Success and Failure Blog

BY CARLA HINTON | NewsOK.com – How can a loving, powerful God allow disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis to wreak havoc and destroy lives? It’s a question that has “kept seminarians up at night,” said Robert P. Jones, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the Public Religion Research Institute. His comments come as the institute releases findings from a survey conducted one week after a March 11 earthquake triggered a catastrophic tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan.

The survey, conducted by the Washington-based institute in partnership with Religion News Service, found that a majority of Americans, 56 percent, say God is in control of everything that happens in the world. However, less than four in 10 (38 percent) believe earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters are a sign from God, and fewer (29 percent) believe God sometimes punishes nations for the sins of their citizens.

“Generally speaking, what we see in this poll is that Americans basically have a more natural than supernatural view of disasters,” Jones said. He said one exception proved to be white evangelical Protestants. The survey found that among evangelicals, about six out of 10 (59 percent) believe natural disasters are a sign from God, and a smaller majority (53 percent) believe God judges nations for the sins of some citizens.

Jones said white evangelical Protestants tend to be more likely to approach the Bible literally, “and of course in the Bible, we have plenty of examples of floods, earthquakes, fires — all kinds of things that are attributed in Scripture to signs from God or God’s judgment.” Read more

Folks, f you believe God doesn’t punish nations for disobedience and sinfulness, then you haven’t read the Bible.  God’s words verbatim – “spare the rod, spoil the child”  (Proverbs 13:24).  If God thinks this is good instruction for our children, then we can only expect He applies it to His children, right? After all, sinners or saints, we are all God’s children.

Does this sound familiar? :

Hosea 9 1-3 :  Punishment for Israel 1 Do not rejoice, Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations.

For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor. 2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them. 3 They will not remain in the LORD’s land;

Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.

  ‘Sin is crouching at the door,

eager to control you.

But you must subdue it and be it’s master.”

Genesis 4:7 NLT

We are all aware that sin is just waiting for us at the front door. Everywhere we are going, it is there. So, what about the back door? The places that we’ve been. These are the one’s we never expect to see again.

 Have you ever thought about the consequences of your past? How a sin from yesterday gains steam, and comes roaring like a freight train into today. How do we derail this runaway locomotive?

 God is speaking to us in this verse, and He say’s “be it’s master.”

 If we are to be a master, we must own it. We must own it to subdue it. Our confession to Jesus Christ will put it on a new course…..

 Psalm 103:12 NIV says, ‘ as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

It is remarkable that we have the chance to communicate with people everywhere, thanks to modern technology. Our phones can now do anything, it seems, and people in the remotest places can access the Internet.

However, with all the problems we can have, it is easy to wonder what we can be thankful for. There is so much doom and gloom around us. So many things tear us down. The economy might be awful where you live. There is suffering everywhere.

And yet, we can still give thanks.

Sometimes it is for something little. A cousin, at age 5 or so, once asked – as we went around the table – if she could be thankful for something silly first. When told she could, she said, “I’m thankful our house has more bathrooms than Grandma and Grandpa’s.” When you’ve got to go, even that can be something good.

Of course, even if you have to use an outhouse, you can still be thankful you can physically go. There is an old saying – “I was sad because I had no shoes, till I saw a man with no feet.”

And, thus her silly saying is the lead-in to something so positive. God can use little things to start great things. From the mouths of babes sometimes come gems.

That is something to be thankful for, that there are those little moments, those fun times, to remember. This world is too filled with hatred and selfishness. But, the Bible tells us to focus on what is good. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

There is still loveliness, goodness, etc.. There is also beauty. It might not look like it outside if your November is as dull and dreary as some get in North America. However, there is still beauty. Just look at the good, and don’t think about the bad. The snow can still be pretty when you go to shovel it. You can still bask in the knowledge that God has produced such intricate detail in each snowflake.

In other words, stop and smell the roses. Think of the thornbushes as having roses on them. Because in ever bad thing, God can make good come out of it. 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.”

That car stopping you in traffic might be preventing you from going ahead to where you could be in a serious accident. Or, a serious accident in one place might keep you from getting killed in another place.

Back to the better things, though. Some people can recall so many happy times. However, even if you don’t have good memories, or you are feeling loss that leaves giant hole in your heart, God can give you something positive to build on.

Jesus says in John 10:10, “The thief [that is, the devil] cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” He wants that for you.

We all have God-sized holes in our hearts that only Jesus Christ can fill. Why?

The devil is truly a thief, as Jesus – God in flesh (John 1:1, 14, 10:30, Col. 2:9) – notes in that verse. See, the devil was an angel of light (Ezekiel 28:13, 2 Cor. 11:14), but was untested.

He was good, just like the world. But, the devil rebelled, and tried to be like God through selfishness. (Ezek. 28:13-19, Isaiah 14:12-14). He forces people to do things, instead of lovingly giving them choice like God does.

