night seasons” (Psalm 16:7), so I asked Him what to do. He said:

There are always solutions, and as you look to Me, I will lead you to them in My perfect time. I can show you new approaches that can either fix the problem or show you a way to work around it. If you can’t write down your ideas, perhaps you’ll be able to dictate them. If that is not possible, because your voice would wake Peter, ask Me and I’ll show you the ideas at a different time when Peter won’t be disturbed.

I often don’t just hand you the answer to a challenge, but I present options that you can pursue, because there is more for you to gain as you seek the best solution for whatever you are facing.

Having to face challenges enables you to learn the underlying principles that can be applied to other areas of your life as well. It also hones your connection with Me and strengthens your confidence that I’m going to help you do whatever I know needs to be done.

I’m not going to make it impossible for you to do what I ask you to do. So, if things change, don’t worry. Instead, start looking for a new way to accomplish what I’m showing you to do, and I’ll give you all that you need.

Maria: I believe the Lord was saying that the answer to a challenge isn’t always in fixing the specific problem so that you can go back to doing things as you did them before. Many times, the victory is in discovering new approaches that will result in our doing something even better.

Most great discoveries were the result of major challenges in a person’s life that forced them to stretch and seek and be willing to let go of preconceived limitations in order to find better ways to do things. That principle can be applied to our lives and our relationship with Jesus. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to inspire us with ways to help ourselves or others. Sometimes we have to stretch our faith to trust the things God shows us, but as we do, the answers we need will be there.

The Lord must know that it has to be simple for most of us. So He gives us principles that apply in big and small ways. We don’t have to be facing some world-changing event to apply this principle. It holds true even for the small steps we have to take each day. Most discoveries that we make are personal ones: changing how we act, or think, or feel; or how we look at others, or at Jesus, or at our circumstances. This personal growth helps us navigate both the small difficulties and the seemingly insurmountable challenges.

It’s important to confirm our decisions with the Lord. For example, in the course of our experiences with Peter’s procedures, the process of discovering what the problems were and what to do to fix them, we had three times when even good, sincere doctors mistakenly prescribed medications that were likely to have harmful side effects when combined with some of Peter’s other medications, even when they were fully informed about what he was taking.

In other cases, procedures were recommended that, in spite of the doctor being well trained, the Lord showed us to get further counsel that turned out to be more accurate. And even with a very highly qualified and sincere specialist, there were unanticipated conditions that had to be dealt with during one of the procedures, which prolonged the procedure. I would have been tempted to worry, but the Lord had absolutely confirmed to me that He would work through this doctor, so I had the confidence from Jesus to hold on to.

In my opinion, there are far too many factors in this life that cannot be foreseen for us to put our complete trust in any person other than Christ Jesus, the Son of God. Doctors and others have beneficial counsel and many skills with which to help us, but looking to Jesus to confirm what He wants us to do is the best and most reliable part of any decision we have to make.

Continue to place the burdens of the present in His hands. Keep rolling them over on Him, and let Him show you simple steps that you can take in the moment. An important element in growth and change and recuperation, both physical and spiritual, is to gently stretch yourself with reasonable challenges that help you make a bit more progress on a regular basis. That applies to life overall, as well as any relationship, including your relationship with the Lord.

The world is going through major changes, but Jesus is not going to change, nor will His promises to you change. His hand in your life will continue to keep you, no matter what. So entrust yourself to His care and allow Him to show you what to do with every problem, every challenge, every impossibility. You are held securely in His hands, and He’s not about to let go, not even for a second.

Do what you can and then stop and allow Jesus to work. He will either show you the next thing to do or He will step in and do what only He can do. Your faith enables you to not fear, because you know that He is with you and will keep you, now and forever.

Originally published June 2022. Adapted and republished April 2025. Read by Debra Lee.

