Beneficial Fear

The Bible speaks of two kinds of fear.

There is the fear of God which is beneficial.

That fear is described in Psalm 33:8

“Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.”

And then there is the fear of life which is destructive.

We find an example of that in the parable of the talents:

“So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground.

See, here is what belongs to you.’” Matthew 25:25

We need never fear that God is arbitrary and capricious

We often refer to the sovereignty of God and I think some anticipate

that to mean God does whatever He wants.

But God will not violate His nature.

We know the declaration: “I am the LORD, I change not.”

God the Father revealed Himself clearly through His son Jesus.

In Jesus we find perfect love, mercy and compassion.

But we also find perfect justice, judgment and discipline.

 In one sense we can say that we will never be ‘surprised’ by Gods’ actions if we understand His nature.

Because God does not change, because He does not violate who He is, I can trust Him.

 I need not fear that God will act contrary to His nature.

I need not fear that on any given day God will be moody and, in that moodiness, annihilate His creation-- just because He felt like it.

I will never be omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.

But I can love and trust the one who is because He loves me

and He has good plans for me.

That is a reverential and holy fear.

That is a fear of God that is beneficial and not destructive.

A Giant Killer in Training

“But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

I Samuel 17:34-37

What trial or test might God be using today to strengthen you and prepare you for His plans for your life in the future?

Have you ever stopped to consider this point?

In David’s case, the lion and the bear were preparing him for the uncircumcised Philistine named Goliath.

Of course, he didn’t know in advance.

Why are you having such a difficult time right now?

Like David, you may not know in advance but it could just be God!

 He is using the current circumstances to prepare you as a future giant-killer.

David had a choice.

He could fight the lion and the bear – relying on God to help him as he fought

Or

He could run and hide and let the adversary have his way with the sheep.

One choice prepared him while the other choice wasted the opportunity.

Your trials and tests, struggles and troubles offer you the same choice.

What will you choose?

Will you be a ‘giant killer’ in training?

Or

Will you shrink back and miss what God wants to develop in you?

Living in the ‘Land of What-If’

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7

When my son was younger (and still occasionally nowadays) he would ask many of the proverbial ‘what-if’ questions. You know the questions I’m sure. They start with the two words ‘what-if’ and are finished with the concern De jour. There was a time in his life when these questions seem to consume his entire day. Maybe it’s a method of learning that I missed somewhere in my growing up years.  Often, in my plan to re-direct his line of questioning I would simply declare to him: “I don’t live in the ‘land of what-if’.

Sometimes it worked in changing his attention and sometimes it didn’t.

I think as believers we can be like that as well.

Instead of handing our worries and cares over to God we play them out in our mind.

What if that spot is cancer?

What if I am in the next round of lay-offs?

What if my son isn’t accepted at that school?

It can become almost like a ‘faith in reverse’, a ‘negative’ faith if you will.

The next time you find yourself in the ‘land of what-if’, here’s a remedy.

Begin to speak and meditate on Philippians 4:6-7 posted above.

My prayer is that it moves you from the ‘land of what-if’ into the Kingdom of God.

Productive Sorrow

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

II Corinthians 7:10

Most of us would not consider sorrow productive.

But our verse for today draws that conclusion.

 It speaks of two different types of sorrow which produce significantly different results.

Godly sorrow leads to salvation while worldly sorrow brings death.

Stated another way, one leads to hope and the other leads to hell.

Does that sound harsh?

Perhaps, but what is the end result of a life without God?

We cannot point the finger at God in anger and say: “Why would you do such a thing?”

We find an answer in II Peter 3:9

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.

Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,

but everyone to come to repentance.”

God’s sorrow brings repentance and salvation free of regrets with hope in this life.

He patiently offers the way back to Himself through His son Jesus Christ.

 His desire is for all to make the right choice.

 He waits patiently for you and I to do just that.

Worldly sorrow is bleak and hopeless.

It does not see a way out but only death and destruction.

Let God in.