See, evil, is just an absence of good. And, all that goodness left the devil. Just like if a light goes out, it has no more light. There is no physical “dark” that takes its place.

So, God made this world perfect. But, the devil tempted Adam and Eve to sin. He stole from them by tempting them to disobey God. When they willfully disobeyed God, they were no longer perfect. Sin came into the world, and death by sin. Death spread everywhere. (Romans 5:12) All creation groans because of that sin. (Romans 8:22) All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23)

God loves each of us, though. So, He made a way that we could be forgiven for our sin. We inherited that sin nature. We can’t communicate with God, can’t be reconciled to Him, by our own good works. If we could keep the whole law and yet offend once, we’d still be guilty. (James 2:10) Many try of their own good works, but as we can see, that’s not possible. It must be by grace. God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

So, God reconciled Himself to us. It was while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8); we don’t have to do anything to earn it ourselves. We can’t, in fact. It’s a free gift. (Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, etc.) When He died, he was punished in our place for our sin. (1 Peter 2:24, 2 Cor. 5:21, etc.) We were saved by the shedding of His perfect blood – and we are reconciled by His life, as He rose from the dead! (romans 5:10, each gospel account, etc.)

That is something to be thankful for, but we can’t be thankful for it unless we have it, can we? If you have a big gift in your house for your birthday, even if you know wht it is, if you don’t open it you can’t use it, right? You haven’t claimed it.

If you have nothing else, you can be thankful for salvation. If you have never claimed that gift, you can do it right now. You are only a single, sincere prayer of repentance to Jesus Christ away from eternal life. Repentance just means agreeing with God that your sins keep you from heaven, and you deserve eternal punishment for them. But, you know Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died for your sins and rose from the dead. And, you choose to call out to Him by faith to save you, and receive Him as your savior.

The fact God has done this, that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13) is something to be thankful for, and to go out and tell others about. It’s wonderful that someday, God will take believers away from this mess of a world to His perfect Heaven, where there’s no pain, no suffering, no tears. Nobody can do anything bad in heaven, because there is no sin.

But, we are here on earth to save sinners from that lost and dying world. God must do the saving, but we must do our part. We do it by praying that God will work in hearts as they are told the Good News. And, then, we go out and tell people they are loved, that there is a redeemer for their sins. They can fill those holes in their hearts with Jesus Christ, instead of with the sin of this world.

It’s something we get to do. God Himself lets us be part of His plan. What a privilege! So, let’s do it. And they will know the true Christians by their love. (John 13:34-35)

It may require humbling yourself to someone you’ve wronged, but you can tell everyone. What a great Thanksgiving message. Even just by passing this message on to others.

I have been tormented lately with the inability to forgive my husband. It is not just one thing or something huge in which he has done to me. It starts with one comment or action that makes me feel less of a person than the bitterness sets in with other things he has done in the past for which I had previously (or at least thought I did) forgive him.

Sometimes it is as if I do not want to forgive him. Then I feel the Lord quietly telling me who am I to judge him according to whether he should be forgiven or not. As I will be judged as I judge others. Boy, oh boy, I do not want that, Lord.

I feel the Lord asking me to see him through His eyes. Sometimes it is easy then his mouth opens and something ungodlike comes out. Help me, Lord.

So the Lord reminds me, Mary, have you done everything perfectly today? Have you not done something today that may have irritated me, annoyed me, or angered me? Yes, Lord, I probably did. Did I forgive you, Mary? Yes, Lord, you always do! Then why should he not be forgiven? You are always right, Lord. Forgive me for being unable to forgive.

Unforgiveness leads to bitterness, anger, deception, depression, and most importantly a huge wall between God and yourself. This is not what you need or want in your life.

So, Lord, how do I rid myself of this anger and bitterness? Deliver me, Father, from my unforgiveness.
*acknowledge aloud the sin of unforgiveness in your life.
*acknowledge aloud the person who has committed this pain to you.
*acknowledge aloud the hurt which they inflicted upon you.
*Ask Father God, to rid you of these inflictions and iniquities and to take back this ground which Satan has stolen from you.

Staying free from your bitterness of a person, especially someone you need to deal with daily, is a daily process of
*asking the Lord to break down the wall that is separating us from Him.
*asking the Holy Spirit to help us forgive this person for all the wrongs against us.
*asking the Lord to allow us to see this person through His eyes.
*asking the Lord to help us love that person as He loves them – compassionately, with mercy, kindness, and without judgement.
*Father God, wipe the hurt and pain from heart, mind, and body that has been caused.

My husband wonders at times why I stare at him with a smile on my face. Those are the times that I am asking, Father God, to show me what He sees in him. All the good.

