SEARCH RESULTS

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. ²⁶Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. ²⁷Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. —Proverbs 4:25-27 It was impending doom! I knew it, but couldn’t stop. My first day on a two-wheeler, I was concentrating completely on the ground ahead of me when I heard my Dad call out, “Look out for the tree!” I jerked my head up and there—straight in front of me—was the tree. Of course, I wanted to not hit the tree so I knew I had to turn the handle bars. But I kept looking at the tree I shouldn’t hit, and my bicycle went where my eyes led! The bike and tree collided and sent me face first into the bark. I learned something that day, but didn’t really get it until I connected it with what I learned later from baseball. Dad was coaching me on how to hit a ball. From the sidelines he would yell, “Keep your eye on the ball! Keep your eye on the ball.” So I did, and learned how to pop a ball with gusto and accuracy. My big lesson from those early days: If you want to hit something, keep your eyes on it, and don’t lose your focus! My Dad could have written the first line of our verses for this week. “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze straight before you.” Our Fighter Verse is saying, “Keep your eyes on the ball! Don’t be diverted!” But on what—or on whom—should we set such an unflinching gaze? The writer of Hebrews says we should run our race, “looking to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus tells us in John 8:12, “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Jesus is the One we must focus on if He is the One we want to follow. This walk requires commitment and concentration. What might divert our attention or prevent us from following Him? Certainly all things that are evil…let not lying, nor blasphemous talk, nor filthy joking, nor adultery, nor theft, nor murder, nor cheating, nor gossip be named once among us. We must turn our feet from evil—as well as our eyes, our ears and our hearts. We want to be holy, for our great Lord Jesus is holy. But swerving to the right and left? What is the author of this passage cautioning us about? Perhaps things that are not sin in themselves could cause us to swerve; perhaps amusements or diversions could steal our affections from spiritual things. There are countless options for play and pleasure available to us in this generation. If we fill our days with them, we risk being not merely diverted, but dissipated. If we set our eyes on them, we may follow them until they capture our attention, our time, our money and our desires. We need to ponder our paths here. Do we spend more money and time on temporal pursuits than we do on our Bible study and memorization, our prayer, or in concerns for missions and mercy to the needy? 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 reminds us, “For the love of Christ controls us…He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.” The Word instructs us: Keep your eyes on Jesus! Follow hard after Him, and He will make all your paths sure and straight. Fellow believer, choose Christ daily. Ignore the siren songs of pleasure. Let’s spend our time doing the good works He has ordained for us to do and in seeking the face of our God. For Reflection What do you do first thing in the morning? Through prayer and Bible reading, seek God’s presence and help with every event, every encounter, every decision that will come to you. Throughout the day, pray for grace to choose activities and relationships that will delight God’s heart and build His kingdom. At the end of each day, give praise to God for His constant help, His abiding love, and His leading.

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. ²⁶Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. ²⁷Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. —Proverbs 4:25-27 Have you heard of geocaching ? It’s a GPS-led hunt. But, instead of looking for valuable treasure, you’re trying to find notes and knickknacks left behind by others. These caches are usually well-hidden and only findable with GPS. Clearly, the reward in geocaching is the hunt, not the treasure. For some reason, my wife is fanatical about geocaching! While vacationing this summer, she set us on an adventure to find a cache. We followed our GPS as it led us to a trailhead. At that point, we had to decide which course to take — go right or go left? We decided to go right, but after going a few hundred yards and becoming frustrated in our search, we backtracked. So, we decided to go left. We could see from the GPS map on our phone where the cache was. We walked and walked, chasing that red pin on the map until we had no choice but to admit we were lost. Yes, even with a GPS and a clear-cut trail, we were lost and only getting farther away from the cache. It was utterly frustrating, but we pressed on. Finally, we found it. The treasure? A little note and a fast-food kid’s meal toy. Geocaching, after all, is about the journey, not what it leads to. One of the ways the Bible describes the life of a believer is as a journey. There are two paths, two ways. One way leads to life and blessing, while the other leads to death and cursing. In Proverbs 4, Solomon encourages his sons to stay on the path that leads to life and blessing. That path is the way of wisdom. The other path is the way of foolishness. It’s instructive for us to see how Solomon encourages his sons. First, he appeals to the great tradition (vv. 1-9). Solomon passes down to his sons what he received from his own father, David (v. 3): precepts and teaching (v. 2). In other words, Solomon handed down the great wisdom tradition that was handed down to him. Secondly, Solomon reminds his sons that there are, in fact, two paths (vv. 10-19). One way leads to life (vv. 10-13). The other leads to death (vv. 14-17). Finally, Solomon calls his sons to walk in the way of wisdom (vv. 20-27). If life is a journey, the Christian life is a journey of a thousand daily steps of faithfulness on the path of righteousness. To walk