Lori and I recently were informed that a home where we once lived was for sale and so we went on line to take a look at how things had changed. I almost did not recognize the place even looking at it from the street, and we lived there for seven years. The tree in the front yard is fully mature. The shrubs were grown and manicured. And when you looked at the pictures of the inside, well there seemed to be a complete transformation.

I know that I have remained basically the same over the years. I still approach things the same way, but as I have grown in my faith, adult life, and career, there are some noticeable differences. I spend time studying God’s Word each day. I have made it a priority to continue to learn and grow my knowledge and capability. I have become more assertive.

Things change, and whereas I have grown and changed in an effort to be more like Christ, He has not changed.

“⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8 (ESV)

What a wonderful thing that I can look to the unchanging guide for my journey. I do not have to worry if I will recognize things when I look for them. I do not have to be concerned with what version of Jesus I will come in contact this time. My focus can remain in the growth and learning phase and understanding, not deciphering the mood or temperament of my Lord and Savior.

Jesus wants only the best for me and the way He demonstrates that is through His consistent, genuine, steadfast love each day. And today is no different. Wherever I am, whatever my need, Jesus loves me just the same as he did 5 minutes ago, 5 days ago, 5 years ago, 5 minutes from now, 5 days from now, or 5 years from now. “Jesus is the same”.

For you, do you find yourself looking for guidance from something or someone that has/will change? Are you aware of the consistent, genuine, steadfast love that Jesus has for you each day? Jesus is the same today, will you look to Him for guidance?

I have to remember to take advantage of today.

“¹²Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ¹³But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” – Hebrews 3:12-13 (ESV)

I have seen on a number of occasions in places of business the offering of “free” something “tomorrow”. And at first I bought into the phrase and got excited about the prospect of something free, all I had to do was be back tomorrow. And then it hit me that tomorrow never gets here and I would simply toil in perpetuity as I tried to get to tomorrow.

The writer of Hebrews explains that it is the duty of the Christian to care for and lift up fellow Christians today. I cannot wait until tomorrow or later, it is my responsibility today. And the writer takes it even further by saying “every day, as long as it is called ‘today’”, reminding that I have a responsibility every day, not just on the days when I “feel” like it.

When learning or preparing for something, there is a great amount of work that goes into getting ready. Once you have arrived, you can relax for a moment, but then it is back to work so that you can stay there and maintain. You may have heard it said, “getting to the top is the easy part, staying there takes work”. Becoming a Christian is the easy part, all you have to do is accept with your heart the gift of salvation that Jesus freely gives. But, that is just the beginning, as we grow in our faith there is more work to do and that work is done every day. Not Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but every day and every day begins and is focused on today.

I sit here each day and study God’s Word and work to apply His Word to my daily life. Am I fully seizing the day for Christ or am I simply going through the motions? Is every day today for me?

What about you, are you looking to do God’s will each and every day? Are you looking to continue growing your faith each day? Is every day today for you?

I am sure that the song and/or phrase, “This is the day” is one that most of us have heard before. Well this morning I read the passage in Luke 23 titled, “The Crucifixion”. This is Luke’s account of the crucifixion of Jesus. Reading this passage is not really much new. I have read before and know the story, but verses 39-43 were of specific attention this morning.

The verses describe the salvation acceptance of the one criminal crucified next to Jesus. This man was being put to death and found this opportunity to accept Christ as his personal savior through his faith.

“⁴²And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ ⁴³And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’” – Luke 23:42-43 (ESV)

See the ask from the criminal. He took the opportunity to ask and Jesus gave freely to him.

I teach sales and customer service on a very regular occasion and one of the concepts is that of asking. I teach that if you do not ask, you have no opportunity to get. There is a quote by an athlete, (some attribute to Wayne Gretzky and others to Michael Jordan) that you miss 100% of the shots you do not take. This criminal took his shot and asked Christ for salvation.

Jesus GAVE that salvation to the man as he had demonstrated true faith. The man knew that he was a criminal and did not ask to be saved from the death that he was about to experience. He only asked for Jesus to save his soul.

This criminal asked for salvation as he was dying and Jesus freely gave it to him. “This is the day” that was meant for the man to be saved. It was not too late for him and what a testament for me and you. It is not too late for each of us. We still have time, but just as with the criminal that day, our time is running out.

Are you running out of time? Are you willing to ask for the salvation that is freely given by God? Will today be the day?

