TerryLema

I was reading in 1 Peter this morning, chapter 4. My Bible subtitles the beginning of chapter 4 as “Living for God,” and the ending as “Suffering for Being a Christian.”

In the middle there is a paragraph that lists a few attitudes and actions that we should note. When reading I thought these attitudes and actions were vital for both “Living for God” and “Suffering for Being a Christian.

The first is verse 7: “The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” 

 The NKJV translates it, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.”

 The end of all things is much nearer now than it was in Peter’s Day. If it was important to be clear minded / serious and self-controlled / watchful then, how much more so now.

Prayer is vital. Peter recommends prayer that isn’t frivolous. Somehow the idea of prosperity prayer seems at odds with “Living for God” or “Suffering for Being a Christian.” But good solid, serious prayer that flows from a heart that is controlled by the Spirit of God, watchful prayer that sees the dangers and traps around us – that kind of prayer is essential.

Holy Spirit, help us to have a serious prayer life, one that is dependent upon You and recognizes that “the end of all things is near.” Amen.

When we enter a covenant relationship with the LORD Jesus through our salvation, we also enter a covenant of forgiveness.  Jesus told us when we pray, we are to say … “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive the debts of others.”  [Luke 11:4]

The Apostle Paul reiterated the covenant in both his letters to the Ephesians and Colossians: “forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you,” and “forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” [Eph 4:32, Col 3:13-14].

A covenant is an agreement between two parties. There are numerous examples of covenants in the OT. Most have similar attributes. Both parties are responsible for keeping the covenant, they were often sealed by blood sacrifice, and there were consequences for not keeping them as they were a sacred commitment.

The covenant of forgiveness is simple. God forgave us; we forgive others. Simple. But certainly not easy.

It is a lot easier to forgive someone who hurts us and then repents asking forgiveness than it is when people don’t know or care that they hurt us. The thing about the covenant of forgiveness, our part isn’t founded on what’s in the heart of the offender – only what is in the heart of the one granting forgiveness.

It doesn’t matter if the offender repents or not. It doesn’t flow from our feelings. It is an act of the will. We choose to forgive others because we remember (and are eternally grateful for) the magnitude of forgiveness we received in Christ Jesus. 

I was reading Psalm 27 this morning. It begins with a very familiar verse – “The LORD is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?”  Whom, indeed.

One of my translations describes this song as “An Exuberant Declaration of Faith.” David expresses his confident faith in the LORD God Almighty even in the face of being surrounded by evil men. He trusts the LORD to rescue Him. Then David says, “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD….”  [vs 4]

One thing. David wanted to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of his life for one purpose, simply to behold, to gaze upon his beautiful Savior. As I meditated on that verse this morning, I realized that David sought that one thing – to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD – because he knew that is the only way his faith would remain strong “when evil men advance[d] against [him] to devour [his] flesh.”  [vs 2]

David knew that he would be safe in the day of trouble if he remained in the presence of the LORD, if he kept his gaze on God and not on the evil, the danger around him.  The writer of Hebrews tells us the same thing when he urges us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”  [Heb 12:2]

The world is a dangerous place; it always has been and will continue to be so for those who profess faith in Christ Jesus as LORD. Persecution and martyrdom have always accompanied faith. The only safe place is in the presence of the LORD, fixing our eyes upon Him, gazing upon His beauty.

One Thing ….

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD Almighty!” [Revelation 4:8]

In my heart, it seems fitting to close this week of learning what it means to say, “In God We Trust,” with God’s Holy, Holy, Holy Nature.

John MacArthur writes about God’s holiness: “Of all the attributes of God, holiness is the one that most uniquely describes Him and in reality is a summation of all His other attributes. The word holiness refers to His separateness, His otherness, the fact that He is unlike any other being. It indicates His complete and infinite perfection. Holiness is the attribute of God that binds all the others together.”

God’s Holiness is the foundation of His trustworthiness. It is also the attribute that makes us fall to our knees as Isaiah did in recognition of our own unworthiness. We cry out as he did, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” [Isaiah 6:7]

As He sent the angel with the coal to cleanse Isaiah’s “unclean lips,” He sent Jesus, His Precious Son, to cleanse our souls with His Precious Blood.

God is perfect. We are imperfect. God is holy. We are not. Yet He loves us. He sent His Son to die on our cross in our place. He invites us to call Him Father, to come boldly to His throne. He has given us an inheritance in His presence, reserved in the heavenlies for us. How could we not love Him and serve Him.

Thank you LORD. Amen & Amen!

“The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell; It goes beyond the highest star And reaches to the lowest hell …. Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure—The saints’ and angels’ song.” [The Love of God, Frederick M Lehman, 1917]

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” [1John 4:7-8]

The love of God is eternal, sovereign, unchanging, and infinite. God’s love is active. He draws us to Himself. It is personal – He doesn’t just love all of mankind in some generic sense – He loves you and He loves me. Nothing in us – nothing we do – can change God’s love for us.

