Friday, October 27, 2017

What is Meant for Evil Against You


One of the potentially most frightening aspects of being a Christian is knowing that all of Hell is set out to destroy you.  It is a fact that you no longer are on the sidelines of a spiritual war, but an integral part in the battle of good against evil.

Every Christian must have the attitude of trust in God, in order to fully fight the good fight.  Trusting in God does not mean God will bless you with riches for being a good soldier.  It means even when things go terribly wrong, when sickness strikes or you lose a loved one in your life, you still trust God. Your Job, money, house, car and everything you own could be lost because of your following God.  The one thing no one can take from you is God in your life.  You must hold on to Him, trusting that He is still with you and good will come out of your loss.

Does that sound harsh?  Does that sound like something that only happens to others and will never happen to you?  You do not know what tomorrow will bring into your life.  Satan and his horde of demons are out to get you.  The unredeemed of this world are also out to get you.  Satan has set the world against all who follow Christ.

When evil occurs in your life, remember one thing, God is working it for good.  Throughout scripture, God takes the evil in peoples' lives and creates good.  Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, but God took that evil and used Joseph to save the lives of millions of people, including his own family.  Joseph told his brothers, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." Genesis 50:20

Another example of what man meant for evil but God using it for good is when Jesus was before the Sanhedrin and after they condemned him to death, the priest repeated struck his face with their hands. Matthew 26:67 

What we don't realize is that the priest slapping Jesus in the face was required in order that the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins be properly done.  It is required that the one offering the sacrifice touch the head of the sacrifice.  There is also an ancient rabbinical writing stating that when more than one person offers up a sacrifice, they must all take turns touching the head.

What the priest meant for evil and an insult to Christ, God used for good.  Jesus had to have his head touched by the priests in order that he might be the sacrifice for the sins of the world.

What hardships or evil is in your life that God can turn into good?  Trust God to work wonders in your life.

Photo Credit: Hand by Randy Auschrat

Thursday, October 26, 2017

And on the Eighth Day...


In the scriptures, numbers have different meanings.  Two is the number of division. Six is the number of Man.  Seven is the perfect number.  Ten is the number of completion. Forty is the number of testing, as in 40 years of the Hebrews wandering in the desert or Jesus fasting in the wilderness for 40 days.

The Bible holds many deeper meanings in its words and even in the numbers.  It is amazing how much God is able to say in the Scriptures.  There are layers upon layers in such simple things, even in the numbers.

Eight is the number of new beginnings.  When God destroyed the world with a great flood, He began the human race with Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives.  Eight people survived the flood to create a new beginning for the human race.

A week is seven days and on the eighth day (Sunday), a new week begins.  Jesus was crucified. and rose from the dead on a Sunday.  Resurrection Sunday is the new beginning of not just a new week but a new spiritual era for the world.

On that eighth day, we are taken from being under the law to being under grace.  We are brought out of separation from God because of our sins, to being part of His family.   We are all given a new beginning of hope, joy, peace, and love.

Today every nonbeliever is given the opportunity for a new beginning.  Every Christian who has fallen away has an opportunity for a new beginning.  Just as Jesus was resurrected from the dead on that eighth day, we can be resurrected from our sins because of that day.

Photo Credit: Easter-EmptyTomb by Donut_Diva

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

The Worth of God's Breath


Everything in God's word is there for a reason, but when reading the Bible we take so much of it for granted.  Numbers, names, and places we just pass over without really thinking about them.

When the law was given to Moses, he came down from Mt. Sinai with the tablets of the law.  He found the people dancing and celebrating before the idol of a golden calf.  On that day about 3000 people died because of their actions. Exodus 32 I have read that many times and never really thought twice about it.  Ok, 3000 people died.  Big deal!

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was given to the people.  Peter preached to the crowds telling them what was happening and how Jesus was the Messiah who fulfilled the scriptures.   About 3000 people were saved that day.  Acts 2

Exodus and Acts both say "about 3000".  Is this just a coincidence? The longer I live, the more I do not believe in any coincidences when it comes to God and His word.  The day the Law is given, about 3000 people die, and the day the Holy Spirit is given, about 3000 people were saved.

There is not one word in your Bible that was not meant to be there.  There is not one word in your Bible that has no reason to be there.  When God speaks every breath is notable.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

God Meets Our Needs Precisely


When I was a young Christian living in Hawaii, I went to a prayer meeting one night.  We were sharing needs and praying for people when one man's need struck my heart.  I knew that God was speaking to me.

The man felt God leading him to fly back to California and speak to an old friend about Christ.  He was so sure that God wanted him to go, that if necessary, he was willing to sell his car in order to buy the plane tickets.

I was compelled to leave the group and go outside and just talk to the lord about it.  After praying about it I knew I was to give him some money.  It wasn't until a few days later that I had the money and found him at a Christian coffee house.  I asked to talk to him and we sat together at a table.

I told him how God had led me to give him $115.  I knew it was a strange number.  You would normally give a nice round number like $100 or $120, but God led me to give him exactly $115.

The man jumped up and was laughing and dancing around.  Finally, he sat back down.  "God is so good.  Yesterday my apartment manager came up to me and gave me $3.  He said, 'I know it's weird to give only $3 but I really felt God leading me to give it to you.'  I thought that it really wasn't going to help much but I thanked him and took the money.  My tickets cost $118.  With that $3 and your $115 God exactly met my needs."

