The Sovereignty of God

This post is from a dear lady who has gone home to be with the Lord.  She and her husband have been a blessing to me for more than 44 years!  This is a devotional she wrote and Bill, her husband, recently sent out.  It's important we live in this simple reality- God is sovereign! Here are Minnie's words,

Sovereignty of God by Minnie Burnside

What should our response be to God’s sovereignty?

1. A respect for God’s sovereignty should humble us and bring our hearts into submission to God. We should delight to do His Divine will.

2. We should have a godly fear. Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

3. We should be obedient. To recognize that the Bible is God’s Word and is given to us by the Sovereign Creator will cause us to cry with the Psalmist, “Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies. . . order my steps in Thy Word. Psalm 119:36, "Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me." 133 “Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.” We cannot pick and choose. We must accept all of God’s Word.

4. A true recognition of God’s sovereignty will stop all murmuring and complaining. I wrote that for myself because if we really believe that God is sovereign, we really cannot complain and murmur. We just have to try and understand how this fits into His divine will.

I was very troubled many years ago when the missionaries were slain by the Auca Indians We were all pretty young at the time. I remember that Bill and I talked a lot about this. We weren't married very long when all that happened.

After that all the books came out about Elisabeth Elliot going to the Auca Indians and working . And the Dayuma Story. And so I thought, “Oh, that's why Jim was killed, so that this could happen. But then many years later I heard Elisabeth Elliot speak once. After Jim was killed, many people gave her all kinds of answers. And after she went to live with the Aucas, they gave her more answers. Bu you know she said there were only a few Aucas and yet these men felt they should go there. They were already working with many Indians who were responding.

But none of the answers that anyone gave her satisfied her. She said the only answer that satisfied her was that God is sovereign. He knew what was going to happen when they went. He could have stayed the spears. But that was her comfort—not what did happen but that God was sovereign. And I think that shows in Elisabeth Elliot's life. How old is she now? In her late 70's? A wonderful woman of God. She's not bitter. She wanted a simple life. She wanted a marriage with one man to last forever. The next husband she watched die of cancer. She's now married to a younger man that she said she hopes he outlives her! It's very hard but she's such a trusting woman whatever the Lord brings into her life. Even when we cannot understand,  we know Romans 8:28 and Job 1:21 : The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

5. A deep thankfulness and joy. Ephesians 5:20 “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” It's easy to give thanks for some things. It's not always easy to give thanks for all things.

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice.” Now that's one of my favorite verses and another is “This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.“ Psalm 118:24 You know, what a wonderful cure for depression! Keep our eyes on the Lord and realize He is bigger than the problems of today.

6. Adoration and worship: “True worship is based upon recognized Greatness, and Greatness is superlatively seen in Sovereignty, and at no other footstool will man worship.” (J.B.Moody)

Not only is God sovereign, but He is infinitely wise and good.

He cannot make mistakes.

The last time we were in Australia I was talking at a party with some 7th Day Adventist missionaries and we were talking about God's goodness and that He does not make mistakes. My blind grandson was sitting there at the table and I didn't even realize he was listening and then he asked that question (you've probably heard Bill tell this—it really touched our hearts.)

He said, “Mimi, was I one of God's mistakes?”

[Note: That was July 2001. Rory was 14 years old. He had been born without eyeballs so he is totally blind—with artificial blue eyes.]

You know my first reaction was just to cry. And I said, “Rory, God doesn't make mistakes. No, you were not a mistake. I said, “We don't understand why you were born blind and we know there's evil in the world and there's wickedness and so these things happen. But you were not a mistake. You're a very wonderful boy. You just can't see. And God has made you for a very special purpose.”

And then I went on [explaining] and Bill got involved in the conversation and we explained, “Rory, some day you will be able to see if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior. When you get to heaven all things will be put right. But even in the time before you can't see but you're not a mistake of God. God has a very special purpose, a very special reason that you were born not being able to see.” Then I told him, “You're Mimi's very special boy.” Well, he hugged me and that seemed to make it OK.

I don't know if someone had said to him that he was a mistake or just listening to the conversation he just wondered in his little mind and heart when we were talking about God doing all things well.

