- araratchurch
- Nov 12, 2022
- 3 min read
“You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.””
Job 42:3-6 NLT
[Opening explantation:
In the true sense of the word, the “judgment” of God is not always a “bad” thing. It is only bad when His judgment determines that a person is guilty. But—for our purposes here—we will speak of judgment in terms of punishment.]
We are on a fool’s errand if we try to be God’s public relations representative.
I have noticed a tendency for those wanting to make churches more “seeker friendly” to determine that only the mercy and grace of God should be presented; and the judgment of God should be ignored.
First of all, this is not the picture the Bible paints of the Lord. We consistently see throughout scripture that the Lord compels His people to walk in obedience so that they may receive mercy rather than judgment. Without speaking of the judgment of God, we are giving people a false sense of immunity to God’s judgment.
Now, make no mistake, it is God‘s desire to be merciful to us. This fact is best illustrated in that He sent His son to be a sacrifice for our sins so that we could avoid judgment. However, we know that those who reject the sacrifice of Christ are still subject to the penalty of sin.
Now, I am also well aware of the fact that possibly well-intentioned people have presented a skewed image of God in the direction of His judgment. Perhaps they envision a God with a bag full of lightning bolts waiting to zap people. That too is a distortion of the true nature of the Lord.
Back to my original point: when we decide what’s the best way to present the Lord, without actually making it the biblical way of presenting the Lord, we are in error. We need only look to several of the parables given by Jesus to see the clear representation: God is a God of mercy as well as a God of judgment. (I’ll leave you to do that study on your own.)
The following scripture perfectly illustrates God’s mercy for those who are His,
in the midst of judgment against those who have rejected Him:
“For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment. And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.”
2 Peter 2:4-9 NLT
In our opening scripture we see Job’s final conclusion at the end of his long trial. Bear in mind, all the while that his friends were accusing him of being judged for his sin, Job was accusing God of wrongfully dealing with him. He had failed to recognize that God is perfect in His judgment; whatever He does is right because He is God. We don’t know what He knows. We don’t have His glorious attributes. Therefore, our estimations fall far short of perfection.
I present the scripture about Job’s illumination into Who God really is to highlight the fact that whatever God does, and however He does it, should not be “explained away” by those trying to present a “better” picture of Him. We can present no better picture of Him than how He presents Himself through Jesus Christ.
Ultimately, God is perfectly just, therefore, there is judgment. Additionally, He is perfectly compassionate, therefore, He is merciful.
There is no conflict between between presenting the Lord‘s judgment while also presenting His mercy. It is the way He presents Himself!
Today we lay to rest the false choice between presenting the mercy of God or the judgment of God.
- araratchurch
- Nov 9, 2022
- 3 min read
“Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.””
Psalms 40:7-8 NKJV
I once heard a young man say that he was worried about surrendering to the Lord because he was afraid the Lord would make him marry an ugly girl. Now, whereas we may laugh at that statement, a little honest examination of our own thinking concerning the will of God, might disclose sentiments not that far removed from the sentiments of this misguided young man.
Truth be told, most of us would admit that there have been times (maybe recently) when we wondered if we were going to be able to get what we really wanted, what we really needed to be happy.
Let’s break it down for a minute.
The truth is, if we are trying to do the will of God without having submitted our own will to Him, then we will not find the true happiness coming from doing His will. Trying to walk in God’s will while glancing over at something we “left behind,” is bound to cause dissatisfaction.
“And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.””
Luke 22:41-42 NKJV
Jesus: all man and all God, in order to endure the cross, had to submit His will to that of the Father. That being the case, we must do the same. The true happiness coming from doing the Lord‘s will, will never come if our will is longing for something else and begrudging the “weary way.”
Having said all of this, I will add that the Lord wants good things for us. Of course, we might be called on to endure something we don’t understand, even something painful. But when we have aligned our heart with the heart of the Lord, we take pleasure in those things that are pleasing to Him.