We are all born into evilness. And if someone wants to they can all look at us and only see the bad if they are not waliking steadily with the Lord. But if we are allowing God’s glorious light to shine upon us through daily prayer, dedication, and meditation. If we allow, God to control our lives instead of ourselves, we will see everyone the way H sees them – beautiful.

Amen, Father God, may all glory and honor be Yours, Almighty Father.

The Problem of Evil

Since the beginning of time, there has been a war raging in the cosmos. It is a war that starts in heaven when Lucifer decides that he wants to be God. Lucifer was God’s most beautiful creation. He walked before the throne room daily and was considered an archangel. But Lucifer became jealous of God, and it was out of that jealously that Lucifer convinced one third of the angels to join his efforts to overthrow God and become God himself. It was at this point He ceased being an archangel and became the Prince of Darkness. The Devil’s revolt resulted in him being cast out of Heaven by God and ever since Satan and God have been enemies.

In our time we look forward to the day that evil will no longer hold sway in the world. We long for a heaven on earth. And one day there will be a new heaven and a new earth. But until that day comes when evil is finally no longer, evil still remains and causes much pain on the earth. In God’s original creation everything that God created was good. In fact for a time, humanity itself knew no sin. Then man sinned, and evil manifested itself into the world. Evil can be defined “as the refusal to accept the true God as God. True evil elevates itself or another to replace God.” The question often arises, if God being holy and just knew that evil and sin would come to the earth than why did He not prevent it or stop it? There are three reasons why God allows evil to continue in the world and they are the following: 1.) God created man with free will and thus gave man the ability to choose to accept Him or reject Him, 2.) The fact that evil and suffering is so prevalent in our lives reveals the fact that we have our own inadequacies and that we need God, and 3.) God allows evil because He does not want His children to get used to the present life because as the Bible says, we are just pilgrims and sojourners passing through and as believers, Heaven is our final eternal state.
God created man with free will and thus gave man the ability to choose to accept Him or reject Him. God did not create evil. God did create persons with freedom who could practice it. So we are who actualize evil, not Him. He could have created a world without the possibility of evil, but He preferred a world with free choice. God created us with the power of choice. To quote from Ravi Zacharias,
“What would it take to create a loving world void of evil? A world in which love is capable of meaningful expression and experience would also imply a world in which there is choice. If someone tells you that they love you, those words mean something because they are freely given. If you learned that someone had told you they loved you but that they had been forced to say it, their words would not mean very much. Thus, if we want to speak of a loving world, we must also speak of a world in which choices are exercised. And in such a world, there is also the possibility of choosing a course of action that is not loving, i.e. evil.”
True love implies and demands a free choice! Or else you would have a fixed environment in which humanity would be robots. Alvin Plantinga claimed the following:
“If God creates human beings with true, morally significant free will (where humans can freely decide to act in ways that really do advance goodness in the world, or really do cause evil in the world against self, others or world), and if God wants a world in which there are significant amounts of moral goodness, it’s possible that God cannot get that kind of world without significant amounts of moral badness as well. After all, if people are left free by God, then the morally significant states of the world will in large part be up to the decisions of humans, not up to God.”

The fact that evil and suffering is so prevalent in our lives reveals the fact that we have our own inadequacies and that we need God. Simply put, all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. When Adam and Eve sinned, God promised that one day there would be one coming that would be a sacrifice for sin and would make a way for people to have there relationship restored to God. That was done when Jesus died on Calvary. Jesus took all of humanities sins, and bore them for all of humanity so that people might have a chance to be saved and inherit eternal life. We see here that “Christ’s atonement guarantees the final end of evil and suffering”. Alcorn says, “The drama of evil and suffering in Christ’s sacrifice addresses the very heart of the problem of evil and suffering. One day it will prove to be the final answer.” The answer to the problem of evil and suffering according to Alcorn,“is not a philosophy, but a Person; not words, but the Word.” Jesus Christ is the answer to the problem of evil. Only He can help us with the feeling of inadequacies and the feelings of hopelessness. Only He can save humanity from their sins. Only Jesus can provide true lasting peace.
God allows evil because He does not want His children to get used to the present life because as the Bible says, we are just pilgrims and sojourners passing through and as believers, Heaven is our final eternal state. If everything was perfect and no problems ever surfaced and there was no pain in life then people would not have to rely upon God anymore for anything. Alcorn points out that “in order to appreciate our eternal future, we will remember the sufferings of the present.” Because we have pain and suffering, we must rely upon an Almighty God. Human beings do not have all the answers. Dinesh D’ Sousa writes.

The only way for us to really triumph over evil and suffering is to live forever in a place where those things do not exist. It is the claim of Christianity that there is such a place and that is available to all who seek it. No one can deny that, if this claim is true, then evil and suffering are exposed as temporary hardships and injustices. They are as transient as our brief, mortal lives. In that case God has shown us a way to prevail over evil and suffering, which are finally overcome in the life to come.”