7. The fact that God is sovereign gives us absolute certainty that our future is secure. God’s plans cannot be derailed. What He has promised will come to pass. He holds eternity in His hand just as He holds us, and we will be join theirs with our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I have this one little poem written by a woman who was in a dungeon far below the surface of the ground lit only by a candle at mealtime. [Madame Jeanne Guyon, 1648-1717]

A little bird I am shut from the fields of air. Yet in my cage I sit and sing to Him who placed me there. Well-pleased a prisoner to be because my God it's pleasing thee.  Naught have I else to do I sing the whole day long. And He who most I love to please doth listen to my song. He caught and bound my wandering wings but still He bids to hear me sing. My cage can bind me round. Abroad I cannot fly, but though my wing is closely bound, My heart's at liberty. My prison walls cannot control the flight, the freedom of the soul. Ah, it is good to soar. These bolts and bars above to Him whose purpose I adore whose providence I love and in Thy mighty will to find the joy, the freedom of the mind. Let's pray. “Father, teach us like this dear saint that lived before us teach us to realize that the things of earth cannot bind our spirit, that we can soar in you that we can rejoice in you and that we can realize that all of your promises, all of your decrees, will come to pass and we can rejoice.

Who do you say he is?

"Thomas said to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"" -John 20:28

Seeing Jesus rightly and responding to him is the bottom line debate of our day.  Who is Jesus?  Does it matter? And if he is who he said he was...what are you going to do about it?

The right response to Jesus is the defining event of your life, of my life...in fact the bible insists that a right response to Jesus is the defining decision of every man who ever lived.

You might argue the problems of that, but the bible is clear that we all determine our eternity by how we respond to Jesus, who we believe he is....it defines everything!

Upon seeing Jesus after his resurrection Thomas couldn't help himself, he had to declare, "My Lord and my God!"  It was the only response possible in light of what he saw and experienced!

He stood in the presence of God and before that moment may have been completely unaware of the implications.  When you see Jesus rightly the only response possible is worship.

Jesus asked the disciples, and it's a great question for us, "who do YOU say I am?"  It's a question we each must answer, and the answer to that question determines eternity ahead for us.

Is he Lord and God?  Is he savior of the human race?  Is he the creator?  Or, like many, do you say he was just a good man, or that he may have never existed....whatever your answer it has eternal consequences.  You need to know that.

Life Sentence

It seems I've found several things I want to share.....and here's another one.  It really challenged me!

http://mikehamel.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/life-sentence/

OCTOBER 7, 2013 BY MIKE HAMEL

Can you summarize your life purpose in a sentence?

Years ago I was challenged to do this at a critical juncture in my life. I’d gone to a consultant for advice about a potential career move. Wes helped me catalogue my strengths and weaknesses and identify my passions.

One of the most useful things he had me work on was a one-sentence purpose statement for my life. After a few days of talking with my wife and reflecting on my past, I came up with this:

Mike Hamel exists to experience, model and teach that God is good and life is worth living.

I still resonate with this life sentence more than thirty years later. Experience remains the piston that drives what I model and teach. It’s also what has shoved me far off my original path out to where the church buses don’t run.

In my ongoing search for answers and insights, I have affirmed some core beliefs and adjusted others. I’m currently writing a book about my ongoing quest. Guess I can’t help modeling and teaching what I’m experiencing, even when I’m stumbling forward, shins first.

“A life without a cause is a life without effect.”—Paulo Coelho

Kinder than Kind

There are times when others say things that need to be repeated.  Here are Jerry Jenkins' words and they need to lived out by all of us.

JERRY B. JENKINS

• OCT 06, 2013

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I once saw the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer — in front of a large crowd — take a lengthy question from a fan with cerebral palsy. Dr. Schaeffer closed his eyes in concentration as the question went on and on and on. I understood maybe a fourth of the words.

Dr. Schaeffer made sure he understood every syllable before answering. It struck me that he had been kinder than the incident called for. He could have asked someone else to interpret. He could have asked to speak to the young man later. But everything he had expounded in his book and film, How Shall We Then Live? was tested by this seemingly insignificant incident.

He had been kinder than kind.

