Adventist World Podcasts

What is God like? It sounds like the question of a six-year old—honest; direct; no nuance.  Simple as it sounds, it's actually one of the most important questions in human history. From the dawn of recorded time, both peasants and philosophers have wrestled with the question. Some cultures told themselves that He was angry and all-powerful. Others asserted that He was only one of many gods usually engaged in wrangling with each other. Still others claimed He is eternally inspecting our behavior, searching for any cause to deny us a forever home with Him. Jesus answered the question for all time and for all people. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!” He told His followers. “The words I speak are not my own, but My Father who lives in Me does His work through Me” (John 14:9-10). The kindness, the graciousness, the sacrificial spirit seen in Jesus are identically those of the Father. So the Bible declares, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus was giving us the ultimate picture of God: “This is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). When you wonder if God is a friend or the ultimate enemy; when you doubt that He can forgive your brokenness and rebellion; when your heart aches to be loved and welcomed home—remember this: Jesus is the very image of the Father (Col 1:15). And you will stay in grace. -Bill Knott

No one really wants to sing the blues. We only want to hear other people singing the blues. It's hard to believe that a homeless, hungry, abandoned soul would choose to write a song about it. Surviving takes all your energy. But listening to someone else lamenting their pretended sorrows somehow makes us feel better about our not-so-bad lives. And yet of Jesus—our Redeemer—the Bible sings, “He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (Isa 53:3). His suffering was no accident, no cruel twist of cosmic fate. “He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed” (Isa 53:5). Grace was Christ's choice to live our blues so that our destinies would be forever changed. Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). A new and hopeful song is yours. Grace still amazes. So stay in it. -Bill Knott

We love our sugary success stories—the sweet and gripping fantasies we hope might someday happen to us. “Mailroom clerk becomes company CEO.” “Out-of-luck waitress wins huge lottery.” “Overlooked teen becomes Hollywood megastar.” We quietly insert our names to secretly imagine the powerful, wealthy, famous life we wish was ours. We live vicariously their stories of success. But when a loving God reached down to change our fates, He didn't promise the penthouse office, a large portfolio, or millions of adoring fans. “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor 1:27). The Lord of whom the Bible says, “He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together” (Col 1:17), entered our story as the weakest of the weak—without status; without wealth; without popularity. And His success—stunning, cosmic, eternal—caused Him to die vicariously for us, in place of us, to heal our brokenness and pride. “Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them” (2 Cor 5:14-15). Grace revels in a victory we didn't win, and celebrates a future only God could give us. And it's no fantasy. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

An old gospel hymn plaintively asks the question in the last line of each verse: “Where could I go but to the Lord?” The hymnwriter noted the deep challenges of everyday life in a broken world. He deplored the lack of things he needed to make life even minimally comfortable. He wrestled with the ever-present temptation to give up on God's call to a new life in Christ. At the end of the day—and at the end of the song—the answer to his rhetorical question was and always is—"Nowhere else.” His line reminds us of the words of one of Jesus' closest followers. At a moment when many “sunshine disciples” were turning away from Him, Jesus asked His disciples, “Will you also go away?” Peter spoke for the small number who remained: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). No combination of material things, cherished friends, or promises of personal achievement and business success can ever approach the value of the promise Jesus makes to all who put their trust in Him: “I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you” (Jer 31:3). “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8). Grace is the refuge to which the wise always run. Be wise, and find the forever safety your heart craves. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

“That's old news.” In an information-obsessed world, that may be the ultimate put-down. Round-the clock—and endlessly repetitive—reporting crackles from hundreds of cable television channels. All-news radio stations compete for our ears when screens can't have our eyes. Newspapers, which for two centuries held the world in thrall, now struggle with declining circulations because so much has changed in the eight hours between final edits and home delivery. The news they carry might now be “old.” Before we greet the day, or our spouses—or the Lord—we scan our screens on smartphones and tablets, starving for the latest news of disasters near and far, scandals among the famous, and a world bristling with violence. But the ultimate value of information is something other than urgency. Is it true? Is it relevant? And most importantly: Is it good—and good for us? The Bible reminds us that the best news is often the oldest—the enduring truth that never ages: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them” (2 Cor 5:19). “God proves His love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). That news has been around for centuries—two millennia, in fact. And nothing has diminished its truth, its relevance, and its essential goodness. Grace is always timely—and enduring. So stay in it. -Bill KNott

A mother's deep affection for her newborn child is completely understandable. The nine months they've spent journeying together—and a surge of maternal hormones—create an instant, fierce attraction to that red and wrinkled infant gazing solemnly into her eyes. A young couple's giddy delight in each other at the wedding altar is completely understandable. Months of shared memories and reverent promises have propelled them to this moment—along with a surge of powerful biochemicals. Nothing could be more natural. A young soldier's deep loyalty to the men who have battled alongside him, guarded his back, and rescued him in deepest danger is completely understandable. We were designed to show love back to those who first loved us. But what explains God's deep and fervent affection for millions of human beings who have never warmed to His attention, trusted in His promises, or appreciated His vigilant protection? There's nothing natural—or understandable—about it. God chooses of His own marvelous free will to love those who ignore Him, seek those who consistently disobey His rules, and embrace those who crucified His Son. “In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:20). “This is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Receiving the gift of God's persistent grace doesn't mean that we can ever fully explain it or understand it. But go ahead: embrace the mystery. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

