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Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

Proverbs 30:5-6

God has given us His written word that we might know what to believe, and faith is possible only because He has spoken to us. Faith must always rest upon His promises and not upon our whims or desires.

We have faith in other things, of course. Many a man believes in himself, or in fate, luck, chance, or science, the benefit of money, the importance of protecting one’s health, the rightness of numerous political causes, etc. But none of these are specifically given us by God to believe in, and neither would we say that “every word” spoken about these ideas is true, nor that we could not add to them.

God on the other hand as set a limit to what He has said. He still leads us in our hearts today. He still impresses upon us some actions we should take. His Spirit moves to convict and to assure, to lead and to guide us in our daily lives. But we would not take these impressions and try to set them down in print, saying that what I have understood God saying to me personally would comprise His authoritative Word.

But neither would I need to, nor would I impoverish the believing community by not doing so. Jude informs us that the knowledge of the gospel, of what comprises our faith, was “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). One of the first heresies confronted by the early church was whether other writings should be added to the Bible after the close of the apostolic period, and it was decided by the community of faith that there was nothing more to be added. The so-called “prophecies” that were uttered by some lacked the power and anointed presence of the Spirit.

We are wise to take this agreed upon understanding by these early Christians to heart, that the Words of God have a limit to them in number. Yet in so doing we find an unlimited depth of meaning and application to the words that we have. His Spirit has given us enough information to show us the way of salvation, to build us upon in our faith, to assure us of His grace, to inspire us in our Christian walk, and to challenge and correct us when we are wrong. So, we dare not add to His words, for in so doing we would distract from the power of what is already written for our edification.

I never cease to marvel at the majestic power of His Word and of His words. The words of the Bible are like an inexhaustible source of knowledge and encouragement, like a lake that has no end to its resources. Each generation throws down its pails to draw up the truths for their day, and we wash them over the shores of our lives and of our times, yet the source is not depleted. The more we draw, the more there seems to be still there. They protect us in times of temptation and trouble, they strengthen us when we would be weak, they direct us when we would doubt, and they comfort us when we are lonely and afraid.

They do all of this not just because of their power but because they always point us to God Himself. Beyond the words we see Him, and they lead us to trust and believe in Him.

Thank You, Lord, for entrusting to us the power, beauty, and pleasure of Your Word. Teach us its importance and value for our lives. Give us the pleasure of comfort and assurance from knowledge more about Your love.

Evening Devotionals assurance, comfort, Word of God

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Hebrews 7:25

The Ascension of Christ is a precious event in the history of His life and ministry. Chapter one of Acts explains simply and clearly the historic details: He appeared to His disciples on earth after the resurrection for a 40 day period, teaching, eating, answering questions. Then the Ascension occurred where the resurrected Christ was taken up into heaven before the eyes of the apostles.

Hebrews, I believe, gives the most thorough explanation of the meaning of this event, that now the Messiah, our Savior, bears witness before the Father that our sins are atoned for, that He personally has paid the price. At the creation of man, the Godhead said, “Let us make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26), and now following the Ascension the Godhead has a witness within itself to the redemptive act of grace through Christ. It is as though it is said, “Now we have redeemed mankind created in our image.”

There remains the obligation on our part to believe, something we cannot do without the convicting and converting power of the Spirit of God. But the promise is secured by the continual witness of the Son to the Father and to the Spirit; He ever lives to intercede for us.

Ten years from now, will our salvation be in doubt, will God have forgotten the price paid on Calvary, or our faith pledged toward Him upon the truth of the gospel? No, not at all, because He ever lives to make intercession for us. And 10,000 years from now, or 10 million years from now, as the gaze of God glances back upon the passing of time, will it seem like a small thing that Christ had died and that we believed? No, it is as sure and as certain for all of eternity as it was the moment we believed. He ever and eternally live s to intercede for us based on His sacrificial death.

So we have reason to rejoice. Our Redeemer lives and one day He will return to this earth to complete His plans for this world. Ascension Day is a day to celebrate our victory in Christ.

Evening Devotionals Ascension, assurance, salvation