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My God is…Clothing You Luke 12:27-28

09 Aug

wild White lily under sunlight

Luke 12:27-28 – Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!

Consider the lilies, how they grow:they neither toil nor spin

Many people feel that being out in nature is their favorite way to connect with God. At our church we’re blessed to have an outdoor worship area that we use during the beautiful Oregon summers. When we’re outside many of us feel closer to God. Maybe it’s because we can see the care and perfection in the world He created (even better than the most beautiful church).

St. Paul Lutheran's Outdoor worship area Sherwood Oregon - with the VBS kids

St. Paul’s Outdoor worship area – with the VBS kids

In our outdoor worship area we have these magnificent trees that some of the school children (some 50 years ago or so) planted. They reach majestically up into the sky. Aside from the occasional trimming I don’t believe the trees are hard to grow. We don’t have to worry about them. God has helped them to grow and become amazing trees. Like the Lilies in our Bible verse, they don’t do anything themselves to make their lives better. The Lord provides for all of their needs.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, how much more will he clothe you!

Do you believe that God would provide for you even if you didn’t do anything to deserve it? Inevitably someone is thinking to themselves, “But I need to take responsibility and provide for my family.” The verses following the one selected may help clear that part up.

29 And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.31 Instead, strive for his[f] kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Strive for His Kingdom

I believe that if you are truly keeping God as your central focus, your needs will be provided. Over the past four years, I have sadly seen many of my friends struggle while out of work. As they went in debt and were as frugal as possible, it would have been easy for them to give up and turn their back on God. I was witness to the miracle of faith in their lives. In both instances the families trusted that the Lord would provide. Were they tested? Yes, some even for years and years. They struggled, but at the core they trusted that God would provide. They didn’t lose their house or their car (out of work for 5 years and didn’t lose their house – a true miracle). Would I say every moment was rosy during those times? Now both families have jobs again and still have their homes. They kept their focus when it was truly a challenge to do so. No one had much hope to give outside of trusting God, and He came through.

We need to keep our focus on the Lord. He can and will provide for us and supply our every need. (As I write this I’m praying that I never have to go through what they went through – I am blessed by their strength). His timing may not be our timing, but He will provide.

His clothing

What is God clothing us with? Robes of righteousness given to us by the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross to take away our sin. We are wearing the team uniform. We represent the one who sent us. We represent each other too. As we are clothed with His righteousness, provided for as we keep our focus on Him, we grow. We grow, not because of anything we’re doing (just like those trees), but because of what the Lord is doing in us. Like coffee stunts growth (is that true?), so does a lack of faith. Trusting when others feel there is no reason, and seeing the Lord come through certainly creates growth. Growth isn’t always in our lives, but it may also be in those who are watching our stories unfold. Growth isn’t always comfortable (in fact it rarely is), but it is necessary, because without growth, we are dead; dead to sin, faithless, lifeless.

 

 
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Posted by on August 9, 2013 in Luke, My God is clothing you

 

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My God is…our judge Isaiah 33:22

07 Aug

Isaiah 33:22 – For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler,gavel
the Lord is our king; he will save us.

He will save us
We don’t have to worry how other people judge us. The Lord is our judge. We don’t have to live our lives for the approval of those around us. We live our lives for Jesus. God is our judge. He is the one who decides our value, our worth and our destiny. Other people base our worth on our looks, work, friends, status or car. God has a different way of judging us. It’s not about who we are, but whose we are. We can trust Him with our life and our future. He will save us!

Definition of JUDGE

transitive verb
1: to form an opinion about through careful weighing of evidence and testing of premises
2: to sit in judgment on : try
3: to determine or pronounce after inquiry and deliberation
4: govern, rule —used of a Hebrew tribal leader
5: to form an estimate or evaluation of; especially : to form a negative opinion about <shouldn’t judge him because of his accent>
6: to hold as an opinion : guess, think <I judge she knew what she was doing>
For the Lord is our judge
“The Lord is our judge”, is a statement that can bring fear to the heart, but fear is not what it should conjure up. Why not? We all know we’ve done bad things, we have not always put God first, pretty much we’re falling short (sinning) a lot everyday. Since God knows everything we do, it could be scary to think about the God who knows all about us measuring our rights and wrongs, but it doesn’t have to be. God is going to form an opinion about you and your life. He’s going to look at all that’s gone on in your life and will make known His opinion. He will evaluate your situation and form an opinion. 
Here’s the good news! 
When He is judging our lives, He is listening to the evidence from Jesus. He will be speaking on our behalf, telling God of our faith and our trust in Him as our Lord and Savior. He’s telling God that we are part of His family and we belong to Him. We don’t have to worry, because we have the best Lawyer (Jesus) and the fairest Judge (God the Father). We’re in good hands, and the merit to live in heaven is not based on our goodness or ability to keep the laws of God. It is based on whose we are, that we belong and believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that He died and rose again so we could go on living and knowing Him more. 
 
