Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 20

Resting in Our Dependence on Jesus

There’s no nearness to God without dependence on God. We all need Jesus, every minute of every hour of every day. Here are some encouraging Scriptures I love, and I hope they speak to you:

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:13-14).

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10, NLT).

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV).

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6, NLT).

God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, NKJV).

“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

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We Are Always Being Examined by God, the Audience of One

The only appraisal of your life that will ultimately matter is God’s. One of the greatest things you can ever do is to decide that you’re not going to live for the applause of any particular group—not even well-meaning family members or friends who sometimes could get your eyes off the prize of following Jesus. You need to determine to live out your life before the Audience of One, doing what you believe is right in the eyes of your only true Judge—a Savior who is full of both grace and truth.

There’s a negative side to this, and a positive one. Sooner or later, all sin will be exposed, sexual sin and every other kind. “You may be sure that your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). Solomon said, “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out” (Proverbs 10:9).

Here’s a thought that should sober all of us: There’s no such thing as a private moment. Jesus warned His disciples: “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs” (Luke 12:2–3).

One of Satan’s oldest tactics is to weave a phony web of secrecy, casting an illusion of privacy over our sinful choices. He tells us, “No one is watching. No one will know.” But he’s lying. Someone is always watching—the Audience of One. He already knows. And in time, many others will know. We'll be exposed.

The good news is, when we do quiet acts of faithfulness no one else notices, God will see us and reward us: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24). “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

 So the bad news is, He sees all so we never get away with anything! And the good news is He sees all so that whatever we do for Him, He will never forget, and He will happily say to us: “Well done!” “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

The greatest news of all is that the Audience of One who sees all our sins, and who we can never fool, is also the One who went to the cross to pay the price for all our sins and says: “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).

Ask yourself whether you are living for the approval of others, of this culture, of friends or family, or for the approval of Jesus. Then ask yourself, “In the end whose judgment seat will I stand before?” Paul said, “If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). We will stand before His judgment seat, no one else’s.

We should long to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” If our goal is to hear others say, “Well done,” we won’t do what we need to do to hear Him say it. Live for the approval of others and you will not live for Christ’s approval, and therefore, you will not persevere in the Christian life.

John Chrysostom, the church father, said, “Men who are in love with applause have their spirits starved not only when they are blamed offhand, but even when they fail to be constantly praised.”

We should remind ourselves of what the Bible says about being fools for Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18–31; 4:8-13). The question is not whether we will be seen as fools—that part is certain—but when and to whom we will be seen as fools. Better to be seen as fools now in the eyes of other people—including other Christians—than to be seen as fools forever in the eyes of the Audience of One.

By the way, I read the phrase “the Audience of One” in an obscure book in the 1980’s, but it grabbed hold of me, and never let me go. Ever since, I’ve used it in multiple novels and nonfiction books and messages. When I was still a pastor thirty years ago, I spoke to our large congregation about something biblical and controversial that I knew many people wouldn’t like. I envisioned just one person sitting there, Jesus, and reminded myself that it didn’t matter what anyone else thought of what I said—it only mattered what HE thought. I have kept that in mind as I write my books and blogs and everything else. If it pleases Him, even if it makes many people angry or upset, then it’s worthwhile. If it pleases everyone else but Him, it’s worthless.

It was said of some religious leaders that “they loved human praise more than praise from God” (John 12:43). Instead, let’s live our lives not for the praise of men, but for the applause of God, the Audience of One. If we live that way, we will not look back at our lives with regret, but with hearts of gratitude to our King.

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Extending Grace to Others

Jesus told of a servant whose debt to his master was 10,000 talents, the equivalent of millions of dollars. The servant begged forgiveness. Though the master had every right to imprison him for the rest of his life, he offered full pardon.

Then this servant went out and found a fellow servant, who owed him a much smaller amount—1/600,000 of what he’d been forgiven.

He demanded full and immediate payment. The debtor fell to his knees and pleaded for mercy. But he showed no mercy, throwing him into prison.

When the Master heard about this, he said, in essence, “Had my forgiveness really touched your heart you would have extended it to your brother.”

