Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 147

Can God Be Too Far Away? Can He Be Too Near?

We never want to make the mistake of trying to pick and choose from God’s attributes to fit our own limited view of Him. God’s love might endear Him to us more than His holiness or His wrath. But we must never minimize or downplay any of His attributes for our own purposes, including our comfort.

Are we completely astonished by the grace and mercy of God? Do we truly think of it as “amazing” grace? Or do we feel somewhat entitled to it? Do we expect God to show mercy, because after all, He is loving and kind and compassionate, so we take His grace for granted?

Scripture portrays some interesting reactions to God’s decisive judgement upon sinful people, like Heaven’s inhabitants “rejoicing in the judgment of God” (Revelation 18:20). I think we presently lack a lot of the capabilities to understand these things, and part of the reason is the de-emphasis of certain attributes of God. (Knowing God by J. I. Packer, which God used to change my life, does a wonderful job of looking at the full range of God’s attributes.) If you only choose to focus on God’s love, grace, mercy, compassion, and patience, then all of a sudden, none of this talk about rejoicing in judgment makes sense. But we’re not given that option. God’s character is not a menu where you choose the attributes you like and forget the other ones. To worship the true God of Scripture, we must see Him as all that He is, not just part of who He is.

Similarly, we don’t want to make the mistake of choosing God’s immanence over His transcendence. Both are a part of His revealed nature:

Colossians 1:17 teaches us that God holds all things together. He is present in His creation. “In him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) The interest and participation of God in His world is called His immanence. (This is not to be confused with His imminence, which has to do with the timing of His return.)

But He is also transcendent—that is, He exists above and completely independent from all created things, outside of space and time, in holiness and righteousness and perfection. No one knows His mind or gives Him counsel (Romans 11:34). His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, just like the vast distance between Heaven and earth (Isaiah 55:9).

In this powerful sermon by seminary professor Dr. Bruce Ware, he reminds us to hold these two aspects of God’s nature—His transcendence and His immanence—with the tension and balance they deserve. Using Isaiah’s vision of God in Isaiah 6, Bruce paints an amazing picture of God in His majestic glory and moral purity that builds and builds. It rises to a crescendo and inevitably leads to Isaiah’s comprehension of his own ruined life and the destructive sin that bars him from God.

As Bruce points out, “God is not obligated to show His mercy to destitute, fallen, condemned sinners.” We must first see the transcendent greatness and grandeur of God in order to have a true picture of our own sin, and thus to know the fullness of His love and His truly amazing grace.

The writer of Psalm 113 understands well this tension. He lays the foundation (verses 4-5) as Isaiah did with transcendence: “The Lord is high above all nations; his glory is above the Heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high…” Then he follows immediately (verse 6) with immanence: “…Who humbles himself to behold the things that are in Heaven and in the Earth?”

Let’s not bypass God’s glory in our rush to embrace His goodness. And let’s never forget how very far His majesty had to stoop to reach this broken world…and all of us, His children.

Photo by Jordan Donaldson via Unsplash

Knowing What God Is Like

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Exodus 34:6-7 (NIV)

There’s little consolation in knowing God is your Creator unless you know what He’s like. A Creator could be miserable, unreasonable, unloving, and downright hateful. Likewise, there is little consolation in knowing God is your Ruler, but great consolation in knowing that God is your Savior: holy, happy, kind, and full of grace.

J. I. Packer writes, “Nothing can alter the character of God. In the course of a human life, tastes and outlook and temper may change radically: a kind, equable man may turn bitter and crotchety; a man of good-will may grow cynical and callous. But nothing of this sort happens to the Creator. He never becomes less truthful, or merciful, or just, or good, than He used to be."

Think of it this way: if your grumpy neighbor asks, “What are you up to?” you’ll see it as a suspicious, condemning question. But if your cheerful neighbor asks the same thing, you’ll smile and talk about your plans. We interpret people’s words according to how we perceive their character and outlook. So it is with our view of God.

Given most people’s opinion of God, no wonder they read the Bible negatively, selectively focusing on His anger and judgment while missing His mercy, grace, and happiness. God seems restrictive and condemning because they believe He’s against us and our happiness.

