I attend a mom’s bible study and we have been studying Eph 1 with the intent of unlocking the truths of God as Father, God as Son and God as Holy Spirit. We have been spending two weeks on just one or two verses. It is so powerful to dwell on one verse or small passage of scripture for a significant amount of time. I have been studying vs. 4-5 that talks about us being chosen and predestined. This has brought many questions to my mind. Someone once told me that our questions can be our invitation into God’s heart. So, the point of my questions and study is not to take a side of predestination or free will. There have been many brilliant scholars that love the Lord that have tried to answer this question. I think the point is (at least for me) is to see that it can be both/and, it can be yes and yes. This is were we can see that God does not contradict Himself, He is just beyond what we can comprehend in our human capacity. Oh how I long for the day when we will see Him face to face and we will know it all. We don’t just give up and forget trying to figure it out, we stand in reverent awe of who God is and worship Him. We pray for more wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus. I just want to know Gods character. Who is this One that says …no one knows the Father except the Son and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him and …who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth? This is the God I love and I will spend my life getting to know Him and his wondrous characteristics!
How has it been over a month since we wrote something. My how time flies. The older you get, the faster it goes. We are indeed just temporal. God is eternal. In light of the economic meltdown, I have a couple of thoughts. It is important that we build our house on the rock!
God is so kind! With everything happening in the financial markets, God reigns supreme. He is sovereign. His leadership is magnificent. This crisis is the result of greed on so many levels. Make no mistake, our whole economic system is based on greed. Just because we call it something else, does not change that fact. We cannot serve God and money. It’s man’s system, and it just goes to show the folly of mankind. It is amazing that just a year ago, we thought that America’s economy was invincible. In the last month it is clear that it is on the brink of a complete collapse. We all know the next thing to happen after such financial meltdown….(think World War II)
As believers we are to seek security in God rather than money. God promises that He will shake everything that can be shaken. That means that everything not built on the Rock will fall. I believe that God is showing us what is really in our hearts. Are we lamenting the loss of our retirement funds? Is the plummeting value of our home causing us to be embittered? It is not a sin to be concerned about our financial well being. However, if we find out that through this shaking that we were trusting in our own ability to save and make our own way, then that is sin. Many of us serve unrighteous mammon without even realizing it. With such blinding wealth in our nation, and a culture of capitalism, it is not easy to discern our idols. Especially when everyone around us is walking in the same delusion.
This is precisely the reason that God sends shaking and judgement. In reality God’s judgement is His mercy in action. If we make the necessary adjustments now,(repentence) then we will not have to answer for it when we meet Him face to face on judgement day. God searches out the deep things of the heart, and He knows us better than we know ourselves. We can not plead ignorance. Even as believers. He says that we will give an account of all that we do here on the earth. Here is the Good News. The Gospel. He promises to forgive our sins if we turn to Him. This is the purpose of judgement. He opposes what is deep in our hearts. If we agree with Jesus then we receive forgiveness and blessing. If we harden our hearts we can look to what happened to Pharoh in the book of Exodus to see where it ends up.
Song of Solomon 4:16. The Shulamite (Bride of Christ) asks for the north winds of adversity and the south winds of blessing to blow on her garden (heart) She understands that we need both for the fragrance of what is in our hearts to come forth. Then God will come to us and delight in us.
God is so kind. He is so merciful. His leadership is perfect. He loves us so much!