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Knowing God Post 6
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
–Ephesians 2:4-5
God is love.
In 1829 two men, robbed the United States Postal Service. After a manhunt both were captured. Eventually both men were found guilty of six charges, and sentenced to execution by hanging, to be carried out on July 2,1830. The first man was executed on schedule, but the second man was not.
Powerful friends pleaded for mercy to the President, Andrew Jackson, on his behalf. President Jackson issued a formal pardon, dropping all charges. The president reduced the charges to a prison term of 20 years for his other crimes. Incredibly, the man refused the pardon!
When the case made its way to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice, John Marshall wrote, “A pardon is an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws…. delivery is not completed without acceptance. It may then be rejected by the person to whom it is tendered, and…we have no power in a court to force it on him.”
God who is love and is rich and mercy is offering us grace. My friends we are guilty of sin. The great teacher, the ten commandments, calls me to account.
1) “You shall have no other gods before me.”
2) “You shall not make for yourself an idol…”
3) “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name.”
4) “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…”
5) “Honor your father and your mother,…”
6) “You shall not murder.”
7) “You shall not commit adultery
8) “You shall not steal.”
9) “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor
10) “You shall not covet …”
Search your heart. This is not simply about salvation though it may very well be. Do not compare yourself to others but DO compare yourself to the King of Kings. He sets the standard and calls us to demonstrate His love to others. The body of Christ must repent from our arrogance and boldness in the sin that we do knowing that His love covers all our sins. Turn to God and live for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
1 John 1:8-10 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
The bottom line there are many different ways that I can break these commandments. Sometimes I do so intentionally and other times I simply find myself doing them. Regardless I need the Grace of God to be cleansed of these sins. A constant prayer for this man of God is:
“Search me oh Lord. Examine me in fine detail. Show me ANYWHERE that I am falling short of Your ideal for my life. Purify me from all sins. I repent of my choices. Turn me toward You every moment in every way.”
I know that God loves me no matter what, but I want to live a life that gives Him something to brag about.
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Knowing God Post 5
Psalm 36:5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
As I look around the creation which includes culture and people in addition to the mountains, the beaches and all in between I see the love of a Savior that adores me. He teaches me how to love my wife. When I want to communicate to my wife that I love her I use flowers, chocolate, and words to express that love. I wash dishes or make the bed or some other act to demonstrate that he means the world to me. These are all the sorts of things Jesus created and does for us to share that He loves us.
Our Savior is always active in our world in order to announce that He wants a relationship with us. It can be hard to believe. But He loves me. He is so far above me, yet He loves me. I am almost breathless as I write this. He is faithful to love unfaithful me. He is the light that speaks into the darkness and offers an invitation to a new life. It is in that moment where I have a crisis of belief. I must decide if I am going to be faithful to His cal. He has already decided. He does not wait for me to be faithful. He is faithful to the outer limits. I adjust my life to this call of love. I love the difficult to love. I love my enemies. I choose the difficult right over the easy wrong. Whatsoever He wants. I adjust to Him; He does not adjust to my wishes. This is how I can experience God.
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Knowing God Post 4
Revelation 4:11 Because God created, he is the only one worthy of praise.
Lest we forget. In the middle of the Garden of Eden there were 2 trees. The most famous of these two trees was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was this tree that we were not to eat from and in doing so we were choosing death. While not often considered, the knowledge given through the tree was not wholly evil. Much of the knowledge was good. But none of it was life producing.
The other tree we could have eaten from often referred to as the Tree of Life. When we eat from the Tree of Life, we get life as God designed. Life without sorrow, without death, without oppression or any other negative life event. Life can be lived to the full with healthy relationships, healthy mind and body and healthy community development.
While there will come an opportunity to again choose in a similar vein, we can choose to eat from God’s Word daily. His Word will sustain us and strengthen us. It will give us a taste of life and hope. Even today it can restore us to His design for our life.
Unfortunately, many today even within the church long to do things their own way and reject the way of the King. The tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is man’s wisdom, man’s ideas on how to live life. Eating from this tree often seems good to us and may have some initial excitement, but always leads to hurt, pain and death.
Choose this day which tree you will eat from. When you know Him, there really is no choice. He is the only one worthy of praise.
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Knowing God Post 3
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
How much do you trust God? For too many of us we give lip service to our trust. We proclaim great trust when things go the way that we want them to go. Athletes often praise God for wins and are silent in the losses. Pastors praise God for the healing but are mute when the healing does not seem to appear. When it appears that God is missing, we make excuses for Him.