on this path perfectly is impossible for us because we are born sinners with a predisposition to walk in the way of death and destruction. Thankfully, Jesus embraced the Father’s wisdom and has already walked the path of righteousness through His suffering and death. By walking in the way of wisdom, even in the face of suffering, Jesus left us an example. We are on this journey, but we don’t have to guess which path to take. We simply follow Jesus’ steps (1 Peter 2:21). In the power of the Spirit and revelation of God’s Word, we can fix our eyes on Jesus and walk the path He has already blazed for us. To do that, we must not be distracted by all the things around us on the path. We simply fix our eyes straight ahead (Proverbs 4:25). We consider every single step we take (Proverbs 4:26). We make sure not to veer off the path Jesus has blazed for us: the path of righteousness—either to the right or the left (Proverbs 4:27). Know that as you follow Jesus’ steps, you will surely follow Him into suffering, shame, and death. But remember, because you are following Jesus, you are also tracing His steps into resurrection, glory, and eternal life. For Reflection What path are you on? We cannot lead others down the path of wisdom if we are walking down the path of foolishness. If you have children, consider your responsibility to prepare your children to follow the way of wisdom. Children, what is your responsibility to your parents who are trying to teach you the word of God and encouraging you to walk in the way of wisdom?

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. ²⁴Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. —Proverbs 4:23-24 My friend recently participated in a ministry at a medium-security prison. Beforehand, she completed a full background check. The day of, she carefully selected her outfit based on the guidelines: no metal on or inside a piece of clothing, no jewelry, no gang signs or colors. She set off for the prison with her ID tucked in her pocket. Multiple guards continued to check it, even after her hand was stamped with ink visible only to an ultraviolet light.   Prison guards understand the threat from both directions: what comes into the prison is just as important to protect against as what goes out. Today’s passage evokes this sort of image. “Keep your heart with all vigilance,” we’re told. The Hebrew literally says, “above all guarding, guard your heart.” We tend to diligently keep our cars and houses locked to guard against predators. But how careful are we to protect our hearts? At one time, Christian culture diminished the phrase “guard your heart” to refer only to being careful who you date. Protect your romantic emotions,  the thinking went. But this doesn’t capture the full scope of Solomon’s admonition because the heart  refers to much more than mere emotions. In Scripture, the heart  is who we are in our innermost being. It’s our thoughts, desires, motives, and beliefs. The heart influences our everyday decisions. God commands us to love Him with all our heart (Deuteronomy 6:5; Mark 12:30). Guarding your heart this way yields great reward. Consider what you allow into  your heart. How are the ideas and people you listen to, follow online, read, and watch influencing you? What do they make you want, chase after, think about, long for? Do they move you to love God and others more, or something else? Solomon urges us, Above all guarding, guard your heart. Why is it so important that we keep a careful watch over our hearts? Because “from it flow the springs of life.” The choices we make are the overflow of what’s in our hearts. What we allow in will come out. This week’s passage begins to explain what this means and what it looks like as it relates to our speech.  Jesus made a similar heart-mouth connection when He said, “what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart” (Matthew 15:18a) and “ out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks ” (Luke 6:45).   If we want to examine our hearts, we should start by examining our words. The focus in our passage is on “crooked speech” and “devious talk.” Throughout the Bible, God clearly states His expectations of how we are to speak (Ephesians 4:25, 29; Philippians 2:14; Colossians 3:8,9; 2 Timothy 2:16). Any veering off of His clearly marked path is “crooked” or “devious.” In practical terms, this includes every kind of speech–whether slander, gossip, or venting our anger or frustration, in person and online. As Christians, the words we say and the tone we use should honor Christ, please Him, and exemplify Him.  If you’re like me, by now you’re squirming in your seat. Who hasn’t stumbled in their words? Be comforted to know you aren’t alone. James 3:8 tells us the tongue “is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” We can all relate to the need to put off sinful speech. Mercifully, the Spirit helps us in our weakness so we can learn to speak in ways that build others up and glorify God. Maybe it’s time to check the security measures we’ve set up around our hearts. What’s allowed to pass through should draw us to love God and others more. As we fill our hearts with truth from God’s Word and the example of Jesus Christ, our words will, by God’s grace, overflow with life and peace to others. For Reflection What can you do today to “keep your heart with all vigilance” in both directions—what goes in and what comes out? How can you “put away” the kind of speech—written and spoken—that doesn’t honor Christ? Thank God that Jesus’ perfect record is counted to you through faith in Him. Ask Him to turn your heart toward Him and help you guard and protect your heart carefully. Rachel Coyle  is a biblical counselor, Bible teacher, and author of Help! She's Struggling with Pornography   from Shepherd’s Press. She and her husband Philip have six children. Scripture memory plays a pivotal role in their parenting and homeschooling as they sing, write, and discuss the meaning and application of passages. The Coyles live in South Carolina where they're members of Boiling Springs First Baptist Church.

