Anytime a tragedy occurs, ranging from personal tragedies to national tragedies, the question will arise, "Why did God let this happen?"
This is not a bad question. It's natural to wonder why the Creator of the universe who holds us in our hands would allow something so terrible to come into our lives. This is a question, I will admit, that I cannot answer. I do believe God has a reason, but any attempt to explain the reason does both a disservice to God, and to the one who is suffering. So, with that in mind, I can only offer the following...
In times of tragedy, we need to have faith in the place, in the plan, and most of all, in the Man.
We need to have faith in the place. In John 14, Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you." The fact is that God has prepared a place for us in His Kingdom where we will live forever, in His presence, without pain, without suffering, and without so much as the fear of pain and suffering. It will be a place of eternal peace and prosperity, where we can walk with our Lord, and be reunited with loved ones.
1 Timothy 4:17 tells us that "We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." The "them" with whom we get caught up together are those who have passed on before us, and we will all be with the Lord forever. Better days are ahead.
We need to have faith in the plan. Often during times of tragedy and hardship, someone will quote Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." These words can ring hollow without eternity in mind. After all, none of us want a bigger house, car, better job, or more luxuries. We want back what the tragedy took from us, whether it's our ability to walk, or the close presence of a loved one.
All things work together for our good because all things are working together to bring about God's plan. God's plan is our reunion with Him in His Kingdom. God is working His plan to get us all into His Kingdom together. Anything that comes into our lives comes for that purpose. Anytime tragedy enters our lives, we need to remember that God is still on His throne, and God is still bringing us into His Kingdom.
I cannot explain how or why, but I can affirm that God's plan is perfect, and is designed to bring us to that place of eternal blessing. We don't have to understand it, and we are not prohibited from grief. All God asks of us is that we trust Him through the process. As one of my church members often sings, "The God of the mountain, is the God of the valley. The God of the day, is still God in the night. The God of the good times, is still God in the hard times, the God of the day, is still God in the night."
We need to have faith in the Man. The man is Jesus Christ. John 3:16 tells us that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The way to access God's Kingdom and plan is by faith in Jesus Christ. He died on the cross, removing the stain of sin, so that we can enter His Kingdom, if we know Him as Savior.
Furthermore, having trusted the Lord to save us based on His death, burial and resurrection, we can trust that the Lord, who now lives and sits at the right hand of the throne of God, pleads on our behalf daily before God the Father. Hebrews 7:25 says Jesus "is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Christ is your advocate before God, and you have no greater advocate than Jesus Christ.
Because of Jesus, we can trust that God hears our prayers, and that He takes our situations into consideration as He executes His plan. We are not just pawns on His chess board.
On top of that, we can trust Jesus to be more than fair to us and our loved ones. The Bible says that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to the knowledge of the truth. This means that the Lord pulls out all the stops when it comes to reaching folks with the Gospel. Furthermore, when it comes to our loved ones who have passed on before us, the Bible says "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." It's precious, because it represents the physical reunion of God with His people. He gets to bring us back into His presence.
In all things, God is good. Things are not always good, but God is always good. God is good all the time, and in all times God is good.
If you are suffering right now, these words may seem hollow. That's okay. Grief was never banned in scripture, in fact, it was encouraged, as the Old Testament saints took 10 full days to grieve (that's 10 days where they did nothing but grieve, no work, no commitments, just mourning.)
My only hope is that as that dark cloud passes, you can be brought back into God's presence by remembering to trust in His place, His plan, and in His Son, Jesus Christ. May God bless you in all things.
Showing posts with label Christian growth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian growth. Show all posts
Friday, February 12, 2016
Friday, February 3, 2012
Daily Devotion Time: James 2:18
Back in college, my wife and I were part of a youth group that travelled to different churches and performed skits that illustrated certain Biblical concepts. In one of those skits, my wife portrayed a lady who was on trial for being a Christian. In the skit, her case was dismissed for lack of evidence.
James 2:18 says "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." (Italics added for emphasis).
The Bible is very clear that salvation is by God's grace through our faith apart from any works. Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16, and Romans 3 all speak to this, as well as many other verses of scripture. You are saved by grace through faith, without works.
