Are You Dead or Alive? – 1 Corinthians 1 – 2025 Day 238

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 26; 1 Corinthians 1

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV

We’re either in the process of perishing or in the process of being saved. Where are you? Are you perishing or are you being saved? Are you dead or are you alive?

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

But 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.

Ephesians 2:1-7 ESV

Please take the time to read this incredible sermon by Charles Spurgeon titled, “Once Dead, Now Alive.” Or click here to listen to it read aloud.

Here’s a brief excerpt of it, which I hope will cause you to want to read the whole thing.

To find out what spiritual death means, I shall ask you to remember that this dead body here is characterized by an absence of sense.

Be not afraid, it is your brother man; come close up to him, and speak. He does not hear you. Speak more loudly; he does not answer you, he gives no sign of recognition. Shout at the very top of your voice; stoop down, and speak into his ear. Alas! it is the clay-cold ear of death, upon which no effect whatever is produced.

I remember when I was spiritually just like that. I could not hear even the voice of Jesus, though it was very soft and tender. He said, “Come unto me,” but I did not respond to his call. There were others near me who did; but I was dead, and took no notice.

Then there came a louder sound, a voice of threatening, a message of condemnation. God spoke from the top of Sinai, and hurled at me the ten great thunderbolts of his law; yet still I did not hear. I had broken all those commands, and I must bear the penalty of disobedience; the law told me so, but I did not hear.

Friends led me, sometimes, dead as I was, where both the law and the gospel were fully preached; but I did not hear, I could not hear. Sounds went past the drum of my ear, and my body heard; but the ear of my heart was not reached, I could not hear, for I was dead.

Charles Spurgeon, ‘Once Dead, Now Alive,’ 1888

Oh, save us, Lord. Our nation is perishing! Our people are dying for lack of knowledge and understanding. We have trusted in ourselves and turned our backs on You, preferring the fake wisdom of man over the true wisdom of God.

Forgive us, Lord. Have mercy on our souls. Draw us back to You by Your steadfast lovingkindness.

I once was lost but now I’m found. I once was dead but now I’m alive. Praise Your Name. You opened my eyes and gave my life. You brought me out of the darkness. You set my feet on the Solid Rock. You hid me under the shelter of Your Almighty Wings. Thank You, Father!

You loved us so much that You sent Your Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Let us not waiver any longer. May we choose this day whom we will serve, and may it be You and You alone for You alone are worthy. You deserve all the praise and all the glory. In the matchless name of Jesus I pray. Amen

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.

As For Me and My House – Joshua 24 – 2025 Day 236

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 24, Joshua 24

“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” …

“Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”

He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.”

Joshua 24:14-15; 22-24 ESV

Heavenly Father, What foreign gods am I serving? Where is my heart not inclined toward You? Where am I still limping between the world and the Lord rather than fully surrendering all to You? Show me where I’m falling short, Lord. I don’t want to be blind to my own iniquity. I want to love You more, that I might serve You better, for You are worthy and good. I pray that my whole family will be surrendered to Your will and live for Your glory. In the Name of Jesus Christ who died in my place I pray. Amen.

Click HERE to watch or listen to today’s podcast.

Teach What is Good Podcast Episode 33 “As for Me and My House”
As for Me and My House – Keith & Kristyn Getty, Cochren & Co, Live from “Sing”
As for Me and My Home – Brandon Lake

All God’s Words for All God’s People – Joshua 8 – 2025 Day 223

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 11, Joshua 8

Joshua read every word to all the people, and so should we. (Joshua 8:35)

We need the Old Testament as well as the New. We need all the words, those that Moses wrote and those that Jesus spoke, those that David sang and those that Isaiah prophesied, those that Peter spoke simply and that Paul penned eloquently. We need them all.

Men as well as women, children as well as adults, those who grew up with the scriptures and those who are unfamiliar with them, everyone needs God’s Word.

