“The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over.” Psalm 12:6

Purified silver is untainted. Its purity can be depended upon. Likewise, I can depend on God’s promises. Sometimes though, we misunderstand his promises. God protects us from eternal harm, but not from daily difficulties. I would’ve preferred God to promise me a comfortable life! Instead, he tells me I will have trouble. Jesus said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

God promises his presence and his enabling in our troubles. I love the way the Amplified Bible puts Hebrews 13:5-6. “‘I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!’ So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently say, ‘The Lord is my Helper [in time of need], I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?’”

It’s a beautiful promise but it wouldn’t be necessary if we didn’t sometimes feel deserted, helpless and abandoned. Many other promises also reassure us, such as Jesus’ words to his disciples, shortly before his crucifixion, “I am going to prepare a place for you. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:2-3).

His promise is “you will always be with me where I am.” This promise tells me, God wants to spend time with me and that I’m not a nuisance or unimportant. Rather I’m loved and my presence is important to him.

Let’s pray …

Thank you Lord for your promises that tell me I’m important and valued. Right now, I acknowledge your promises are trustworthy.

In Jesus’ name
Amen

“The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.” Psalm 14:2

I desire to be wise and make wise choices and decisions, but sometimes I feel indecisive. Generally, it’s because I think I don’t have enough information to make the best possible decision. Or I think I don’t have the time or resources to investigate all the different options. Or I feel overwhelmed by choice. God never has these problems! He knows all there is to know, past, present and future. He has all the necessary information to make wise decisions.

Furthermore, I’m influenced by the opinion of friends and family. Sometimes I’m even influenced by promotional campaigns and advertising. This may be helpful if I’m wondering about a new brand of cereal, but not so helpful if I’m looking at purchasing something requiring a substantial investment of time or funds. God’s perspective is the only unbiased and accurate one.

How exactly do we seek the Lord?

We include spiritual disciplines such as reading the Bible, praying, and fellowshipping with others as part of our weekly routines. However, these things may become so routine that they no longer impact our thinking. To truly seek the Lord, we learn to pay attention. We’re expectant and receptive to his promptings that may come to us in a variety of ways or on various occasions. We trust that God is leading us so we wait for the inaudible whispers in our hearts and minds. We’re discerning, knowing that not every thought and idea that drops into our minds is from God. We’re alert to a sense of peace or a sense of discomfort as we consider different opportunities.

The truly wise, seek the Lord.

Let’s pray …

Thank you Lord that you freely give me your wisdom when I ask. Right now, I choose to seek you.

In Jesus’ name
Amen

This Bonus Episode is a chapter from my soon-to-be-published book, 10 Things I Hate About God And How He Won Me Anyway. It's currently available for preorder. See my website for purchasing options: https://www.susanbarneswriter.com/10-things-i-hate-about-god/

Three-year-olds are too busy to take naps. I learned this indisputable fact after becoming a parent. “I’m not tired, and I’m not grumpy,” my child would insist in a tone that made it perfectly clear it would be ridiculous to think otherwise. They would say this after I suggested a nap or an early bedtime. Maybe their building blocks tumbled down in a big heap for the umpteenth time, or they finished the last packet of their favorite snack, or they couldn’t find their much-loved teddy. Minor things causing major frustration reveal major tiredness, but not when you’re three. I wonder how often I ignore the signals that tell me I need to take a break. How often am I irritable and short-tempered?

My husband might suggest we go away for a couple of days. But I find myself getting impatient. I function best with a tidy house, the washing up to date, and the ironing finished. I want to complete all my chores before I stop. After all, I don’t want to come home to a messy house. I carry on with my endless schedule of activities, ignoring God and anyone else who dares to suggest I take a break ...

On Saturday, I launched my new book, 10 Things I Hate About God And How He Won Me Anyway. I recorded my talk, which explains how I came to write the book and how I came up with the title.

The story of how this book came into being began in 2005, when we moved to Gisborne. We had arranged to take six weeks' long service leave in May and travel around Australia, but we arrived in the February.

This meant I couldn’t look for a job or become overly involved in our church until we returned from our trip. I had recently completed a Diploma in Library and Information Services, and I wasn’t planning to do any more study. We left our youngest child behind when we moved, so for the first time in many years, my schedule freed up. I literally had nothing to do. So I prayed about what God wanted me to do, and the idea of writing a book came to mind, but I kept dismissing it ...

To learn more, click on the podcast.

“I will thank the Lord because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.” Psalm 7:17

In the parable Jesus told about the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-34), the debtor was forgiven a huge debt, more than he could ever hope to repay in his lifetime. Instead of being thankful, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a comparatively small amount of money and demanded payment and when he couldn’t pay, had him thrown into jail. The parable is primarily about forgiveness, but it’s also about thankfulness.

We’ve been forgiven a huge debt. Our debt of sin that Jesus bore for us on the cross, is more than we could ever hope to repay in our lifetime. We live in a broken world with the evidence of sin constantly around us. We’ve become so accustomed to sin, we overlook its offence to a holy God.

