Many people claiming to be a savior of the Jewish people had come on the scene earlier.
We see the Jewish leadership asking John the Baptizer if he was “the one” they had been expecting (John 1:19-23). In the Book of Acts, Gamaliel reminds the Sanhedrin of all of the previous men who had claimed to be the deliverer and had utterly failed in their attempts (see Acts 5:34-37).
Undoubtedly, the shepherds had heard many stories as they sat around their campfires at night. So notice that the angel clarifies that this is not just another story, but the fulfillment of the promises of the advent of THE Messiah. Jesus wasn’t just another so-called savior, but He was “THE Messiah, THE Lord.”
Jesus Himself would say of Himself, “I am THE way, THEtruth, and THE life” (John 14:6).
He is THE ONE AND ONLY!
Only Jesus is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8).
Only Jesus holds the keys of death and Hell (Revelation 1:18).
Only Jesus fulfills every prophetic promise (Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:19-20).
All confusion is removed when we look to Jesus.
All doubts are satisfied in Him.
All uncertainty is made certain by Who He is, what He did, what He is still doing, and what He will soon complete!
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Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet. He pleaded earnestly with Him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put Your hands on her so that she will be healed.” (Mark 5:22-23)
The fact that we know Jairus’ name leads me to believe that he became both a follower of Jesus as Messiah and a part of the Church after Christ’s ascension.
Some might say, “Of course he was a ‘believer’—Jesus raised his little girl from the dead!”
True. But let’s not overlook some the events leading up to this miracle, including the role of an unnamed woman whose apparent interruption may have led to Jairus’ little girl’s death in the first place.
This woman “had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse” (vv. 25-26). Luke, a trained physician himself, adds that she had tried many remedies in her desperation “but no one could heal her” (Luke 8:43).
This desperate woman’s goal was just to touch the fringe of Jesus’ robe. She had no hopes of talking directly to Jesus because in her unclean status, her touch could make Jesus unclean too (Leviticus 15:25-27). This almost assuredly made people treat her as an untouchable leper.
Her touch did indeed provide a miracle for her! The words “immediately” and “at once” (Mark 5:29, 30) are the same Greek word. Jesus and the woman felt it simultaneously—she was healed!
Jesus—who was on His way to heal a dying little girl—stopped in His tracks.
The woman probably tried to melt into the crowd. “But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it” (v. 32). Fearfully, probably still kneeling on the ground, this healed woman told Jesus her full story. Jesus spoke lovingly to her, calling her “daughter” to assure her that it was her faith, and not His clothing, that had healed her.
Meanwhile, as Jairus waited (im)patiently, the news arrives: “There is no need to bother Jesus any longer. Your daughter has died. It’s hopeless. Please come back home.”
Jesus, knowing what the messengers had just shared with Jairus, looked at him and said, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
Maybe the words of Jesus were even something like, “Don’t be afraid, but just like this healed woman did, believe. Your faith can bring about the same kind of miracle for your daughter.”
As a synagogue leader, perhaps Jairus knew this woman. She would have come to a priest after every treatment and every doctor’s visit to see if she could be pronounced clean. Time after time the verdict was, “Unclean.” It seemed hopeless. And yet just a single faith-filled touch—right before the eyes of Jairus—had brought about a miracle that no one else could accomplish.
I think Jairus could turn his fear into faith because of what he had just witnessed. Without that miracle happening right before his eyes, perhaps his fear would have overwhelmed his faith, just like those who were mourning at Jairus’ house would later laugh at Jesus when He said, “The little girl is not dead but only sleeping” (vv. 39-40).
The faith and boldness of this woman unleashed faith in Jairus!
We can see Jarius’ fear turn to faith in the simple act of allowing Jesus to continue walking with him back to his home. As they approached his home, perhaps Jairus’ wife was angry and distraught that Jairus and Jesus had been so delayed in arriving. But as Jairus took his wife by the hand and said, “I believe Jesus can do something miraculous for our daughter,” his faith also unleashed her faith.
They walked into that bedroom with Jesus and saw their faith rewarded as they received their daughter back from the dead!
Are you facing a situation that seems impossible? Perhaps you have been to doctors and experts but no one can find an answer for you. Maybe you started to approach Jesus, only to be confronted by the cruel facts that what you had hoped for was dead. Or maybe it seems that the arrival of Jesus has been delayed for so long that there is no longer any need to seek His help.
