The Peace That Surpasses All Understanding

"Your words were found, and I ate them.  Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart..." (Jeremiah 15:16, HCSB).  
"I rejoice at Your promise, like one who finds great treasure," (Psalm 119:162, HCSB).  
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope," (Rom. 15:13, ESV).  
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," (Rom. 5:5, ESV).  

God promises peace to all whose hearts are fixed on Him (cf. Isaiah 26:3).  Heb. 3:1; 12:1 also emphasizes this only more specifically focused on Jesus. Corrie ten Boom said that if we look at the world we are distressed, if we look at ourselves we are depressed, but if we look at Christ we are at rest!  We must heed biblical admonition and fix our thoughts on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, to get the "perfect peace" promised, Phil. 4:6-7 takes it from another angle:  avoiding anxiety is as simple as letting our requests be made known unto God with a grateful heart and we shall have this peace (the formula is that we worry about nothing, pray about anything, and thank about everything!). As David said in Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O LORD," we are to bring every thought into the captivity of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5) to enjoy His peace. 

Many believers seek peace through some comforting or favorite Bible passage or verse, as I have been asked to cite a good verse for someone depressed.  The answer is that what elevates and lifts my spirits may not work for that person, and besides, they're just getting into the habit of spiritual dependency instead of maturity.  We must learn to feed ourselves sooner or later and not be spoon-fed by our spiritual leaders.  

If I tell you some fantastic verse that could lift your mood and get you out of a funk or the doldrums, it would only be a temporary fix, and then later you would need another verse from me or another spiritual leader.  We can search our Facebook posts from our friends for something uplifting or read and like someone's post or re-post, but this isn't maturity.

The psalmist of Psalm 119:162 said that he treasured the Word of God as bounty and treasure--the joy is in finding it and letting God open your eyes to something in the Word. Job 23:12 says that he treasured the Word of God more than his necessary food!   As is also said in Psalm 119:18, "Open my eyes that I may contemplate wonderful things in Your instruction,"(HCSB).  The joy of a treasure hunter is in the discovery, the proclamation of eureka, or "I found it!" Then we won't need the crutch of some website to inspire us and give us verses to lift our spirits. 

So there is no single verse that's going to lift someone from their depressed funk or downcast spirit of discouragement, but the answer is in knowing how to find one of your own tailored to your needs at the moment--suited just for the situation you are in. I would tell that person who is an earnest seeker that God rewards those who sincerely seek Him and His face and that they simply should open the Bible and start reading and let God do His work and perform a miracle on their soul.

The main reason we get moods is that God intends us to know how to manage them and what to do to overcome our natural inclination to be negative--that is to say, we all are subject to the blues now and then!  But how we handle them is the challenge and we must learn to do something therapeutic for our spiritual health, not harmful to our attitude, for we all need an attitude check too, now and then.   Soli Deo Gloria!

But He Gives More Grace

John Bunyan wrote Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners to tell his testimony of salvation.  Paul also saw himself as the "chief of sinners."  It is true that the more sin, the more grace from God's abundance and bountiful provision:  "Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more" (Rom. 5:20).  We are great sinners and need a great Savior!  Salvation goes to the unqualified, not those who see themselves as righteous.  "No perfect people need apply" to God's church!  James 4:6 tells of God granting more grace to the believer and how:  "He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

This is the way it is in God's economy:  the way up is down; we must humble ourselves to be exalted.  Christianity is full of paradoxes like these:  we must become emptied to be filled; we must give to receive; we must love to be loved; we must serve to be served &c.  God sees things in a different light than the natural man. The wisdom of the world is foolishness to God!  The lesson on grace is that we are commanded to grow in it:  "But grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ"  (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).

Notice that grace and knowledge are juxtaposed or linked in this verse!  They go hand in hand and can be distinguished but not separated.  God doesn't want us to remain in ignorance but to grow in knowing Him; for this is eternal life--to know God and His Son Jesus whom He sent.  To know Him is to love Him!  But God frowns upon ignorance and puts a premium on knowledge and wisdom.  One fault of Israel is that they had a "zeal for God, but not according to knowledge" (cf. Rom. 10:2).

Our hearts must be right before the Lord in our service not like Amaziah's who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but not with a right heart (cf. 2 Chron. 25:2).  We are only eligible for grace when our hearts are right before the Lord, for the Lord looks upon the heart and sees our motives (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7; Prov. 21:2). Then we are candidates for more grace!  God is a God of grace and mercy and is good to all: to some in all ways, to some in few ways (cf. Psalm 145:9), but good to all nevertheless!  No one will be able to accuse God of not being good! But some will realize that this isn't the whole equation for them--God is also just, holy, and righteous!