What kind of person gets angry when a wretched, broken sinner is restored by the grace of God? Are there really people that selfish? The answer, according to Jesus, is sadly “Yes”—and they sometimes congregate in churches. In Jesus' famous story, an arrogant younger brother forces his father to liquidate the family holdings to fund his portion of the estate, yet finally comes to his senses while wrestling pigs for food in a far-off land. Broken by his foolish choices, he makes his best decision ever—to return to the always-open arms of the father. Grace stirs his heart; grace moves his feet; grace gives him words; grace draws him to his father's arms. But lurking on the margins is a man turned hideous by his angry rejection of the same grace that brought his younger brother home. Nothing can be given. Everything must be earned. The early bird is the righteous bird. Only the righteous bird deserves the worm. “All these years I've slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to” (Luke 15:29) he snarls at his father. He cannot join the party, for only grace knows how to truly celebrate. When prodigals come home; when broken lives get mended; when those most undeserving wear the Father's ring and eat the Father's food, graceless people show their true colors. Don't be surprised. And don't let them ever keep you from coming fully home. Stay in grace. -Bill Knott

It's usually said with a cynical smile and an eye roll: “My good deed did not go unpunished.” And it nicely sums up the exasperation we feel when life doesn't seem fair, when hard work isn't rewarded, when doing the right thing brings only more trouble and heartache. But what if the more accurate summary of our lives was actually the inverse: “My bad deeds did not get punished.” According to the Bible, our faith in Jesus means that we'll never get what we deserve—and we will be deliriously happy with that outcome! “But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God's wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 5:20-21). Grace offers us believably good news: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). Let cynics retire. Let the saved rejoice. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

These hours between midnight and dawn test the patience of the world. We stumble through the hallways of dark houses. We seek companionship in all-night TV channels and books that used to put us to sleep. We hide from pain or grief that won't let us close our eyes. Why must dawn wait? Why must the hope of day stretch out so far away? If we could, we'd reach out and pull the first gray light of morning toward us–wrap ourselves in a little bit of hope and cheer. But dawn isn't within our grasp. Only one man in all history could bring the morning. Just one man could rightfully claim, “I am the light of the world.” Only Jesus could split the prison where we were chained in shame with the marvelous good news of grace and pardon and power and peace. Only He could triumph over death and hell, because only He had experienced—and broken—their power. This hurting world of ours desperately needs the story of His resurrection. This dark planet, racked by war and ravaged by disease, cries out for the good news of that amazing sunrise. Morning has broken, and goodness has won. Celebrate the new life you've been given. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Fast-forward, if you can, to scenes our hearts are aching to be in. Redeemed at last from all the brokenness, the pettiness, the pain of earthly life, we stand before the throne with those from every nation, tribe, and people, breathing in the air of heaven and singing at the top of our lungs, “Salvation belongs to our God” (Rev 7:10). Does even one hand go up to get the Lord's attention? — “I need to be sure my good deeds are recorded, that my sacrifice is written down somewhere.” “Preposterous,” you say—and right you are. It's simply unimaginable that anyone who's covered by the blood of Jesus would take some credit for a rescue owing just to Him. So why is it we now persist in counting up our virtues? Isn't it evidence enough that we too often fail to grasp the overwhelming, undergirding goodness of our God? Grace is better than we first believed, more sweeping than we now believe, more joyous than we'll ever believe. Put down your hand. Lift up your voice. The grace will always be amazing. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

It's a pandemic for the ages.   Even though we're more “connected” than ever, a tidal wave of loneliness has washed around the world. Eight billion cell phones aren't enough if people talk to fewer friends, never share a walk or meal, or leave important things unsaid. Our bodies and our minds insist that we be with someone. And so the first name given Jesus in the Gospels is “Immanuel”—“God with us”—the One who shares the walk, who shares the meal; the One who promises to never leave us alone.  Companionship is just the thing our haggard hearts are craving. When knowledge fails to satisfy; when income fails to multiply; when only fears solidify, we want a friend—a graceful friend—who will be always on our side. “Love never ends” (1 Cor 13:8).  Grace is the offer of a Friend who pledges, “I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). Share the journey. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

We are wary for good reasons. We've had too much of hurt, of wounds, of promises that didn't deliver. Nothing “too good to be true” should ever be believed.  But grace presents us with impossibly good things—all backed up by the God who cannot lie and never exaggerates. “As far as the east is from the west, so far He removes our transgressions from us” (Ps 103:12). “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you” (Eze 36:26). Was there ever better news? Can the God we've so much offended be the same who offers us a rich, forgiven, guilt-free life when we believe in Jesus? “In Him every one of God's promises is a ‘Yes'” (2 Cor 2:20). Grace is the gift we'll never earn from Him whose love we'll never lose. What once we thought impossible is true and free and good—and ours. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

