Holiness from the Unholy

Jesus Christ was betrayed through bribery, brutally beaten and tortured, put on trial in an illegal trial, lied about in court, mocked, spat upon and in the end murdered on a cross.  The men who did such a thing were evil men.  Men who were spiritual leaders but in reality were unholy.

How can such unholy actions bring about something so holy as the sacrifice of the lamb of God to take away the sins of the world?  Actually, it was necessary in order to bring about God's will.

Who were the people that were ordained to offer up sacrifices?  It was the priesthood.  The key men who offered up Jesus to be killed were in the Sanhedrin, which was led by the High Priest and the chief priest of the Temple.  Their ministry and calling was to offer up the sacrifices to God.  Only the priest could have offered up the sacrifices.

It was the High Priest alone who could offer up the holiest sacrifice once a year during the Passover.  That was the sacrifice for the forgiveness of the nation's sins.  It was also the High Priest who presided over the Sanhedrin and was the most responsible for delivering Jesus to his death.  The High Priest offered up the lamb of God, the Messiah Jesus, for sacrifice so that the sins of the world could be forgiven.

Out of the dark hearts of men, God created a holy and wonderful act.  From the act of murder, God brought eternal life to all who believe.

What darkness of evil hangs over your head?  What life events have come against you with the goal of your ruin and hopelessness?  God can take the worse event in all of history and turn it to good, and he can take the worse things in your life and turn it for good.

From the unholy plans of Satan, God brings blessings.

Photo Credit: Jesus is covered all over with bruises by Angela Xu

Living in the Hand of God

Where do you find the blessings and safety of God in a world that is getting more violent and crazy every day?  Terrorist are found in every nation.  Murder, theft, rape, and every kind of evil can be found today.  We are living in days that are like the days of Noah.  A world full of sin and wickedness.

There is only one place in this world where we can be safe and where God greatly blesses.  Only one place in all the world where you will find true unadulterated peace.  Do you see the picture above?  Those people have found that one place where God blesses and give them peace.  That place is in Vanuatu where they are missionaries translating the scriptures into a language that never had the written word of God before.  

They live on an island in a native village, far from civilization, with their families. If there is any serious accidents or sickness, it would take many hours to get to civilization where they can be treated.  Their lives are wholly in God's hands.

Does that mean you need to go to Vanuatu also?  NO!  You need to find the will of God for your life.  The missionaries above live in a primitive village in the jungle because they are truly living in God's will.  They are safer there in the hand of God than if they were anywhere in the United States, outside of God's will.

When did God bless Abraham?  Not when he sat safely in his home at Ur of the Chaldees. It would have been easy to stay there comfortably living his life out, but God called him away from there and from his family.  It was not until Abraham walked in the will of God that he was blessed and found greatness. 

Many of us must leave our comfort zones if we want to live in God's will.  We have to leave the safety of the known, to find the blessings of the unknown.  Do you dare to follow God or does fear stop you from living in the hand of God?

To follow the missionaries at Vanuatu add them as friends on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/houghtongretchen.richard

https://www.facebook.com/laura.thulesen

https://www.facebook.com/casey.a.ellis

Redemption from the Broken

If you look at your past life, you might find times you have broken away from God's will and found yourself deep in sin.  You might even wonder how God could ever forgive you.  God is an expert at taken the broken and making it new again.

In Jeremiah 31:31-34 God talks about when the Hebrew Children left the slavery of Egypt, they made a covenant with God.  They received the Ten Commandments and swore to adhere to them, but they broke the covenant they had made with God.  Therefore, God would make a new covenant where God would write his laws upon their hearts.  God would forgive their sins and remember them no more.

Born out of a broken covenant, God created a new covenant.  Out of brokenness came a covenant for everyone, not just the Jewish people. When God's people were living at one of the worst times in history when their people were killed, the cities in ruins and God seemed to have forsaken them, God told them of a New Covenant.  A new hope for them.  

God holds the power to put back together all that is broken and make it new again.  When we fall, God will help us back up.  When we rebel against God, He will forgive those who turn from their sins and follow the His will.  

He has written on the hearts of all who follow Him, what he desires.  He desires for us to know Him by reading His Word in the Bible.  There we will find the glue which holds our brokenness together.  It is in the Scriptures we find the God who redeems the broken.

Photo Credit: Rug Store, 31st Street at Madison Avenue, NoMad, Manhattan by Jeffrey Zeldman

How Strong is a Trusting Christian?

How much power does God have? I have to smile at that question.  No one but God knows the answer to that question because no one can fathom that much power.  It is like imagining what the fifth dimension is like.  We have never seen it, experienced it nor do we have the capacity to understand it with our minute minds.

How much Power does a Christian have?  All the power of God is in your hands without limit.  Forget moving mountains or mulberry trees, that is small compared to the power God has placed in you.  The powers of the universe are insignificant compared to the power that lays within you.

One of the last things Jesus told his disciples was to wait in Jerusalem to receive power. (Luke 24:49) The Greek word for 'power' is Dunamis.  It means power, mighty works, miraculous power, and abundance.

Did Jesus give any restrictions or limitations?  No!  When the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost He came into each believer complete with all the power of God.  The Holy Spirit dwells within each Christian.  The power of God is in you.

Whoa! Now don't start thinking I have gone off the deep end.  That does not mean you can walk up to Washington DC and call down fire and brimstone. 1 John 5:14-15 says,"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us- whatever we ask- we know that we have what we asked of him."

What I said about the power of God is true, but it must be according to the will of God. (There goes your Mercedes Benz.)  There are thousands of promises, some say over 5000, found in the Bible.  Not all of them are for you, but thousands are.  If you find a promise of God, you can be sure that every ounce of God's power is there to make sure it is true.