While we can please or displease God, we cannot by our meager actions change God’s love for us. His love is as His nature – it knows no beginning and no end.

To learn to abide in that love should be the goal of every human heart. “Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure—The saints’ and angels’ song.”

Thank you LORD. Amen & Amen

“The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.” [Psalm 145:8]

Oh, the grace of God – the Amazing, Wondrous Grace of God. The grace that seeks out human misery and guilt and provides merit where none is due. That grace that provides the way to the very Presence of God. That grace that flows from the cross – from the life, death, resurrection and ascension of our Savior and LORD, Christ Jesus, God’s Precious Son.

That common grace that “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” [Matthew 5:45]

That saving grace that flows in abundance to those who put their faith in Christ Jesus. That grace that provides all we need so that we can live for Him here and enjoy Him for all eternity.

Oh, the grace of God – the Amazing, Wondrous Grace of God.

Thank you LORD. Amen & Amen

Yesterday I wrote about God being All-Powerful. And how that power is governed by His goodness. I grew up in a denomination that gave me the impression that Our Father God was always looking for ways to keep us out of heaven. One misstep and our name disappeared from the Book of Life.

Then someone told me about the love and the goodness of God. Psalm 34:8 invites us to “Taste and see that the LORD is good.”

It is easy to affirm the goodness of God when things are going well. But when life becomes difficult, we can question God’s goodness. The thing we must remember is that God’s goodness is not controlled by our circumstances. His goodness is birthed in His unchanging (immutable) nature.

It is interesting that just a little further in Psalm 34, David declares “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.” [vs 19]

God’s goodness does not eliminate “the afflictions of the righteous.” Good people still suffer. But it does carry us through them and promises deliverance out of them. Whatever difficulty we face in this life stays in the grave. It cannot follow us into our eternal inheritance. God is good.

Thank you LORD. Amen & Amen

As we begin this Thanksgiving Season, I am thinking about this God we trust. Trust, even trust in God, does not come easily. To trust our God, we need to know exactly Who He is. We need to understand His character revealed in the Scriptures. We must see how His character ensures His trustworthiness.

Our God is “All Powerful” (Omnipotent). Psalm 33:6: “By the Word of the LORD, the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth.” (Just try answering the questions in Job 38 to see the power of our God!)

Scripture is clear that God is strong and mighty, and nothing is too hard for Him to accomplish. He has all the power to fulfill every promise made in the Scriptures.

Power in the hands of men and women can be frightful. It can be corrupt. (That old saying: Power corrupts; Absolute power corrupts absolutely). And corrupted power is often cruel and deadly.

God’s power, however, is governed by His Goodness (another characteristic of God). John MacArthur wrote: “Although such power might seem frightful, remember that God is good. He can do anything according to His infinite ability, but will do only those things that are consistent with Himself. That’s why He can’t lie, tolerate sin, or save impenitent sinners.”

Thank you Lord! Amen & Amen

As I was reminded recently, trust, even trust in God, does not come easily. If we are going to trust anyone, even God, we must know that they are trustworthy. God’s attributes and characteristics speak to God’s trustworthiness.

One of God’s attributes is that He is Self-Sufficient. That means He Has No Needs. John 5:26: “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in Himself.”

I don’t know about you, but I have incredible needs. I need goodness, peace, mercy and grace. I need strength, direction, discernment, and wisdom. The list is endless and changes from day to day. God, however, possess everything in perfection. I know I can go to Him and trust that He has exactly what I need when I need it.

But this attribute tells me something else. God doesn’t need me. He can accomplish all He wants to do without my help … YET … it is the most amazing thing that God WANTS me! He willingly and lovingly uses me (and you) with all our limitations and failings to accomplish His purposes.

God WANTS me! God LOVES me! God WANTS you! God LOVES you! So much so that He made the way for us to be His Children. Thank you LORD! Amen.

“In God we trust,” is the official motto of the United States, adopted in 1956, and placed on all U.S. currency beginning in 1957. The phrase replaced “E pluribus unum” (Latin: “Out of many, one”), which had been the country’s unofficial motto since the 1780s.

I am not sure if, as a country, we place much trust in “God.” We seem to be more interested in what our politicians are doing than what “God” is doing.

As I was reminded recently, trust, even trust in God, does not come easily. I think that is because to trust someone, we must know that person is trustworthy. If we say we trust in God, then we must know the God in whom we trust.

For me, one of the most wonderful attributes or characteristics of our God is that He is immutable.  Malachi 3:6 proclaims, “I the LORD do not change,” and Hebrews 13:8 promises, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

The God Who Saved US and Whom we worship and serve never changes. He never gets better or worse. He is absolutely dependable. And because His promises to us are based on His character, they will never change.

That can be difficult for us to understand – because we change all the time. Sometimes we get better and sometimes we get worse. The promises we make are based on our character, which is always subject to our changing nature. BUT OUR GOD and HIS PROMISES remain ROCK SOLID, STEADFAST, IMMUTABLE – just like His character! Thank you LORD! Amen and AMEN!