God Can Use Our Scars

“I want to make sure it’s not skin cancer,”  I said.

“It’s not,” the dermatologist said examining the tiny, spot on my face. I was content knowing it wasn't a problem, but he suggested I have it removed.

“It will only take me a minute to freeze it and after a couple days, you won't even know it was there.

“If you think that's a good idea, I'm fine having you do it as long as there aren't any side effects,” I said, “because I leave for an overseas mission trip in two weeks and I don't need any extra challenges.”

“It will be crusty for a couple of days, and completely healed within a week,” he assured me.

So I let him do it.

The next two weeks I dealt with a large oozing blister from the second-degree burn, and I had to see another doctor to get advice for treating it. The wound ended up requiring daily care for three months to include the whole time I was overseas.

 

The scar I now have is no big deal, no worse than the original age spot, but it's a good analogy for some of the unexpected detours we face in life.

Sometimes something seems life-altering and it ends up being insignificant. Other times a single wrong move affects our lives in major ways. 

 

I've used an insignificant physical scar as an example, and God can certainly use those for His good. But more importantly, God can use our emotional scars for His good as well -- things we've foolishly brought upon ourselves, things others have inflicted, and things we suffer from circumstances beyond our control.

We need to fully grasp the wonderful promise in Romans 8:28:

“We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

This gives us confidence to know that God can use any scar, big or small, for our good. That's just one of many comforting promises He gives us!

 

💙💙💙 

 

If you liked this devotion, please sign up for a FREE SUBSCRIPTION to Bible Love Notes HERE. And please check out these two helpful resources:

WISDOM FOR LIFE: Do you know the story behind my book Wisdom for Life? You can read it HERE and find out where to purchase it online.

LIES IN DISGUISE: Check out the relevant subjects in each chapter, read some endorsements, and find out where to order Lies in Disguise HERE.

 

 

Peter Called These People “Ignorant and Unstable”

It’s popular to explain away unpopular New Testament truths by claiming Paul was merely writing his opinion or expressing a cultural prejudice. 

This is a major part of the propaganda of the modern “ex-vangelical” movement. But it’s been used for centuries to explain away commands that contradict culture (e.g., male church leadership, submission, premarital sex, gay lifestyles, etc.).

Peter calls people who make this claim “ignorant and unstable”:

“Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” 2 Peter 3:15-16

In these two verses Peter presents Paul’s letters as divinely inspired when he says people distort them “as they do the other Scriptures.”  

If someone thinks the human authors of Scripture made mistakes, there’s nothing in Scripture they can trust—not the words of Jesus, not the story of Christ's death or resurrection, not the hope of forgiveness and salvation. Why? Because all of these things were recorded by human authors. 

Either all of God's Word is divinely inspired, or none of it is!

I believe it ALL is. What about you?

💙 💙 💙

See:  

Believing God's Word Is Inerrant 

Why We Trust a Bible “Written by Men”

 

BLN

38% of Christians Surveyed Got This One Wrong

I did a survey on Bible Love Notes' Facebook page and the results were interesting. Even though mostly Christians follow the page, 38% of those surveyed proved their lack of Bible knowledge. The devotion continues below the poll...

 

Please note: I asked for the answer that is ALWAYS right, not sometimes right. In certain situations, #1 and #2 are correct, but #3 and #4 are never true. 

 

The passages below refute the first, second, and fourth statements and confirm the fifth statement. Only God can perfectly judge hearts and condemn people to Hell, but God commands us to judge: 

False teachers and ungodly influences:
Matthew 7:15-20; Ephesians 5:8-11

Sinning believers (to help restore them):

Matthew 18:15; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20; 1 Corinthians 5:12

Our close companions:
1 Corinthians 15:33; Ephesians 5:5-7

We're also called to judge sin (Ephesians 5:11), false teachings
(Acts 17:11), and bad influences (Psalm 101:3; 1 John 2:15-17).  

And churches are commanded to have formal judgment against members living in unrepentant sin: 1 Corinthians 5; Matthew 18:15-17.

#3 represents the popular Jesus portrayed in many books and movies, but not the Jesus of Scripture. True love confronts sin and seeks to restore people to God. For Scriptures proving Christ judged people, read Did Jesus Come to Judge? or watch it on YouTube: Did Jesus Come to Judge? 