 
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Posted by on August 7, 2013 in Isaiah, My God is our judge

 

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My God is…directing my heart 2 Thessalonians 3:5

05 Aug

construction stop2 Thessalonians 3:5 – May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Who directs you?

Is it the man with a bright orange vest and reflective bands? He might direct you to keep you out of a dangerous situation and to keep you on the right path. A director of a choir or band is there to help keep the group working together as they go through the music, so that if he notices anyone going off the musical path he can help them to remain on key. Maybe you are directed by a pastor or teacher who tries to give you information that will allow you to make informed decisions and get to where you’re going in life. Then there is the GPS. The GPS is supposed to help you find the most direct route to your destination, but I think a few of us have experienced being misled by the GPS.

Being Misled

As many things and people who are trying to direct us and keep us on a good path, there are seemingly just as many or more that are trying to mislead us. There are ads on TV that will say almost anything to get us to try their product. We are often misled by others who have their own agenda or just want a partner in crime (so to speak). Sometimes misleading someone can be unintentional, like if that person has also been misled. So often the misleading is subtle and easily overlooked. Maybe a better word is gradual. You start by having a drink before you’re of age. You didn’t get drunk, so you’re sure you don’t have a problem, but you find yourself drinking more each weekend. You start to feel like you need a drink to have fun or fit in. Things that mislead us can start subtly, so we need to be on guard.

May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ

Where should out hearts be directed? Our hearts should be directed by the grace of God, to the love of God and steadfastness of Christ. How do we know that the Lord is directing us that way? Because we are spending time in His word, church and family. We keep our focus on Him. We rely on Him, and He remains faithful to keep us close. We aren’t perfect though, and without the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will always fall short. We are human and get easily distracted, so I like Paul would like to pray this for you and your family as well, “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ”.

 
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Posted by on August 5, 2013 in My God is directing my heart

 

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My God is…the authority Mathew 28:16-20

02 Aug

Mathew 28:16-20 –  Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed

Professor Gülgün Köroğlu holding a piece of the chest that is said to possible hold a piece of Jesus Christ’s cross (Photo credit: NBC News)

Professor Gülgün Köroğlu holding a piece of the chest that is said to possible hold a piece of Jesus Christ’s cross (Photo credit: NBC News)

them.  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Who has authority in your life? 
Are you clinging to the hope that you have power over everything that happens in your life? Or have you given in to the idea that some things are out of your control. Many of us struggle with the idea that we can’t fix some things. We don’t like to be out of control. We don’t like to be questioned. We don’t like to have to prove ourselves. We want to be the authority. Some of us feel like others are always in control of our lives (I’m sure my boys feel that way some times). There is one who should have authority in our lives. He’s the only one who truly has the power to back up His claims, and that is Jesus Christ.