It takes a lot to surprise the authors of the Bible.  In the pages of Scripture, we find unflinchingly honest stories about every kind of failing—adultery, murder, cruelty, abuse. Nothing human is foreign to them.  But they were startled—even shocked—at the undeserved and unexpected mercy of God for broken people like us.  Listen to Paul: “Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Rom 5:7-8). The apostle John echoes the astonishment:  “See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). The grace of God is always more—more powerful than our darkest failings; more thorough than our best attempts to put ourselves in order; more persistent than our deepest loyalties. “Love never gives up” (1 Cor 13:7).  Receive the gift that never ceases to amaze.  And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

When warm light floods the living room and laughter visits along with friends, we bless the grace of God for making all our good days better.    But when the rain slants heavily across our midnight loneliness, is grace still real? Is God still good?   The greatest saints this world has known are full unanimous on this: God's grace is undiminished by the dark, the cold, the prison cell, the illness and the tears.   For just such hours and just such years the witness of God's Word is clear: “He reached down from heaven and rescued me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me” (Psa 18:16-17). “The Lord's arm is not too weak to save you, nor is His ear too deaf to hear you call” (Isa 59:1).  Yes, grace is justly celebrated when harmonies rise heavenward, and massive choirs proclaim the beauty of redemption. But grace is even better known when tearful, solo saints exclaim: “From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for Your help. Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer” (Psa 130:1-2). Call out for grace in any hour. God hears your voice: it doesn't take a choir.  And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

A century ago, the poet wept: “Things fall apart. The centre cannot hold.”  And after greater blood and anarchy, who dares to argue with him? Pollyannas need not apply.   And yet, sweet children are still softly kissed before they dream each night. Young lovers stroll and plan for lives that still unfold. The vendor at the corner store still offers us a smile with every morning's purchase.  What keeps our world above the “blood-dimmed tide” that threatens to engulf us?   According to the Word of God, it is His grace that still preserves our loves and tenderness. Even the world-ending cataclysm the Bible teaches us about is not rushed—while mercy does its work:  “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Your good job; your fresh love; your next breath—all are made possible by love that will not let us go. Between the haste and pain; among the litter of our sins; through all the litany of obstinance and ignorance—the grace of God preserves, sustains, and offers hope.  There is no depth grace cannot reach; no foolishness it can't undo.  Grace is another word for hope.  So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Name any virtue dear to you, and there's one grace behind it. Even the Bible's best-known virtues— “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23)—grow from one even more remarkable quality: humility. Love means putting others before ourselves; joy is joining in another's glee. Peace emerges when we quiet the clamoring of ego; kindness acts to bless another. Faithfulness means being loyal to someone other than ourselves. Gentleness and self-control are how we act when we respect the dignity of others. This undergirding grace of humility is best seen in Jesus Himself, who acted toward us as only true virtue could: “Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-7). Only magnificent humility would offer saving grace to undeserving folks like us. As we learn Christ's humility, we grow in grace—and virtues. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18). Learn whose you are. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

When we were children, practicing was frequently the bane of our existence. Endless loops of cursive handwriting; sticky valves on rented clarinets; stubborn keyboard ivories that mocked our stubby fingers. Practicing brought little joy as we outlasted clocks. But then, perhaps, we found some sweet proficiency—some pleasing skill still short of smooth perfection. We scored the winning soccer goal; our fingers or our voices shared a recognizable tune.  And so it is as we learn grace. Against the backward pressure of our fears, we sing to others and ourselves of mercy when we least deserve it; of God's rich kindness finally overwhelming all our callousness. We now rehearse the stories of what Jesus did; what He is doing; what He will do. “For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son” (Rom 5:10). Practicing the gospel is all about repeating what is really true against the echo of our past. The Father still calls prodigals back home; embraces all who stumble on the way; forgives the ones who never seem to get the tune just right. Day by day, we grow in grace as we remind ourselves of Jesus' blood and righteousness.  Keep practicing until you're sure He got it right. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

When all our boasts are at an end; when no one's left we might impress; when all our tales of make believe have not made anyone believe—we stare into the mirror that reveals our brokenness and pain. Hard as it is, this is the moment richer life begins. Reduced by circumstance and time to being honest with ourselves, we reach for help we cannot give ourselves. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:6). We fear such honesty will leave us lonely, loveless, miserable. But God sees in our honesty the genesis of life renewed. “‘Come now, let us settle the matter,' says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool'” (Isa 1:18). “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The honesty that seemed to seal our doom is actually the doorway to restored and joyful life. Grace changes our reality, not only our self-image. Made right with God through Jesus Christ, we grow into the kinder, wiser, honest souls whom we were always meant to be. The mirror doesn't lie. And neither does the Lord. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