“For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 AMP
The Lord reassured Israel that their future in Him was going to be good. He offers no less to any of His children. But as long as we aren’t sure of whether or not the Lord wants good things for us, as long as we doubt that the Lord is working all things for our good, then we will never be happy in our (begrudging) obedience.
In our opening scripture the Psalmist is not only speaking from his own heart, but also prophetically speaking from the heart of the Lord. He truly finds delight in doing God’s will.
“Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.”
John 4:34 NLT
The Lord acknowledged that God’s will was His nourishment. Additionally, He made clear that He was not acting according to a will separate from that of the Father.
“For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.”
John 6:38 NLT
Rather than struggling over whether we are going to choose happiness or the will of the Lord, let us allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into being more and more like our Lord. As such, we will more and more find joy (true happiness) in doing what He desires. But make no mistake, that will never occur until our own will is put on the altar just as the Lord did.
The Lord wants to give you your heart’s desire; that happens when our desires begin to line up with His will.
There is no choice to be made between whether we will be happy or whether we will do God‘s will. The choice is whether or not we will submit our will to His. As we ask the Lord to form our desires according to His heart, we will see that we will have joy unspeakable and full of glory in our walk of obedience.
“Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”
Psalms 37:3-4 NLT
And, as an aside, how many people living their lives according to whatever they want, seem to be truly happy?
Today we lay to rest the false choice between happiness and obedience to God’s will.
- araratchurch
- Nov 8, 2022
- 3 min read
“A man’s mind plans his way [as he journeys through life], But the Lord directs his steps and establishes them.”
Proverbs 16:9 AMP
Like me, you may have heard this phrase attributed to Benjamin Franklin: “By failing to plan, you are preparing to fail.”
On the other hand, we may hear well-intentioned Christians expressing that trusting in the Lord means that you don’t plan.
As you may have guessed, our false choice for today is that you must choose between planning or trusting the Lord.
So, what is the truth about the relationship between planning and trusting? Are they mutually exclusive? The answer is a resounding, “No! They are not mutually exclusive.” One does not preclude the other.
Let’s take a look at some of the things Jesus said about the relationship between planning and trusting.
Here is one of the most well-known scriptures encouraging us to trust the Lord for all that we need:
“And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.”
Luke 12:29-31 NLT
Here we see that the Lord is encouraging us to trust our Father for what we need as we put seeking His Kingdom, or His way of being and doing, His righteousness, as a priority and the context in which all planning occurs.
Through some of Jesus’ examples we see that planning is taken as a given in terms of the way we should operate.
“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’”
Luke 14:28-30 NLT
Here, the Lord presents this example to His disciples to express the fact that they should not follow Him unless they already know—and have accepted—what that would mean for them. He did not want them going off halfcocked, not knowing what to expect, and stumbling at the first offense.
James illuminates the essence of the relationship between planning and trusting here:
“Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.”
James 4:13-16 NLT
Planning isn’t wrong; presumption is.
In our opening scripture we see the proverbial writer expressing that we can plan all we want; but we must depend on the Lord to make it happen.
“Many plans are in a man’s mind, But it is the Lord’s purpose for him that will stand (be carried out).”
Proverbs 19:21 AMP
Here we see that the relationship between trusting and planning for us is not one of choosing one or the other, but of making our planning according to God‘s will and purpose (trusting that His way is best).
“Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.”
Psalms 143:8 NLT
David—a man who wanted to know what the heart of God desired— expresses his desire for the Lord to tell him where he needed to go and what he needed to do. He was trusting the Lord to guide his planning.
People who do no sort of planning are either overcome with fear, overwhelmed with the choices, or depressed.
People who do planning without submitting their plans to the Lord are not going to prosper in His Kingdom.
I would put the process of balancing trusting and planning this way:
Pray for guidance. Plan. Pray for strength and favor to carry out the plan.
Today we lay to rest the false choice between trusting and planning.