Definition of AUTHORITY

1 a (1) : a citation (as from a book or file) used in defense or support
     (2) : the source from which the citation is drawn
   b (1) : a conclusive statement or set of statements (as an official decision of a court) 
     (2) : a decision taken as a precedent (3) : testimony
   c : an individual cited or appealed to as an expert
2 a : power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior
   b : freedom granted by one in authority : right
3 a : persons in command; specifically : government
   b : a governmental agency or corporation to administer a revenue-producing public enterprise <the transit authority>
4 a : grounds, warrant <had excellent authority for believing the claim>
   b : convincing force <lent authority to the performance>
When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
The verses for today are an account of what happened after Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus told the disciples to meet him in Galilee. When Jesus met up with them there, some of them worshiped Him, and some had their doubts. Jesus reminds them that He has the authority that they seek.
This morning, there were claims coming from Turkey that a piece of the cross that Jesus died on may have been found in a small box with crosses on it. My son and I were watching, and I asked him, “Do you think it’s real?” We had our discussion about it and discussed our doubts. We couldn’t believe it. The news then brought on a priest to talk about it, and he similarly said he was withholding judgement until the archaeologists had dated the item in the box. The priest wanted someone with more authority to help him decide. He wanted proof from a trusted authority before he decided.
 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Are you looking for proof? Jesus understood that seeing him risen from the dead was a hard paradigm shift to make. For most people you die, and you stay dead. But Jesus wanted His disciples to know that they could trust Him. He’s the authority. He’s the evidence. He’s the truth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations
It was with His authority that Jesus then commissioned the disciples. He is the one who has the evidence, the power, the might and is the truth. It is that authority that the disciples would base their ministries. They were basing their faith on the authority of Jesus Christ as Lord of all.
Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
This is an amazing command, and one that Jesus is asserting His authority. If they didn’t get it before, this phrase should have nailed His point home. Jesus is God. He was telling them that He is part of the trinity. He is one of the persons of the Almighty that they have known through faith their whole lives.
And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age
We too can have faith in Jesus Christ who is the authority. He is who we look to when we need support. Because of who He is we can trust what He has to say. He knows what He’s talking about, He is the Almighty. Because He is the authority, He should be the greatest influence on what we think, say and do. He is in charge, He has power over death and the Devil. It is in being raised from the dead that we are able to see His amazing power and gives us grounds for our faith. He is with us, ever the authority, forever. We can trust Him to always be there and for His word to always be true. He is the authority.
 
 
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Posted by on August 2, 2013 in My God is the authority

 

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My God is…Received John 1:12-13

31 Jul

John 1:12-13 – But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

receiving-departmentBut to all who received him, who believed in his name

When Jesus came into the world, the world He created, He was not received or believed in by many of the people to whom He actually was promised. The same is true today. Jesus Christ, true man and true God, came to earth, lived perfectly, died and rose again, so that I would be able to have eternal life with Him in Heaven. Many people hear that as rubbish. They have heard, yet they don’t believe. They haven’t received Him.

Definition of RECEIVE

transitive verb
1: to come into possession of : acquire <receive a gift>
2

a : to act as a receptacle or container for <the cistern receives water from the roof>

   b : to assimilate through the mind or senses <receive new ideas>
3

a : to permit to enter : admit

   b : welcome, greet
   c : to react to in a specified manner
4: to accept as authoritative, true, or accurate : believe
5

a : to support the weight or pressure of : bear

    b : to take (a mark or impression) from the weight of something <some clay receives clear impressions>
    c : acquire, experience <received his early schooling at home>
    d : to suffer the hurt or injury of <received a broken nose>
Did you receive the message? 
So many times in this technology driven world, we find ourselves out of sync with others. We go the wrong place, bring the wrong thing or forget an appointment all together. Often we hear our friends, family and coworkers say, “Didn’t you get my text?” The information was out there, but either I wasn’t paying attention, ignored it, silenced my phone or left my phone at home. I didn’t receive the information I truly needed. Many people are the same way with the Word of God. They aren’t paying attention, they’re ignoring it, silencing those who want to tell them about it or are truly out of tune with the Spirit all together. They’ve missed the message.
He gave power to become children of God
Those who have gotten the message, who received Jesus and believed are promised that they become children of God. Not because of anything anyone did (themselves or those around them), but through God’s will. Through His Holy Spirit He changes hearts, minds and souls, so they might receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
(looking at the definition of receive)
Receiving God
When you receive God, you will come into possession of His Holy Spirit and become part of the family. You only have to open yourself up and

act as a receptacle for God’s Spirit. As you grow to know God more, you will change and

assimilate or become more like Him through your mind and senses. Because you receive Jesus’ Spirit, you are 

permitted to enter heaven, you gain admittance. The Lord will be there to greet you, He will meet you where you are. You may

 react to in a specified manner, full of power as part of God’s family. When you receive God into your life you accept His Word as authoritative, true, or accurate. You believe in Him.You may have bear some hardships because of your faith. As God makes an impression on your life, you will have a whole new experience. He suffered and died for you so that you may receive all He has for you.

Did you get the message?
 