The master withdrew forgiveness, since a man who won’t extend grace shows an utter disregard for grace.

This parable teaches:

Our debt to God is infinitely beyond our capacity to pay.
Our debt to God is infinitely greater than any person’s debt to us.
When we truly experience God’s forgiveness for our sins, it will transform us into forgiving people.

“But how can I forgive my father for abusing me, my ex-wife for betraying me, my business partner for cheating me? That would take a miracle.”

Exactly. Grace is that miracle.

“Do you expect me to pretend he didn’t do those terrible things to me?” Not at all. God doesn’t pretend we didn’t do all those terrible things to Him. He doesn’t pretend the nails in His hands didn’t hurt.

He says, “I died to forgive you…and to give you grace to forgive others.”

Extending grace frees us from the terrible burden of resentment and bitterness. Bad as they may be, anyone’s offenses against me are far less than my offenses against God. If He’s forgiven me, by His grace I can forgive them.

God’s grace to us is lightning. Our grace to others is thunder. Lightning comes first; thunder responds. We show grace to others because He first showed grace to us.

For more on grace, see Randy’s book The Grace and Truth Paradox. 

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Yes, God Really Does Desire Your Happiness in Him

Note from Randy: In my books on happiness, I give considerable attention to the biblical teaching that God is happy. Why? Because only when we understand this can we believe that God wants us to be happy in Him. Scripture makes this statement about imitating Jesus: “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6). If Jesus walked around mostly miserable, we should be miserable too. If He was happy, we should be happy. (If we’re to be Christlike, we’d better learn what Christ is like!)

If God is happy, then this world’s unhappiness is a deviation from God and His original design. Scripture reveals that even our present struggles, which trigger unhappiness, are part of His larger plan to bring greater and everlasting happiness. Even here and now, God’s children have every reason to be the world’s happiest people: “May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!” (Psalm 40:16, NET). “You are the Lord’s people! So celebrate and praise the only God” (Psalm 97:12, CEV).

The article below was sent to me by reader Charlene Nelson, who describes her journey in discovering the happiness God offers His children. Thanks, Charlene, for sharing how Happiness has encouraged you along the way. (Don’t miss the great list of “Ways to be happy in God” she shares at the end! It might inspire you to write your own.)

My first love, much like yours, was happiness. The measure of a day was how happy it made me feel. Tedious tasks like attending class at school had to be accompanied by some kind mischief in order to enjoy it. The hunt for happiness was my slave-driver. As a teen, it often stole my sleep. I was a late (late) driver, so I often walked down the mountain I lived on to get to places, like 7-11 to have taquitos with my friends in the middle of the night. I can recount several mornings, when the sun was rising, hauling my exhausted self uphill to get back home.

To me, happiness looked like fun, as much fun as I could muster. Silence and aloneness were my enemies, because they forced me to think more seriously about my life—something I was desperate to avoid. So much to my parents’ chagrin, I either had my music blaring, or I was out, running around seeking some kind of thrill, no matter how small.

When I became a Christian at age 18, I found happiness. For a long time, I was so filled with joy that I could hardly do my makeup in the morning, since happy tears kept pouring down my face washing it off. I no longer had to lie down in dread and rise in anxiety. At last I could rest, not needing to thrill-seek tirelessly, running my body into the ground trying to avoid my aching conscience.

Perhaps, I thought I killed my pleasure idol, but it was rooted deeper than I knew. It is, as you know, ingrained in all of us.

Early in my marriage, Brent and I drove out of town to see Fantastic Mr. Fox. Our small town didn’t have a large movie theater then, so it was a rare occasion to see a movie on a big screen. I ended up hating that movie, cringing until it was finally over.

I was angry on our drive home. Angry at the people that could make such a stupid movie. Angry that we wasted our drive, our money, and our time. Angry because “I just wanted to have fun” and that movie hadn’t delivered. I was immature, naive, and selfish—let’s get that straight.

It wasn’t the last of my anger. Chronic pain became a constant hindrance to the fun I wanted to have in life and made even simple tasks seem torturous to me. So anger has been my personal sin beast to battle, and working through it, along with my desire for constant happiness, has been a long, tedious work.

