Committed to a New You

God’s Word, the Bible, is what God has to say to us about our condition, our need for Him, His desire and readiness to rescue us, and how we can have access to that rescue.  In Ezekiel 36:26, God says, “I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you.  And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” 

How we desperately need Him to rescue us from the stoniness of apathy and hardness of pride!  How we urgently need His deliverance from the awful destination our indifference to His Gospel will bring us unless He changes our hearts! 

But His mercy and grace move and challenge us to turn to Him.  How even now He invites you and me to relinquish our futile efforts to control our destiny and trust His good will towards us!  How He urges us to yield to His holy authority and allow Him to make us new! 

And, if we will indeed turn in faith to Him, how He is faithful to make of us new things!  “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, Who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18 ESV).

But how does that work?  How does the “new” that God has made of us spiritually become the “new” that God intends of us experientially? 

In Romans 12:2, God says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

The “new” that we experience and that those around us can see is the transformed life that flows from the mind that is no longer conformed (shaped and influenced) by the world around us, but is free indeed (see John 8:36) to be unafraid in the presence of God, unhindered in the worship of God’s, and unchained from patterns of sin and folly that once characterized our lives before God brought us to faith in Jesus. 

The “key” to that kind of “new” is in a mind that is overhauled by God’s truth.  The renewed mind to which Romans 12:2 refers is the mind that is filled with 1) new thoughts, specifically God’s own thoughts which are imparted to us from God’s Word, the Bible.  Those new thoughts deliver to our psyches the 2) new ideas (new to us, anyway) of God’s perspective, our new identity as God’s children and all the amazing and glorious truths of that new identity.  These new ideas lead us to make 3) new commitments, specifically commitments to know Jesus and to make Him known.  And these new commitments lead us to 4) new choices each day and in each situation; decisions to obey God, to love others, and to entrust our welfare into His care.   As these new choices are lived out consistently, we invariably find ourselves with 5) new habits, and with God’s help, find that it is becoming our nature to walk with Him and live life on His terms as opposed to our own.  And as these new habits become increasingly characteristic of us, we begin to truly enter into 6) new experiences that reinforce and reinvigorate us in our journey through this life toward our eternal destination, home with God forever and ever. 

Is God interested in your life being set free from regret and becoming a transformed masterpiece?  Is He concerned about you experiencing more than merely a religious lifestyle?  Is He committed to your knowing love, forgiveness, peace, and hope for the future?  Yes.  To all of this, yes!  God is at work in your life, His Spirit is calling to your spirit, and His Son, Jesus, is inviting you to know what it means to finally live life the way you were created to live it! 

Copyright © Thom Mollohan

God of Refuge

Over the course of this past week, my life has been touched by hopelessness in places where I did not expect to find it. From a psycho/sociological point of view, I suppose that I can identify slews of contributing factors avalanching down upon all of us from the painful year we’ve endured together, as confusion, distrust, loneliness, disillusionment, and despair have multiplied like ravenous locusts devouring any shred of hope and optimism people may have previously held. 

That in of itself would almost seem to be sufficient in explaining the brief glimpses I’ve had into the deep pain of others.  It seems that more than a few of us are reeling not so much from the general malaise that our collective calamities have induced, but rather from those things that now have access to our weary and worn souls which have been overburdened by the weight of our sin-sick world.  Life’s problems seem so much more insurmountable than they used to.

There is, of course, a spiritual dimension in all of this that must be addressed if we hope to find strength for each day.  Our lives are more than the physical experiences we accumulate on earth and there is so much more to our existence than only the here and now.  While our fears, griefs, burdens, and problems can seem so overwhelming to us, they potentially serve as tools in the hand of the devil to wear us down and take us out.  They can culminate, if permitted, in eternal consequences, rejecting Jesus, for example, and settling for an eternity apart from God or perhaps distracting us from the calling that you and I have to share the hope of Christ with others and them not receiving Him as Lord and Savior as a result. 

