Faith Inspiration - Oswald Chambers - Our Great Capacity for God - Part 3: The Truth About Sin

I think most of us would agree that we are living in dark times. Yes, the light of God is still present, but if we believe God’s Word we know hard times are coming and the darkness will reach all across the world. The cause of this darkness revolves around the existence of sin in the world and the desire of Satan to destroy. There will come a time when God will pull His protective hand away from this world and Satan and his evil will reign, but only for a time.

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The world, since the fall, has been guilty of propagating the lies of Satan. Today the word “sin” is no longer politically correct. Children no longer learn about sin and its ramifications. Now parents are raising their children with the “benefits” of learning, not only academic, but psychological. We tell our children to embrace their emotions and teach them to “work through” those feelings and thoughts, hopefully with the end result of becoming a mature adult who embraces all people and treats everyone with kindness and respect.

I do not downplay what these parents are doing, but even with all the proper training, a child can still experience influences that will change his/her thinking and behavior that a parent has no control over. What does the Bible say about sin?

“9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?”

— Jeremiah 17:9 (NASB 1995)

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The Bible tells us the heart is deceitful, and desperately sick. Those are pretty harsh words. It doesn’t say that only the hearts of bad people are deceitful, it is referring to all of our hearts. A heart, even a kind one, can be turned to stone by the difficult circumstances of life. Jeremiah even asks, “Who can understand it?” The Bible and its author reminds us why the heart is deceitful and sick, and we can follow the trail back to Genesis.

We know what happened there, as we reviewed a few weeks ago Sin’s Beginning. Sin entered into the world at that point and has been the bane of man’s existence ever since. Mankind turned away from the omnipotent, loving God and turned inward in an attempt to fill the hole that sin left behind. Murder, lust, envy, stealing, lying, cheating, adultery, the list is long, are all an attempt to fill that which only God can fill.

God’s Word is clear on sin. Let’s take a look.

“18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

— Romans 1:18-23 (NASB 1995)

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In the account of Adam and Eve’s sin we see these words fulfilled, “…their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools…” Satan is a master of deception, and we buy into it allowing our foolish hearts to be darkened. The darker we become in our understanding of God and His truth, the more foolish we become

“10 As it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.””

— Romans 3:10 -18 (NASB 1995)

These words are not popular. We want to believe we are good by our own merit. We also want to believe that we can work our way to God, or whatever afterlife image we believe. We don’t want to be accountable to someone else, particularly a being we are trying to run away from. However, that does not delete the reality of who God is, what sin is and what God has done for us through His son, Jesus Christ.

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“21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ”

— Romans 3:21-23 (NASB 1995)

We all fall short. End of story. We cannot measure up to the glory of this enduring, eternal, perfect God. We are exactly what the text says, sinners. We all stand condemned due to the original sin.

“8 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.
19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

— Romans 5:18-21 (NASB 1995)

“23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

— Romans 6:23 (NASB 1995)

Image by Christopher Keough from Pixabay

I wonder if this is how we appear to God before being washed in the blood of Jesus…?

At this point we may be feeling rather hopeless. If we are all sinners, and the wages of sin is death, are we not all condemned to die? Read on.

“9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

— Romans 10:9-13 (NASB 1995)

There are two things from this last passage that I want to point out. The first is the if - then truth. If we confess with our mouths, Jesus as Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, (then) we will be saved. The confession is essential. It is a statement that we are placing ourselves under the Lordship of Jesus. There are many who call themselves “Christian”, but they have not confessed the Lordship of Christ.

Belief is the the next ingredient in this first if - then truth. We have to believe what happened over 2000 years ago in Jerusalem. Jesus died on a cross and then three days later God raised Him from the dead. There are many doctrinal points we can quibble over, (though I prefer to just believe what the Scriptures say), but if we do not believe He died and rose again we cannot call ourselves Christians.

The second thing I wanted to point out from this passage is the Scriptural truth stated, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” I have heard people say they are disappointed in God, because He let them down in one way or another. We can be disappointed in people, circumstances, life, but there is no reason to be disappointed in God. He loves us without reservation, He knows us like no other, and only He is completely trustworthy.

Next month we will look at how sin keeps us from realizing our great capacity for God.