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Posted by on July 31, 2013 in John, My God is received, Uncategorized

 

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My God is…Sought 1 Chronicles 16:10-13

29 Jul

1 Chronicles 16:10-13 – Glory in his holy name;Want Ads
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength,
seek his presence continually.
Remember the wonderful works he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
O offspring of his servant Israel,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

Let’s get personal

40 something intelligent, attractive woman seeks God. Must be trustworthy, have good judgement, strong, kind and understanding. He should be good at what he does.

Like people who use personal ads to find a mate or a date, we are often looking for something to make us feel more complete. We want a relationship with someone we can trust, we want comfort and security. We look in some strange and dangerous places; Alcohol, relationships, food, money and possessions to name a few. We get stuck seeking (or dating) the wrong things. We need something to change. We need to start looking someplace productive for something more fulfilling. We don’t want to be stuck with heavy hearts any more.

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice

Have you ever been stuck? I think we’ve probably all been stuck at one time or another. We get bogged down with people, with life and with ourselves. We can’t seem to get out of the ruts we’ve created as we try to get ourselves free from the muck of life. How can we find joy again? How can we finally make the changes we’ve known are necessary for a long time, but can’t bring ourselves to take action. We need to seek the Lord.

Definition of SEEK

transitive verb
1: to resort to : go to
2 a : to go in search of : look for
   b : to try to discover
3: to ask for : request <seeks advice>
4: to try to acquire or gain : aim at <seek fame>
5: to make an attempt : try —used with to and an infinitive<governments…seek to keep the bulk of their people contented — D. M. Potter>
When things are going horribly wrong in our lives, it’s almost always because we’re not seeking God. We go on our way trying to do the best we can, but often things get out of control. Often we come to God as a last resort. I’m not saying things always go perfectly for those who seek the Lord (we still live in a sinful world with a lot of other people who are not seeking God), but if we are seeking God, we are able to see His hand in our lives and can find joy in that. We should make God the first place we turn when things are troubling. Go in search of God now. Get out your Bible and see what the Lord has for you today. Begin a Bible study with a friend. Start memorizing Bible verses. Pay attention. See the things around you and allow them to point you back to God. Seeking is a verb. It takes action. You can’t passively seek. You have to be doing something…thinking, reading, praying etc about your God.
Seek the Lord and his strength
We have an often untapped resource at our disposal. We have God on our side, and He has some truly creative ways to provide solutions to our problems. He is our strength and can handle even the toughest most complicated things that are going on in our lives. Often when we read scripture, discuss our problems with like-minded Christians or pray to the Lord, our decisions become clearer. We’re able to tap into the word of the Lord, and His strength.
Seek his presence continually
Continually. That’s a lot of times. We are never supposed to stop seeking the Lord. We do though, don’t we. We think we’ve got things under control. We try to rely on our own wits and not seeking Him out in prayer and Bible study before we do things. I don’t think that every decision (like whether to turn right or left) is a God decision. He has provided us with a brain and gifted us with basic skills. But I think if you’ve thought about, worried about or been frustrated by something or someone, you need to seek God. If you find yourself sharing a problem with someone else (or them sharing with you), you may want to ask yourself if you’ve taken it to the Lord. Have you sought Him out on this issue? You can use that sharing as a trigger to point you back to Christ and that can help you seek Him more, creating a healthy habit that could change your heart and soul.
Remember the wonderful works He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He uttered
So how do we continually seek God? By remembering. By keeping our focus on all that He’s done for us and those we care about. We can see all He has done, and if we give Him the glory for those things and remember them, we will continue to turn to Him and we will continue to build our relationship with Him.
 
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Posted by on July 29, 2013 in My God is Sought

 

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My God is…enabling you Philippians 2:12-14

26 Jul

Glorify

Philippians 2:12-14 – Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

For it is God who is at work in you

In 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 it reads, “So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through

us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” We are all sinners, and all have fallen short of the Glory of God. In the verse from 2 Corinthians we hear about the great exchange. Our sin was exchanged with God’s righteousness. When we come to God in faith, He no longer sees our sin, but Jesus’ righteousness. We are no longer dirty with sin, but washed clean.

Enabling you both to will and to work for His good pleasure

Because God has done that work in us, providing us with the great exchange of righteousness for our failures, He enables us to be able to will and to work things for His good pleasure. The things we do now can actually have value to God. Without His righteousness, even our good works are like filthy rags.