I sing the solo grace “that saved a wretch like me,”—and so I should. Without it, I would be forever lost and never found. But grace is more than what God does for me, though there may never be a hymn to fully capture that. Grace is the Spirit moving in a hundred hearts when reconciliation is proclaimed from pulpits or on hillsides. “For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:22-24). Grace is the grip of someone I've offended who offers a forgiving hug, even when I haven't gotten to “I'm sorry.” Grace is the circle of believers, certain of their brokenness, who willingly embrace the addict, the obnoxious, the pariah. Just like the Child who was born to us, grace is God's truth for all of us—on us; for us; with us; through us. “To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12). We teach each other of this shareable redemption by not insisting on our rights; by silencing our cutting words; by holding those who seem intent on pushing us away. We live this grace together in a fellowship encouraging forgiveness. Pray for the eyes to see this wider grace, to sing this fuller song. And you will stay in grace. -Bill Knott  

The finest things that we can say are sometimes framed as negatives. Here's one: “Love never gives up, never loses faith” (1 Cor 13:8). That's why we celebrate what the Bible so often calls God's “steadfast love”—His unchanging, unyielding, untiring affection for every human being. He doesn't warm to us when we are nice on sunny Tuesdays—or grow remote and cold when we stay home from church. He doesn't offer, like some parents, affection earned by good behavior. He doesn't icily withdraw into the vastness of His universe when we play gossip, doubter, thief, or prodigal.   He pledges His good will toward us with an unshakeable tenacity we can't begin to grasp, never mind reciprocate. In Him, “there is never the slightest variation or shadow of inconsistency” (James 1:17). “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). Grace is the face God turns toward us when in our shame we cannot bear to look at Him. And still He urges, “Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth” (Isa 45.22). Look now, and be amazed. You'll never be the same. Then stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Make covenants, not resolutions, as you walk into the year, for covenants give us company in keeping what we pledge. A resolution with no witness is too often just a wish, a good intention with nothing but our declining willpower to make the vital difference.  The covenants we really need are bigger than our diets and more urgent than our visits to the gym. We need companions to whom we'll make the most important promises of all: to tell each other just the truth; to remind each other of how good the gospel is; to continue walking side by side through any guilt or fear the new year brings.         Agree with someone in your life—a spouse, a friend, another sinner saved by grace—with whom you'll travel in days ahead—by phone, by app, by real steps on real roads. Pledge perseverance, not perfection, for walking with another sinner will reveal how much you both need constant grace.           And when you stumble, as you will, a hand will lift you up, and brush you off, and help you keep on walking.          As this year starts, invite some other to what Jesus now invites you: “Come walk with me: keep covenant.”          That's how you'll stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Each year, as New Year's Day arrives, believers wrestle quietly with one of the Apostle Paul's most puzzling assertions: “One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal” (Phil 3:13-14).   How—exactly—is it possible to “forget what lies behind”?   The year just lived was full of slights and insults:  they fester unforgettably each time that face or name appears.  The year just past brought wounds—both planned and unintentional. Can willing it remove the evidence of scars?   The year gone by saw failures—ours and others—whose effects cannot be trimmed by noting January 1. Will the famed power of positive thinking erase the pain of choices we or others made? We only can forget what we've forgiven—done by us, or done by others. And we only can forgive when we're forgiven—by a power outside ourselves who cannot lie. God “never changes or casts a shifting shadow” (James 1:17).   “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them” (2 Cor 5:19).  What God forgets, we safely can forget. When God forgives, we find His grace to add our own, releasing others and ourselves from all of last year's failures.   Grace doesn't simply turn the page. It sees, acknowledges, forgives—and gradually forgets. The year ahead will help us practice our forgetting.  So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

It's the most frequently portrayed scene in all of human history.   Four-year olds sketch out the wise men, sheep, and cattle.  Sculptors craft three human figures beneath a simple roof, and we fill in the rest. Churches erect elaborate crèches, some with anxious animals, some with freezing actors. Billions of gilded Christmas cards imagine this one moment in its gentle innocence.    Why does the story of a humble birth 2000 years ago transfix a weary world? Because it is supremely a story of hope, of resistance, of pushing back against the dreadful narrative of death and power and pain. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it” (John 1:4-5).  Jesus entered this life we live by the low road, though He owns all roads that ever were. He was worshipped—yes, adored—by midnight shepherds stained with mud—men ignored by all the proud and powerful, though He is rightfully worshipped by archangels,  universal praise, and choirs. “God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important” (1Cor 1:28). Jesus always gives Himself to those brought low by circumstance or grief—the poor, the poorly treated, the poor in spirit—the folks who cannot turn the world their way.  Beginning from the bottom, He lifts all of us toward heaven.  Embrace this Child. Your hope and joy will also rise.  And you will stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Our fascination with the stars is as old as . . . one gorgeous night in Eden. As darkness first descended on God's rich, untrammeled world, there was no fear, no threat, no shying from the shadows. A dazzling panoply of stars entranced the first two humans ever subject to their brilliance, mystery, and power. We name the stars to tame them—just to counterfeit some ownership over what we never can control. We search for patterns, figures, shapes. We stare as fragments of their shining streak across our sky. But only once in all the history of the world did those the world counts wise pick up, strike tents, and follow what they couldn't grasp or own. “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw His star as it rose, and we have come to worship Him” (Matt 2:2). What grace is this that leads us on to Jesus? How much like God to hang a symbol in the night that brings us to His Son! “‘I will be found by you,' says the Lord. ‘I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes'” (Jer 29:14). Grace calls us first to see, and then to wonder, then to follow with our lives. Journey to the Child this Christmas, and discover once again how hope is rising in your night. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

