Author: Christian Hile

Psalm 34

“Oh taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Ps. 34:8). In this psalm, David has an encouragement to the reader to actually experience God’s goodness. He doesn’t want the reader to just take David’s word for it. He wants the reader to actually get a taste of God’s goodness. Tasting and seeing are two of the five senses that we as humans use to experience the material world. If you are anything like me, my favorite sense is tasting. A good-tasting homemade chocolate chip cookie brings satisfaction and contentment to my life. Likewise, getting a taste of God’s goodness in my life ought to bring satisfaction and contentment as well.

To taste and see the goodness of God, you must trust in Him. To experience, and therefore enjoy, God’s protection, defense, provision, graciousness, mercy, love, and goodness you must trust Him. David had tasted and seen God’s goodness in his deliverance from his troubles.

A major way that I experience God’s goodness is when I take a step of faith in full reliance on Him. When I have no strength in and of myself I see God move in my life for His own glory. My heart is that you would say yes to God and put yourself in situations to taste and see that He is good.

The last thing to talk about here is that we don’t base our relationship with Jesus solely on feelings and experiences. We must also know that He is Good and trust in what the Bible reveals about God. Some of the most intimate times I have had with God lately have been when I am sitting and meditating on a truth about Him. Recently, I have been thinking about how Jesus satisfied the full wrath of God for my sins. Pondering the pain and suffering he endured on the cross to reconcile me to Himself fills my heart with gratitude. We can always gain more knowledge about who God is and we can always deepen the knowledge that we already have about God, but my heart for you is that you would richen the knowledge you have of God. This is where the simple truths of Christ settle deeply in your heart expanding your love for Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 2

This chapter is one of the few places in scripture that we see reference to a world leader in the end times. This individual has a few titles: son of perdition, the lawless one, the Antichrist, the man of sin, the little horn, and the beast. This individual will receive his power, authority, and dominion from Satan (Rev. 13; 2 Thess. 2:9). This man will convince the world to come together in unity and will likely bring peace to the middle east by some agreement or covenant (Dan. 9:27). He will rule over the earth for two sets of three and a half years (Dan. 9:27). The first three and a half years will be somewhat peaceful and liveable. The second three and a half years will be devastating. The switch is marked by an event called the abomination of desolation (Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:4). The Antichrist will exalt himself as God in the temple and stop offerings and sacrifices. After this, he demands worship or his statue image will kill you (Rev. 13:15). There is more to say about the antichrist and the endtimes, but there isn’t enough time here.

What is important in our context is the church at Thessalonica thought they were already in the tribulation. Paul is reassuring these people they didn’t miss Jesus. A few things have to happen first: the falling away or apostacy, the Antichrist needs to be revealed, and the Holy Spirit within the Church taken away. There are two ways to look at the apostacy. The first is that there will people who fall away from the Truth and forsake their salvation or there will be a falling away of Truth. I personally believe that restraining force is the Holy Spirit at work within the Church pushing evil back. The people of God are referred to as light that exposes darkness and salt that preserves righteousness. We don’t do this of ourselves, it’s by the power of the Holy Spirit. I think the restrainer being taken away is in alignment with a pretribulation rapture view among other lines of reasoning. What we do know for sure is that Jesus wins in the end! Jesus will come back and destroy the antichrist and all rebellious souls and spirits (Dan. 7:13-14; 2 Thess. 2:8; Rev. 19:11-21, Matt. 24:29-31).

Paul ends a rather bleak chapter about the end of the world with some amazing truths for the believer. You were chosen at the beginning. Before the world was created, God chose you, yet you still acted freely and chose to believe in the Truth (2 Thess. 2:13). How amazing is our God. It is because you are a Christian that you must stand fast and remain in the True Doctrine of Jesus Christ.  Beware of proggressive Christianity that changes doctrine to fit their lifestyle and their beliefs. May we be a  Church that is sold out for True Doctrine, pushing back evil until Jesus meets us in the sky!

Proverbs 30

The United States has the highest GDP of any country with a projected 32.38 trillion dollars in 2026. GDP is most often calculated by adding government spending, business spending, consumer spending and net exports to create an objective value to measure the health of the economy. The next closest projected GDP for 2026 is China with a projected value of 20.85 trillion dollars. So, the numbers show that we spend a lot of money, but is that actual money, or borrowed money?

After the first quarter of 2026, household debt climbed to a new high of 18.79 trillion dollars. Sure we spend a lot of money in the United States, but most people satisfy their cravings with a buy now and pay later philosophy. Most personal debt use, beyond your means, can be correlated to a lack of contentment with what you have. So how does this connect to Proverbs 30 you might be asking. Read verses 7-9 with me,

“7Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die): 8Remove falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches— feed me with the food allotted to me; 9lest I be full and deny You, and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.”