Activated, March 2005: Special Easter Edition (part 1)

Volume 6, Issue 3

2005-03-01

Personally Speaking

One year ago, shortly before Easter, Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ opened in theaters amid considerable controversy. Some film critics and religious leaders who had attended advance screenings expressed concern that the depiction of the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life contained too much graphic violence and that the film could cause an anti-Semitic backlash. Others praised The Passion as the most accurate and moving portrayal of Jesus’ suffering that had ever been filmed. Originally scheduled for release in only a handful of countries, The Passion quickly became an international hit, setting box-office and DVD sales records. Did Mel Gibson’s international stardom fuel public interest, or did all the controversy? Probably some of both, but it doesn’t really matter.

What matters most is the effect the film has had and is still having on millions and millions of people. Many Christians credit it for turning their lives around, restoring strained relationships, rescuing them from addiction, healing diseases, deepening their understanding of Jesus’ sacrifice, and strengthening their connection with Him. The reception The Passion has had among those of other faiths is also remarkable. In the Muslim world, the film has received overwhelmingly positive responses from the public and clerics alike. In mainland China, where the government reportedly banned the film due to its spiritual nature, pirated copies have been in high demand, especially by the young. In India, one young moviegoer summed up his experience for many by saying, “I had no idea what Jesus went through! I am deeply touched by His love for me.”

This issue of Activated contains a personal message to you from Jesus in which He explains His true passion and offers you the key to “freedom, peace of mind, joy, happiness, and true love—now and forever.” May this Easter issue bring you closer to Him.

Keith Phillips
For the Activated family

The Ant and the Grasshopper [Retold]

By Tomoko Matsuoka

At a primary school, during their weekly class on morals, a group of first-grade students were asked to finish the story of the hard-working ant and the lazy grasshopper in the way they thought would be best.

Most of us know this story—one of Aesop’s fables—of how the Grasshopper wasted the summer months playing his fiddle while the Ant labored hard storing food for the winter. When cold finally came, the industrious Ant and his friends were all safely tucked away with all that they would need, while the Grasshopper was left to search for food and found himself dying of hunger.

The six-year-olds were asked to draw a picture of and rewrite the ending of the story in any way they would like, but it needed to involve the Grasshopper asking the Ant for help. About half of the first-graders took the general view that since the Grasshopper was undeserving, the Ant refused to help him. The other half changed the end to say that the Ant told the Grasshopper to learn his lesson, and then he gave the Grasshopper half of what he had.

Then a little boy stood up and gave this version of the tale: After the Grasshopper came to the Ant and begged for food, the Ant unhesitatingly gave all the food he had. Not half or most, but everything. The boy was not finished, however, and cheerfully continued, “The Ant didn’t have any food left, so he died. But then the Grasshopper was so sad that the Ant had died that he told everyone what the Ant had done to save his life. And the Grasshopper became a good Grasshopper.”

Two things came to mind when this story was related to me. First, it reminded me what giving meant to Jesus. He didn’t go halfway for us, and He didn’t say we were “undeserving,” but He gave His all so that we could learn to “be good.” It was only through Him totally sacrificing His life that we were able to receive the gift of eternal life. It was just the way the Ant died for the Grasshopper in the six-year-old’s retelling of the classic tale. And for us it should also not end there. In gratitude, we should follow His example and give our all to tell of the wonderful thing He did for us.

Second, I learned what it means to give your all. It is not true giving unless it hurts, but when you do truly give, it will be multiplied many times over. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.” But it doesn’t end there. Here is the bittersweet promise that makes it all worthwhile: “But if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24).

Tomoko Matsuoka is a full-time volunteer with the Family International in Japan.

“What Manner of Man Is This?”

By David Brandt Berg

He was born on the dirty floor of a barn. As an infant, He narrowly escaped a jealous king’s death squad … when His parents fled with Him to a foreign country, and they remained there until it was safe to return. Until the age of 30 He was a carpenter like His earthly father. But His heavenly Father needed Him for another job that only He could do.

