See, the Invisible God

My Father is not a gentleman when it comes to that which would cause my destruction.

If you are on a trip with your family, enjoying the beauty of a forest, mountain, or other natural wonder, and your young child tries to do something that would lead to his death, you will not think to yourself,

“I know that my child will die if he does that, but he has a will to do it, and I must be a gentleman. I must not overcome his will. I must let him freely choose what he wants to do.”

If your little toddler, preschooler, or elementary aged child tries to dive into a raging river rapids, or run off a cliff, you are going to grab hold of him and not let him go. He may kick and scream and try to get away, but you will not let him go. You are stronger, and you love him, and you will not let him go no matter what. He is secure in your care.

For several years, I have seen eternal security written all over the Bible.

In John 10:28, for example, Jesus says of his children, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

This can be perplexing. Some will say, “That’s right, no one can snatch them out of God’s hand, but they can jump out. He is a gentleman and he won’t force us to stay with him and keep following him.”

Or we might think in terms of our own ability to keep our children. When they are little, we can hold onto our kids so that they don’t run out into the street, or run off a cliff, or jump in the river, but as they get older, they often get stronger than we are. We cannot hold onto them. If they wanted to, they could jump out of our arms, or walk out of our lives.

Yet God is not like us. He is always stronger. He will not let us go, just like we will not let our children go as long as we are able to keep them safe. God is able. He may let us learn some things the hard way. He may allow us to venture into some hard and dangerous places, but he will not let us be eternally lost.

It might seem as if knowing that would make us careless about sin, indulging in all kinds of wrong activity if we feel that God has promised us eternal security. This reminds me of the woman who ended her adulterous relationship when she realized that her eternal security did not give her a license to sin. The same Word that gives us assurance of salvation also shows us the consequences of sin and leads us to repentance.

Hell isn’t my favorite topic to write about, but it came up awhile back in an article and a conversation, so I have been thinking about it.

While it is true that we do not find salvation by turning to Jesus to escape hell, it seems that understanding how bad hell is so that we can understand how bad sin is does seem to play some part in convicting us of our sins.

In Matthew 10:28 Jesus says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Yet in 1 John 4:18, we are told, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

So it seems that believers must have no fear of punishment, but unbelievers and believers alike must realize that unbelief, which expresses itself in sin, leads to destruction; and faith, which expresses itself in obedience, leads to everlasting life.

Albert Mohler recently wrote an article about hell, which you can read at http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/01/26/air-conditioning-hell-how-liberalism-happens/.

This article reminded me of a conversation I had with someone a few months ago. We had been talking about a sermon in which the pastor shared that a woman dealing with adultery broke off the relationship when she became aware of the fact that those who continue in adultery will spend eternity in hell, not heaven. She reconciled with her husband and enjoyed a long and happy marriage after that.

My friend was kind of shocked that a pastor would tell someone that anything they were doing would result in spending eternity in hell. He said that even if the woman did break off the sinful relationship and return to her husband, that she was doing this for the wrong reason: fear.

That made me think about fear and how it influences us.

If a doctor shows a person pictures of human lungs that have been damaged by years of smoking and tells a patient that if he doesn’t quit smoking he is going to die, is it wrong for the person to quit smoking to avoid dying of a terrible disease? Is it wrong because he fears the disease and wants to live?

Of course, salvation is about much more than avoiding hell. Yet hell does give us a vivid picture of how bad sin really is. If sin is so bad that hell is the just punishment for it, we are wise to consider how we are dealing with the Gospel and the ultimate sin: unbelief. (John 16:8-9)

Craft supplies for making Valentines–$4.00.
Cupcakes for fellowship time–$5.00.
Standing next to the baptismal tank talking with a group of nine-year-olds about how baptism gives us a picture of being buried and raised with Christ: PRICELESS!

It is painful to be sculpted by the Lord, but his work changes us beautifully. It is better than remaining a blob…

…one way to avoid post-Christmas let down is to keep doing the things that brought such joy during the holiday season:

1. Think about Jesus a lot.

2. Put lots of things around the house that remind you of the Lord. Listen to and sing music about Him.

3. Plan special things to do for family, friends, neighbors and even people you may not even know…

…like bake them cookies (there are cookie cutter shapes for all seasons and occasions, and even everyday things)…

…visit nursing and retirements homes…play the piano for the residents or just visit with them…take them cards or homemade crafts to decorate their rooms…

…make or buy people little gifts or cards–just because..

…continue to volunteer at a place that ministers to the homeless or those who are sick…

…greet everyone you meet with a blessing…

…invite people over…

…any other ideas?

I can’t believe this song is two years old and I just heard it at a Christmas concert Sunday night. I hope you enjoy this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhYWMcjx8Yk&feature=player_embedded

As our oldest daughter turns 28 today and our youngest looks forward to celebrating her Sweet Sixteen in about two weeks, I am reminded of these devotions on daughters that I have found in God’s Word…

Daughters in the Bible Speak to Us Today

Defend them
Advise and Affirm them
Unconditionally Love them
Guard them and Grieve with them
Honestly deal with them
Trust Jesus as we raise them
Evangelize them
Respect them

Trust—The Syrophonecian woman trusted Jesus to help her daughter, as did the parents of the resurrected girl. Moses’ and Miriam’s parents trusted God, and they trusted Miriam to do a special job to protect her brother.