Several years ago at a writers conference, my wife and I were in the cafeteria, eating with a local pastor and his wife, when a woman with cerebral palsy was wheeled to the table and her tray of food set before her. The pastor greeted the woman as if her joining us was the highlight of his day. He introduced her all around and joked with her. Somehow it emerged that they had met just two days before.

The rest of us sat there trying to avoid embarrassing her, averting our eyes as she pushed the food around on her plate, spilled most of it on its way to her mouth, and left most of that on her face. But her new friend, the pastor, took it in stride.

He didn’t look away. Without fanfare he casually put his own spoon at the edge of her plate so she could scoop her mashed potatoes without losing them. He looked at her when he talked to her, and when too much food accumulated on her face, he casually wiped it away with his own napkin.

He would have been kind to have simply included her, talked to her, and treated her as a peer. But he had nurtured her, protected her, helped her without making a show of it.

He had been kinder than kind.

Another time I watched as Rosey Grier, the massive former pro football player who became a minister, met a young boy with Down syndrome. The child and his mother hoped for a handshake and an autograph. Instead the big man dropped to one knee, putting him at eye level with the boy.

Rosey put his arm around him, pulled him close, and asked if he could pray with him.

The boy’s mother wept. When she tried to thank Rosey, he simply winked at her and whispered to the boy, “You take care of your Mama now, you hear?”

Oh, that we might all be caught being kinder than kind.

Already, but not yet....

God's goal in the Exodus was not just getting Israel out of Egypt, but to also get Egypt out of Israel! 

As Christians, we too have been freed from bondage by faith in Christ, but it takes a long time to get our identity as "slaves to sin" out of us.  How long will it take for us to realize we are free from sin, to learn we are no longer in bondage to the "Egypts" of our past?  
Like Israel we are the "already, but not yet" people.  

A wonderful verse in Hebrews describes it this way, "He has made perfect forever those who are becoming holy."  -Heb. 10:14

For Israel, they left Egypt in a night, but it took 40 more year for God to get Egypt out of them.

How long is it taking God to do that same work in you?

Close encounters in East Texas

Challenge for the day

Today, just for the day, be content.  Make the decision that today you have everything you need.  Enjoy what God has given you, even if it's just a little bit.  Say thank you and seek no more than what you have right now.  Today make it your goal to simply be content in what God has given.  He gives you all you need.....take just one day to enjoy it.

The best thing.....

It strikes me that as I encounter people and seek to reach them for Christ, as well as simply care about them, there are a number of chasms to cross before we can talk about God or faith.

One way I have found to quickly build bridges is with a simple question.  

It's a question I've worked on for years, but in the last year it has come to its final form and it has been wonderful in the bridges it builds in the life of a total stranger.

Most of us don't realize that everyone you meet is a closet narcissist. We all want to talk about ourselves, but most often no one asks us! And so, this question has become my bridge, my connecting link to the lives of others.  It has been a wonderful blessing and I ask it nearly every day!

Are you ready?  You want to know what it is, don't you?  Ok, write this down and try it....here's my question-  "What's the best thing that ever happened to you?"

No one has refused to answer.  Everyone comes back to me with not just an answer, but their life story!  Why?  Because we all want to be known, to be cared about, we all want someone to notice us and when they do, more often than you would expect, they will "dump the truck".

Let me invite you to do two things, 1. Share your answer to that question here in the comments.  I want to know your story.  And, 2. Ask someone you have just met that question and listen to their life story.  I promise, you won't be able to stop!  You will ask it over and over again because suddenly, surprisingly you will have a host of people who are now friends, people who know you.  

Why?  Because you cared about them!  It's so easy.  It's the most exciting adventure you can have without traveling to Paris!  And, after you have asked the question and seen what happens will you come back here and share the story?

What's the best thing that ever happened to you?

Suffering

It seems, for some reason, I'm seeing a lot on the topic of suffering in the last few days.  I hope it's not preparation for my days ahead, but it might be.  Even if suffering is ahead it has come through the hand of God.  I know I can trust him with difficult days, just as I've "trusted him" with good days.  I put that in quotes because I wonder...to be honest...how much I have to trust God when things are good.

Anyway, tomorrow a new book comes out from one of my favorite authors, Tim Keller.  I have it pre-ordered and look forward to reading it.  I will keep you updated on my thoughts on the book and the topic.  