When the time came for Him to begin His life’s work, He went about everywhere doing good—helping people, caring for children, healing heartaches, strengthening tired bodies, and saving all who believed in Him. He not only preached His message, but He lived it amongst the people. He ministered not only to people’s spiritual needs, but He also spent a great deal of time tending to their physical and material needs, miraculously healing them when they were sick and feeding them when they were hungry, all the while sharing His life and His love.

His religion was so simple that He said you must become as a little child to receive it. He didn’t advise people to observe any complicated ceremonies or difficult rules. All He did was teach love and show love as He strove to lead God’s children into the true Kingdom of God, where the only laws are to “love the Lord with all your heart” and “love your neighbor as yourself.”

He had very little to do with the hypocritical, pompous, rich-robed, religious leaders of that day except when they insisted on annoying Him with their critical questions. Then He would rebuke them publicly and expose them as the “blind leaders of the blind” that they were.

He refused to compromise with their false religious system, but rather worked totally outside of it. He shared His message and love with the poor and common folk, most of whom had long ago abandoned and been abandoned by organized religion.

He made Himself of no reputation, and was a companion of drunks, prostitutes, reviled tax collectors, and sinners—the outcasts and downtrodden of society. He even told them that they would enter the Kingdom of Heaven before the so-called “good” people, the self-righteous and the religious leaders who rejected Him and His simple message of love. The power of His love and appeal was so great and gave such great faith to the sincere truth-seekers that many didn’t hesitate to leave everything they had to immediately follow Him!

Once, while crossing a large lake with His disciples, a great storm arose which threatened to sink the boat they were in. He commanded the winds and the waves to cease—and immediately there was a great calm. His disciples, astonished by such a demonstration of miraculous power, exclaimed to one another, “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Throughout His ministry He gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, cleansed lepers, and raised the dead. In fact, so marvelous were His works that they prompted a leading member of the religious establishment that bitterly opposed and resented Him to exclaim, “We know that You are come from God, for no man could do these miracles that You do unless God were with him!”

As His message of love spread and His followers multiplied, the envious leaders of the religious establishment realized what a threat this formerly unknown carpenter had become to them. His simple doctrine of love was destroying their entire religious system by liberating the people from their power and control.

These powerful enemies ultimately had Him arrested and brought to trial on false charges of sedition and subversion. And though the Roman governor found Him innocent, he was pressured by these religionists to execute Him.

Just prior to His arrest, this Man, Jesus Christ, had said, “They couldn’t even touch Me without My Father’s permission. If I would but raise My little finger, He would send legions of angels to rescue Me!” But instead, He chose to die, to save you and me. Nobody took His life from Him; He laid it down. He chose to give His life because He knew that was the only way God’s plan for our salvation could be fulfilled.

But even His death did not satisfy His jealous enemies. To ensure that His followers couldn’t steal His body and claim He’d come back to life, they placed a huge stone over the entrance of His tomb and posted a group of Roman soldiers there to guard it. This was a scheme that proved futile, however, as these same guards became eyewitnesses to the greatest miracle of all. Three days after His lifeless body was laid to rest in that cold tomb, Jesus rose from the dead, the victor over death and Hell forever!

Death itself could not stop His work or His words! Since that miraculous day nearly 2,000 years ago, this same Man, Jesus Christ, has done more to change history and the course of civilization and the condition of man than any other leader, group, government, or empire. He has given hope, eternal life, and the love of God to billions.

God, the great Creator, is a Spirit. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere and in everything—far beyond our limited human comprehension. So He sent Jesus, in the form of a man, to understand us and show us what He Himself is like and to bring us to Himself. And though many great teachers have spoken and taught about love and about God, Jesus is love and He is God! Jesus is the only one who died for the sins of the world and rose from the dead. He is the only Savior.

A Message from Jesus

Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ has caused a stir and raised controversy.

