Passage of the Day: 1st Corinthians 15: 54 – 55, 57 … When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." [from Isaiah 25: 8] 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" [from Hosea 13: 14] … 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
My Journal for Today: This is the last day in my April devotional series, taken from MacArthur’s Strength for Today, on the pertinence and power of the RESURRECTION of Christ in the life of the Christian.
It is true that many in this world run from their own mortality … from death; but in this “resurrection chapter” of his letter to the Church, the Apostle Paul, helps all Christians to be thankful that death no longer has any “sting” for the believer in and follower of The Christ. And Paul, using quotes from the Old Testament prophets, uses an apt word picture, taken from the OT Prophet Hosea, to help us see this truth about death.
When a bee stings someone, it leaves its stinger in its victim; and the bee dies. Well, death left its stinger in Jesus, Who took all the venom out of death on the cross, allowing His beloved Bride, the Church, to face physical death with the prospects and sweetness of eternal life before us – with no sting. We can also read this doctrine clearly and strongly taught in Romans 6: 9 …
SCRIPTURE: Rom. 6: 9 ... For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him.
Death no longer had mastery over Christ as He rose in His resurrection; and it no longer has any sting over believers, as His victory in resurrection will allow us to be raised again to be with Him forever.
And so, it’s no wonder that Paul exhorts all Christians by his own expression of thankfulness in 1st Cor. 15: 57 to praise God for His redeeming work on the cross, which has taken all the sting out of death and provides us with eternal hope that we could never attain on our own. Can I sense a “HALLELUJAH!” from any believers who is reading this? If you were sitting here with me, you’d certainly get one from this old warrior.
And furthermore, in his devotional for this date, MacArthur cites Rev. 21: 4 with the resounding glory we will realize in heaven, where there will be no pain.
SCRIPTURE:Rev. 21: 4 He [Jesus] will wipe every tear from their eyes [the eyes of the faithful]. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
That is what Christ’s resurrection has done to prepare a place for me with Him for eternity … for any and all who believe on Him; and I can only pray that any who are reading this have joined me in believing the truth of Christ’s resurrection. And I also pray that you have received His saving grace by your faith in what He did on the cross and by being raised again to take away our sins.
Here’s to celebrating Christ’s final victory in the resurrection!!
My Prayer Today: O Lord, I pray that all who read here will find the joy of heaven, eternal in Your resurrection. Amen
Showing posts with label life and death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life and death. Show all posts
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Monday, November 08, 2010
2010 – November 8 – A God Who Lets Us Die
Study from God’s Word… John, Chapter 11, the story of Lazarus raised from the dead … Passage for Reflection: John 11: 37 … NIV But some of them (Jews who had come to console Mary and Martha at the death of their brother, Lazarus) said, “could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
My Journal for Today: I totally agree with Dr. LaGard Smith in his devotional entry for this date, reflecting on the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, … that we, who are believers in Jesus as The Christ, are asking the wrong question if, like Martha and Mary, we wonder why God doesn’t save any loved one of ours who dies or one who suffers greatly for a long period of time. We’re essentially asking, “Lord, why do you let, [??name??], our loved one, die?” When we more likely, according to Dr. Smith, should be asking, “Why, God, have You let any of us live?”
I would guess that most, if not all, of those reading here with me have had someone close to us who has passed away from sickness, maybe a child or a dear one who suffered a ghastly or tragic death; and it’s so tempting and human to ask of God, “Why, Lord?!” But, as Dr. Smith points out, if we’re really honest and reflective, we can probably also think of a time or a scenario where someone we know, or even our very self, lived through a disease, accident, or incident where we should likely have died, but we, or the loved one, were spared to live on.
So, as Dr. Smith asks in his challenge question for the day, ”If perhaps God has let my loved one die, have I seriously considered why He has let me live?”