So many times in the Bible God promises He will protect us and be with us wherever we go.  When my daughter Christy had just turned 13 she wanted to go on a two-month missions trip to the Amazon.   We trusted in God's promises to protect her.  God had called her there and she belonged to Him.  She was safer in arms of God in the jungles than if she had been home in our arms.  That might be the point in her life that made her the woman of God she is today.

We trusted the promises of God.  The power of God saw that she came home.  Have you read what God has promised to you?  Do you know what God will do to fulfill those promises in your life?  If you want to know some of the promises for you, there is a book with 199 promises of God you might like, but the best book to read is your Bible.  It has every promise God has ever made to you.  Read it every day and find those golden nuggets meant for you.

God's promises are backed by the love and power of God.

How Unfair was the Battle of David and Goliath?

I want you to understand just how unfair the battle of David and Goliath was.  This was not in any way, shape or manner a fair fight.  I don't think most people really understand, but hopefully, you will.

Goliath was an Anakite, a warlike race of giants who descended from the Nephilim (half man/half demon).  He stood 9ft 9in tall and was strong and ferocious.  He had brass greeves on his legs, a brass helmet and his armor of mail weighted 78 pounds.  He had a spear that was only about five feet long but it was thick and the spearhead was about 18 pounds of Iron.  We don't know how big his sword was but considering his other equipment, I am sure it was big. Goliath was a man of war with fighting experience.  He was the Philistines champion.

David was a young boy of about 16 years of age. He had no armor and only had his sling for a weapon.  King Saul offered his armor to the boy, but David refused it. He had no experience in war although he had killed a lion and bear while shepherding his sheep.

This looks like a very one-sided battle until you take God into account.   That is where Goliath and the Philistines made their mistake.

"David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, who you have defied." 1 Samuel 17:45

David's weapon was not his sling, but the hand of God. 
"Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;"  Jeremiah 51:20

His armor was found in God.
"But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you." Psalm 5:11

Poor Goliath.  He was not fighting some little boy.  Goliath was fighting against the God of Israel.  He was up against the all-powerful and awesome creator of the universe.  What the soldiers saw in the flesh, with a giant fighting a young boy, was only in the physical realm.  The true battle was a spiritual battle between the world and God.

Look at the world around you.  Look into the eyes of those who come against you.  Cancer, death, financial problems, marriage problems, and anything else which comes to torment and destroy.  You do not stand alone if God stands with you.  God is the key to victory.  What you see in the world is only part of the battle.  The real battle is found in the spiritual realm. 

God and you are a greater army than the powers of the whole world.

Photo Credit: David i Goliat by Antoni Llena by myBCN Loves Barcelona

Walking Backward Through Life

Could you imagine walking backward for the next hour?  Bumping into walls, tripping over furniture and falling on your keester. You couldn't go very fast and if you did you would probably only accomplishing getting hurt worse.

Now imagine walking backward throughout your life.  Many people you see do it all the time.  They keep looking back at the times people have betrayed them and hurt them.  Their lives are filled with the injustices which have occurred in their lives.  They constantly look back and hate builds up more and more every day.

When I was a student in school, I was bullied.  I can still see the laughing faces of others who enjoyed watching me being hurt by another student.  For a time I wanted revenge.  I wanted to smash their faces in with my fist and never stop.  If I had kept looking to the past, I would have become a sullen and contemptible man that no one would have wanted to be around.  I would never have trusted people enough to become good friends.

Other people always look back at the glory days of their lives.  It is sad to find a fifty-year-old man who still talks about how great he was as a high school basketball player.  That was the highlight of his life and he is always looking back at the past for assurance that he is a worthy person.

When I accepted Christ as my savior, one of the first things God worked on was my anger.  I had to forgive those who had abused me in the past and pray for those who have hurt me.  I was shown by God that I should never look back at my past.  All was forgiven and I could not hold anything against them anymore.  Since I trusted Christ as my Savior, not only from my sins but also from my own destructive thoughts and ways, I have found peace.

God has a future for us all.  If we keep walking backward through life we can not see forward to the riches He has for us.  Why look to past hurts or glory when the future holds such blessings of peace, love, and fulfillment.  We have a future that is greater than anything we could ever imagine or desire.  Keep your eyes on the goal.  Do not look to the right, to the left, or behind you.  Look to your heavenly calling of greatness in Christ.

"Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil." Proverbs 4: 25-27

Photo credit: 5.20.2011 by Danielle Buma

Of all People, Why would God Save Me?

Don't get me wrong, I am overjoyed that God saved me from Hell.  I know that my future is set and I will live forever with Him in Heaven, but why me?  I know myself. I know my past. I know my thoughts. I know that I am capable of great evil.  So why would God save me?  To me, that is one of the greatest mysteries of the Universe.

I have hurt many people in my life.  I have lied, cheated, stole, and been cruel and vile. I can show you a nice outside, while inside I have evil that lays waiting for a chance to come out.  How can a just God save such a sinner as I?  He knows me inside and out and yet He would send His son into this world to die for me?  It is a preposterous and foolish act on His part to spend the life of His son to save me.

Yet in 1 Corinthians 1:25a it says, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,..." I know I am foolish so I will trust that God is wise in what He did.  So why would Jesus die for such a man as I?  John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." and in Romans 5:8 it reads, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

God loves me even though my heart is full of filth and wickedness.  Jesus died not because I deserved it, but because of his love for me.  I still do not understand such love.  When someone hurts me, I get angry at the person and want revenge, but God loves and forgives because His love is far greater than mine.

How can anyone reject such love?  To reject it would be to deny that such a love exist.  I would be calling God a liar if I was to turn my back on His great love.  I do not deserve His love, but He does not deserve my rejection either.

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them."  John 3:36