Instead of trying to discern what the director is trying to say, ask yourself this: “How does this movie affect me? What does it mean to me? Does it mean I should change something in my life? Where do I go from here?” If you let this film inspire you to be a better person and to live the way I want you to live, then you will come out ahead.

Yes, this is Jesus, and I am speaking directly to you. And yes, I am alive, well, and very active today.¹I will speak to anyone who will listen. If you want to know more about My truest, greatest passion, read on.

The central focus of the film is My suffering and death—the intense, brutal, gruesome torture I endured when I was on earth 2,000 years ago.

I endured all this for you, because of My love for you. There had to be a punishment for your sins, so in dying this horrible death I took your punishment. I died for you, so that you could be forgiven, cleansed, and be together with Me forever. I gave Myself for you, so that you could be happy and fulfilled in this life, and someday join Me in Paradise for all eternity.

Why? Because I was driven by love to save you, to pay the price for your salvation. My love for you, just you, the one who is reading this now, is that great. If you were the only person in the whole world, I still would have died for you. I want you to be happy for eternity. You are My passion.²

Life is all about choices, and I made many choices that led Me to the cross. I could have backed out many times, and I had ample opportunity to do so. I didn’t have to keep silent when I was brought before Pilate, I could have defended Myself, but I didn’t. I died to save you and I have never regretted that decision.

While My last hours on earth represent a part of the passion I have for you, it didn’t stop there. My passion has been thriving for 2,000 years.

I want you to focus on My love for you right now—today. My love for you is true and lasting. It can never be dissuaded; it cannot be quenched. It never loses hope, and it knows no limits. My love for you is complete. My passion for you is real, and I want it to be a part of your everyday life.

I gave My life for you, and now I have more—so much more—to give you. I want to fill you with the totality of My love, if you will receive it.

I know everything about you, including your flaws and mistakes, and I still love you. I love you intensely and passionately, now and forever. I love you as a father loves his child, and as a husband loves his wife.

My love is forgiving, it is merciful, and it is constant. I care about you, and I want to be involved in every aspect of your life.

Others will fail you, but I will never fail you: I will always be here for you. I want to help you, guide you, comfort you, and care for you. Our love can grow deeper every day.

Even if you don’t understand everything about the sacrifice I made for you—why I had to give My life and why it had to happen the way it did—if you will open your heart and accept My love for you, then you will know that it is real, and in time you will understand it more.

I appreciate your remembrance of My death, and now I want you to move forward and keep on experiencing My passion. By knowing Me personally, you allow My passion to become a part of your life, to fill you and complete you.

If you don’t know Me yet, you can get to know Me right now. Just open your heart to Me. You can begin by saying this simple prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank You for giving Your life for me. Please forgive me for the wrong things I’ve done. I don’t understand everything about Your passionate love, but I want to know You. I ask You to please come into my heart, give me Your free gift of eternal life, and teach me more about Your love. Amen.

If you already know Me, get to know Me better. Work on our relationship. Open your life more to Me. Now that we are connected, please do not neglect Me.

Read My messages to you in the Bible, and try to apply them to your life. If you read the account of My life and the words I said as recorded in the Gospel of John and the other Gospels, you will understand more about My great love and passion.

I know it is difficult in this fast-paced world, but if you will make the effort to take time daily to get alone and quiet so you can talk to Me and let Me speak to you, it will make a difference in your life. You can talk to Me anywhere, any time, out loud or in your heart—any way you like! Tell Me all that is on your mind. I will communicate with you through an impression, a thought, a whisper to your heart. Open your mind and heart to Me and you will come to know the depths of My love.

The cross is empty now. I live, and I long to give you a happier life, filled with true love, with good things. I want to teach you about My deep, eternal, passionate love and to help you share that same passion with others. It will change their lives too.