And that question cuts at the core of whom we are as Christians, … sinners who deserve death in our sin nature, but we have been allowed to live, both temporally and eternally, by a loving God who desires to have fellowship forever with any who receive the saving grace which came through the Lamb of God dying to save us on the Cross. We live temporally at the grace of God in this life, even though we deserve death in our sinfulness [see the combined truth and outcomes of Romans 3: 23 and Romans 6: 23]. So, if we live, it is only through God’s grace; and we live eternally as well only because of that same grace from a loving God, Who desires to have an eternal relationship with those who come to Him in faith.
As I do often when I write my morning devotional entries here in this quiet place most mornings, I pray – as I will below – that those who are reading here realize, as do I, that we live and have our being at the grace of our God, … the giver (and yes, the taker) of life.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray that I can always see that I have my life, as do my friends who read here, because of Your grace and mercy. May we never take that for granted? Amen
My Journal for Today: I totally agree with Dr. LaGard Smith in his devotional entry for this date, reflecting on the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, … that we, who are believers in Jesus as The Christ, are asking the wrong question if, like Martha and Mary, we wonder why God doesn’t save any loved one of ours who dies or one who suffers greatly for a long period of time. We’re essentially asking, “Lord, why do you let, [??name??], our loved one, die?” When we more likely, according to Dr. Smith, should be asking, “Why, God, have You let any of us live?”
I would guess that most, if not all, of those reading here with me have had someone close to us who has passed away from sickness, maybe a child or a dear one who suffered a ghastly or tragic death; and it’s so tempting and human to ask of God, “Why, Lord?!” But, as Dr. Smith points out, if we’re really honest and reflective, we can probably also think of a time or a scenario where someone we know, or even our very self, lived through a disease, accident, or incident where we should likely have died, but we, or the loved one, were spared to live on.
So, as Dr. Smith asks in his challenge question for the day, ”If perhaps God has let my loved one die, have I seriously considered why He has let me live?”
And that question cuts at the core of whom we are as Christians, … sinners who deserve death in our sin nature, but we have been allowed to live, both temporally and eternally, by a loving God who desires to have fellowship forever with any who receive the saving grace which came through the Lamb of God dying to save us on the Cross. We live temporally at the grace of God in this life, even though we deserve death in our sinfulness [see the combined truth and outcomes of Romans 3: 23 and Romans 6: 23]. So, if we live, it is only through God’s grace; and we live eternally as well only because of that same grace from a loving God, Who desires to have an eternal relationship with those who come to Him in faith.
As I do often when I write my morning devotional entries here in this quiet place most mornings, I pray – as I will below – that those who are reading here realize, as do I, that we live and have our being at the grace of our God, … the giver (and yes, the taker) of life.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray that I can always see that I have my life, as do my friends who read here, because of Your grace and mercy. May we never take that for granted? Amen
Saturday, October 30, 2010
2010 – October 30 – Touched, or Being Touched?
Study from God’s Word… See the various passages from the tree synoptic Gospel accounts of Jesus performing healing and resurrection miracles in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order … Passage for Reflection: Mark 5: 30 … NIV At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
My Journal for Today: Don’t you just love reading and meditating on the various accounts by the four Gospel writers about the miracles performed by Jesus, ... like the one in today’s text where the bleeding woman merely touched Jesus’ garment, and because of her faith the very power of the Holy Spirit came from Jesus to heal the woman.
I agree with LaGard Smith in his devotional entry for today that several questions enigmatically arise from this story; and theologians have likely devoted a lot of interpretation hours and writing about why Jesus didn’t know who the woman was or about whether it was the touching of Jesus which healed the woman or was it merely her faith? I’ll leave all that theological speculation to the scholars; but I personally identify with this women who was desperately seeking the power of God for healing. I also identify with other stories of how Jesus touched the lives of others and their lives where changed forever.
You see, my friend, I reached out to receive the power of God through Jesus a little over 25 years ago in my life when I finally was led to realize that I was bleeding spiritually, ... that I was spiritually blind, ... and that I was dead in myself. And like the stories of God healing the bleeding woman because of her faith, and the sight restored of a number of people being touched by Jesus, and the life of even the dead being restored by Christ because of the faith of their loved ones, my life was restored from spiritual death to life, ... my spiritual blindness was given sight, and my bleeding spiritual weakness was given strength when my brokenness allowed me to come to a place of seeking out the loving, healing, and restoring power of God through my faith in The Christ.
