1. How freeing it is to apprehend that God uses every circumstance (even though He does not cause them all) in our life to develop both our character and our calling (purpose!)
2. God is all about family. He is the good, good Father, and we (every human being) are fully and unconditionally loved by Him. (thank you Chris Tomlin) That’s it! Our purpose as human beings is so simple … yet we mess it up all the time. Our individual calling (purpose) is simply to receive the boundless love of God, then share it with each & every person we encounter. Simple!
3. Since God is all about family, He sees no rejects, no losers, no lost causes. Since the beginning of time, He has desired a family. His desire is for ALL to join His family to share His goodness and His love, and since the beginning or your life and mine, He has been working to bring us into His family for the purpose of loving us. That’s it! No rules. No obligations. Only love! But … such unconditional love is so foreign it frightens most of us. Why?
4. Perhaps the most difficult concept to understand @ God is that He is much more concerned with our character than our comfort. He works continuously to craft each of us into unique billboards that radiate His love, so all may come into His family. It is God’s love that comforts us, corrects us, compels us & challenges us to share the love we so richly & abundantly receive. God is forever motivated by love, and so, too, we, as God’s sons and daughters are compelled to act out God’s love in our own lives.
5.”What if you rejected everything about God that wasn’t God and accepted Him for who He is — God for you?” This is from a powerful little book entitled, IF, by Mark Batterson
How much of what we attribute to God ought to actually be attributed to the words, attitudes, or deeds of certain believers? The single most radical concept of God is that He chooses in every case to love each person, AND He continuously moves heaven and earth to draw each one into His forever family. Unfortunately, none of us get it right … even most of the time,but He never stops drawing us. e never stops teaching us. He never stops lov
“We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to.
God whispers to us in our pleasures,
speaks in our conscience,
but shouts in our pains:
it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
I had an interview a couple weeks ago, and the interviewer told me he was a Christian. We talked a bit, and he said his 6 yr old grandson had just been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. He was struggling with this. He said the child asked him why God was mad at him. He was actually asking my opinion.
So, I carefully asked a few foundational questions concerning the Nature of GOD:
1. Is GOD sovereign?
2. Does GOD love each of us equally?
If GOD is Sovereign …
The concept of GOD’s sovereignty rests on His nature as Creator. If He designed and created all things, then He ought to have “sovereign” control in the design and functionality of all He created. Isn’t that the “fair” thing? Whatever we create, we expect to “control,” yes?
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 6 “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. ~ Jeremiah 18: 5-6
If GOD is sovereign, He can rightfully do with each of us as He pleases. It is really that simple. So then, the companion question revolves around the perfect Love of GOD.
Does GOD love each of us equally?
Romans 5: 6-8
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4: 9-10
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
There are many more parts of the Bible that talk about, define, and express the boundless unconditional Love of God freely given to you and me. In fact, honestly the entire Bible is one giant “Love Letter” explaining how deep, how wide, how high, and how limitless GOD’S LOVE is for us. He created us for His pleasure, to have an open friendship with Him. To apprehend that the Creator of the Universe desires an intimate friendship with us, with each of us, as David says, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.” (Ps 139:6)
“The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves, is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word “love”, and look on things as if man were the centre of them. Man is not the centre. God does not exist for the sake of man. Man does not exist for his own sake. “Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” We were made not primarily that we may love God (though we were made for that too) but that God may love us, that we may become objects in which the divine love may rest “well pleased”.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
The Problem of Pain, by C. S. Lewis, takes a deeper look at the difficulty so many Believers, and the Church at large, have with the reality of PAIN. Sometime in the last century, the Western Church adopted a wrong mentality in the belief that becoming a Christian meant suddenly that all pain and difficulty would be removed from our lives. To accept that belief is to deny reality AND the ability of GOD to walk us through pain.
In fact,Jesus promises us pain … tribulation, affliction, difficulty – whatever word fits your situation or mine.
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.
In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” ~ John 16: 33
Why would Jesus bother to say this if He planned to remove all our pain?
