A Goodie from the Devo-file: God is mercy

“Because God is merciful, He forgives me of my sins when I sincerely confess them.”–Bill Bright

When I wrote about justice, I insinuated that God does NOT treat us fairly, at least at the face value of what justice means. I also must disagree with Bill Bright on his view of God’s mercy. Before I differed on the issue of definition; here I differ on mechanism.

There are 60 references to the action “forgive” and 50 references to the state “forgiven” or “forgiveness”. They are:
OT–
nasa: to lift up, cast away, (14)
sawlach: to pardon (35)
kafar: to cover (2)
NT–
aphiemi: to send forth, free (50)
apoluo: to relieve, release (2)
charzomai: to grant as a favor (7)

It strikes me as amazing that Greek words similar in meaning to the Hebrew terms for forgive are not used in the New Testament. (Now to be completely candid, Strong’s exhaustive concordance, and thus the New Testament, does not contain the Greek word for “to pardon”, but I’m sure such a word exists and yet it was not used!) The whole paradigm of forgiving changes when Christ comes on the scene! No longer is the process of forgiving sins seen as “unpleasant”, in the sense that it is overlooking faults, that God is being the bigger person about the whole thing. Now forgiveness is the opening of the cage door, the releasing us to the world beyond!

That is what mercy made complete is: not the looking past our mistakes, but looking deeper inside us and drawing out our inner nature that still reflects God’s image. Mercy, and its partner grace, are not authorities that choose not to write us some spiritual ticket, but are friends, rescuers who are trying to help to move beyond the quagmire of our flesh.

The second amazing thing I find is that Jesus emphasizes a time aspect to forgiveness. He teaches us to forgive (present tense, moving forward), but talks about being forgiven when addressing people He touches (past tense, already accomplished). Catch my point: He doesn’t say to the sinful woman or the lame man, “I now forgive your sins”; He says “Your sins are (already) forgiven”! (my addition there!) In the timelessness of the Godhead, the future act of crucifixion, death, and resurrection is already being attributed to the events of Jesus’ lifetime prior to it!

So why do we fail to see that this transcendance of time works both ways? Buckle your spiritual seatbelts for this: You don’t need to ask God to forgive you; He already has! Now I say “need to” in the sense of the mechanism (remember, my point of disagreement) of forgiveness. God is not sitting around, keeping score of our sins and waiting for us to ask for them to be erased. In the mysterious, mystical union of Christ’s moment of suffering and our moment of submission and faith, all that we have done, are doing, and will do that offends God or separates us from Him has already been atoned for and redeemed.

Having said that, we still need to ask God’s forgiveness for two other reasons: our humility and our restoration. First, to be more specific, we confess sins to God in order to humiliate ourselves before Him! (Still have those seatbelts buckled?) Remember at the Fall, Adam and Eve (and us as their children) tried to elevate ourselves to be God’s equals (Genesis 3:4-7). The action of our prayer for His mercy lowers us back down, returns the hierarchy of the universe back into proper alignment. This then restores us to communion with Him. Sin separates us from God: our attempts to work our way back only shows how far we truly are from Him.

Salvation is by faith because it is only when we stop trying that God can step in and cross the chasm. There we sit, slumped over, crying our eyes out, when He walks up. He picks us up (nasa: to lift up) and pulls off our garments of “sin that entangles us” (Hebrews 12:1), throwing them away (nasa: to cast away). He tells us that everything is all right now, that He won’t hold this against us now that we are sorry (sawlach: to pardon). He puts His coat around us (kafar: to cover) and tells us to wear it for a while as His welcome-back gift (charzomai: to grant as a favor). Then He tells us to start walking back home, that He is following us to make sure we stay on the path and are safe (aphiemi: to send forth, free; apoluo: to relieve, release).

