Tag Archives: Son of God

“Suitable” for Who?

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The Garden of Earthly Delights [detail]. Neder...

The Garden of Earthly Delights [detail]. Nederlands: De Tuin der Lusten [detail]. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I had thought for many years that the creation of Eve was only that God had compassion on Adam.  I thought God considered loneliness in His man.  And that Eve was simply created to fill that void.  But after reading it again (with the new eyes the Lord Jesus has given me to see with), I see something new; something true and continuous from the truth I have come to realize over the years.

The word “suitable” is what turned my understanding.  I had thought that loneliness and companionship were the target of that creation.  Now I see that the word “suitable” stands out as the key to understanding the meaning of Eve’s creation from Adam.

Suitable for who?  Is the proper question to ask.  Suitable for Adam?  From Adam’s perspective?  Absolutely not.  Wasn’t God with him?  Wasn’t it Jesus who walked in the garden to fellowship with Adam?  How much more peace can a man get than to know the Lord of creation in person?  I have never seen Him.  Yet, by the faith He has given me, I see enough of Him to enter even into death with an enormous peace and contentment.  No.  It was not for Adam’s lack that Eve was created.  Suitable has to do with what is purposed by God Himself.

What was suitable for God was to create a place of testing for a people He would later gather into an eternal kingdom.  This was His purpose all along.  And we know that Jesus was crucified from the foundation of the world.

I have often told people who asked, that the two trees were placed in the Garden to create a people to redeem.  The trees were the engine which would Glorify the Son of God.  And then, at the first bite we can hear the engine start up.  Did Adam know this?  How could he?  All Adam knew was that his kind creator had made someone just like him; someone who he would be so attracted to that he would obey any desire she had.

She was weaker, for she was not built from the ground up.  She was built from a small piece of the man.  She was not first.  She was last.  She was the one who was tempted.  And she succumbed because God had planned, all along, that She would bring Adam into sin.

I read that Adam was told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  And I perceive that obedience was primary within the man.  Where obedience is full, there is no temptation.  So God created a creature which would reach deep inside the man’s heart and pluck out his obedience to the Lord.

All the Glory goes to Jesus.  And that, for the Glory of the Father in heaven.  For He has created this place to produce a crop of holy people who have passed the same test His Son underwent.  Don’t we read that those who overcome will be given the same glory as that of Jesus, short of ownership of all power, authority, strength, and such.  We are designed by God to endure by the power of the Lord Jesus so that God will gather for Himself a people who will never fail to obey Him, regardless the temptation.

All the more then, we struggle to reach out to the God who made us.  The God who tests our hearts, rebukes us as we wander, softens that hardness of heart which the serpent has, and leads us in His eternal ways.  The proving of the man of God is NOW.  Please don’t believe those who say that we can do as we please now.   They say that God will transform us when we see Him face to face.  Please don’t believe that lie.  Submit now and you will enter into the very place God has in mind for you.

By His Grace.

The Conspiracy of God.

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English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ

Image via Wikipedia

Men who do not know or love God will think that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in a conspiracy to destroy them.  They perceive that there is a war between God and man.  This perception comes from observing the wickedness in the world and the corrupt nature of death and decay.

They are wrong.  Indeed, there is a conspiracy from the Holy Trinity.  But it is not against man.  It is against sin.  The beautiful thing is, man is invited to join God in this war.  You can make your mark on the book of life by accepting the leadership of Jesus, the Son of God.  He will count you as one of His own.  He will dress you in fine clothes fit for battle.  And He will endow you with the weapon of The Holy Spirit.

Again I say, this battle is not a conspiracy against man.  It is a battle against sin.  If you want to die, just keep what you already have.  If you want to live, approach the Lord of Life in the name of Jesus.

By His Grace.

Proof.

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c. 1632

Image via Wikipedia

What shall be said?  The proof of the Lord is within me.  And there are thousands who demand that I provide this proof for them to examine.  I will say this:

I have not received the raising of the dead from the Lord.  I have not touched a man and made his injury healed.  I have not raised an iron axe head from the bottom of a river.  I have not built an altar and watched the fire of God consume the offering and the water.  I have not walked on water.  I have not walked through the sea on dry land.  My clothes have not been turned whiter than any laundry can cause them to be.  I have not been in prison for the name of the Lord.  And what I have not done is far greater a list than what I have accomplished in His name.

Does that mean I do not have His blessing?  Look at the words of this blog and make up your own mind.  I am not a smart man.   But my God is all wisdom.  He has done all the things I have not, in the way of righteousness.  And He is quite able to do far more than I can ever think to ask of Him. 

One thing I have done that gives me pause to gasp.  I have believed on the One and Only Son of God, Jesus!  And this is all I need.  Let them ask for proof from me.  I will render the answer by saying that the Lord is Good, His promises are true, there is no shadow of turning in Him, and that He has prepared the Way for anyone who will risk all to follow Him.  There is your proof.  Give all you have to Jesus, venture to believe with all you are.  Submit to the Lord of Life, and remain under His Lordship.  Then, after 30 years, come back and tell me I have no proof at all.  And if you do not do this, then you have no right to challenge my proof.  The evidence is time, humility, and service to the Lord God.  If you want it, there it is.  Prove me wrong!  The burden of proof rests on the head of the accuser.