Agur, the writer of this proverb, is essenitally saying, I want to honor your name and not profane it, so just give me what I need. The temptation in having many riches is to rely on yourself and the things that you have for satisfaction and fulfillment. The temptation in poverty is to take matters into your own hands by finding immoral ways to provide for your needs. All the while we have promises in Scripture that God will provide our basic needs (Matthew 6:33).

So what is this quality that allows us to honor God’s name when it comes to our finances? Contentment. Paul says in Philippians that he learned how to be content. Contentment isn’t just magically manifested in our lives. This is a learned quality that every believer must strive and work for. Paul said he knew how to be abased and he knew how to abound. Translation: he knew how to live on little and how to live on much. The secret is finding your contentment in Chirst. Only then can you do all things. Meaning you can honor God when you have little and when you have much. Jesus will satisfy every craving of your heart if you would just have a relationship with Him. No longer will you need to keep up with the Jones’. No longer will you need the new trendy thing. He satisfies you.

Acts 16

This chapter of scripture is immediately following Paul’s division with Barnabas over John Mark. Paul takes Silas and departs for his second missionary journey. Shortly thereafter Paul meets his true son in the faith, Timothy. Paul has Timothy circumcised for the sake of their ministry to the Jewish brethren. The Holy Spirit forbade them from speaking the Gospel in Asia minor and then God gave them a vision of a man in Macedonia pleading with them to come and help. Just look at how Paul and his company posture their hearts to be led by the Spirit. When something isn’t going smoothly in my life, I tend to double down and put more effort in to break through and solve the problem. Paul and his travelling companions had hearts soft enough to recognize that they weren’t to push through but were to wait for God’s leading.

The crew sails to Samothrace and then finds their way to Philippi where they find some trouble. After Paul had ministered to Lydia, they were going to go to pray, but the demons tried to distract really quick. This seems to be an extreme example in scripture, but anytime I go to pray, I seem to invite distractions. I am lucky to get five minutes of prayer before my mind starts to wander, my phone starts buzzing, and my dryer starts going off. This is why Jesus tells us to go to our quiet place where there are no distractions.

As Paul casts the demon out of the young girl, her masters realize that their chance at profit was now gone and they have Paul and Silas thrown in prison. And what do we see them do? They start singing and praying in the cold, dingy jail cell. I’m convinced many people, including myself, would say, “God, you didn’t allow us to go to Asia where we had planned to go, just to send us here to Philippi to end up in prison for casting a demon out in your name.” We would say, “God, why are you abandoning us as we are trying to do work in your name.” Paul and Silas didn’t miss the opportunity to minister. All of this was happening for a reason. All of this happened for the salvation of the jailer and his family.

As we serve Jesus, we need to keep a broader perspective of what God might be up to. Remember that your loyalty is to Jesus, not your comfort. God may put you in a crammed cubicle with a bunch of complaining coworkers, for the sake of one person you may share the Gospel with. Are you going to focus on your own comfortability and circumstances, or will you posture your heart in humility to see what God is up to in your community?

Psalm 91

The first four verses of this psalm read, “1He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 3Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. 4He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.”

A common theme among the Psalms is that God is our refuge. He is our safety and our defender. We see in this psalm, that he is our fortress as well. A fortress and a refuge provide safety and rest to those who trust in the provision. If I show up to a fortress that has holes in the walls and a compromised roof, I likely won’t trust in the provision of safety that fortress will provide. Rather if the fortress is locked down and guarded, I will go inside and find rest. Let me tell you that refuge in God is like the latter. It is a good place to find rest.

The question arises, do you seek rest from God, or other sources. God desires us to be productive people and to steward the resource of our time well. He created us to work and to have dominion. With that said, productivity and efficiency can easily become your focus especially if where you live is anything like northern VA. How much can I fit in my day? Where can I fit this meeting? Honey, do we have a free evening this week? Fast paced morning, working lunch breaks, and phone calls on the way home. Where do I find my refuge?

If I am being honest, I don’t always go to God as my refuge and strength. I fall for the lie that turning on the baseball game will give rest to my soul. It might give rest to my mind and my body, but it does not provide rest for my soul. Connecting with my Creator in His Word and in prayer gives rest to my soul. Sitting at his feet gives rest to my soul. Listening to worship music on my drive home gives rest to my soul. Leaving my phone in the kitchen and praying with my wife after a long day gives rest to my soul.

The question stands, where do you find refuge? Trust in the Lord.