Definition of ENABLE

1 a : to provide with the means or opportunity <training that enables people to earn a living>

   b : to make possible, practical, or easy <a deal that would enable passage of a new law>
   c : to cause to operate <software that enables the keyboard>
2: to give legal power, capacity, or sanction to <a law enabling admission of a state>
God has provides us with the means and the opportunity to be able to think and act out our faith in Him. We’re now able, because of Jesus’ sacrifice, to reflect our Lord to those around us. He has made it possible. Without Him, we couldn’t have done anything that would have been worthy of telling people whose we are. Not only are we given the opportunity and had God make it possible for us to do good works, His love and sacrifice compels us to do good works. Because He loves us and sacrificed Himself that we might have righteousness, we are caused to do the Lord’s work. We are blessed to be a blessing.
 
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Posted by on July 26, 2013 in My God is enabling you

 

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My God is…a warrior Exodus 15:3

22 Jul

Exodus 15:3 – The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name.

Salvation

 

Moses was grateful

 

“The Lord is a warrior” these words were written by Moses after God had sent the Egyptian soldiers into the Red Sea. God had just secured the freedom of the Israelites, and you can practically hear Moses being overwhelmed with joy, awe and respect for the Lord.

Definition of WARRIOR

: a man engaged or experienced in warfare; broadly : a person engaged in some struggle or conflict
Is God a pacifist? 
I was just reading something today a friend posted about God being a pacifist. The post pointed
to the Sermon on the mount as evidence of this claim. I don’t know how I feel about that claim, but either way, God is still a warrior. It’s kind of like the phrase “Once a Marine, always a Marine”. God has won the war against the devil by His sacrificing of His Son Jesus. Jesus paid the ultimate price that all warriors know is a possibility. God sent Jesus so that the battle would be won. We would no longer have to be subject to the devil, and we could begin to live our lives full of forgiveness and grace.
God is a warrior
God took on flesh, became a man so that He could overcome the devil’s plots and plans to ruin our chances of spending eternity with God, something the devil had lost already. God showed the Devil that no matter what it took (even the death of His own Son), He was willing to do what was necessary. He fought for us. He fought the devil while being tempted in the desert, He fought the devil on the cross, and because of His bravery and sacrifice we have the hope of overcoming the devil daily in our lives as well as for eternity. We can spend our lives in service to the Lord because the Warrior has won the fight.

 

 

 
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Posted by on July 22, 2013 in My God is a warrior

 

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My God is…working signs and wonders Daniel 6:25-28

19 Jul

Daniel 6:25-28 – Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole lion-kingworld: “May you have abundant prosperity! I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel:

For he is the living God,
enduring forever.
His kingdom shall never be destroyed,
and his dominion has no end.
He delivers and rescues,
he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth;
for he has saved Daniel
from the power of the lions.”

So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world

You may remember this passage of scripture. Our reading for today shows up right after Daniel was removed from the Lions’ den. He had been put in the lions’ den because he was worshiping God instead of relying on the king. Some of the king’s servants had set Daniel up so that King Darius would have to punish Daniel for worshiping his Lord. Daniel didn’t succumb to the pressure though. He trusted that the Lord would see Him through. And Daniel was punished. He was put in the Lion’s Den to be killed. That didn’t happen, because Daniel trusted God and God closed the mouths of the Lions.

Who/what are your lions?

Do you sometimes feel like you’ve been wrongly put in the lion’s den? Do you feel like you’ve been trying to do the right thing – faithful to God and family, but you seem to step in it at every turn? No matter what you do, it feels like everyone is attacking? We can relate to Daniel, can’t we. We might not have actual lions (and yes that would be way worse), but we do often feel attacked. I dare say the closer and more reliant you become on the Lord, the more often you will feel attacked. King Darius and Daniel were close. King Darius liked Daniel. He didn’t want to put him in the Lion’s den, but he did, because of his pride. But Daniel remained faithful to the Lord, and the Lord remained faithful to Daniel. He shut the mouths of the Lions, and Daniel was spared. King Darius was thrilled. He could no longer deny that there was one who was superior even to himself, the King. He recognized that Daniel’s God was responsible for shutting the mouths of the lions. Then King Darius sent word to everyone (all over the world) telling them they should trust in the Lord. What a witness he must have been for the Lord.

