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We Are Special To God Today!

For July 12, 20201
God created our ancestors, Adam and Eve, and He placed them in the Garden of Eden with everything they could ever want or need forever.

Let’s pause for a moment to explore the actions of our loving Creator as Genesis 1:1 (AKJV) depicts,

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

This foundational passage of Scripture does not defend the existence of God. It merely presents a personal God, who is a loving, caring Creator and Sustainer of everything that has or will ever exist.

God did not choose to express Himself as an impersonal, ambiguous force to be reckoned with. Instead, He chooses to fellowship with the pinnacle of His creation, the human species. God fixed our incomparable destiny forever in the Garden of Eden as we thrived in His loving, holy presence as He supplied our spiritual, physical, emotional, and psychological needs abundantly.

God designated human beings to be separate and distinct by creating us “in His image and likeness.” As such, we can have loving, joyful, fulfilling, fellowship with Him forever, as Genesis 1:26-27 (NLT) relates,

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Our creation was most distinctive,

It is clear that man, as God made him, was distinctly different from the animals already created. He stood on a much higher plateau, for God created him to be immortal, and made him a special image of His own eternity. Man was a creature with whom His maker could visit and have fellowship and communion. On the other hand, the Lord could expect man to answer him and be responsible to him. Man was constituted to have the privilege of choice, even to the point of disobeying his Creator. He was to be God’s responsible representative and steward on the earth, to work out his Creator’s will and fulfill the divine purpose.2

Through His creation, we see God’s majesty and design to ensure our happiness and well-being in the most intricate detail. Thus, as Genesis 1:31 tells us, God’s creation is “very good!”

Just think! The entire universe, with its galaxies, solar system, and our earth, including everything in the sky, underwater, and on land, was not created for eternal fellowship with God. Only you and I were created to fulfill this uniquely wonderful purpose.

In other words, God esteems you and I greater than Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon, Aurora Borealis, Victoria Falls, Table Mountain, the Barrier Reef, the Amazon Rainforest, the magnificent Redwoods, the entire animal kingdom, and all the sun, moon, and stars combined.

Moreover, God gave us an amazing pedigree when He breathed in us His “breath of life” (Genesis 2:7), thereby purposely and deliberately imparting an everlasting human spirit within us that will continue to live long after our bodies have passed away. (God also gives us the responsibility to choose where we spend our eternity in Heaven or Hell.)

Our sin separates us from God, since He is holy and majestic. Nevertheless, He will forgive our sins—past, present, and future if we place our faith in the vicarious merits of Jesus Christ’s death to pay the price for our sin.

However, we must accept the Lord’s invitation–freely and willingly,

Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends (Revelation 3:20 NLT).

Won’t you accept His invitation today?

What a Wonderful Savior!

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What Could Happen…Today?

For July 5, 20203
Many years ago, a pastor challenged me to use my gifts, talents, and abilities constructively for the Kingdom, which ultimately beggs this question, “If we were to give ourselves to the Lord completely, living according to the Bible, and trusting Him to fulfill His wonderful promises—what could happen to us and to those around us for our good and His glory?“

Trying to answer this question brought about many life-changing experiences over the years; for it implies we no longer depend on our abilities and enterprises exclusively because Christ is the center of our existence, and we depend on Him exclusively.

But, isn’t this how we as Christians are supposed to live anyway? Proverbs 16:9 (NLT) tells us, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” Moreover, Psalm 37:23 tells us our steps are “ordered” by the Lord, who takes delight in every step we take.

Answering the question means our self-centered, self-glorifying plans, goals, and objectives are “out the window,” since they must be Christ-centered, God-honoring, and Bible-based at all times.

In addition, our thoughts, words, and actions are now filtered through a secondary question, “Will what I’m thinking, saying, or doing in at this moment help point someone to Christ?” Unfortunately, this second question has been answered both yes, and no. 

What could happen…even today?

As finite humans, we will ever experience spiritual and moral completion in this life. Yet, we have a wonderful example in Christ, who redeems and transforms us while providing His support and Spirit-power to sustain us.