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. ²⁴Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. —Proverbs 4:23-24 Fatherly advice is as old as Adam. A blog I read recently asked, “Is fatherly advice still around, or has it become a parenting practice of the past? What’s the best advice you ever got from your dad?” The page was flooded with responses. One woman mentioned advice she got from her grandfather: “Ask yourself, before you do that, if you would want your children to find out about this in the future.” Another writes, “My dad would always say, ‘The sun always rises and sets again tomorrow.’ He would always point me to hope in the new day.” Still another dad gave his son some truly wonderful advice: “Never date someone you couldn’t marry.” The words of Proverbs 4:23-24 are part of a plea from a father’s heart to his beloved son. Dad has been around the block a few times and has learned some things. He desperately wants to save his son from some of the snares the world holds for young ones finding their way. He pleads with his son to listen attentively to his words of wisdom, to take them to heart, to learn them and act upon them for the sake of his well-being. The father offers four admonitions to his son in verses 23-27. “Keep your heart with all vigilance,” he writes. “Put away from you crooked speaking;” “Let your eyes look directly forward;” “Ponder the path of your feet.” The father’s emphasis seems to be not so much on what the son might do in a given situation as much as who the son will be as a person in every situation. This dad’s advice to his son? Be a man of cautious affection, honest communication, and purposeful resolve who is committed to faithfulness and all will go well with you. But why? Why does love constrain a father to make these exhortations and not others? What is it about the world that moves a father to warn a son to diligently watch over his heart, to forego lies, to avoid the distractions that so easily appeal to the eyes, and to consider both the places and the life choices that lead to the places the feet take us? I think the answer to “why?” is inherent in each warning. Why keep your heart with all vigilance? Why make the effort to be constantly aware of the attitudes and desires forming in your inmost being? Because the world we live in is spiritually dark and fallen from grace; it's full of pitfalls, dangers, threats, risks, and distractions. Some are glaringly obvious and others deceitfully subtle, but all are pregnant with intent to sabotage faith and faithfulness. If the heart becomes ensnared and fails, everything that depends on the heart, all of life, follows and falters as the heart fails. So keep your heart with vigilance. Why put away crooked speech, lies, and deceit? Because succumbing to the Enemy’s tactics and adopting those tactics as our own, increases enemies, both of ourselves and of faith. A lying tongue breeds lies and invites distrust and rejection. Why let your eyes look directly forward? Because, dear Christian, we are surrounded by distractions that are temptations, that appeal to the eyes before any other of our senses, including common sense. The fruit looked good to Eve, pleasant to the eye, but the goodness faded at the first bite. Why ponder the paths of your feet? Because your feet usually follow your eyes, and if you are thinking about where your feet are going, you’re probably going to be paying attention to where your eyes are looking, and where your heart is leading. These are all good pieces of advice from a father to the son he loves. For Reflection Do you guard your heart with vigilance or simply assume that you are not at risk and leave your affections and desires vulnerable to exploitation? Do you think the occasional lie or half-truth is sufficient in some situations? Do you let your eyes wander where you know your heart should not go? Do you find yourself making life decisions that lead you from God rather than to God?