Somewhere along the way, I concluded that God Himself did not want me happy. Or if I was to be happy, I must only be meant to find happiness in prayer, worship, Bible reading, and obedience to clear commands, but if I tried to enjoy some other activity for a minute, God would probably be mad and smash me for it. He was the cosmic-killjoy. He was the chain locked box and handcuffs; I was the struggling escape artist.

Along my way, I have had to learn many truths to correct this damaging and offensive thinking. One book I read recently that has been a great help to my mind and soul is Happiness by Randy Alcorn. It is a great complimentary read to the classic Desiring God by John Piper, and I found it helped flesh out the practicalities of finding joy and satisfaction in God. The back cover reads:

Christians are supposed to be happy. In fact, we are supposed to radiate joy, peace, and contentment that is so unmistakable and so attractive that others are naturally drawn to us because they want what we have. And yet, in today’s culture, the vast majority of Christians are perceived as angry, judgmental people who don’t seem to derive any joy from life whatsoever. So why aren’t we happy?

Unfortunately, many Christians are taught early on that God doesn’t want us to be happy (he wants us to be holy). In fact, many Christians are laboring under the false notion that God himself is not happy. But nothing could be further from the truth! God does want us to be happy. The Bible is filled with verses that prove that ours is a happy, joy-filled God who not only loves celebrations but also desperately wants his children to be happy. Why else would He go to the lengths He did to ensure our eternal happiness in His presence? We know that we will experience unimaginable joy and happiness in Heaven, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also experience joy and happiness here on earth.

In Happiness, noted theologian Randy Alcorn dispels centuries of misconceptions about happiness and provides indisputable proof that God not only wants us to be happy, He commands it.

I have heard that exact line so many times (“God wants us holy, not happy”), and I agree that it contributes to untold, unnecessary suffering in the lives of Christians. One of the other common misconceptions Randy helps us with is that there is a fundamental difference between happiness and joy, joy being spiritual and happiness unspiritual, among many other popular fallacies. This book is full of Scripture, from cover to cover, and readers will gain a robust biblical depth of knowledge on the topic of happiness.

It has helped me to recover the truth that God desires my happiness, and that finding joy in the little things in life is part of discovering joy in God, the giver of every good gift. My joy and eagerness to love and serve others has also been increased. Clearly, I cannot recommend this book enough.

I recently read Psalm 34, the psalm that famously says, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!” (verse 8). It also says in verses 12-14:

“What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.”

The questions “Who desires life? Who wants to love and enjoy a long and good life?” assumes the response is everybody. The Bible knows—God knows—you want to enjoy your days. Even when life is hard, I find I do best to wake up saying “God must have some happiness in mind for me today,” and then to make it my aim to enjoy what He has planned, as far as I am able, with thankfulness in my heart to God. It sure beats pessimism (which I can still be prone to).

After reading Happiness I promptly wrote this list of reminders for my fridge. They make me smile often and serve as a reminder to what I often forget. I hope you read this book, and that it helps you as it has helped me.

This article originally appeared on Charlene Nelson’s blog, Come to Christ .

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Does God Exist? A Summary of Some Arguments for His Existence

A great deal of evidence argues for God’s existence. In my book If God Is Good, I summarize just a few of these arguments.

The cosmological argument cites the world’s existence as evidence of an uncaused, eternal being who created and sustains it. Either something comes from nothing (an unscientific notion), or a first cause or “prime mover” existed prior to everything else. Francis Schaeffer argued in He Is There and He Is Not Silent that a personal first cause, God, could account for both the material and personal elements of life, while a material first cause could only account for the material.

The transcendental argument says that no part of human experience and knowledge has meaning apart from God’s existence. Without God, we have no basis for or explanation of order, logic, reason, intelligence, or rationality. Since Christians and atheists agree there is order and basis for reasoning, this is evidence for God.

The moral argument claims the existence of universal moral values—what humans generally recognize as right and wrong—has no explanation or objectivity without God.

The design argument looks at the universe, noting its clear organizational structures that indicate an intentional complex plan. This argument warrants a broader summary.