By His Grace.

Here Comes the Next Second in Your Life. Are You Ready?

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The Passage of Time

Image by ToniVC via Flickr

The seconds of a day tick by and we all do as we can, each according to our ability.  Some seconds tick by without fanfare or notice.  Some record a giggle, a tear, a foolish moment, surprise, worry, anxiety, fear, and memories.  Some seconds announce a memorable moment.  These last according to their severity or impact.  Regardless how each second presents itself, time has passed.  And with each passing second we are hurled toward singular moments of enormous importance. 

When someone is shot, there were moments before that led them to that place.  When a car wreck happens, there were moments before.  When we do something really stupid, there were moments before that didn’t announce it was going to happen.  And isn’t that a shame.

And so it goes.  controversy is like that.  We pound our hearts and brains with all we can muster to enter into a contract with each second of our lives.  Struggling to maintain sanity, we live our lives.  Yet time has a way of providing proof that we are not perfect. 

I present this post as a simple notice of something true.  To me it speaks of both my failings and my successes.  But most of all, it speaks of something profound:  The only man to enter life innocent and leave this life the same way was Jesus, the Son of God.  With the Lord Jesus, there is no regret or stumbling.  His performance before His Father was flawless. 

And, by the way, I’m likely about to regret a couple seconds in this very day. 

By His Grace.

The Deal of Eternity.

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White Flower

Image by doug88888 via Flickr

The Lord.  The Lord Most High is calling.  “Make your paths straight before My sight.  I have offered you My Son, that you might clothe yourselves in His Righteousness.”

“He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.” (Rev. 3:5)

We walk according to the ways of man.  But God offers us His way.  Seek His offer and submit to His leading.  There is no other way to Life.  All who ignore His offer will not see Life.  But to the extent you receive His offer, you will not be put to shame. 

By His Grace.

Practise

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You have heard that nothing corrupt will ever enter eternity with the Lord.  I know I’ve mentioned it a time or two.  And you’ve noticed how corrupt you are, I hope.  Now there’s a problem here, ya think?  It’s a problem we all struggle with.  You’ll be cruising along just fine one day and, all of a sudden, you realize you’re pondering or doing something you KNOW the Lord will not allow entrance into Heaven.  It’s one thing to ask for forgiveness from the Lord and believe you have received it.  But what will you do next time?  Is there a place a man can live where he commits these wicked things less and less?  I can testify that there is such a place.  And though I don’t know how Jesus will deal with you personally over these issues, I know of a clue to learning how to obey Him more often.

When you were a child you learned how to do many wicked things.  You learned early how to lie.  It was, at first, a way of keeping out of trouble.  But remember, there was also a time when you had no clue how to lie.  So you learned how to be wicked so you could do what you wanted and get away with it.  From that moment on lies became a tool in your tool box.  And you’ll notice that through out every day lies still come to mind.  You might not play them out.  But they’re still hangin around. 

The key to transforming your mind from wickedness to purity is called learning.  Think of the things you used to do as a child.  How many things have you forgotten how to do?  Like crawling through the grass.  Adults don’t do that much.  But children love it.  How did you come to forget how to enjoy that?  The answer is, you stopped doing it.  You learned to lie the same way.  You stopped living in innocence.  It’s our practise that leads to who we become.  If I practise playing guitar, I get better at it.  If I stop playing guitar for a year or two I hardly even think of it anymore.  It’s not that I can’t remember if I pick it up again.  But I will have to learn all over again how to get pretty good at it.  Practise.

Be innocent of what is evil and wise about what is good.  But how do we become innocent of what is evil if we have lived evil lives?  How do you forget what is evil if that is all you’ve been all your life?  The Lord’s reply is amazingly simple.  “Practise doing what is good and you will forget what is evil.  Just as when you begin to practice what is evil you forget what is good.” (As I heard Him whisper to me one day)

Peter put it this way:  As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy because I am Holy.’” (1 Peter 1: 14)

But the Apostle Paul pens the words like this:  “. . . but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.”  (Romans 16:19)

Learn from the Lord by listening to the Word of God in the Bible.  Learn from the Lord by listening to His leading in your conscience.   Learn to listen to His voice of guidance from the Holy Spirit within you (if, indeed, you are a Christian).  For if you are not a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, it will do you no good to practice what is good; for you are still bound by the father of lies.  Only in Jesus can we hope to find help in our attempts to become holy and practice what is good.  Before Jesus within us, we can only play like children at accomplishing the holiness God the Father demands.  The power to please God comes from an intimate relationship with Jesus.  And we have heard that those who practise evil will never enter God’s peace.  Practise!

By His Grace.