We are never so weak and dependent on Omnipotence than in the midst of the storm. Whether it be physical, spiritual, financial, or moral, we reach to the heavens for hope and strength. We seek God’s protection and deliverance. In crisis, we learn to pray, whether we are religious or not. We do not decorate our prayers in times of trouble. We do not write them out in advance.

Listen quietly; I hear the voice of my Beloved! He speaks to me! Fair weather is smiling upon the face of the earth, and He would not have me spiritually asleep while nature is all around me awaking from her winter’s rest. He bids me, “Rise up,” and well He may, for I have long enough been lying among the dens of worldliness. He calls me, “Come away.” The sweet sound is melodious and inviting, so what is there to hold me in this wilderness of vanity and sin?

Take your sins to Christ’s cross, for the old man can only be crucified there: we are crucified with Him. The only weapon to fight sin with is the spear which pierced the side of Jesus. To give an illustration—you want to overcome an angry temper, how do you conquer that pesky sin?

As a New Year begins, I want to share with you a quick story that brought me a lot of perspective this holiday season. It reminded me why First Liberty’s mission of protecting religious freedom is so important—and why we must keep fighting for religious liberty in our nation.

The book of Psalms ends with a book of songs - that can give us dramatic laments, glorious expressions of sadness, fears, and joy as well as eternal perspectives on life - all with just a simple refrain, “Praise the Lord”.

God knows the end from the beginning. He knows how our life will end and the legacy that we will leave. He is not sleeping till He completes the work He has started in us.

The graces of the Christian character must not resemble the rainbow in its transitory beauty, but, on the contrary, must be established, settled, abiding. Seek, O believer, that every good thing you have may be an abiding thing. May your character not be a written upon sand, but an inscription upon the rock! May your faith be no “baseless fabric of a vision,” but may it be built of material able to endure that awful fire which shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite.  

The first recorded words God spoke were a command: “Let there be light.” And there was light. God separated the light from the darkness when he made night and day. From the moment of man’s first sin in Eden, spiritual darkness and light have been at cosmic war with each other. The struggle has been unrelenting, fierce, and irreconcilable. It has been manifest at a million different points of conflict throughout human history.

The moment a person becomes a believer in Christ he is justified. This is not a spiritual fruit produced by faith over time, but bestowed now. So far as justification is the result of believing faith, it is given to the soul in the moment when it surrenders to Jesus, and He becomes all-in-all  to the heart and soul. Genuine believers are today accepted in the Beloved, today absolved from sin, today acquitted at the Judge’s bench. Oh! take in to your heart this soul-transporting thought!  

A Roman centurion comes up to Jesus as he is teaching. A murmur ripples through the crowd—perhaps a gasp or two. This soldier of Rome represents Caesar and all that the Jewish people resent in his oppressive rule. For years they have longed for a Messiah to set them free from this cruel and arrogant yoke. 

Here is their arch-enemy, symbolized in this one man who stands now before the Rabbi.

Our pressures and problems have often blinded us to the mercy, kindness, and grace of God in our lives. In place of gratitude comes a sense of entitlement. We presume upon the mercies he gives us every moment of every day. We may even think subconsciously we are owed this; we come to expect it.

Humiliation of soul always brings a positive blessing with it. If we empty our hearts of self, God will fill them with His love. When there is less of us, there is more room for Him. He who desires  close communion with Christ should remember the Word of the Lord in Isaiah 66:2, “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word.”  

The recent election has left us with many lessons that we need to consider – particularly for the Body of Christ. In this critical moment, I believe God is speaking clearly to Christians engaged in the culture, highlighting the importance of the work we are doing and the direction we must take as we move forward in both ministry and service to others and our personal commitment to Jesus.

Suffering and waiting are part of the Christian life. Recently a friend and I have been commiserating over not having what we’ve been praying for, for so long. It’s been a long road of waiting and heartache. Sometimes, you just wonder: Why? Why am I waiting, O Lord? What lesson am I not understanding? Why must more heartache come? How much longer will I feel this way?

First Liberty recently filed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court in Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond. The case concerns the Oklahoma Charter School Board’s approval of an online Catholic school. We filed the brief on behalf of the Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Department of Education, and the State Board of Education.

Genuine believers “have been given exceedingly great and precious promises…”However, let’s be clear about how we receive these promises. Our text tells us that by knowing God personally, through Jesus, His power works in our lives, giving us the ability to live a godly life. Within the intimacy of that relationship, He calls us higher, ever higher by His glory and virtue. Moreover, as we answer Him in a diligent pursuit, we are given “exceedingly great and precious promises that  through these you may be partakers of the divine nature.” 

Our despairing world knows so little of grace and mercy. The seeds of kindness often struggle to grow in the harsh soil of recrimination, retribution, and revenge. Being the beneficiaries of grace, should we not also be its benefactors? The fallen race of man yearns to find forgiveness, acceptance, and new life. It may not act like it, but it does, desperately.

Your vote matters!

The nation would eventually once again become the United States. But the path to reunion would be more difficult and filled with recriminations. Lincoln wanted the South restored. He never believed the confederate states had truly left the Union.