So in reality, in the big picture evil and suffering is only temporary. So every trial and every tribulation that we may face in life is well worth it, because one day those that believe in Jesus will receive new resurrected bodies that will no longer be corrupted. We will be in Heaven where Jesus is, and there will be no more sin. Revelation 21:1-7 best illustrates what will happen in the end: 1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
In conclusion, we have seen the three reasons why God allows evil to exist in our present world. According to Ed Hindson and Emir Caner,
“What evil forces us to conclude is either God is not good, or that our conception of God’s relationship toward us needs serious rethinking. The evidence about evil drives us decisively to this latter conclusion. God uses evil, suffering, and disorder to drive us to Himself. If He gave only good, we would be self-satisfied. If he had given immediate death when we sinned, He would be just. That He gives us partial goodness and partial suffering now forms a texture of hope that in the future, He will in fact make all things right in a final consummation and restoration. God is not through: He will continue to work on us, like a persistent sculptor working the metal with hard blows and constant lighter corrections, to help us become worthy of happiness if we receive Him and submit to His plan. On most occasions, it seems, we do not know why God allows certain evils. But we know someone who knows these things, and we can therefore trust Him to make good on His promise that “he who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Romans 13:11-12- And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

Wake Up Church of the Living God! I write this exhortation tell you that it is time for the Church to arise out of its slumber. It is time for the Church to let their candle burn bright again in a lost and dying world. While the world becomes more and more inherently evil, the Church needs to realize that our redemption draweth nigh, and we as a Church need to be about doing the Lord’s business and laboring for the King so that when He does return, he will not find us lax and apathetic towards the things of God.

The Church of the Living God has been duped by the demonic doctrines of hyper Calvinism and hyper Pragmatism. What I mean by hyper Calvinism is the belief that God predestined the elect (saved people) before the foundation of the world and that since they are predestined to heaven there is no way for them to turn from irresistable grace. On the other hand, God predestines some people to go to Hell and there is nothing that they can do to change their eternal destination because God already predestined it before the foundation of the earth. This particular idea is heresy, but nevertheless it is spreading in the churches of America at a unprecedented rate. What is so appalling about this particular aspect of Hyper-Calvinism is the fact that it teaches that some people from the moment they were born are damned to Hell and there is nothing they can do to change their destination! Oh, but I have good news for you. The Bible says that God would have none perish but that all might come to everlasting life. Focus on the word ALL. That is clear that God wants all of humanity (that includes every man, woman, boy and girl that has existed or ever will exist) to be saved, and to experience everlasting life. The fact of the matter is that God created us with a free will. People have the choice of whether to accept what he did on Calvary, or people can reject what he did on Calvary. God wants us to choose to love him. If we did not have a choice or a free will then we would be no better than robots.

There is also a heretical doctrine spreading known as Hyper-Pragmatism. Pragmatism says that if it feels right then it is okay to do. The truth is that every man thinks he is right in his own eyes. Pragmatism is currently sweeping through the Churches at an astonishing rate. Many Churches are compromising their convictions in order to appease the flesh. Many Churches are using the methodologies of the world and are in effect saying it is okay to use the world and the world system in order to keep people entertained and keep people happy. Folks the truth of the matter is that this whole idea of collaborating with the world is heresy and has no place in the Church of America. Churches have become so worldly and they have bought into the idea of pragmatism and the sad truth about it is they don’t even know it. When a evangelical Church in this country is playing secular songs in the pulpit there is something wrong. Not too long ago a evangelical Church played the AC/DC song I am on a Highway to Hell. The sad truth about it is that many people in that Church is probably really on the highway to Hell. It is so sad to see the Churches in America for the most part become so apathetic and become so duped by demonic doctrines. It is obvious that they are not reading the same Bible that I read. The Bible clearly states in 1st John to love not the world neither the things that are in the world. The Bible clearly tells the Church that we are not citizens of this world. We are pilgrims and sojourners passing through.

We must never expect the Lord to bless a church that is duped by these doctrines. We must never expect God to bless a church that is full of proud and conceited people. God will only start to bless the Church of the Living God when it is humbled to the dust under a sense of its own shortcomings. When the Church does this then God will look upon the Church with mercy. God blesses his people when they begin to pray, as well as when they confess their sins. The prayer is urgent, humble, and believing; therefore, it has to speed to the throne of God. “God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us”. These agonizing desires will be part of the mourning of a Church that is conscious of having lost the blessing from God when the entire Church is interceding with urgency and persistence.

Prayer is the best resort of an earnest people. I can testify to this. In my church (Second Baptist Church), we have had prayer meetings in which everyone has been stirred, much as the trees of the forest are moved in the wind, and afterward the presence of God has always been manifested by conversion of souls. Our best times of prayer have always been followed by joyful harvests of new believers. Churches everywhere must be prayerful, intensely so, or else they cannot expect that the sound of abundant rain will be heard throughout their land.