It's a tough time to be selling “Peace on Earth.” In the Christmas Shoppe at the megastore, elves and reindeer move briskly out the door. Nativity scenes in warm pastels are inner-lit with bulbs and cheer. Miles and miles of twinkling lights unwind from endless shelves. But who is buying “Peace on Earth?” At first, it seems a quaint anachronism, harking back to simpler times and well-tuned carolers. But now, we fear our neighbors will think us terribly insensitive to be flaunting anything of peace when kids are dying in Kfar Aza, in Gaza, in Kharkiv. How can the gospel still proclaim a peace on earth that is so rarely lived or loved? The night sky circling Bethlehem 2000 years ago did not proclaim the end of wars or banish human savagery. What angels sang—and shepherds hoped, and wise men followed, and a weary couple trusted—was that heaven is fully on our side. There was no war—there is no war—between the heart of God and those He calls His sons and daughters. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The birth of our Messiah sang to fearful, doubting folks like us what always has been true: “God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to Himself—not counting their sins against them” (2 Cor 5:19). Grace is the anthem of God's attitude toward us. Peace is His gift for all who choose the Child who was born to us. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

It's a story filled with angels, and so a story filled with grace. An angel reveals to an aged priest that his wife will bear a son named John. The angel Gabriel announces to a virgin that she will be the mother of the promised Messiah, whose very name announces our salvation. Her fiancé—like Joseph of old, a man of dreams—is counseled by an angel to welcome the gracious plan devised by heaven to save the world. Another angel declares to startled shepherds that the Messiah has been born in Bethlehem, and the night sky shines like noon as thousands of angels celebrate the grace gifted to us. As the story of Jesus' birth so richly shows, grace is always reaching out to weary, broken people like us. Carpenters and homemakers, shepherds and preachers—to each of us comes the good news that “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Every time we fear that we are desperately alone, heaven reminds us, as the poet says, that “There are angels in these fields.” Grace is always singing somewhere—in our homes, our churches, and the places where we work. Good news rides on wings of light. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

“If you would tell me, tell me true,” a wise old man once said. “There isn't time enough for lies.” And when we've polished all our trophies, and sung again our victory songs, we come at last to stories too painful to be false. Each honest story unwraps our wounds, our hurts—as well as those we've given. We grieve the loved ones whom we've lost—a spouse; a friend; a much-loved child—though some of them still live and breathe. We mourn the loss of innocence; we've soaked up toxic sums of greed. We laugh at violence and war; we cheer for “heroes” who display our poorest human qualities. We feel the sadness for what's never fixed or mended or repaired. And so it's not an accident that we know more of Jesus as a healer than any other role. He stepped into the broken story of our world with grace that made the lepers dance and unlocked tongues that never spoke. He gave the parents back lost children; He cast out evil spirits and refashioned sin-sick attitudes. He told us of a Father who kindly waits for us to finish playing prodigal. And when He died to heal us of our greatest hurt, He took our pain and made it His. “He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the punishment that made us whole, and by His bruises we are healed” (Isa 53:5-6). The good news is that grace still heals. It closes wounds; it soothes our scars. And someday soon, it leads us home. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

We are wary for good reasons. We've had too much of hurt, of wounds, of promises that didn't deliver. Nothing “too good to be true” should ever be believed.  But grace presents us with impossibly good things—all backed up by the God who cannot lie and never exaggerates. “As far as the east is from the west, so far He removes our transgressions from us” (Ps 103:12). “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you” (Eze 36:26). Was there ever better news? Can the God we've so much offended be the same who offers us a rich, forgiven, guilt-free life when we believe in Jesus? “In Him every one of God's promises is a ‘Yes'” (2 Cor 2:20). Grace is the gift we'll never earn from Him whose love we'll never lose. What once we thought impossible is true and free and good—and ours. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Where does kindness come from? Nothing in the narrative of evolutionary biology can tell us why one human would act with compassion or thoughtfulness toward another. In a world where survival alone is supposed to be the highest goal, nothing disinterested happens. All human behaviors should only produce results for the one doing them. Yet kindness exists. Parents nurture children, and not only to perpetuate their genetic line. Friends do “unnecessary” things for each other—providing emotional support in grief or loss or change. Even sworn enemies surprise us by laying down their weapons to offer comfort to the wounded. The Bible tells us that all good things, including acts of kindness, grow from the kindness that began with God: “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). God's enduring kindness toward each of us—for every human being is created in His image—flows from His heart of grace. “No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39). The grace of God moves every act of mercy and forgiveness. Receive that love. Then move the kindness forward. And stay in grace. -Bill Knot