The Lord is all-sufficient in supplying things beyond our control—especially, how He protects, provides, and guides us at the precise instant and in the precise way we need Him. The more I live, the more I see His divine truth,

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness (Isaiah 41:10 AKJV).

The Lord is with us; watching over us—even when we are not consciously aware of His presence and providence.

None of our “good” works engender boasting since they are merely what He expects of us,

“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty’” (Luke 17:7-10 NLT).

Yet, the Lord lavishly provides us with His forgiveness, freedom, and joy, even though we can never be “good enough” to earn His consideration.

Let us continue to do our best each day using our greatest effort to persevere toward the prize He has reserved for all those who love His appearing (Philippians 3:14, 2 Timothy 4:8). After all; this is all He requires from us.

What a Wonderful Savior!

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We Can Trust In The Lord Today

For May 17, 2020
Faith is the trust or belief we have in someone or something to perform a task that may be beyond our current level of understanding.

Some try to use it as an instrument to impose our will on God. Here, we look at God not as the almighty and all-knowing Creator and Sustainer, but as a puppet on a string whose sole purpose is to do our bidding, as if He were our own personal genie in a magic lamp.

Yet our God will do exactly what He will do at the precise moment and in the precise manner that suits Him, not us. To us, His ways may appear to be mysterious at times, but they are always perfect because He always knows what is best for us in every situation.

The Lord said that we could move mountains and that nothing would be impossible with faith the size of a mustard seed. Job cursed the day of his birth, and yet he had a tremendous faith in God. To gauge the quantity or fervor of our faith, we can never rely on our feelings alone, because faith is a mystery that is essential to our human experience.

The Lord not only wants us to commit every element of our very lives over to Him , but He wants us to completely trust in Him  also, get out of His  way, so that He can perform His  perfect work in us and through us as Psalm 37:5 (NLT) teaches,

Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you.

Faith, trusting, committing all convey the idea that we believe in God because He not only loves and cares for us, but that He also wants the best for us in every situation. In this life, we will experience pain and suffering as reflected in recent news reports that show how the entire world seems to be paralyzed by fear and panic associated with the covid-19 virus.

Life’s vicissitudes are attributable to our inherent sin nature, our own poor choices, or just because. But despite these challenges to our faith, we can still believe that the Lord is holy, infinite, and His ways are perfect. As He leads us through life, His most perfect purpose for us will take place in the fullness of time (Romans 8:28).

Through faith in Christ, God supplies us with a new spiritual being. He eliminates our sins by way of the New Birth that Jesus described as mysterious as the wind and as the prerequisite for true fellowship with God (John 3:3–8).

We must invite Christ into our lives by faith, and through our obedience and submission, we receive a new internal being that allows us to perform the will of God, secure His eternal favor, and become His beloved children forever.

What a Wonderful Savior!

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Wanted: Spiritual Vision (Apply Within)

For February 2, 2020
Disenchantment is a prevalent problem facing our world today. We can observe it in the lives of those who express doubt and uncertainty about their future. Who experience lives that lack purpose, meaning, and significance, and they turn to the use of illicit drugs and alcohol their coping mechanism.

In its December 18, 2019 online report4, the National Institute of Drug Abuse under the National Institutes of Health reported a significant increase of teenage marijuana vaping:

Past year vaping of marijuana, which has more than doubled in the past two years, was reported at 20.8% among 12th graders, with 10th graders not far behind at 19.4% and eighth graders at 7.0%. Past month marijuana vaping among 12th graders nearly doubled in a single year to 14% from 7.5%–the second largest one-year jump ever tracked for any substance in the history of the survey…Marijuana continues to be the most commonly used illicit drug by adolescents. After remaining mostly stable for many years, daily use of marijuana went up significantly since 2018 among eighth and 10th graders–now at 1.3% and 4.8% respectively.