It's true many of you have truly suffered, so for me to talk about my struggles feels condescending to those who have really suffered, but as I learn more about the struggles of others God prepares me for my own walk through the valleys because even in the valley God is good.

Waiting for his voice

As I sit here and think, pray, meditate on my life and what is swirling around me there are some basic and simple things that always come up.

Each day, each moment, no matter what is happening...I have to trust God.  There is little in my life I can really handle on my own.  My life is one that is dependent upon the God who made me.  I am NOT an island...nor do I want to be.

There are times...like now...when I come to God for direction, for help, for answers and all I hear is silence.  As a human I resent that. I want God to "jump to!" and answer my prayers, speak to me, make something happen!  But when all I get is silence I have one of two things I can do, 1. I can get mad and stomp away in frustration.  That accomplishes nothing!  or, 2. I can sit quietly and wait, trust, calm my anxious heart and be still....it is the hardest thing any human ever does, but one of the most important...to wait on God is vital for my walk with him.

And, as I sit here praying in the silence of God's voice I realize a few other things....God is calming me in the silence, calming my restless mind and heart.  He's dealing with my chaos so he can work.  For some reason I often treat him as an order taker who should deliver my "products" faster than Amazon....instead of relating to him as the God I worship.  He takes me to these times, these places on purpose, so I can see HIS glory, listen for his voice.  It's only when I sit still that his still small voice can be heard over the roar of my world.

I live in a world of chaos, God wants me to rest in a world of calm.  The transition is difficult.  The silence is painful.  But oh how I want to sit here...in the silence...until I hear him speak.

Lord, speak...your servant is really trying to listen....

A prayer to the universe

In talking with friends in the last week they mentioned a conversation with their daughter who told them she had "thrown her prayers out to the universe."  I couldn't help myself, and replied without thinking, "tell her that the universe doesn't give a damn!"

At first she was shocked at a pastor saying that, but then she couldn't help herself and laughed.  

We all laughed.  

I didn't anticipate my words, but the comment made about praying to the universe was so absurd I couldn't help but respond.

And so I did a Google search.  Is this common? Do others really think this way? Do some in our culture "pray to the universe"?  And here is part of a prayer I found,  

Divine Mantra
, A Prayer To The Universe




"Oh Divine Universe,
 gather together to form
 one great ball of light
 and allow it to come forth
 with my Divinity...."

The whole prayer is much longer, but you get the idea.  Yes, people are praying to the universe!  They really believe it does something!  But I would reply to them as I did above...it doesn't do anything and the universe doesn't care!

Why aren't they asking God? Why aren't they praying to someone who hears instead of something as vague and nebulous as the universe?

Romans 1 speaks of these days when Paul writes,

"Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.  Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools."

And so they "pray to the universe" and think somehow their "god" called the universe will answer, but it doesn't, it can't.  It's just a part of creation like I am.  Why not pray instead to the only one who is listening....the God who made me AND the universe, the God whose name is YAHWEH!

The main thing...

Have you noticed that life, with all its chaos and confusion, still boils down to some basic issues.  I see this as I read the Bible. I see Jesus focus on just a few core things we need to know, need to believe, need to do.  One of those things, a very simple thing really, clarifies everything else.

My thoughts come from a very short verse, almost hidden at the end of 1 Corinthians, but significant beyond our understanding.  Here are Paul's simple words that capture the very core of who we are, what we are to do, how we are to live,

Let all that you do be done in love. 

-1 Corinthians 16:14

That's it. That's the whole verse!  I read that a while ago and can't get the clarity, the simplicity of it out of my head.  To be honest it is permeating everything I do (and it should).  Imagine how your day would change if these simple 9 words were the blueprint for how you lived, how you responded, what you did, how you served your boss, how you interacted with co-workers.  How would your day change if this were the guide for how you lived?

Take a moment and imagine a day lived by this short verse.  Would others ask, "what's wrong with you?" or would you see a completely different response come back to you in kind?  You would be surprised how people change when you love them. You would be amazed to see hard hearts melt when they experience the love of Christ.  

Today, make these 9 words your "main thing" and see what happens.