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. ²⁴Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. —Proverbs 4:23-2 Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What I love in my heart, the center of affections, will dictate my words and actions and lead to either freshwater springs of life in Christ, or undrinkable salty waters. What do I love most of all? As a Christian, the answer must be the Lord who wrote my name in the Book of Life before the beginning of time. He called me to faith in Jesus His Son by lifting the scales from my eyes, and pursued me and sealed my faith with the Holy Spirit. The world is full of distractions and though I am saved, I am far from fully sanctified. I am prone to wander. Therefore, I must guard my heart diligently through the discipline of reading and knowing the Word, praying and fellowshipping with other believers, and seeking to grow in my love of the Lord. If we love the Lord—however imperfectly in this life—we will seek to be more like Him. We do this, in thought, words, and deeds, by putting off the old nature of devious talk and crooked speech. The Book of James speaks clearly in 3:11, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and saltwater?” Our tongues can be tamed to speak what is right and true. I do not want crooked speech and devious talk to flow from my mouth that weakens my testimony of faith, hinders my prayers, or causes me to turn my eyes away from the Lord I love. For Reflection What areas of your life do you long to be more like Jesus and less like the sinful world? Are you ready to ask the Lord to do, in and through your, what is the best reflection of Him? Ask the Lord to forgive your careless sinful words.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. ²⁶My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. — Psalm 73:25-26 "You cut, I choose.” Dividing up food with my siblings was always a challenge. Each one of us wanted the better portion. Cookies are notoriously difficult to cut into thirds. Someone always gets the bigger piece, while someone else always gets the smaller one. In Psalm 73, the psalmist laments over a dilemma like this. Why do the wicked prosper? Why does it seem that those who have no love for God get the better portion in this life? Although the psalmist initially envied the prosperity of the wicked, by the end of this psalm, he steps back and proclaims the infinite value of God. God is of greatest value regardless of where the psalmist looks. In verse 25, he asks the rhetorical question, “Whom have I in Heaven but you?” The implied answer to this question is “no one.” And what about earthly things like the temporary prosperity of the wicked? “There is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.”  You’ll never find anything better than God Himself. You can scour the heavens. You can search out every corner of the earth. No matter where you go, the Creator Himself is the greatest value. Unlike everything else we desire, God’s value is unchanging and unfading. Verse 26 says your flesh may fail you—and it certainly will someday. Your body will die. If health or a long life was your ambition in life, what will be your portion then? Your heart—your desires—may fail you. The earthly things you have pursued in this life will ultimately pass away. What will be your portion when they rust, break, or fade away? The only lasting desire, the only lasting portion, is God Himself. God is the strength of the psalmist’s heart—his inner man. This is his deepest desire. God is the psalmist’s portion—forever. Here he is borrowing from the words spoken to Aaron in Numbers 18:20. The priests had no inheritance in the land because God was their portion. They had no earthly portion, but a better heavenly portion in God. As a believer, God is your portion as well. He is the greater joy. He is the greater portion. In the gospel, the ultimate thing that we receive is God Himself. Jesus says in John 17:3, “and this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Jesus gave Himself for us to give Himself to us. Unrighteous as you are, you get God, because Jesus died for your sin. Trust in Jesus and you receive forgiveness and access to the Creator God. There is no better portion than this, purchased for you by Jesus.  May you desire Him above all else and seek Him as your greatest joy and portion. For Reflection Read through the whole of Psalm 73. What was it that caused frustration for the psalmist? What solved his dilemma? Has there been a time when an earthly desire or possession has failed you? What happened? Why did it let you down? What is your desire in life? What do you spend time thinking about? What do you prioritize on your calendar? Does your life reflect the attitude and schedule of someone whose portion is God?  Nate Miller  is the Associate Preaching Pastor at Revive Church in Brooklyn Park, MN. Nate and his wife, Angela, live in Brooklyn Park and have three children.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. ²⁶My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. —Psalm 73:25-26 I have a son with multiple severe disabilities. For the first years of his life, I was as far away as one can be from desiring God. My flesh and my heart had utterly failed, and I understood God to be the source of that failure . God was certainly strong—and cruel. Psalm 73 begins with struggle as well: "But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (Psalm 73:2-3). I understand the temptation faced by the psalmist because I wanted that same life of ease and prosperity. Disability in my family had ripped that possibility away. Oh, how I wish I could say I "almost stumbled" and "nearly slipped"! But in another sense I’m glad that my failure of faith and trust in God was so complete. That's because the rescue that came exclusively from God’s hand was also crystal clear. God awakened me to the state of my heart, which was hard and dead in its sin. And he let me see that Jesus had provided an infinitely costly, but everlasting solution to that sin. He fulfilled Ezekiel 36:26: "And 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." This new heart is capable of desiring God. You have it as well if you cling to Jesus in faith! And God is the one who did it. Yes, I frequently still fail and let other enticements draw me away from my awesome, loving, rescuing God. But the God who gives new hearts and new life in Him never fails. He will bring to completion the good work He began in you (Philippians 1:6). It would be wrong to read Psalm 73:25-26 as a testament to the psalmist’s or anyone’s own strength of mind or heart—that somehow we were the ones who created desires for God on our own. No, none of us is righteous (Romans 3:10). And in this state of sinfulness, not only have we no desire to submit to God’s law, we cannot do so (Romans 8:8). Rather, with joy, we join the author of Psalm 73 in pointing to God as both the object and the source of our desires. God conquered our rebellion and our sin, and God awakens in us affections for him. Nothing can stop God from holding and keeping and helping us—for all eternity!