How can such high-level design exist without a designer? To claim that chance accounts for the world’s order and extreme complexity is irrational.

While the design argument has ancient roots, modern science has infused it with stunningly persuasive implications. Atheist Richard Dawkins admits in his book The Blind Watchmaker, “There is enough information capacity in a single human cell to store the Encyclopedia Britannica, all 30 volumes of it, three or four times over.”

We now know what Darwin couldn’t imagine, nor could his theory have begun to explain: DNA stores information in the form of a four-character digital code, with strings of precisely sequenced chemicals that transmit detailed assembly instructions. DNA builds protein molecules, the intricate machinery that allows cells to survive.

Consider the most complex software program you’ve ever used. Could it have developed on its own, without an intelligent designer? Of course not. How much more ridiculous is it to suppose that time, chance, and natural forces—on their own—produced the far more complex DNA?

Scientists once likened the components of living cells to simple LEGO blocks. Now they know that “cells have complex circuits, sliding clamps, energy-generating turbines, rotors, stators, O-rings, U-joints, and drive shafts.” None of those tiny engines work unless all parts are present. Hence, they must have coexisted from the beginning. That’s what biochemist Michael Behe calls, in his book Darwin’s Black Box, “irreducible complexity.”

Non-Christian physicist Paul Davies writes, “We now know that the secret of life lies not with the chemical ingredients as such, but with the logical structure and organizational arrangement of the molecules.... Like a supercomputer, life is an information processing system.... It is the software of the living cell that is the real mystery, not the hardware.... How did stupid atoms spontaneously write their own software?... Nobody knows.”

I think there’s a better answer than “Nobody knows”; namely, the atoms didn’t write their own software. God did.

For more, see William Lane Craig’s article Does God Exist?

Sean McDowell, who teaches at Biola/Talbot, has a self-described passion for equipping the church, and in particular young people, to make the case for the Christian faith. Check out the videos on his Youtube channel.

These are some of my favorite books on apologetics:

Mere Christianity  by C.S. Lewis
The Case for Faith  by Lee Strobel
Evidence That Demands a Verdict  (updated 2017), by Josh McDowell
The Reason for God  by Tim Keller
Reasonable Faith  by William Lane Craig

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You Are Always an Inch Away from Eternity

Note from Randy: My friend Greg Stier, from Dare to Share, posted this yesterday on X. It has nothing to do with politics. It’s a sober reminder for all of us, every day, to be prepared to stand before the God who says, “Each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27, NLT). One day will be the day that we die. If we are smart, we will make sure we are prepared for that day.

The shooting yesterday was a shock to so many…including me. We need to be praying for Donald Trump as well as the other victims and their families.

But one truth is often overlooked when tragedies like this happen. It’s this: 

You and I are always an inch away from eternity.

There’s a picture circulating on the internet where you can see the bullet and its trace as it whizzed by Donald Trump’s head. It barely missed penetrating his skull. One inch closer could have been the difference between a flesh wound and a death wound.

In the same way you and I are always an inch away from death, probably not from a bullet, but from a prognosis, a heart attack, a car accident, etc.

Having officiated funerals throughout the last 40 years, including my grandfather’s at the age of 15, I can tell you that many times a person’s death is sudden and unexpected. 

I’ve officiated a funeral for a 16-year-old girl whose skull was crushed by a tree that was cut down by some teenagers goofing off in the mountains. If that tree would have fallen an inch or two in a different direction, she might be still alive today. 

I’ve buried car accident victims who may have lived if the drivers had just turned the steering wheel an inch in a different direction in time.

Death often comes suddenly, tragically and unexpectedly.

It’s during times like this that our mortality awareness index heightens. It’s at times like this that the BIGGEST question of life should bubble to the top of our minds, “What happens after you die?”

Jesus made it clear that one of two things take place after death, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

Put succinctly, when you die you will either go to Heaven or hell.

So the big question I have for you is this: do you KNOW you are going to Heaven after you die?

I do, and it’s not because I’m a good person. I’m a sinner. If you don’t believe me ask my friends and family. 

But here’s how I know I’m going to Heaven. I’ll share this message in an acrostic form that spells out the GOSPEL message:

God created us to be with him (Genesis 1:27).