Some err in adding merit to grace, tradition to Scripture, the church to Christ, and works to faith!  Salvation is by grace and not by merit or it wouldn't be grace, it would be justice and God would be obligated to save us; however, He is obligated to save no one!  In grace, God gives us what we don't deserve, in mercy He withholds what we do deserve.  Merit is the antithesis of grace and there is no place for merit in salvation--we cannot prepare ourselves for it or do any pre-salvation work; therefore, there is nothing for us to boast of before God. Grace is not only necessary for our salvation, but sufficient--it doesn't just facilitate it, but completes it and we don't deserve it, cannot earn it, cannot pay it back, and we cannot add to it! Therefore, grace is defined as the unmerited favor of God and one of the Five Only's of the Reformers was that salvation was sola gratia or by grace alone!

Our salvation is by grace all the way we are:  called by grace; saved by grace; believing by grace; kept by grace; empowered by grace; delivered from sin by grace; sanctified by grace; and glorified by grace!  God gets all the credit in our salvation.  That's why Jonah 2:9 says, "Salvation is of the LORD," (not of us and the Lord nor of us alone either)!   If it were even partly by us, we'd blow it!  When God is responsible for our salvation, it's by grace and cannot be taken away or forfeited, because it wasn't by merit in the first place.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Who Am I?

"But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me--and not without results ["I am what I am by the grace of God]" (1 Cor. 15:10, NLT).  
"But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!"  (Rom. 5:8, HCSB).
"The law came along to multiply the trespass.  But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more"  (Rom. 5:20, HCSB).  
"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'  Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me" (2 Cor. 12:9, HCSB).  
"Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!..."  (Isaiah 45:9, KJV).
"I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see."  --Amazing Grace, public domain

When I was in college it was popular to search for yourself, find yourself, and to know yourself.  I had gotten religiously confused and was going through an identity crisis or moratorium to find myself--but which one, for I came to feel I was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!  I went all through high school thinking I was a somebody because of my scholastic achievements--they said I bloomed too early--then when I went to college found out I was a nobody in comparison, actually being with students who offered intellectual challenge.

Then my pride in myself or my self-respect or ego had suffered a blow.  I endured several years wandering from job to job and finally entering the military thinking I was a nobody going to amount to nothing or what you might call a ne'er-do-well, or even a loser!  But in the service I found new life as I really got connected with a fellowship known as the Navigators (a parachurch ministry), with whom I hooked up with and who discipled me to grow up in Christ and realize the spiritual potential I always had but never realized--we all have unrealized potential if we look for it and use it!

I was a fast learner and soaked up the Bible, memorizing hundreds of verses and realizing a new talent I had doing this.  I was finding out in real time that even being a nobody, God could do something with me to His glory and use me as a vessel of honor, if I submitted to His lordship and ownership of my life.  I learned to lead people to Christ, and even my mom credits me for doing this while I was on leave.  I can remember my first witness to her as saying, "Mom, you're going to love the new me!'  and her reply was that she loved "the old me!"   I felt for the first time that I could lead a fulfilling life doing God's will without achieving the so-called American dream or of being a success according to the standards of the world.

Moses went through similar steps in his life:  forty years thinking he was a somebody; then forty years thinking he was a nobody; then finally forty years finding out what God can do with a nobody!  It was during his sojourn in the land of Midian that he was called of God and wondered there about his being unqualified to serve a gracious and merciful God (this is a contradiction in terms).  He had three excuses:  Who am I?  I am slow of speech; and they won't believe me!

I have wondered the same thing as that about myself.  Of course Jesus was right that your own family is the last who people actually give you any praise or credit. But we are to witness to them first!  I never thought I was a great writer but I just felt called to write and to vent or hone my skills via blogging and voila, there were hundreds and hundreds of posts fit to be published (and to this date they comprise ten volumes personally published).  But the point is that I believed the verse promise:  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"  (cf. Phil. 4:13).

God will always be with us to give us strength to do His will (cf. Col. 1:19)--even the means and support.  The Bible also says God promises to meet our need  (cf. Phil. 4:9) and to equip us to do His will (cf. Heb. 13:21).  Now I'm perfectly poised to do nothing but God's will even as if I were a monk in a monastery with no outside or mundane worries or concerns--just like Christ said that a soldier doesn't get involved in civilian affairs to be a good soldier.  I can virtually devote myself into full-time service of the Lord.

I not only have had the time and opportunity to do God's will, but the encouragement, the inspiration from a Bible-preaching church with inspired expository preachers, but also a little extra financial support for the extras that my mom as a special benefactor to me.  She is responsible for making the transition a little easier and also been my closest spiritual confidant and support or even rock to depend on when I needed advice or sympathy--it is good to have a wise and godly mom to learn from and I realized in time that she was wise, while my younger brothers seem to not yet have come to this realization. 