Science works to make explanation and makes these powerful proclamations that they call undeniable truth that is overturned in the next generation. Many fear the power of AI. These powerful algorithms could be feared if people were predictable. My experience is that people often make no sense. Science says that smoking will lead to a whole host of health issues, yet people persist in their addiction and then are surprised when health troubles come to pass. Somehow people feel that yelling will help them get their way. My own body rarely makes sense. I was hurt for no explainable reason and the evidence-based solution does not seem to work on me. Others I talk to are also often confused by why life can be so hard and unpredictable. AI will never keep up with the insanity of mankind, so I have little concern.
Our only real choice is to put our trust in the Creator who is at the beginning and the end. He knows me deeply at a deeper than cellular level. It is only the Creator who can repair me and bring long range healing. If I know Him I can begin to trust Him. If I can trust Him I know that I must praise Him with my whole being. Let my voice present an offering of praise to the King of Kings. Let my interactions with the lost draw people to Him. Radiate my whole being like the face of Moses. Build my trust.
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The church’s sign sits in a prominent location near the road where all those who drive by can easily read the message. The message this month reads, “We love hurting people.” What a wonderful message to send. If you are hurting, you will find love here. However, a different thought comes to mind. Some may read it as, “We hurt people, and we love that we do.” As I pondered this thought I began to realize the sign speaks truth.
Most of us do love those who are hurting. We genuinely want to help. We want to help those in poverty, in addiction, in the cycle – we love people who are hurting. On the other hand, our ideas and methods of helping is often not as helpful as we may have previously believed. Do we stop to consider the deeper questions? Will my $5 help this panhandler eat and be healthy, or will he be hungry again in a few hours? What if others are giving him money also? What will he do with the money? Will he use it for food or something else?
Will my paying for a hotel for the night benefit this person or will it create an unhealthy dependence? The hard truth is if I look at how I have “helped” people in the past, I realize I often did more harm than good. I didn’t ask good open-ended questions, I merely listened to the rehearsed story. I didn’t ask the tough but important questions about family, about previous employment, about friends, I merely listened to a rehearsed story and gave some money to “help” the individual and sometimes to appease my own ego.
Every time I give the money or pay for the hotel or simply buy the food without asking questions, I have fed into the problem. I have told this person they aren’t really worth my time, my effort, my relationship. Instead, I give money and I feel better because in the moment they feel better. Then I leave and do not think of the person or the consequences of my own actions and how it affected them. What if our handouts and providing hotel stay was causing a son or daughter to not reconnect with a mother or father who loved them? What if I’m enabling and not helping? What if my money was used to buy the “bad” drug from which they do not recover? Do I stop and think of that? Do you think of that? What if my refusal to hold a person (yes even a stranger) to some sort of accountability fed into a sense of worthlessness? When you and I just give a handout and do not ask for some sort of exchange, we tell an individual they have nothing to offer. They are worth only a handout. They are not worth believing in. Just writing those words sting! I love people. I want to help them, but I must be honest with myself. At times, I have not helped at all. Sure, I fed a meal; I gave a coat on a cold, winter’s day – but I didn’t really help the person. I didn’t ask questions? I didn’t build a bond. I didn’t provide an opportunity for them to earn their coat and they are left feeling as though they have nothing to offer.
Yes, the sign is correct, “We love hurting people.”
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Knowing God Post 2
Genesis 1:31 God created and it was good.
For six days God unleashed the power of His creativity. He set the earth and the heavens in place. Look at the multitude of colors and shapes of his creation. Systems were launched that have been running flawlessly ever since. Look at the diversity of His creation. Mountains, valleys and deserts were all made by the same awesome God. When all was in place, at some point on day six after creating the last of the land animals, He unleashed His greatest masterpiece.
My friends, you are that masterpiece. All of the rest of creation He simply spoke it into existence. When He made man and woman He did so with His own hands. He breathed the breath of life into them. He made us in His own image and set us in the Garden of Eden where life was perfect.
On this side of the fall, it can be easy to dismiss the Garden. There is so much in our world that seems far from perfection. But that is not how it was supposed to be. God created and it was good. Your deepest inner being knows this but we have forgotten. I encourage you to dig it up. Take time to memorize the three verses below to force your heart and mind to meditate on the goodness of God’s creation. Rediscover who He is.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1
“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:3
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Romans 1:20
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