Our sins separate us from God (Romans 3:23; 6:23).

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Paying the price for sin Jesus died and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3,4).

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life (John 3:16).

Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever (John 10:28).

I encourage you to look those verses up in the Bible and see what God’s Word says for yourself.

If you have never seen yourself as a sinner in need of a Savior, then put your faith in Jesus right now based on his death in your place for your sin.

The moment you transfer your trust to Jesus to save you, you receive the FREE gift of eternal life and you, like me, can be sure that you will go to Heaven when you die (1 John 5:13.)

Why is this crucially important? Because all of us are an inch away from eternity. 

Where will you spend it?

My prayer is that God will use the tragedy that took place yesterday as a spiritual wake up call to millions of Americans as to the brevity of life, surety of death, and urgency of salvation. 

My prayer is that it is a wakeup call for you.

Photo: Pexels

How Can We Set Our Minds on Things Above?

Last fall, I visited Shepherd’s House Bible Church in Arizona and spoke at their college/young adult ministry, The Fold. Though the focus was on young adults, many of the great questions I was asked are applicable to believers of all ages.

I love this church, and this ministry in particular, which has been instrumental in one of my grandson’s lives as he attends college nearby! And this fall, his brother will join him at the same college and plans to also attend Shepherd’s House.

(Many students, even at Christian colleges, drift from church while in school, and many of those never regain a solid commitment to the church. I can’t recommend strongly enough that parents encourage their college-age children to get involved in a Bible-based Jesus-centered church—do your homework, check around, and consider visiting together some solid churches near the college to help them get started.)

One of the questions I was asked at The Fold was, “What are some practical ways to set our minds on things above?” Since we’re commanded to do so in Colossians 3:2, it’s important we consider what it looks like to put this into practice:

Here’s the full interview:

Or if you’d like to jump to some of the other questions I answered, you can click each title to watch the clip:

How Would You Counsel Young People to Steward Their Youth Well?  

How Can a Young Dating Couple Pursue a God-Honoring Relationship? 

What Are Some Practical Tips to Be More Saturated in God’s Word? 

How Do Christians Manage Abundance without Being Influenced by Worldly Priorities? 

What Would You Say to Someone Who Wants to Go to Heaven Just to Be with Their Loved Ones? 

How Do We Help Someone Who Fears a Loved One’s Death?

What Will It Be Like to Walk with Jesus and See His Face? 

What Are Some Practical Ways to Set Our Minds on Things Above? 

What Would You Say to the Person Who Has Not Yet Chosen to Follow Jesus? 

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Are We Careful to Speak Words of Mercy and Grace, Especially When We Disagree?

Proverbs 6:16-19 says there are six things God hates, seven things detestable to the Lord. “Hands that shed innocent blood” would apply to abortion. “A heart that devises wicked schemes and feet that are quick to rush into evil” could apply to both homosexual and heterosexual sin. But let’s not stop there. The passage also includes a “false witness” and one “who stirs up dissension among brothers.”

Wouldn’t we all like to think that WE couldn’t be guilty of any of the seven things God hates? I would. But if we say that, then we have “haughty eyes” and “lying tongues,” which covers the remaining deadly sins. None of us is innocent, are we?

Those who hold to the authority of Scripture typically agree that things such as adultery, pornography, homosexual relations, lying, and stealing are sins. But so is gossip. So is bearing false witness against your brother. So is pride and arrogance and sowing seeds of disunity.

Jesus said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” We’re told, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18). “Strive for peace with everyone” (Hebrews 12:14). Jesus also said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

God has indeed called us to battle “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). This takes boldness and courage. But do not mistake expressions of slander, cruelty, and verbal mob behavior as doing spiritual battle. Humility, grace, and peacemaking are often God’s greatest tools in the battle for righteousness and justice. (It’s all too easy to mistake each other as the enemy!)

Psalm 133:1 says, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” What are we doing to cultivate this kind of unity? Sometimes we must disagree with our brothers and sisters in Christ. But are we going out of our way to assume the best rather than the worst? Do we discipline ourselves to share our opinions as Jesus would, in a spirit of love and grace?