We all must realize that we have potential with God and must aim high to realize it.  As William Carey preached:  "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God!"  If we aim at nothing--we'll get there!  Jesus is the prize and goal!  (Cf. Heb. 12:2)  Success, which has many definitions besides monetary, doesn't come by accident! Now, I feel fulfilled in life because I know I'm doing God's will and that's ultimately the safest place to be where the devil cannot touch me and there is a hedge of protection around me.  When Christians say that they have found it (in reality He found us per Isaiah 65:1), I can connect with that.  There is meaning and purpose in life beyond the mundane and what the world offers (cf. 1 John 2:1)--for the more room for what the devil offers with his delicacies and temptations, the less room for God's riches and blessings--that's simple math and I was always good at mathematical equations, which can come in handy!

But we will never find out who we are in Christ unless our hearts are fully committed and we know Christ as our Lord.  To find your spiritual gift you have to be willing to serve and find out what God uses you for--it may take experimentation and a willingness to debut for your dreams--but don't stop dreaming.  Some people only know Him as the Savior: for instance, they may say, "I am a great sinner, and Jesus is a great Savior; it's a great relationship!" These believers are merely carnal and cannot expect to get anything from the Lord.  We don't want to sin presumptuously (cf. Gal. 2:21), tempt or test God and take His grace for granted or to resist it either.  We must learn to walk with God to ever grow into adulthood, for the length of being saved doesn't always mean maturity.  Some believers never grow up! 

Moses (cf. Numbers 12:3) was one of the few men in the Bible who actually walked with God and the only one besides Christ who was called meek or humble! But Christ calls all His children to walk with Him in fellowship and the Holy Spirit makes this possible.   We are called to walk by faith and not by sight! No matter how far we progress spiritually or in the eyes of the world, we must never forget who we are and what our roots are--where we came from.  Many of us have humble beginnings like Gideon (the least in his family) or Amos (the shepherd and took care of sycamore-fig trees), and few of us are of noble roots like Moses (the crown prince).  Even David was but a humble shepherd before being called and anointed of God.

Few of us are as educated as a Dr. Luke or Paul as a Pharisee, but we don't have an excuse to remain ignorant for God frowns upon that and places a premium on knowledge, wisdom and understanding.  Isaiah says to look to the rock from which we were hewn! That means remaining faithful to our calling in God and never losing touch or caring about family if possible.   But Christ did say that He could be a cause of division and even a sword within families, so we must put our faith first. 

Now there was one man in the Bible who was righteous in God's eyes, but also knew it; namely, Job.  He would not let go of his integrity for the world and would never consider himself a sinner or worthy of punishment, but he kept his faith in God and didn't charge Him with error.  At the end of his ordeal, he was humbled by a vision of God and realized he was indeed a nobody--and then he finally repented. We must all realize that we amount to nothing apart from God but it doesn't matter who we are in the long term, but who God is:  it all boils down to how big our God is.

In closing, let me add one final thought:  In light of the fact that we are in a no-lose proposition or that we are in a win-win one from the spiritual perspective, we cannot fail at God's will done in faith for God is on our side and we cannot lose (cf. Psalm 118:6), He is with us eternally and we are never alone (cf. Isa. 41;10), and He believes in us more than we do and our situation is never hopeless (cf. Isa. 49:6; Jer. 29:11).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Come As You Are Party!

"Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound"  (Psalm 89:15, NKJV). 

God wants us to celebrate a new life with Him, which began upon acceptance of Him as the owner of our life and in the dedication of ourselves to Him and whatever that may involve, known as our cross to bear.  We must be willing to follow through thick and thin, come what may, wherever the chips may fall, even when they are down,  nor to faint in adversity but go from faith to faith.   The Christian life, though no easy affair, is a family affair lived with the Godhead indwelling us and engaging the fellowship of the church body.

It has been said that Christian living is not hard, but impossible!  The only way to have victory is to walk in the Spirit and to abide in Christ, for without Him we can do nothing and are nothing but weak vessels of clay in the hands of the Potter (cf. Isaiah 45:9; 64:6).  We must live to glorify and enjoy Him as we desire to honor Him in all we do and think and rethink--for our religion isn't just externalism, but internally affecting our thought life and meditations.

God invites all to come to Christ in the message of the gospel and opens our hearts to have faith and repent, in that they are not meritorious works, but acts of grace by the Holy Spirit.  We believe through grace!  God quickens faith within us and we become alive in Christ with a whole new perspective and outlook on life.  We can do no pre-salvation works to prepare for salvation (the only qualification is to acknowledge we are unqualified as sinners), but we all must come as we are in faith and believe God for a miracle to transform us into new creatures in Christ--it's all a work of grace, God getting all the glory.  But the good news is that we will not stay that way, no matter what our prior condition was, Jesus is still in the resurrection business and the power that rose Him from the dead can be alive in us as we come to know it first-hand (cf. Phil. 3:10), not second-hand or hearsay.

