Monthly Archives: September 2011

Assurance, Faith, Godly Principles, Stand Firm

I Believe, Therefore…

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“…I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me.’” (Isaiah 46:9b)

I am in awe as I read this proclamation from the God I believe: the God of the Holy Bible. He is the One True God who reveals Himself through the power of His Spirit, the flesh of the one He calls “Son Incarnate” and the beauty and glory of the one too awesome to behold, the one called “Father”.

All the problems of life melt away to hope in believing that this God I love and trust is in control and is working a plan to bring many—including me and mine—into His Kingdom. All is not lost in this life. It is only suffering the birthing pangs that are leading to life more abundant and full, a life where all will know and understand that He alone is God, and there is none like Him.

This world we live in would try to convince me that, not only is my God one among many and I should honor all equally, but they would have me believe that He is an impotent god. What I know is that my God is the One True God. And He is not impotent, but He is patient toward us, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

Those who believe in other gods, or in no god at all, would call me and those like me “intolerant” and “separatist” or “haughty”, because I believe wholeheartedly the truth of this proclamation, refusing to honor other gods. And, I guess, they would be right in that respect.

My God tells me He is the only one and I am to give no credence to another god, nor am I to honor their ways. He tells me that other gods are the creation of the heart of mankind who refuse to acknowledge His existence and Lordship as the only One. To fail to believe these truths is to be conflicted and schizophrenic as a believer of the God of the Bible, thus dishonoring what He says about Himself and the path He demands of those who would be His.

But God also instructs our heart that we can love those who refuse Him without condoning their ways. Is not that the true meaning of tolerance, to continue to love and care for and treat with respect those who believe different and live in ways not one’s own. God gave one innate law to every man that is the one law all follow faithfully; that law is the right of choice that gives to every person freedom to choose whom they will follow and how they will live.

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Thus, as believers in this One God and His proclamation of what He says is true, we hold our head high and refuse to be beat down and made to feel inferior and intolerant by those who refuse to honor our right to believe our God: those who would have us be like them before they will love us and respect our God ordained ways. And we do so knowing that our God will reveal fullness of truth one day soon, as the birthing pangs draw closer to the completion of all things He has ordained to be fulfilled.

(See also 1 Corinthians 4; Joshua 24:15; Deuteronomy 30:15-20)

Faith, Hope, Practicing His Presence

In the Midst of the Rubble

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As we have seen how glorious the cross came forth from the rubble after the World Trade Center collapsed and how tall the cross stood in Joplin in the midst of the rubble after the Joplin tornado we should be very encouraged about the cross coming forth in the midst of the rubble of our own lives.

Truly the old rugged cross makes the difference.  May we glory in the love of the Father who sent His only Son to be our own personal Savior in the midst of our rubble of sin and disgrace to make us holy and blameless in His sight.  May we be putty in the Master’s Victorious Right Hand for His glory!!!

I am reminded of what Betsy Ten Boom said as she and Corrie, her sister, were imprisoned at Auschwitz, “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.” Corrie also said, “JESUS was Victor; JESUS is Victor and JESUS will always be Victor.”

Have a most blessed day in JESUS…

NOW IS THE TIME,

Adele Simpson © (Used by permission)

“Behold, now is the accepted time:  behold, now is the day of salvation.”  II Cor. 6:2b

PS: I know many of us have watched and remembered with great detail the days of 9-11. It is important for us to recall the reason our young men and women fight today on the frontlines of that beginning. But as I listened to K-Love yesterday, I was reminded that after the rubble comes determined purpose, increased faith, and the beginning of restoration. Today let’s remember that as well and celebrate our God of new beginnings. HUGS to each as we morn the loss and rejoice in renewal, encouraged and strengthened by a victorious Cross that comes forth shining like gold in the midst of the rubble. Thank you, Adele, for this reminder.

Faith, Overcomers, Practicing His Presence, Stand Firm

Proven Faith

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“In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:7-8).

My study Bible’s footnote points out that Jesus, the Son of God and very God incarnate, “learned obedience through maturing and proving.”

The word “proving” reminded me of some things that God has been rolling around in my head with regard to Job and his suffering that has helped me to understand why suffering comes though there is no sin-cause. Do you realize that Job is reported to have been righteous in God’s opinion, and that it is God who pointed him out to Satan as an example of faith in the earth?

God allowed Job to be tested, not so Job could prove his faith: God already knew his faith; but so that God could prove his faith. When Job began to struggle under the load, that is when God stepped in, stopping the test, and giving instruction to Job for his maturity in righteousness. The hedge went back up as soon as God had proven to Satan the resolve of Job’s faith.

What load are you bearing that tests your faith? Realize that God knows your heart just as He did Job’s. Press forward with faith that proves what God sees in you, trusting with heart-knowledge that He will step in when the load becomes a burden, for “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13).