Faith That Saves

Genesis 15: 6

Then he believed in the Lord, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Abram (Abraham) believed in the Lord when He showed him all the stars in the sky, and there was no "light pollution" to to mask any of them; Abram must have seen thousands, even millions of stars, and God had told him that's how many descendants he would have, even before he had any children yet of his own. Even before God made the blood covenant with him with the divided animals (15:9-17) to "sign" the covenant, the contract He made with him to give his family the land (15:18-21). 

Abraham believed, even before Isaac was born (21:1-7). Abraham demonstrated and proved his faith when God tested him (Chapter 22:1-18). And God said, "by Myself I have sworn," declares the Lord, "that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants shall take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your Offspring all Nations on Earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me." (22:16-18).

So Abraham believed in God, and his faith was counted as righteousness in God's eyes. Then years later, God tested his faith, and because he trusted God enough to go ahead with the sacrifice of his son, he proved that his trust in the Lord was strong enough to overcome even the most challenging circumstance. 

So our faith alone is enough to save us, but if it is genuine, saving faith, it will express itself in what we do. Our obedience proves that our faith is genuine; and the trials we face will grow our trust in God, Who always provides a way to escape the temptation, and do what is right (I Corinthians 10:13), just as He provided the ram caught by its horns in a thicket (22:13) to take Isaac's place in death. 

O my Father, I look back and see how much You showed me, before I believed. I was taught Your Truth about Who Jesus is, but You showed me that He took my place on that Cross. How much more have You shown me through the years since that day You saved me. Thank You so much for Your grace-gift of the faith to trust You with all I am. Thank You that you are worthy of all my trust, that You are Almighty God Who can do all things. And thank You for designing this World to run on Love. Continue to teach me more of Who You are, how You designed things to operate, and how I can cooperate with You in my thoughts, my words and my works.

Keep me on that path You have set my feet upon, that I may confidently step each step with my hand in Yours, not turning to the right or to the left, with Your Light illuminating all the pitfalls and stumbling stones in the way. Cause what I do to be a benefit to all You bring across my path, and bless them also with Your good gifts. 

And Father, draw them to Yourself, hiding my flesh in that "cleft of the rock" as You cover me with Your hand, and shine Your light that You have placed in me upon them.

And may You receive all the credit, all the honor and glory, for all that You are doing in my life and in this World.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Nothing Will Be Impossible

Genesis 11:6

...And now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.

I think this is one of the most astounding pronouncements in the whole Bible!

God says here, that, with the new technology of baked bricks and mortar instead of stones, to be able to build this tower; now that they see that they can do this, then nothing they imagine will be impossible for them to accomplish!

So we find today that Science Fiction in time becomes Science Fact. Throughout all of human history, everything that has entered into the imagination of Man, with cooperation, financing, and hard work, we now have technologies today that were only dreamed about just a few years ago. 

And Satan has even convinced some people today that we are the kind of gods who created the Universe! 

We are God's imagination, and He also gave us imagination, being made in His image and likeness. But we need to acknowledge Him in everything we do, not take the credit for ourselves. I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).

O my Father, thank You for making me according to Your design, and for giving us, as a human race, to be able to imagine You, and to figure out how to do and make so many things. Help us, O Lord, to recognize You as the Source and Provider of our intelligence, our imagination, and our ability to earn a living in this World. 

Keep us in Your hand, Jesus, with Your Father's hand over us, securely in Your care. Lead and direct us, each of us, in the path You have set our feet upon, step by step travelling closer to that final Day when our Lord and King returns to claim His Kingdom.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Do I Run My Mouth?

Job 40-42

God confronts Job with Behemoth (sounds like the Brontosaurus, now called the Bracchiosaurus) and Leviathan (sounds like a fire-breathing water dragon, no wings). And Job says, I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know....Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes (Job 40:4).

Job says that he didn't know what he was talking about, and ran his mouth about things too high and deep for him to grasp. So he took it all back, and "repented in dust and ashes."

How often do I run my mouth, or my fingers, with texting and/or emails or postings of matters I don't fully grasp? Of situations I don't understand?

How can I take it back? Words are "out there," lie feathers on the wind.

Because Job humbled himself before God and prayed for his friends, God replaced everything he had lost with twice as much! (Job 42:12-15.)

I don't expect that in this life.

But I do trust His promise to accept me "in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:6) and to live forever in that New Jerusalem that will come down to the New Earth (21:1, 7) after this Earth explodes in fire and this Universe implodes on itself (II Peter 3:7, 10-12).