But those same fears, griefs, burdens, and problems are tools in the hands of God to refine us and strengthen us, ultimately to prepare us for eternity with God and to give us a context to reflect on His gracious love and faithfulness.  The difference between the two alternatives is our trust in a loving God Who controls all things. 

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling….  The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; He utters His voice, the earth melts.  The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  Selah….  ‘Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!’  The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  Selah” (Psalm 46:1-3, 6-7, 10-11 ESV). 

He is on the throne of all creation.  And His eye is on you.  Your tears are not lost on Him, nor are your forced smiles and sagging shoulders as sorrow, hurt, and weariness seem to you to be what defines your existence.  If you’re not okay, reach out to the Lord and know that He is reaching out to you.  Rest in Him.  Take refuge in Him.  Trust His love and be faithful to His Word.  If you’re not okay, reach out to someone you can trust who will encourage you with the things of the Lord! 

If your  heart is hurting, please know that there is hope and healing for you.  If your soul is sorrowful, there is comfort and strength for you.  If your spirit is weary, be renewed in the hope that is offered you in Jesus Christ! 

“Beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain….  Clap your hands, all peoples!  Shout to God with loud songs of joy!…  Sing praises to God, sing praises!  Sing praises to our King, sing praises!  For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises! (1 Corinthians 15:58, Psalm 47:1, 6-7a ESV). 

Copyright © Thom Mollohan

The Nations Rage, the People Plot, but God is On His Throne

In an age where polarization is the norm, where not being decidedly in one camp leaves one presumptively in its opposite, and where one’s level of volume and number of followers are the ways to measure one’s moral authority, it may seem nearly impossible to live a life that has any coherence and it is very difficult to be motivated to live on a higher plane of social engagement. 

The past year has seemed to be one, long marathon of “mob-baiting” and people have readily been taken in.  From mega-media outlets who love the frantic fervor that their “reporting” induces (as it represents tons of revenue) to a multitude of politicians who benefit from actions emanating from the angst we tend to feel over the “villainy” of whatever scapegoat they can contrive, we are beset with forces intent on inflaming our worst attitudes and inciting us to harmful actions. 

To be sure, there are some who enjoy the dramatics of people striving against people.  And there are many who feel indignant and powerless at what truly are evils in our society and world.  All of these things create for us an ideal recipe for conflict, confusion, and the collateral damage of what are at times intentional acts to harm others and are at other times reckless actions that unintentionally harm others.  In any case, you are likely to feel whipped, wounded, and weary in the struggles we face today because not only are there real problems, with real pain, for so many, but it hurts us to see others exploit that pain and use it for personal gain. 

Such dynamics remind me of Psalm 2:1-2, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed?” (ESV).   

The world is definitely “raging” and people are certainly “plotting”.  But the end result is that such efforts, such pursuits, and such attempts to glorify selves and fortify selfish interests are all ultimately in vain.  They come to nothing.  When God draws at last the curtain on the story of creation, so to speak, there will be an accounting for our lives, our words, our treatment of others, and our response to Jesus Christ. 

Thus, the Bible admonishes us to “fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!  For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.  Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:1-3 ESV). 

In others words, participating in “mob-baiting” (either by “taking the bait” or by “laying the trap”) is a futile venture affecting no good thing for you, your family, or your world.  That is not to say that you and I shouldn’t be engaging the world around us with whatever opportunities to help others and change the world that God may give us.  We should be!  We should exert whatever resources and energies that God grants us to be stewards over to help others know the love of Christ!  But we shouldn’t be  “driven” by circumstances to do or say evil of others (no, the end does not justify the means).  We shouldn’t be driven to angst, fear, and hatred by a world that seems out of control. 

Instead, we should take to heart the counsel of the Scriptures, “Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.  Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled.  Blessed are all who take refuge in Him” (Psalm 2:10-12 ESV). 

It turns out that the world is not out of control after all.  God is on His throne.  He is watching.  He is moving.  And He is drawing things to their appointed end.  Trust in that.  Trust in Him. 