How do you find a quiet heart? You won't find it in a deep evergreen forest, though walking in the fragrant woods may give you time to think. You won't find it beside a thundering waterfall, though the welcome sound may block the din of autos, trains, and planes. You won't even find that quiet heart in the sanctuary of a silent church, though everything around you points you to God's presence. Changing our location doesn't bring the peace we crave. A quiet heart is the gift we receive through the grace of a loving God. “Since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us” (Rom 5:1). “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” the Father says. “I have drawn you with unfailing kindness” (Jer 31:3). “This is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Receive the peace you were made for. Believe in the God who has always believed in you. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

I bless them all—the friends who didn't back away when I said clumsy, foolish things, or added insult to an injury. I bless the ones who held me in the grip of grace before I had an inkling they were doing anything at all. I call to mind the line of kind, consistent people who forgave before I knew how much I had offended, who didn't hold my sins against me, or wait to even up the score. I thank the Lord who taught them grace so that when my life was stirred by grace, I had a living, breathing demonstration standing right beside me. Grace has a face—or faces, actually—one, two or ten who make the gospel come to life by holding, healing, loving, serving. They are my church, my backstop, my community. Because of them, I dare to do some gracious act that covers sin or heals pain. They've made a choice, and so have I. We stay in grace. -Bill Knott

“I don't deserve this.” It's a sentiment uttered—muttered—millions of times a day around the world. Our deep, unyielding sense of justice is aroused each time we aren't treated fairly by a spouse or colleague, when we get unexpected charges from the tax office, when we think that God or fate has given us more than we can bear. Deep in our souls, we desperately want life to be fair. But it's also a line heard millions of times each day by men and women marveling at the offer of the gospel. And whether we're correct or not to sometimes protest our bad treatment or unlucky turns, we're always accurate to say in the presence of God's amazing grace, “I don't deserve this.” “God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!)” (Ephesians 2:4-5). Grace never ceases to amaze—just because it flows from a God of justice who ordained that Jesus would bear the penalty for our sins and die for us. That gift offers us a future we never could have earned—living with Him forever. Say the line you know is true, with all the hope it holds for you: “I don't deserve this.” And stay in grace. -Bill Knot

More than 50 years ago, a wildly popular book and movie gave us a proverb worth forgetting: “Love means never having to say you're sorry.” Despite its commercial success, the line ignores the undeniable reality that broken human beings are always needing to repair the relationships they care most about—and usually with the words, “I'm sorry.” For love to bloom, it must be watered by apology and forgiveness. And so it is with God. By our foolish, selfish actions, we've failed His rightful expectations as our Creator. We've hurt His heart of love each time we've wounded others with our malice or indifference. But the good news is still good: “If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9). Our broken relationship with God can be healed by a simple phrase: “I'm sorry, and I need You.” God's rich embrace is all of grace. Restoration is one short prayer away. And this love story never ends. So say—and stay—in grace. -Bill Knott

So, what's the most valuable commodity in the world? If you picked silver, gold, or platinum, 10,000 brokers might seek your business.  If you chose palladium or rhodium, you know your precious metals well. But none of these—nor all of them—can light a dream or spark a prayer when fear and pain fill all our night. There's just one thing that billions want, including all who never own—or see—a precious metal. That thing is hope, and it is found, not in the ground, but in the skies. Hope is the trust that there is yet another truth about our lives—that we are loved and valued and worth holding. Hope rises high above our brokenness to affirm that God is not finished with us yet. Whatever we own, whatever we cherish, we are precious to the God who gave us hope by giving us what is most precious to Him: “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Hope is our trust that God is good, that grace is ultimately what counts. All other value flows from trusting that our story need not end in dust. Grace always points us to the skies. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

When we tell our peers the stories of our lives, how do we shape the narratives? Do we tell tales of high achievement, dogged persistence, and clever strategy? Are we the heroes of our stories? Or do we speak of the persistent, generous grace of God that launched us with rich opportunities, forgave us when we repeatedly failed, and healed us—time and again—when we felt broken and discouraged? God's Word describes the inevitable trajectory of the hero-driven, self-directed life: “Sometimes there is a way that seems to be right, but in the end it is the way to death” (Prov 16:25). Jesus offers Himself as the living symbol of the grace that gives our stories deep meaning and lasting value: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Grace tells a hero story, but it's not about us. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. . . . God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:6,8). There's only one hero in my tale, and it's not me. Perhaps you know this story, too. “O Lord, give me the words. Then my mouth will praise You” (Psa 51: 15). And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

If there's one thing that heaven hates, why surely, it must be—adultery? Pride? Hypocrisy? Murder? Greed?  Would you believe “unforgiveness”?   Consistent with the grace He both lived and taught, Jesus saved His hardest words for those who refused to forgive the brokenness of others.  He wept for those swept off their feet by lust or overcome by avarice, and even those who hurt or injure others. But He offered little hope for those who wouldn't show the mercy shown to them.  In a famous story, Jesus made His values clear: “Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?” (Matt 18:32-33). We only forgive others as much as we imagine we need forgiveness.  “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1John 1:8-9).  So be fully honest with yourself—and fully merciful with others.  In doing this, you stay in grace. -Bill Knott