The same Scriptures, when read by those who see God as loving and happy, emphatically show that He has our best interests at heart. For them, the Bible becomes a warm, living document instead of a set of harsh, arbitrary rules. If we believe that “God is for us” (Romans 8:31), then even when Scripture exposes our sin, we still trust Him, because He desires to address our sin with His forgiving and empowering grace.

Parts of this article were excerpted from Randy's new devotional Grace, which offers daily meditations, Scriptures, and inspirational quotes that will enable you to grasp more fully the grace God has lavished on us.

The size and format of this book make it a great gift book to share! (It's a beautiful hardcover.) When you place 3 Grace books in your shopping cart (retail $12.99, EPM price $10.49 per book), during checkout use the discount code GRACE3 to deduct the full price of one book.

Offer ends August 1, 2016. Limit 1 free book per order.

Photo by Allen Cai via Unsplash

The Danger of a Single Story

My thanks to EPM’s Karen Coleman with her help and research for this post.

In Jesus’ day, the Scribes and the Pharisees were “one-story” kind of guys. When they brought the woman caught in adultery before Jesus in John 8, they didn’t seem to be considering any other aspects of her story—like what about the man she was caught with? Or, what circumstances might have forced her into such a lifestyle? Or, weren’t their own sins really just as worthy of punishment as hers? And they had already written the final chapter of the story—her death by stoning.

In her TED talk, a young Nigerian storyteller named Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie makes her case against this idea of a “single story,” even calling it a danger. She explains that when we’re unable or unwilling to see the rich and fully-faceted aspects of other people and their stories, we limit the possibility of connecting with them. We become aloof and are prone to a simplistic pity, seeing others merely as flattened stereotypes.  And the problem with stereotypes? Adichie says it’s “not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”

As an author, I love to develop the characters in my novels. I try to get into their minds to give them personality and idiosyncrasies and pet peeves. I don’t want them to be flat. I want my readers to think, “Yeah, I know a guy like that!” Or sometimes better yet, “I’m kind of like that guy!” How much more should we as Christians want to truly know and understand real people.

Believers today, and particularly American believers, can still fall into that same single-story trap all too easily, and it can affect our entire worldview. Instead of a paternalistic single-story, “those-poor-ignorant-people” point of view, Christians, of all people, should view others as true equals whose lives are as complex as our own and who do not have a single story but many stories that characterize themselves, their families and their culture. As Adichie states it, the single story “robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar.” But when we’re open to understanding more completely, stories can be used “to empower and to humanize” and “repair that broken dignity.”

Those dangerous and condescending attitudes about others can even cause us to minimize the clear truth of Revelation 5:9, that Jesus ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, not just a chosen few. In the recent past, Christianity has enjoyed rapid growth in Latin America, Africa and Asia, an area that has come to be known as the “Global South.”  One hundred years ago, the “Global North” (normally defined as North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Europe) contained more than four times as many Christians as the Global South. Today, researchers say Christians in the Global South number more than 1.3 billion, compared with about 860 million in the Global North. [1]

Have we inadvertently fallen into a nationalistic one-story deception? Do we focus so much on the needs of our own country—which are undeniably numerous—that we forget there are countries where there is not a church on every corner or a Bible translation in the first language of the majority of the people? We risk arrogance if we think we have a monopoly on the Gospel, that it’s a story somehow belonging singularly to us and those who look like us. Among Buddhists and Hindus, there are approximately 175,000 people per missionary. Among Muslims, that number jumps to an astounding 300,000 people per missionary! Do we overlook the tragic fact that 86% of the world's Hindu, Muslims, and Buddhists don’t personally know even one Christian? [2]

Any group that lacks enough followers of Christ and the resources to evangelize their own people is considered an “unreached people group.” Unreached people in the world today still number more than 3 billion. [3] That’s nearly ten times more than the entire population of the United States. And that’s 3 billion stories, each story with a face and a name, with struggles and joys. These are real people, just like us, who need to know Jesus loves and died for them.

Could you use some help putting human faces with that incomprehensible number? The Joshua Project will send you an “unreached of the day” people group as an email or mobile app. It’s a short little message with a map and a few facts and a prayer focus. And a face—a human connection to someone on the other side of the globe who needs to hear the old, old Story.