I call on the church to awake, to confess their sin, to awake to struggle in prayer for the souls of men. The the Lord God will visit us from on high. Come Holy Spirit, and rouse your slumbering people Stir up the lazy multitude of believers, for when Your power is felt, then the bright day of triumph has dawned upon us.

The Gulf Oil Spill, which may become the largest man-made disaster in human history, is getting worse, as the news shows it’s now full of methane.

Pictures show things which appear to be out of the Book of Revelation, as the oily mess appears blood-like in color and texture. (It looks close enough to blood, the squeamish should be ready.) With devastation of almost Biblical proportions possible, including worst case scenarios involving billions of barrels , it makes one wonder if this is some kind of judgment.

God is a God of grace and mercy. He loves to pardon sinners who come to Him by faith and repent; He came to this world to seek and save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10) He is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any perish, but that all come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) Mercy is not getting what we deserve – grace is getting what we don’t deserve. Because of His love, God loves to shower those good things on us.

But, God also is a God of justice. We like it when other people get what they deserve, especially if they wronged us. Well, this latest Gulf Oil Spill is so bad, it’s almost certain to be a disaster of Biblical proportions by the end. This leads some to ask, is America being judged?

Let’s look at that dichotomy for a moment, the love of God as shows in His mercy, and in His divine judgment.

Not a Contradiction

It is certainly not a contradiction – a police officer or judge, for instance, can be very wise and fair, and good at tracking down and punishing criminals to the “full extent of the law,” he or she may “always get the bad guy,” but yet that same officer or judge can be a warm, loving family man who is lenient and merciful with his or her children.

The difference, of course, is the relationship. Oh, that person will provide discipline and correction when needed, but in a merciful, more gentle way because they are his or her children. That person lovingly nurtures them, as the Bible instructs fathers, and will not provoke them to wrath, as fathers are warned not to do. (Eph. 6:4)

God is just like that. He hates sin, and must punish sin, because He can’t allow it into His perfect Heaven. This is how much he loves us, and how His love includes punishing sin. Because, just as a loving judge punishes criminals partly with innocent family members in mind, so, too, does God punish sin so we won’t have to deal with it in Heaven. He keeps sin completely out of it.

There’s another reason Heaven will be so wonderful. It’s because God will wipe away all tears, there will be no suffering, no pain, no sorrow or death. (Rev. 21) Nobody can imagine the wonders that await us, because we are finite humans. Who knows, we might have senses we never felt before, just as the blind will see for the first time.

See, this world was made perfect – there was no decay, no death, no sin. However, when people sinned, they brought that into the world, and it spread like crazy. It was a catastrophe that touched the whole world. God had to judge that sin, but He consistently gives us a chance to repent. Indeed, He will put it off if enough call on Him with repentant hearts. He was willing to spare Sodom from judgment if there were only 10 righteous people in the city. (Gen. 18) And, wicked Nineveh was spared from destruction for 70 years, because they repented. (Jon. 3)

However, even before He judges something or somebody, He lets them realize the natural consequences of that sin, which can be enormous. Indeed, even secular researchers have shown that humans naturally repeat mistakes & don’t learn from disasters.

They don’t always understand that it’s our fallen nature, but it is – we are not perfect because of sin. Sin separates us from God, and it’s only by His grace that He loves us. He never stops loving us, even when we turn away from Him. In fact, as he suffered on the cross, being punished in our place, Jesus – God Himself ion flesh – called out for them to be forgiven. (Luke 23:34)

That part – allowing people to experience the consequences of sin – isn’t always God directly allowing disasters; it’s often just His removing His hand of protection. Because, this entire world is filled with awful things that could happen, but don’t

Divine Judgment or not?

So, did God allow this to happen as a consequence for sin? Is He judging America? Has He removed His hand of protection?

Nobody can claim to know God’s heart for sure, except by what it says in the Bible. It can’t be certain that God has removed His hand of protection from anything. However, we don’t have guidelines that tell us it is possible, and that tell us what to do.

God condemns those which call good evil, and evil good. This has happened quite often in our society, as our culture has so much hatred, greed, corruption, and so on in it. The Bible tells us that in the end times, “the love of many shall wax cold” (Mat. 24:12) It’s true – that deep, unconditional love that we should have for others has been replaced by a shallowness in many cases. We’re so busy with our lives, few people care about others anymore. However, others are supposed to be put ahead of ourselves and our feelings. That means we shouldn’t be offended at every little thing, nor should we be selfishly trying to get everything for ourselves. The “great love chapter” of the Bible, after all, tells us what love really is; among other things, it isn’t hurtful or selfish. It “seeks not its own,’ meaning it doesn’t keep trying to get; it’s all about giving. And, so on. (1 Cor. 13) We have refused to condemn sin.