My commission to those who love Me is this: Love Me first with all your heart, mind and soul, and then love others.³

Do the things I ask of you, and I promise that your life will overflow with joy, your satisfaction will know no bounds, and your happiness will know no equal. You will not only receive forgiveness for your sins, but you will find freedom, peace of mind, joy, happiness, and true love, now and forever.

Passionately,
Jesus

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23 KJV). “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). www.activated.org
© 2005 Activated. All Rights Reserved.

Wounded for Our Transgressions

A compilation

2018-03-27

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”—Isaiah 53:5¹

“He was pierced”—as with a spear.

“He was crushed”—pulverized, broken, ground to pieces.

“Upon him was the chastisement”—beaten with a whip.

“By his wounds”—His body cut, bruised, his skin flayed.

No other God has wounds

It is not always understood that our Lord Jesus died in terrible pain. If you run the clock back from 3 o’clock in the afternoon—the moment of his death—to about 1 o’clock in the morning and review what had happened to Jesus as he moves through those hours—what you discover is that our Lord has just been through 14 hours of torture.

Arrested in the middle of the night.

Slapped.

Pushed around.

Mocked.

Slapped again.

Crowned with thorns that went into his scalp.

Scourged with a large strap studded with bits of bone and stone and metal.

His beard ripped out.

Beaten again and again.

Forced to carry his own cross.

Nails driven through his hands and feet.

Crucified.

At this point a strange question comes to mind. Was Jesus a failure? You could make a good case that the answer is yes. Just look at his life. He was born into an unimportant family in an unimportant village. He was ignored, he was taken for granted, he was laughed at. When he speaks, the powers that be want nothing to do with him. He faces ridicule, opposition, and misunderstanding all his life. In the end he is crucified like a criminal. His sufferings in those last few hours are unspeakable. When he dies he appears to be yet another forgotten footnote in history. Working with the facts on one level, you could make the case that our Lord was a failure.

But his death is not the end of the story.

Jesus did not fail in what he came to do.

He perfectly fulfilled the Father’s will.

Look what we have in return:

We have peace with God. The word means wholeness, health, the absence of war, and safety. In a messed-up world filled with broken people and broken promises, through Christ we have peace that passes all human understanding.

We are healed. We are healed from our guilt, healed from our hatred, healed from our doubt, and healed from our shame. Through Christ, broken people are put back together again.

Was Jesus a failure? No!

He took our sin, bore our pain, and through his death on the cross, he healed us from the inside out so that we now live in peace.—From keepbelieving.com²

Hallelujah! What a Savior

Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
—Philip Bliss, 1875

(Written shortly before his death. … A few weeks before his death, Mr. Bliss visited the state prison at Jackson, Michigan, where, after a very touching address on “The Man of Sorrows,” he sang this hymn with great effect. Many of the prisoners dated their conversion from that day.)³

Healed by His stripes

“He himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses in His own body on the tree.”⁴ “For He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.”⁵ According to Strong’s Bible Concordance, the original Hebrew word translated here as “stripes” literally means “bruise, hurt, stripe, wound.”

What does it mean, “With His stripes we are healed”? There is some form of atonement, even for our diseases. He paid for it by His physical suffering. So we can claim healing, even as a part of His atonement. We can claim it as a part of what He paid for. It’s yours already for the asking.

“The great physician now is near, the sympathizing Jesus. He speaks, the drooping heart to cheer. Oh! Hear the voice of Jesus.”⁶

We who have personally received Jesus into our hearts already have His healing power manifested in our bodies through the Lord’s healing.⁷ But it will not be complete until we receive our eternal, supernatural, indestructible bodies on which death and sickness no longer have any power or claim whatsoever.

Healing is a sample, like salvation. When we experience salvation, we get a little sample of what eternal salvation and heaven are going to be like. We have a little bit of heaven in our hearts already! We have “tasted of the heavenly gift and the powers of the world to come,” as His Word says.⁸ Likewise, when we are healed we have a little sample of what God is going to do one of these days. He’ll not only give you one new part or fix you up a little bit or repair you, but He is going to give you a whole new heavenly body!⁹

But in the meantime, we’re still bound by our corruptible fleshly human bodies, and about all God’s doing now through healing is patching us up to make us last a little longer. He can patch you up a little bit, like an old car, and keep repairing you.