Word for the Year: Trust

Here we are, barreling through another January. A new year has begun and time continues to fly. As I was mulling over the idea of doing another Word of the Year, I had several in mind including a return to believe, or a look at hope. As a friend and I were discussing after our Saturday morning Zoom Bible study the words believe and trust came up. Both words are rich and full of meaning and depth, especially when taken in the context of the Holy Scriptures and our relationship with Christ.

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The word believe is defined: to accept something as true, genuine or real; to have a firm, wholehearted religious conviction or persuasion that the existence of God is true; to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy or ability of something.

The word trust is defined: the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength or truth of someone or something; dependence on something future or contingent - hope; to rely on the truthfulness or accuracy of - believe; to place confidence in - rely; to hope or expect confidently.

Both of these words have similar tones and you honestly can’t have trust without belief, nor can you experience true, life changing belief without trust. We can see this idea in the the story of the man who brings his demon possessed son to Jesus for healing. I did a more in depth look at this passage in 2022 when I chose believe as my word for the year.

“20 They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth.
21 And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.
22 It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”
23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.””

— Mark 9:20-24 (NASB 1995)

Image by Artur Skoniecki from Pixabay

This man took an actionable step from belief to trust. He recognized he did not have enough belief to go from “…if you can do anything…” to “Of course you can heal him! You are the Son of God.” (My own idea of what he might have said if he already placed his complete trust in Jesus.) He placed his trust in Christ when he exposed his vulnerability by saying, “help my unbelief."

This idea of trust is not easy. It is a step that takes us from a place of alleged safety to a place of exposure. Take for instance an individual going to a counselor seeking help for a mental health problem. Perhaps they are struggling with depression or anxiety. In order to take this action step they first need to see they have a problem that requires help. After they make that discovery they must call a therapist or psychiatrist. It might be that they ask friends and co-workers for the name of someone these people deem trustworthy. They make the call, setting up the appointment, then with some additional amount of fear they go to their first appointment.

When they are sitting in the therapist’s office they must answer this question: “Am I going to trust this person enough to really open up to them? Am I going to expose my inner most fears and struggles? Am I going to let them peek into my inner closet where all the skeletons and, perhaps demons, hang?” It is only by choosing to trust the professional with their struggles that the individual is going to make progress towards being mentally healthy and whole.

The same idea is true in our relationship with Christ. We come to Him by believing, but what makes our belief different than that of the fallen angels?

“18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? ”

— James 2:18-20 (NASB 1995)

Our belief is a choice to open up to a mighty God and the first thing we must do is admit we have a problem. We are sinners. We are of the lineage of Adam and Eve and their sin became our sin. The only healing for this problem is to place ourselves in the hands of a pure and holy God. We come to Him hoping for His mercy, love and forgiveness and He freely gives it to us. This is the beginning of a life of trust.

Over the next twelve months we will look at the word trust and how a lack of it leads to a life of worry and fear, whereas a life of abandoning all to Him will free us up to know joy unspeakable. I hope you will join me.

Mulling It Over: Romans 8:33-34 - Two Questions

I know a lot of time goes by between these Mulling It Over posts, so if you feel a little lost that is understandable. In order to bring you up to speed I am providing links to the last two posts: Romans 8:30 and Romans 8:31-32. You can always go back even further by venturing over to my Faith page and scrolling through. Today we are looking at verses 33 and 34.

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These two short verses present us with two questions:

Who will bring a charge against God’s elect, and who is the one who condemns?

“33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;
34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”

— Romans 8:33-34 (NASB 1995)

There are several simple, yet profound truths in these two verses. The first question asks who will bring a charge against God’s elect. Those who have put their faith in the work of Jesus Christ are God’s elect. They are the ones that placed their trust in Him.

Image by 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay

Truth 1 - God is the one who justifies. The word justify as it is used in this verse means to judge, regard, or treat as righteous or worthy of salvation. God, the Creator of the universe, the beginner of all time, the maker of humanity, and the author of the plan is the only one worthy to administer justice on that which He created. No one else can do this. No one else can stand in His place, because no one else judges without partiality. No one else is pure, righteous and holy. He alone can justify.

The next question begs yet another answer. Who is the one who condemns? In today’s world we often feel the weight of condemnation, whether it is our own voice that condemns us, or the voices of others around us, or the masses on social media. Condemnation seems to leak through our pores making us feel worthless, and hopeless.