Pain is a part of the human condition, and it is here to stay. Going back to the statement the interviewer’s grandson made, the fact that this child has diabetes is not an indication of GOD’s wrath or disapproval. Nor is it a curse, a punishment, or just for fun.
I don’t pretend to understand why beautiful, loving people are stricken with cancer or helpless children become victims of abuse. This much I do know: GOD loves endlessly, so I have to trust that GOD, in His sovereignty, has a GOOD purpose even in those events or situations that seem irredeemable because GOD is good and He cannot move against his nature.
“As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation- either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
James 1 starts with this admonition:
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James tells us that our “trials” have divine purpose, and that purpose involves growing something in us of Christ, that we “lack nothing!” So we’re encouraged to “count is all JOY!” Elsewhere, we’re told to “In everything, give thanks!”
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalm 136: 1-2
It’s all a matter of perspective.
We can choose to sit around and bemoan the imperfections of our life, the apparent areas of lack, the unanswered prayers, or
We can do as the Psalmist does in this Psalm, and rehearse the GOODNESS of GOD, and give thanks for GOD’s faithfulness to us, especially in the dark places.
Seeking perfection in this life will only bring us disappointment and despair, while rehearsing GOD’s GOODNESS will enable us to savor richness of this life.
The facts remain. GOD will never leave you no matter what happens. His love for you and I doesn’t hinge on our behavior, our attitude, or our faith! GOD chooses to love us … each of us. He gave us hundreds of promises and He is not able to lie because He IS Truth. He is not able to break His promises because His name is “Faithful and True!”
“There is no security is what God is doing. There is only security is who God is!” ~ Graham Cooke”
Graham Cooke
We are surrounded by promises, in America, and most of them never had any intention of being fulfilled! Politicians say exactly what they think we want to hear, not because they actually believe it, but simply to earn our trust and our vote. Broken promises have been in the news lately with the “If you like your plan and your Doctor, you can keep them!” lie. The President and his adherents knew from the beginning that was a lie, yet they intentionally repeated it for months.
Contrary to the multitude of unfulfilled promises of politicians, GOD fulfills promises everyday. The Bible is filled with wonderful & lofty promises that, frankly, are incredibly hard to believe. Yet, any one of us can challenge GOD’S faithfulness by apprehending any promise in faith.
At the top of the page is a promise: All things are possible with God. (Matthew 19:26)
Believe that? I mean do you believe it in your LIFE, or just with your head? There is a difference!
There are many, many more!
Pick a promise! Choose one that fits a difficult circumstance in your life. Pick it & believe it! Each & every promise issues from the loving heart of God. Every one! But that’s not the cool part! The cool part is that GOD has spoken each promise to ME and to YOU … as individuals! When GOD says, “Don’t be afraid, for I AM with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I AM your GOD! I will comfort you! Yes, I will help you! And I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness!” (Isaiah 41:10) GOD is talking to me, but HE is also talking to you. All we have to do … is actively BELIEVE! Can you do that? I can …if I remember who GOD is. If I remember He designed Creation, all its moving parts (not the parts mankind has corrupted, but the wondrous ways Laws of Nature,) and brought it into being with a Word! Ha!
In spite of GOD’S vastness, or maybe because if it, GOD has set His unfathomable love on us, and we see that in His promises. All his promises flow from that love and are evidenced in His unspeakable GOODNESS!
The yes to all of God’s promises is in Christ, and through Christ we say yes to the glory of God.2 Corinthians 1:20
LOVE. It’s our deepest, most urgent need. It’s a requirement for life. Every single human shares this basic need, yet in spite of the volumes written on the topic, a vast array of poems and songs written on the subject, few of us have a clear handle of exactly what Love is.
We often hear “Life is a journey” these days, and I suggest that Love is our destination and our source. We taste it on clear sunny days. We smell it in a gentle spring shower. We hear it in the laughter of children, and we get a glimpse in the touch of a loved one. Never a banquet, only a sample, enough to compel us onward … and a Promise.
