Month: January 2026

 

Joshua 24:15  And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Genesis 18:19    For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

Psalms 101:2    I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;

Psalms 119:106    I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.

Psalms 119:111-112   Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.  I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.

John 6:68  Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,

Acts 11:23   When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose,

 

A.W. Tozer, On the stark reality of spiritual decision-making. His words in “If We Would, We May” emphasize the personal responsibility each individual bears when confronted with Christ’s invitation to follow Him. Tozer’s reflection is not merely theological; it is deeply practical, exploring the consequences of human choice and the uncompromising nature of Christ’s call.

The Invitation and the Divide

Tozer begins by referencing Christ’s invitation: “If any man will… let him follow me.” This invitation is universal, extended to all, but not universally accepted. Tozer observes that some respond and follow, while others ignore the call. This act of decision creates a profound gulf between people—those who choose to follow and those who do not. The separation is subtle and often unnoticed, unfolding in the quiet moments of personal reflection and response.

Silent Separation

The process of separation is, as Tozer describes, “silently, terribly” ongoing. It is not marked by dramatic signs or supernatural events, but by the quiet workings of the human heart as each person decides whether to heed the invitation. This work is sometimes unknown even to the individual, highlighting the mysterious nature of spiritual discernment and choice.

The Evidence and Decision

Tozer insists that each hearer must decide for themselves, basing their decision on the evidence provided by the message of Christ. There will be no overt signs, no thunderous confirmations from heaven. Instead, Christ Himself—the marks in His hands and feet—serves as the proof of His identity and authority. The responsibility, therefore, rests on the individual to accept or reject based on this evidence.

No Compromise, No Coercion

A central theme is Christ’s uncompromising stance. He does not force anyone to follow, nor does He alter the conditions to make them easier. The terms are set, and men must either accept or reject them. Tozer notes that thousands turn away because they are unwilling to meet Christ’s conditions, yet Christ watches them leave with love, refusing to make concessions that would undermine the integrity of His Holy Kingdom.

Lord or Judge

The final choice Tozer presents is stark: Christ will be Lord now or Judge then. Every individual must decide whether to accept Him as Lord in this life or face Him as Judge in the next. This dichotomy underscores the gravity of the decision and the eternal consequences it carries.

Conclusion

A.W. Tozer’s meditation challenges readers to confront the reality of Christ’s invitation and the personal responsibility to respond. His words remind us that the process of spiritual decision is deeply personal, uncompromising, and ultimately eternally decisive. The silence with which this separation occurs belies its significance, and the choice each person makes echoes into eternity.

 

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. –Matthew 10:28

If you’re a follower of Christ, then at some point you’re going to face severe challenges and questions about your faith. Jesus predicted this in Luke 21:12–13: “They will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.”

Even if you never have to answer for your faith in court, you’re going to be in the hot seat at school, in the workplace, in your social circle, or in your own family. How should you respond? In Luke 20, Jesus gave us a great model for how to act when we’re in the hot seat.

First of all, be mindful. Consider the people around you–not just the people you’re interacting with but also the bystanders who may be listening to your exchange. That’s what Jesus did. He directed His answers beyond the questioners to the audience as a whole. People ask me, “Why do you go on TV and debate people who don’t agree with you? Do you really think you’re going to convince them?” No, but I know there are people watching who need to hear a godly message.

Second, be biblical. In His answers to His interrogators in Luke 20, Jesus quoted the Old Testament. The foundation of His argument was always the Bible. Does that mean we should only quote Bible verses when people question us about our faith? No, but God’s Word has the ability to pierce people’s hearts more than our own words.