The answer to the question is not a list of those who are condemning, but the second truth, which involves four clauses.

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Truth 2 - Jesus Christ is He who died…rather who was raised…who is at the right hand of God…who also intercedes for us. We see here, four things that Christ did for us so that we would not be condemned. Look again at the first verse of this chapter.

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

— Romans 8:1 (NASB 1995)

This beautiful truth has to be repeated to make sure we get it. If you are in Christ Jesus you are not condemned, not by anyone! Read that again. You see Jesus died, rose, sat down at the right hand of His Father, and now intercedes for us in order that we no longer fall under condemnation. It is sin that condemns, and Jesus has washed us whiter than snow. He is our surety. He became our bail so we might get out of the jail we were trapped in by the enemy of our souls. What blessed and beautiful truth.

These verses allow us to rise in the morning without feeling the heavy weight condemnation puts us under. These truths remind us that we can move through our day without fear. They also surround us with the truth that we are His and He provided everything we need.

I hope you find His encouragement today through this reminder. Thanks for reading.

A Year of Waiting - Anticipate - Part 2: Waiting for Hope

The time between the Old Testament and the New Testament is often referred to as the intertestamental period. It is a silent period of over 400 years where there was no direct revelation from God and nothing was being written as far as future prophesies. This does not mean there weren’t plenty of events taking place with regard to the people of Israel. The last we hear from Malachi closing out the Old Testament was written during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah when the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem was taking place. (Info gleaned from this article from Focus on the Family - Canada - What Happened Between the Old and New Testaments by Subby Szterszky.)

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By the time of Christ’s birth the Jewish people were ready for a Messiah. They needed a sign. They wanted to hear God’s voice speaking to them once again as a nation. They longed for hope, but for many of them that hope did not come in the form of a babe born in a stable in Bethlehem…even though it was prophesied in their very own writings from the Old Testament. However, there were a few who faithfully waited with anticipation for what God was going to do. One of these was a man named Simeon.

“25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,
28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29 “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace,
According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 A Light of revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”
33 And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.
34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—
35 and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.””

— Luke 2:25-35

I want to look more closely at this man whose story is only mentioned in the book of Luke. What was it about this Jew that made him different from many other Jewish men in his time?

1 - Like our friend Zacharias and his wife, Elizabeth in Luke 1, Simeon was righteous and devout. Some commentaries believe he was a priest in the temple, thus his ability to take Jesus from Mary and Joseph and raise him as a blessing to God. There is something to be said for being a righteous person. Zacharias and Elizabeth were described as, “walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.” (Luke 1:6) The word “devout” used to describe Simeon, would portray a similar commitment to Zacharias and Elizabeth’s walking blamelessly.

Image from Pixabay

2 - Simeon was looking. He wasn’t passively waiting, He was looking. He was looking for the consolation of Israel. The word consolation can be described as giving comfort to; being compassionate; counseling; and giving relief to. Simeon was waiting for God. He was waiting to see how God would provide His compassion to Israel, and what sort of relief it would bring to them. In my own opinion, I think Simeon believed, and what I mean by that is He trusted God.

3 - The Holy Spirit was upon Simeon. We do not know by this short character sketch in the Scripture whether Simeon had the Holy Spirit upon him for his whole life, or if the Spirit came on Him just for this particular incident. We do know the Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that He would not die before he had seen the “Lord’s Christ.” The name Christ meant the chosen or anointed one. Simeon was meant to see Jesus, the Messiah.

4 - Simeon moved with the Spirit. The Holy Sprit led the man into the temple at the exact moment Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus came into the temple to register their first born. This was done according to the law.

5 - He took the baby Jesus into his arms.

6 - He blesses God by stating what God had done for him, which was to let him see the salvation of Israel before he died. We do not know if Simeon was a young, middle aged or old man and we do not need to know. God was faithful in allowing him to see the Messiah as He had promised him.

Simeon was familiar with the Old Testament prophesies. He knew that the baby Jesus was the One that God had promised. He also knew that this salvation was not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles as well. This child would be a light of salvation to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel.

7 - He speaks a prophecy to Mary. This was a difficult prophecy for it told of Jesus’ controversial ministry; that it would cause many to rise and fall and that He would be opposed to the extent that Mary’s own heart would be pierced with the outcome.