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. ²⁶My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. —Psalm 73:25-26 Psalm 73 is for the discouraged and the doubting. It is for those who are frustrated when immoral people get their way, when justice is not served, and when the needy are overlooked. Throughout the psalm, the author, Asaph, seems to wonder, “what is the use of trying to do what is right when evil always seems to prevail?” He writes, “for I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (v. 3). And says, “all in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence” (v. 13). Have you ever wondered the same and then needed to talk some sense to yourself? That's what Asaph does! Midway through the psalm, he essentially calls himself an idiot for thinking such things:“I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you” (v. 22). He then pivots, in verses 25-26, to speak truth to himself. When we need an answer to our own discouragement, we can remember the truths that Asaph expounds in Psalm 73:25-26, and use them as a ready arsenal for battle. Perspective On Our Position To do this, we need the proper perspective on our position in this life. Asaph asks,“Whom have I in heaven but you?” (v. 25). We are not on a weak, losing team in this game of life. God is on the believer’s side. He is here, with us now, ruling from heaven, and He is for us. Believers can claim “I have God” and so any discouraging thought pales in comparison. Taking that perspective even further, when this life plays out, fellowship with God will be the final destination for believers. Insight On Our Motives Next, we can evaluate what motivates us now:“And on earth I desire no one besides you” (v. 25). Many of our problems stem from wrong desires—we want things that are powerless to satisfy our souls. We can skim through life without even realizing the drive that motivates our decisions and desires. But God made us with a predisposition to yearn for Him (Isaiah 43:6-7). God calls us to find our satisfaction in Him. When we desire God, we find that the very act of desiring Him is the means He uses to bring us lasting joy. As long as we're “on earth” let us evaluate our desires, setting aside petty thrills so that we can focus on our only lasting treasure: God Himself. Security In The Right Places Finally, we can choose to trust God for our future. Our bodies will one day give out. Our hearts will stop beating. Just as God’s gift of sustaining our life is an awesome thing, the “failing” of a human heart is a terrible and terrifying thing. I can attest that it is unsettling to the core of your being to watch a loved one lay lifeless where moments earlier they were warm and alive. The loss of this life, however, pales in comparison to inheritance (portion) waiting for the believer (v. 26). Remembering these truths should give us confidence to face any discouragement. Take comfort, knowing that when it comes time to take our last breath in this world, what will follow is the real, strong presence of God himself. For Reflection Are you frustrated, or grieved, about an injustice in your life? What truths have you gleaned from this psalm about how to consider such things? Take some time to identify the root desires that motivate you. Do your desires align with Psalm 73? Do your daily endeavors reflect your love for God? Are you trusting in your wealth or future inheritance? Do you experience anxiety about your financial future? How does Psalm 73 anchor the security of your future?