Love is not weak, easy, or shallow. Love always … always multiplies. The deepest Love is a promise, a unity of hearts, goals, and future hope.
11 I say this because I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future. 12 Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me! 14 I will let you find me,” says the Lord. “And I will bring you back from your captivity. Jeremiah 29:11-14
As humans, we typically look for the easy route, the path of lest resistance. But the richness of God’s Love takes us always into the deep water without a life jacket, not to drown us, as some suppose, but to empower us to fly higher, dive deeper, push harder, to continue on when there are no landmarks we recognize to take GOD’s love to each and every person. God’s love soothes and inspires. His love never changes … NEVER! Still, it doesn’t always feel like a warm blanket either, but Love is always … always ultimately drawing us to Him: our Source and our Goal, the Beginning and the End. One taste just isn’t enough, but how do we get there?
This song as always been a prayer to me. I’m asking God to show me what Love is … and I know He will answer. Care to take the plunge with me? It’s a little scary, but … is it safe? “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” ~ C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
♫ I Want to Know What Love is ♫
I gotta take a little time
A little time to think things over
I better read between the lines
In case I need it when I’m older
Aaaah woah-ah-aah
Now this mountain I must climb
Feels like a world upon my shoulders
And through the clouds I see love shine
It keeps me warm as life grows colder
In my life there’s been heartache and pain
I don’t know if I can face it again
Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far
To change this lonely life
I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is
I know you can show me
Aaaah woah-oh-ooh
I’m gonna take a little time
A little time to look around me, oooh ooh-ooh ooh-ooh oooh
I’ve got nowhere left to hide
It looks like love has finally found me
In my life there’s been heartache and pain
I don’t know if I can face it again
I can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far
To change this lonely life
I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is
I know you can show me
I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
And I wanna feel, I want to feel what love is
And I know, I know you can show me
Let’s talk about love
(I wanna know what love is) the love that you feel inside
(I want you to show me) I’m feeling so much love
(I wanna feel what love is) no, you just cannot hide
(I know you can show me) yeah, woah-oh-ooh
I wanna know what love is, let’s talk about love
(I want you to show me) I wanna feel it too
(I wanna feel what love is) I wanna feel it too
And I know, and I know, I know you can show me
Show me what is real, woah (woah), yeah I know
(I wanna know what love is) hey I wanna know what love
(I want you to show me), I wanna know, I wanna know, want know
(I wanna feel what love is), hey I wanna feel, love
I know you can show me, yeah
GOD is love! He is in the business of LOVE … for the Love of GOD!
On May 26, President Obama stood before the cameras in what was once the town of Moore, Oklahoma and gave a heartfelt speech. He proudly told the media that it wasn’t just the government responding to the devastation caused by a massive tornado, but gave high praise to churches and community groups for their support. President Obama challenged all Americans to “step up…Go online, donate to the American Red Cross…”
The president went on to tell the story he heard about a Bible found in the wreckage that was open to Isaiah 32:2, “The verse,” he said, “read, ‘A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest’…. and it’s a reminder, as Scripture often is, that God has a plan, and it’s important, though, that we also recognize we’re an instrument of his will.” Continuing, Obama said, “And we need to know that as fellow Americans, we’re going to be there as shelter from the storm for the people of Moore who have been impacted.”
Moore and Oklahoma City need blankets and toys to replace what the storm took from them, and yes, like the President said, the citizens need water, food and shelter. This is especially true after a second tornado struck Oklahoma City just eleven days after the suburb of Moore was leveled by an EF-5 twister on May 20.
Reaching out and helping those in need is a Biblical command that is all too easy to ignore in the hope that someone else is doing something to help. However the visceral image 1 John 3:17-18 paints for the believer is hard to avoid: “But if anyone has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”
While President Obama did a great job of telling the country about Moore’s need for the world’s goods, he failed to mention their need for God’s love. The Oklahoma City area needs to see the Church – not just churches – reaching out to love them. The Church, which is made up of believers like you, needs to “step up” to the challenge; not just because the Commander in Chief told it to, but because God calls the believer to help those in need. There are countless Christian non-profits, such as Samaritan’s Purse, and The Salvation Army, where you can donate funds to aid the needy in Moore. What a testimony it would be if the Church gave so much that government, or secular non-profit funds were unnecessary. READ MORE HERE
What is God’s plan for His Church in These Troubled Times?
