The charges of racism levied against the United States of America are deadly serious. Many are wounded physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually as a result of the division and injustice that come from this sin. In light of this, the most important questions we can ask are, “What does the Bible say about racism? What is God’s prescription for healing, peace, and reconciliation in our culture?” Let’s start by reading John chapter 4.

Have you been in a situation where your enemies are hounding you ALL day long? When you feel like you never get a break from their pursuit – how does that wear you out? Whether these are physical enemies like people on your job, neighbors who don’t like you, opponents on a campaign, people on social media who constantly attack your beliefs, whatever that looks like for you in this moment – it can feel constant.

Who is your favorite Bible character? 

For me – it’s Joseph.

I asked myself why I like his story so much, and I guess it’s because he was the original comeback kid.  Joseph never seemed to let all the bad things that he went through get him down. 

Joseph realized that God was with him even in the difficult times – even in a foreign land.

How many of us during these difficult days are having to fight off restlessness? We are hearing the voice of the enemy louder and seeing the oppression coming from the “wicked” – those who are in rebellion against God. It feels like it is never ending. It is difficult. It is not easy. David felt that restlessness and oppression and voiced it in Psalm 55.

God’s presence is more than desirable - it is indispensable to the child of God. With God, his people may go to the uttermost parts of the world. Without him, we dare not venture across the street.

The way God sees things is SO different than the ways we process truth. We overcomplicate, over think, and justify our weaknesses, but God sees it simply like this – are you foolish or wise? He asks in this passage of scripture – is “there any who understand, who seek God”?

This was going to take courage. It was going to take conviction. It was going to take perseverance. The struggle for liberty and justice has never been for the timid.

The story from 1 Samuel 21 and 22 where David goes into the tabernacle in Nob, talks to the priest Abimelech, takes some holy bread from him and Goliath’s sword as well, has always been fascinating to me.

Listen to this: If they can create a problem that makes you fear, then they can immediately turn around and sell you a hope-filled solution. It is a key to marketing, and we see this play out everywhere in our world today.

In conversation with a colleague recently I learned this valuable lesson about FEAR.

With a yearning heart of love, like the hound of heaven, he pursued us down the corridors of time. There was nowhere we could go where he would not find us. God’s love is unstoppable, his grace is unfathomable, and his will is unconquerable.

Have you ever been in that place where the charade was over, and everyone knew your sins and failures?

That is where David was. Even though he was the King – he knew he had done wrong; but it hit him even deeper than just being exposed on the outside - it hit him deeply inside of his soul.

They are the timeless words and melodies that transcend the shifting tastes and styles of sacred music. They alone are the songs we go door to door singing at this time of year. Year after year, decade after decade, century after century.

Christmas carols.

The same words. The same music. “Contemporary worship” is powerless to stop them. Smoke, loud noise, darkness and blinking fluorescent lights cannot drown them out. Or update them or modernize them.

It was improbable. The plot itself was bizarre. Was it creative or hair-brained? Intriguing or misleading? Realistic or fatalistic? Hopeful or desperate? The critics panned it. They said it was too dark. Especially for Christmas.

This year is its 75th anniversary.

It is the story of a good and decent man who was always helping others - deferring his own dreams - until the day he needed help. Not knowing where to turn, in desperation, on Christmas Eve, he attempted suicide for the life insurance.

A lunch room thief began stealing food from others at my company. A hidden camera was installed and the thief was caught… only to find out it was not someone who fortuitously saw something delicious in someone else’s lunchbox and decided to take it.  No, this person was merely hungry.  

Today, my wife reported to me that she had seen on the news a house which had been totally destroyed by the recent tornados with two exceptions – the grandmother and the three grandchildren were protected. Also, their Christmas tree and all of the presents under it had been disturbed although the rest of the house was gone. Clearly a miracle!

Have you been through a time when you feel like God is not speaking to you? No Bible verses are impacting you; no messages from the pulpit are impacting your heart; no worship song is getting through the fears and the darkness in your soul – it is a hard place. How tormenting that is - the quietness of God.

Death is the great equalizer. Death comes to every person whether we are prepared for it or not. We will all die – rich or poor. At that moment our lives will not be defined by how much we have accumulated - our houses or our lands, but our eternal destinies.

Psalm 49 reads more like a proverb than a Psalm as it lays out its deep and resounding wisdom for every living person – we cannot carry anything into the grave but our relationship with Christ.

A perfect example of God’s faithfulness and ultimate victory in the end is Jerusalem. As Psalm 48 says – this city will become “the joy of the whole earth”.

In Psalm 48 we see the ultimate heavenly city and the warfare surrounding it, but also the physical city of Jerusalem and the warfare of destruction that has always been around it and continues to this day. Ultimately these two realities and two stories will converge into a beautiful tapestry of God’s faithfulness and presence seen on earth.

That was it. No wallowing in self-pity, no sadness; no defiance, complaints or recriminations; no regrets.

Just gratitude. Thanksgiving for the blessings God had given him. Thanks for the people who meant so much to him - and to whom he had meant so much.

What a proclamation of praise and exuberance seen in Psalm 47 as the King of the whole earth is exalted and lifted up as the supreme ruler.

The command of the New Testament is to incorporate patience into our hearts as we wait for the Lord to return. This Psalm gives another picture to set in our minds as we wait patiently for everything to be made right and Jesus to give us our full inheritance as the Bride of Christ.