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. — Jeremiah 32:40 In the fight of faith, you never know where the next attack of unbelief will come from. One moment we face a strike of uncertainty about God’s heart toward us:  “Does he care what I’m going through? Has he abandoned me to this hardship? What if he’s tired of helping me after all I’ve done?” The next moment we face a thrust of fear over our own fickle hearts:  “Is this spiritual dry season really just a slow spiritual death? What if I drift away from God and can’t find my way back? What if I make shipwreck of my faith and just stop believing?” Knowing these attacks could come at any time from any angle, we need a weapon that’s up to the challenge of fighting back against these twin sources of doubt. What we need is a double-edged  weapon. One that can slay our fear of God abandoning us and  put to death our fear of our abandoning Him. In Jeremiah 32:40, God gives us that weapon in the form of a promise.  This isn’t just any promise, it’s a never ending, double-edged promise. He gives us a promise that addresses our fears about His heart toward us as well as our heart toward Him. Here’s how I would restate God’s promise in this verse: “He won’t turn from good, and we won’t turn from God.” In the first half of the verse, God tells us He’s going to make with us an “everlasting covenant.” In other words, He’s going to make a promise to us that will never end — a promise with no expiration date. There will never be a time when this promise isn’t in effect. It is eternally true. What’s the first part of his promise? God will never turn away from doing good to us. Never!  Feel the wonder and the joy and the safety of that word. He will unceasingly, unrelentingly, persistently, continuously do good to us. This promise means there won’t be a moment when He pauses from doing good to you.  But God’s never ending promise also comes with a second edge. Not only will He not turn from good, He will put the fear of Him in our hearts so we won’t turn from Him. He will keep us. He will work in our hearts such that the joy-filled fear He places there will act like a compass needle being constantly drawn to God as our north pole. Whichever way we turn, our hearts are magnetically drawn back to Him and His grace. He will not let us wander away and be lost. He will keep us trusting and treasuring Him forever. How is this double-edged promise ours? Through the blood of Jesus, the guarantor of our everlasting covenant with God. On the cross, Jesus received the bad from God we deserve for all our turning away. Now, in Him, we will ever and only receive good from God. In the fight of faith, doubts and fears are sure to come. When they do, fight back with God’s never ending, double-edged promise that He won’t turn from doing you good, and by His grace, you will never turn from Him . For Reflection What do you fear more, that you'll turn from God or that He'll turn from you? How does the cross and resurrection give you power to fight your fears? Ask the Lord to increase your faith in His everlasting covenant as you memorize this passage. Dan Weller     is Lead Pastor of Chapelwood Baptist Church in Indianapolis, IN. Prior to Chapelwood, Dan served as a pastoral resident at College Park Church and graduated from Bethlehem Seminary. He also serves on the Board of Indianapolis Theological Seminary. Dan is married to Emily and they have two beautiful daughters.

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. —Jeremiah 32:40 Perhaps you have heard the common Christian phrase, “Once saved, always saved.” Although you will not find those exact words in Scripture, it is a wonderful truth affirmed in God’s Word. In fact, as we see here in the opening statement of Jeremiah 32:40, this permanency is at the very heart of God’s new covenant promise. “I will make them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them.” Do you hear that good news? When God enters into a covenant with you and commits Himself to working for your good, He will never abandon that commitment. This promise is true for all those who have been saved from God’s wrath through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:37-38). But did you notice the way that God will fulfill this promise? He tells us in the second half of our verse: “And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.” God fulfills his promise to permanently do His people good by working in our hearts so that we will never finally turn away from Him . The previous verse puts these two realities together even more clearly: “I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them” (Jeremiah 32:39). Fearing God is for our own good. And his people will fear him for good (that is, forever!). Giving God our supreme allegiance, worship, and trust is the pathway to true joy. And we must persevere in this to the end if we are to truly experience that joy. Sometimes those who appeal most strongly to the promise “once saved, always saved” are those who most clearly live out their lives with no fear of God in their hearts. They have no desire to worship with God’s people. They don’t practice generosity. They would never speak up about the Lord at work. In some cases, they may be living in blatant immorality. However, since they can point back to a time when they prayed a “prayer of salvation,” or got baptized, or joined a church…they are confident that God has committed himself to their eternal good. Those who live this way have misunderstood the promise of Jeremiah 32:40 and are in danger of being deceived. Those who truly fear God and receive his promises will fear Him now and forever. The amazing news is that even this perseverance is God’s gracious gift to us in Christ. We can be sure we will not finally turn away from Him, because He promises to put the fear of Him in our hearts and to keep it there for good! For Reflection How does the saying “once saved, always saved” fit with the promise of Jeremiah 32:40? Does your life evidence a fear of God in your heart? What can you point to that shows this is the case? Why can you be confident that you will not finally turn away from the Lord?