However, when it comes to works, many people get uneasy. If you preach that saved people ought to have works to show for their salvation, some will turn away, quoting Ephesians 2:8-9, and saying that you ought not preach works.
Works do not save, but saved people have works. It is a Biblical concept. You don't work to get saved, you work because you are saved. Jesus said you would know men, and specifically false prophets, by their fruits. Their fruits are their works. (Matthew 7:16)
Hebrews 11 is full of people who were saved by grace through faith, but their faith motivated them to action. The entire book of James was written to demonstrate that if you really have faith, your actions will show it.
Even our favorite verses in Ephesians 2:8-9 have a followup. We all know that Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace through faith that ye are saved, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast." How many people know Ephesians 2:10, which says "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
Your faith should be shown in your actions... but does that mean you have to work to show your faith? Not so much. If you have faith, you know Christ as your savior, and you live the spirit-led life, your works will be an expression of who you are... not efforts made to show how good you are.
Basically, what is in your heart will be shown in how you act. Trust the Lord, invite Him into your heart. Then let your life just be an expression of who you are. May God bless you.
James 2:18 says "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." (Italics added for emphasis).
The Bible is very clear that salvation is by God's grace through our faith apart from any works. Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16, and Romans 3 all speak to this, as well as many other verses of scripture. You are saved by grace through faith, without works.
However, when it comes to works, many people get uneasy. If you preach that saved people ought to have works to show for their salvation, some will turn away, quoting Ephesians 2:8-9, and saying that you ought not preach works.
Works do not save, but saved people have works. It is a Biblical concept. You don't work to get saved, you work because you are saved. Jesus said you would know men, and specifically false prophets, by their fruits. Their fruits are their works. (Matthew 7:16)
Hebrews 11 is full of people who were saved by grace through faith, but their faith motivated them to action. The entire book of James was written to demonstrate that if you really have faith, your actions will show it.
Even our favorite verses in Ephesians 2:8-9 have a followup. We all know that Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace through faith that ye are saved, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast." How many people know Ephesians 2:10, which says "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
Your faith should be shown in your actions... but does that mean you have to work to show your faith? Not so much. If you have faith, you know Christ as your savior, and you live the spirit-led life, your works will be an expression of who you are... not efforts made to show how good you are.
Basically, what is in your heart will be shown in how you act. Trust the Lord, invite Him into your heart. Then let your life just be an expression of who you are. May God bless you.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Faith
Faith is defined as a deep-rooted trust or conviction of the truth of anything. In relation to God, it is the deep-rooted trust that He exists, thus meaning that we are separated from Him by our sin, but reconciliation to God comes through repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ.
Or, as Hebrews 11:6 puts it, "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
Why have a study on faith? Because I have heard sermons on Hebrews 11:1-3, 6 preached several times. Many of these sermons butchered the topic of faith. I have even preached some of those point-missing sermons. Some have tried to define faith in Hebrews 11 as our 21 doctrinal statements. Some have tried to define it as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (And what does that mean, really?)
However, upon delving into word studies on faith, I found what faith really is... a trust in God. I spent the next year trying to instill that in my congregation at Denson Springs. Why? Because faith is the bedrock of the Christian life. If you don't have faith, or even understand it, there will be no Christian growth, maturity, or understanding of the scriptures (2 Peter 1:5-8). Without faith, all morality is in vain. All good deeds become hypocritical acts. Without faith, brotherly and agape love are impossible (in the Biblical sense).
So we really need to understand faith so we can better understand how to let our faith grow. Once we get to that point, we'll be poised for serious Spiritual growth and empowerment.
Over the next few days, I'll continue to share my thoughts on faith on this blog.
Or, as Hebrews 11:6 puts it, "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
Why have a study on faith? Because I have heard sermons on Hebrews 11:1-3, 6 preached several times. Many of these sermons butchered the topic of faith. I have even preached some of those point-missing sermons. Some have tried to define faith in Hebrews 11 as our 21 doctrinal statements. Some have tried to define it as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (And what does that mean, really?)
