Hey Gang: If there is
anything I have learned in my 84 years on this earth is that life is not just a
series of random freak accidents. Paul
wrote: “For what I am doing, I do not
understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the
very thing I hate” (Rom. 7:15). But
in the very next chapter he writes, “And
we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who are
called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
I was going through my archives the other day and came
across an article that had no title and no author, but it rang my bell and
screamed “Blog”. In this day when everything that can be
shaken is being shaken makes one wonder, “Is there any sanity left on earth?” The
answer? Probably “yes”, if you have Biblical understanding of what Jesus meant
when He said, “When all of these things begin
to happen, look up for your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).
Now, here is a thought for you to chew on this morning, our
lives are not totally unplanned, nor without meaning. God knows precisely your every move. If He knows every hair on your head, He
surely knows about the things that move and shake us. He
began weaving the tapestry that would become your life even before you
arrived. Think for a moment about the bad
and happy times that you have been blessed to experience that has brought color
into your existence. Do you have the truth fixed firmly in your heart and
mind- that nothing can come into the life of a child who is walking with God
without God’s permission? In essence,
everything is “Father-filtered”.
Now wait a minute, Hainley.
Are you saying God allows bad things to happen to us? “Yes!”
These, the very things that you wish were mere mist and removed from
your life, are often the very things that God is using to shape you and make
you into the bond servant He wants you to be.”
Does that mean that everything that happens to me in life is
God’s will? No, I do not believe
that! When God created man, He put a
thing into our very souls called self-will
and gave us the power to go our own way, do our own thing and totally reject
His open arms policy. The Suffering
Servant Scripture makes this point abundantly clear: “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each to his own way”
(Isaiah 53:6).
Paul said, “Be
imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (I Cor. 11:1). But he also said, “I do the very things I hate” (Rom. 7:14). Note, he did not leave it lay there but went
on to give us the antidote to being an overcomer: “Wretched man that I am! Who
will set me free from the body of this death, thanks be to God through Jesus
Christ our Lord! (Rom. 24-25a).
The point: the world is filled with bangles and beads,
frills and fads, and Satan is forever bringing new ways for us to disobey, as
Eve did in the garden, and for us to choose to follow the evil one’s path away
from Christ as Savior and Lord. That my friends, is certainly not God’s will!!
Year’s ago, when I was on the cold roast beef, mashed
potatoes and peas circuit, I always made it a point to pray that God would give
me something fresh to share with the group.
On one such trip I stopped at a Burger King to grab a snack. I noticed a
Star Wars advertisement in very bold print: “YOUR CHOICES DETERMINE YOUR
DESTINATION”. That rang my bell but,
when I was back on the road again a thought entered my mind that the saying was
incomplete; it should have read “YOUR VALUES DETERMINE YOUR CHOICES WHICH
DETERMINE YOUR DESTINATION!” I wonder where that thought came from? A saying I have used many times.
Blessings,
Gramps
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