Finally, be courageous. Jesus knew that in just a few days, His questioners would come back and crucify Him. Nevertheless, He did not flinch in fear. Why? Jesus believed that God would rescue Him from the grave. Do you realize there is nobody in this world who can do anything of lasting consequence to you? That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The only being in this universe who has power over your eternal soul is God. That knowledge is the best tool for keeping your cool when you’re in the hot seat. (Jeffress)

 

Exhort consistently.
Friendship is not threatened by honest criticism. It is strengthened. — Charles Swindoll
People often think that exhortation and encouragement are synonymous. That is partially true. Exhortation is encouragement but it is so much more. In the original Greek language, the word for exhort in Hebrews 3:13 is parakaleō. It means to admonish, advise, warn, challenge, teach, console, and yes, encourage.
On any given day, there is a part of exhortation that is easier for us — teaching, consoling, and encouraging. But the harder part of exhortation is where we admonish, advise, warn, or challenge someone. What makes this difficult is that people don’t always want to hear what we have to say. Even the people in our community.
Let’s discuss both aspects of exhortation:
Admonish and challenge appropriately.
We are never short on people’s advice at any time. Everyone has their own opinions about almost everything. And that is basically what it means to admonish someone— to offer them advice or a warning. But admonishing or challenging someone with the “wisdom of the world” is not good enough. We must be grounded in what our God says in order to offer the life-giving wisdom from His Word. If we care about the people in our close-knit community, we must be willing to offer our thoughts and advice to them, even if our words are unpopular. And we must also want the same done in return. Just like we need to offer godly counsel, we also need to receive it as well.
Encourage and teach continually.
This world we live in is full of challenges and struggles. It is so difficult to keep a positive outlook when much around us is negative. When we encourage someone, we are instilling courage in them. It’s as if we are giving them some of our courage when we do this. We all need this—even the people who are really good at encouraging others. So, let’s speak life and godly wisdom into someone’s character, circumstances, and trials. According to Hebrews 3:13, if we don’t encourage others, we will become deceived by sin. If we don’t receive the encouragement we need, our spirits will be spiritually malnourished.
Let’s not be afraid to be distributors and recipients of exhortation from the people in our community. It will make us better versions of ourselves for God’s glory as well as deepen our earthly friendships.

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. Albert Schweitzer

 

Amos 9:9  “For behold, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth.

The sifting process is going on still. Wherever we go, we are still being winnowed and sifted. In all countries God’s people are being tried “like as corn is sifted in a sieve.” Sometimes the devil holds the sieve and tosses us up and down at a great rate, with the earnest desire to get rid of us forever. Unbelief is not slow to agitate our heart and mind with its restless fears. The world lends a willing hand at the same process and shakes us to the right and to the left with great vigor. Worst of all, the church, so largely apostate as it is, comes in to give a more furious force to the sifting process.

Well, well! Let it go on. Thus is the chaff severed from the wheat. Thus is the wheat delivered from dust and chaff. And how great is the mercy which comes to us in the text, “Yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth”! All shall be preserved that is good, true, gracious. Not one of the least of believers lose anything worth calling a loss. We shall be so kept in the sifting that it shall be a real gain to us through Christ Jesus.

 

 

Philippians 4:6–7,   Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Don’t be anxious about anything. Rejoice in the Lord always. This God not only holds out peace in every uncertain circumstance, but with that peace, he holds out joy — an always joy. Can you bear to believe that? Do you believe that the God of infinite strength and worth is able not only to still the raging storms in your mind but also to place a blazing lantern of joy in the darkness of your boat? Do you believe that the God who daily caters for 120 million cardinals and tailors the brilliant petals of billions of tulips might be able to find and satisfy you in this valley?

“One way God proves his glory in the universe is by holding and satisfying his people through terrible uncertainties.”

You probably know someone who has survived horrible uncertainty with surprising joy. Who’s been one of those joy-in-anxiety miracles in your life? When you think of him or her, you likely don’t see the bright, lighthearted face we often picture when we think of joy. No, joy in the valley of uncertainty is often a heavier, more serious kind of gladness. It’s not the joy of a five-year-old learning to ride a bike (I love that joy too). It’s more, I imagine, like the joy of a soldier finally getting the upper hand in a fierce battle, with his closest friends at his shoulder.

There’s a joy buried in every season of uncertainty, even on battlefields. That’s why Paul can say, “Rejoice in the Lord always” — and then repeat himself: “again I will say, rejoice.”

So, is joy possible in anxiety? Is your anxiety beyond the scope of God’s “always”? One way God proves his glory in the universe is by holding and satisfying his people through terrible uncertainties. And there’s no uncertainty too great for him — not even yours.

