War! Actually, more war, this time in Israel.

The stories are horrific. Unimaginable.

Why doesn’t God stop this?

What is God up to?

We know the glorious ending: new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. Where God dwells with those He redeemed. (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1ff)

For now:

God’s word tells us a lot about what He is up to, what is happening, and what will—someday—happen. We, of course, don’t have the details or the timing. But we are told enough to trust that God has a holy plan and that He is working all things after the counsel of His will. (Ephesians 1:11 and many other places!)

We have enough information to trust God.

We know that God is patient, not wanting any to perish. (2 Peter 3:9)

We know that God HATES sin, is a righteous judge, is indignant every day, and is now judging, and will judge, people and movements and nations. (Psalm 7:11)

We know that—someday–every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Philippians 2:10-11)

We know that one day Christ will separate the righteous from evil ones, some to heaven and some to hell. (Matthew 25:32-33)

For those of us whose Lord and Savior is Jesus Christ, we will be glorified and live eternally in heaven. (Romans 8:30)

For right now, this evil age, this horrible war, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus and praise our sovereign, loving, God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Pray!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. (Psalm 122:6)

Pray that God be glorified.

Pray that people see the Truth.

Trust Him!

And right now: we have God-given work to do! (Ephesians 2:10)

Press on!

God’s Discipline is Inevitable

IF we are God’s children, having trusted Jesus Christ, having received Him as Lord and Savior, THEN God disciplines us, training and educating us as His children, making us more like His Son.

God loves His children, therefore He disciplines us.

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. (Revelation 3:19)

God’s discipline is inevitable.

God’s Discipline has a Loving Purpose

God’s discipline is loving, and has a loving purpose.

He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. (Hebrews 12:10)

His discipline yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:10)

When the Lord disciplines us, it might be because of our sin and its consequences, or to correct an attitude or habit that would lead to sin, or to educate us in some way.

God’s Discipline Hurts

It hurts. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:11)

But we can know, must know, that because God loves us, He disciplines us. God’s loving purpose is to make us more righteous. To make us into the image of His Son. To prepare us for heaven.

Our Response

When (not if) God disciplines us, we are to repent. We are to be zealous and repent.

Recognize that is our loving Father who is at work in us. Therefore be zealous and repent. (Revelation 3:19)

Don’t forget He loves us, don’t complain He loves us so much He disciplines us, don’t question His motive or wisdom, take it seriously and repent.

Praise Him

Praise Him for His love, His wisdom, His eternal loving purpose.

And read the section in Hebrews on discipline: Hebrews 12:4-11.

God’s love for His children, those who are Christ-followers, is everlasting, eternal, unchanging. He chose to love us before the foundation of the world, His love preserves us and works in us during our time on earth, His love takes us to glory, and His love lasts forever.

In the midst of the myriad challenges of this world, it is easy to forget those truths. It is so important to hang on, and not lose the truth of His love.

God’s love includes challenges, trials, hardships, and discipline. He is growing us, preparing us for eternal glory.

God doesn’t let us stay in calm waters; He deliberates pushes us out to sea. We need those times to learn that He is with us, He is for us, He will never leave us nor forsake us. We need challenges to build our trust, to grow in Christ-likeness.

We have every reason to be joyful in apparent good times and apparent bad times. In both, good and bad, God is loving us.

Praise Him!

God’s sovereignty and our responsibility

We are totally, individually responsible for what we think, say, and do with the freedom God has given us.

Our almighty God is totally sovereign over everybody and everything all the time. He has infinite freedom.

We cannot understand how both things are true. But they are. Our responsibility and God’s sovereignty are all over scripture.

So how does that truth help us when (not if) we are offended?

First, we are totally responsible for how we react when we are offended. As a side note, here, it is possible we are offended when we shouldn’t be.

Second, God is sovereign over people and He could have stopped that person from doing what he/she did or said. For His children, those who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God brings good out of that situation.

What to do when we are offended

First, check yourself. Was it really an offense? Sometimes we can misinterpret an innocent word or action, or one that was careless but the person didn’t mean to hurt.

Second, do NOT respond with a sinful action (or word or thought). Do NOT engage in road rage (!). We are human and there are lots of automatic reactions to being offended, both at the time and then later as well. But we are not to become furious, retaliate verbally (or physically!), seek revenge, slander the person, etc. etc. etc. There are lots of ways to mess up!

Third, respond to the person in a godly manner. You may be led to talk with him or her about the offense. The worse it was, the more you’ll have to lean on your Lord. And, yes, forgive. (This is a topic for another time, but reconciliation is different than forgiveness.)

AND. Rejoice. Pray. Give thanks to God (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Maintain an attitude of gratitude.

Practice

We must not only resolve to rejoice, pray, and give thanks, but practice doing so. Rejoice, pray, and give thanks throughout the day, during both times of blessing and times of challenge. If we can solidify rejoicing, pray without ceasing, and giving thanks in everything, we can sail through offenses.

Since we will be offended at some point, think now about how to respond in a godly manner.

Thank You , Father

Thank You for Your work in our lives (Philippians 2:13, 1:6). Thank You that You have given us not only the “how to,” but also the Holy Spirit so that we might live in a manner worthy of You.