Copyright © Thom Mollohan

The Reason You’re Born to this Time and Place

There is a difference between our culture’s idea of what it means to live life well and what the Bible says about it. For example, the Bible admonishes us to live life for God. The world does not… at least not in a way that God Himself would define it.

Take for instance, how we handle the idea of sin. Sin is a term used biblically to indicate those individual departures from God’s Word on specific things such as taking His name in vain, dishonoring our parents, stealing, coveting, bearing false witness (lying), and murder. But it is also the general positioning of ourselves in opposition to God’s authority in life. More than that, it is valuing anything (or anyone) else above God in which case the specific sins we commit are symptoms of the condition of sin in our hearts and minds. 

Our culture is in love with the idea of God in general… as long as God doesn’t meddle in our pursuit of our own pleasure and self-exaltation. It is not a popular thing to believe (let alone say) that we cannot truly love God if we scorn His holy Word (the Bible). In fact, today you are in danger of not only being disapproved, but of being attacked verbally, emotionally, reputationally, and, in some cases, even physically. 

Let us be clear however. The Bible in no way condones a life continuing in sin whether it’s the exploitation of other people, abusing others in general, defying God’s outline for sexual relationships, or misrepresenting His truth for whatever reason. 

“The Lord knows those who are His and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity…. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (2 Timothy 2:19b, Romans 6:1 ESV). 

I fear that many, if not most, Christians have succumbed to the extreme expressive individualism that has overtaken our world and that somehow God’s truth is allowed to be a secondary (if even that) consideration in governing our moral choices. 

But in some ways, this is to be expected. First of all, people who are truly surrendered to God, His glory, and His truth, are always a minority and are not at home in the world around us looking forward to the future fulfillment of God’s promises when Jesus returns. Secondly, God warns us Himself in the Bible of how people will fall away, enticed by the logic and lure of the world around them. 

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teaching to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be soberminded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:3-5 ESV). 

The time is coming and the time is here. Be careful then how you spend these few days on earth. Will you spend them bowing to the pressures and expectations as well as values and temptations of a world which loves its own path and hates God? Or will the treasures of God’s love and truth be enough to anchor you to the one true hope that endures beyond this life and preserves for you an eternal joy with God in heaven? 

“There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8 ESV). 

To love God means that we love His truth in both theory and in practice (we love the idea of it and the doing of it). It also means that we love people who, no matter how disfigured and confused by sin they are, still have been created in the image of God; it is for them (as well as each of us) that Jesus died on the cross. So we live His truth and we share His truth. It is for this reason that you and I have been born to this time and place.  

Copyright © Thom Mollohan

Pray… In Spite of Sin

I recently ran across a very sad post on social media in which it was stated, more-or-less, that the person who posted it no longer prays for the same reason that Christians should no longer attend church: namely, that this person feels to do so is an act of hypocrisy.

I find it sad on a number of levels, but a chief reason it has this effect on me is the hopelessness inherent to that perspective. It basically states that, because I am imperfect, because I struggle with sinful thoughts and compulsions, and because I say or do things that I should not do, I should not seek to connect with God and it assumes that God is not seeking to connect with me. In other words, because it is incomprehensible to me that God has NOT given up on me, I see no reason why I shouldn’t give up on God.

I do not know this individual personally so I cannot say what experiences, disappointments, betrayals and failures have fed this conclusion, but I do know that it is in error because it does not take into account what God actually says and what Jesus historically did for liars, thieves, murderers, adulterers, and any other kind of sinner one can name.

The rebuttal to such tragically mistaken ideas about God is that one does not pray because he or she is without sin. One does not attend church because he or she does not struggle with sin. On the contrary, it is because we recognize the reality of an innate struggle in the human heart against impulses of fear, pride, lust, anger and hate and it is a lost cause except for God’s grace.

On our own, we cannot be holy enough to reach God. This is the very reason that Jesus came to earth: to live as one of us – yet without sin (see Hebrews 4:15), to die as a sacrifice on our behalf because we cannot save ourselves (see Hebrews 2:17), and to grant us a tangible hope through our sharing in His resurrection from the dead (see 1 Peter 1:3).