We live our lives as works in progress realizing all the while God is not finished with us yet, till we arrive in glory.  God always finishes what He starts and He has begun a good work in us!   When we enter eternity we will receive a threefold commendation:  an affirmation of "well done, thou good and faithful servant!" a promotion of "thou hast been faithful in small things and shall be faithful in much," and a final celebration of "enter thou into the joy of the Lord!"  The party that will last for eternity and we must realize that this world is passing away and is temporal while we are pilgrims with our real citizenship and portion are in heaven forever. 

Oh, the joy of those who have learned to walk by faith and not by sight or even feeling, but have learned by faith that God is real and seeing Him at work in the world, in their lives, and in circumstances known as Providence.  Noah probably had the best resume in the Bible, for he was a just man and perfect in his generations, and he walked with God!  (cf. Gen. 6:9).  We all have the opportunity and ability to do likewise--walk with God, because we have the indwelling Spirit to convict us of our sins, illuminate the Word, and to enjoy in fellowship, even to inspire us for life.

What is worship, but celebrating what the Lord has done and who He is?  We can learn to appreciate and adore Him for all His works and to realize that we are His greatest miracle because He transformed us from the inside out and made us new creatures in Christ.  Christians realize that Christ is the Lord who made us and owns it all, and worshiping is a way of giving back to Him spiritually and acknowledging this ownership of our spirit as a mere token of our gratitude.  We are led by the Spirit to worship the Godhead and thus celebrate the glory of God realized in Christ's work.

In our celebration, we should keep certain things in mind:  our past is forgiven, our present is given meaning, and our future is secured.  We have a reason for living and can live on purpose for God's glory and not for ourselves.   Our salvation is more than mere forgiveness, it's a new adventure with Jesus, a way of life or relationship, turning our creed into deeds (cf. Titus 2:14). How shall we escape if we neglect such great salvation? (cf. Heb. 2:3).

Don't view the faith as an escape, a crutch, a way out, or a way to just cope with life, but how to live victoriously through life with the peace of God, and the purpose and power to overcome our sin nature--our worst enemy could be ourselves! (Cf. John 10:10)  We can view our salvation as past (saved us from the punishment due our sin); present  (being saved from its power); and pending (awaiting glory and freedom from the presence of sin in glory).  We even see new meaning in our trials and adversities that build our character, and it is our privilege to suffer for \the sake of the Name.  In the final analysis, it's not just forgiveness for what we've done, but deliverance from what we are! 

CAVEAT:  NO ONE REMAINS THE SAME AFTER AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE LORD, WE COME AS WE ARE, BUT ARE GUARANTEED NOT TO STAY THAT WAY!  SO ASK YOURSELF IF YOU ARE READY FOR A NEW LIFE WITH CHRIST AT THE HELM OWNING YOUR SOUL AND DESTINY.    LET THE PARTY BEGIN! THE BEST IS YET TO COME!        Soli Deo Gloria!

He Saved Others....

 "His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins"  (cf. Matt. 1:21).


When Jesus was crucified the crowds taunted and mocked Him, admitting He saved others and wondered why He didn't save Himself!  If Jesus had saved Himself, He couldn't have saved us!  He loved us more than Himself and His life and paid the penalty we deserved.  The crowds were convinced that He performed miracles and healed people, and even that He saved others; so why couldn't He save Himself?  He deliberately chose to be Savior first, then King and His saviorhood was on His mind not His own well-being. 

The crowds actually condemned themselves by admitting they knew He was the Savior and could save, because they never were saved themselves and applied what He taught--on His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, they hailed Him as the King, and shouted "Hosanna!' or Lord, "save us now!" Perchance they had become disillusioned and thought He was not going to deliver them from the Roman rule after all.

We all can be guilty of the sin of vicarious faith.  We can hear someone's testimony and see a miracle at work in their life and actually believe they are saved and have been transformed by the blood of Jesus, but not apply it to oneself.  Believing Jesus saves isn't enough; we must believe He saved us!  We must personalize our faith and not let it be second-hand knowledge.  We must individually experience Christ and then authenticate it by sharing it and spreading the word by faith.  The only way to keep our faith is to give it away!  We may have family and friends with whom we are familiar and have personally witnessed them morph into new creatures in God's eyes, but that isn't enough to save us--we must personally receive Christ into our heart as its Lord and surrender ownership of our life to Him to even get to first base in the game of following Christ.

Jesus never encouraged the curious or the half-hearted trifler who wasn't ready for full commitment.  He was honest enough to warn us of the trials and tribulations and adversities we'd face, to test our faith.  Salvation is free but not cheap; it costs something to be saved (our ownership of our life), but it costs infinitely more not to be saved.  Some people will never apply the equation to themselves and live their whole life vicariously admiring how God worked in other people's lives, but not witness personal transformation.