[1] www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec

[2] joshuaproject.net/assets/media/handouts/mission-trends-facts.pdf

[3] joshuaproject.net/global_statistics

photo by Anna Dziubinska via Unsplash

What Does Your Tipping Say About Your Faith in Jesus?

As followers of Christ, we’re to be characterized by generosity, humility, and gratitude. That extends to how well we tip those who serve us at restaurants and other places. Scripture says, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25). “The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives” (Psalm 37:21). I have heard many stories from restaurant servers, both believers and unbelievers, who say that they get the smallest tips from people who come to eat after leaving church on Sunday mornings. This should not be.

Many people, including myself, regularly leave a small book or booklet with a waiter or waitress who serves them (I use my If God Is Good Why Do We Hurt? and Heaven and God’s Promise of Happiness booklets). However, when I do, I always leave a tip that's a minimum of 20%, usually more like 25%. This is partly because I genuinely appreciate them serving us, and partly because they likely saw us pray before the meal, and when they see a gospel booklet I don’t ever want them to associate the Christian life with a lack of generosity, but with greater generosity. Grace is giving and when the gospel of God’s grace touches your heart, it will always demonstrate itself in cheerful giving.

I think it’s vital that Christ-followers not invalidate the message of the gospel by leaving a stingy, ungenerous tip and worst of all, no tip at all. (If you feel like you can’t afford it, you can reduce your bill by just having water, choosing less expensive items, or skipping dessert and include that savings in your tip).

Thom Rainer shares some helpful thoughts on this subject and why it’s so important:

Seven Concerns about Christians and Tipping

The following is a true story. Granted, it happened several years ago. But I wonder how often such scenarios unfold.

Two pastors were at lunch together. The older pastor paid for their previous meal, so the younger pastor picked up the tab for this meal. The younger pastor paid cash for the meal, so his older friend asked if he had included a tip. He said he forgot the tip, so he put some cash on the table.

As they were departing, the younger pastor said he forgot something, and returned to the restaurant. The other pastor saw him through the window. The younger man went back to the table, picked up the cash, and put it in his pocket.

Hopefully, such stories are rare. But we do have reasons to be concerned when church members and Christian leaders treat restaurant servers and other service employees so poorly. Allow me to outline seven key concerns.

Read more

photo credit: The Tip via photopin (license)

Protecting Our Children Is More Important Than Seeking Their Approval

I’ve known Christian parents who wish their teenagers wouldn’t watch R-rated movies, wish their daughters wouldn’t wear suggestive swimsuits and prom dresses, and wish their sons wouldn’t put sexually provocative posters on their walls, look at pornography on their phones, or listen to music that glorifies immorality.

We must stop wishing and start acting! God does not give us responsibility without corresponding authority.

“But I don’t want my children to think I don’t trust them.” Trust is important, but it is never unrealistic. Some parents trust their teenagers in situations I wouldn’t trust myself in. You can trust your fourteen-year-old to his level of maturity and life skills. But that doesn’t mean you would trust him to fly the space shuttle or have a smart phone with internet access. Some things he’s not yet ready for.

A young man from another state once met one of my daughters at a sports camp. Because we had one family email address, his emails to my daughter came to me. I sat down with her, recognizing she had done nothing wrong, to tell her I felt she needed to stop receiving emails from him.

She started crying. I felt terrible, because I really did trust her, but based on some of what he wrote, I didn’t trust him. Soon I was crying, too. Finally I squeezed her hand and walked away, feeling like a lousy dad.

Just then I felt my daughter’s hand on my shoulder. I turned and she hugged me, still in tears. Then she whispered words I’ve never forgotten: “Thank you for protecting me, Daddy.”

I wonder how many dads have failed to protect their daughters and sons because they craved their approval. When speaking on sexual purity, I once asked a class of 125 Christian college students, “Looking back, how many of you wish your parents had given you less freedom in your high school years to go where you wanted to and hang out with who you wanted to?” Over 100 hands shot up.

Children will resent and eventually despise parents who just want to be their friends, including dressing and acting like them. Your children already have friends. They need you to be what only you can be—their parent. 