So we pray… in spite of our sin, trusting in the grace of God shown to us in Jesus Christ. We attend church… in spite of our sin, learning little by little to love others as He has loved us. We worship, serve, and follow Him… in spite of our sin, growing day-by-day into a maturity that we never fully reach until either our bodies finally fail us and we go to heaven, or Jesus returns and receives us to Himself.

We are not perfect. But that is why Jesus came. This is the good news: that God would put onto Jesus all of our condemnation, forgive us even though we are horribly wretched and depraved, and give to us the assurance of heaven with Him forever. Praise Him!

I sat last week with a man who in anger stated that one day he would be sitting in hell with the people who had hurt him. Somehow this seemed to him a consolation for all he had suffered.

I answered him, “You don’t have to sit in hell with anyone. God can and will forgive your sin and give you the hope of heaven with Himself if you’ll turn to Him, away from your sin, and follow Him.”

He said, “But you don’t know all the things I have done in my life.”

“No, I don’t,” I replied. “But I don’t have to. God knows and He gave such a perfect sacrifice in His Son Jesus that even your sin can be forgiven. Don’t insult Him by refusing His gift.”

“God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:4-10 ESV).

Copyright © Thom Mollohan

Ask. Seek. Knock. (Following up the National Day of Prayer)

We have just held the National Day of Prayer observance across the country including our own in Gallia County.  While I was not able to physically participate this year, I am incredibly thankful that we, as a community, can come together and pray for our land.  It is a profound blessing for us to be able to gather in this way and seek as one people God’s forgiveness, healing, and power for renewal. 

Jesus’ work on the cross is what it took for our being able to come to God. It is Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross that is the mechanism for God’s grace to cleanse us and make us presentable to come to Him.  It does not matter what color skin we have, whether we are men or women, adults or children, young or old, or materially poor or affluent; as Christians, we are one in Christ and are both privileged and commissioned to pray.  Prayer is the physical application of the spiritual activity of approaching God, worshiping Him, humbling ourselves before Him, confessing sin, thanking Him, depending on Him, and petitioning His help for ourselves and others. 

It stands to reason then that while the National Day of Prayer is an awesome event in and of itself, it is meaningless if it stands by itself as the one and only occasion in which we are willing to take the time to pray.  The Day of Prayer can be a rallying point and opportunity to reinvigorate us in praying together, serving together, and living together in love, reconciliation, and holiness.  But if the National Day of Prayer really means anything of true significance to us, then we must continue the work of praying.  We must continue the work of seeking God.  We must continue the work of aligning our lives with God’s truth and Word.

In other words, although the National Day of Prayer is now in the past, let us fan the flame of our worship and devotion to God by boldly living and proclaiming His truth in love.  Let us radically trust Him by obeying His Word and faithfully fulfilling the call He has given us to follow Him.  Let us know that there is no sin from which His forgiveness can cleanse us if only we will repent and turn aside from disobedience in our own lives.  Let us know that there is not one word in His Bible written carelessly or meaninglessly, but that everything in it has been preserved by Him for our good so that we can both know how to live and also come to know Him personally. 

The days are evil, but God is good.  There is a darkness shrouding our land and a despair that chokes people’s hearts, but as lives turn to Him and humbly receive His grace, light and hope conquer what would divide us, discourage us, and deny us the peace that only God can give. 

Ask God to give you a heart that is hungry for Him.  Ask Him to renew in you the realization that you need Him.  Ask Him to awaken in you a yearning for more than this short life can give you.  Ask Him to help you see others as He sees them.  Ask.  Seek.  Knock. 

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11 ESV). 

Copyright © Thom Mollohan

The Only Reasonable Path

I truly believe that much of the point of your and my existence today is that we, as God’s children by faith in Jesus Christ, live our lives in such a way that there is a marked difference in what can be observed about us and the lives of those who do not know Jesus as Savior and Lord. 