Saturday's cartoon

(I've missed the "Saturday cartoon" for quite a while.  Here is the first resurrection of a great way to start the weekend.)

He will never leave you

Here are wonderful words from my friend and mentor, William Burnside.  They were a rich blessing to me this morning and I know they will help you as well.

^‘And I have been with you wherever you went. . . .’  2 Sam. 7.9 esv

 

                   You’ll want to see the context of this verse, but what a wonderful comment for God to make to His servant King David 3000 years ago: 

^‘But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: . . .thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.  And I have been with you wherever you went. . . ‘

 

            We who know the Lord as Savior can say the same thing.  ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee’ is His promise in the Old Testament as well as the New.   “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  He makes His abode with us and lives within:  ‘ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. . . ‘ Gal. 2.20.   I’ve been aware of God’s Presence in my life the entire 80 years of my journey. 

 

             My wife said the same thing, ‘I can never remember not being sure that God loved me.  I trusted Jesus as my savior at a very young age.  Being in church and worshiping God has always been a vital part of my life.  The Bible says that man cannot live by bread alone but by every word from God.  The Bible is where we go to meet with God and to get to know Jesus more and more. . . .’  Journal, p. 187

        ‘I have been with you wherever you went. . . ‘  That doesn’t mean He approves of everything we do or think!   The context continues, ‘ I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, . . .  but my steadfast love [my mercy]  will not depart from him. . . .’

 

        I wonder if people who trust in themselves rather than in God realize what a weak reed their hope is in.  The problem is not that we feel inadequate and just need to psych ourselves into self-confidence; the problem is that we are inadequate and most things in life are beyond our control.  But God is sufficient and we can rest in Him and trust in Him.  “Blessed is the person who makes the Lord His trust.”  ‘But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.’ 2 Cor. 4.7

 

            This passage also speaks of the completion of our journey in a different way:   “When your days are fulfilled. . . .’7.12  We’ll all be here until our ‘days are fulfilled.’  For some it takes longer than for others.  All of that is in God’s sovereign control:   ‘All the days ordained for me were written in you book before one of them came to be.’ Ps.139.16 niv

 

            The Bible consistently measures our time in days:  when your days are fulfilled . . . the days ordained for me. . .  So let’s live that way!  One day at a time.  Focus your attention on what God wants you to do this day and rejoice and be glad in it for God created each day and has given us enough time to accomplish whatever He wants us to that day.  It won’t be as much as you want to accomplish, but it’s enough.  Be satisfied with the time God gives you and don’t complain about unexpected ‘interruptions.’  All of that is in God’s providential control.  Accept it as from Him.

 

          And at the end of the day, thank God for what He accomplished and enabled you to do during that day.  Be thankful unto Him and bless His Name for the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures through all generations.  And a prayer of thanksgiving at the end of the day:   ‘The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended.  The darkness falls at thy behest; To thee our morning hymns ascended, Thy praise shall hallow now our rest.’  (hymn, 1870)

Case dismissed!

These words are from Tim Keller's book,  The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness.  They are so profound I wanted to share them with you.

"Do you realize that it is only in the gospel of Jesus Christ that you get the verdict before the performance?  The atheist might say that they get their self-image from being a good person.  They are a good person and have hope that eventually they will get a verdict that confirms that they are a good person.  Performance leads to the verdict.  For the Buddhist too, performance leads to the verdict.  If you are a Muslim, performance leads to the verdict. All this means that every day, you are in the courtroom, every day you are on trial.  That is the problem.  But Paul is saying that in Christianity, the verdict leads to performance. It is not the performance that leads to the verdict.  In Christianity, the moment we believe, God says 'This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.'  Or take Romans 8:1 which says 'Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus'.  In Christianity, the moment we believe, God imputes Christ's perfect performance to us as if it were our own, and adopts us into His family. In other words, God can say to us just as He once said to Christ, 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'"

The courts are closed, the case has been dismissed, Christ has paid the debt and we are now loved and accepted by God.  Now, as His children, we live in response to what he has done, not as a way to get his approval.  We already have it!  That is the amazing message of grace.  That is what makes the Christian faith different from any other.  That is God's amazing grace for us!