I plead with the Christian community to respond to others with greater grace and humility. While “Judge not lest you be judged” is perhaps the most misused statement from Scripture, it does have its proper application. So does, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall,” and “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

So too does James 2:13, which says “judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!”

Where is the mercy among evangelical Christians? Personally, I’ve seen a lot of it. Over the years, I've also seen a lot of unmerciful condemnation of the sort that Jesus repeatedly denounced.

Now I realize that some know nothing but “mercy” and tolerance, while knowing nothing of truth. I am not advocating this. I am a truth-oriented person. Truth has been very important to me ever since I came to Christ as a teenager. I was brought out of lies to believe the truth, and it is sacred to me.

But Jesus often condemned the Pharisees, those whose doctrine was closest to His own. Why? For their lack of grace. I do not want the truth to be compromised. Our Jesus came “full of grace and truth.” (That’s the heart of my book The Grace and Truth Paradox.)

It’s common (especially online) for us as believers to question the motives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. This troubles me. We’re told in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.”

God tells us, essentially, “Don't set up your own judgment seat, because I know the motives of the heart that you don’t.” We lack a few important qualifications for being judges: not only holiness, but also a little thing called omniscience!

These words of our Lord are worth repeating: “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Matthew 12:36).

I have sometimes spoken careless words against my brothers and sisters. I have also repented and asked their forgiveness. I pray that God would give me the grace and humility to speak my words more carefully.

I think Titus 3:2 is a good guideline for us: “slander no one…be peaceable and considerate, and…show true humility toward all men.”

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Letter to a Christian Experiencing Great Suffering and Tempted Towards Suicide

Following is a modified version of my letter to someone who was experiencing intense physical pain and contemplated suicide. I share it because, though we are a small ministry without the capacity to give ongoing counsel, no doubt others may find themselves tempted to end their life and need to find hope in Jesus, or know someone who faces a similar struggle.

My heart broke for you as I read about your situation. Life can be incredibly hard, and while my life has never been as hard as yours, I have sometimes dealt with prolonged depression. I have faced many difficulties, including losing many people close to me—the hardest being my precious wife dying of cancer, over a period of four years.

I have friends who have been through very tough situations—some, I would say, perhaps comparable to your own, though different in details, since no two people are the same. And hard as it may be to believe, I have spent time with people whose difficulties are harder than yours—though, of course, that is of little comfort to you, because your sufferings are severe and daunting to you.

You Are Not Alone

Certainly, you are not alone in your struggles. Jesus bears the permanent marks on His hands and feet that demonstrate a transcendent pain and agony He experienced for you and for me. Hebrews says Jesus sympathizes with us because He has been through our deepest trials and understands us as we face them. And it is also true that God’s people throughout the ages have gone through terrible suffering, and can fully relate to the kinds of adversity and pain you are facing. In a way that doesn’t make it any easier, but I hope it does make you feel less alone.

As you know, there are no easy answers, and anyone who attempts to give you an easy answer immediately loses credibility. I certainly have not liked it when someone tries that with me, like asking, “Are you over your grief about Nanci yet?” I will never be over my grief about Nanci until I am with Jesus.

My pastor friend got up the day after Thanksgiving a few years ago, went to his young adult son’s room and found him dead from a drug overdose. Three months later, someone at church said, “I hope you’ve gotten past the grief, and you are OK again.” Sometimes people mean well, but just don’t realize what they are saying.

Suicide Is a Temptation from Satan

As hard as daily life is for you, I cannot stress emphatically enough the importance of saying no to the temptation to take your life. You said that yourself, and you have been saying no to the temptation, and I commend you for that and encourage you to recommit yourself to saying no. Anytime you hear a voice or feel an inclination towards suicide, I can say with absolute certainty it is the devil talking. 

Satan hates you as God’s image bearer and wants nothing more than for you to end your life. He would love to kill God in effigy by killing you. God is the giver of life, and God calls us to a more fulfilled life, even when it is filled with difficulty, but Satan is the “liar and murder from the beginning.” That’s what Jesus called him. And he uses his lies as the logic that prompts people to kill themselves, or to kill others. 