I understand that there is value in making our children’s ministries age appropriate. Children benefit greatly from making crafts and dancing around while singing songs about Joshua and Jericho. But children also need to study the Word as God’s inspired, true, trustworthy Word – not some fairy tale on par with “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” The Bible is more than a series of inspirational stories to teach our kids to be good and kind and helpful, not to lie or cheat or steal. The Bible is the bread of life, even for children.

Additionally, children have an incredible ability to memorize the Word. Would you rather your children memorize “Hop on Pop” and “The Cat in the Hat” or the 23rd Psalm and the Sermon on the Mount?

And let’s not forget that children have been created by God to receive with simple faith the words of their teachers and parents. Children absorb truth (and lies) like thirsty sponges. Would you rather train your children to believe in tooth fairies and boogie monsters or the Holy Trinity and the miracles of Christ?

Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Proverbs 30:5 ESV

Proverbs 30:5 is a great verse for you, your husband, your children, your neighbor, and every person the Lord God created, to hide in their hearts.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us Your Word, that we might know You, what pleasing You and what displeases You. I pray that You will use me as an agent of Your glory and grace, guide me by Your Spirit, and shod my feet with the shoes of the gospel of peace. Help me to have childlike faith myself and to share the good news faithfully with all those whom You place in my path today, whether man, woman, or child, whether lifelong Christ-lover or lifelong Christ-hater. Give me the desire and the power to I love my neighbor as myself. In the Name of Jesus Christ who came to seek and save the lost we pray, Amen.

“The Ten Commandments Song with Hand Motions” – FormerAtheist58
“As for Me and my Home” – Brandon Lake
Reciting Psalm 139 (NIV) from memory

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.

Stones of Remembrance and Your Children – Joshua 4 – 2025 Day 220

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 8, Joshua 4

I grew up listening to my mom’s stories, stories about her life growing up on a dairy farm, how she and my dad planned a quick wedding before he went off to college out-of-state, how I was finally born three weeks past my due date, and many more. I’ve heard the same stories again and again, but somehow I still can’t seem to remember all the details. I need to be reminded of these true stories that are important to my family’s life.

The Israelites had been miraculously delivered out of slavery in Egypt. They had spent 40 years wandering in the desert while the Lord miraculously fed them daily with bread from heaven. And now they are going to miraculously cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land of Israel.

Their children will need to hear these stories told again and again. They will need to be reminded of how God provided and God delivered and God led His people, not just so they’d know their people’s history but so they’d know their God.

Our children need to know how God worked in our lives,
so they will trust that He can work in their lives, too.

Remember, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8 ESV) Let’s tell our children some stories about how the Lord has worked in our lives, setting up some Stones of Remembrance for them to know and trust God. This is one of many reasons I wrote the story of my Jesus transformed my life from Evangelical Atheist to Evangelical Christian and share my testimony on YouTube.

God is Real: The Eyewitness Testimony of a Former Atheist – available on Amazon

I’d love to hear your stories. Leave a comment below so others can be encouraged by how the Lord has worked in your life.

Heavenly Father, You are the eternal, unchanging God. You have always been perfect, and You always will be. But, Father, we need change. We need transformation. We need to be made new creations by the power of Your Spirit in us. And so do our children and our neighbors. Please work in us and through us, give us courage and wisdom to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with whoever You place in our path. Let us not forget the Stones of Remembrance that You have given to us. May we remember You, and how You have led us, delivered us, and provided for us. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

All the Way My Savior Leads Me – Fanny Crosby

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.

Take the First Step of Faith – Joshua 3 – 2025 Day 219

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 7; Joshua 3

In 2017, I began teaching English online to children in China. Since then I’ve been trying to learn a little Chinese, but it’s been slow going. Very, very slow going. One phrase, one word, at a time.

Hello: 你好 (nǐ hǎo)

Goodbye: 再见 (zài jiàn)

1 一 (yī)
2 二 (èr)
3 三 (sān)
4 四 (sì)
5 五 (wǔ)

Have you ever heard the Chinese proverb, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step“? 千里之行,始于足下. (Qiān lǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià.)