The Jews weren't interested in being saved from their sins! But that is precisely why Christ was born!  The Jews wanted deliverance from Roman rule!  When the geopolitical dreams vanished, so did the enthusiasm and false disciples. Jesus had no trouble gathering crowds, for His reputation preceded Him, and He even had to keep a low profile later on and stay out of the limelight, for the leaders often tried to kill Him.  He wasn't going to die before His time and before completing His work and purpose to glorify the Father.   In the final analysis, it's not whether He can save Himself, or whether you believe He saved others, but whether He saved you and you believe this! 

In sum, Jesus wasn't the Messiah of conventional wisdom, but He was born to be a man on a mission extraordinaire to save His people from their sins ( cf. Matt. 1:21).        Soli Deo Gloria!

How To Live The Good Life

"If I want to know how to live in reality, I must know what God is really like." --Plato

Most people have dreams and fantasies, maybe even a bucket list of things to do in life in order to feel fulfilled or complete.  How about a bucket list of doing God's will?  Achieving the American dream isn't the answer to life; you can have everything to live on and nothing to live for!  The problem has never been dreams or wishes but in how to achieve them; most people end their lives in frustration have never "found themselves" or what God's will was for them.  We must be purpose-driven to have an impact and focused on our goals with a chord that will vibrate for eternity.

Not just to be remembered, but to be a game-changer.  According to the Bible, God has an intricate purpose and individual tailor-made plan for each of us, and if we are in God's will, walking by faith, we will find it to be the safest and most blessed place to be found.  We are hard-wired to work in our calling and to worship God.  He is interested in our whole being (heart, mind, body, soul, spirit) and its holistic health, not an unbalanced life that isn't worthy of our walk and has no testimony. 

Even Christians can have a secular worldview and not think biblically.  The goal in life is not just to be a goody-goody or to seek pleasure (you only go around once, grab all the gusto you can!), because God isn't primarily concerned with our "happiness," (which depends on happenings), but with us glorifying and enjoying Him.  There are intrinsic rewards and incentives in finding wisdom, which is more precious than rubies (cf. Prov. 8:11).   The result of the moral life is one of confidence and a good reputation, which is more valuable than riches too.

We all ought to seek a life beyond reproach so that the infidel has nothing evil to say about us (cf. Eph. 4:1).  One blockage to good thinking is not to have a Christian worldview; we all need to get our thinking straightened out and learn to think clearly, which will result in sound discourse and dialogue.  When we do find fulfillment and joy in life we become contagious and it shows.  Many people claim inner joy but haven't told their faces!

Plato thought of three inputs to our will, which control our ways:  desire, emotion, and knowledge.  We must make sure that we seek truth and feed on knowledge, wisdom, and understanding and even have a thirst for the Word, and we must have worthy ambitions and desires in life, and also the fulfilled person has his emotions in check.  But most people just are about as lazy as they dare to be and take the path of least resistance--the easy way out!

We must not ever pray for an easy life, but for God to increase our faith and strength. Remember, all a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart (cf. Prov. 16:2).   The study of ethics is about living the good life and we find it by practicing our ethics (putting our creed into action) and believing in miracles from God.   What we do is expect great things from God, but we must attempt them too, as William Carey would say.  Aim high, then!

God is the moral center of the universe and we all must have a moral compass and show moral fiber, for character counts!   But there is a danger to reducing Christianity to a system of ethics, a rule book, a catalog of rules, or a list of dos and don'ts.   We must never lose focus but keep looking onto Jesus and cultivate that personal relationship with Him.  Our ethic shows our character and the faith we have is the faith we show: we demonstrate, validate, and authenticate our faith by turning it into deeds, otherwise it's suspect and spurious, even bogus and hypocritical. Turning our knowledge into action is faith, demonstrated in obedience.   But avoiding sin and immorality is not all there is to Christian ethics; its summation is to follow Christ in full renewing, ongoing surrender.  We must not only cease to do evil, but do good!

Upon following Christ, now we don't go by feelings, but when doing the will of God, we'll have a peace that passes all understanding.  The person who really knows Christ knows how to live and live in reality.  Knowing truth is a matter of repentance and of being oriented to reality--only God can set us free form delusion (cf 2 Tim. 2:25).   Life in Christ isn't always a religious high or on cloud nine, but varies with the task, for God always fills us and anoints us for His work.   We must know and learn the real formula for feeling good:  know right, think right, do right, and finally, to feel right.  Doing the right thing should make one feel right.