However, upon delving into word studies on faith, I found what faith really is... a trust in God. I spent the next year trying to instill that in my congregation at Denson Springs. Why? Because faith is the bedrock of the Christian life. If you don't have faith, or even understand it, there will be no Christian growth, maturity, or understanding of the scriptures (2 Peter 1:5-8). Without faith, all morality is in vain. All good deeds become hypocritical acts. Without faith, brotherly and agape love are impossible (in the Biblical sense).
So we really need to understand faith so we can better understand how to let our faith grow. Once we get to that point, we'll be poised for serious Spiritual growth and empowerment.
Over the next few days, I'll continue to share my thoughts on faith on this blog.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The necessity of Christian growth
II Peter 1:5-8
Remember those old commercials that said, "No one ever says, 'I want to be a junkie when I grow up.'" When people repent of their sins and trust Christ as their Savior, they never say, "From here on out, I plan to be a lukewarm Christian." Yet, so many do because they have forgotten that they have been cleansed from their sins (II Peter 5:9).
This passage teaches us how we can avoid the doldrums of lukewarm Christianity. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we have faith. We should add to that faith, virtue (moral uprightness, high morals). This means don't celebrate your baptism at a local bar. Moreover, you should be taking steps to clean up your life.
To that virtue, add knowledge. Knowledge comes by a careful study of the scriptures. Add to that knowledge, temperance (abstinence from alcohol, moderation in food and drink). There are a few who do not believe the Bible teaches abstinence from alcohol. I believe it does. The Bible also teaches against being owned by our desire for food and drink. Being unable to control your eating habits is a sin. I fall short here, as do a lot of people I know. But we must learn temperance, because we have to add patience to our temperance.
Patience is the mark of a mature Christian. Those who are prone to fit-throwing, get their feelings hurt easily, are easily offended and give up quickly mark themselves as immature Christians. This is why I can't jump on board with the whole "I'd rather offend a church member than a lost person" mentality. If that church member is easily offended, there is still basic discipleship work to be done there.
Patience is the foundation for Godliness. (Think about it, can you be Godly while screaming at a server at Sunday lunch because your rib-eye wasn't cooked just right?).
Godliness lends itself to brotherly kindness, which builds up to charity. If we grow in these things, we will be fruitful in the knowledge of Christ Jesus, which means that we will be fruitful in the Lord's work. If we stop at any of those steps, we'll dry up. Let any of these slip, and the rest of the stack will fall also.
Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, Godliness; and to Godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you, and shall abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember those old commercials that said, "No one ever says, 'I want to be a junkie when I grow up.'" When people repent of their sins and trust Christ as their Savior, they never say, "From here on out, I plan to be a lukewarm Christian." Yet, so many do because they have forgotten that they have been cleansed from their sins (II Peter 5:9).
This passage teaches us how we can avoid the doldrums of lukewarm Christianity. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we have faith. We should add to that faith, virtue (moral uprightness, high morals). This means don't celebrate your baptism at a local bar. Moreover, you should be taking steps to clean up your life.
To that virtue, add knowledge. Knowledge comes by a careful study of the scriptures. Add to that knowledge, temperance (abstinence from alcohol, moderation in food and drink). There are a few who do not believe the Bible teaches abstinence from alcohol. I believe it does. The Bible also teaches against being owned by our desire for food and drink. Being unable to control your eating habits is a sin. I fall short here, as do a lot of people I know. But we must learn temperance, because we have to add patience to our temperance.
Patience is the mark of a mature Christian. Those who are prone to fit-throwing, get their feelings hurt easily, are easily offended and give up quickly mark themselves as immature Christians. This is why I can't jump on board with the whole "I'd rather offend a church member than a lost person" mentality. If that church member is easily offended, there is still basic discipleship work to be done there.
Patience is the foundation for Godliness. (Think about it, can you be Godly while screaming at a server at Sunday lunch because your rib-eye wasn't cooked just right?).
Godliness lends itself to brotherly kindness, which builds up to charity. If we grow in these things, we will be fruitful in the knowledge of Christ Jesus, which means that we will be fruitful in the Lord's work. If we stop at any of those steps, we'll dry up. Let any of these slip, and the rest of the stack will fall also.
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