This is the challenge, of course, for every generation as Christians must each learn how to live in the midst of the world without living like the world around them.  It’s so important that we learn this due in part to the fact that we are living testimonies to the glory, holiness and love of God.  But it is also important that we realize that living apart from the world, even though we live in the world, is a continuum of worship for us. 

Our integrity, our kindness, our work ethic, our patience, our seeking to live out God’s holiness, our zeal for God’s name and so on, all render to our heavenly Father a spiritual kind of incense that is worship. These things, along with our prayers, songs, and fellowship with other Believers, speak of God’s worth and deepen a lasting spiritual joy and sense of peace within our own hearts.  Add to that the love and grace that God gives us opportunity to demonstrate every day, we are, in a sense, united with Him in His Spirit as He invisibly works, moves, and loves through us in our sin-sick world. 

“We ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.  For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.  For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.  For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.  Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you” (1 Thessalonians 4:11-8 ESV). 

Yes, the days and times are evil and people have a way of wanting to follow their own path and have their own way rather than to trust God’s word, the Bible, and follow His ways.  This is all the more reason that you and I must commit ourselves again to live in the pursuit of cultivating a deeper relationship with Him and living out His loving and holy presence in practical ways.  The rewards are real and eternal.  The cost is small and only temporary.  Why should we not then trust that following Him and living according to His Word is the only truly reasonable path to commit to today?  But let’s hurry to follow through with this now.  Time is running short.  Jesus is coming soon.

 

Copyright © Thom Mollohan

The Haven of Hope in God

It may feel to you, in the ongoing social whirlwinds ravaging our world right now, that there is so much upheaval and so much danger, that things just aren’t safe. And if you do, then anxiety, worry, and fear (as well as the resulting resentment, anger, and hate) are sure to be plaguing you both day and night. These things tempt you to either take onto yourself a reaction to the world around you that promises a feeling of empowerment or to retreat and hide in a psychological or emotional bunker, as you hope that the storm around you leaves you alone and finally blows over.

It should be clear to you that the world around you wants you to be upset, scared and angry because such emotional responses (on all political sides) make you vulnerable to manipulation and compliance to someone else’s agenda. But more importantly, your spiritual enemy, the devil, wishes for you to feel these ways in order to turn your eyes away from God. He knows that if you are not looking to and trusting in God, you cannot feel His peace. If you are taking the bait and believe the lies that the devil constantly rains down onto you (like constant barrages of fiery arrows), you will be too distracted to trust God and too self-reliant to not try to do something in your own strength and in your own wisdom.

This spiritual angst is a poison for which someone who does not know Jesus as Lord and Savior has no real defense. Faith in Jesus Christ is an essential part of the armor of God, and we are admonished to “in all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16 ESV). This “shield of faith” is a battle-tested confidence that the God Who made perfect provision for us in the perfect sacrifice of His Son is able to do far more and above all that we need in this life and in the life to come!

“If God is for us, who can be against us? He Who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31b-32 ESV). What things? All things we need in this life and for the next. That means that whatever is happening in this life is under His sovereign control to care for, protect, refine, and guide those who belong to and trust in Him!

I am glad to say that God is in absolute control of everything (read Romans 8:28-39). And the fact that He is means that He is able to carry us through the craziness of the world around us! The problem is not now nor has ever been a lack of God’s power or love to help us. The problem is that we don’t believe His promises and we don’t trust in His Word. We often say that we do, but when it comes down to it, our choices clearly show that we will trust in ourselves and the world around us before we trust in Him.

It’s too bad, too. The remedy for “what ails us” is trusting in God. The devil, through the world, will say to us, “That’s enough talk about trusting God. It’s time we do something ourselves.” But that of course only sets us enslaves us further and deepens the quagmire of our own fallen nature. It causes us to reap the tragic consequences of failure once again, and tempts us to try some other “doomed-to-fail” scheme that further propels us from the hope and calm healing that God alone can give us.

But hope in God is ours if we’ll receive it and hope in God is what we need. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD God is an everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:3-4 ESV).