Now I am not advocating that you stop praying “Forgive me my many sins”. Instead, start listing them out! Once you face up to how much you have screwed up your life, then you will truly understand the magnitude and mercifulness of God’s mercy! This week, bust out of the exchange mentality cliche we have about sin, that we can just walk up to the Heaven window and trade in our errors for a clean slate. Today (and every day), begin to “work out your salvation” (Phillipians 2:12) through your pleas for grace.

A Goodie from the Devo-file: God is love

“Because God is love, He is unconditionally committed to my well-being.”–Bill Bright

When we think of love and the Bible, we often remember I John 4:16, “God is love”, and I Corinthians 13, as well as many others. Scripture is filled with images of love. In fact love, in one word-form or another, occurs 516 times! We in our modern times throw around the word “love” and rarely consider the depth or the weight of it.

In the Old Testament, most references to love are that of having affection for (ahab), a mixture of romantic and friendly love. This is how we still love those around us, for several reasons. First, we have a need to love. We have to have something, a pet, a lover, a child, onto which we can shower our affections and gifts. Second we have a need for love. We are always trying to fill the void of isolation and loneliness that sin and the Fall have caused in us. Third, we have a need of love. From the squishy gushings of infatuation to the contentment of companionship, we have a inborn desire to connect and to feel emotions for others.

Then Jesus enters the picture, in the Bible and in our lives, and the whole paradigm of love changes. Suddenly all of the scriptural references (in the New Testament) are agape: pure, spiritual love. First Jesus talks about this truer love; then Paul, Peter, and John write about it in their epistles. Love suddenly has all of this depth, this height, this completeness, that our worldly love is anemically lacking!

But this is not some revolution in how love is to God. He has always loved this way. The Trinity was never weighed down by our needs (affection or isolation) because of the communion they have shared since eternity past. Love has always been complete–We were the ones to make it shallow!

Amid all of the affection love in the Old Testament, two words jump out describing God’s love for us. In Deuteronomy 7:7, Psalm 91:14, and Isaiah 38:17, we find chashaq, “clinging to, joined together by love” love. In Deuteronomy 33:3, we see chabab, “cherish in your bosom” love.

God may be Father, but He loves like a mother would! In some transcendant, spiritual way, God desires to cuddle with us, to hold and protect us. He desires safety and maturity for us. He wants the best for us.

Now, sometimes, like with our earthly parents, we misunderstand the good that He sends our way. Pain, suffering, sorrow, and death were never meant to be part of our world. But now that they are, God uses them to shape us and remake us back into His full image. Romans 8:28 tells us that all things, good, bad, ugly, and unwanted, work together for our good. In Revelation 3:19, we learn that God’s rebuke is a sign of His friendship love (phileo) for us.

When I left home to move to Georgia, I thought my mother would just die to be apart from me for the first time in 23 years. I asked her if she wanted things to go differently. Her response, one of her many lessons in wisdom, was, “I can’t want you to always be the same, to always stay with me. Life is about growing up. If you didn’t grow up and leave, then something is wrong. It hurts, but I know it is the best.”

God desires for us to return His love, to return to His love. He desires communion with us as He knows in the Trinity. He shapes our lives so that the best thing (salvation) will happen to us. He chooses to let us choose him back so that our love is truly a gift back to Him. As you go about this week, open your eyes to the depth of love God has for you: love shown simply because of who you are and love in the form of lessons to be learned.

A Goodie from the Devo-file: God is just

This is a difficult lesson for me to write and for you to read. I expect many of you to disagree with me, even to become angry with me. I invite you to send me your comments, your questions, even your unbridled anger about my devotional. My purpose is to write truth and to educate, not to divide or to infuriate.–A.H.

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“Because God is just, He will always treat me fairly.”–Bill Bright

On face value, I must disagree with this statement, but we will return to that thought when we talk about mercy in a few weeks. Instead let’s focus on the most controversial belief in religion: the idea of everlasting punishment (and reward).