God is good, but being good without God is evil and a parody of the real thing.  Now, I must conclude with the standard Jesus set (the Golden Rule):  the highest ethic of all and the highest incentive to do it.  We will never be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect--that's the standard, but the direction we go is the test!  Remember, God has great expectations for us and wants us to attempt to move mountains with our mustard-seed faith!   We all have unrealized potential and should actualize the innate worth we possess, not to let it be dormant and thus waste our lives.   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Place Of The Everlasting God

"God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in time of trouble" (Psalm 46:1, NIV).
"GOD IS our refuge and strength, a very help in times of trouble" (cf. Psalm 46:1, KJV).
"You are my hiding place..." (Psalm 32:7, NKJV).  
"You are my hiding place and my shield..." (Psalm 119:114, NKJV).
"Am I a God near at hand, says the LORD, 'And not a God afar off?  Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?' says the LORD; 'Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD."  (cf. Jer. 23:23-24).  
"The eternal God is your dwelling place [refuge], and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27, ESV). 
"He is there, and He is not silent."  --Francis A. Schaeffer

Abraham sure found out that God is never AWOL, or even MIA, but always the "God who is there," to borrow from one of Francis Schaeffer's books.   He is the God "who was, who is, and who is to be": the everlasting God--El Olam.   We can be assured that God is not some state of being (Is-ness), but a living Being (Is-ing) that is alive forevermore.  Jesus was dead and is alive and is the eternal Son of the Father---He didn't become the Son upon birth.  

God's nature is permanent--we can sure count on God--and God is always in character--never capricious, arbitrary, or whimsical like we are; He is predictable in the sense that He is the Great Promise Keeper and can be counted on to live up to His Word, which He exalts above all His name (cf. Psalm 138:2).  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8, NIV); this should give us comfort that He will never change His mind concerning us and our status in Him, though our state of fellowship may vary--we're still family to Him. 

Abraham found out that God was still God no matter where He went and that He wasn't just some local deity that ruled Canaan.  We cannot escape His sovereignty or power!  God transcends time because He created it!   The time-space continuum is relative to us and doesn't relate to God at all, for He is neither defined, confined, controlled, limited, nor improved by time itself.   What is time but a corollary of space and matter, and if neither of these existed, neither would time!  In our conception, things only go in succession--forward as they progress.

Therefore, we conclude that everything in the time-space continuum had a beginning or origin, even the universe--God is not in that continuum and therefore had no beginning.  Scientists even speculate that time began at the big bang; Scripture references the inauguration of time in 2 Tim. 1:9 and in Titus 1:2.  So theologians knew this before scientists "discovered time."  Now, the concept to be understood, is that if God created or invented time, He cannot be subject to it nor controlled by it as its slave--God is totally free and self-existent, slave to nothing.  God is outside time as it were and is able to manipulate it to His will--one year is as a thousand!

We can be assured of God's providence and guidance because He controls the future and also is able to know it by virtue of His sovereignty over time.  Everything seems like NOW to God!  He dwells in eternity and we live as the slaves of time.   But what happened at the incarnation of Jesus, but that God the Son entered our dimension of time and lived in subordination to the Father, emptying Himself, known as the kenosis, of the independent usage of His divine nature. 

This fact of the eternity of God may have been novel.  Had it dawned on him that God is still God everywhere and isn't territorial or local?  It was also in vogue to think that the more gods, the better! But having knowledge of the one true God was enough for him to feel secure and safe from his enemies.  Abimelech told Abraham that God was "obviously" with him "in everything [he does]." The testimony of the eternal God is apparent even to the outsider as we witness to them.

It is the preaching of the Word that can brings conviction, not our brilliance or arguments (cf. 1 Thess. 1:5); 2:13)--Abraham kept his faith in God and it showed.  Thanks be to God that we can count on Him always being in character and never out of harmony and sync with His plan (we can be on the same page of His will)--for He's not subject to moods, maudlin sentimentality, nor any human vulnerability.      Soli Deo Gloria!

Wherefore Art Thou, My God?

"There is no one who understands; no one who seeks God" (Romans 3:11, HCSB).
"'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it'" (Gen. 28:16, HCSB).
"... [W]hile my enemies continually taunt me, saying, 'Where is this God of yours?'" (Psalm 42:3, NIV).  
"Why let the nations say, 'Where is their God?'" (Psalm 115:2, NIV).  

NB:  WHEN ASKED, "WHERE IS GOD?"  WE OUGHT TO REPLY, "WHERE ISN'T HE?"  

Job wondered of the whereabouts of God and sought Him wholeheartedly, only to be finally rewarded by His visitation.  Remember: God didn't move, we did!   "If only I knew how to find Him so that I could go to His throne" (Job 23:3, HCSB).  If Job can wonder, so can we; not that He's deserted or left us alone, but that we sense His presence and feel in His will and at peace with Him. The Lord promises to be found by all sincere searchers, but His pet peeve or main complaint against man is that he doesn't seek God (cf. Rom. 3:11).

"... But from there, you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul."  (Deut. 4:29, HCSB).  Jesus reiterated that if we seek, we shall find; God is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself.  But Isaiah even recognized that God is is making Himself known to triflers and the merely curious or disobedient, in that he said, "Yes, You are a God who hides Himself..." (Isa. 45:15, HCSB).  Jeremiah also noticed that if we seek we will surely find God, "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you..." (Jer. 29:13-14, HCSB).