If your fear is greater than your faith at this time, you can look to these examples recorded for us in the Scripture. Perhaps you can even look back in your own history, or the history of your family, to see a miraculous example.
There’s another great reason for you to continue to trust in Jesus. Just as the unclean woman sought an answer for years, the moment of her miracle was the moment faith was renewed in those who saw her healing. As you continue to seek your miracle, know that God’s timing is perfect. Your answer will come at the perfect moment to unleash faith in another wavering heart.
Keep believing in faith. Keep trusting in Jesus. Keep expecting your miracle.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
Looking at King David, we can see an imperfect picture of our perfect King Jesus.
Let’s be honest: Coming into the king’s presence can be a fearful activity. Does he know something about you that you don’t know? Is he in a good mood? For the law-abiding citizen of Israel, coming before King David was without fear or punishment, but with a healthy respect of who he was. But with King David, we see a healthy, loving attitude that the people had.
David and all Israel celebrated when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:5).
And the way David blessed all the people following this would have raised the level of esteem they had for him.
God was pleased with David too: The Lord gave David victory wherever he went (8:6).
David continued to do the right thing (8:15).
At the end of David’s life the eyes of all Israel were on David to see who he would select to sit on his throne after him.
Psalm 99 appears to be one that was written during the reign of King David. This royal psalm looks at the limited reign of David to see a better picture of the throne room of King Jesus.
The opening words tell us “the LORD reigns” (v. 1a). The word tremble can have two definitions. The first is to be perturbed or disquieted. This is addressed to the nations who don’t bow their knee to Yahweh, as a result they shake in fear. Second, this word tremble can also mean to be excited about coming before the King.
King Jesus is called “great, exalted over all the nations” (not just Israel), and He is said to have a “great and awesome name.”
“He IS holy,” which means He is the undisputed standard of all that is right and wrong, and no one can question His ruling. The nations that don’t know the King as their King tremble and shake, but those who do know Him as their King praise His awesome name (Revelation 5:13).
In many translations the word King is capitalized in v. 4, but we don’t know if this is referring to God or David. Since v. 2 refers to the “LORD in Zion,” that would appear to be a capital “K” King. But v. 4 mentions Jacob (not Zion), so I believe this is a lower case “k” referring to David. Let me restate verse 4 this way: “David is mighty, David loves justice—David has established equity; in Jacob David has done what is just and right.”
David’s own prayers also bear out this interpretation (see Psalm 20:6-9; 21:1-7). This is what the royal psalms do: Point us to David to show us a better picture in Jesus.
This is the end of stanza 1 which ends with this call to worship (v. 5).
Verses 6-7 give us another example (prior to the era of the kings) of Moses, Aaron, and Samuel. These priests could call on God’s name and expect to receive an answer from Him. They lived obediently to all God spoke to them (v. 7b). Then v. 8 reminds us that God still speaks and forgives, but He is also the final Judge who will punish “misdeeds.” These verses clearly speak to Jesus who is both King and Priest before God’s throne.
This is the end of stanza 2, which has a similar call to worship as stanza 1 (v. 9).
I want you to also notice some places of worship:
between the cherubim (v. 1)—God’s mercyseat. This is where sin was atoned every year under the old system of David’s era, but where Jesus has has presented the once-for-all atonement for all who will believe on Him.
His footstool (v. 5)—another name for the ark of the covenant of the LORD (1 Chronicles 28:2).
the pillar of cloud (v. 7)—the covering of God’s presence and the reminder of His protection.
His holy mountain (v. 9)—see Hebrews 12:18-29.
Remember Psalm 99:4 in the AMPC—The strength of the king who loves righteousness and equity You establish in uprightness; You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob (Israel).
King Jesus is the perfect King of justice and righteousness (Isaiah 9:7; Revelation 5:12).
One day every knee will bow at the footstool of God’s holy mountain. They will either bow in despair and shaking because they did not put their faith in Jesus, or they will bow in humble adoration for the atonement that King Jesus made for them.
For those who don’t know Jesus—Away from Me, all you evildoers! There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. (Luke 13:27-28)
For those who know King Jesus, there is no fear (Luke 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 15:55-57)!
Christians must live every day exalting and worship God, bowing gratefully at His footstool. This lifestyle of adoration of the great and awesome King is our testimony to a skeptical and searching world.
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…When He was reviled, did not revile (1 Peter 2:23 NKJV).
In the Greek language, this phrase is loidoreo antiloidoreo ou antiloidoreo.
