Trust God

I just had - the other day - what I am going to call a revelation. Maybe thats too big a word, but I don't believe it is. You see, I went and saw my ENT yesterday because on a daily basis I feel like my head is going to explode with internal pressure. Thank you chronic CF sinuses! It turns out that barometric pressure affects sinus pressure in ways that basically create a vaccum in your head (which would be like imploding) or an outward pressure (exploding) ... but the resulting feeling is the same, misery. Thats just a side note.

So, you ask, what's this to do with trusting God? Let me tell you.

I went to my ENT nearly 100% confident he would tell me I needed sinus surgery. He did. Honestly, not that big a deal. I guess when you are a life-long patient as I have been & will be, and have had as many surgeries of various sorts as I have (9), it all becomes routine. So, my reaction, "Ok." And really, its just that, ok another surgery woopty-doo (spelling?).

But as I was driving home I had this revelation. 1) I typically relate trusting God to something that would worry me. (Meaning, that those things that cause me no worries, I just accept them as they are - kind of like surgery) That's when it hit me 2) that God gives us opportunities to trust Him, even when we are not worried or concerned about something ... in this case, like surgery!

Now maybe that sounds elementary, and maybe it is. But it is significant to me, because it opens a whole new avenue for me to enjoy and glorify Him, via trusting Him for the sheer joy of it, for the sheer joy of better communing with my Heavenly Father. Surgery does not in the least worry me, because I know - despite whatever risks may exists with any surgery - God will have His way. So far we are 9 for 9! So because of my history I have been trained to not worry about surgeries, and therefore I typically do not take it to the Father in prayer as I might something that did present me with some degree of worry.

But now, o boy, I get to saturate the up coming surgery in prayer, and all the while enjoy the easy comfort of trusting God for surgery, knowing He will work His works completely!!! This is exciting!

Please note this does not mean I have figured out how to trust God completely in every situation, because as clearly shown, I am just now learning to truly trust Him with the "mundane," much less the things that cause me degrees of anxiety.

God. Sovereign. Always.

I cannot help but to write this.


If I had to list four cornerstone, foundational beliefs of my faith in God Almighty, I would list SOVEREIGNTY as one of those. Without this, I feel like I have nothing to believe in. Think of the game Jenga, if you pull out one of the bottom pieces, its gonna fall! Same deal here. No sovereign God, I come to nothing.


Moving on.


Jeremiah states, "The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, 'Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will announce My words to you.' Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 'Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?' declares the Lord. 'Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it." (18:1-10)


Now what does this say. Simply ... GOD IS SOVEREIGN! GOD IS IMMUTABLE! GOD IS MOBILE! ... Mobile? We will come back to that.


Clearly, as the illustration shows, as the potter chooses what his clay will become so God is sovereign over the plan of a nation's, a kingdom's, and peoples', & of an individual's life. Does that mean we do not make choices throughout our life? Absolutely not! But, in some mysterious way, that I cannot explain, God has sovereignly ordained a plan for each man, woman, & child's life & our choices - be they right or wrong - at any given moment cannot thwart the plan God has spoken over our lives.

But what about God "changing" His mind, as the passage clearly states? (read with inquisitive tone). 

Good question, glad you asked!

It would seem that if God can change His mind about punishing a people or not, based on their obedience or not, that perhaps God does change? But this is not really the case. Lets start here.

GOD IS IMMUTABLE. 

It means He is eternally unchanging in His ways, His glories, and His person (it means that His being, perfections, purposes & promises never change,1). He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow .... might I add forever and ever too (Heb 13:8)! At the core of who He is - perfection - He cannot stray. If He does, He ceases by definition of who He is to be God. Thats big. Chew on it for a while (I have been for the last 2 months). Consider Psalm 102:25-27, which is again quoted in Hebrews 1, in reference to Christ! See Malachi 3:6 too.


So what are we to do with words like, "I will relent" and " then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it"? Because, if you are like me, these words sound a lot like words I have spoken - at least thoughts I have thought - before, and I know me, I am by no means unchanging. In fact, I am in ways like the man tossed to and fro upon the tempest at sea (but that's becoming less and less). I know me, & I change my mind often! So, is God changing His mind, His will?

I think He is indeed changing His mind! 

I do NOT think He is changing His will!