We need to love all sinners, but sin separates us from God’s perfect love, and needs to be confessed and forsaken. At the same time, we need to love the sinner, and show them compassion and understanding. We need to help them do as Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery when he forgave her – “Go, and sin no more.” (John 8:10) And, if we sin, we need to confess and forsake it, because “We have an advocate with God the Father – Jesus Christ the righteous,” (1 John 2:1), who took the punishment for our sins.

Of course, we’ve had problems for centuries, in how we treated other human beings. We refused to show natives, Africans-American/blacks, and other minorities love and compassion. We were, at times, filled with hypocrisy, as individuals, state governments, and as a national government.

Yes, we built a great nation, but we confess that we are not a perfect one. We were still blessed richly, though, despite all of our problems, because we had enough people who insisted on following the Golden Rule with everyone, regardless of who they were – such people were just drowned out by the wicked. Just like today, those who insist on moral decency and common sense are drowned out at times.

The Conclusion:

It’s hard to say if God has removed His hand of protection on us or not. But, we know 2 things for sure about this situation.

1. The Gulf Oil Spill could be a foreshadowing of the prophecy of a third of the seas of the world turning to blood, and a third of the sea life dying (Rev. 8:7-9, which also mentions hail – which the evaporation could cause to look like bits of blood), and then everything in the sea dying (Rev. 16:3-4). Revelation tells us it will partly happen because of a comet or meteor, but the tidal wave caused by a meteor crashing into the sea would definitely cause this to spread a lot more than it is even now. In other words, we could be close to the end times, just based ont his alone.

2. Just as we, and other nations, have in the past called on God in repentance and prayer to forgive and save us, we can do it, too. Second Chronicles 7:14 is a great model for this type of national prayer of repentance, calling on God to forgive us.

Whether or not this is God lifting His hand of protection, we are getting closer and closer to the days prophesied many years ago in the Bible. Life won’t be the same. However, each person alive today has a future.

That future is with Jesus. Jesus is God in flesh – He and His father are one. (John 10;30, etc.) He came to this world because, while He is a God of justice, He is also a God of mercy. That same Jesus who cried out, while being crucified, “Forgive them, Father, they know not what they d,” died for you, and rose from the dead the third day. He took the punishment for each of our sins – mine, yours, everyone’s – because HE DOES NOT WANT YOU TO FACE JUDGMENT. (I normally wouldn’t type in caps like that, but something in my Spirit, which is how God indwells believers, is just thinking about how bad this *could* get, and crying out for people to come to Jesus, so He can lead them through this with the peace that passes understanding!)

He is a God of everlasting mercy, who doesn’t want to see people suffer. Like that policeman or judge in the first example, who doesn’t want his or her children to grow up to become hardened criminals, God knows what awaits those who reject his perfect love and goodness. It’s everlasting destruction from the presence of God. (2 Thess. 1:9)

I don’t know how bad the oil spill will get, but even if it’s not near the end, this is the time to make peace with God, because none of us knows what tomorrow will bring. You don’t have to do anything to make peace with Him, though. You don’t’ have to clean up your act and then come to Jesus – you can’t. It was “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) He gave us a free gift – the gift of life forever with Him. (Rom. 6:23) All we have to do is “call upon the name of the Lord,” and we’ll be saved.(Rom. 10:13) Salvation is “by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)

All you need to do to receive Him, and have Him in your heart to give you peace and to guide you through things and get you to Heaven someday, is to: A. Admit you’re a sinner, just like me, just like everyone, and that this sin keeps you from heaven; B. Believe that Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died for your sins, took your punishment on the cross,and rose from the dead; and, C. Choose to turn from your sins (repent) and receive Him as your Lord and Savior; invite Him into your heart and life, making you new on the inside.

It’s not about specific words, but you can pray something like this right now to receive Him:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I’m a sinner. I can’t reach Your perfect Heaven on my own, because my sin separates me from you. I know You died for my sins, though, and rose from the dead. You took my place, You suffered my punishment on the cross. Lord Jesus, I turn from my sin, and I trust You to forgive me. I choose today to become a follower of You, and I invite You into my heart to make me new on the inside, so I can have a relationship with You. I accept You have done all that is needed to get me to Heaven, and I trust You as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

That’s all there is to it. If you prayed that and meant it, you are a child of His now, and nothing can take you away from Him. (Rom. 8:38-9, Eph. 4:30) Tell others all about His wonderful love and grace, in how He has forgiven them, too, and all they must do it turn to Him by faith for forgiveness. He never tells us in His Word to do anything but call on Him.