Let Him produce eternal life and hope from your sorrow.

As the scripture declares, you won’t regret it!

How Long is the Pity Party?

“But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.  Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Jonah 4:1-4

I could start today’s blog out by asking who has ever had their feelings hurt.

I could but I won’t. I don’t need to.

Assuming honesty, the answer would be yes from 100% of you.

It happens.

Nothing new there.

Someone let you down.

You were disappointed by another persons’ lack of sensitivity.

You expected better of them.

And, not only have you been at the receiving end – you also have hurt others feelings.

Not only do we hurt one another’s feelings, but sometimes our feelings are hurt because we become offended with God.

More often than not it is because (as we discussed yesterday) we assign blame to God that is not justifiably laid at His feet.

We claim God has directed us in a specific area of our lives and rather than admit it was our own flesh and not Him that led us to where we find ourselves, we take offense at Him.

Our feelings are hurt and we put on a ‘spiritual pout’.

You know what that is – we distance ourselves from fellowship, see no need for repentance and hold back in prayer until the next crisis finds us banging loudly on heaven’s door.

You’re so predictable!

Me too.

But here’s the good news.

While God has no interest in feeding our pity party, He is still there waiting for us when we ‘come to our senses’ and repent of our behavior and misplaced blame.

 He forgives us.

We can move forward together.

How long is the pity party?

That is up to you!

Hit With Blame

 “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”

Job 1:22

“Some God of love alright!

Why, if God were as loving as you say then why did He do this…”?

Sound familiar?

What is the ‘this’ that He did?

Any tragedy, failure or hurt committed by others and wrongly placed at God’s feet.

This is a question we all face sooner or later in our walk with God.

It is a question that we either come to grips with or it is the question that will knock us out of the race.

It is just that important.

It is not a question answered with platitudes, cliché’s or flippant quips.

As a matter of fact, it is a question answered in His word but settled through relationship.

How is that?

The Bible answers the question but the fact is, the Bible answers a lot of questions that people still do not believe. Only as I grow in my knowledge of Him who is love and only as I trust Him more and more can I receive the truth that sin is what brought evil, rebellion, hatred and every other vile and horrible thing into the world.

 Man was corrupted by the sin committed in the Garden of Eden

Not only did God, who knows no sin, not introduce evil into the world; He actually provided the solution through His son.

Most of you would say – “That’s not news – I knew that!”

And maybe you did.

But this is not a question answered in our head.

It is a question that can only be answered in our heart

Only as we grow in our knowledge of Him and our love for Him can we begin to answer.

Likewise, we don’t tell someone who asks the question, we can only show them through our love and relationship to Him.

This is not an answer which is heard.

 It is an answer that must be seen.

My actions, my relationship will convince others and not mere letters strung together to make words.

You see – God really does take the hit from this question

but the real question for you and I is:

Does our life cause the hit He takes to be blame or credit?

Job did not blame God with wrongdoing.

How about you?

A ‘No-Brainer’ Choice

 “Love must be sincere.

Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

 Be devoted to one another in love.

Honor one another above yourselves.

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.

 Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.

 Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil.

 Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.

 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Romans 12:9-21

Today you will note the same scripture passage that we had yesterday.

 The only difference is that I have put it in more of a ‘list’ format.

Imagine this is your “To-Do” list.

A bit overwhelming isn’t it?

Here is where we come to the ‘broken record’ part of the message.

Apart from the enabling power of God’s Holy Spirit working in me I cannot do this list.

I even struggle wrapping my brain around where to begin.

As I remain in Christ and in His love I don’t have to sweat where the starting line is.

Each and every day you and I encounter opportunities to ‘live the list’ by circumstances and events that present themselves to us.

It is precisely at those moments in time that we are faced with the choice.

We can respond out of our own strength and power (or weakness and impotence) or we can respond out of our abiding relationship with Christ and His accompanying strength and power.

In today’s vernacular, the choice should be what is called a ‘no-brainer’.