So, these biblical stories of historical witnesses to the power of God working in/through Jesus, The Messiah, have great personal meaning for me. For I was that woman who desperately reached out to experience the power of God. I was the blind man who allowed Jesus to give me sight. And I was that little girl who was given life when loved ones prayed in faith that Jesus give me spiritual life when I was a walking dead man.
And I finally came to recognize that no earthy force, no religion, and no self-directed choice was going to bring me the power I sought from God to heal and restore me. No, just like the bleeding woman or the blind man, I was given the opportunity to reach out in faith to Christ and seek His healing/restoring power. And my spiritual blindness and bleeding were healed. And God saw fit, through my own faith and the faith of others who had been praying for me for years to come to spiritual life from my own self-imposed deadness, I was graciously given eternal life. Just like the bleeding woman who was given the power of God, I am one who can attest personally to the power God which is there for any and all who come humbly and sincerely seeking His redemptive power.
I pray that any who read here can be - and are - witnesses to the power of God being imparted to heal and restore the bleeding, the blind, and the blatantly dead.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You raised me from the dead to life. You gave me sight from my blindness. And You gave me power to overcome my weakness. And, in You, I live, move, and have my being. Amen and amen!
My Journal for Today: Don’t you just love reading and meditating on the various accounts by the four Gospel writers about the miracles performed by Jesus, ... like the one in today’s text where the bleeding woman merely touched Jesus’ garment, and because of her faith the very power of the Holy Spirit came from Jesus to heal the woman.
I agree with LaGard Smith in his devotional entry for today that several questions enigmatically arise from this story; and theologians have likely devoted a lot of interpretation hours and writing about why Jesus didn’t know who the woman was or about whether it was the touching of Jesus which healed the woman or was it merely her faith? I’ll leave all that theological speculation to the scholars; but I personally identify with this women who was desperately seeking the power of God for healing. I also identify with other stories of how Jesus touched the lives of others and their lives where changed forever.
You see, my friend, I reached out to receive the power of God through Jesus a little over 25 years ago in my life when I finally was led to realize that I was bleeding spiritually, ... that I was spiritually blind, ... and that I was dead in myself. And like the stories of God healing the bleeding woman because of her faith, and the sight restored of a number of people being touched by Jesus, and the life of even the dead being restored by Christ because of the faith of their loved ones, my life was restored from spiritual death to life, ... my spiritual blindness was given sight, and my bleeding spiritual weakness was given strength when my brokenness allowed me to come to a place of seeking out the loving, healing, and restoring power of God through my faith in The Christ.
So, these biblical stories of historical witnesses to the power of God working in/through Jesus, The Messiah, have great personal meaning for me. For I was that woman who desperately reached out to experience the power of God. I was the blind man who allowed Jesus to give me sight. And I was that little girl who was given life when loved ones prayed in faith that Jesus give me spiritual life when I was a walking dead man.
And I finally came to recognize that no earthy force, no religion, and no self-directed choice was going to bring me the power I sought from God to heal and restore me. No, just like the bleeding woman or the blind man, I was given the opportunity to reach out in faith to Christ and seek His healing/restoring power. And my spiritual blindness and bleeding were healed. And God saw fit, through my own faith and the faith of others who had been praying for me for years to come to spiritual life from my own self-imposed deadness, I was graciously given eternal life. Just like the bleeding woman who was given the power of God, I am one who can attest personally to the power God which is there for any and all who come humbly and sincerely seeking His redemptive power.
I pray that any who read here can be - and are - witnesses to the power of God being imparted to heal and restore the bleeding, the blind, and the blatantly dead.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You raised me from the dead to life. You gave me sight from my blindness. And You gave me power to overcome my weakness. And, in You, I live, move, and have my being. Amen and amen!