First, God is just in His castigation. All human beings will face the judgment of their lives at the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11). In verse 12, we clearly see that all of our deeds, even our thoughts, all that we are is diligently being recorded for our upcoming encounter with Holy God.

One might envision this scene as that of a trial. The soul is called before the Throne. Satan (which means Accuser) will argue for the claim of the soul for its sins. God the Father will agree that this soul is not pure enough to enter heaven on its own. Then Jesus will stand up and claim the soul for His own through His blood and the faith of the soul in Him. The records will be checked and yes, the soul is recorded in the book of life. He may enter the kingdom!

The next soul enters the courtroom. Its deeds and accomplishments are recited, but they are not enough for atonement. Does Jesus claim this soul as well? “Then he will say…’Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” (
Matthew 25:41) The soul, despairing, is led away to torment.

Millions of trials, so few acquittals, so many convictions! This is justice in all of its uncomfortable, unpleasant reality. “All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” (Romans 3:23) Thus all must pay the price, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), through substitution (Jesus’ death and atonement) or through retribution upon their own soul forever.

But it gets “worse”: We often misundersand the partitioning of the afterlife. We see Heaven as really high up and Hell as really low down, separated by a great divide, which we take from Luke 16:26. Our cartoons depict a vast underground lair with Satan wielding his pitchfork and reigning over a domain of fire and torture.

The reality is that Satan is not in control. He had his time as master of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:8-11, I John 4:4). Hell was made to be his punishment, not his realm of control. So who is sitting at the controls of the eternal fire: God! (Whoa now! You’re telling me that God is punishing people in Hell? Buckle your spiritual seatbelts, it gets bumpy from here!)

The first proof of this is that God is everywhere. Psalm 139:8 teaches that God resides both in the heights and the depths. God sits on the throne over all the new heaven and earth, the seat of benevolence and the seat of punishment. No longer does He delegate His authority.

The second proof is the vindication of His wrath. The first time we see this most clearly is in the Crucifixion. Matthew 27:46 (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?) had always confused me. How is that Jesus as God could forsake Himself? How could the communion of the Trinity be broken? The meaning of forsake (‘azab) is “to loosen, to permit, to relinguish”. In that terrible moment, God the Father took a step back and removed the veil of mercy that surrounds every living human. Then His wrath, unfettered, fell upon Christ like waves of fire. In His infinity, Christ felt all the suffering that Hell had for us for all eternity. So great was the pain that it killed the Giver of Life! How great is His mercy that He did that for us! How great is His vengenance that awaits the unredeemed!

We next see the fire revealed in Revelation 19:15: “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.” A sword is a personal weapon. It requires one to get close in order to inflict damage and death. God’s wrath is not this generalized smothering blanket, but is a one-on-one thrust plunging deep into each heart. This fulfills God’s vows in Genesis 12:3 and Deuteronomy 28:15-68: He takes an active role! He alone has the right to judge, thus He alone punishes.

Do not think that God enjoys wrath! He clearly desires otherwise for us. “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9) Hell was not even made for us. “…the eternal fire prepared for the DEVIL and his ANGELS.’” (Matthew 25:41, emphasis mine) But He is also holy and just: He must enact the Law He gave us and not contradict His commandments. He gave us the means out of it (Jesus), but some did not take it. We made our choices and now He must bring about the consequences.

The third proof is that the chasm is not that big after all. I’m not going to get into the differences between Sheol (in Luke 16:26) and the afterlife, but Revelation 22:15 tells us that the lake of fire and those in it are just beyond the walls of the Holy City. Eternal punishment is not something God puts away from Himself, out of sight like we would, but is something He presents for His angels and His people to ponder and to inspire praise for Him and His grace.