Loidoreo means to insult, reproach, and revile.
Antiloidoreo means not to do those things.
Reviling others—especially those who have already reviled us—is a natural response. But not reviling or responding to revilers with reviling of our own is a supernatural response.
Anyone can speak or act unkindly, and it’s sort of expected when someone else has reviled you first. But to bless someone that has revealed first or to remain silent as Jesus did, requires Spirit-empowered self-control (see 1 Corinthians 4:12 and 1 Peter 3:9).
Our silence in these situations speaks volumes!
Was Jesus really silent? Peter says Jesus “entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” I think Jesus had an internal dialogue with His Father, something like, “Father, You hear the hurtful reviling they are heaping on Me. I trust You to handle this so that I don’t have to.”
The only words Jesus spoke aloud to those who were reviling Him were still words spoken to His Father: “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34).
Jesus responded with supernaturalantiloidoreo, which spoke louder than their naturalloidoreo!
So this has me thinking: When loidoreo is hurled at me, will I respond naturally with more loidoreo? Or will I allow the Holy Spirit to help me respond supernaturally with antiloidoreo?
My book When Sheep Bite is all about seeking to respond supernaturally when we have been treated unfairly and unkindly. This book is especially for pastors, but I also shared several posts and videos for all Christians in a series called When Sheep Bite Sheep.
You may also want to check out these related blog posts:
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My podcast cohost, Greg Heeres, and I just finished our first co-authored book in our seriesBusiness by the Book. This book is both biblical wisdom and practical insight into how a CEO casts vision for themselves and the organization they lead.
We write about the God-honoring way to cast vision, but there is another way—the human way. In their book Spiritual Leadership, Henry and Richard Blackaby describe it like this:
“The Gospel of Luke provides a graphic contrast between peoples’ agendas and God’s [Luke 9:28-36]. Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him up a mountain to experience a divine encounter. God the Father was unfolding His specific will for His Son. The Father brought Moses and Elijah to encourage Jesus for the enormous work of redemption He was about to accomplish. So sacred was that moment that Jesus radiated the glory of His divinity. Peter and his companions, however, had been sleeping. When they awoke and saw the magnificent scene unfolding, Peter spoke up: ‘Master, it’s good for us to be here! Let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’ (v. 33). Peter’s first thought was to build something tangible to institutionalize the divine encounter. Peter, a natural leader, could already envision the ongoing ministry he and his friends would administer as a result of that encounter. However, the instant Peter began talking, the vision was removed, and only Jesus remained visible. Clearly Peter’s plan was not God’s agenda. The heavenly Father immediately rebuked Peter, saying, ‘This is My Son, the Chosen One; listen to Him!’ (v. 35). Peter, because he was human, instinctively thought in temporal terms. He envisioned something he could control and manage. He wanted to move Jesus, Moses, Elijah, James, and John on to his agenda instead of seeking to understand God’s will and adjusting his own life accordingly. Peter’s ignorance of spiritual ways is all too prevalent among today’s spiritual leaders. Too often people assume that along with their role of leader comes the responsibility of determining what should be done. They develop aggressive goals. They imagine grandiose dreams. They cast grand visions. Then they pray and ask God to join them in their agenda and bless their efforts. That’s not the spiritual leader’s role. Spiritual leaders seek God’s will, whether it is for their church, family, or corporation, and then they mobilize their people to pursue God’s plan. …
“We must emphasize that planning or goal setting is not wrong. Organizations must have direction and order. The key is the source of those plans. Spiritual leaders seek God’s guidance in discerning God’s purposes for their organization. Then they mobilize their organizations to effectively accomplish what God assigns.”
One final thought from the Blackabys: “God has the vision of what He wants to do. God does not ask leaders to dream big dreams for Him or to solve the problems confronting them with their own best thinking. He asks leaders to walk with Him so intimately that when He reveals His agenda they immediately adjust their lives and their organizations to His will and the results bring glory to God.”
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
There’s a scene in The Princess Bride that rings true for us. As the grandfather is reading the story to his sick grandson, he has just revealed that the hero in the story has died. The grandson stops his grandfather, “Wait, grandpa, you’re reading that wrong.” This young man wants what all of us want: For the good guys to be vindicated and for the bad guys to get what’s coming to them.
The next Royal Psalm assures us that our Judge will perfectly balance His scales of justice. King David (sort of) gives us a picture of this.