Thursday, September 02, 2010
2010 – September 2 – When Dead Bones Come to Life
Study from God’s Word… Ezekiel, Chapters 37 – 39 … Passage for Reflection: Ezekiel 37: 4 - 5 … NIV 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' "
My Journal for Today: What a bazaar picture described in today’s devotional text, … that famous passage about the dry bones coming to life which inspired that great Negro Spiritual, which you may have sung, somewhat jokingly, “the toe bone connected to de foot bone, … the foot bone connected to the ankle bone,” and so on. But though God’s sense of humor may seem to be on display here, I like Dr. LaGard Smith’s exclamation that in this word picture God, to Ezekiel, was being “dead serious.”
God wanted Ezekiel, His Prophet, to see in this miraculous display a picture of the nation, Israel, being raised from death to life; but for us, in Christ, the Lord has taken this picture one step further, by bringing our Redeemer, Jesus, back from the dead to be the Lamb of God Who was resurrected to bring any who believe on Him back from death (in sin) to life (in Christ). In both instances we see the power of God to bring life out of death; and as the old spiritual acclaims, “… hear de word of de Lord!”
God was trying to show Ezekiel a picture of hope that showed him, beyond even his imagination, how to believe that the God of Israel was very capable of having victory over death. I think about Jesus showing a select few His ability, as the God-man, to conquer death when he raised Lazarus from the grave. And He showed his inner Disciples His power – as the Son of God – to have power over creation when He walked on the water. Even Ezekiel, as God’s prophet, apparently needed this type of over-the-top, wildly bazaar, image to see that God would one day raise the defeated children of God from the death grip of their sinfulness back to life to live in the land God had promised to them.
But how do we apply all this imagery to our lives today? And Dr. Smith asks the very pertinent question at the end of his devotional for today: ”If God can bring even dry bones to life, is there anything about my spiritual deadness He cannot wholly transform?”
Really, my friends, … .how much do we really believe? You may have believed enough to be sealed for eternal life; but do you believe that God can transform you from deadness into a life transformed into Christ’s own image? Do you believe enough to KNOW that God is bringing you back to complete life in Himself so that you can join the army of God just as the picture of the dry bones coming back to life depicted God restoring the Israelites into His chosen army, walking in march step to God’s way for God’s glory?
My friend, I revel in the thought that God saw fit to breathe His life back into my dead bones; and I walk today with Him rather than in the deadness of my sin. And that happened because He saw fit to die and be reborn into life, showing me that my dry bones can walk again in life through Him. Will you join me in my prayer today, by seeing your life in Christ, which has resurrected your dry bones into a living soldier for His glory? And if so, say with me …
My Prayer for Today: Hallelujah, Lord, … HALLELUJAH!!! Amen
Study from God’s Word… Ezekiel, Chapters 37 – 39 … Passage for Reflection: Ezekiel 37: 4 - 5 … NIV 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' "
My Journal for Today: What a bazaar picture described in today’s devotional text, … that famous passage about the dry bones coming to life which inspired that great Negro Spiritual, which you may have sung, somewhat jokingly, “the toe bone connected to de foot bone, … the foot bone connected to the ankle bone,” and so on. But though God’s sense of humor may seem to be on display here, I like Dr. LaGard Smith’s exclamation that in this word picture God, to Ezekiel, was being “dead serious.”
God wanted Ezekiel, His Prophet, to see in this miraculous display a picture of the nation, Israel, being raised from death to life; but for us, in Christ, the Lord has taken this picture one step further, by bringing our Redeemer, Jesus, back from the dead to be the Lamb of God Who was resurrected to bring any who believe on Him back from death (in sin) to life (in Christ). In both instances we see the power of God to bring life out of death; and as the old spiritual acclaims, “… hear de word of de Lord!”
God was trying to show Ezekiel a picture of hope that showed him, beyond even his imagination, how to believe that the God of Israel was very capable of having victory over death. I think about Jesus showing a select few His ability, as the God-man, to conquer death when he raised Lazarus from the grave. And He showed his inner Disciples His power – as the Son of God – to have power over creation when He walked on the water. Even Ezekiel, as God’s prophet, apparently needed this type of over-the-top, wildly bazaar, image to see that God would one day raise the defeated children of God from the death grip of their sinfulness back to life to live in the land God had promised to them.