I was thinking about that saying this morning when I read Joshua 3.

And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.

Joshua 3:13 ESV

The priests had to step into the flooded waters of the Jordan before the Lord stopped the river from flowing. This, my friends, is what a faith walk looks like. Like Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” God wants us to walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Do you believe God inspired Paul to write these words?

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.

2 Corinthians 5:10-11a ESV

I do.

I am so thankful that my life is hidden in Christ, but I will still have to appear before Christ and give an account for what I said and did during my time in this body of flesh. Did I seek Him first? Did I love my neighbor as myself? Did I endeavor to persuade others to join me in trusting Christ?

This faith journey begins with one step followed by another. Sometimes that journey has a lot of “two steps forward and one step back,” but a journey forward it is. And it begins by trusting God and His Word.

Heavenly Father, I believe in You. I believe every word of God is true. I believe You are a shield to those who take refuge in You. Give me the strength, wisdom, and courage that I need to walk by faith and not by sight. Help me to love my neighbor as myself by sharing the good news of salvation by trusting in Christ. In His Name I pray. Amen

“First Things First” – Consumed by Fire

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.

FEAR NOT – Joshua 1 – 2025 Day 217

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 5; Joshua 1

Growing up, I fought a persistent battle with fear, especially fear of death. As an atheist, my life was the mere result of random chance. I thought I was the master of my own fate, and I knew I was not a very good master. I was just one of five billion people in the world, weak in both the physical and moral sense of the word.

Fear is the natural by-product of a lack of faith
in a good, all-powerful God.

As God prepares Joshua for his new job as leader of the Israelite nation, God is so kind to remind Joshua that He is going with him and that He is a promise-keeping God.

Friends, if you are a child of God, God is with you, too. He will not leave you or forsake you. He is with you WHEREVER you go. But you need to be strong and courageous to do the things He has called you to do.

If he wants to reach the Promised Land, Joshua will have to step into the rushing Jordan River. Likewise, if you want to follow God, you will have to take that first step of obedience.

That first step is often the scariest. Speaking up when it’s easier to be silent. Knocking on a new neighbor’s door. Saying goodbye to a boyfriend who’s no good for you. These are hard things, but if we never take that first step we will never see where the road leads. And taking that first scary step is oh so much less frightening when you know that the Lord has called you to it, and that He is with you.

I’m praying for you.

Heavenly Father, please help us to take that first step of obedience, to strike out into the unknown. Help us to be strong and courageous, believing without a doubt that You will never leave us or forsake us, that You are with us wherever we go. Please guide us by Your Holy Spirit. Convict us of our sin, our sins of unbelief, cowardice, and complacency. Help us to love You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. For the glory of Your Name, and in the power of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen

Joshua 1:9 scripture memory verse song

Find it on YouTube

“Fear Not” – Hannah Kerr

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.

The Power of Song – Deuteronomy 31-32 – 2025 Day 215

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 3, Deuteronomy 31-32

And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.

“Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.”

So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:16-22 ESV

In reading Deuteronomy 32, the song of Moses, don’t forget these words from Deuteronomy 31. This song has purpose, as all songs do. Songs have the power to drill words deep into hearts. I can recite word for word songs from my childhood and my teenage years even though I haven’t heard them for years. How about you?

What songs are your kids listening to?

What songs are you listening to?

What music is playing in your car? In your home? In your mind?

What songs do you sing at church on Sunday mornings? Are they rich? Are they lovely? Do they draw your heart to worship the Lord and do they teach timeless truths?