“⁷I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’” – Psalm 2:7 (ESV)

I admit that reading this verse and passage was a bit confusing until I took the time to study and be reminded by the commentary. “You are my Son” was spoken by God, to the people.

Remembering that the Psalms are “songs and prayers offered to God by the nation of Israel” (The Psalms Introduction, ESV), helps to put things in perspective. When the verse says, “The Lord said to me”, the “me” is the people and not really any one person. As noted above, “You” is referring to the people and therefore the one spoken to would be the people as well.

Begotten: “brought into existence by or as if by a parent” – Merriam-Webster Online

See the definition above of the word “begotten”. As of God I have been “brought into existence” as a son of God. I have been made heir as a child of God. And all of this happened as of “today”, when I accepted Christ as my Savior.

Only God can make me His and with my acceptance of the gift of salvation He has granted me kinship as His child. Today I am a son of God.

Are you able to say that you are a son of God? Will you look deeper into what that means? Will you accept the gift of salvation and become a son of God today?

“¹⁴Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. ¹⁵And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. ¹⁷You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. ¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” – 2 Peter 3:14-18 (ESV)

I know that is a pretty long passage this morning. As I complete my study of the word “understand”, these verses is where I was brought. The specific verse was 16, although after reading through the entire passage I wanted to be sure and capture it all.

I believe, as you notice in my writing, in the idea of understanding and knowledge as opposed to information and repeating. I also believe in the spirit of the words and caution to live by the exact phrasing. In order to “understand” there is more to simply reading the words.

As I review the entire passage, I see the word “diligent” in verse 14 and “grow” in verse 18. Those words indicate more study is necessary as opposed to just glancing over. I take it all in from the beginning to the end and work to make sense of the passage and how it coincides with what I am reading.

Verse 17 is the verse that really brings things home for me and my approach to learning and growing. I know that things are going to be hard to understand and with that in mind, it is my duty to spend more time with them and be patient with my learning. I have to be “diligent” in gathering information and “grow” in that knowledge so that I may “understand” and gain perspective and wisdom in that subject.

As it comes to God’s Word, I have duty to dive in and grow diligently in my understanding and use that knowledge to avoid the pitfalls that come with cursory information. I will be taking what I know and applying that to the path I have been directed to take from God.

Are you looking to diligently grow in understanding? What is your approach with information that you receive? Will you use that understanding in your daily walk with God?

The title of the passage I read this morning is “By Faith” in my ESV Bible. And why not, that phrase is state 18 times to start a verse. My study for the past 2 weeks has been on the word understand and verse 3 is where I was led this morning.

“³By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” – Hebrews 11:3 (ESV)

I believe, as I have stated a number of times, that understanding should be a focus during interactions. Sometimes that understanding is not of logic but of something else. I believe that God created the heavens and earth. And I believe that He did so by speaking them into existence. Now, can science deduce the reactions and the physical way that all of it happened, yes, to a degree. I believe that God spoke and things happened.

Is this logical, no, not from an earthly sense. But when God is involved the earthly sense is not what matters. I am only here for a short while to take care of some business for God and therefore my final destination is heaven as I will leave this earth behind. When I look at heaven, I believe, “by faith” that I have a place and that it is beautiful and everything is wonderful and great.

There are those in the world that will argue the science of things and that we have no “proof” of heaven and how can one believe and understand without that “proof”. To that I say, the Word of God is all the “proof” I need.

I believe through study and that study leads to understanding and that understanding confirms my faith and therefore by faith I understand.

Are you able to understand? Will you study to believe and allow that belief to confirm your faith? Will you understand by your faith?

This is such an easy thing to say.

“¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” – Ephesians 5:17 (ESV)

Paul writes to the Ephesians and tells them the same. But did he?

The passage where this verse comes from is titled in my ESV Bible as “Walk in Love”. The word “therefore” is what is next for us. Paul explains to the Ephesians of what it looks like to walk in love in the verses leading up to verse 17. This is his instruction to them.

To understand does not mean that everything will be rosy as a result. There is a better chance that things may not go as I want them to go. My task is simply to know and understand and work toward that which God has in store, even if I do not know what that is completely. God has a plan for me.

I have to apply what He is teaching me each day as I work toward the end of that plan. His guidelines are there for me in His word and I am to seek that guidance and follow along. I am to continue seeking out the plan He has for me knowing that what I want may not be what He wants for me at all. I am that which He uses to accomplish that plan. I have to study to know the plan, all the while knowing that I may not know the extent of the contribution I am making and that I may simply be the one seemingly insignificant ingredient that completes the greater plan.