But how do we apply all this imagery to our lives today? And Dr. Smith asks the very pertinent question at the end of his devotional for today: ”If God can bring even dry bones to life, is there anything about my spiritual deadness He cannot wholly transform?”
Really, my friends, … .how much do we really believe? You may have believed enough to be sealed for eternal life; but do you believe that God can transform you from deadness into a life transformed into Christ’s own image? Do you believe enough to KNOW that God is bringing you back to complete life in Himself so that you can join the army of God just as the picture of the dry bones coming back to life depicted God restoring the Israelites into His chosen army, walking in march step to God’s way for God’s glory?
My friend, I revel in the thought that God saw fit to breathe His life back into my dead bones; and I walk today with Him rather than in the deadness of my sin. And that happened because He saw fit to die and be reborn into life, showing me that my dry bones can walk again in life through Him. Will you join me in my prayer today, by seeing your life in Christ, which has resurrected your dry bones into a living soldier for His glory? And if so, say with me …
My Prayer for Today: Hallelujah, Lord, … HALLELUJAH!!! Amen
Saturday, July 03, 2010
2010 – July 3 – The Harsh Reality of Death
Study from God’s Word… Isaiah 14: 28 – 32; Is 13: 1 – 22; Is 14: 1 – 23; Is 21: 1 - 10… Passage for Reflection: Isaiah 14: 10 – 11 … NIV 10 They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us." 11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you.
My Journal for Today: Reading the passages which Dr. Smith, my devotional editor/author/shepherd has led me to read today, I’m led to contemplate and mediate on the meaning and finality of death, which is a subject from which we humans like to escape or deny completely. As Dr. Smith points out, we even try to beautify the dead at funerals and where they are buried in memorial gardens, by giving the dead living tributes and honoring their lives with tombstones and flowers which hide the reality of what’s going on under the ground where they are buried.
But today’s highlight devotional passage gets right to the nitty-gritty truth. Below the ground, where the dead are buried, the purification process goes forth; and it’s not a pretty, glorious process. It’s ugly, messy, and horrible. And as we really know, that body is being returned to the earth, with maggots eating away at the corpse, the soul of the dead person having been taken away to live FOREVER in either heaven or hell.
That’s the reality of death, my dear one; but I sit here, writing this, and I’d rather not think about a body decaying in the ground after burial. I’d rather go to a funeral or a graveside service and think joyfully of the living rather than the dead. But perhaps we need to think more readily and often about the reality of death. I really don’t pray hard enough or long enough for the relatives and friends – my dear ones – whom I know have rejected Christ. Because when their bodies are rotting away in the ground after they are dead, their souls, unless they come, as I have come, to recognize and accept Christ as Lord and Savior, it will be too late for them to see the reality of death while they lived.
Oh, how we, who know Christ as Lord, need to cry out to the living about the reality of the dead. And the most powerful thing we can do is pray, pray, pray for the living to come to a saving knowledge of Christ BEFORE their bodies decay in the ground and their souls confront the reality of eternity after death.
So, I’m convicted by my time with God today to pray more diligently than ever for those in my life and within the sphere of influence whom I know would not be with Christ tomorrow if death took them today.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, my Lord, I pray for my sister … my friend, Kay … and others who are in my mind today, … dear ones with whom I have shared my story of deliverance and Your plan of salvation. All I can do now is pray for You to break them unto a realization of the truth death holds for them. And I do so pray for them today! Amen
My Journal for Today: Reading the passages which Dr. Smith, my devotional editor/author/shepherd has led me to read today, I’m led to contemplate and mediate on the meaning and finality of death, which is a subject from which we humans like to escape or deny completely. As Dr. Smith points out, we even try to beautify the dead at funerals and where they are buried in memorial gardens, by giving the dead living tributes and honoring their lives with tombstones and flowers which hide the reality of what’s going on under the ground where they are buried.