Proverbs 21

Is it a joy for you to live justly? When I think of justice, I immediately am reminded of athletics. Many years ago, there was a commercial running by The Foundation for a Better Life promoting the #PassItOn sportsmanship campaign. A youth basketball team is in the championship game and the ref calls an incorrect turnover but Alex, the player who actually hit it out, tells his coach “I touched it”. His teammates start ragging on him to get him to quiet down, but he knew the just thing to do. He went and told the ref and had the call reversed.

You see in these silent situations, our character is tested. Are you going to do the right thing or quietly do the thing you know you ought not do. I think of situations in school when the innocent loner is getting relentlessly bullied. If you say something, the crosshairs are now on you. Are you going to do the right thing and step in or quietly allow the injustice to continue? Maybe you are at work and you find the paper trail of a coworker stealing money from the company. Do you stay quiet or do you do the just thing and turn them in? “But It’s a huge corporation! The rich just always get richer! They won’t notice it’s even gone!” How would you like it if someone took it from you? Treat others as you would want to be treated.

Not only is it a joy to live justly, but it’s a joy to not come to destruction as the workers of iniquity do. Sin must be punished. The question is who is going to pay the punishment? If you don’t trust in Jesus, the one who bought you at a price by paying for your sin on the cross, then you will pay the just punishment by spending eternity in Hell. The beautiful thing about Jesus is that God’s mercy and justice cross perfectly in His atoning work. Sin is punished while we don’t get what we deserve. His grace is shown by offering us the free gift of salvation by trusting in Him. I want to leave you with Proverbs 21:3, “To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” God wants your heart more than He wants your religion. Continue to abide in Him.

Revelation 1

This final book of the Bible is a prophetic one. John says that whoever reads this book and whoever hears it will be blessed by it. Yet many people don’t want to crack it open because of all the symbolism, the doom, and the gloom. It is also important to note that this is the singular Revelation of Jesus Christ. This book, while it does display God’s wrath and judgment, is a book of God’s grace and mercy to an unbelieving world.

This book is about Jesus, the One, “who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father” (Revelation 1:5-6). This Jesus I speak of has made us a royal priesthood by atoning for our sin. Jesus is the beginning and the end. He is God. He is infinite and eternal.

One of the greatest promises of the Bible is that Jesus is coming back for us. The theme of Revelation is found in verse 7, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.” The Old Testament connections in Revelation are beautiful. Read Daniel 7:13-14, “As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.” Sounds like Jesus to me.

But why is He delaying? Why doesn’t He just come back now on the clouds? Jesus is waiting for the fullness of the Gentiles to be saved. In other words, let me plagiarize what Peter has to say, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). This mercy and grace are what God is displaying all throughout Revelation. He breaks the seals, blasts the trumpets, and pours the bowls trying to wake up a people who are dead in their sin without Jesus. Many people will be saved in the tribulation, but many will shake their fists at God. In the fourth bowl judgment one of the saddest Bible verses reads, “And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory” (Revelation 16:9).

Our God is one who is just, merciful, gracious, and loving. Trust in Him today and receive the grace that He is offering to you. Read Revelation and you will be blessed by it.

Philippians 3

Repeatedly in Philippians, Paul gives reasons to rejoice. He even starts this chapter by saying, “For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.” The NLT says it in simpler English; Paul uses repetition to safeguard the readers faith. There is so much wisdom in this practice. There are times when I feel like I am hearing the same things from the pulpit that I already know. The repetition of hearing the elementary principles of the Christian faith will safeguard the very faith that we have. This is not to say that we should not desire spiritual meat instead of spiritual milk, but we should be constantly reminded of the Truth of the Gospel.

Paul then goes on telling the church at Philippi to be watchful for any work’s based, legalistic salvation doctrine to creep into their church. He gives a list of reasons of how he could be confident in his flesh, but states that he counts it all as garbage. He doesn’t trust in his own efforts to be righteous for salvation, because He realizes that Jesus already achieved that positional righteousness for him by living a perfect life and offering Himself as the spotless lamb who took away the sin of the world. He then talks about striving towards the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul ends this chapter with an awesome reminder. He says, “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.” Paul said a similar thing to the Corinthian church when he said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). This is a call to young and old people alike. The exhortation for the subjective “older” followers of Christ is this, be a worthy example of Jesus so others wouldn’t be ashamed if they imitated you. This should be done by middle schoolers to elementary aged children, by high schoolers to middle schoolers, by young adults to high schoolers, and by adults to young adults. This is not the role of pastors or church employees, but it’s the role of the Church at large. Meaning it is my job, your job, and everyone who professes Jesus’ name’s job. One aspect of this is setting a holy standard for the next generation to follow, but it is also investing your time and talents into the next generation. This is called generational discipleship and Paul commands it in Titus 2. The call to the subjective “younger” person is to be seeking out discipleship from those who have more experience, wisdom, and knowledge. Every mature believer should be discipling someone while being discipled themselves.