I am tasked with understanding “God’s general guidelines for life as found in the Bible” (ESV Commentary Ephesians 5:17). I am tasked with doing according to those guidelines and allowing God to work in my life to complete the plan that He has in store.

What are you working to accomplish? Are you trying to complete everything on your own? Are you simply able to understand the guidelines and do according to those guidelines to accomplish the work of God?

I have a friend who told me of the first time she was able to understand the Bible. She had picked up the Bible on a number of occasions and as she put it, the words looked like they were in another language. Until, she accepted Christ as her personal savior. When she did, the words seemed to change to English and she was able to read and understand.

“¹²Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by Bod. ¹³And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. ¹⁴The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” – 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 (ESV)

To me, my friend experienced a miracle of the faith, although when reading here, it was no miracle at all. She simply became of the Spirit through her salvation and was then able to understand the Word of God.

I believe that too often we are looking for the grand explanation for things occurring when the simple explanation is really what happened. In this case, my friend understood because she became a child of God, not some great miracle of sudden ability. She was tuned into God and God tuned her into His Word.

There is a reason that those on the outside are not able to understand. They are not supposed to understand all that is presented by the Spirit. They need to commit themselves to Christ and then they will be able to understand that which is of God. The simple reason that those around me are not able to understand that which comes from God is that they are not True Christians and therefore are not able to understand.

Where are you with regard to your following of Christ? Are you following Him only and leaving the world outside? What if you committed fully to Christ, would you then understand?

I continue to sin even though I know the difference.

“¹⁵For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate.” – Romans 7:15 (ESV)

Why do I continue to do that which I know is wrong? Why do I continue to sin when I know the difference between right and wrong?

Well, here is what I know. I have not allowed God to take over. I still insist that I am in control. I am deceived into thinking that “I” have the power to resist.

The truth is that I am not strong enough to resist even the slightest of temptations. I am weak and as a human continuously looking to satisfy my human desires. I am looking to the now to satisfy everything. “I do not understand my own actions” as my own.

“¹⁶Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. ¹⁷So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” – Romans 7:16-17 (ESV)

I am not the one that is taking the actions, it is the sin inside me. I have to weed out the sin continuously. It is not something that I can do on a Sunday morning, and think that I am good for the next month. I have to tend to my heart each day all day.

I think of the flower bed at my house today and compare it to that of the retired neighbor down the street. My flower bed it seems is always over run with grass and I have to take a few hours every other week to tend to it getting it back in order. But my retired neighbor is able to spend his Saturday’s in enjoyment because he tends to the bed for 15 minutes a day every day and therefore the bed is healthier and cleaner all the time.

I have to be willing to put in the work each day to avoid being overrun by weeds of sin in my life. Taking the time each day to study and understand God’s word will be just what I need to help me ward off the sin that creeps in each day.

Are you aware that it is the sin in you that drives your actions? Are you able to put in the work weed out the sin daily? Will you work to understand and tend your heart?

I read and I read and yet sometimes understanding what I am reading escapes me.

“³⁰So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ ³¹And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.” – Acts 8:30-31 (ESV)

I am not the only one. This Ethiopian eunuch was reading the scriptures and yet he was not understanding. Whether it was that he did not understand the language the idea that he was reading and not understanding was of importance.

Whereas the example of Philip going to help is certainly something to be modeled after, I want to specifically look at the model of the eunuch. This man listened to the question from Philip and honestly responded as opposed to pretending just to get away. He openly admitted his deficiency and “invited Philip to come up and sit with him”.

What an example of wanting to learn and understand. Although it may have taken some time, He likely could have learned on his own. Knowing that Philip would likely be one to speed his learning, he was open to asking for help. And for his openness, he learned, understood, and was baptized.

I wonder how open to asking for help from a complete stranger that walked up to my car I would be. Am I willing to demonstrate my vulnerabilities to the point of seeking guidance from another I do not know or know their intentions?

The lesson here for me is that we all need guidance no matter my station in life. That guidance can come from the most unlikely of places, like a man on the street. I have to take charge of my learning and be open to accepting guidance wherever it may come from.

What about you and your learning, are you taking charge of it? Are you willing to be vulnerable with what you don’t know? Will you seek guidance to understand?