Respect—Rebekah’s parents respected her opinions and desires. They could have sent her off to marry Isaac because they were in charge, but they consulted her and took her feelings and her best interest into consideration.

Unconditional Love—Rahab and Ruth. Rahab’s mother-in-law seems to have accepted her, even with her difficult history—and more importantly the Lord did.
Naomi, also, showed such wonderful love to Ruth, who was not from a culture that was friendly toward her own. Our girls are so young. There are things that will come up in their lives that will make our unconditional love so important. And our unconditional love will make our homes and our relationship a safe place to help them weather many storms in life.

Advise and Affirm—Mordecai both affirmed and advised Esther wisely.

Guard and Grieve—Lot’s daughters’ lives were turned upside down. They needed a parent to give comfort and protection as they were torn from their home and lost their mom. Unfortunately, Lot was lost in his own sorrows and fears and did not provide that after they fled Sodom. Our girls will face some seemingly minor losses, and some great ones. They need us to recognize those losses and turn to the Lord with them.

Honesty—Rachel and Leah suffered due to their dad’s dishonesty and legalistic adherence to tradition.

Defend—Tamar’s father David did not respond to the situation that hurt her.
Dinah’s family responded with vengeance. Neither of these will help our kids.
We can’t minimize or rationalize about situations, but deal with them in healthy, biblical ways.

Evangelize—Lois did not neglect evangelizing her own daughter. She saw the need not only to reach the world, but her own children and grandchildren!

Lord, please don’t let these lessons remain just a file in my computer or just a post on a blog. Make me remember them and live them!

Favorite Christmas Carol: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Favorite Line from a Christmas Carol: “Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day, to save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray…”

Christmas Carol from your national background: Shepherds Came to Bethlehem (Poland)

Beautiful Christmas Carol you never knew about until recently: Let All Mortal Flesh

Christmas Carol listened to most times in a row in one sitting: Don’t Save It All for Christmas Day (Avalon)
A couple of Christmas seasons ago, this was our favorite song to listen to on our 20 minute trip to and from allergy shots–4-5 times each way, depending on traffic.

Christmas Carol that you most often spontaneously burst into singing: Ding Dong Merrily on High

Christmas Carol that you once sang mindlessly in front of your young children and then thought, “Why did I start that?”: I’m Gettin’ Nuttin’ for Christmas

Favorite Carol Medley: Carol Symphony–a collection of four preludes, written by Victor Hely-Hutchinson (Perhaps I will find this in my stocking this year:)

Hope you will copy and paste yours in the comments…

Have a very musical Christmas!
1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

My next door neighbors happened to be pulling into their driveway at the same time I was arriving home on Tuesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. Since Mr. C had been in the hospital recently and Mrs. C. has been homebound for a few years now, I walked across the yard to see how they were doing.

After we chatted a few moments, I remembered the pies I was working on for the upcoming holiday and asked if they would like one. I had already finished the blueberry and the apple. Next would be a pair of pumpkin. I’d just give them whichever one they liked best. Both of them loved cherry.

Cherry wasn’t on my list since we usually made that for President’s Day (in honor of George Washington—I cannot tell a lie, Father; I did cut down the cherry tree), so I just ran back to the store and picked up some cherry pie filling.

It was an easy request to fill and I didn’t know when I would get another opportunity. Our weeks are so busy with appointments, school activities, work, and other commitments; I hardly ever talk to my neighbors.

So since I had quite a bit to do before the relatives arrived for Thanksgiving, I was thankful that we had run into each other. When I delivered the pie the next day, I found out that Mr. C. was struggling even more than I had realized in his battle with cancer. His wife and I talked about James 5:15 and prayed for healing, deciding to cross the bridge of dealing with losing Mr. C. only if the Lord replaced our hope for healing with the hope of heaven for Earl.

Please pray for us, since we must cross that bridge now. I got the call this afternoon.

The day after Thanksgiving, Mrs. C. walked over to my car as I was heading out, even though it was very painful for her, just to tell me that Earl was able to have a piece of cherry pie. He hadn’t been holding down anything but lemon lime soda for days as he fought off two serious infections in addition to the cancer.

In the last few years, I have found that when the Lord puts someone before me who I don’t regularly see or talk to, that it is best to take the opportunity to bless them. Sometimes it has been the last opportunity I have had to touch their life, just like this.

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4

Somehow I don’t think Jesus was talking about making pies for neighbors, but this has impressed upon me the importance of taking every possible opportunity to do something tangible for those that he puts on my heart or in my life. Whether it is your neighbor or a nation, take the time to reach whoever the Lord has put before you. Don’t put it off. You might not get another chance to do what God has given you to do.