Our God is the God who is there (Jehovah Shammah) and He is here even when we don't know it, for He's always as close as the mention of His name.  Some people think they have found God, but He found them first: Pascal said, "I wouldn't have found God, had He not first found me."  Jesus is the great Hound of Heaven in search of lost sheep and He will find them.  This is verified in Scripture, Isaiah 65:1, HCSB, as follows:  "'I was sought by those who did not ask; I was found by those who did not seek Me...."  There used to be a bumper sticker that proclaimed, "I found it!" but they obviously didn't realize what Amazing Grace says, "I was lost, but now am found."  (Then they changed their rallying cry to "He found me!"  He found them!  God wasn't lost!  And God is not called it!

Francis Schaeffer wrote a book about God's presence saying "He is there, and He is not silent."  He said that Christianity is about the God who is there! Many who search for Jesus have just missed the boat on fellowship and have unconfessed sin or spiritual skeletons in their closets, and forget that He's as close as confessing all known sin, (call it as it is without cover up) for God indwells each believer and sometimes we quench the Spirit's fire and even insult the Spirit of grace, which grieves Him.   Let us always live up to the calling we have received in a worthy manner (cf. Eph. 4:1).

Now God has no galactic address or physical place of residence, for His everywhere-ness is apparent in His Providence and dealings with man.  For God is spirit!  If we approach Him in prayer and get entree to the throne room of grace and mercy, it's like entering another dimension and the presence of God.  For it has been postulated that God is invisible because He's in another dimension!  But we are not capable of seeing the invisible and the spirit world.

So where is God?  "'Am I a God who is only near'--this is the LORD's declaration--'and not a God who is far away?  Can a man hide himself in secret places and where I cannot see him?'--the LORD's declaration..  'Do I not fill the heavens and all the earth?' --the LORD's declaration"  (Jer. 23:23-24, HCSB).  Thus we are not capable of comprehending His presence:  "The finite cannot penetrate (grasp, or contain) the infinite" (old axiom).

In sum, after Adam had rebelled and fell in the Garden he hid out of shame and guilt and possibly wondered where God was or even wasn't, only to find out that God didn't hide, he did--and to discover you cannot hide from God!     Soli Deo Gloria! 

The Mystery Of The Proverbial Apple

What actually happened in the Garden of Eden?  There is a pseudepigraphical book, The Life of Adam and Eve, but I am not referencing that.  The first temptation of mankind in the perfect environment shows that we cannot blame our surroundings or call ourselves victims of circumstance.  Even if everything was perfect, we aren't and are vulnerable to sin; we would do the same as Adam and Eve and therefore confirm ourselves in sin to stand in solidarity with Adam, the head of the human race.

God had placed two special trees in the Garden of Eden:  the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam knew not their purposes.  God put one off-limits because Adam may not have been mature enough for it yet and He intended him to learn these things at a specified time or in the fullness of time, or whenever!  But this is merely speculation and we shouldn't second-guess God.

Eve wasn't looking for trouble, she was just curious, probably that a serpent could talk, or maybe she was too naive to think anything unusual. I wonder how much Adam had told her since she added to God's Word says, "And don't touch it."  It was referring to the forbidden fruit, whatever it was, we don't know for sure.  NB:  Temptation is not sinning (Jesus was tempted of the devil too), but when we yield it brings forth the fruit of sin.  Doubt often extends with augmentation or exaggeration and this leads to lies and distortions of truth.  Satan saw her coming and said, "Hath God said?" immediately calling God's Word into question and planting the seeds of doubt in her vulnerable mind (for the devil seeks whom he may devour).

The temptation went like this:  Eve was confused about the Word of God, then doubted it, then believed Satan, then she finally disobeyed God took of the fruit and gave some to her husband who then joined her willingly, for he was with her.

The question is not so much the act itself as the motive: why do it?  God looks on the heart (cf. Prov. 21:2).   Satan gave her incentive in promising,  "You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."  This sounds awfully tempting and alluring to anyone to be a god and today people seek to be gods rather than godly.  But it's the big lie of Satan.  The insinuation was that God was holding out on her!  Was she missing out on something that she deserves to have? Remember, Adam was nearby and failed to inform her and interfere, for he didn't dare cross her and chose to be on her side through thick and thin, even death.

God said that Adam was guilty of "listening to [Eve]."   They weren't choosing good vs. evil, for they were innocent, they were choosing to disobey God and actually, their own wisdom, delights, wills, enjoyment, fulfillment, and purpose apart from God's. They rejected God's plan!  People still do things their own way:  "We all like sheep have gone astray, we have all turned each to our own way" (Isa. 53:6).  We are like the Israelites in Judges who had no king and each did what was right in his own eyes.