Some have chosen suicide as a means to address disenchantment. Here, if one feels there are no absolutes, (e.g., God, Jesus, Heaven, Hell, eternal life, etc.), so the question is asked is: Why should my life matter? Certainly not all cases follow this thought progression per the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Instead, their findings indicate suicides often occur when a person experiences stressors that exceed his or her coping abilities. The Foundation observed the following trends as well5:

      • The age-adjusted suicide rate in 2018 was 14.2 per 100,000 individuals.
      • The rate of suicide is highest in middle-age white men in particular.
      • In 2017, men died by suicide 3.54x more often than women.
      • On average, there are 129 suicides per day.
      • White males accounted for 69.67% of suicide deaths in 2017.
      • In 2017, firearms accounted for 50.57% of all suicide deaths.

Recently, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention established a website to address our fears and concerns about the current norovirus threat to our national/global health at: https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/index.html.

Even more telling is how our doubt and spiritual uncertainty are significant problems we face today according to a recent Barna study:6

Two-thirds of all self-identified Christians or past Christians (66%) admit to experiencing a season of spiritual doubt. More than a quarter (26%) still find themselves doubting…A common response during times of doubt was to quit attending church (46%). Three in 10 stopped reading the Bible (30%) or praying (28%). One in four (24%) ceased discussing spirituality, God, or religion with their friends and families, but such community is also the place they were most likely to turn for help (40%).

However, our worry, fear, and disenchanted can be linked to our lack of spiritual vision as Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) teaches:

Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Barna further observes:

While 40 percent feel they have worked through their faith crisis…Twenty-nine percent sought answers in the Bible and one in five looked to church (21%), a spouse (19%), or a pastor or spiritual leader (19). Some addressed their doubt with spiritual or religious books (16%), online resources (12%), counseling (5%), or conferences and retreats (3%). For the most part, these approaches worked; 52 percent of these Christians say their faith is now stronger or at least unchanged (28%).

Our greatest need is spiritual vision that will honor God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Here our greatest objective is to love the Lord first and foremost, love others, and love ourselves using His Word as our guide. Psalm 1:2-3 (NLT) reads:

But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are assured of God’s faithfulness in everything we experience. Along with the forgiveness of sin secured by His death on the cross, the Lord also provides spiritual vision through His Word, which brings us both direction, comfort, and true fulfillment.

Christians are not exempt from trouble. However, we can be certain that as we experience trials, the Lord comes to the rescue each time” as Psalm 34:19 (NLT) teaches. As we trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we diligently serve Him, and we commit our lives to Him totally, we shall discover the rich, fulfilling life He promises for this life and the next. This is true spiritual vision.

What a Wonderful Savior!

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God’s Supreme Mystery

October 19, 2019
Some would argue that our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, His Son and the Holy Spirit are three expressions of one being, and not three distinct persons.7Here, the idea of Jesus Christ being a person who is both infinitely God and finitely human simultaneously is questioned.

However, the Apostle John, who also wrote the Fourth Gospel, refers to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as both divine and human:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:1-5, 14 (NIV)

It is a mystery how three persons are one. But when we count the two persons identified in John’s passage, along with the Spirit of God, who hovered over the waters in Genesis 1:2, each person is given the title “God” and are heavily involved in creation as well.

God’s supreme mystery paid for our redemption by resolving our sin problem, which began immediately after God’s perfect creation was tarnished by sin through Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Thus, we today are sin-cursed—not because of the sins we’ve committed—but because of the sin-tainted nature at work in us constantly.

The Apostle John describes our remedy through God’s loving intervention:

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth at comes from God. John 1:12-13 (NLT)

Of this mystery, Colossians 1:26-27 (KJV) states:

Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory!

The Father set in motion what the Son fulfilled and the Spirit sustains. It is not ours to fully understand how the same God who created us can be the same God who redeemed us at Calvary. Or how God can forgive our sin while filling and sealing us by His Spirit simultaneously.  How God can intercede for us today and yet soon return for us so that we can live with Him forever in Heaven can be beyond our comprehension at times.

But He did and still does…What a wonderful Savior!

Although God’s supreme mystery lies beyond our finite understanding, we are  eternally grateful that it is not beyond the grasp of our simple, child-like faith in Jesus Christ.

 

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