Luke 7

This chapter of Luke is packed with some awesome stories that show the compassion, love, and grace of our amazing God. The passage starts with a centurion recognizing and trusting the authority of Jesus. Jesus mentions that He hasn’t seen this kind of faith, not even in Israel. Jesus heals his servant from afar displaying the power of God.

The very next day, Jesus is heading into this town called Nain. As he is walking into the town he sees a funeral procession for a young man, the son of a widow. The love of Jesus is on display here. This widow, without a son or husband would have an extremely hard time providing for herself, if she could at all in this culture. Jesus not only has compassion on her because she was weeping, but because Jesus recognized what this woman’s life would be like without a protector and provider.

The very next passage contains Jesus’ cousin’s disciples asking a pointed question; “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Jesus then quotes prophesy from Isaiah indicating He is the Messiah and has fulfilled the prophecy that the blind sees, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and the lepers are cleansed.

One of the coolest passages of scripture in this chapter is the last one. The subtitle is a Sinful Woman Forgiven. Jesus was asked to share a meal in the home of a pharisee. At some point in the evening, a sinful woman shows up. We can conclude that this woman was a notorious sinner and likely a prostitute. This prostitute showed up to the pharisees house, an act of courage and faith, and wept at the feet of Jesus. She then used her hair to wipe His feet and anointed His feet with an alabaster flask of fragrant oil. Someone who was once an outcast and notorious sinner was now broken by an encounter with Jesus. Jesus teaches us a simple lesson. He who has been forgiven much will love much. This woman had Faith that her sins could be forgiven so she went to Jesus and worshipped the Messiah who would take away her sins.

You are not too far gone. Your children are not too far gone. Your coworkers are not too far gone. The lesson to learn here is to keep praying for those people in your life that have hard hearts toward God. Keep praying for those prodigals who need to come home. When they come home, they will no longer be enemies of God, but important vessels of love for God and His Church. The second lesson is to not think lowly or put down “notorious” sinners in your life. God is a much bigger God than you think. In fact, He is infinite. So don’t count certain people “out” because of a pattern of sin. God is a forgiving God who stands at the door and knocks. Whoever opens the door, God will come in and dine with. Pray the radical prayers and fix your eyes on the Lord to see what He will do!

Luke 22

Our passage starts on a Thursday when the Passover meal would be eaten. We see some interesting things happen within the vicinity of this day. First, Judas is possessed by Satan. He is one of two people in the bible that is possessed by Satan himself. The other person is the future Antichrist. The next thing we see is a plot starts to form to kill Jesus. While all of this is happening, Jesus sends Peter and John to go make preparations for the Passover meal, which Jesus fervently desired to share with His friends.

During this weeklong feast of Unleavened Bread, the mood should be remembering and celebrating the great things God did bringing His people out of Egypt. This is not so for Jesus. In these last few days, Jesus would deal with betrayal, isolation, and denial.

Let’s start with betrayal. There is not much more pain that can be felt from a friend than being stabbed in the back. When we look at Matthew’s gospel, Judas not only plotted to have Jesus killed, but he did it for 30 shekels of silver. His greed was greater than his love for his friend and teacher of at least three years.

Not only was Judas leading the chief priests, captains, and elders to Jesus, but the other eleven were sleeping in Jesus’ greatest need of prayer. When we compare the Gospel of Matthew, this was not just one occurrence, this happened three times on Jesus’ last night with His friends. He asked them to pray but they slept instead. They isolated Jesus in his last night of prayer and then scattered after He was arrested.

Lastly, Jesus was denied by one of His closest disciples, Peter. Betrayal hurts, but so does denial. Imagine pouring so much into a friendship that you spend three straight years together through thick and thin. These men were bonded by hardship, sleepless nights, and impact moments (essentially miracles upon miracles). The pain Jesus must have felt to know one of His closest disciples would not just deny being an acquaintance but would deny even knowing Him. Peter denied the friendship, the closeness, and the bond that they experienced. Don’t think that Peter is such a bad guy, you and I would do the same thing if we were in that situation.

Jesus wasn’t just plagued by physical suffering in His last days, but was also dealing with the pain of betrayal, isolation, and denial from his closest friends. Let’s look at the strength of Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prays, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” His prayer shows strength in time of suffering. Jesus recognizes the pain, but His love for you was of more importance in the garden. He submitted to the Father’s will so that He could have relationship with you. He was obedient where we are not. Put your trust in Him today.