Let us now return to the second way God is just, in His remuneration. II Corinthians 5:10 teaches us that we also receive repayment for what we have done. This is distinct from reward/punishment in that it is more “settling debts” than “paying ransom”. Much of the New Testament speaks of enduring and awaiting crowns and riches given to those who are faithful through trials. Our salvation was not based on how well we were at being Christians, but on our faith in Christ. Yet our afterlives will be filled with the gifts we have been promised. Life _IS_ fair if you count the eternity beyond death, when both good and evil will receive their due.

It is one thing to have a home and clothes; it is another to have a nice home and beautiful clothes. An often-missed lesson of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) is that the two faithful servants were not equally compensated. Both brought back double what they were given. Both share in the master’s happiness. But the one with ten talents was given an eleventh. Why?–Because he had done more! Wait, but both doubled their money? That is true, but we aren’t told how they accomplished that or how difficult it is to do. It wasn’t by putting it into the bank (since the master does not refer to either of the two servants as having done that in verse 27). Somehow making five grow to ten was harder or more worthy than making two grow to four.

Thus it is with our daily Christian walks. We in America live in a nation that respects our right to believe in God, while our brothers and sisters in Africa and Asia are tortured and killed for such. To some, a bountiful harvest of souls is given them when they preach or evangelize, while others spend their whole lives tending barren soil for one salvation. Some of us enjoy health and prosperity, while others face days and years of suffering and want. And like the three servants in the parable, we do not all equally apply our gifts to their full measure of service.

I Corinthians 3:10-15 teaches that our works in life, built on the foundation of our salvation, will be tested before the judgment seat of II Corinthians 5:10. Whatever endures will be returned to us, crowns awarded, and promises will be kept. But there will be some who are left with nothing. They may enter Paradise, but their enjoyment will be tempered by their lack of anything to enjoy, other than the presence of God and other believers.

Our challenge is to live our lives not seeking reward, but seeking to live up to our reward. We must strive to spread truth and slavation in our daily lives, in our daily worlds, in order to increase the kingdom and lessen the population of Hell. We must endeavor to use every gift and opportunity gien to us to its full potential for the purpose of God’s will and the manifestation of His glory.

A Goodie from the Devo-file: God is righteous

“Because God is righteous, I will live by His standards.”–Bill Bright

“Be holy, because I am holy.” Whoa! Can I get a “Try to be…”, “Work on being…”, or maybe “It would be nice if you’d be…”? But in the words of that spiritual guru Yoda, “There is do or do not. There is no try.” Three times in Leviticus (11:44, 19:2, 20:7) God tells Moses to tell the Israelites (and us) to be holy. That’s some standard to live up to!

We need not kid ourselves. The various laws given to Moses at Sinai are enough to show us that we can never keep up the purity God commands, much less the holiness He is by nature. Then Jesus has to go and extend the scope of the rules in Matthew 5:17-48 to make it totally impossible for us to do!

Exactly! WE can’t do it–only God can. (That’s why He’s God and we’re not!) Thus we must call upon Him to overcome ourselves, to create the holiness that He requires in us. “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (I Peter 1:13)

So here are the three steps to holiness:
1) “prepare your mind”–We need to realize that holiness is God’s desire for us and our gift to Him.
2) “be self-controlled”–We must exert our conscious and Spirit-given strength toward the task of living up the standards and commands of God. “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.” (I Peter 1:14)
3) “set your hope fully on the grace”–We need to realize that our strength, our power will never produce the holiness in us. Ultimately we must rest in God’s grace to work through us and to overcome our inability.

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.” (I Peter 1:22) Holiness is not Corban (see Mark 7:11), being set apart and kept away from everyone else. Holiness is about living amid the filth, but not becoming dirty yourself. Jesus lived among the sinners, but didn’t sin Himself.

Too often we try to hide behind new Temple veils; we try to cut off all outside, secular influence in our lives in our Christian cultural ghetto. But it’s time we become more Immanuel: God with us, God among us! This is what Jesus was teaching in the Great Commandments: Loving God is inseparable from loving people. Being a holy people means being a holy people among an unholy people. Being a light to the darkness means you got to get down off the lampstand and go into the darkness!