Photo by Redd Angelo via Unsplash

Seven Biblical Truths That Can Bring Us Great Happiness

I’ve blogged about six false expectations we can have that will diminish our happiness. So what truths should raise our expectations of happiness? Here are seven worth focusing on:

1. God’s Immeasurable Love for Us

In Ephesians, Paul prays that the recipients of his letter may “have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19).

He ends the chapter saying, “To him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

After reading this inspired text, how great should our expectations of God be?

2. God’s Willingness to Completely Forgive Us Whenever We Confess Our Sins

Ironically, it’s easier to be restored to a positive relationship with God than with any other being. As difficult as this is to grasp, when we do, it’s happy-making in the extreme.

God is the holiest being in the universe, meaning that His standards are infinitely higher than any creature’s. It would be easy to conclude, then, that God would be more prone than anyone else to hold our offenses against us. Yet the opposite is true. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Who else will forgive us of everything, absolutely and every time—even when we’ve deeply hurt them?

It’s not the sinless God but sinful people who sometimes refuse to forgive us—just as we are sometimes slow to forgive.

Nothing we’ve done or can ever do will surprise God or cause Him to change His mind about us. No skeletons will fall out of our closets in eternity. He has seen us at our worst and still loves us. Arms wide open, He invites our confession and repentance, which He always meets with His grace and forgiveness.

How secure are we in God’s love? Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).

3. God’s Constant Presence in Us and with Us

Matthew Henry said, “Happy are those who have the Lord for their God, for they have a God that they cannot be robbed of. Enemies may steal our goods, but not our God.”[i]

Joshua 1:9 offers this encouragement: “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Jesus promised His disciples, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). Here is a source of both comfort and courage: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

Our happiness is largely determined by who or what we depend on. If we depend on God, we’ll be happy because God is always with us: “God’s Spirit dwells in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Of course, sometimes we’ll sense His presence more than other times. But He is there for us when life is dry, stressful, or traumatic, helping us and even praying for us: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. . . . The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

The stories of many prisoners—including Corrie ten Boom, Richard Wurmbrand, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn—document that they survived imprisonment and torture because God’s supernatural indwelling presence was their lifeline. We who know Jesus have the same.

“God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5, NIV). Such a promise offers us happiness in the most difficult times and places.

4. The Transforming Power of God’s Word

Never underestimate the life-changing nature of God’s inspired Word: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NLT). Meditating on Scripture, which God uses to make us more like Christ, is a powerful source of personal happiness.

God promises that His Word “will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). He does not promise that about OUR words, but HIS. If we want our words to have lasting value and impact, they need to be touched and shaped by His words—and that won’t happen without a daily choice to expose our minds to Scripture.

5. The Sufficiency of Christ’s Work on Our Behalf

When Jesus said “it is finished” John 19:30), he used the Greek word teleo, which was commonly written over certificates of debt once they were fully paid. It means “nothing more is owed; there is no more debt to be paid.” It’s not that Christ took on 99% of our sin and guilt and we must carry the other 1%. It’s that He took it all on.

Consider this promise: “[God’s] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). We’re also told that God has “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3).  We can rejoice knowing that Christ has already provided all we need for salvation and eternal happiness.

6. The Providence of God and His Sovereign Purpose in Our Lives

We can be confident knowing that God is in control of the details of our lives: “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all” (1 Chronicles 29:11-12).

God pays a great deal of attention to the “little things.” He numbers the hairs on our heads and cares for the lilies of the field. Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).

Our fates do not rest in the hands of fallen humankind: politicians, lawyers, military officers, employers, or even spouses and children. No matter what happens, and how much it hurts, God is fully capable of using painful events for good.

7. The Undiluted and Eternal Happiness That Awaits Us

“You have endowed him with eternal blessings and given him the joy of your presence” (Psalm 21:6, NLT). “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 51:11).

Jonathan Edwards wrote, “After they have had the pleasure of beholding the face of God millions of ages, it will not grow a dull story; the relish of this delight will be as exquisite as ever.”[ii]

Undiminished happiness is promised us—what other king has ever promised his people anything so great? And what other king has undergone for his subjects the ultimate sacrifice to fulfill that promise?

[i] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol. 1, Genesis 31:25-35.

[ii] Jonathan Edwards, “The Pure in Heart Blessed,” The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2.