Isaiah was a godly prophet but when confronted with the holiness of God, he said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies” (Isaiah 6:5). Peter had a similar experience (Luke 5:8) and so did John (Revelation 1:17). One day we will see Jesus, risen and glorified. Then we’ll fully realise the depths Jesus descended, to enter our sin-filled world.

In the meantime, every time we think of the Cross, let’s allow ourselves to be overwhelmed with thankfulness that God would step in and pay our debt. Let’s acknowledge the debt is more than we can ever repay and respond with great thankfulness and songs of praise.

Let’s pray …

Thank you Lord that you are just. Your justice demanded the debt of sin be paid, so you paid it yourself, on the Cross. I am forever grateful.

In Jesus’ name
Amen

“But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
I will sing to the Lord
because he is good to me.” Psalm 13:5-6

David begins this psalm by saying, “O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?” (v.1) and ends with acknowledging that the Lord has been good to him. Our emotions can change overnight, over hours or in the time it takes to write six verses!

Our emotions aren’t always a true gauge of our situation. A single piece of disappointing news, a discouraging thought or a disheartening conversation can cause our emotions to plummet into thinking that God has abandoned us. Since we lack physical evidence of God’s presence and we can’t see how he’s working in our lives, we quickly lose sight of his purposes and focus on our own inconveniences. We may feel like the Lord has forgotten us, but like David, we can remind ourselves of his faithfulness.

When we celebrate, we remember the most dramatic demonstration of God’s goodness. He voluntarily sent his Son to die so that we might be restored to relationship with him. The Cross is the clearest indication of God’s love for us and his willingness to do whatever it takes to connect with us.

Gathering with other Christians can also encourage us to remember God’s faithfulness. As we listen to others singing of God’s love and grace, we’re reminded of God’s goodness. If we allow ourselves to be immersed in their praises to God, we’re enabled to join in and rejoice also.

David chooses to trust God’s unfailing love, even when he is weighed down with anguish and sorrow (v.2). Likewise when negative emotions are threatening to overtake us, we can choose to trust the Lord.

Let’s pray …

Thank you Lord that you never forget me or give up on me so I can sing and rejoice. Right now, I acknowledge you have been good to me.

In Jesus’ name
Amen

“For the righteous Lord loves justice. The virtuous will see his face.” Psalm 11:7

Constable, in his commentary on Psalms, tells us that “seeing God” is a synonym for having an intimate relationship with God. In the natural world, we make friends with like-minded people. Likewise, if we desire fellowship with God, we become like-minded with him.

We also find this thought in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus is telling us how to live a blessed life, “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). Being "pure in heart" or “virtuous” isn’t about our actions so much as it’s about our attitude and motives. When we’re pure in heart, our actions will flow from our desire to please God. The opposite is using cover-ups and deception to create a good impression.

The prophet, Malachi describes Jesus as “a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes” (Malachi 3:2) and his ministry is described as making his people pure in heart. He does this by using our circumstances to reveal and refine our intentions. This is important because we’re often unaware of our true motives.

Jeremiah writes, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). When David wanted a pure heart, he prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23-24).

If we desire to have a close relationship with God, it means asking him to purify our inner attitudes and motives.

Let’s pray …

Thank you Lord that you created me for intimate fellowship with you and right now you’re working to purify my heart. Cleanse my attitudes and motives so I will “see your face.”

In Jesus’ name
Amen

“Why do the wicked get away with despising God? They think, “God will never call us to account.” Psalm 10:13

Likewise, in the New Testament, we read, “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

For the Christian, this isn’t to determine whether or not we will go to heaven, because Jesus has already paid our debt and achieved salvation for us. For the Christian, the judgement seat is about determining rewards. The Amplified Bible adds the following to the previous verse, “that is, each will be held responsible for his actions, purposes, goals, motives—the use or misuse of his time, opportunities and abilities.”

Constable in his commentary on this verse writes, “The idea is not that God will reward us for the good things we did and punish us for the bad things we did. He will rather reward us for the worthwhile things we did and not reward us for the worthless things we did.”

We find the idea of rewards in Jesus’ parables where the master leaves entrusting his servants with bags or coins of silver and expects they will use the money wisely and well (Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:12-26). Both Paul and James write about the receiving of crowns as rewards (1 Corinthians 9:24-25 NIV, James 1:12). Rewards are a prominent thought for the New Testament authors. Many were being persecuted for their faith so they looked forward to future blessings.

Samuel Hoyt, pastor and professor of theology, compares the judgement seat of Christ to a graduation ceremony.* There may be some disappointment that you didn’t do better or work harder, but the overall emotion will be joy that you graduated.

*S. Hoyt, The Judgment Seat of Christ in Theological Perspective.

Let’s pray …

Lord, I acknowledge I will be called to account for how well I have stewarded the gifts and abilities you entrusted to me. However, regardless of rewards, I thank you that I will graduate to heaven because you secured my salvation on the cross.

In Jesus’ name
Amen