First, God’s Church is defined as all who call on the name of Jesus to be saved from their sinfulness by Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection. Denominations, local assemblies, or groups (including the Roman Catholic church) are each PART of the whole. In addition, there are millions of believers who no longer go to a local fellowship, but rather they gather together randomly at local restaurants, parks, or private living rooms. ROMANS 10: 1-13 NASB
Second, we (God’s Church) are to grow up into the likeness and image of Christ by letting the Holy Spirit teach us God’s ways and God’s nature and equip us to be Salt and Light to a world in darkness thirsting to be free. Like our physical muscles need exercise to grow strong, so our spiritual muscles require exercise to grow and develop into useful gifts and skills. It is our responsibility (and joy) to be equipped via the Holy Spirit residing within us, and prepared for whatever path God leads us to follow. Ephesians 4:11-16 NASB
Finally, our day to day life is to reflect the love of God we have received, even as a mirror reflects the image of the one gazing into it. God has stamped each believer with His own image, and that image is what draws the lost, from the farthest corners of the globe, to Jesus. Obviously, we cannot do this in our on design, our own intelligence, our own wisdom, or our own compassion. We just can’t, because it isn’t our intelligence, our wisdom, our plans, or our compassion that can open the understanding of one still blinded by sin. Only God’s love can rent that veil. We carry that love, if in fact, we have received it, and that allows us – empowers us to reflect it, to let it flow through us out toward the lonely, the broken, those in despair, lost in the darkness. Every place we go … to work, to shop, to play … we carry the Love of God. It is not given to us to hold, but to share, and that requires courage and faith! 2 Corinthians 3: 15-18 AMP
As the days grow darker, Light will become more needed, but it will also become more visible (or it should!) We must allow God to continue to cleanse and purify our hearts and minds so the Light will be clear and bright. God, by His Holy Spirit, does the work. All we must do is let Him!
My experience tells me most local congregations spend more time, talent, and money on their own “aquarium,” rather than on training and equipping “Fishers of men!” Jesus said that the way the world would recognize His people (and thereby HIM) was by the way we LOVE one another. Is that not our Primary Mission? To draw all men (and women) to God? John 12: 31-32 NASB; John 15: 9-17 NKJV
34 I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. 35 By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples,
if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves].
John 13:34-35 AMP
THIS, then, is God’s plan for His Church, to LOVE … to Love one another and appreciate our differences, to love the lost, to love sinners (like us!), to love them FROM the darkness INTO the Light!
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people for God’s own possession”
… WHY?
“so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him
who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 1 Peter 2:9 NKJV
No finger pointing, no condemnation, no name-calling, no back-biting, no slandering, no judgement!!! THAT is God’s job, and He judges via mercy. LOVE is the Mission of the CHURCH. Not soft, sentimental, mushy love, but strong, decisive, empowering, freeing, UNCONDITIONAL love that ONLY flows from God the Father of all mankind! Nope, not easy. Only way we can do it is by the LOVE of God flowing THROUGH us … If we run out, we know it wasn’t God’s love, but our own. Come on, CHURCH … LOVE!!!!! The lost are waiting … Let’s get fishing!!!
3. Since God is all about family, He sees no rejects, no losers, no lost causes. Since the beginning of time, He has desired a family. His desire is for ALL to join His family to share His goodness and His love, and since the beginning or your life and mine, He has been working to bring us into His family for the purpose of loving us. That’s it! No rules. No obligations. Only love! But … such unconditional love is so foreign it frightens most of us. Why?
5.”What if you rejected everything about God that wasn’t God and accepted Him for who He is — God for you?” This is from a powerful little book entitled, IF, by Mark Batterson 
blogsense-by-barb 