We need to remember that Paul wrote these verses from the shadows of prison — and he knew he might not make it out this time (Philippians 1:20). His worry was death. When he wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything” and “Rejoice always,” he wasn’t printing pithy Christianese slogans from a place of comfort and security. If any of us has reasons to be anxious, he had more.

And yet right there — in the injustice of prison, in the hostility of persecution, at the very doorstep of death — he could rejoice because he always had more reasons to rejoice than he had to worry. He could say, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).

If he could rejoice even then, can’t you rejoice even now? (Segal)

 Philippians 4:6–7,   Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:25-33      “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 10:19     When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.

Luke 10:41     But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,

1 Peter 5:7     casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Can a mere human like me really rejoice in God while battling anxiety? Or do I have to wait for the dust to settle on my circumstances before trying to uncover joy again?

When you lie in your bed at night, with all your hopes and hurts and unknowns, what worries wage war on your heart and rob you of joy? Could it be possible — truly, unexpectedly possible — to rejoice in God while battling the fears that sometimes plague you and me?

Not About Anything?

As I think back on the anxieties that have crept onto my pillow, even just over the last couple of years — health trouble, house trouble, work trouble, financial trouble, family trouble, and more — they’re not happy moments for me. They’re difficult moments, painful moments, can’t-this-just-be-over moments. I don’t associate them with rejoicing, at least not at first.

When I remember going to war with those worries, though, I think almost immediately of two verses that have been a sword and shield on my battlefield.

It’s a startling command and promise: Don’t be anxious about anything. Depend on God through prayer, and you’ll experience the peace of God in everything. That’s not exaggeration or naivete; that’s a God-wrought, God-breathed promise. Put your particular fear into the verse — “Do not be anxious about [blank]” — and it wouldn’t change what Paul said.

When the apostle says “anything,” he means anything. For those who know and love Christ, there is nothing in your health, your house, your life that God can’t cover with real heartfelt peace. But not only peace. (Segal)

Now, what else does the Holy Spirit do to help us all not drift into destruction? He mentions at least six things, and I’ll just mention them briefly. This is for our help. This is for our perseverance. This is for our rowing until we’re in heaven.

1. Looking to Christ

He tells us to rivet our attention on Jesus. Hebrews 3:1–2: “Consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful.” Or Hebrews 12:2: “[Look] to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” It’s no mistake that there are four Gospels in the New Testament — not one, four. Four different portraits of Jesus. Look. Look at him. Look at him every day. That’s why they’re there.

2. Inspired by Leaders

Be inspired by faithful, persevering Christian leaders. Hebrews 13:7: “Remember your leaders. . . . Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” This is true of living leaders, and it’s especially true of dead leaders whose biographies are so precious for stirring us up to press on. Oh, how significant biographies have been in my life to kindle my faith and hope when they have been languishing.

3. Exhorted by Others

Don’t fight alone. Don’t row your boat by yourself. Exhort others and seek to be exhorted. Hebrews 3:12–13: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away [that’s drifting] from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” What a clear word from God that the antidote to drifting is to hear brothers and sisters exhort us with the word of God — even daily, he says.

4. Strengthened by Discipline

Learn to interpret your afflictions as loving acts of discipline from your heavenly Father. They’re intended to help us persevere in faith and holiness. In Hebrews 12, after the writer explains that the Lord disciplines the one whom he loves, he says, “Therefore” — and that’s the key here: because of this discipline, “lift your drooping hands” (Hebrews 12:12). That is, put them back on the oars. Put them on the oars. In other words, because you know the good purposes of God in your afflictions, don’t lose heart and let your hands droop and fall from the oars and drift to destruction. Put your back into it. Row, row on, because God is for you even in your afflictions.

5. Meditating on Promises

Make good use of the promises of God and the hope of great reward. For example, Hebrews 13:5. How shall we not drift into the love of money? Answer: “Keep your life free from love of money . . . [because] he has said” — there’s the promise — “‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” It’s the power of God’s promise that keeps us rowing upstream against the deadly current of the love of money.