When those who believe in Jesus are resurrected, it will be like the difference between the grain of wheat and the full-grown, full-blown stock and head that comes from one grain, or the flower that comes from one tiny seed. That’s how much better your new heavenly body is going to be than your present one. It will be that much more wonderful.¹⁰—David Brandt Berg

Published on Anchor March 2018. Read by Jon Marc. Music by Michael Dooley.

¹ NIV.

² http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/the-suffering-substitute.

³ http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/a/halwasav.htm.

⁴ Matthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24.

⁵ Isaiah 53:5.

⁶ William Hunter, 1859.

⁷ See Romans 8:11.

⁸ Hebrews 6:4–5.

⁹ See 1 Corinthians 15:42–58.

¹⁰ 1 Corinthians 15:35–38, 42–58.

‘Shrewd as Snakes’?

April 4, 2025

By Fenggang Yang

The Bible seems to give snakes a bad rap from the outset. Scripture depicts the serpent as evil and deceptive, from tempting Adam and Eve to disobey God in Genesis to representing the Devil in Revelation (Rev. 12:9).

Yet at one point early in his ministry, Jesus portrays snakes in a positive light. In Matthew 10:16, he tells his disciples: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

(Read the article here.)

https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/01/snake-lunar-new-year-serpent-bible-persecution-china-church

Relations with Others

April 3, 2025

Happier Living Series

Audio length: 13:13

Download Audio (12.1MB)

The issue

Life is all about relationship-building. Throughout life, we enter into relationships with people on many different levels, as sons and daughters, friends, neighbors, parents, co-workers, clients, counselors, and more. For Christians, the starting point for relationship-building is the understanding that every person has been created in the image of God and is worthy of dignity and respect. Our duty and calling is to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31) regardless of ethnicity, gender, creed, nationality, or social status.

When Jesus was asked “Who is my neighbor,” His reply was to tell the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). In this parable, the responses of people to a man in need are compared, and Jesus closes the story by asking, “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” The response was: “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus then said, “You go, and do likewise” (Luke 10:36–37).

This raises a question for us to consider: How do we see others? Do we view them as the “other” to ignore or pass by? Do we view them critically, making note of seeming defects, failings, or lacks, or do we see the goodness and wonder of God’s creation in people? How we treat people and our ability to share God’s love with them starts with the way we see them.

If we genuinely care about others, we need to show our concern and appreciation for them. We need to approach people with the understanding that every person has a story and burdens they are carrying and struggles they face.

Be kind. Every person you meet is fighting a difficult battle.

The starting point for building relations

Learning to communicate well with others and build relations starts with our relationship and communication with God.

In today’s ever-changing and increasingly complex and fast-paced interconnected world, more and more people find themselves caught up in the frenzied rush to become successful or make ends meet financially. They often have little time to ponder seemingly abstract matters such as the meaning of life or the eternal destiny of their own souls.

But as the years pass, people often find that the pressures of life and trying to meet all their commitments have filled them with stress and anxiety, not peace or satisfaction. Their private lives often suffer as a result, as they’re unable to find enough time to spend with family or friends or develop lasting relationships.

When a personal crisis or tragedy strikes—an unexpected accident or critical illness, a death in the family, a great personal loss of any kind—all the achievements and goods of this world can do little to bring or restore hope. It is during such times that people frequently realize that the true values of life—love, purpose, and eternal destiny—are what ultimately matter.

The Bible tells us that God is a loving Father who loves each human being uniquely. God is not some faraway uninterested being. He is a God who is personal, who has a relationship with His creation. He is interested in each one of us as individuals.

