Why must God judge people? Answer: because He is righteous and holy. We see this repeated again and again in Scripture. In Revelation 4:8, we read about angelic beings coming before the Lord, not resting day or night, and repeating over and over again, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come."

When the topic of God's judgment comes up, some people would say, "It's about time!" They have no problem whatsoever with seeing God's wrath fall upon a world that has rejected Him and His Word.

Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Another way of saying that is "knowing that God will honor His Word."

The conscience can be a strong guide in life if we allow it. It seems there are lots of people who go to church regularly, know the Word from front to back, and still behave in ways that are not so godly. The function of the conscience is to correct and reprimand, or to make us feel uneasy when we do something unpleasing to God.

Workers laid the foundation for one of Italy's most famous structures in 1173, a tower designed to stand next to a cathedral. During construction, however, they discovered the soil was softer than previously thought, and the tower began to sink.

We've all made tracks through the valley of failure. What matters is how we respond: do we give up and live a defeated life, or do we believe God can restore us?