Holiness is hard. It is made harder by having to live it in a sinful and corrupted world. That was the mission of Christ, a mission that required His life, both in time and even to death. It should require nothing less of us as well.

A Goodie from the Devo-file: God is truth

Sorry it took me a little while to update: too much going on right before Thanksgiving!

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“Because God is absolute truth, I will believe what He says and live accordingly.”–Bill Bright

If you study world religions, you find a somewhat common trend to them: they have often been sanitized in their depictions of their founders and their truths. Often the great thinkers of a certain philosophy will be deified. The rituals and mysticism is retro-fitted so that it all so nicely explained. However, this is not the case with Christianity.

God represents Himself in the Scriptures in often very confusing ways. Much ballyhoo has been made about how “contradictory” and “cryptic” some passages seem. But this should make us think: If we were able to fully understand God and His ways, what would then separate us from being just like Him, from becoming equal to Him? I like my God to be a little mysterious, a little unknowable, a little too big for me.

Also many of the sacred texts of the various world religions were written many decades, even centuries, after their founding. But the Bible has not only been historically verified by ancient manuscripts, it also speaks to its own aunthenticity. I Corinthians 15:6 speaks of five hundred witnesses to the resurrection of Christ (possibly the Bible’s most extreme claim), most of whom were still alive at its writing. If that many people, who could have been interviewed and their stories verified, did not reject at that time the truths the apostles taught, then logic dictates that we must give biblical scripture its factual due.

Finally, the Bible does little to white-wash or clean up the image of its characters. In fact, it takes great effort to expose the flaws, sins, and failings of its most beloved stories! It almost dares the reader to say, “So why am I trying to emulate these people? They’re no better than me.” EXACTLY! The Bible’s power resides in its applicability even to us, in its reality and its message to everyone across time.

My challenge for you is to consider the significance of the truth that the Bible represents. There are many uncomfortable things the Bible has to say to us. There are passages that, like Thomas Jefferson, we would prefer to just cut out. Instead bump up against the rough edges, the hard places. Take God to task about them: yell, scream, hit, whatever! Just don’t deny their truth or their power from that truth.

A Goodie from the Devo-file: God is holy

“Because God is holy, I will devote myself to Him in purity, worship and service.”–Bill Bright

I will admit that I was somewhat stuck when I first looked at this attribute of God. How can I start to talk about, much less completely explain this concept? So in classic “preacher behavior”, I am going to distract you with Greek! There are three Greek words that we translate as “holy”. Each mean a slightly different kind of holiness.

Most New Testament references use the word hagios, meaning purity from defilement. This indicates that holiness in our sin-tainted world requires a “setting apart” of something. In Old Testament times, this was viewed through the lens of ritual and law. After the Crucifixion, this was viewed through the dedication of one’s desires and life to God’s Will.

Hieros, meaning formally consecrated, occurs twice in the New Testament, in I Corinthians 9:13 and II Timothy 3:15. In both places, the idea of separation is made more distinctly as both ministers and Scripture are viewed, at least from our human persepctive, as different from other callings or writings.

Finally is the word hosios, meaning right by intrinsic divine character, which is different from innocent in human terms (dikaios). This word for holiness is most important in our understanding because it is the term used for describing Christ in prophecy (in Acts 2:27 and 13:35, which are quotes of Psalm 16:10), in his role as Savior (Hebrews 7:26), and of His very nature (Revelation 15:4). Also hosios is used to describe how we should worship (I Timothy 2:8) and serve the church (Titus 1:8).

If the stories of the Old Testament teach us nothing else, they show us that our human effort is incomplete to achieve holiness. No set of laws or elaborate rituals is going to cleanse us of our sin nature other than the salvation that comes through Christ and His blood. Then when we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit as our Guide, we are transformed into this “intrinsic divine character” that hosios speaks of.