Photo by Manik Rathee via Unsplash

Our Best Life Yet to Come: The New Earth, Our Eternal Home

Imagine you’re part of a NASA team preparing for a five-year mission to Mars. After a period of extensive training, the launch date finally arrives. As the rocket lifts off, one of your fellow astronauts asks, “What do you know about Mars?”

Envision shrugging your shoulders and saying, “Nothing. We never talked about it. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.” It’s unthinkable, isn’t it? It’s inconceivable that your training wouldn’t have included extensive study of and preparation for your ultimate destination. Yet in seminaries, Bible schools, and churches around the world, there's very little teaching about our ultimate destination: the New Heavens and New Earth. We’re told how to get to Heaven, and that it’s a better destination than Hell, but we’re taught remarkably little about Heaven itself.

Are the Present Heaven and the Eternal Heaven Different?

The apostle Paul considered it vital for us to know what happens when we die: “Dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died” (1 Thessalonians 4:13, NLT).

People usually think of “Heaven” as the place Christians go when they die. But this keeps us from understanding important biblical distinctions. A better definition explains that Heaven is God’s central dwelling place, the location of his throne from where he rules the universe.

The exact location of the present Heaven is unknown, but we’re told the future Heaven will be located on the New Earth, where God will come down to live with his people (Revelation 21:3). The present Heaven is a place of transition between believers’ past lives on Earth and future resurrection lives on the New Earth.

Life in the Heaven we go to when we die is “far better” than living here on Earth under the Curse, away from the direct presence of God (Philippians 1:23). But although it will be a wonderful place, the present Heaven is not the place we’re made for, the place God promises to refashion for us to live in forever. God’s children are destined for life as resurrected beings on a resurrected Earth.

Revelation 21:1 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.” Once we abandon our assumption that Heaven cannot change, it all makes sense. God doesn’t change; he’s immutable. But God clearly says that Heaven will change. It will eventually be relocated to the New Earth.

What Will the New Earth and Life There Be Like?

Ephesians 1:10 says that God’s plan is “to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Just as God and man will be forever united in Jesus, so Heaven and Earth will forever be united in the new physical universe, where we’ll live as resurrected people.

God will live with us on the New Earth. That will bring all things in Heaven and on Earth together. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God’” (Revelation 21:3). We’ll live and rule and serve with our Lord Jesus, the source of all joy and happiness.

To be in resurrected bodies on a resurrected Earth in resurrected friendships, enjoying a resurrected culture with the resurrected Jesus—now that will be the ultimate party! Everybody will be who God made them to be—and none of us will ever suffer or die again.

Mankind was designed to live on the Earth to God’s glory. That’s exactly what Christ’s incarnation, death and resurrection secured—a renewed humanity upon a renewed Earth.

A common misunderstanding about the eternal Heaven is that it will be unfamiliar. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. When we hear that in Heaven we’ll have new bodies and live on a New Earth, this is how we should understand the word new—a restored and perfected version of our familiar bodies and our familiar Earth and our familiar relationships.

How Does Longing for Our Eternal Home Affect Us Now?

After saying “we are looking forward to a New Heaven and a New Earth, the home of righteousness,” Peter immediately adds, “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him” (2 Pet. 3:13-14).

Knowing we’ll live forever as resurrected people on a New Earth helps us realize that the choices we make today, including choices of personal holiness—and how we act toward others—will make an indelible mark on eternity. God is watching. He’s keeping track. Jesus said that in Heaven He’ll reward us for acts of faithfulness to Him, right down to every cup of cold water we’ve given to the needy in His name (see Mark 9:41).

Life on Earth matters, not because it’s the only life we have, but precisely because it isn’t—it’s the beginning of a life that will continue without end on a renewed Earth. What God says about our future enables us to interpret our past and serve Him in our present.

Whether it’s coaching a team, mentoring young people, mowing a widow’s lawn, standing up for unborn children, working for racial reconciliation, going on short-term missions trips, or giving a large portion of your income to missions or inner-city work—If you’re doing it through Christ’s power you’re bringing a foretaste of the coming New Earth to this current, hurting Earth.