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. —Jeremiah 32:40 When our 6-year old daughter was diagnosed with cancer several years ago, my husband and I clung to this promise in Jeremiah 32 and others like it. If God promises that he will not turn away from doing good to us, then God must be working for our good somehow, even in cancer. There were times when it was hard to see what good could possibly come, but knowing this promise helped us to see God working. This promise comes to God’s people at a historical time of great calamity, too. The Babylonians have taken Israel into exile and are besieging Jerusalem on their way to do the same to Judah when Jeremiah delivers these comforting words from God. This covenant lasts forever. God will not turn from doing good to his people. And He will make sure that they will not turn from Him. Despite the impending terror, God makes it clear that all of this is part of His plan and that it will ultimately be for their good. God will bring them back and things will be different because they will not break this covenant like the last one. Hebrews 8:6-13 tells us that Jesus is the high priest of this new and better covenant promised in Jeremiah. To those who believe in him, Jesus promises salvation and an inner life transformed by the Holy Spirit in such a radical way that we are “born again” (John 3:3-8, Titus 3:5). When trials come our way, we can choose to trust in God’s promise to work for our good. Or we can choose to trust in ourselves, shake our fist at God, trust in “positive thoughts,” or flounder at a loss for what or who to trust. How much better to trust in a God rich in mercy, full of love, able to save, who offers His grace freely to all who believe. What makes the faithful stay faithful in the mists of the fire? It is God Himself making it so. God is the decisive enabler. He is facing us (“I will not turn away”). And when God promises that He will “put the fear of me into their hearts,” He is ensuring that we will not turn away from Him. That’s an unbreakable guarantee! But also it so flies in the face of our modern day free will, autonomous thinking that we can almost not comprehend it. Do you fear how you would bear up under certain trials? We often heard people say that they could never ‘handle’ what we were going through (a child sick with cancer). And before cancer, I remember wondering the same. But the reality is that God does what He says he will do—He will not turn away from doing good to us. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13). For Reflection Do you harbor fear of trials ahead or do you trust God’s promises? Are there things in your life that you value more than God? During times of stress, do you turn first to God or to comforts of this world? What practical steps can you take now that will help you to stay grounded in God when trials come?

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." —John 10:10  This verse is sandwiched in the middle of the passage where Jesus is calling Himself The Good Shepherd. This context, and who is speaking, is important for us to understand. In John 10:10, we have the contrast of a thief and a good shepherd. The thief in this passage has a goal: to steal something and to cause harm and destruction to his victim. The thief is like the wolf in verse 12 who comes to scatter the sheep and separate or divide them from the safety of the pen. The wolf also comes to snatch the sheep away or to kill for his own pleasure, unlike the good shepherd who protects, leads, watches over, and will even lay down His life for His sheep. Jesus wants us to clearly see the contrast here. The thief, our enemy—Satan, comes with a purpose and plan for our lives and that is to steal, kill and destroy us. The Good Shepherd, our Savior—Jesus, also has a purpose and a plan for our lives. He wants to give us life, abundant life. The thief wants to steal your very life. If he could, he would separate you from the pen guarded by the Good Shepherd. If we are in Christ, the thief cannot do this. So instead he will steal what he can to make our life the opposite of abundant—scarce and unsatisfying. He will steal our joy, our peace, our trust in the Lord. He’ll steal our focus so we take our eyes off Jesus and put them on the circumstances we find ourselves in so that we become discouraged and defeated. In contrast, the Good Shepherd has come to give us life. And not just life, but abundant life, life that is present in great quantity, more than adequate, abounding, richly supplied, more than enough. A life that is full . Jesus is the only one that can provide a life that is abundant and full. Verse 15 shows us just how good this Good Shepherd is. This Good Shepherd has sacrificed Himself for us—His sheep. And we, we can do nothing to earn that. We can accept and enjoy abundant and full lives because He laid down His for us. By this we can and will bless our Good Shepherd and glorify God forever. For Reflection Read John 10:1-18. What is something that the thief has stolen from you? Ask the Good Shepherd to restore that to you. The Good Shepherd knows His sheep.  Are you one of His sheep? If not, why not join His sheepfold today. List some of the abundant things you enjoy in your life. Thank Jesus for His abundant blessings toward you, His sheep.