Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Cloudy Days 2
Paul Little repeats the promise, “God ‘wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.’” (1 Timothy 2:4) “That some men are not reborn”, he continues, “is not God’s lapse.” We can verify the words of Jesus, “These are the scriptures that testify about Me; yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.” ~John 5: 39-40
But, c’mon! The contradiction apparent jumps right at you when you read one page later in Know What You Believe, “It is true that no one believes on the Savior unless God the Holy Spirit convicts him.” All right, stay with me while I fly back to Genesis. You do believe in the literal curse on the earth, right?
Under the curse, we have bad things happening here. Earthquakes, pesky weeds and tares, drought, a storm of the century like Katrina, disease and even though the sun is beautiful today, we got clouds here. Why? Numbed out, hardened people are part of it. Why? As in all the disastrous tragedies where no fault can be found, we want to blame Satan or God! To blame Satan is to diminish God’s power. Satan no doubt did it but God had to let ‘im. To blame God because we know He is able, in His sovereign power, to stop the mayhem is probably the more accurate course. It is the truest, most difficult of all tests…will we remember our place?
The Almighty God, Creator of all we are and know, blesses us as He wishes. My own take on it is we have much for Him to teach us, including patience, appreciation for everything He is and does, humility to let Him BE. Withheld mercy is not out of some cruel, sadistic motive! On our level of history, the Cross, in fact, is not withheld from anyone. As soon as you realize there is NOTHING stopping you from accepting Jesus Christ as your own Lord of living, the Messiah of all people, you will know you are a chosen child of God. So is God being cruel and unfair? It is a daunting obstacle that God does not soften all hearts toward Him. The only way to get past it is to get to know Him, to know that He hurts over every proud, hard-shelled, stubborn person who just won’t bow. He anguishes over the deceived and misguided. As I have gotten to know the Living God over the years, I become more certain that ALL He does has divine purpose which can only be traced to a Loving, Righteous Savior.
Simple people can survive nicely on the God of nature. They can know Him by looking around on one of those rare sunny days or a beautiful, fluffy white covering of clouds, or a grand scene of majestic grandeur anywhere on earth. I suspect if you have read this far, you are not willing to remain on that level. I will not concur that God’s Word is secondary to our faith. The fact is, we are not created simple creatures. We are complex, intelligent and certainly can understand God’s teaching. It’s high time we learn it.
No one can come to me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him.” ~Jesus, John 6:44
If He is drawing you in, hear Him, I pray. There is no such thing as, “He isn’t drawing me to Himself.” At the first thought of the possibility, He is doing just that--guaranteed!
But, c’mon! The contradiction apparent jumps right at you when you read one page later in Know What You Believe, “It is true that no one believes on the Savior unless God the Holy Spirit convicts him.” All right, stay with me while I fly back to Genesis. You do believe in the literal curse on the earth, right?
Under the curse, we have bad things happening here. Earthquakes, pesky weeds and tares, drought, a storm of the century like Katrina, disease and even though the sun is beautiful today, we got clouds here. Why? Numbed out, hardened people are part of it. Why? As in all the disastrous tragedies where no fault can be found, we want to blame Satan or God! To blame Satan is to diminish God’s power. Satan no doubt did it but God had to let ‘im. To blame God because we know He is able, in His sovereign power, to stop the mayhem is probably the more accurate course. It is the truest, most difficult of all tests…will we remember our place?
The Almighty God, Creator of all we are and know, blesses us as He wishes. My own take on it is we have much for Him to teach us, including patience, appreciation for everything He is and does, humility to let Him BE. Withheld mercy is not out of some cruel, sadistic motive! On our level of history, the Cross, in fact, is not withheld from anyone. As soon as you realize there is NOTHING stopping you from accepting Jesus Christ as your own Lord of living, the Messiah of all people, you will know you are a chosen child of God. So is God being cruel and unfair? It is a daunting obstacle that God does not soften all hearts toward Him. The only way to get past it is to get to know Him, to know that He hurts over every proud, hard-shelled, stubborn person who just won’t bow. He anguishes over the deceived and misguided. As I have gotten to know the Living God over the years, I become more certain that ALL He does has divine purpose which can only be traced to a Loving, Righteous Savior.
Simple people can survive nicely on the God of nature. They can know Him by looking around on one of those rare sunny days or a beautiful, fluffy white covering of clouds, or a grand scene of majestic grandeur anywhere on earth. I suspect if you have read this far, you are not willing to remain on that level. I will not concur that God’s Word is secondary to our faith. The fact is, we are not created simple creatures. We are complex, intelligent and certainly can understand God’s teaching. It’s high time we learn it.
No one can come to me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him.” ~Jesus, John 6:44
If He is drawing you in, hear Him, I pray. There is no such thing as, “He isn’t drawing me to Himself.” At the first thought of the possibility, He is doing just that--guaranteed!