King David’s son Absalom had usurped the throne, and David is fleeing the city with his trusted inner circle. Along the way he is confronted by a man named Shimei, who was from the same family as King Saul (2 Samuel 16:5-12). David gives us a good foretaste of King Jesus in the way he initially responds to this attack (19:18b-23). Sadly, David apparently hung on to these slights and asked his son Solomon to keep an eye on Shimei (1 Kings 2:8-9). So I’m going to guess that our Royal Psalm was written between these two incidents.
Psalm 98 is a call to sing our praise to our King and Judge. First, we are to sing to Him and about Him because of what Hehas already done:
He has done marvelous things (v. 1)
He has provided salvation (v. 1)
He has made His salvation known (v. 2)
He has revealed His righteousness (v. 2)
He has remembered His love for us (v. 3)
He has remembered His faithfulness toward us (v. 3)
the earth has seen His salvation (v. 3)
Then we are called to keep on singing in anticipation of what He is going to do: we shout for joy and burst into jubilant song (v. 4), make music (vv. 5-6a), shout for joy (v. 6b), and see creation praising all around us (vv. 7-9a).
All of this singing because He comes to judge? Does that sound right?
It sounds right when judgment is in the hand of the Perfect Judge. The Bible describes judges who are looking for bribes, or who are swayed by personal feelings (like King David), or Jesus even identified a judge who didn’t fear God or care about people.
But God on His throne isn’t any of these things! Isaiah prophesies Christ’s first Advent as one of peace (Isaiah 42:1-4). Even when Jesus was maligned and mistreated even more hatefully—and without having done anything wrong—than David, He still didn’t retaliate (1 Peter 2:21-23).
Jesus entrusted Himself to Him Who judges justly, which is what Psalm 98 calls us to do.
He comes to judge [vindicate] the earth [creation], which has been groaning for this (Romans 8:21-22).
He will judge [acquit or declare guilty] the world and its peoples (Matthew 25:31-32; Revelation 20:12).
His judgement will be with righteousness and equity—
righteousness = the perfect standard
equity = the perfect consequence (see also Isaiah 42:10-13)
In light of the perfect judgment from the perfect King that is coming, how should we live today?
He will handle retribution then—so don’t retaliate today (Isaiah 11:1-5).
He will handle vindication then—so forgive today (1 Peter 2:23; Luke 23:34).
He will call you to give an account then—so change your words and actions today (Matthew 12:36).
He will forgive blood-washed saints then—so forgive today (Matthew 6:14-15).
He will judge perfectly then—so don’t be judgmental today (James 5:9; Romans 2:1-3).
He will reward perfectly then—so don’t look for applause from the world today (2 Timothy 4:7-8; Matthew 25:34).
Our King has won our salvation, and He is going to balance the scales perfectly when He returns, so we should be singing His praise every day until His return!
The biblical historian Luke mentions the Roman Caesar Tiberius. “Tiberius is only named directly once in the Bible (Luke 3:1), where the fifteenth year of his reign is a chronological marker, signalling the beginning of the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus.” Although only named once, Tiberius’ influence is seen throughout the historical events recorded in the New Testament. Check out the archeological biography of this interesting Roman leader.
“Oh! what prophets and kings longed for, do not let us despise, and we shall despise these mercies if we do not make the most of them by entering into the fullness of the joy which they are meant to bring to us.” —Charles Spurgeon, commenting on 1 Peter 1:11
Conventional scientists, looking for a way to explain the origin of life, have proposed nanozymes which served as catalysts to speed up chemical processes. But as ICR notes, “What can be done in a laboratory is not always what happens outside of it. Laboratory tests depend on selected chemicals, planned procedures, and controlled conditions. Such experiments show what skilled researchers can make chemicals do, but they don’t indicate that an unguided environment built the first living cell. … Life displays ordered parts, stored instructions, and linked systems. These observable traits are consistent with the workmanship of a wise creator. As Scripture says, ‘O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all’ (Psalm 104:24).”
“Spiritual warfare against lust is enlistment for a lifetime career. … But do not be afraid because your enemies are mighty and many; your victory will be so much greater. And do not worry, either, when you see Caesars stripped of their insignias and forced to die in chains of lust. Remember, it is only the unbelieving world—without spiritual arms and abandoned by God—that is left to become the prey of satan.” —William Gurnall, The Christian In Complete Armor
“It is manly to be tender toward your wife. … A Christian husband should be intimately aware of his wife’s needs, her strengths and weaknesses, and her goals and desires. He should know as much about her as possible, in order to respond in the best way to her.” —Dr. Henry Halley
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Greg Heeres is my lifelong friend and co-host of The Craig and Greg Show leadership podcast. We have just released the first book in our series called Business by the Book. These books will help business leaders see how relevant the Bible is for the day-to-day wisdom they need to make impactful decisions for their organizations.