I encourage you this week to read over the passages I have listed, to fully wrap your brain around them, and to immerse yourself in their meaning. God desires purity in our worship and our service. He desires purity in our lives. He enables us to achieve this holiness through His holiness. Consider this mystery this week.

A Goodie from the Devo-file: God is sovereign

“Because God is sovereign, I will joyfully submit to His Will.”–Bill Bright

God’s sovereignty is always a sticky point theologically. It also is an abrupt challenge to our “independence” as people. We in America particularly have a problem with this thinking: “What do you mean I can’t do whatever I want? Where’s the freedom in that?”

Romans 6 directly addresses this “free, but not free” lifestyle of Christianity. “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” (Romans 6:16-18)

It is a strange life that we live. We never actually get to be free! Without venturing too far down the road of contemplation, consider that we are always under the influence and guidance of another. We are, metaphorically, soldiers under the command of one of two sides in a war. There is no neutral ground; there are none who can abstain. Jesus himself says, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30)

So how is that we talk about “freedom in Christ”? First of all, in Christ, we have the ability (read: freedom) to be who God intends us to be. We are, in a sense, restored to the state of Man before the Fall, again in communion with God. Second, we are freed from sin and its consequence, death. Being united in Christ through His forgiveness grants us eternal life. We then are forever freed from the punishment we deserve, but which He took upon Himself on the cross.

Now I’m about to get all mystical: How is it then that we offer ourselves into slavery (verse 16) if we are already slaves to one or the other? This is because obedience is the mark of who masters us. We who are redeemed are said to have two natures: the sinful flesh and the righteous spirit. Whichever voice we listen to and obey, that is the voice that controls us. Jesus spoke on this as well: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24)

Your challenge from this lesson is to submit. Take a step back from your life. Look at what you do and why you do it. Are you obeying God or are you trying to do things on your own? Are you trying to “have your cake and eat it too”? Even the good that you do, is it because of God’s direction or is it because it’s “the right thing” or “what God wants me to do”? Sovereignty is not about force and control as it is about leadership and guidance. So who’s steering your boat today?

A Goodie from the Devo-file: God is omniscient

“Because God knows everything, I will go to Him with all my questions and concerns.”–Bill Bright

Some of us are working hard at summer employment. I have lived in Athens for about two years now and I am still finding that more money goes out of my bank account than seems to come in! Summer is especially hard since I have to stretch those last few dollars until the next installment comes in August. I’m not sharing this for sympathy, but if you feel like sending me a check, don’t resist!

Life is filled with difficulty and confusion. It seems like we are always lost in the fog, never sure of which way to turn. Psalm 121 gives us comfort in these times. (If you have ever seen “The Sound of Music” , the opening verse will be familiar.) “He will not let your foot slip.”–the image here is of a high mountain pass.

My brother spent the first weeks of August last year high in the Andes of Peru. The people group he worked with live in small houses built into the cliffs. Just off the paths, walked daily by these people, are drops of several thousand feet! Clouds may sweep in and obstruct the view of the path ahead.

This is how I think our lives should be considered. We can only see where the next few steps will be. God (in the cloud) sees the whole path. He doesn’t tell us every detail of the journey, only what we need to know right now. This is why prayer is so important.

Rote, memorized, formulaic prayer won’t cut it here. Reciting a long list of prayer requests and dried-up, token promises to do better won’t show us the way to go. They interrupt God and keep him from telling us what to do. Remember prayer is supposed to be a two-way conversation!

Fervent, conversational, daily prayer is how we ask God the small questions, how we burden Him with our little problems, how we find out where our next step should be.
God wants to hear about every detail of our lives–He already knows it, but He wants us to share it with Him. He wants us to admit we can’t handle it and to ask him to do something about it!

This week, seek a life of supplication. Ask God to help you deal with people you really can’t stand, with bad situations that aren’t helping, with the quagmire of sin you are trapped in. Ask Him, then shut your mouth and let Him speak. You will be amazed by the changes you’ll see.