As this Facebook survey shows, we must be prepared to address these false views of judgment so we can carry out the purposes of God. 

✞✞✞ 

This survey is one example of the confusion many Christians have about biblical judgment, a subject I address thoroughly in Lies in Disguise. 

To discover other subjects addressed in my book, please refer to the landing page: Lies in Disguise.

💙 Currently available from the publisher with a discount: Lies in Disguise. Also available on Amazon and CBD.  And in the UK: CLC-UK or Eden UK. 

 

 

BLN

Divine Appointment in Timbuktu!

When Steve Saint found himself stranded in Timbuktu,(1) a young man named Nouh agreed to take him to a local missionary to help him procure transportation.

Nouh was a Christian convert who'd been beaten and disowned by the Islamic community. His own mother had tried to poison him.(2)

Reading Christian biographies had encouraged and strengthened Nouh's faith (Hebrews 11).

He told Steve, "My favorite was about five young men who willingly risked their lives to take God's Good News to Stone Age Indians in the jungles of South America ... these men let themselves be speared to death, even though they had guns!"(3)

Can you imagine Nouh's surprise when Steve explained that one of those men was his father, Nate Saint? 

But Nouh was not the only one blessed that day.

Steve had been struggling with the purpose of his father's death, and this meeting gave him confidence that his father's witness was touching lives all the way to Timbuktu (Romans 8:28)!

-----------------

(1) Timbuktu, often used to describe the uttermost parts of the earth, is a city in the West African nation of Mali.

(2) Members of Muslim families who convert to Christianity are often tortured and/or killed by Muslim family members. See Should Christians be concerned about the idea of Sharia Law? For more on this important subject, see the Bite Size Bible Study linked to this devotion.

(3) For more details of this story that happened in 1986 and other interesting stories from the lives of Steve and Ginny Saint, check out Walking His Trail.   You can also read about Steve's life in his book End of the Spear.

To read a few more Bible Love Notes devotions about the Saint Family, see The Saint Family: Courage and Perseverance.

To do a short Bible study on the subject of today's devotion, check out today's Bite Size Bible Study.

💙 If you liked this devotion and you'd like a one-minute Bible Love Note delivered to your email each weekday, sign up for a free subscription HERE. No spam, no ads, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

BLN

Don't Be Someone Christ Will "Spit Out of His Mouth"!

“Radical Christianity” isn't very popular because Christians who are radical about their faith believe it affects all areas of life: politics, education, lifestyles, words, clothes, attitudes, etc.  

What do you think? Should our beliefs “boil over” into all these areas of life, or should they stay in Christian circles? Let’s ask Jesus:

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:15-16*

It’s interesting that the Greek word “hot” in this verse means “boiling hot” according to Thayer's Greek Lexicon. It’s a powerful and accurate description of appropriate Christian zeal. 

To know if we’re boiling hot for the Lord, we should ask ourselves: 

What motivates me—pleasing God or pleasing people and culture?  

What concerns me—Christians who speak unpopular truths or those who remain silent?

What breaks my heart—millions of babies killed in the womb, millions of LGBTQ people walking to eternal death, Islamic hatred of Christians, or Christians sharing God's unpopular warnings?

If you don't want Jesus to spit you out, “never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11).

✞✞✞

This devotion will further explain this subject: Are You a Bottle-Fed or Meat-Eating Christian? 

Notes 

Child sacrifice: Don't let culture make you lukewarm about the evil child sacrifice approved and promoted in our country which harms both mother and child. See Do You Believe This Wonderful Truth?

True concern for those living LGBTQ lifestyles: Don't let culture stop you from giving God's healthy, compassionate warnings to those who deny His creation design. See Responding to Revisionist Theology: Don't Overlook Verse 11.

Does Islam really teach hatred of Christians:

Yes, it teaches hatred of both Jews and Christians. Don't be taken in by the growing number of Islamic resources which try to excuse passages in the Quran which promote violence. Here are some sources that explain this honestly: Religion Research Institute and Islam and Violence. And don't fall for the false claim that the Bible is as violent as the Quran: See Were Old Testament Wars the Same as Muslim Jihad? 

* Why Jesus said He'd rather some were cold:

In this passage Jesus isn’t saying being cold is a good thing. He wants us to recognize the true nature of our faith, and it’s better to understand we’re cold and need faith than to think we’re faithful when we’re simply lukewarm.

BLN