Author: Brandi Smeltzer Page 1 of 2

How much are you willing to compromise?

This is a tough one because wickedness is all around us and is often hard to detect if we don’t know the Bible and know it 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14 NIV).

When we don’t know the Word of God, we are likely to reason that wicked things are actually quite innocent. But the Lord’s thoughts are not humans’ thoughts: His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). Therefore, it really doesn’t matter what we think. A child will reason that candy is a healthy breakfast, but a parent knows better. The same reasoning relationship is true with God and His creation. He knows and understands things that we don’t.

If we don’t know Scripture, we are in danger of giving way to—or compromising with—the wicked. Proverbs says that when that happens, we are like a muddied spring or a polluted well, and what is that water good for? Nothing!

On the other hand, Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them,” (John 7:38).

So, which will you be? A muddied spring or a river of living water?

The choice is yours.

Life is HARD sometimes—like 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 hard. 

And sometimes we just don’t feel joyful. 

But the Christian knows that true joy is not a fleeting feeling; it’s a deep state of gratitude to the Lord for loving us so much that He went to the cross to pay the debt for our sins and give us the promise of eternal life.

True joy is knowing that this life is not all there is.

True joy is the hope that something better awaits. 

True joy is found only in Him. 

When we say we choose joy, it means that we choose to stay focused on Him, even when life is hard. 

It means that we choose not to allow life’s circumstances to pull us away from Him.

It means that we remain grateful.

It means that we stay hopeful. 

When we say that we choose joy, it means that we choose Him. 

I choose joy.

Discussion Questions:

In what says is a joyful heart good medicine?

How does a crushed spirit (anger, jealously, sadness) affect our physical health?

Why is it important to stay focused on the Lord, no matter what life may throw our way?

How do we know that God loves us?

Because He demonstrated that love for us by dying in our place.

And we didn’t even deserve it! 

We were sinners! 

We had turned our backs on Him.

We had disobeyed Him.

We had messed up His beautiful creation—the world—with our transgressions, making it a pretty messy place.

We were certainly no friend to God! 

And yet He died for us anyway. Our sins put Him on that cross.

Jesus tells His disciples in John 15:13-15 NIV, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

If you are His disciple, you are also His friend!

The Creator of all the universe, who went to the cross to pay the debt that 𝘺𝘰𝘶 owed to Him for messing up His creation with 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 sin so that 𝘺𝘰𝘶 wouldn’t have to, now calls you His friend!

Now 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 is love!

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Reflection:

Have you ever thought of yourself as Christ’s friend?

How does it make you feel to realize that the Creator of all the universe feels that way about you?

Whenever I feel hesitant to share God’s word,  I think of these verses. 

I remember one time when a Gideon speaker came to our church and told the story of an individual who was on the brink of suicide before he found a Gideon New Testament that someone had tossed on the ground. He opened it, began reading, and soon gave his life to Christ.

A Gideon had handed that New Testament to someone who didn’t want it (or, to be fair, accidentally dropped it), but the Word of God did not return empty; it accomplished what it set out to do and ended up in the hands for which it was intended. The person who dropped it was an instrument in getting it to where it needed to be. 

That is so encouraging! 

Sometimes it might feel like no one is reading our posts or that our words are falling on deaf ears, but someone is listening. We can rest assured that if we simply obey and share God’s message, it will accomplish the very thing for which the Lord sent it. 

Praise God!

If I ask what Jesus means, I’m sure I’ll get several different answers—and many of them will be correct. Jesus means so much! If you want the full meaning of what Jesus means to this world, read the Bible from cover to cover.

And then read it again.

And again.

And if you want an even deeper meaning of Jesus, surrender your heart to Him and live in relationship with Him.

But if you want a simple answer to what Jesus means, just consider His name alone:

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21, NKJV).

The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew word 𝘺ᵊ𝘩ôšû𝘢ʿ, which literary means Jehovah is salvation.

We might also say “God is salvation” or “Jehovah saves” or “God saves.”

Jesus, God incarnate, came to earth, born as a human, to save us from our sins, reconciling us to Him.

Praise the Lord!

This is what we celebrated yesterday. Hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

A new year is upon us, but Jesus offers us a new life. A free gift. Will you accept it?

These are the remains of a tree that fell down across my driveway last week, trapping my vehicle at home until my father-in-law was able to come and remove the barrier from my path (God bless him).

If you look closely, you can see decay inside the tree trunk. The tree was dying inside, and its roots were weak. When the soil got a little wet and the winds came, the tree could no longer stand.

In Sunday School last weekend, we read and discussed Colossians 2, and Verses 6-7 prompted me to tell the story of my fallen tree.