This prototype sin that we all have confirmed ourselves in went as follows according to scholars:
Adam rejected God's authority, doubted His goodness, disputed His wisdom, repudiated His justice, contradicted His faithfulness, and spurned His grace. But haven't we all done that too? The point of Adam's sin was that he only had one simple rule to obey to keep in good standing with God and enjoy a life of paradise on earth,  and he couldn't keep that; what does that tell you about man-made rules, religion and our nature?  If he couldn't keep one simple rule, what makes him think he can keep any?

This worldly scandal had eternal implications--it changed the course of human history! They were expelled from paradise--the Garden of Eden for their own good (lest they eat of the tree of life and live forever in sin).  This was mercy.  God is also a God of judgment and must do something about the sin committed as promised ("the day you eat it, you shall die").  There would be no second chance or redo!  But God again in mercy delayed the culmination of death some 930 years, but the process of death began while they commenced to aging and growing old.

All in all, this episode wasn't just a phase they went through, but the suffering had just begun and the earth was now cursed for Adam's sake and Eve's pain in childbearing would begin.  They finally learned the great lesson of life of cause and effect and even though they tried to blame others, they had to admit that it was their own fault and they had failed God. God has been against the blame game ever since (cf, Isa 58:9).   Finally, the whole failure of freedom should be called "Edengate," or perhaps more appropriately:  "Applegate."   Soli Deo Gloria!  

Good Preacher/Bad Preacher

"So they said to each other, 'Weren't our hearts ablaze within us while He was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?'"  (Luke 24:32, HCSB).


You've heard of good cop/bad cop stories, but this applies to all professions.  Jesus was a preacher par excellence and had no peers.  "When Jesus had finished this sermon, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, because He was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes" (Matt. 7:29, HCSB).  There was something different about the way he taught that even the common man heard Him gladly. Jesus knew how to make that "connection" (to be on the same page) as if He were one of them--the Jews.  And He identified with the issues of the day, the problems and burdens of the Jews, and the message of grace itself--the good news.

But Jesus didn't just tell them what was on His mind, for telling isn't teaching any more than hearing is listening.  Good teachers illustrate and make their point clear, often repeating it for emphasis.  A good teacher must do certain basics to drive home that point he wants to make without losing focus:  introduction and attention-getting method, points he wants to make, illustrations of those points, and repetition or summary of what was said.  You tell them what you will say, say it, and tell them what you said.

Jesus had a revolutionary style!  He used figures of speech in His teaching and more specifically told stories, especially parables about familiar events or circumstances that drove home the point.  Jesus also used epigrams, or short, wise statements seeming like a paradox, and He also used object lessons from some accessible item or circumstance.  He also was known for how He framed questions in a Socratic manner that elicited a desired or obvious response. He would readily turn a question into another question.   He skillfully made use of metaphors people could relate to and likened Himself to familiar things in order to make the point clear.  The good preacher doesn't lose his listeners due to boredom or belaboring a point either.  He must be aware of where the flock is and sensitive to their attention span and how well he's keeping it, not getting lost or off on some tangent--stay on subject.

A sermon isn't a lecture or Bible study, it's an outreach to all the members of the body and even attendees and visitors.  A good pastor knows the difference between teacher mode and preacher mode!  There is a place for teaching in a sermon, but it's primarily preaching just like there's a place for preaching in a Bible study or teaching session.  But good preaching speaks to the heart, not just the mind; it doesn't just inform but enlightens and illuminates Scripture.  Going forward one should feel inspired, convicted, motivated, and above all, especially edified.  There is a difference between being informed and being educated.

A good sermon isn't just "interesting" but it should be "challenging." We seek to be enlightened in the Word and see Jesus come alive in it.  Just presenting facts will inform, but showing how to apply them will enlighten and illumine us.  We must not see the Word as merely something to be well-informed about; we can know the Bible and a lot about it, without knowing the Author.  The preacher can lecture on the nature of Christ quite eloquently and not even be aware of His presence and maybe not even know the Lord much personally.

We need our eyes opened to wonderful things in the Word, and all Scripture surely is profitable for doctrine, but also for instruction in righteousness (application).  If we don't go away with any application the preacher really hasn't done a complete work.  Yes, we must all preach sound doctrine, but sound preaching is more than just preaching doctrine.  Jonathan Edwards said that his doctrine was all application and his application was all doctrine.  His sermons were meant to start revivals not lecture in theology (everyone knows him for "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God").   One's passion must be in the preaching to show that it affects you before it can affect others, especially the lost.   Good preachers preach the Word, in season and out, and comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable!   

When the preacher actually makes contact with the flock, they feel he's one of them and can put himself in their shoes.  They identify with the preacher and know where he's coming from.  That's why Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me."  "... The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.  They will never follow a stranger, instead, they will run away from him, because they don't recognize the voice of strangers" (cf. John 10:4-5, HCSB).  Sheep know their shepherd!    Soli Deo Gloria!