Find a good Gospel preaching church where the love of God is also shown, as well as the truth of God’s Word being preached. I recommend the “rapture ready” bulletin boards, too, as a good place to fellowship and learn about all the apostasy (false religion) that is out there.

Our nation has lots of problems. It may or may not be under God’s judgment; but soon, the whole world will be. It might still be quite a while from now. But, His return for us has always been imminent; even in the first century, people awaited that blessed hope of His Glorious Appearing.

We can look forward to that, too. The Gulf of Mexico, and life in that area, may be greatly harmed, but Jesus promises that “In this world, you will have tribulation; but, be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) And, He can help you to overcome, too.

Joshua 7: 10

“The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?’”

I love this scene. Joshua, like me and a whole lot of other people, immediately assumed he had screwed up big time, since Israel got “routed” out of Ai. I wanted to hear Joshua say, “What the h-e-double-hockey-stick do You think I’m doing down here?! You’re the one who told us to do this when we’ve sinned, for crying out loud. Now You ask me what I’m doing? I don’t think so! I don’t think so…”

But along comes God and says, “What the hey? I’m not mad at you. Why ever would I be mad at you?? Get out of your self-centered depression and self-doubt and self-deprecation, and get out there and show them who’s boss, for My sake already!”

I love it. God is so funny sometimes!

Do you ever feel like that sometimes? I mean, we all make mistakes, and sometimes we can get downright depressed about it. Sometimes we can feel like there’s absolutely no way we can get out of this hole we’re in, and it’s all our own dumb fault. All we can even think of doing is simply lying down flat on our faces and waiting till something good happens again. Cuz there’s no way on earth we’re gonna put ourselves out there again until we know for certain exactly how to do what it is we’re trying to do, if we’re supposed to be doing it in the first place! Do you ever feel like that? Boy, I sure do!

But along comes God – surprise! Yes, there still is a God, even though evidence of Him is mighty lacking right now, it may seem. Just like in Joshua’s case, we did what was right, we followed the rules, we lead the people in the right direction, we were carrying out our destiny. What went wrong? So horribly, terribly wrong? We get down on our knees, even on our faces sometimes, and pray and search our hearts and wait. And wait. And wait. On our faces. For a long time.

Then along comes God. “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? I never told you to get down on your face, did I? I told you to go out and get the enemy! So get out there! But first make sure you have all the right people with you, and they follow my rules to a T.”

“Ok… So You don’t want me on my face?” says Joshua, or me, or you. “That’s right,” says God. “I want you up on your feet! Working for Me!”

“Wow,” I say. That is truly awesome. I messed up in some way, I know I did, but He doesn’t want me grovelling, bowing, scraping, genuflecting, etc. He wants our hearts humble, yes. But in our humility He wants us active! Alive! Standing straight and tall in the work He gives us to do. And He does give us work.

To Joshua He gave the job of clearing out the false gods from among the people of Israel, so they would again be brave in their trust in their One True God.

To us He gives the job of clearing out other false gods, so we can be brave and stand tall in His calling. Right now He is calling some to cast off other time consumers and steep ourselves in the knowledge of His Word, using the Bible in Ninety Days schedule.  For some of us this has meant a clearing of focus, simplifying our days. For others it means adding one thing more, but this one thing so profoundly trumps the others we wonder why we haven’t done it before. Still others find ourselves in a race to get our reading done, yet oddly intrigued by the archaic stories of God’s revelation to His people of who He really is.

As God calls us to get up off our faces and do His work of learning about Him, we prepare for the first step of taking this knowledge out to the parts of the world He sends us into. May we remember those messages He wants us to remember from His Word, precisely, and may we keep false gods away so we may be brave to do the work He gives us to do.

So remember, next time you find yourself wondering what went wrong, don’t simply fall on your face and wait for the answer. Keep working. Keep praying, but keep working at His work, whatever it is for you.

And I’ll be working right beside you.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love,
By our love,
Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand.
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand.
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land,
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love,
By our love,
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

We will work with each other, we will work, side by side,
We will work with each other, we will work, side by side,
And we’ll guard each one’s dignity, and save each one’s pride,
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love,
By our love,
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

I hope this little blog has encouraged you a little for Today.

Simply yours,

Patty

To non-Christians, it may seem odd to worship a man on a cross.  That’s because they only look at the outside.  Following the lies of the world, they don’t realize the incredible price that had to be paid for sin.  And, they don’t realize there are many confessions that Jesus is the Christ – the Son of the living God.

Does the cross seem gross?  If you saw “The Passion of the Christ,” you’d know. Indeed, to paraphrase part of Isaiah 53, He was without any real beauty that we should treasure Him when we saw Him.  He is a man of sorrows, well-acquainted with grief.  He was despised and rejected while here on Earth, and just as then, even now, people turn their faces at Him. (Isaiah 52:2-3)  God understands that to look just at the outside, it seems very bloody.  But, just as much in life, the outside is not the whole story.