Think about it. God must change His mind to remain true to who He is - holiness, righteousness, justice, patience, graciousness, mercy, love, etc... If God never relented from the calamity that He had decided upon for a people who were wicked (see examples in Ex 32:9-14, Isa 38:1-6, Jonah 3:4, 10), then no one would be in existence today! If God had carried through on His numerous proclamations to destroy Israel for the wickedness, idolatry and injustice then we never would have had a Savior! If God never changed His mind concerning His people then He ceases to be just, merciful, and gracious. So, yes, I think God does change His mind. 


I will refer to an "authority figure" on this one, who knows more than I. Theologian Louis Berkhof states, "The divine immutability should not be understood as implying immobility, as if there were no movement in God"(2). Immobility, whats that? It means, considering God is in covenantal relationships with men, & due to our changing relations with Him, that there is change round about Him - how we relate to Him - but He is not changing. *Read - I change, God does not.* Berkhof goes on to say, "As if Scripture speaks of His relenting, changing His intention, and altering His relation to sinners when they repent, we should remember that this is only an anthropopathic (ascription of human passions/feelings to a being not human, esp. a deity)way of speaking"(3). All this is to say, God is not some non-emotional "deity" acting coldly toward sinners, but rather that - although He never changes - He does indeed act with and feel emotions. He does act and respond differently in different situation (4). Let's consider the example of Nineveh, in Jonah. God tells Jonah to go and proclaim the Lord's coming destructive judgement upon them for their wickedness, in 40 days. Yet, we know the story, Nineveh repents and then God relents. Why does God relent? Because that was the plan of the announcement of coming judgement, for the wicked city to recognize their ways and to turn from their sin to God, repenting! So, it is now a different situation. Before repentance, God saw wicked Nineveh, and now He sees a repentant people - of course He is going to relent! Thus my earlier point, if He did not respond differently, as peoples' hearts were changed and softened toward Him, then He would cease to be the kind, merciful, and just God that He is (most of this is paraphrased from Grudem, see #4).


But I do NOT think this means that He has given compromise, even an inch, to His will. His will, or ultimate end,  is His glory. Agreed? Good. If He compromises here, well then, all of Christianity is for naught! But think about it. Part of His over arching will encompasses His character - His unchanging nature that determines what He does and does not do - and thus being mobile in His interaction with finite humans, He maintains His eternally perfect justice and mercy. And since no single aspect of His nature can be discussed separately from any other, then all remain the same. All this includes His will. 


Take for instance the story of Joseph and his brothers' evil actions against him. Clearly there are evil actions that take place, clearly God has a plan in store for Joseph, and clearly to the praise of God, this plan is brought about in mighty ways, and Joseph then proclaims to his brothers, "You did not, nor could you ever have changed God's perfect will for His glory through my life ... because whatever you meant for evil, He meant it for good!" (personal paraphrase). Now, I know this is a bit of an indirect correlation, but if you work it out, its all there. 


So, assuming God does not relent, then by necessity, He would have punished - probably with death 0 Joseph's brothers. If they had been dead, there would have been no redemption in the story. Sure, Joseph may have gone on to be a wise counselor for Egypt and take the necessary steps in providing during the famine, but there would have been no glorious reunion with His family. So, at some point, God must have chosen to relent from destroying Joseph's brothers, knowing that - unrevealed to them - that He had huge plans for using that evil for good.


And so, in the end, I am just going to say, God is sovereign despite complexities about Him that I do not understand, though I try. And as a perfectly sovereign God, He is indeed immutable, but not immobile, and praise Him holy name for that! Praise Him that He relents from the evil He has intended when His Spirit works in our hearts to cause us to repent!


I would love some feedback, if you managed to read this whole thing.

1 - Berkhof, L. Systematic Theology. p 58

2 - Ibid

3 - Berkhof, L. Systematic Theology. p 59

4 - Grudem, W. Bible Doctrine. p 73

God.

 I want to share a bit about God, in the sense that He is God.

Pause. Think. Read.

HE is GOD

If you think about that statement it will start to blow your mind, which is both a blessing and thrilling! These thoughts were spurred on by a conversation I had last night (8/16) with some friends, Josh & Jennifer Dean.