 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel

What a strange and wonderful thing was happening here. King Darius was not fighting to up his standing, but instead pointed to God and gave God the glory. He witnessed and spoke to the people, encouraging them to have awe and respect for the God of Daniel.

Then as any good leader, King Darius laid out the reasons the people should fear and tremble before God:

  • For he is the living God, enduring forever.
  • His kingdom shall never be destroyed
  • His dominion has no end.
  • He delivers and rescues
  • He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth
  • He has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.

He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth

King Darius had seen a miracle with his own eyes, and once he knew the truth about God, he couldn’t keep it to himself. In what ways has God helped you? What signs and wonders in your life can you point to that reveal the Lord to you and can be part of your witness to others? Here is a list of some of the things that the Lord has done in my life that are part of my belief and trust in Him. (I encourage you to make your own list of signs and wonders too).

Signs and Wonders

  • Born into a Christian Family
  • Went to Christian Schools
  • Worked at a Christian Camp
  • Have always had a job when I wanted one (especially the miracle of working at Fountain of Life and Greenfeet)
  • Married a Christian man (who wasn’t a Christian when I met him)
  • Had twins
  • Son’s heart condition was healed
  • I have kind loving sons
  • I have an amazing sister
  • My in-laws are amazing
  • I have always been a member of amazing churches that love the Lord
  • I got to live in England
  • My MS isn’t as bad as it should be

There are so many more, I could go on and on and on and on. I’m sure you could too. Each tragedy, each success can all point back to God. When we trust in God, it is easier for us to see how He is working in our lives. Sometimes it’s not as easy at the time, but as we come through it, it is often revealed what He was helping us to work on in the process. Sometimes we may never know. Daniel probably wondered why he had to go through being in the Lion’s Den, but then the Lord used it to His own glory. No less than King Darius was shouting God’s praises to the roof tops.

What has God done in your life?

 
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Posted by on July 19, 2013 in My God is working signs and wonders

 

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My God is…proving His love for us Romans 5:7

17 Jul

Romans 5:7 – But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.magnifying-glass

Prove it!

Have you ever said those words to someone? It’s often said after someone has said something unbelievable. We don’t think something is true, and we are willing to bet the person telling us can’t prove what they are saying. Sometimes we say “Prove it” to those who claim to love us. Maybe their actions aren’t lining up with their words. In our house, we prove a lot of things by looking them up on the internet (everything’s true on the internet, right?).

Definition of PROVE

transitive verb
1archaic : to learn or find out by experience
2a : to test the truth, validity, or genuineness of <the exception proves the rule> <prove a will at probate>
 b : to test the worth or quality of; specifically : to compare against a standard —sometimes used with up or out
 c : to check the correctness of (as an arithmetic result)
3a : to establish the existence, truth, or validity of (as by evidence or logic) <prove a theorem> <the charges were never proved in court>
 b : to demonstrate as having a particular quality or worth<the vaccine has been proven effective after years of tests><proved herself a great actress>
4: to show (oneself) to be worthy or capable <eager to prove myself in the new job>
The definition above that really hits the mark for the verse we’re looking at is 3a, “to establish the existence, truth, or validity of”. How do we know that God loves us? This verse tells us straight up why.
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
The whole of scripture is testimony and proof of God’s love, but here, St. Paul is urging us to look at the proof of Gods love that is Jesus Christ. Sending His own Son, God was willing to sacrifice the most important things that we might have eternal life. That we might be able to live with Him in eternity.
While we still were sinners
Not only is the proof in the fact that God the Father would give up His Son Jesus or that Jesus gave up His own life for us, but the real kicker, the part that really speaks to me is that God did that while we were still sinners. We hadn’t gotten our act together. We weren’t some big shot. We weren’t some important religious leader. We weren’t overly devout. We weren’t faithful to God, our spouses or families. That’s when He loved us. While we were still sinners. Before we recognized Him as our savior God loved us. He didn’t require anything of us when He loves us. He loves us no matter the condition of our heart. He knows our hearts better than we know it ourselves. He knows we’re still sinners, but He wanted to provide a way that all sinners would be able to have a future of holiness in heaven with Him. That we would forever be able to be glorifying Him in all we do. This side of heaven we are truly blessed if we are able to glorify God in any way. In heaven, it will be like breathing.
Are you looking for proof?
 
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Posted by on July 17, 2013 in My God is proving His love for us

 

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