How do we reconcile God's promises for protection with the fact that so many evil things do happen in our lives? Can we believe God for protection?
This question comes up often, and no wonder, since there are many promises in the Bible about protection, including (especially in the Old Testament) physical protection. We must be careful to interpret Scripture with Scripture, and if we examine the record we find that God did not by any means always protect His people from harm. He has absolute power to keep us safe, both physically and spiritually, but His engineering of the universe made room for man's freedom to choose--that is, freedom to will to obey or to disobey Him. This is a deep mystery. Man's disobedience brought evil into the world, and all of us are subject to it. God does not cancel out its effects, even for His choicest servants (John the Baptist, Stephen, those nameless victims of Hebrews 11:35-37, for example).
Nevertheless, we have the promises. Romans 8:35-39 is one of my most reread passages. I believe we can rest assured that we are invulnerable so long as God does not give permission for us to be hurt. If He gives that permission, He will not leave us alone. He goes with us through the valley, the deep water, the furnace. He will never, absolutely never, leave us or forsake us.
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"How Long is God's Arm?", Keep A Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Things temporal and eternal
"O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong,
nothing is holy:
Increase and multiply upon us your mercy,
that, with you as our ruler and guide,
we may so pass through things temporal,
that we lose not the things eternal;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God,
for ever and ever.
Amen."
The Collect for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost
without whom nothing is strong,
nothing is holy:
Increase and multiply upon us your mercy,
that, with you as our ruler and guide,
we may so pass through things temporal,
that we lose not the things eternal;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God,
for ever and ever.
Amen."
The Collect for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Monday, September 14, 2009
On Failure - J.I. Packer
"The world’s idea that everyone, from childhood up, should be able at all times to succeed in measurable ways, and that it is a great disgrace not to, hangs over the Christian community like a pall of acrid smoke.”
--J.I. Packer, A Passion for Faithfulness: Wisdom From the Book of Nehemiah, p. 206.
--J.I. Packer, A Passion for Faithfulness: Wisdom From the Book of Nehemiah, p. 206.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Moving and an old Song
1 John 4:7-8
Beloved, let us love one another,
For love is of God
And everyone who loves
Is born of God and knows God.
He who loveth not, (clap! clap! clap!) knoweth not God,
For God is love!
Beloved let us love one another
First John Four Seven and Eight!
Beloved, let us love one another,
For love is of God
And everyone who loves
Is born of God and knows God.
He who loveth not, (clap! clap! clap!) knoweth not God,
For God is love!
Beloved let us love one another
First John Four Seven and Eight!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Christ is Message and Messenger
Every word spoken by Jesus must be understood by the life of Jesus. The one cannot be separated from the other. If we attempt to understand what He said without reference to what He did, we do violence to God's revelation of Himself. Here are some examples:
"Give up your right to yourself." Can this mean self-destruction, masochism, obliteration of the personality? See the perfect Son of God, exercising his human will in the fullness of its God-given power, as He offers Himself, pours out his soul unto death. What life streams from that giving up. What strength springs from his weakness.
"The truth shall make you free" (Jn 8:32 AV)--words often wrested away from their context ("lf you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free") and also away from the Man who spoke them. His life, his every act, was perfectly free. It was free because He heard the Word of the Father, did what He saw Him do, and knew Him. His freedom was the result of his obedience. There is no shortcut to our freedom. We must live the life Christ lived--a life of faith, a will offered to the Father, daily obedience.
____________________________________________________
"Christ is Message and Messenger", by Elisabeth Elliot, A Lamp For My Feet
"Give up your right to yourself." Can this mean self-destruction, masochism, obliteration of the personality? See the perfect Son of God, exercising his human will in the fullness of its God-given power, as He offers Himself, pours out his soul unto death. What life streams from that giving up. What strength springs from his weakness.
"The truth shall make you free" (Jn 8:32 AV)--words often wrested away from their context ("lf you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free") and also away from the Man who spoke them. His life, his every act, was perfectly free. It was free because He heard the Word of the Father, did what He saw Him do, and knew Him. His freedom was the result of his obedience. There is no shortcut to our freedom. We must live the life Christ lived--a life of faith, a will offered to the Father, daily obedience.
____________________________________________________
"Christ is Message and Messenger", by Elisabeth Elliot, A Lamp For My Feet
Monday, August 3, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
When you have the King's ear...
Pray for One Another
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Be encouraged to cheerfully offer intercessory prayer, by remembering that such prayer is the sweetest God ever hears. The prayer of Christ is of this character. In all the incense that our Great High Priest now puts into the golden censer, there is not a single grain for Himself. His intercession must be the most acceptable of all supplications--and the more our prayer like Christ's, the sweeter it will be. Thus while petitions for ourselves will be accepted, our pleadings for others, having in them more of the fruits of the Spirit--more love, more faith, more brotherly kindness--will be, through the precious merits of Jesus, the sweetest sacrifice that we can offer to God. Remember, again, that the intercessory prayer is exceedingly prevalent [powerful]. What wonders it has accomplished! The Word of God teems with its marvelous deeds. Believer, you have a might engine in your hand; use it well, use it constantly, use it with faith, and you will surely be a blessing to others. When you have the King's ear, speak to Him for the suffering members of His body. When you are favored to draw very near to His throne, and the King says to you, "Ask, and it will be given to you," let your petitions be, not for yourself alone, but for the many who need His aid. If you have any grace at all and are not an intercessor, that grace must be as small as a grain of mustard seed. You have just enough grace to float your soul clear from the quicksand, but you have no depth of grace or else you would carry in your vessel a heavy cargo of the wants of others, and you would bring back from your Lord rich blessings for them that apart from you they might not have obtained.
Oh, let my hands forget their skill,
My tongue be silent, cold, and still,
This bounding heart forget to beat,
If I forget the mercy seat!
*I think this is Oswald Chambers, 2/6, "My Utmost for His Highest"
Psalm 103:2
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Be encouraged to cheerfully offer intercessory prayer, by remembering that such prayer is the sweetest God ever hears. The prayer of Christ is of this character. In all the incense that our Great High Priest now puts into the golden censer, there is not a single grain for Himself. His intercession must be the most acceptable of all supplications--and the more our prayer like Christ's, the sweeter it will be. Thus while petitions for ourselves will be accepted, our pleadings for others, having in them more of the fruits of the Spirit--more love, more faith, more brotherly kindness--will be, through the precious merits of Jesus, the sweetest sacrifice that we can offer to God. Remember, again, that the intercessory prayer is exceedingly prevalent [powerful]. What wonders it has accomplished! The Word of God teems with its marvelous deeds. Believer, you have a might engine in your hand; use it well, use it constantly, use it with faith, and you will surely be a blessing to others. When you have the King's ear, speak to Him for the suffering members of His body. When you are favored to draw very near to His throne, and the King says to you, "Ask, and it will be given to you," let your petitions be, not for yourself alone, but for the many who need His aid. If you have any grace at all and are not an intercessor, that grace must be as small as a grain of mustard seed. You have just enough grace to float your soul clear from the quicksand, but you have no depth of grace or else you would carry in your vessel a heavy cargo of the wants of others, and you would bring back from your Lord rich blessings for them that apart from you they might not have obtained.
Oh, let my hands forget their skill,
My tongue be silent, cold, and still,
This bounding heart forget to beat,
If I forget the mercy seat!
*I think this is Oswald Chambers, 2/6, "My Utmost for His Highest"
Psalm 103:2
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
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