You are welcome to trust Him and experience His peace even if the world around you is all chaos and strife. You are welcome to receive His gift of mercy and forgiveness through Jesus. You are invited to know His power and love. Will you not receive Him today?

Copyright © Thom Mollohan

An Overflowing Fullness

It can be very disconcerting today when one looks about and sees how the principles and commandments and promises of God are not only set aside but are rejected utterly. It is not something new, of course, but it is perhaps more obviously apparent and more readily embraced by more and more people today. 

In the Bible, Micah 2:1-2 says, “Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.” 

Humanity’s struggle with its own nature has been an ongoing tragedy and would be an utter ruin for us if it were not for the grace of God. In every culture and under every governmental system, humanity’s own fallenness has been the fly in the ointment of human peace and human happiness. Evil does systemically exist, in case you wonder. But it exists systemically because human beings, like you and me, have built the system and have followed a spiritual blueprint given to us by the devil whose motive, as Jesus explains it, is to come “only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10a). 

If it were not for the ongoing restraint of God and His frequent interventions, we would have already found ourselves lost forever in the abyss of self-destruction. Be that as it may, God’s plan is not to just keep us from destroying ourselves. It is to grant us something more than a continued existence and the marginal illusion of happiness that the world offers us. What God’s purpose is for you and for me is to experience an overflowing fullness of His joy and peace which comes only through His presence. His joy and peace are coupled with the love He shows us in Jesus, His Son, love is what He bids us to demonstrate in the lives of others around us. 

Listen as Jesus speaks to what He offers us when He says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10b). That abundant life, inseparable from Jesus, is freely given to you and to me on the condition that we simply believe it and turn to Him, turning away from our selfishness and sin. 

Looking to Him and trusting in His promises is the only way to break the chains that hold you down. Surrendering your life to Him is the only way to get your life back from the mess that you make of it. Following Jesus as your Lord and Savior is the only way to get on the track to an eternity of joy and life. Let today be the day you turn to His love and experience His presence as you trust His promises! 

Copyright © Thom Mollohan

The Preaching of the Cross

As we arrive at Easter and find ourselves refreshed in the amazing and glorious truth of Jesus’ triumph over death through His resurrection, it is good that we first consider how He was victorious over sin before that. 

First of all, He was victorious in that He lived a sinless life.  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One Who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15 ESV).  This is what 1 Peter 1:19b means by saying that Jesus is “a Lamb without blemish or spot” and calls to mind the commandment of God for His people to choose spotless “Passover Lambs”:  a special sacrifice, the blood of which would serve to shield them from the judgement of death for the firstborn of the Children of Israel while they were in Egypt (see Exodus 12, especially verses 5, 7, 13 and 29).   

This, of course, leads to the point of Jesus’ death, that He had to come and die in our place because of our sin.  He did not die because of any wrong that He had done.  Indeed, “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”  (Isaiah 53:5-6 ESV, emphasis mine).  

This is why we do not only preach that Jesus loves us.  This is why we do not only teach about the resurrection.  Without the cross there is no resurrection.  Without His death, there can be no life.  Without His sacrifice for our sin, we could have no hope. 

This is at the heart of the Church’s message today and what unites us as a people under God in our mission to evangelize and disciple anyone and everyone to whom the Lord opens the door.  Like the Apostle Paul, we can decide “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV). 

Let us be careful to not lose sight of this one, all-important mission:  to preach Christ and Him crucified.  Let it guide every work we do.  Let it be the framework for every word we say.  Let it be our goal in every thing that we take on in this world and let it be the essence of our philosophy.  Be on guard against teachings, ideas, and counsel that dilute this primary task.  Be careful that it doesn’t get so crowded out by “good ideas” and worldly sentiments that you forget why you’re here.  Be wary for any teaching that minimizes the necessity of the cross of Christ and reality of our sin. 

And let us rejoice because from the cross, He returned to life and gave us our eternal hope!

Copyright © Thom Mollohan