A Goodie from the Devo-file: God is omnipresent

“Because God is ever-present, He is always with me.”–Bill Bright

When people look for comfort in the Bible, they often go to passages like Psalm 23 or Psalm 139. When we are afraid, we often want a “comfy, fuzzy” God that will wrap us up like a big blanket and protect us from our fears. Yet later, we feel stifled by His closeness and ever-attentiveness.

Ever since the Garden, we have been running from God while in our sin. We want Him around when WE want Him around, on our schedule. We almost think to ourselves, “No Jesus, this is my time. You can’t be here. Now is when I do what I want. Now is my night out, my day off!” Sounds silly when I say out loud?

Psalm 22 is familiar to us: Jesus quoted verse 1 while on the cross, yet strangely enough I find comfort in its words. Hebrew poetry has this beautiful richness to it, this tapestry of paradox and contradiction. David writes alternately of loneliness and being sustained, of helplessness and comfort, of feeling trapped, then feeling freed. Embrace the mystery of God’s presence.

Psalm 78:32-39 is still a remarkable commentary on our hamster wheel of obedience. Read the passage over and over; follow the cycle of sin and repentance.–Ouch! We know we shouldn’t, but we want to, so we do. Flip over to Romans 7:15-20 and commiserate with Paul for a moment.

Now I’m going to hit you with something shocking: God still loves you! My mother still says, “I may not like you, but I still love you.” It’s about time we start thinking of God as the coolest friend we have. We do all this stuff that makes Him angry. We don’t talk to Him, we lie to His face, and still He wants to hang out with us!! Okay, so He hangs around a little too much, like some overbearing older brother (trust me, I was one!), but He is always looking out for us, taking care of us.

Without getting “WWJD” crazy, I think we should “plan to hang with God” today. I will admit that I talk to God on a regular, almost hourly basis about everything: bad drivers, my aching feet, pretty sunsets, etc. Don’t be afraid to get real with the Man. Hey, He already knows what you’ve done and what you’re thinking. God desires intimacy with you: so let Him “in to me to see”!

A Goodie from the Devo-mail Files: God is omnipotent

“Because God is all-powerful, He can help me with anything.”–Bill Bright

Omnipotence: philosophers and mystics have debated for centuries about the extent and the expanse of God’s power over the universe. However, such lofty speaking is long overdue for a dose of the back of God’s all-reaching hand! If ever someone feels proud of their accomplishments or success, I would suggest that they peruse Job 38-42 before they speak again. It is somewhat hard to be haughty and self-important after the tongue-lashing that the Lord Almighty gives us in this passage. “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2)

Now I’m not saying that we should not be proud of the gifts and opportunities God has given us. Instead I think we should view all that we have as not really ours to be proud of. Americans are known worldwide as having a very narrow view of the world, of thinking that everyone has a TV, a VCR, and an SUV. I often wonder if the Lord in his foreknowledge wrote so many passages in the Bible about humility just for us!

Also, we don’t need to go around our lives wailing and mourning in false contrition. So many Christians these days live in guilt for being successful or well-off. They don’t want to speak out or do anything noticable for fear that people will talk about their “nerve”. They don’t want to drop the big check into the offering plate for fear of “showing off”. Second Corinthians 8 teaches the lesson that some are giuven much so that they can then give much. Some are given vacation time and retirement and summer break so that they can go and do. Some are given light class schedules so that they can serve and share.

Stop being afraid! Stop it right now!! Stop worrying about what people think and do God’s Will, this summer and next year. This is a hard lesson, even for me, and I am struggling with myself on this issue as well. But I am “being confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phillipians 1:6) We who are young often look for the approval of others and of society. We think that being unpopular is the end of the world. To that, I say, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake at their surging, we will not fear.” (Psalm 46:1-3)