We learn these things about Simeon by reading the passage. There are many things we do not know about this man, but we can learn a lot from studying his example in these eleven verses by asking ourselves the following questions:

Am I an upright person? Am I, like Simeon, righteous and devout? With so many ideas and terms being redefined these days I think it is important to remember being righteous looks much different to God that it does to fallen humans. However, if I am seeking Him, reading His word, and listening to His Holy Spirit’s voice in my life I have a much better chance of being righteous in God’s eyes.

Image by andreas N from Pixabay

The term devout is rarely heard in our current society, but it simply means devoted. Am I devoted to God’s truth? Am I devoted to obeying His truth to the best of my ability? Amy I devoted to my spouse? Am I devoted to keeping my heart and mind pure, whether married or not? Am I devoted to shining the light of Christ in this dark world?

Am I looking? Am I like Simeon in that I am looking for Jesus? Am I looking to see where He is at work? This one has been hard for me. I get so caught up in life and in the overwhelm that I neglect to see all He is doing, and all the ways He is still actively involved in my life and in the world. I believe this is where the act of thanksgiving is important.

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In addition, am I passively looking or am I anticipating? Am I anticipating where God is going to intervene, or where He is going to perform a miracle, or where He is going to bring about something I never thought possible. He is God, and He is trustworthy.

Am I familiar with the Holy Spirit, His work and His leading? For some reason it seems many in the Christian community have forgotten how to wait on the Holy Spirit, and have moved away from the truth of His revelation in our lives. He is just as much an active part of the triune God head as the Father and the Son. Indeed, in our lives He is our closest companion. He knows our hearts, our desires and our unspoken prayers. He is the One who works out Christ’s salvation, and sanctification in our lives. Perhaps it is time to reacquaint ourselves with this ever present part of God’s person.

Image by Iuliia Bondarenko from Pixabay

Have I taken the baby Jesus into my arms? Have I honestly made a choice to believe that Jesus, the Son of God, came as a vulnerable baby, born to a virgin, in a tiny town called Bethlehem? Do I believe that He grew into a man, lived among and taught a rag tag band of disciples, that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life? Have I embraced the fact that we are all sinners, and because of that sin Jesus, in obedience to His father, died on a cross as the perfect, once for all sacrifice? Do I cradle the reality to my breast that He rose from the dead and walked out of the grave, and that whoever calls on His name and believes will be saved?

Image from Pixabay.

Do I bless God? If you have ever thought about this idea of blessing God, then you have probably asked the question, how do I do that? It is simple, offer praise and thanksgiving to Him for all that He is and all He has done. Even if you are struggling in a dark place right now, you can bless God. You can identify His character by looking at scripture: He is good, just, faithful, compassionate, righteous, all knowing, forgiving, merciful, full of grace, creative, glorious….the list is endless. Even when things are chaotic we can bless God by taking time to thank Him, even for the smallest pleasures like a hot shower, food, blankets, clean air to breath….

Do I speak truth into other people’s lives? Simeon prophesied, but not all of us have the gift of prophecy. but we all have the choice to speak into other people’s lives the truth of God’s word in the form of encouragement, admonition, and even rebuke when it is called for. I think we can speak encouragement much more regularly than we do. Admonition and rebuke need to be done with love and it is best to think it through and really pray about the situation before proceeding. However, this is an important part of being in the body of Christ and probably isn’t done as often as it should be.

As I finish this post, we are winding down to Christmas. Tomorrow is the day. All the waiting and preparing and anticipating will be past tense in a matter of hours and some of us will be feeling a bit blue that it is over. As we age, we also begin to think about the what ifs. What if we don’t make it to next Christmas? Will everyone still be here? What will the world look like by the end of next year? But God…

To anticipate is to look forward to, and that means I have hope. I am choosing to look forward with trust in the Holy God for all that He will do!

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year. See you in 2025!

Mulling It Over: Romans 8:31-32 - What Shall We Say?

We are looking once again at Romans 8. I have been going through different chapters of the book of Romans in the New Testament on my own in recent months. I have started the practice of writing out several verses at a time, word for word as they are written in my English Standard Version of the Bible. After I write the verses out, I ask the question what do these verses tell me about God. It has been a wonderful practice to not only hand write, and yes I am doing it in cursive, but also to dwell on who God is and what He has done for us that has given us the ability to come into His presence as one of His children.

