📖 Are you in debt?

I. In Jesus, and only in Jesus, has your debt been wiped clean.

In Colossians 2:14, Paul writes:

“He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.”

Meaning, our sins, guilt, and condemnation that we have incurred by breaking God’s law are wiped clean for those who trust in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. Spiritually speaking, we have all accumulated a debt before God because of our sin, a debt that we cannot repay.

But in Christ Jesus, God erases the debt, takes it away, and nails it to the cross. Therefore, we no longer “owe” God anything because our payment has been satisfied.

Jesus did not merely reduce our debt or create a payment plan for us; he completely dealt with all of it. And this is all God’s doing, not our own. What a savior.

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II. Have you been with Jesus?

It is easy to be discouraged at one’s lack of Bible knowledge or ability to refute arguments on the fly against Jesus or even the existence of God. And when you read the New Testament, we see stories of people boldly proclaiming and teaching the gospel.

And yet, what propelled the early apostles and disciples was something anyone can do if they so choose. In Acts 4:13, when Peter and John were on trial for their continued proclamation of the gospel, we see:

“When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.”

You see, Peter and John did not have the traditional schooling and training of the Jewish religious leaders. They hadn’t gone to seminary and studied the Law as diligently as those who made up the Sanhedrin council, but they had been with Jesus, and it showed.

You will never be as effective a witness for the gospel if you don’t intentionally spend time with Jesus. Habitual spiritual practices create in us a love for Christ that cannot be cultivated by only going to church or reading the Bible occasionally.

Want to be a difference maker where the Lord has you? Have regular times of being with Jesus.

Anyone can do that.

J.C. Ryle on the true God:

“Beware of manufacturing a God of your own: a God who is all mercy, but not just; a God who is all love, but not holy. Such a God is a mere idol of your own imagination.

The true God of the Bible is infinitely just, holy, and righteous, as well as infinitely loving and merciful, and both characters are perfectly displayed at the cross of Christ.”

It is profoundly unwise to neglect gathering with your local church in seasons of major life transitions.

Be it having a baby, the death of a loved one, moving for a new job or school, or any other significant life change. It is often during these major life transitions that we become overwhelmed by everything going on, struggle to adjust to a new reality, or experience grief that we would rather keep private.

But one of the many gifts of the local church is love, support, and encouragement that are so desperately needed in new seasons of life. Satan wants nothing more than to isolate people from the community God designed to love them.

Don’t pull back from God’s people when you need God’s people most.

Love Thy Body by Nancy R. Pearcey

A book about the body, life, and sexuality.

This book details the ways in which abortion, euthanasia, sex, transgenderism, and same-sex "marriage" are all things that happen when individual people and cultures at large have a very low view of the body.

Using reason, logic, and real data, this book shows how all of these issues have profound social effects, not just individual effects on the people who pursue these things.

Your actual physical body matters, and divorcing biology and humanity from people, and claiming that a human is not the same thing as a person, leads to disastrous consequences and slippery slopes that only lead in one direction (a negative one).

Ironically, Christianity, which is often pointed at by those who have a low view of the body as "backwards", "restrictive," and/or "narrow-minded", is actually the very ideology that leads to the flourishing and fulfillment of women, children, and men.

This book isn't necessarily dense or academic, but it isn't a light read either. If you are interested in these issues, and particularly in how the way of Jesus aligns with biological realities and is supported by actual data as the better way for individuals and societies, you'll definitely learn some things and find this book to be a helpful resource.

8/10

P.S. It’s not that serious…