See, it’s not just about a man on a cross.  There were other men hung on crosses; that was the traditional Roman form of execution.  Jesus Christ was crucified with 2 of them, in fact.  One on the left cursed and reviled Him.  However, the one on the right realized the truth.

The penalty for sin

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:23)  What that means is that we earn death for our sin.  It’s not just physical death, it’s spiritual death.

Think of how horrible spiritual death is.  It’s torment forever in a place call hell. God never wants anyone to go there.  But, that spiritual death is what we earn because of sin.

You may ask, “What is sin?”  Sin falling short of the mark of perfection.  It’s anything we say, think or do that displeases God.

That may sound harsh, until you realize that God, in His perfect love, has a place for all those who choose to receive Him, called heaven.  It’s a place of perfect goodness and love.  There can be no suffering there, no tears, no pain, no heartache, no death.  Nobody can imagine the wonders that await us there.  It’s so much better than this wicked world.  Heaven is where God wants you to be.

But, because he wants us to be there, he had to do something to take away our sin.  That’s because there can be no sin in that perfect Heaven.

If we have all earned that spiritual death, though, God had to do something so we didn’t have to suffer spiritual death.  So, why the cross?  That brings us back to that thief on the right, the one who realized the truth, and asked Jesus to remember him when he came into His kingdom.

The gift of God

The thief on the cross told his fellow criminal that they were there because they deserved to be punished for their wrongdoing.  Then, he said that Jesus was there and had done nothing wrong.  He realized the truth.

Jesus wasn’t just a man.  If He had been only a man, he would have had to pay for His own sin, because all people are sinners.  He wasn’t just a man, though.

Jesus Christ was God in flesh.  He never did anything wrong.  This thief realized that.  He realized that Jesus Christ was God in flesh.  He didn’t have to suffer for His own sin, because he was without sin. Yet, He became sin, for us.  He was suffering for that thief’s sin, for the crowd’s sin, for my sin, your sin, everyone’s sin who ever lived.

Think about that.  All the people who have ever said something mean, hurt others, lied, cheated, stolen, been cruel and thoughtless, and many other things.  He was suffering for every single sin that was ever committed.

That’s a lot of sin.  That’s why He suffered so much.  He was god in flesh.  By Him were all things created, and without Him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:3)  God made this world perfect, but people brought sin into it, because God gave them free choice, whether to follow Him or not.  He knew everything, and He had every person ever – yes, you – on His mind on that cross.

The world tries to deny it, but Jesus was God.  This is shown throughout Scripture.

1. He Himself proclaimed He was God. When the Pharisees would ask, He’d always respond with something like our phrase, “You said it!’ or “You’ve got that right!”  Or, He’d give an I AM statement, using the same term God used in the Old Testament, a word so holy, they would never use it themselves, because only God could.  He said He was the Messiah to the woman at the well, also.

2. His miracles proved it.  He did things only God could do.

3. The Old Testament proclaimed it.  All the law and the prophets pointed to the many things He would do in His worldly ministry, that it would be God Himself.

4. God the Father proclaimed it, after Jesus’ baptism, and again on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus is the Son of God – the way that phrase was used, it means of the same substance.  He was, is, and always will be God.  Think of how H2O is the same, whether it’s water, ice, or water vapor.

5. His followers proclaimed it, over and over in the New Testament and afterward.

Think about it.  All any one of His disciples had to do to escape punishment was deny His resurrection.  They kept proclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord, that he rose from the dead, because they saw it with their own eyes.  For nearly 2,000 years, believers have been willing to suffer horribly because they know in their hearts the same things the apostles saw with their own eyes.  They knew that Jesus Christ had suffered horribly for the sins of mankind, died on that cross, and risen from the dead.

That’s what it’s all about. He took the penalty for your sins, and for mine. And, there is nothing we have to do – nothing we could do – to save ourselves.  It must be completely by faith that we are saved.  Faith that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and then rose victoriously the third day.

Jesus was 100% man.  He had to be, to die on the cross.  However, Jesus was also 100% God.  He had to be, to rise from the dead.  He did.  And because of that, we can celebrate.

Yes, it looks like a bloody mess when we consider how Jesus suffered.  But, we must never forget that sin is so awful, and must be kept out of His perfect heaven.  And, that because of that, Jesus had to suffer, and die, for the sins of the world.

Because when He hung there on that cross, suspended between Earth and Heaven, He had the sins of all the world on His shoulders.  He literally bridged the gap between man and God; he reconciled man to Himself through His death.  Then, He rose victoriously back to life!  Hence the words of that great hymn – “My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.  Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul!”

I pray you have received Him as your personal Savior, by simple faith that He did that for you; so you don’t have to bear your sin anymore.