“Lucky you!” we mumble when our rival's putt drops in the cup from 50 feet away. “Wish I was you,” we grumble when our colleague lands the big promotion and the corner office with a view. “It must be nice,” we mutter when the car we can't afford is parked across the street each night. But who is actually more fortunate—the one who wins a round of golf or office ladder-climbing—or the person who receives God's offered gift of happiness forever? Add up the scorecard—tally all the perks—and there's nothing that comes close in value to the new life we are given as believers. “Since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us to this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand” (Rom 5:1-2). It's love, not luck, that makes us rich in grace. “To all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Receive the gift that's offered you. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Any faith worth putting at the center of your life must do at least three things. It must accurately describe the dark reality of our brokenness and pain. It must fully tell how we are rescued from our anger, pride and violence. It must show us a future we would want to live in. And so the gospel of Jesus Christ declares, “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.” That's why the Father acted to rescue us from the rebellion we had chosen: “God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead.” And finally, the Father offers us a future better than we ever imagined—or deserved: “For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms” (Eph 2:1; 2:4-5; 2:6). Jesus says, “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). Grace is God's kindness fitted to the story of our lives. And this story never ends. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Until we grasp how much we've been forgiven, it will always seem unwise and difficult to forgive those who sin against us.  When we forgive another person, we abandon our leverage over them; release the debt they owe us; throw open prison doors. This is a graciousness we can't summon from within: until we've received God's grace, we have none to give to others. You can't wring kindness from a stone, or from a stony, unforgiven heart.  But “the grace of God has appeared to all” (Titus 2:11), making possible our own redemption, and then the healing of our friendships, marriages, and communities.  Grace truly received always becomes grace given.  So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

“Papa, please tell me a story.”  That's Cain, or maybe Abel, asked Adam to tell them a story, a story that will make the past more clear so they can face the future with greater certainty, courage, and hope.  It's a question every Father and Mother has been asked by the “inquiring minds” who sit beside them in the light of a cooling evening.    Each month I imagine that you have just invited me to “tell you a story,” a true tale of The Creator's love that will help you understand the past and so face the future with more certainty, courage, and hope. I breath deeply for a long minute, and then pour my heart out to you through my computer. www.adventistworld.org

“Papa, please tell me a story.”  That's Cain, or maybe Abel, asked Adam to tell them a story, a story that will make the past more clear so they can face the future with greater certainty, courage, and hope.  It's a question every Father and Mother has been asked by the “inquiring minds” who sit beside them in the light of a cooling evening.    Each month I imagine that you have just invited me to “tell you a story,” a true tale of The Creator's love that will help you understand the past and so face the future with more certainty, courage, and hope. I breath deeply for a long minute, and then pour my heart out to you through my computer. www.adventistworld.org

“Papa, please tell me a story.”  That's Cain, or maybe Abel, asked Adam to tell them a story, a story that will make the past more clear so they can face the future with greater certainty, courage, and hope.  It's a question every Father and Mother has been asked by the “inquiring minds” who sit beside them in the light of a cooling evening.    Each month I imagine that you have just invited me to “tell you a story,” a true tale of The Creator's love that will help you understand the past and so face the future with more certainty, courage, and hope. I breath deeply for a long minute, and then pour my heart out to you through my computer. www.adventistworld.org

“Papa, please tell me a story.”  That's Cain, or maybe Abel, asked Adam to tell them a story, a story that will make the past more clear so they can face the future with greater certainty, courage, and hope.  It's a question every Father and Mother has been asked by the “inquiring minds” who sit beside them in the light of a cooling evening.    Each month I imagine that you have just invited me to “tell you a story,” a true tale of The Creator's love that will help you understand the past and so face the future with more certainty, courage, and hope. I breath deeply for a long minute, and then pour my heart out to you through my computer. www.adventistworld.org

“Papa, please tell me a story.”  That's Cain, or maybe Abel, asked Adam to tell them a story, a story that will make the past more clear so they can face the future with greater certainty, courage, and hope.  It's a question every Father and Mother has been asked by the “inquiring minds” who sit beside them in the light of a cooling evening.    Each month I imagine that you have just invited me to “tell you a story,” a true tale of The Creator's love that will help you understand the past and so face the future with more certainty, courage, and hope. I breath deeply for a long minute, and then pour my heart out to you through my computer. www.adventistworld.org

Imagine—only for a moment—your life without the grace of God.  Every foolish act of adolescence; every spiteful, angry word you've said; every broken relationship would trail after you like dragging cannonballs uphill.  There could be no forgiveness, but only possibly forgetfulness.  All things wounded would never heal.  The sun would never rise on faith or hope or possibilities.  But we rejoice that grace has come to us in Jesus—that our stories are forever changed for better.  So grace always opens into gratitude.  We celebrate a rescue we could never accomplish because of what Christ accomplished for us.  And He ever lives—it is His joy—to intercede for us, to turn our painful histories into stories that will bless and lift the world.  So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