As Christians, He in turn has called us to reach out to others with His love, to communicate, to build loving relations, and to show that we care about them and that God loves them.—Activated

Who is our neighbor?

Our neighbor is anyone in our proximity with whom we can share God’s love. We are called not only to love those who are similar to us or with whom we are comfortable, but all whom God places in our path. In fact, Jesus said, “I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:44–48). God shows love to all people (John 3:16–18; 2 Peter 3:9). As His children (John 1:12), we are called to do the same.—GotQuestions.org¹

Keys to improving relationships

Do you want to know the key to better relationships in life? You must learn to serve.

The root of most relational problems is self-centeredness. You must deal with other issues, but the root is almost always self-centeredness. We want what we want, when we want it. Neither person will budge—and that causes conflict.

That’s why you need to step out of your own perspective and learn to serve others. Serving other people changes you, and it changes your relationships along the way.

One of God’s greatest lessons he wants you to learn while you’re on this planet is how to be unselfish. It’s a lifelong course of study… You can learn to be unselfish. How? It’s simple, really: You copy Jesus. Jesus says it like this: “Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

Next time you read about the life of Jesus in the Bible, notice how he dealt with others. Watch how he always put others before himself. When you imitate his attitude, you live your life not for your benefit but for the benefit of others. Jesus consistently showed this throughout the Gospels. …

The Bible says of serving unselfishly, “If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too” (Romans 14:18).—Rick Warren ²

A list of the most important words for our communications with others

The six most important words: “I admit I made a mistake.”
The five most important words: “You did a good job” or “I am proud of you!”
The four most important words: “What is your opinion?”
The three most important words: “I love you!”
The two most important words: “Thank you!”
The most important word: “We”
The least important word: “I”—Author unknown

Be generous with praise, cautious with criticism.

Keys for communicating with others

Some people are brought up from childhood to believe that it’s a sign of weakness to show your emotions, or to talk too much about your feelings. Consequently, they have never developed the ability to have meaningful conversations with another person or to share openly with someone else.

Others may be fearful of exposing what they feel or think. They do not want to run the risk of being rejected or hurt if someone else disagrees with them. Some people do not believe that they, as a person, have much to offer or that their ideas are worthwhile. They have a low opinion of themselves, and as a result, they withhold their comments and personal feelings.

Reservations and fears such as these can hinder our communications with others and prevent us from moving to deeper, more meaningful levels. If you’re interested in reaching people and you love them and want to show them that you care, it’s important to do your part to help them to communicate. “The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out” (Proverbs 20:5).

One way to do this is to gently probe and invite people to share by asking them questions that show an interest in them and that you care about them. Then listen to what they share and consider how you can show them that you understand and that how they feel and think matters. When it is difficult, remind yourself that as a unique creation of God, each person is invaluable and matters so much to God that He gave His only son for their salvation and reconciliation (John 3:16).

Oftenit helps people just to talk about the things they’re experiencing, even if there isn’t an obvious solution to the problem or issue. As Christians, we can also offer to pray with people for them and about the issues that concern them. “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people. … This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2:1–4).—Treasures

Think about it…

Four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship to God while the other six deal with our relationships with people. But all ten are about relationships.—Rick Warren

If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes—that is to say, like artists—we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in.—Frederick Buechner

Just remember the world is not a playground but a schoolroom. Life is not a holiday but an education. One eternal lesson for us all: to teach us how better we should love.—Barbara Jordan

What the Bible says…

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up.—1 Thessalonians 5:11

Serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”—Galatians 5:13–14

Remind the people … to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.—Titus 3:1–2

Published on Anchor April 2025. Read by John Laurence.

¹ “Who is my neighbor, biblically speaking?” GotQuestions, https://www.gotquestions.org/who-is-my-neighbor.html

² Rick Warren, “The Key to Improving Your Relationships,” PastorRick.com, November 12, 2019, https://pastorrick.com/the-key-to-improving-your-relationships/