But today’s highlight devotional passage gets right to the nitty-gritty truth. Below the ground, where the dead are buried, the purification process goes forth; and it’s not a pretty, glorious process. It’s ugly, messy, and horrible. And as we really know, that body is being returned to the earth, with maggots eating away at the corpse, the soul of the dead person having been taken away to live FOREVER in either heaven or hell.
That’s the reality of death, my dear one; but I sit here, writing this, and I’d rather not think about a body decaying in the ground after burial. I’d rather go to a funeral or a graveside service and think joyfully of the living rather than the dead. But perhaps we need to think more readily and often about the reality of death. I really don’t pray hard enough or long enough for the relatives and friends – my dear ones – whom I know have rejected Christ. Because when their bodies are rotting away in the ground after they are dead, their souls, unless they come, as I have come, to recognize and accept Christ as Lord and Savior, it will be too late for them to see the reality of death while they lived.
Oh, how we, who know Christ as Lord, need to cry out to the living about the reality of the dead. And the most powerful thing we can do is pray, pray, pray for the living to come to a saving knowledge of Christ BEFORE their bodies decay in the ground and their souls confront the reality of eternity after death.
So, I’m convicted by my time with God today to pray more diligently than ever for those in my life and within the sphere of influence whom I know would not be with Christ tomorrow if death took them today.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, my Lord, I pray for my sister … my friend, Kay … and others who are in my mind today, … dear ones with whom I have shared my story of deliverance and Your plan of salvation. All I can do now is pray for You to break them unto a realization of the truth death holds for them. And I do so pray for them today! Amen
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
2010 – June 30 – When Ends Justify the Means
Study from God’s Word… Isaiah, Chapters 10 – 12: 6; 2Kgs 16: 5-6 [2Chron 28: 5-8]; 2Chron 28: 9-21 … Passage for Reflection: Isaiah 10: 5 … NIV Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of My anger, in whose hand is the club of My wrath.
My Journal for Today: Not too long ago a man, claiming to be acting as God’s agent, went into a church and shot a physician, Dr. George Tiller, who was an avowed abortionist. The murderer’s claim was that he was acting as a protector of the unborn and acting on charge of God to take the abortionist’s life; and the fact that all of this happened in a “Christian” church made the scenario all that more bizarre. And this was actually the second time someone had tried to take Tiller’s life, the first time being an unsuccessful attempt at murder.
What do we think about when such things occur; and this is not the first time that a man, claiming to be “christian” acts with violence to take the life of one who is reported to be in the abortion industry. As “Christians,” do we have the right to take the life of another person, thinking somehow that “the ends justify the means?” You’ll notice above that I used the term “murderer” to describe the man who shot George Tiller. Thankfully, I think few would say that we, as citizens of this world, have the “right” to take the life of another person, even one we feel is a murderer himself. And most of us, including yours truly, would call it “murder” if anyone tries to take the life of another, thinking that he/she is acting on behalf of the unborn. Some of us, who are old enough to remember the horror of events surrounding the assassination of JFK, may have been relieved when we heard that Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of the President; but we still thought of Jack Ruby as a “murderer,” who had no right to take Oswald’s life.
But then, how do we deal with what God has done in the past, such as in today’s devotional study, to use the hands of overt non-believers to strike out – in the Lord’s anger – at the children of God. In Isaiah 10 – 12 we read of God allowing Assyria to be His agent of anger; but then the Lord turns around and takes it out on the Assyrians because they acted pridefully and willfully to take those in Israel and Judah captive. So, how do we (you) deal with that? How do we personalize that? How do we make a spiritual imperative or generalization out of such actions where God is obviously allowing evil people to prevail over His own chosen and to overtly punish the evil for which His children have been involved?
And I think the answer is … WE DON’T! When we see that God is being God and He chooses to take action against evil, I believe we cannot generalize that to our own choices. In other words, again there is a larger principle at work here; and it’s wrapped up in the statement of truth that … ”GOD IS GOD; and we are not!!”