We shouldn’t forget the compelling reality that we’re citizens of two realms, which will one day be consolidated into one—a New Heaven and a New Earth, indivisible and under the eternal rule of Christ. On that Earth, we’ll look back with satisfaction and gratitude at the difference, by God’s grace, we were able to make on this Earth.

Our perspective today is informed by the reality that resurrection awaits God’s children. This means we’ll never pass our peaks. The best is yet to come! No need for bucket lists, because the adventures awaiting us in the New Heavens and on the New Earth will far exceed the greatest thrills of this life. Right when we think “it can’t get any better than this”…it will.

Photo by NASA via Unsplash

Seeking More Joy in Your Giving

Several years ago I attended a gathering of givers. We went around the room and told our stories. The words fun, joy, exciting, and wonderful kept surfacing. There were lots of smiles and laughter, along with tears of joy. One older couple eagerly shared how they are always traveling around the world, getting involved in the ministries they’re giving to. Meanwhile, their home in the States is getting rundown. They said, “Our children keep telling us, ‘Fix up your house or buy a new one. You can afford it.’ We tell them, ‘Why would we do that? That’s not what excites us!’”

The more we give, the more we delight in our giving—and the more God delights in us. Our giving pleases us. But more importantly, it pleases God.

“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). This doesn’t mean we should give only when we’re feeling cheerful. The cheerfulness often comes during and after the act of obedience, not before it. So don’t wait until you feel like giving—it could be a long wait! Just give and watch the joy follow.

God delights in our cheerfulness in giving. He wants us to find joy. He even commands us to rejoice (Philippians 4:4). What command could be a greater pleasure to obey than that one? But if we don’t give, we’re robbed of the source of joy and happiness God instructs us to seek!

In this video clip from the Hearts, Habits & Happiness conference on giving, I share more on how to find joy in giving.

Photo by Evan Kirby, via Unsplash

Ray Ortlund on Why God Made Toads

As a grandfather of five boys, mothered by my wonderful daughters, I very much enjoyed this short meditation on little boys and toads. :) Thanks, Ray Ortlund, for what was to me a profound little meditation.

Why Did God Make Toads?

This is my grandson. He is lost in thought, contemplating a toad. All else has faded away, for a toad is at hand. And, surely, this is why God made toads. For little boys to meditate upon. At this moment in my grandson’s existence, he has no thought but concentration, no feeling but fascination. This is one of the ways God cares for little boys, drawing them into the experience of curiosity and even wonder. Like training wheels on the bicycle that one day will become the Maserati.

What is a toad? I think of it as a frog—already an absurd creature—but with more camo and warts. And it prefers to walk on land. So that little boys can see one in the back yard. And grow up to be men in Christ with hearts alerted to the out-there-ness reality of things infinitely greater than toads, worthy of endless wonder. So thank you, Father, for the toads of this world. For this toad. For this boy. For this moment. For all that it means for the future, including the future of the whole world.

Is there, built into the total creation, an intrinsic necessity for toads? If they were all to disappear, would the universe be diminished? My hunch is, no. But is there, built into the total creation, an intrinsic necessity for little boys? If they were all to disappear, would the universe be diminished? Yes. Little boys can grow up to be mighty men of Christ, to rule majestically over all things under their King and Brother (Psalm 8).

It all starts so humbly, so delightfully, with a toad in the back yard. 

Don’t Neglect Dating Your Spouse and Investing in Your Marriage

Marriage is the heart of the home. A good marriage precedes good parenting, and no amount of good parenting compensates for a poor marriage. And one of the best ways to have a good, strong marriage is by spending quality time together.

I get that life is busy and money can be tight. But make it a priority to date your spouse. Put it in your schedule and your budget!

Even when our girls were small, Nanci and I would have a date night and go out together. The two of us would sometimes go on vacations alone. We called on a lot of babysitters who were people from the church, or our kids would stay at our friends’ homes, or with grandparents. We really believed that the best thing we could do for our children was to have a strong marriage and to enjoy our time together.

A couple of years ago Nanci and I did a question and answer time with the young mom’s group at our church. In this video, she and I answer the questions “What are some fun things you do as a couple, on a budget?” and “What advice do you have for keeping marriage fun after the 10-year mark?”

Photo via Unsplash