I write chapters one, three, and five with a biblical example of the book’s focal point, and then Greg writes a business application of those examples in chapters two, four, and six.
Our first book is about the CEO’s vital role of vision-casting.
We wanted to give you a taste of what these books are all about, so here is the first chapter in this book entitled “Eyes on the Prize”—
Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained. (Proverbs 29:18)
It All Starts with You
It all starts with you as the leader of your organization. If you have a clear vision in mind for both your personal life as well as for your organization, your people will join you on this journey, no matter how long or difficult it may seem.
On the other hand, the number one cause of both personal and corporate failure is drifting away from the vision that brought success.
God gives vision. He doesn’t give a vision to a leader so that a leader can have a better life, but so that leader can help people get to a better place. Vision is always through the leader to the people. Solomon said, “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained” (Proverbs 29:18).
Another translation of this verse carries even more weight, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
Eye Discipline
In almost every sport that involves a ball, the tried-and-true maxim is, “The ball goes where your eyes go.”
Greg and I first met on a basketball court. There were a group of guys that got together to play basketball every day at lunchtime. Because Greg and I were about the same height, we were almost always placed on opposite teams and I had the unenviable assignment of guarding this exceptional athlete.
One of the things I noticed right away about Greg’s game was how good he was “in traffic.” He could exploit a small gap between defenders and dribble the ball through that opening to give himself a good look at the hoop. That good look usually meant success in scoring.
I did my best to match Greg shot for shot, but I usually came out on the losing side of these match-ups. There is something about competition that causes me to focus on my task—both in business and on the basketball court. So as I guarded Greg, I studied what made him so successful. Eventually I spotted one of the main differences between us: It was his eyes.
As Greg drove through traffic, he kept his eyes on the basketball rim, so when he was ready to shoot, the ball went where his eyes already were. I noticed about myself that when I tried to navigate through all the bodies on the court, my eyes went down to the basketball, and only when I thought I was in the clear did I move my eyes to the rim.
The more consistently you keep your eyes on your vision, the better your likelihood of making it real. Your life and your organization are going to go where your eyes are fixed. You must have a clear vision for your own life, a vision that is lived out with integrity through good days and bad days, to earn the right to lead people.
Nehemiah the Vision-caster
The nation of Israel was being allowed to return to their homeland after 70 years in exile. The capital city Jerusalem was in a shambles—the walls had been knocked down, the gates were burned, and their temple of worship had been demolished.
When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he made a careful inspection of the situation. He undertook his first assessment by himself at night; he didn’t share his findings with the people right away.
Nehemiah was a man of personal integrity. Throughout the historical account of his leadership, we see him handling his position of authority, the funds entrusted to him for the rebuilding project, his own personal finances, and even the “competitors” that wanted the Israelites to fail, with godly wisdom and impeccable character.
With his personal life in order, Nehemiah then approached the people of Israel. In his journal, recorded for us in the Book of Nehemiah in the Bible, he wrote—
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. (Nehemiah 2:17-18)
Because Nehemiah went first, the people readily accepted his vision of a rebuilt city: “So they said, ‘Let us rise up and build.’ Then they set their hands to this good work” (Nehemiah 2:18).
A mark of a godly leader is one who can inspire all sorts of people to pursue the same vision. Nehemiah did such a good job casting the vision God had given him that people from all professions and persuasions joined in.
Although the vision was to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem, most of those who joined Nehemiah in pursuing this vision were anything but builders. They were priests, goldsmiths, perfume makers, and merchants. They were young and old, men and women, native-born Israelites and God-fearing foreigners, those who lived in the city and those who lived in the countryside (see Nehemiah 3). With one voice they cried out, “Let’s rise up and build!” and they got down to business.
All these different people bought into one godly leader’s vision.
What’s Your Vision?
Do you have a clear vision for your own life? What about for your organization? You need to have your eyes on a prize that will stand the test of time and will have lasting—even eternal—significance.
If you cannot readily identify a compelling vision for either yourself or your organization, I would like to suggest three places you could start. You could say, “My/our vision is . . .