I would encourage you to read John 8. Below are the words of Jesus in verses 44 and 45 from the NIV. He was speaking to the Pharisees, and He would've worded it differently if He were talking to someone tempted to commit suicide, but my point in sharing it is the truth Jesus is pointing out. Satan is the life-hating deceiver, and the hater of human welfare:

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

I have seen numbers of times where a person has taken his or her life, and their family and friends have been shattered by it. A close friend of mine took his life seven years ago, and no member of his family, including his wife and children and parents, have gotten over it. Though I don't know you, I guarantee you have family and friends who would be devastated and suffer for the rest of their lives. Count the cost in advance and realize that suicide is a terrible thing to do to the others around you. I’m asking you to call upon Jesus not only to value your own life, but to value the lives of others and to love them by not taking your life.

To put it bluntly, while the pain that would cause me to want to take my life is imaginable to me, I believe that suicide is a very selfish and hurtful thing to do. I know that may sound like I'm heaping guilt on you for having those feelings, and that is not my intention; but I think anyone should rightly feel that if they gave into the temptation to take their own lives, they would both be disobeying God and doing great harm to others. Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you.”

You have obviously thought a lot about suicide. Remove anything from your house that would make it easier to follow through. In moments of strength, we should always make choices that will serve us and serve God well in moments of weakness. Many people have refrained from succumbing to the temptation to take their life simply because the means was not readily at hand when they were determined to do so.

If the black and white reality of seeing suicide as a sin, and as Satan's plan for your life not God's, could help you say no to that temptation, that’s wonderful. Virtually any reason not to take your life is a good reason. (For immediate help, contact https://www.christiansncrisis.com, https://samaritanshope.org, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273- TALK [8255], or text 741741 for crisis texting.)

Trust the Giver of Life

God is your creator and the giver of your life, and He has helped and rescued countless millions of His people throughout the ages who were in dire situations. God wants you to continue to live in this world, and I am optimistic that with the right kind of input, you can be helped and experience hope again.

I hope I don't sound harsh as I talk about suicide. But on the “front side” of temptation, we must put the focus where Scripture does—on the love of God and the fear of God, both of which should act in concert to motivate us to holy obedience. I know that if my friend who took his life had been thinking clearly and had been able to anticipate the devastation to every member of his family and to so many of his friends, including me, he never would have done it. God has put each of us in a unique place in life, and our deepest longing should be to finish well. When I am tempted to sin, I count the cost and think of the effect that it would have not only on my Lord whom I love, but also on myself and on my family and friends and church and others.

If it sounds like I’m going over the top in beseeching you not to take your life, it is because I was with my friend only three days before he took his life. I did not know he had bought a gun and had those intentions, but we did talk about his depression. I have always regretted that I didn’t perceive what was going on inside him, and I vowed I would never turn away when I heard someone express depression and despair, and I certainly would pursue them when they mentioned the possibility of suicide. Hence, my determination to share all this with you.

Got Questions is an excellent resource, and this is a short video from them on suicide. Now, I fully realize that when he quotes verse after verse, it may seem like he is giving a canned or superficial formula that does not fully take into consideration the depth of your despair. But I would encourage you to choose not to think of it that way, but to see those scriptures he is quoting as not just the word of God in general, but the word of God to you in particular.

Here is something I wrote about hope, and it isn’t simply about the hope that awaits us after we die, but about hope here and now in this life, based on the promises of God, that will be fully realized after we die. Our belief in and confidence in what awaits us after death should never cause us to do something to bring about our deaths sooner.

I have dealt with depression periodically in my life, and again I’m not suggesting my situation in life has been as bad as yours—it hasn’t—but it’s been bad enough to get my attention. Charles Spurgeon, the famous London preacher of the 19th century, had terrible physical ailments and some horrific experiences that contributed to ongoing depression. While I was going through a season of depression, I wrote several blogs drawing from Spurgeon’s experience and my own, as well as from Scripture. I hope these might be helpful.

Sometimes God delivers us from suffering, and other times He sustains us through suffering. Sometimes God calms the storm, and sometimes He calms the heart. Both are acts of grace, and both should prompt us to praise Him. I believe God has not given up on you, and will not give up on you, so please don’t give up on Him or on yourself.