⁶So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

—Colossians 2:6-7

I think you see where this is going.

A tree needs a strong root system to remain standing. If the roots are compromised, the tree begins to die inside. It’s only a matter of time before it comes toppling down.

The same is true for us. Colossians tells us to remain rooted in Christ lest we fall. It is in Him that we find our strength. It is He who gives life.

Take It a Step Further

Many believers live a life apart from Christ, depending on their Christian roots to save them. While it is true that a tree’s roots are critical to its survival, the same is also true of the leaves which take in light through the process of photosynthesis to make energy/food for the tree.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

—John 8:12

Jesus is the light. If we are not continually soaking up the light of Christ, we starve our spirit, becoming spiritually dead inside.

Take It Even Further

In addition to energy/food, photosynthesis also produces oxygen for other organisms to breathe and survive. Likewise, when believers take in Christ’s light, the fruits of his Spirit flow from us and benefit others.

It is critical that we remain rooted in Christ, walking in close relationship with Him. Our spiritual survival depends on it. With Him, we stand; without Him, we fall.

Reflect

Has your life remained strongly rooted in Christ? If not, what is one step you can take today to strengthen your relationship with Him?

Context: John 3:22-36

John’s disciples had just come to him, concerned that people would start following Jesus instead of John. John explained to them that his purpose was to direct people to Christ, not to gain a following for himself.

John understood that his sole reason for existence was to glorify Jesus. Christ must become greater; John must become less.

What if each one of us realized this about our own lives?

What if you made this your prayer? What would that process look like? What would it mean for your life?

How would it change the world?

He must become greater; I must become less.

Christian, perhaps you don’t think your choice of words is a big deal, but God’s Word says otherwise.

The Greek word translated corrupt is sapros (sap-ros’), and it means bad, rotten, putrefied, of poor quality, morally worthless, or no longer fit for use.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul discusses the church as the body of Christ and what that should look like. In this particular chapter, he explains how we are to live as children of light instead of those who are “darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity” (Ephesians 4:18-19, NIV).

Think of the filthiest word you’ve ever heard or used. The first time you heard it, you were probably shocked or uncomfortable. But over time, having been exposed to this word time and time again, it began to lose its shock value. You became desensitized to it until, eventually, you found yourself using it—or maybe sharing social media content that used it. What has happened is what is described in the verses above: you’ve lost sensitivity and have given yourself over to the sensuality of using that word and indulging in that impurity.

Foul language is not the only impurity addressed in verses 18-19; anger, lies, gossip, brawling, sexual immorality, and greed are also referenced throughout the chapter.

Paul reminds us that we did not come to know Christ this way (v. 20). “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness,” (vv. 22-24, NIV).

As Christians, each day we should die to ourselves (1 Cor. 15:31, Rom. 6:11, Rom. 8:13, Gal. 2:20, Gal 5:24 Col. 2:20), allowing the Holy Spirit complete control so we can become more and more like Christ—and that includes the words we speak (or write or share on social media).

It’s February 14, so you know what that means: love is in the air.

Therefore, it seems only appropriate that we should consider the greatest love story ever told.  

But where to start. Rightfully, we need to go back to the beginning in Genesis 1:1 where it says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, but for the sake of time, let’s jump ahead to John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

This verse is saying that God loved the world so much that He gave His son. What does that mean? To give one’s son? And what does giving His son have to do with love?

It means that He gave Him as a gift to us.

Here’s the deal. Sin is serious! In fact, the Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death (Roman’s 6:23). Why so harsh? Because sin separates us from God, and God is life. So, if you’re separated from Life, the only alternative is death.

Also, when we sin, we are in debt to God. But what can we give to God—what is good enough to pay God back for all His blessings of life and health? Of existence?

Absolutely nothing.

There is nothing that we can do to pay God back for how good He has been to us.

The only thing good enough—the only sacrifice acceptable enough for God—is God Himself. So, Jesus left Heaven, came to earth, and paid that price for us. He was the sacrifice because He was the only one good, pure, innocent, and wonderful enough to pay that price. And He did just that! He suffered and died on a cross so the price could be paid for us. And now when our bodies die, our spirits get to live on forever in eternity, not separated from God, but with God because of the blood of Jesus.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

John 15:13

And that’s exactly what Jesus did!

So that, my friends, is why the Bible is the greatest love story ever told.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

P.S. God is a gentleman; he won’t force you to love him back. The relationship is two sided. If you accept His gift of love to you, turn from your sin, and give your heart and life to Him, you can have that gift of eternal life. The choice is yours.