If you’ve been reading my blog regularly, you’ll know I share a song to go with our scripture reading every day. I’m so very thankful that the Lord gave us the gift of music – that we can give it back to Him, but also that we can have a song reverberating in our own hearts and minds as we go throughout our day.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us the gift of music. We want to give it back to You. We want to worship You in song. With words and with musical instruments, we pour out our praise and our griefs before You. Help us pay careful watch to the music that we’re putting in our mouths and our minds. We want to memorize whatever is true and lovely and good and excellent and praiseworthy. We don’t want ugly songs stuck inside our heads. Please, Lord, prick our hearts with these words from Your Scriptures today and help us to be careful how we walk. In the Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

If you don’t have a hymnal at home, try this one – Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories

Deuteronomy 8:3 Song
Come Thou Fount (Above All Else) – Shane and Shane
There is a Fountain Filled with Blood

1
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains:
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
2
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away:
Wash all my sins away,
Wash all my sins away;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
3
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed ones of God
Be saved, to sin no more:
Be saved, to sin no more,
Be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed ones of God,
Be saved to sin no more.
4
E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die:
And shall be till I die,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.
5
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing Thy power to save:
I’ll sing Thy power to save,
I’ll sing Thy power to save;
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing Thy power to save.

Of Curses and Blessings – Deuteronomy 27-28 – 2025 Day 212

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 31, Deuteronomy 27-28

In Deuteronomy 27:14, the Levites (the priests) were told to declare a series of curses to all the men of Israel in a loud voice. After voicing these curses for disobeying God’s commands, then they were to declare the blessings for obedience, followed once again by more pronouncements of God’s judgment on their disobedience.

No one likes to tell others about the hard things going on in life. It’s so much more fun to just talk about the happy stuff – the joys of marriage, the highlights of homeschooling, the achievements of our children. Likewise, our churches are full of messages about HEAVEN and BLESSINGS and GOOD NEWS!

But, the thing is that only telling half the truth is really deceptive, and the GOOD NEWS is really so much sweeter when you know the BAD NEWS.

  • The bad news is that you are a sinner through and through.
  • The bad news is that on your own you can’t do anything good.
  • The bad news is that you deserve God’s wrath.
  • The bad news is that (apart from the saving grace of God) you are destined for eternity in hell.

The bad news
is just as true
as the good news.

  • The good news is that Jesus became a curse for me.
  • The good news is that Jesus delivered me from my path straight to hell.
  • The good news is that Jesus paid the price for my sin by His death on the cross.
  • The good news is that Jesus is my Savior and my Friend.

As the Lord’s chosen heralds, we have to tell the good news and the bad, the curses and the blessings. They’re both true and they both need to be proclaimed.

“This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:11-12 ESV

Heavenly Father, every Word of God proves true. You are indeed a shield to those who take refuge in You. (Proverbs 30:5) We deserve Your wrath for we are sinners, and yet You have saved us and covered us with Your love in the blood of Jesus. You are faithful and good and true. Make us likewise. Help us to be faithful and good and true. Help us to believe the truth and proclaim the truth – the whole truth, the bad news along with the good – that many might be saved. For Your glory and kingdom and in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord, we pray. Amen.

Not in Me – Sovereign Grace Music

Your Neighbor’s Stuff – or Your Neighbor’s Soul – Deuteronomy 22-23 – 2025 Day 209

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 28, Deuteronomy 22-23

I’m prone to losing stuff. At least once a week, I can’t seem to find my keys, my purse, my sunglasses, or whatever. Usually the items are lost in my home, but sometimes I lose something when I’m out somewhere, most often my purse.

When I was younger (like, less than 40 ☺️), I forgot my purse in the grocery cart with remarkable regularity. I’d like to say I’m more careful than I once was, but I’m afraid that the real reason is that I rarely go shopping anymore, preferring the convenience of grocery pickup or delivery.

Well, anyway, it seems I’ve passed on my forgetful genes to my youngest son (and at least one of his siblings). For example, I remember one summer when said youngest son was playing basketball with a friend in our church parking lot. He took his wallet out of his pocket and carefully set it on the cement light pole for safe-keeping, fully intending to replace it in his pocket when the game was done.