HE is GOD. This is an entirely exclusive statement. I say exclusive in the sense that, by those few words, all statements or arguments for the existence of another TRUE "god" is totally and utterly destroyed. Any other "god" is false. I reach this conclusion because the Bible (God) states, "I am God." The Bible is final, absolute truth, and thus cannot be reckoned with, only submitted to (2 Tim 3:16-17). Therefore, by necessity can there be another? The answer is clear. NO. It states, "He is God." IT does not state "He is a God," and certainly not, "He is a god." 

The Bible, absolute Truth, states that He is God. Lets take the book of Isaiah...

"To whom them will you liken Me, that I would be his equal?" says the Holy One. (40:25)

.

"I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He." (41:4)

.

"I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven images." (42:8)

.

"And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me...and I am God. Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?" (43:10-11, 13)

.

"I am the first and the last, and there is no God besides Me." (44:6)

.

"I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no God...there is no one beside Me, I am the LORD, and there is no other." (45:5, 6b)

.

"I am the LORD, and there is none else." (45:18)

.

"And there is no God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other." (45:21b-22)

.

"For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me." (46:9)

.

...and then it culminates here...

"For the sake of MY name I delay MY wrath, and for MY praise I restrain it for you, in order not to cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver, I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For MY own sake, for MY own sake, I will act; for how can MY name be profaned? And MY glory I will not give to another. ... I am He, I am the first, I am also the last." (48:9-12)

Honestly, I feel as though the only appropriate thing is to quit writing, because what can I add?

I can read this, hear it, and live by it but I am disabled when I try to grasp it, or seek to comprehend it. He is God, and only He knows what that means. I pray to learn more and more of who He is as I grow in grace!

Therefore...

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus! 

(Rom 8:1) 

A sinner's greatest hope! The best news there ever was!!! ... Why? 

Because [God] made Him who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him!(II Cor 5:21) Because, though [Christ Jesus] was rich, yet for [our] sake He became poor, so that [we] through His poverty might become rich! (II Cor 8:9) ...

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, GOD DID: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who did not walk according to the Spirit!!! (Rom 8:3-4)

What then? 

We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purposes. ... What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ... God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? (Rom 8:28, 31, 33-35)

So, the result is this...

... In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, not things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!!!! (Rom 8:37-39)

I must say when my heart is dull, empty, & my ways have been focused primarily on me, or as Paul would say, when I am living according to the flesh, the one thing ... the only thing ... that can redirect my eyes, my heart, my mind, my motivations, my desires, my passions, & my life is hands down the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord!!! Sometimes, it can take a while & other times it happens fast, but it is, each and every time, as if a flood of joy & contentment rips through my heart, rejuvenating the "self" stricken motivations in me, to re-orient them toward God. For, we know that those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit (Rom 8:5), for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set [us] free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2). But because the mind set of the flesh is death, hostile toward God, is not and cannot be subjected to the law of God, and cannot please God, the person who has set their motives toward self, or the flesh, is dull, empty, and DEAD!

That is how I have recently been.

But the Lord is gracious, & I hope to continually ask the Lord, Be gracious to me, O Lord, be gracious to me! (Ps 123), & when He pours out grace upon grace things happen - mindsets change, hearts are renewed, and motives purified. That is why the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, and the life lived by the power of the Spirit is putting to death the deeds of the body (Rom 8:7, 13).

Sandra McCracken's song, Grace Upon Grace rings so true, especially now!

In every station, new trials and new troubles
Call for more grace than I can afford
Where can I go but to my dear Savior
For mercy that pours from boundless stores.

Grace upon grace, every sin repaired
Every void restored, you will find Him there
In every turning He will prepare you
With grace upon grace

He made a way for the fallen to rise
Perfect in glory and sacrifice
In sweet communion my need He supplies
He saves and keeps and guards my life

Grace upon grace, every sin repaired

Every void restored, you will find Him there

In every turning He will prepare you

With grace upon grace

To Thee I run now with great expectation
To honor You with trust like a child
My hopes and desires seek a new destination
and all that You ask Your grace will provide.

That last line in amazing, for the highest calling, the one that is most unattainable for me is "Be holy as I am holy." But all that He asks, is provided for in His grace. All expectation upon me from God is fulfilled in Christ! Therefore I am free - BY NO MEANS to sin ... but rather free to ENJOY LOVING GOD as He loves me! It is the joy of His love by which my soul is freed, and He poured that infinite love out upon His son who hung & died upon that old rugged cross, bearing the full wrath of a God zealous for His holiness and glory to be upheld and exalted, for the sake that in the salvation of man - in the salvation of me - God may receive the utmost glory.

