Easy to Believe, Not Always Easy to Live

 

One of the greatest misunderstandings for many believers is the idea that believing the gospel guarantees an easy life. It doesn't.

The gospel itself is wonderfully simple. The Apostle Paul declared it plainly:

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel... how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:1–4, KJV)

That is the heart of the gospel. Christ died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again the third day. Salvation is received by faith in His finished work—not by our works, our goodness, or our ability to keep religious rules.

Simple? Yes.

Shallow? Never.

Sometimes people confuse a simple gospel with an easy life. Those are not the same thing.

The disciples themselves struggled to understand many of the things Jesus taught. More than once, He told them He would suffer, die, and rise again. Yet after the resurrection John wrote:

"For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead." (John 20:9)

It wasn't because they had never heard the words. They had. They simply had not yet understood how all the Scriptures fit together. After the resurrection, Jesus opened the Scriptures and showed them that His suffering and His glory had been foretold all along.

That should encourage us.

If the men who walked with Jesus had questions, we shouldn't be discouraged when we have questions. The Christian life is one of continual learning as we grow in our understanding of God's Word.

But understanding the gospel and living the Christian life are two different things.

Believing the gospel doesn't mean our bodies will never hurt. It doesn't mean our loved ones will never become sick. It doesn't guarantee financial security or remove every trial.

Life still brings sorrow.

Life still brings pain.

Life still brings uncertainty.

The difference is that the believer no longer faces those things like in the past without hope or without God in the world, but now that Christ died for our sins and rose again, we know our sins are forgiven. We know death has been defeated. We know our future is secure in Him.

Just because I believe doesn't make life easier.

Jesus makes life livable.

When the burdens come, we know they are not the end of the story. We have a Savior who conquered the grave and a promise that what He began, He will complete.

The gospel is easy to believe because God has done the hard part. Christ finished the work at Calvary.

Living by faith is not always easy.

But because of Him, it is always worth it.

My Life Testimony by Vance Havner

 

What Wondrous Love Is This

 

When Leadership Fails: Lessons From Scripture About Authority and Trusting God

Throughout history, people have wrestled with a difficult question:

Why does God allow leaders to rise who seem unwise, unjust, or even evil?

The Bible does not ignore this question. In fact, Scripture records the failures of many leaders—not to excuse their actions, but to teach us important lessons.

At the same time, we must be careful. There is a difference between leadership that clearly violates God's Word and leadership that we simply disagree with or do not understand.

The Bible teaches us to examine carefully, respond wisely, and keep our trust in God.

God Records Failed Leadership as a Warning

The Bible does not hide the failures of its leaders.

King Saul began with promise but allowed pride and disobedience to take control.

King Ahab used his position to promote idolatry.

King Jehoiakim showed contempt for God's Word when he cut the scroll of Jeremiah and cast it into the fire.

These examples are not recorded because God approved of their actions. They are recorded because they reveal the consequences of rejecting God's authority.

Paul wrote:

"Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition..."
(1 Corinthians 10:11)

God allows us to see failure so that we can learn from it.

Respecting Authority Does Not Mean Approving Everything

The Bible gives us a balanced view of authority.

David respected King Saul as the Lord's anointed, even though Saul treated him unjustly. David refused to take revenge because he trusted God's timing.

Jeremiah respected King Zedekiah, even while delivering a message that the king did not want to hear.

The apostles respected governing authorities, yet they also declared:

"We ought to obey God rather than men."
(Acts 5:29)

Scripture teaches both respect and conviction.

We can honor a position without agreeing with every decision made by the person holding that position.

Not Every Disagreement Means a Leader Is Evil

This is an important lesson as well.

Sometimes people judged leaders by their own expectations rather than by God's Word.

Joseph's brothers thought they were getting rid of him, but God was preparing him to save many lives.

David was viewed as a threat by Saul, but God was preparing David to become king.

Daniel lived under foreign rulers, yet he remained faithful while serving in their government.

A difficult situation does not always mean God has lost control.

God Works Even Through Difficult Times

When we look at history, we often see only one small piece of the picture.

A person may see only confusion, disappointment, or failure.

But God sees the entire tapestry.

The Bible shows that God can use even difficult circumstances to teach, correct, strengthen, and accomplish His purposes.

This does not mean God approves of evil.

It means evil does not have the final word.

Where Should Our Trust Be?

A leader of the people will always be imperfect.

Some will make mistakes.

Some will act selfishly.

Some will misuse authority.

Others may simply make decisions we do not understand.

But God's character never changes.

The lesson of Scripture is not to place our ultimate hope in human leaders.

Our hope must remain in the One who rules above all earthly kingdoms.

"The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all."
(Psalm 103:19)

Leaders come and go.

Kingdoms rise and fall.

But the Psalmist cries out, "Forever O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven" Psalm 119:89.

Psalm 23: A Song Written by Experience and may be the best-known chapter in the Bible.

 

Psalm 23: A Song Written by Experience

"The LORD Is My Shepherd"

Few passages in Scripture are more familiar than Psalm 23. Many of us learned it as children, have heard it at funerals, or have turned to it during difficult times. But before it became one of the world's best-known psalms, it was the testimony of one man looking back over his life.

David did not write these words as a young shepherd boy watching sheep on the hills of Bethlehem. He wrote them as a man who had experienced both mountaintops and valleys. He had faced giants, fled from King Saul, hidden in caves, worn a crown, endured family heartbreak, and learned through every season that God never stopped caring for him.

When David wrote,

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want."

he wasn't speaking in theory. He was speaking from experience.