(1) . . . to do good. Peter summed up the entirety of Jesus’s public ministry by saying, “Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38 NLT).
(2) . . . to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. This is an exact quotation of the vision statement God gave through the prophet Micah (Micah 6:8 NLT).
(3) . . . to bring life where there is death and to set captive people free. This was what Jesus stated as His personal vision for His public ministry (Luke 4:18-19).
Find your personal vision and keep your eyes on the prize. This will give you moral authority for the vision you will share with your team. Your vision as the leader is the key to unlocking your organization’s success.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
Although no one can truly verify the accuracy of this story, it seems to fit the character of what we do know about Alexander the Great. This powerful leader was walk-in among the camp during the night and came upon a soldier who was supposed to be on guard duty. Except Alexander found him dozing off.
“Soldier, what is your name?” he demanded, bringing the sleeping soldier quickly awake.
“Alexander,” he stammered weakly.
Alexander stepped closer to the young man and repeated, “What is your name?”
“My name is Alexander, sir,” the soldier said a little more clearly this time.
Now, almost nose to nose, Alexander asked again, “What is your name?”
This time the soldier quietly said, “My name, sir, is Alexander.”
Alexander the Great then looked intently at the young soldier, “Either change your name or change your conduct.”
That story may or may not be true, but Brennan Manning’s words are most assuredly true: “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” We must take an honest assessment of our lifestyle and then either change our name or change our conduct.
Our next Royal Psalm is Psalm 96. This psalm begins by echoing the words of praise the King David sang on the day the ark of the covenant of the Lord was brought to Jerusalem (see 1 Chronicles 16:23-29). This day may have been the pinnacle of this great king’s reign. Immediately after celebrating the return of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, God makes the promise to King David that his family will continue to reign until the coming of King Jesus (1 Chronicles 17).
Although this is a celebratory day for Israel—God’s chosen people—David’s psalm of thanks reverberates into all the world. It is David’s desire that not just the Jewish people, but all people know King Jesus as their Lord.
In our last Royal Psalm, we saw an invitation give to us three times to come into the presence of the King of kings (Psalm 95:1, 2, 6). But we are not to stay in the tabernacle with Him—Luke 9:28-33; 10:1. David uses words like: all the earth, the nations, all peoples, families of nations, the world (vv. 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 13).
In the middle of Psalm 96 is our proclamation to the world. We have the word ascribe (vv. 7-8) three times and an invitation in the word come. Ascribe means, “Come! Come on! Come see His glory and strength!” Then just as we have seen His glory and strength for ourselves, we invite the world to bring an offering and come into His courts.
T.M. Moore wrote, “People in the unbelieving world have witnessed a good bit of hypocrisy, shallowness, disingenuousness, dishonesty, and corruption among the members of the Church. Many of them have installed a spam filter on their brains which automatically blocks anyone calling himself a Christian as having anything meaningful or significant to say.”
So these action words in Psalm 96 are our words backed up or supported by our lifestyle.
Sing (3x) in vv. 1-2. Songs naturally come from our lips because of what is in our minds and hearts. Make sure you are singing to the LORD a new song of His moment by moment goodness to you.
Praise His name (v. 2) is better translated as bless (see NKJV, AMPC, Strong’s). Bless means to not only celebrate our King, but then to bless other people in the name of the Lord. In the New Testament Greek, bless means to say good words—say good words to people about your good King.
Proclaim His salvation (v. 2). …You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9 NLT)
Declare His glory…His marvelous deeds (vv. 3-6). Recount God’s miracles to you again and again.
Worship the LORD (v. 9). The Old English spelling was worth-ship—find ways to tell people how invaluable our King’s blessings are.
Say… “The LORD reigns” (v. 10). Do your words and attitude express that God is on His throne?
C.S. Lewis wrote, “Fine feelings, new insights, greater interest in ‘religion’ mean nothing unless they make our actual behavior better; just as in an illness ‘feeling better’ is not much good if the thermometer shows that your temperature is still going up. In that sense the outer world is quite right to judge Christianity by its results. Christ told us to judge by results. A tree is known by its fruit; or, as we say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making Christianity unbelievable to the outside world. … Our careless lives set the outer world talking; and we give them grounds for talking in a way that throws doubt on the truth of Christianity itself.”
Jesus called us to this (Matthew 5:16). Let’s be sure our words and lifestyle are an invitation to our King that no one can ignore.