Oh to live and to love God at all times ... I have no higher calling!

Free Love

“I will love them freely.”

Hosea 14:4

This sentence is a body of divinity in miniature. He who understands its meaning is a theologian, and he who can dive into its fulness is a true master in Israel. It is a condensation of the glorious message of salvation which was delivered to us in Christ Jesus our Redeemer. The sense hinges upon the word “freely.” This is the glorious, the suitable, the divine way by which love streams from heaven to earth, a spontaneous love flowing forth to those who neither deserved it, purchased it, nor sought after it. It is, indeed, the only way in which God can love such as we are. The text is a death-blow to all sorts of fitness: “I will love them freely.” Now, if there were any fitness necessary in us, then he would not love us freely; at least, this would be a mitigation and a drawback to the freeness of it. But it stands, “I will love you freely.” We complain, “Lord, my heart is so hard.” “I will love you freely.” “But I do not feel my need of Christ as I could wish.” “I will not love you because you feel your need; I will love you freely.” “But I do not feel that softening of spirit which I could desire.” Remember, the softening of spirit is not a condition, for there are no conditions; the covenant of grace has no conditionality whatever; so that we without any fitness may venture upon the promise of God which was made to us in Christ Jesus, when he said, “He that believeth on him is not condemned.” It is blessed to know that the grace of God is free to us at all times, without preparation, without fitness, without money, and without price! “I will love them freely.” These words invite backsliders to return: indeed, the text was specially written for such—“I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely.” Backslider! surely the generosity of the promise will at once break your heart, and you will return, and seek your injured Father’s face.

God.

I serve the Almighty. He is beyond words and my simpleton mind fails me to ponder all of God, who He is as described in the Bible.

He is described in Revelation as:

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! ... Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created ... Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

Today I was made wonderfully aware - yet again - just how unpredictable and extraordinary He is. A friend of mine who I had not spoken with (at any substantial length) for some time now, and I sat down for lunch. It was wonderful. It began by us crossing paths Wed at the library on campus, and we decided to get lunch ... after he described the last 3 months as "the best in his life" ... so, I had to know.

The testimony of God's great love and grace he shared with me is remarkable. At early age - surprisingly - due to sitting "indian-style" too much, his shin bones were curved. The potential of curved shin bones later in life is knee problems, apparently severe. So, he was at a Christian conference in GA recently ... and all of a sudden he told me he was overcome with sin pent up in his heart, things he needed to confess and ask forgiveness for. He said he wept.

But as he sat there, alone weeping with God, during a break in the teaching at the conference, he felt hands beginning to massage his shins ... he described the warmth of the touch, the soothing rotation of the massage ... and I can't remember if he said it was later that night or the next morning ... but within a short time after this experience ... he reported - to the glory of God the Father - that God had straightened his bones.

YES, his bones in his shins, curved for some 22 years, were made straight!!! - THAT IS POWER!!!

Personally, this is not surprising. I have experienced the healing power of the Lord, and I praise Him for that, I have heard of how people around the globe are being healed, seeing visions of Christ at the foot of their bed, telling them to follow Him (a personal invitation for Christ, the resurrected Christ, to become a child of God) ... and so, I am not surprised by this. Faith calls for the firmest of beliefs that miracles do happen, daily all around - both big and small (though I argue no miracle is small!) ... rather than surprise, I am filled with joy for my friend, and with awe and glory to the Lord for just how caring, compassionate, and good He is.

So I cry out with John, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! ... Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created ... Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!

beach

i love the beach. i am in florida now, and have been since sunday night, and will be 'til saturday morning. and its heavenly!

God made they beach to remind us of Him ... "more than the number of grains on the beach" ... who makes the water to come this far and stop, knowing its bounds ... waves of grace and mercy ... as avast as the ocean is so is His love toward us ... the gloriousness of the size of the ocean, the number of sand grains to help me to recall the infinitely greater vastness of his love, displayed ultimately in the cross of tortured upon which Jesus Christ died upon, its gloriousness reveals God's holiness ...

i love the beach and thank god for it ...