As a young shepherd, David understood what sheep were like. They were dependent, easily frightened, and unable to survive long without a shepherd's care. Every day he led them to pasture, found water, protected them from predators, and searched for those that wandered.

Years later, David realized he had been the sheep all along.

Looking back, he could see the hand of God guiding him when he did not understand where life was leading. As a young man, he could not have imagined standing before Goliath. He never planned on spending years running from Saul. He certainly did not expect the sorrow that followed his own failures. Yet through every chapter of his life, the Shepherd never abandoned him.

That first sentence is deeply personal.

David did not say, "The LORD is a shepherd."

He said, "The LORD is my shepherd."

Faith is not merely believing that God exists. It is trusting Him personally. David had learned that the God who created heaven and earth also cared about the details of one shepherd's life.

The same truth encourages believers today. Life rarely follows the path we expect. We face decisions, disappointments, victories, and losses. Often we only understand God's leading when we look back. Like a beautiful tapestry viewed from the front, we finally begin to see the design after years of seeing only tangled threads from underneath.

David's confidence was not in himself but in the One leading him.

"The LORD is my shepherd."

Everything else in Psalm 23 grows out of that one truth. Because the Shepherd is faithful, there is provision. Because the Shepherd is present, there is peace. Because the Shepherd never leaves His sheep, there is hope even in the darkest valley.

Before David speaks about green pastures, still waters, or the valley of the shadow of death, he begins with the foundation of it all:

The Good Shepherd Himself.

Preserved Through the Fire

 One of the things that has impressed me while reading the Old Testament chronologically is not simply the message of the prophets—it is the preservation of the Scriptures themselves.

Think about what Israel experienced.

The nation was invaded.

Jerusalem was burned.

The Temple was destroyed.

The king was carried away captive.

Thousands were deported to Babylon.

From a human perspective, this should have been the end.

History is full of civilizations whose writings disappeared with their kingdoms.

Yet Israel's Scriptures survived.

Jeremiah's prophecies were still available for Daniel to read in Babylon. Daniel writes:

"I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet..." (Daniel 9:2)

That simple statement speaks volumes.

The city was gone.

The Temple was gone.

But God's Word remained.

Years later, Ezra appears as "a ready scribe in the law of Moses." During the return from captivity, the people did not begin writing a new Bible. They returned with the Scriptures God had already given them.

That should encourage every believer.

Empires rose and fell.

Assyria disappeared.

Babylon fell.

Persia gave way to Greece.

Greece yielded to Rome.

But the Word of God continued from generation to generation.

Isaiah had already declared:

"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."

The preservation of Scripture is one of God's quiet miracles.

The Red Sea parted in a moment.

Fire fell from heaven in Elijah's day.

Christ rose from the dead on the third day.

Those miracles are dramatic and unforgettable.

But the preservation of God's Word happened quietly across centuries—through wars, captivity, exile, and restoration. Generation after generation copied, guarded, and treasured the Scriptures because God was faithfully accomplishing His purpose.

As I read chronologically, I find myself amazed that while kingdoms crumbled, God's Word did not.

Perhaps that is one of the greatest lessons of the Old Testament.

Nations come and go.

Leaders rise and fall.

Temples may be destroyed.

Cities may become ruins.

But God's Word endures.

The same God who preserved His Word through the fall of Jerusalem is still faithful today.

History changes.

God's Word does not.

 

God's Final Word Is Hope

One of the things I've noticed while reading through the prophets is that they seldom end where they begin.

They begin with sin.

They warn of judgment.

They call God's people to repentance.

But somewhere in the message, almost unexpectedly, hope appears.

Isaiah repeatedly declares God's judgment, yet he also reminds us:

"For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."

That phrase has caused me to stop and think. While it speaks of God's continuing dealings with Israel, it also reminds us that God was not finished with His people. He kept reaching out. He kept sending prophets. He kept calling them back.

Jeremiah follows a similar pattern.

In one chapter he pleads:

"Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths... and walk therein."

The people answer,

"We will not walk therein."

Then Jeremiah explains why. He contrasts lifeless idols with the living God who causes the vapor to rise, sends the rain, flashes the lightning, and brings forth the wind. The Creator is still calling His people to Himself.

The prophets never softened the consequences of sin. Judgment was real, and eventually Babylon came just as Jeremiah said it would.

Yet judgment was never God's final purpose.

Even Jeremiah, who watched Jerusalem fall, wrote of a coming restoration and a New Covenant for Israel in their Earthly Kingdom to come.

Then I thought about Paul's letters.

He follows much the same pattern.

Romans begins by exposing the guilt of the whole world.

Then comes the wonderful turning point:

"But now..."

Ephesians begins with mankind dead in trespasses and sins.

Then Paul writes:

"But God, who is rich in mercy..."

Again and again, Scripture refuses to leave us in despair.

God tells us the truth about our condition, but He also reveals His provision.

Perhaps that's one of the great themes of the Bible.

God's warnings are real.

His holiness is real.

His judgment is real.

But His mercy and Grace are also real.

His final purpose is being saved ( 1 Corinthians 1:18) from the second death (Revelation 21:8.)

As I read the prophets, I'm reminded that they are not simply books of doom. They are books of hope.

They teach us that God's warnings are acts of mercy, giving people opportunity to return before judgment falls.

And for believers today, our hope rests in the finished work of Christ.

The prophets looked ahead to God's faithfulness.

We look back to the cross and ahead to His promises still to come.

The darkness is real, but so is the dawn.

God's final word is hope. Hope in the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) a grace gift to us through our faith in the finished work of Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:8.)