6. Depending Through Prayer

And finally, the book ends with a prayer, a prayer to God by the author, that God would work in and through all these other exhortations. Hebrews 13:20: “Now may the God of peace . . . equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us” — the rowing — “that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20–21).

So, we take all these biblical strategies for rowing against the current of culture and sin, and we saturate them with prayer every day. I suppose that alongside the prayer that God would hallow his name in my life, the prayer I have prayed most often is this: “Keep me. You have died for me. You have bought me. Hold on to me. Keep me. Don’t let me stop rowing.” And I hope you’ll join me in that lifelong prayer. (Piper)

Hebrews uses another image besides war — namely, rowing our boat against the current. Life is like rowing your boat upstream against the current of secular culture and our own sinful flesh. That’s what he means when he says, “Don’t drift. Don’t drift. If you stop rowing against your own sinful nature, you will drift toward the Niagara Falls of destruction.”

I can hear someone say, “No, no, no, no. The Holy Spirit is like an outboard motor on the back of the boat. You don’t need to fight and work as a Christian. Just turn on the motor.” Well, you can say that if you ignore a lot of biblical texts. I think it would be better to say that the Holy Spirit is the strength in our back and our arms to keep us rowing.

So, the first thing the writer tells us about this danger is to warn us that it’s real, that drifting toward destruction and shipwreck of your faith are real possibilities if you don’t heed what he has said. “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” That’s Hebrews 2:3.

 

Here’s how he puts the warning in the next chapter. He says, “We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” That’s Hebrews 3:14. That’s the opposite of drifting. Hold firm to your confidence to the end. Don’t drift away. So, in the book of Hebrews, (1) God tells us to pay close attention to the precious gospel, and (2) he warns us of the dangers of not paying attention. (Piper)

Hebrews 2:1  Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

 

The first thing I want to say to Haley, and all of us who have tasted the frightening seasons of spiritual dullness and fear of drifting into a kind of cold indifference, which would not only make us useless, but would ruin our souls — the first thing I want to say is this: Be thankful. Oh, be so thankful you are aware of what is happening.

That’s the first great discovery, which leads us back to the sweetness and authenticity of walking in fellowship with Jesus. And I say that because, when Paul tells us not to be anxious for anything, not to fear, he doesn’t just say, “Pray about your fears.” He says, “Pray about them with thanksgiving” (see Philippians 4:6). So, right in the middle of our impending darkness, we are to mingle our desperation with thanksgiving. That’s the first thing I would say. Be thankful, Haley, that you are not blind to what is happening.

Hebrews 2:1 says, “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” I have tried to remind myself and the church I served that life is war. At the end of his life, Paul said, “I have fought the good fight” all the way to the end (2 Timothy 4:7).

Life is war. And we used to say at Bethlehem, “You do not know what prayer is for until you know that life is war.” Prayer is not an intercom to ask the butler for another pillow in the den. Prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie to headquarters. “We need air cover right now, God, or we’re going to be swept away and overrun by the enemy of unbelief.” (Piper)

Hebrews 2:1   Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

 

God did not make us to float lazily along with the trends in pop media, like a jellyfish, drifting this way and that way with the currents of pop culture. No, he made us to be dolphins who cut against the currents of pop culture. And this jellyfish-and-dolphin metaphor comes up when we talk about cultural pressures like those of cussing and using crude language, or on the currents of lust. The Bible warns us against cultural drift into crude joking and lust.

Drifting???

The topic of this question from a 24-year-old young woman named Haley.

“Pastor John, thank you for the APJ podcast and all that it has given to me over the years. I’m writing because I want to understand Hebrews 2:1–3 better, specifically the warnings about the dangers of drifting away — not in outright rebellion, but in neglect, and the slow, imperceptible process of losing grip on the greatness of Christ. Lately, I feel this happening in my own heart. I’m not resisting Christ, but my affections for him feel duller, my prayers weaker, my longing for his presence fainter. It’s not that I’ve abandoned the truth, but I can sense the current of the world tugging at me. I don’t want to wake up one day and find myself far downstream, wondering how I got there. How does this drifting happen? And more importantly, how do I fight it? How can I rekindle the wonder of salvation and anchor myself more firmly in Christ before the pull becomes too strong?”