A husband slipping in the door with a bouquet of red roses trailing behind him. A six year-old artfully arranging the remaining cookies in the jar to make it seem none have been taken. A believer creeping quietly to church to sit in the back row and promise years of future faithfulness. In our core, we hope to somehow appease those we have offended. We bring gifts; we rearrange the facts to diminish our responsibility; we promise to be better in the future. We assume that we won't be welcome as we are. But when we meet the God whose rightful expectations we have most offended, He is nothing like the angry deity we expected. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:16-17). This is the mystery of grace—that God doesn't act on impulse or through vengeance, but plans to actively restore those whom sin and pride have separated from Him.  “God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins” (Rom 3:24). We are amazed: we do not understand.  It's not what we would have done to those who offended us. But then, God says of Himself: “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isa 55:9). Grace restores what we can't fix, and renews our lifeline to the God who deeply loves us. So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Giving money to a homeless man at the corner. Choosing fruit instead of ice cream for dessert.   All good things—but none will change your standing with God.  Rising at 4:00 a.m. to pray and meditate. Attending weekly worship services. Contributing 10 percent of your income to the work of ministry.  All good things—but none will change your standing with God.   “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (Rom 2:8).   The good things grace inspires us to do are not the things that save us. Our forever destiny is assured only by trusting in what Jesus has done for us by laying down His life to pay the penalty for our sins.  “But God proves His love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.  Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by His blood, will we be saved through Him from the wrath of God” (Rom 5:8-9). So what good thing may we do to ensure our happiness both now and forever? “Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent'” (John 6:29). Grace calls us to receive the gift we cannot earn. Our acts of love are simply tokens of our praise.  So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Hot words, cold words.  Red words, blue words.  My words, your words.   Old words, new words.    Every day we arrange the 25,000 words we know in unique and highly personalized combinations. With words, we express deep sorrow and loss, as well as shining hope and love. We describe the past with words that show how different it was from our day, and we even invent new words to imagine futures for which no current words will do.  Words are the building blocks of thought; the scribbled bits of genius on a page; the last, despairing expressions of those who have lost hope.   And so, among the many figures in the mind of God, He entered human experience through the very language we employ: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a Father's only Son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).   In Jesus are united the two great words we find impossible to keep together—“grace” and “truth.” In God's unbounded vocabulary, we can be both fully known and fully loved.  And He always has the last word.  So we stay in “grace and truth.” -Bill Knott

When we add all our compliments to all the things we wish were true, there's still so much we're glad the world doesn't know.  Deep within, we know the truth about the real lives we live—the tempers that we can't control; the people we've tried to control; the passions that seem far beyond control.  Our hearts are heavy with indictments. We break our vows; we hurt our friends; we fail to do the good we could.  “There is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” (Rom 7:23-24).   And from the vast abundance of His grace, the Father speaks to our distress. “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” (Eze 36:26).   The promise of new life—within—brings all God's goodness to us.  We cannot save ourselves, and Jesus loves to save us. We cannot fix ourselves, so He rebuilds what pride and lust have broken.   Grace meets the fears we cannot speak, the brokenness we sought to hide, the self-accusing words we use to motivate ourselves. God's heart of love will heal us yet.  So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

When we reduce our belief in God to moral tasks we should accomplish, we merely add another tedious volume to our unread self-help library.   Praying for the sick; giving to the poor; exercising patience with exasperating colleagues; forgiving those who badly use us—these are all lovely behaviors—and of no lasting value without grace.    The gospel isn't an invitation to set our moral house in order, but a declaration that Jesus left His eternal home to live with us, die for us, rise for us, and—one day soon—return for us. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:19).   Before we lift a broken finger, or give a soiled bill, or try to move beyond our hatred for those who have abused us, we must hear the gospel's kind yet thundering announcement:  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9).  Grace is what God has done. Gracious is what we may yet become—through grace.  So stay in grace.  -Bill Knott

When hard rain rattles the window panes three hours before unwelcome dawn; when the first thought of the day is no brighter than the last thought hours before; when the staleness of unchangeable routine offers only more of the same, more of the rain—grace renews the mind. When we dread the icy comments in the cubicles or at the frozen water cooler; when the anger seethes while helplessness makes our haggard hearts grow cold; when the best thought of the day is that it will finally be over—grace renews the mind.   Redemption isn't only for those starlit hours when grand and beautiful change starts happening to us. God's grace accompanies us in hundreds of quite ordinary hours when children fret and spouses quarrel and nothing in our world advances our fond hopes for love or comfort or success. And so the gospel urges and invites: “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Rom 12:2). Grace is for all hours, all challenges, all rainy days. There is no moment when God's goodness and affection isn't gladly, fully offered to us, for us, in us. “His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7). So stay in grace. -Bill Knott