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Think about this: How do your favorite books end? How about the ending of your favorite movies?
I love listening to old-time radio shows, and I can quote the endings because they are all identical.
In the Bible, how do the epistles end? Most end with the author passing along his greetings, speaking a doxology like, “The Lord be with you,” or even a simple “Amen.”
Now listen to the last two verses of the Book of James: My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back,remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins (5:19-20).
James is a general epistle—not written to a particular congregation—so it was intended to be read to saints everywhere. The same is true for the Gospels:
Matthew: Jesus commissions His followers to go into all the world and preach the Gospel and then He promises, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Mark: “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere” (Mark 16:20).
Luke-Acts: “And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God” (Luke 24:53); they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and more saints went out preaching (Acts 2); Paul “proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!” (Acts 28:31).
John: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25). The implication, I believe, is that we are to do this as well—“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).
So James writes instructions to the saints in this same posture of an ongoing work. He writes his epistle as a cycle—
He ends with”brothers and sisters” (Greek: adelphos in 5:19-20), and starts with adelphos (1:2),
He ends with a call to prayer (5:13-15), and opens with a call to prayer (1:5-7).
He ends with a call to patience in trouble (5:7-11), and he begins teaching saints about trials (1:2-4).
He ends with encouragement of how maturing saints can triumph over difficult situations (5:16), and he opens with the word of encouragement that our difficult situations serve to mature us (1:12).
In between these bookends is fabulous counsel for daily living: Dealing with temptation, learning from the Word, watching our words, letting our day deeds reflect our faith, growing in wisdom, and seizing each day for God’s glory.
There is no finish line for me while God still has me on earth. If I’m still here, He’s still working on me so that He can work through me. We start our Christian journey justified—a one-time event where we’ve been made just as if we had never sinned. We end out journey when we are glorified—a one-time event when we arrive in Heaven. But along the journey we are being sanctified—an going process (that I like to call saint-ification) the whole time we’re on earth.
Throughout this sanctification process, we are continually growing. See Psalm 92:12-14—
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon, planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.
If you’re still breathing, you should still be…
…maturing through trials
…bearing increasingly more fruit
…useful for the Kingdom
…invaluable to the Body of Christ
So take a deep breath.
If you’re still breathing, God still has a plan for you. Don’t worry about the finish line (God will take care of that), but keep learning, growing, and serving all the way to the end.
When the angelic messengers bring the news of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, they announce—
Only Jesus holds the keys of death and Hell (Revelation 1:18).
Craig T. Owens 
Links & Quotes
August 1, 2026 — Craig T. OwensI have a lot of new video content on my YouTube channel every week. Please check it out and subscribe so you don’t miss anything.
The biblical historian Luke mentions the Roman Caesar Tiberius. “Tiberius is only named directly once in the Bible (Luke 3:1), where the fifteenth year of his reign is a chronological marker, signalling the beginning of the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus.” Although only named once, Tiberius’ influence is seen throughout the historical events recorded in the New Testament. Check out the archeological biography of this interesting Roman leader.
“Oh! what prophets and kings longed for, do not let us despise, and we shall despise these mercies if we do not make the most of them by entering into the fullness of the joy which they are meant to bring to us.” —Charles Spurgeon, commenting on 1 Peter 1:11
Conventional scientists, looking for a way to explain the origin of life, have proposed nanozymes which served as catalysts to speed up chemical processes. But as ICR notes, “What can be done in a laboratory is not always what happens outside of it. Laboratory tests depend on selected chemicals, planned procedures, and controlled conditions. Such experiments show what skilled researchers can make chemicals do, but they don’t indicate that an unguided environment built the first living cell. … Life displays ordered parts, stored instructions, and linked systems. These observable traits are consistent with the workmanship of a wise creator. As Scripture says, ‘O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all’ (Psalm 104:24).”
“Spiritual warfare against lust is enlistment for a lifetime career. … But do not be afraid because your enemies are mighty and many; your victory will be so much greater. And do not worry, either, when you see Caesars stripped of their insignias and forced to die in chains of lust. Remember, it is only the unbelieving world—without spiritual arms and abandoned by God—that is left to become the prey of satan.” —William Gurnall, The Christian In Complete Armor
“It is manly to be tender toward your wife. … A Christian husband should be intimately aware of his wife’s needs, her strengths and weaknesses, and her goals and desires. He should know as much about her as possible, in order to respond in the best way to her.” —Dr. Henry Halley
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