Storms

There have been, are, and will be storms in your life. So there.

Past storms may still affect you.

Current storms may feel overwhelming.

The idea of future storms may frighten.

The Past

Christians must remember that God is in control of ALL of it. He was in control of past storms, and is in control of how past storms affect you now. We are responsible for our actions (and thoughts and words). Not all mistakes are sin (we are human beings with limited knowledge and abilities), but we definitely sinned and affected our circumstances.

The Present

For Christians, God is in control of the storms you are going through right now. He uses these storms to make you better, to make you more like Christ. Through prayer, His word, and the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, you are guided to sail through your storm in a godly manner.

The present is a sort of hinge. We have to deal with the past and present by confessing sin, repenting and not repeating our sins. We have to learn from our mistakes (not all errors are sin!). But then we have to press on, learn not to fear the storms to come.

One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

The present is the time to prepare for future storms.

Knowing who God is, and what we are to Him, and developing rock-solid trust in Him is the key. There are no short cuts. We have to study God’s word, pray without ceasing, and learn to see His hand in everything. As we obey, we learn He is true and that He is trustworthy.

The Future

For Christians, we should not fear future storms.

He [the man who fears the Lord] will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. (Psalm 112:7)

I know storms are coming, but I don’t know what or when. To be ready, to not fear the coming storm, focus on God, and learn to rely on His loving faithfulness. Trust Him!

~~~

To explore this in depth, see my book When Storms Come. The book is now out of print, but there are some used copies, and Kindle is still available. I do have a few left, so you also can contact me.

Secular hope and Biblical hope are not the same.

Secular hope is human-based. A person sets his/her goals, has a plan to achieve those goals, and the motivation to strive for them. At every point, reaching those goals depends on the person. The goal may or may not be realistic. The person may or may not have a good strategy to achieve the goal. The person might lose focus or give up or become distracted. Human-set goals always have a degree of uncertainty.

Hope in the Bible is God-centered. Hope is a sure thing, because it depends totally on God. It is God who promises; it is His “goal!” It is God who is working in us to achieve His purposes. It is God who is all-powerful! And God, of course, never gets tired or distracted or changes His mind.

Our role is to wait expectantly; to look with eager anticipation. Our responsibility is to fix our hope on Christ.

But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (Romans 8:25)

Press on!

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

Have you ever reprimanded a stranger? How did it go?

A little boy was fingering the loose strawberries in the grocery store. I expressed my concern to the mother who became FURIOUS!

How do you think it would go if you criticized a looter? Or …. ?

Throughout the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New, prophets, apostles, others, and Jesus lost their lives for pointing out sin.

This is not to prevent you from doing so, because sometimes we are called to speak out. But we do need to be aware that some people love their sin (and approve of the sins of others.)

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

… although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:32)

We are living in dark days.

Praise God, though. He told us what would be happening, and we know the glorious end.

Paul says he learned the secret of contentment (Philippians 4:11). Since he did, we can also.

I am definitely not there, and I am continuing to study contentment, but here is what is helping me now.

These suggestions apply to those who are the beloved children of God, who have put their trust in Christ Jesus and have received Him as Lord and Savior.

The Foundation

Remind yourself who God is. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and loves you with an everlasting love.

Remember who you are to God. God is in total control of what enters your life and He promises to bring good out of it for you.

Remember that the Holy Spirit dwells in you and that you have within you the resources of God.

These truths have to be a settled part of our being.

The Nitty-Gritty

When “it” strikes, we need to be settled on who He is and who we are to Him. But, I think, having one quick reminder can change how we view our situation and how we react to it.

For me:

“God is at work in me.” Right now. In this.

God is at work in you to will and work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13)

God is at work in you during this very stressful situation. Right now God is at work in you.

Thank Him! We are commanded in everything to give thanks. Whatever situation you are in, God is with you, God is for you, and God promises to bring good out of it. You probably cannot see it, or feel it, but believe Him. Thank Him.

~~~

Thank You, God, that You love me so much that You are working in me. Thank You that You are using this situation to make me more mature in Christ, that this circumstances will make me more patient, develop my character, and increase my hope.

I’m writing this a few days after the wildfire disaster in Lahaina, Maui, that killed many people and destroyed numerous homes and businesses. Videos showed numerous destroyed cars, many of which appeared to be trying to get out of danger. There was little or no warning for people to protect themselves.

In Colorado, there have been several significant fires the past few years. Once a neighbor evacuating an area saw a couple sitting by their garage watching the oncoming fire. He stopped to warn them, but they didn’t quickly evacuate. Their bodies were found beside open doors of their car.

Too late!

Of course, there are many times of unexpected death, not just fires. Any of those can be too late!

Spiritually, we have been warned of the coming wrath of God. Some people, when told about Jesus Christ, say “later.” “Fun now, Christ later.”

But it can be too late.

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts … (Hebrews 3:7–8)

Spiritually, there is a last chance. If you hear His voice, pay attention! Repent! Confess! Believe in Jesus Christ. Put your trust in Him!

NOW is the time of salvation.

Don’t be too late!

testing schedule post