You know how the story ends, don’t you? Several hours later, when he was getting ready to head to work, he discovered his wallet was missing, and, in fact, he couldn’t even remember where it was. Thankfully, after making some phone calls and driving around town a while, I recovered his wallet from the church parking lot without a hitch, and not even a dollar missing. 🎉🎉🎉

Which brings us to today’s passage, Deuteronomy 22:1-4,

“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him. And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it. You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.”

Deuteronomy 22:1-4 ESV

Join me in praying, “Heavenly Father, if I find someone’s lost wallet or purse or dog, please help me to go the extra mile to restore it to him, even if it’s inconvenient.”

And suddenly I remembered the parables that Jesus told as recorded in Luke 15, the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Luke 15:8-10 ESV

Friends, as much as we should seek to restore our neighbor’s lost wallet, how much more should we seek to restore a lost soul. A lost human is of infinitely greater worth than a thousand lost sheep or a million lost wallets.

What is more valuable to you,
your neighbor’s stuff
or your neighbor’s soul?

Heavenly Father, You are my greatest treasure. You are worth more to me than all the money in the world. Help me to love my neighbor as myself. Help me to love my neighbor’s children as I love my own. Help me to be faithful to love what You love, to be about my Father’s business of seeking and saving the lost. Please forgive me, Lord, for not making the most of every opportunity because of my own selfishness. Lord, break my heart for what breaks Yours. I love You, Lord. Thank You for Your love for me, for chasing me down and running to me with open arms. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Redeemer I pray. Amen.

In the Valley (Bless the Lord) – City Alight, featuring Sandra McCracken

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.

Breaking Free from Spiritual Ignorance – Deuteronomy 18-19 – 2025 Day 207

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 26, Deuteronomy 18-19

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’

And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.'”

Deuteronomy 18:15-19 ESV

These words spoken by Moses as recorded in Deuteronomy 18 have been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. As Peter said to the people in Jerusalem after they were eyewitnesses to him healing a crippled man,

“Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.

But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.

To this we are witnesses. And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’

Acts 3:12-23 ESV

Dear friends, for so long I, too, was ignorant. I didn’t know the Word, and I didn’t know that Jesus was God’s only Begotten Son, fully God and fully man, whom God the Father had sent to pay the price for man’s sins by His death on the cross. I didn’t know that I could be saved by trusting in Him, turning away from my sin and turning to Him. I didn’t know.

But now I do. I’m no longer ignorant.

And just like God has different punishments for an accidental killing versus an intentional, willful murder, God’s justice will be more severe toward those who have willfully rejected His offer of salvation.

If you have read even this one blog post, you can no longer claim ignorance when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Like Paul said to the religious men in the Areopagus in Athens, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31 ESV)

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected
by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
And there is salvation in no one else,
for there is no other name
under heaven given among men
by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:11-12 ESV

Reject Him no longer. I pray that today will be the day of salvation for you and your household. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

Want more? Click here for an article on the topic of more severe punishment in hell for those who reject Christ.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for opening my eyes, for bringing me out of the darkness and into the light. Thank You for setting my feet on the solid rock of Jesus Christ, hiding me in the Rock that was cleft for me, passing over my sins because the blood of Jesus Christ has been applied to the door of my heart. This is all from You and for You. All praise and honor and thanks to You. I pray for those reading this today who are still wandering lost in the dark, who need their eyes to be opened. Please, Father, please. Show them Christ. In the Name of Jesus, my Savior and Redeemer and Lord. Amen.

Rock of Ages – Augustus Toplady – sung by Chris Rice
Show us Christ – Sovereign Grace Music

Would you like to receive my daily blog posts sent directly to your email? Subscribe for free by entering your email below.

✓ Subscribed

Click here for more information about my Read Through the Bible in Two Years plan.

If you would like prayer, please leave a comment below or send me a message. I’m happy to pray for you.

Please like and share.