That lesson was not lost on me.  God does provide and He exactly provides what is needed.  God knows our needs.  God provides for everyone who is walking upon the path that God directs them to.  You want to see God moving in your life?  Do His will and trust Him to provide.  He will never abandon you. 

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6

Photo Credit: Praying by Brittany Silverstein

Monday, October 23, 2017

Jew and Gentile, One in Christ


Throughout history, there has been contention between the Jews and Christians.  Even today there are many true Christians who look down on the Jews and wish they didn't exist.  In the Middle East, they want the Arab nations to win against the state of Israel.

The only explanation I know that can explain the animosity between Gentiles and the Jews is that there is a spiritual battle for the hearts of man to either hate or love the Jew.  Satan hates them with a passion and he has corrupted millions of hearts against the Chosen Children of God.

It is interesting to me that God has grafted the Gentile believers onto the same root as the Jews. (Romans 11:11-31)   Ah! But those are Jewish believers.  Yes, but even the unbelievers are still God's Chosen People.  And why do people hate Jewish unbelievers more than Gentile unbelievers?

Galatians 3:28  states that there is neither Jew nor Gentile.  We are one.  To despise a Jew is to disparage someone that God has designed to be brought together with the believer.  Physically we are separate but spiritual we are to be one.

When Christianity was first birthed and Christians were just beginning to join together for worship, Christianity was seen as a Jewish sect of Judaism.  They had the same scriptures, the rabbinical teaching was from a Jewish Rabbi, Jesus.  They would go to synagog every week. Their lives were purely Jewish and their belief was actually the same as other faithful Jews except they believed the Messiah had come and his name was Jesus.

Christianity today is missing out on so much to the detriment of both Jew and Gentile. The Body of Christ will be at its strongest when the two become one again.

To despise the Jew is to despise the body of Christ becoming whole and strong.

Photo Credit: Israel-06639-Hasidic Jews by Dennis Jarvis

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Unmentioned God of Esther


The book of Esther is unique in that God is never mentioned.  The absence of God's name makes this book stand out from all the other books of the Bible.  Does that mean that God is not in the book?  Does it mean that the book is about the actions of men without God?

The story of Esther shows how wicked man can be.  Hamen is the villain of the story.  He is a very powerful man in the kingdom and plots how to kill all the Jews because he doesn't like one Jew who refused to bow to him named Mordicai.  He wants revenge against this man and his people and loves the idea of seeing Mordicai hanging from a high scaffolding.

The only person who can save the Jews is Queen Esther who must risk her life to go see King Ahasuerus.  The king finds out that Haman has plotted against her people, the Jews, and makes it possible for them to fight back and defend themselves.  In the end, Hamam ends up hanging from his own scaffolding.

So where is God?  He is there throughout the story.  He is not seen or mentioned but He is there.  You never hear His voice or see His hand in all the events, but He is there.  God is the one who protected Esther as she went unbidden before the king knowing that doing so meant death unless he held out his scepter to her.  If King Ahasuerus had not done the bidding of Queen Esther, all the jews of the kingdom, including her, would have been slaughtered.  God was there behind the scenes making his will come to fruition.

There are times when we can not see God in our lives.  We feel as if He was a million miles away.  It might seem like darkness has surrounded you and is about to overcome you.  The silence of God seems deafening and you feel all alone.

Even though you can not see His hand, He is working.  Even if you cannot hear His voice, He is still speaking.  Although He feels so far from you, He is right there beside you.  He never abandons us.  He never forgets or ignores His children.  Just as He was never seen in the Book of Esther, but He was working out His purposes for good, God is with you as well

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

Photo Credit: queen-esther-revealing-her-true-identity-mosaic-portrait-lilian-broca by aaron wolpert

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Your Existence is Impossible


What are the odds that you should have been born?  Something is considered mathematically impossible if the odds are 1 in 10⁻⁵⁰.  While it is not actually impossible for you to exist, the chances of your existence is mathematically impossible.

The chances that the exact egg from your mother and the exact sperm from your father should come together to make you is very small.  If you take for granted that your mother had the right egg to create you, the odds of the right sperm from your father reaching that egg is 1 in 200-500 million.

200 million to 500 million sperm racing for that egg and the right one won in order to create you.  Of course, that does not take into account the right timing, the right egg or even the chance of your parents meeting at all in the first place.

Just taking the odds of the right sperm winning the race, in two generations (parents and grandparents) it is statistically impossible for you to exist.  Considering the odds of your existence after hundreds of generations of the right man meeting the right woman, having sexual intercourse with the right egg and the right sperm meeting to make the exact right people to eventually create you, is astronomical.

There is only one way that you could exist.  God planned for your birth before the universe was even created.  He knew you long before your birth (Jeremiah 1:5).  God took an impossible event and made it happen.  You were specially designed by God.  You are not an accident, but a creation with a purpose. 

If we follow the plan of God for our lives, we will find fullness, life, peace, hope and a bright future. 
"I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"  Jeremiah 29:11

God made sure you are who you are, living at this time in history.  You are so important to Him that He made the impossible happen.