My friends, there are just some things … some decisions … and some actions man cannot presuppose to have clarity on when it comes to making decisions which seem to go against the grain of Godliness. And this can be tough at times; because many people have become conscientious objectors because they could not abide taking a life in war – even a war that was generally felt to be a “just war.” However, there are others who somehow felt that going to war for just causes was ordained by their ability to choose such an action, making what they felt to be Godly choices. For these Christians, taking a life in such warfare was not going against God’s commandment against “murder.” But it’s still an ethical dilemma, isn’t it?
Such ethical decision making can stretch us to the limits of our faith at times; but these are the tests which help define our character and allow us to stand for righteousness when such choices are required without breaching God’s prerogatives in life. Sometimes, trying to follow what Christ would do might help us; because Jesus came, not only to save us from our sinfulness, but to model sinless decision-making. So, trying to be a “WWJD” Christian can be a good strategy for ethical decision making when the choices become difficult.
But above all, we need to leave some actions in God’s hands, letting God be God because we are not.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be Your agent of change and to avoid trying to be You to the world. Amen
My Journal for Today: Not too long ago a man, claiming to be acting as God’s agent, went into a church and shot a physician, Dr. George Tiller, who was an avowed abortionist. The murderer’s claim was that he was acting as a protector of the unborn and acting on charge of God to take the abortionist’s life; and the fact that all of this happened in a “Christian” church made the scenario all that more bizarre. And this was actually the second time someone had tried to take Tiller’s life, the first time being an unsuccessful attempt at murder.
What do we think about when such things occur; and this is not the first time that a man, claiming to be “christian” acts with violence to take the life of one who is reported to be in the abortion industry. As “Christians,” do we have the right to take the life of another person, thinking somehow that “the ends justify the means?” You’ll notice above that I used the term “murderer” to describe the man who shot George Tiller. Thankfully, I think few would say that we, as citizens of this world, have the “right” to take the life of another person, even one we feel is a murderer himself. And most of us, including yours truly, would call it “murder” if anyone tries to take the life of another, thinking that he/she is acting on behalf of the unborn. Some of us, who are old enough to remember the horror of events surrounding the assassination of JFK, may have been relieved when we heard that Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of the President; but we still thought of Jack Ruby as a “murderer,” who had no right to take Oswald’s life.
But then, how do we deal with what God has done in the past, such as in today’s devotional study, to use the hands of overt non-believers to strike out – in the Lord’s anger – at the children of God. In Isaiah 10 – 12 we read of God allowing Assyria to be His agent of anger; but then the Lord turns around and takes it out on the Assyrians because they acted pridefully and willfully to take those in Israel and Judah captive. So, how do we (you) deal with that? How do we personalize that? How do we make a spiritual imperative or generalization out of such actions where God is obviously allowing evil people to prevail over His own chosen and to overtly punish the evil for which His children have been involved?
And I think the answer is … WE DON’T! When we see that God is being God and He chooses to take action against evil, I believe we cannot generalize that to our own choices. In other words, again there is a larger principle at work here; and it’s wrapped up in the statement of truth that … ”GOD IS GOD; and we are not!!”
My friends, there are just some things … some decisions … and some actions man cannot presuppose to have clarity on when it comes to making decisions which seem to go against the grain of Godliness. And this can be tough at times; because many people have become conscientious objectors because they could not abide taking a life in war – even a war that was generally felt to be a “just war.” However, there are others who somehow felt that going to war for just causes was ordained by their ability to choose such an action, making what they felt to be Godly choices. For these Christians, taking a life in such warfare was not going against God’s commandment against “murder.” But it’s still an ethical dilemma, isn’t it?
Such ethical decision making can stretch us to the limits of our faith at times; but these are the tests which help define our character and allow us to stand for righteousness when such choices are required without breaching God’s prerogatives in life. Sometimes, trying to follow what Christ would do might help us; because Jesus came, not only to save us from our sinfulness, but to model sinless decision-making. So, trying to be a “WWJD” Christian can be a good strategy for ethical decision making when the choices become difficult.
But above all, we need to leave some actions in God’s hands, letting God be God because we are not.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be Your agent of change and to avoid trying to be You to the world. Amen
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