Evil

Yesterday, I had a brief time to discuss the "why" of the existence of evil in our world. This is what I know:

God hates evil. Hates it. If someone doesn't believe that, they have no real understanding of the cross.

God, through the Spirit's power, declared to me my sin, iniquity, and transgression--the evil in my life. In doing so, He brought me to repentance and salvation. I understood that I had absolutely no chance of saving myself. I needed a sinless Savior.

God, through the Spirit's power, convicts me now of the evil--sin, iniquity, and transgressions in my life that I might confess that evil and thus be able to walk in fellowship with Him. And with other believers. I could never love those God has put into my life without the daily cleansing of confession.

And I think of Joseph. Betrayed, sold into slavery. And with tears in His eyes--telling his brothers. Yes, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Tears? They still didn't understand the planning of a loving God.

Only an infinitely good and all powerful God can take the worse evil that mankind can devise and turn it into good. Good in the present tense, and good in the eternal future.

And how often does He do that for His children? All things work together for the good of those who are the called according to His purpose--His plan.

All things.

Sorrow

One of the gifts the God of all Comfort gives to His children is sorrow. He--who knows the end of all things--was, yet, a man of sorrows. He wept at the tomb of Lazarus because some in the crowd doubted His love for Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Joseph was a man of many tears, many sorrows. Paul in Philippians cries that it would have been sorrow upon sorrow to lose his friend Epaphroditus. Having given us hearts that love and care, sorrow is a reflection of a heart just like His. Our tears are His eternal treasures. And because of His love--the One who weeps not just for us but with us--we are commanded to weep with those who weep, to take our sorrow and use it to comfort others with the comfort He gives us, and to refuse to sorrow as those who have no hope so that our deepest sorrows can be a testimony to our trust in His love. 

Sorrow and peace and joy and comfort are inescapable, inseparable "companions," on our journey Home to Him who will wipe all tears from our eyes.

"The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart."

Immutable

He is immutable:

"I Am the Lord. I change not."

His promises are sure. Eternal. He cannot lie. That would be to deny Himself.
His commands are unchanging, rooted in His character. We must continue to obey them and reject the ever changing whims of man's morality. His commands are the road to the abundant life.
The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. Compassionate, slow to anger, forgiving transgressions and iniquities, and sins. Steadfast and faithful. Just. He is all those things and more every day. All day.
He loves you this day as deeply as He loved you on Calvary and as powerfully as He loved you on Resurrection Morning.
Your circumstances are never an indication that He does not fully love you--that He does not care. When you cast your burdens on Him, He always takes them in His hands and holds you to His heart.
When you pray, He is always listening.
"Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. All my change but Jesus never, glory to His Name."

Shepherd King

He is the Shepherd King.

He gathers His flock and leads them.
He is the King who knows what it is to be a lamb.
He takes the weary sheep and restores their joy--their strength--with His loving forgiveness and comfort.
He gives rest and quiet--possible because the sheep know that He is vigilant in protecting them from the wolves in sheep clothing.
He provides their every need--the Bread and Water of Life are their's abundantly.
He provides their every physical need.
He is constantly searching for other sheep to add to His fold. The Gate is always open.

Omnipotence

He is omnipotent:

No power could keep Him in the grave. He lives.
No power can thwart His will. He keeps every promise.
No power can delay His coming--for even a second. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords reigns.
No power can separate you from His eternal love. You are safe in His omnipotent hand. He keeps.

Omniscient

He is omniscient.

He knows your every thought. Even when you fail, He knows your heart's desire is to please Him.
He knows the deepest sorrows of your heart. He shares your griefs and disappointments. He treasures your tears.
He knows your past, your present, and your future. All of it is designed to demonstrate to you His unerring wisdom and matchless love. He will make all things beautiful in His perfect time--and forever.
The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. They will be held accountable to Him.
He knows everything there is to know about you. And His response? That's my child. I adopted him into my family. I can't tell you how much I love him--as much as I love my Dearly Beloved Son.

I AM

We serve the I AM

"I AM the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending." Our past, present, and future are in His hands. The past, present, and future are in His hands. It's called security. We can be confident that all will be well, and He will be glorified.

"I AM the Water of Life." He is the One who satisfies our thirst--the thirst of our hearts for meaning and worship and purpose and significance. And it's an Everlasting Fountain.

"I AM the Bread of Life." He is our Sustance, our Strength, the Source of our continuing growth in grace and knowledge.

"I AM the Good Shepherd." He is the One who gave His life for the sheep. He is the One who leads us--goes before us into all situations. He fills our cup of blessing so that it overflows. He is--I shall not want.

"I AM the Resurrection and the Life." He is our guarantee--death is dead. Our life with Him is everlasting. Because He lives, we will live also. We will never die.

"I AM the True Vine." He empowers us to be transformed into His likeness, to be fruit-bearers, to be saturated with His joy, to know His love in a world hostile to righteous living.

"I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is our All in All. He journies by our side. He sanctifies us through His Truth. He holds our breath in His hand. "It is glory just to walk with Him." His truth "has set us free." "Life is a symphony." There is no other I AM.

"I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." And you. Every moment of every day--and for all eternity--He is your God.

Every Prayer

John tells us that our prayers are the incense--the sweet aroma--that surrounds God's throne.

Hence:
You have never prayed an insignificant, "unwanted" prayer.
Our God is a God of relationships.
The tearing of the veil was not an afterthought. It's a shout from our God, "I deeply desire to hear from you. Grace and mercy are abundantly available--just ask."
He is listening. Your prayers have been heard. And will never be forgotten.

Every prayer you have ever prayed--or will ever pray--is precious to His heart.

Yes

Yes, He is working. In the nations--and in your life.
Yes, He is doing good for His people--including you.
Yes, His greatest desire is to heal and restore not judge. That's the power and the motivation for continued intercessory prayer.
Yes, He is a pardoning God--the pardoning God.
Yes, genuine faith does not have "to see" that He is working nor does it try to control the outcome of those prayers. Faith prays believing in His wisdom and love.
Yes, being content that His answer will be the best answer strengthens us to continue to do all things for His glory--to live lives that make the invisible God visible.

Only trust Him.

Correlation

There is in the Bible a direct correlation between the sincerity--the genuiness--of a people's worship, and the depth of their commitment to responding justly to the needs of the poor. The more external and hypocritical the worship of Israel became the more they oppressed the poor while lavishing themselves with luxury and living lives of self-indulgence. What they wanted for their own pleasure was always more important to them than the needs of the poor and oppressed.
And what did God do to Israel?

Weariness

And do not grow weary of doing good for in season you will reap if you faint not.
Weariness in the ministry to which God has called me--spiritual weariness--is invariably the result of my demands for immediate fruit. No farmer plants his seed and expects to come to the field the next day to harvest. It takes time. Even more so in the spiritual realm than the physical. God must send the rain of His Word through other waterers. And usually, someone else will see the harvest. What I must rest in--the cure for weariness--is the truth that every seed planted in God's field always reaps a harvest. He is the God of the Harvest--no seed is sown to emptiness. What He wills, will be accomplished. Don't grow fainthearted and quit sowing. Sow.

Agreement

"Can two walk together unless they are in agreement?"

Why do we always assume--at least in our actions--that that means everyone--including God--should start agreeing with me? My wants, my ideas, my desires are what matter. I am, after all, the center of the universe--at least, I should be. Spend a lot of time "walking" alone, don't we? And wonder why.

"If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another."

When

When the worst possible thing is happening to you, you are incomprehensibly loved.