Image by Amanda Truscott from Pixabay

I have not written out Romans 8 as of yet, but it has been eye opening to go through this chapter over the last year and a half with all of you who read this little blog. Today we take a closer look at a few very familiar verses that I am sure many of you can quote.

“31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? ”

— Romans 8:31-32 (NASB 1995)

Let’s do our usual and look at these verses a phrase at a time.

What then shall we say to these things? This question is a referring back to the previous verses. Verses 1 - 25 remind us of our deliverance from bondage, and the awaiting transformation to glory. Verses 26 - 30 remind us of our position in Him. What can we possibly say to all of that? Can we condemn God, saying He is a malevolent being who does not care for us; that he has not provided a way for us to have peace with Him; that He cares not for our well being? How could we say such untruths when it is clear that He provided the way, and He gives us all we need, and even in our weakest moments His own Spirit is praying for us; interceding according to the Father’s will.

If God is for us, who is against us? I can hear the voices accusing, “If God is really for us then why are there all these problems? Why is our world is such a state of chaos? Why is there so much hate? Why is there so much pain?”

I do not want to throw out pat answers or give a couple of other verses to support this idea and send you on your way. This is tough. Once again, however, I must remind all of us of our Savior’s very own words.

“33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

— John 16:33 (ESV)

Once again, we have to refer back to Genesis 3 when the serpent, Satan, tempted Eve. He didn’t just tempt her flesh, he tempted her ability to trust in her Creator. Isn’t that true of the world ever since? Why did Adam and Eve sin? Because they did not believe that God really loved them and wanted the best for them. They believed, with the help of Satan’s manipulation of God’s words, that they would be better off making their own choices and decisions.

Image by Briam Cute from Pixabay

We still live in that shadow of mistrust. We begin to doubt God’s Word, we stop going to church, we start reading and listening to philosophies and voices that tear apart Christian thoughts and beliefs, and we start focusing on what is going to make us happy. We become rights based. No matter how much faith we put in our founding fathers, the reality is they were fallen men, and only God and His truth can be fully trusted. The only true rights we have are those given to us by the Creator of life. Without Him we are nothing.

Why do we have trouble, problems, struggles and trials; because sin entered a perfect world, but the beautiful thing is God provided a way. It doesn’t require my work, my money, my time, my identity it only requires my faith. It isn’t just faith in a verse here or there, but in the whole inspired Word of God. When we start throwing scripture out the window we tear down the foundation He laid for our redemption, justification and glorification. We open the door to racism, fascism, humanism and communism. We make up justifications for our behaviors saying like Madonna sang, “I was born this way.” We descend into mind numbing chaos revolving around a continuous search for peace, identity and value.

But God….

It is God who is for us. It is God who created this little blue and green gem we live on. It is God who gave us the law as a foreshadow of a more perfect way, and then gave us His son Jesus Christ who died on a cross for our sin so that we might be made right with the Father.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

“15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” ”

— Romans 8:15 (NASB 1995)

It is God who imprinted His very own image on us and no matter how hard we try to run from that imprint we are distinctly God’s because of that image. God is not against us. He is the only one who is truly, purely for us, because He loves us and recognizes each one of us as His handiwork.

He who did not spare His own son, but delivered Him over for us all… This needs little explanation. God sent Jesus as a baby to Mary. He was born, and lived a human life for approximately 33 years. The last three of those years he ministered and taught His disciples doing miracles and teaching about His Father and the Kingdom of God. Most of the Jews in His time did not believe what he said, even accusing him of having a demon (see John 8:48). Eventually, it was His own people, the Jews, who condemned Him to death via Pilate. He died an agonizing death on a cross, but it was what He did after that made all the difference. If Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead, we would still be slaves to sin. It was God’s power displayed in this act of resurrection that gives us the ability to leave the world of shadow and emerge into His light.

…how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? So what does this mean? We know the triune God isn’t Santa Clause. We don’t just ask Him for anything we want like He is our very own Genie in a Bottle. When you grow in your relationship with Christ you come to realize He provides everything you need: peace, love, joy, strength, rest, hope, thanksgiving…these are not physical things, but He is also providing our physical needs as well. Things like jobs to buy food and pay our bills; family and friends to provide a space of security and joy; a home to live in, blankets on our beds…the list is pretty much endless. He will always come through and give you exactly what you need when you need it. I have found, the more I rely on Him for every single thing, the more He provides when I haven’t even asked.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

““For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills.”