Words of Hope

This is nothing new, I’m sure, but I would nonetheless encourage you to go to God’s Word: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

Certainly, I would also encourage you to open up to a Christ-centered, biblically-grounded pastor at your church, as well as a biblically-grounded counselor. Perhaps you have tried this somewhere, and it hasn’t worked—if it didn’t, go somewhere else and try again. You really need the shepherding help of a solid pastor as well as other counselors, or physicians, or whoever can best help you move forward and experience increasing hope. You made clear that you have tried many things, but I am saying don’t give up trying.

You say you need a miracle—well, God specializes in miracles. You’re still in the middle of your story—trust that He can be working out a miracle even though you have not yet seen it. (I’ve written here about how God’s forgiveness and work in our lives is a great miracle, albeit invisible to us, and therefore one we often overlook.)

Here are some Scriptures to ponder:

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:10). [I know it already feels more than “a little while,” but I pray you’ll take these words to heart.]

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him” (Jeremiah 17:7).

“There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off” (Proverbs 23:18).

“Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 62:5–6).

Your brother, 

Randy Alcorn

From EPM: In If God Is Good , which deals with the problem of evil and suffering, Randy tells many stories of people he interviewed while writing the book. It is full of Scripture, and it also shares real-life situations in which God has shown His grace to His people in the midst of terrible trials. (He has smaller books on the same subject, including the devotional 90 Days of God’s Goodness .)

Photo: Unsplash

Have You Come to Know Jesus as Your Savior and Lord and Best Friend?

The battle for human souls pivots on the issue of Christ’s identity. He’s the watershed, the dividing line between Hell and Heaven. Jesus made that clear when He asked His disciples about His divinity: “‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ ” (Matthew 16:15).

That question is the most important one we will ever answer. Our own eternity hangs in the balance. Who do you say Jesus is? Who do you believe, in your mind and deep in your heart, that He really is? Every person must give an answer—and whether our answer is right could not be more consequential.

When Peter identified Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus said to him, “ ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven’” (Matthew 16:17 TJB). Happy is the person who recognizes the real Jesus! It was true of His disciples then, and it’s true of us now.

I was asked what I would say to someone who has not yet made the decision to follow Jesus. Here was my answer:

Biblical Christianity is fundamentally not simply a religion about Christ, but a relationship with Christ. If we get it right about Jesus, we can afford to get some minor things wrong. But if we get it wrong about Jesus, it won’t matter in the end what else we get right.

The Bible reveals that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, in a supreme act of love became a man to deliver us from sin and suffering (John 3:16). Jesus lived a sinless life (Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:15-16). He died to pay the penalty for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). On the cross, He took upon Himself the Hell we do deserve in order to purchase for us the Heaven we don’t deserve. At His death He said, “It is finished” (   John 19:30), using the Greek word for canceling certificates of debt—meaning “paid in full.” Jesus then rose from the grave, defeating sin and conquering death (1 Corinthians 15:3-4,54-57).

Christ offers freely the gift of forgiveness and eternal life: “Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17).

Besides knowing His name, have you come to know Jesus as your Savior and Lord and best friend? “Come and see what God has done,” the psalmist says, “his awesome deeds for mankind!” (Psalm 66:5). “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).

Scripture gives us many invitations to come to God and personally experience Him. Open the Bible and learn about Jesus. Set aside all other arguments and study the person of Christ. Read of His life in the Gospels, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Listen to His words. Ask yourself who He is and whether you could believe in Him. If you hold Him at a distance, you will never see Him for who He is. Philip simply invited his friend Nathanael to “come and see” Jesus (John 1:45-46).

Have you come? Have you seen Him? If not, brace yourself. Because once you see Jesus—I mean see Him as He really is—you, your worldview, goals, affections, and everything will change. I am one of countless people whose life Jesus has radically changed. I don’t mean simply that the teachings of Jesus have changed me; I mean that Jesus Himself, the real and living Jesus, came into my life as a teenager and, over fifty years later, continues to transform me!

Photo: Unsplash