— Psalm 50:10 (NASB 1995)

I hope these verses were a pertinent reminder of how very secure you are in Christ, and I hope that helps you to walk with peace, joy and confidence in Him.

Have a great weekend!

Mulling it Over - Romans 8:30

Last month we looked at Romans 8:29, and had a short discussion on the theological points of predestination and free will. We also looked at what followed this idea of predestination, that we are being conformed to the image of Christ.

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Today we are going to look at verse 30. Once again, we are proceeding slowly, so that we might truly understand and let the Spirit drive home the truths revealed in these Scriptures.

“30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

— Romans 8:30 (NASB 1995)

and these whom He predestined,

We discussed this in last month’s post. The end result is God is able to both predestine and give us a free will. We tend to limit God, because we think if it is beyond our understanding then it must not be the case. We need to recognize God’s wisdom is a mystery and is not always completely known to us.

“6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;
7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;
8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;”

— I Corinthians 2:6-8 (NASB 1995)

For instance, a 7 day, literal creation has stumped many a Christian over the decades. This is not a problem for me. As my husband always says, “Seven days? What took Him so long?” Ha, ha. Unfortunately, rather than taking God at His word, and according to His word, man has come up with alternative theories to better coincide with the evolutionary theory touted by Darwin. The Day Age Theory, and The Gap Theory are two of the most popular.

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I just wanted to reiterate, we are the Creation, not the Creator, and we are limited in our understanding of the many layers of God. With that said, lets move on.

He also called;

This idea of calling has also had its day on the debate floor. Questions that have been around for years include: Is everyone called? Is calling just for special people at certain times? Is calling only for people going into full time Christian service, like a missionary or a pastor, etc?

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I see calling as a general term, much like predestination. We are all predestined, meaning God wants all of us to become His children by belief in Christ. In the same way we are all called. The difference lay in the fact that we must respond to His calling. We must choose to believe. Of course that presupposes you believe in free will. :)

“God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord..”

— I Corinthians 1:9 (NASB 1995)

Let me reiterate, I am not a theologian. I had three years of Bible school, but that doesn’t mean I have exhaustively studied every topic. However, I do believe God gives us His wisdom, understanding and knowledge as we delve into His deeper layers through His Holy Spirit. That being said, if you ever think I am in error in the ideas I bring to you, I welcome your thoughts.

and these whom He called, He also justified;

The word justify is defined in several ways: to judge, regard or treat as worthy of salvation; to prove or show to be just, right, or reasonable. Justification is the process by which Christ takes on our sin through His death on the cross enabling us to be worthy of God’s calling. In essence Christ’s blood covered us so that we might be made right before God.

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“24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”

— Romans 3:24 (NASB 1995)

…and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

The predestination, calling and justification all lead to the perfect end result, our glorification. The older I get, the more I look forward to this glorification process. At 60 I am experiencing all the things that age brings with it. I have become acquainted with chronic illness, my hair is thinning, my joints ache, and my brain is almost always in the phase of post menopausal fog.

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Jesus told us we would have trouble in this world.

“33 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 (NASB 1995)

We don’t have to look very far to see trouble. The southeast part of the U.S. has see two large hurricanes in the last two weeks. Out west there continue to be wildfires consuming thousands of acres of trees. We are entering in to flu and Corona season, in addition to that allergens are ever present and driving many of our sinus cavities wonky. We have political and societal unrest in the United States and there is still a war going on in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Jesus told us we would have trouble, but He didn’t want us to stay in that mindset. He told us He would give us peace, and He has overcome the world.

This mentality of looking towards glory is not a bad thing. Yes, we still need to be present. We need to live our lives as the brightest lights of Christ that we can be so others might come to know Him. How much easier it is to do this when we know that we are called, justified and one day will be glorified.

Just like the Morning Glory flower we need to turn our faces towards the light of God and His truth and open ourselves up completely to what He is trying to do in our lives. Only in doing that will we become the beautiful reflection of Him that we are meant to be.