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Faith To Seek Him

Hebrews 11: 6

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Some call themselves atheists or agnostics, claiming that there is no way to know for sure there is a God at all. And they are correct to a point. 

There is no way for us to know God if He had not chosen to reveal Himself to us. But He has. When we choose to believe what He has told us, then we can learn to trust what He says. Our choice. 

Believing that God exists is a good start, but only the first step. The demons also believe that God exists, because they've seen Him. But they don't trust Him.

God made Man with both, the ability to die and also to live forever, our choice. So when Adam willfully sinned, his DNA was changed to allow him to die. Had he ate instead of the Tree of Life, it would have changed his DNA to never die at all; that's why he was driven away from that Tree before he had a chance to sample it after first eating from the Tree of Knowledge.

Now, being subject to death, he can have a substitute to die in his place. The animals needed to die to provide clothing for Adam and Eve, showing that their sin would be covered by the blood of the animal.

Then He gave the sacrifical system to cover their sins until the Messiah (Savior) would come, and to show what He would accomplish for us as the Lamb of God, in not just covering, but actually washing away our sins without a stain or wrinkle by shedding God's own Blood on our behalf individually.

So, if you're searching for the Truth, His Name is Jesus, the Christ of God. He has promised that, if you seek the Lord your God you will find Him, if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul (Deuteronomy 4:29).

When I was seeking for the Truth, it didn't matter to me what that Truth would be, just that I could find it so I could believe it, and not be deceived. That's when God found me (I'm the one who was lost!) and I realized that Jesus is the Truth I'd been looking for.

And He will also be found by you. And reward you with His precious salvation and redemption He so graciously and freely gifts to us. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Bold Humility

Job 38: 1

Then the Lord answered Job . . .

(Read Job 38 and 39)

God personally answered Job and talked to him out of the whirlwind. God is a Person, and a personal God to each of us, to me. He knew Job, and He knows me.

God confronts Job, asking him to describe all the parts we know of His Creation--the geological Earth, weather, the wild animal kingdom, the movement of the constellations--as though Job was present at Creation. 

He wanted to show Job that, although he knew what he knew, he should not take pride in what he knew, because there was so much more he did not know. 

I need to take care to not present myself as all-knowing. The more I learn of God's ways, according to His Word, I hope that I would realize how much more I don't know, and even what I will never know until He returns and glorifies me.

My I have my boldness in humility as I share with others.

Bold humility!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Do Not Add Or Subtract

Deuteronomy 12: 32

So be careful to obey all the commands I give you. You must not add anything to them or subtract anything from them.

This is not the only place God has told us not to add or subtract anything from either the Law or the Word of Scripture. God has given us everything we need to know to live our lives in this World pleasing to Him and in accord with how He designed and made this Earth to operate. The better we know God and His ways, and follow them, then the more He can bless us with both this World's goods and eternal wonderments.

O my Lord God Almighty, I praise You for Your greatness, and Your mighty power and wisdom. Thank You for revealing to us Yourself and Your ways through Your Word. 

Help me, my Father, teach me to follow all Your commands in the pure simplicity in which You gave them. Teach me Your ways, because they are not my ways. Lead and guide me today in Your path for me, not adding anything to Your requirements or leaving any out, and to know You a little better and love You a little more each day.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Our Mighty And Awesome God

Deuteronomy 10: 16-17

Circumcise the foreskin of your hearts and stop being stubborn. For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords. He is the Great God, the Mighty and Awesome God, Who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.

Deuteronomy 10: 13

You must always obey the Lord's commands and decrees ... for your own good.

We are to excise from our attitudes and thinking processes all our own ego. All our own selfishness and self-centeredness. God is God, we are not. We don't know better than God what is good, or good for us. 

I don't have to understand all the theological ins and outs, all the deep mysteries of Who He really is. He is God. Period.

He is good: so whatever He says for me to do is good for me. All His Law, all His ways, are based on His Love for all He has made, including me.  I am not to judge whether I think He means this or that when He says what He says. All I need to do is to decide to trust Him at His Word. That's my choice, to trust that He knows what He's talking about, and has the power and authority to keep mere men from changing or altering what He has had written. Even through the translation from the Hebrew or Greek into my native tongue. 

I know He is Good, because He is Love. His Love put the Order into the chaos that was our Universe (Genesis 1:2), and true Science is the quest to understand that Order. The First Law of Thermodynamics, Conservation of Matter, is the Creation. The Second Law of Thermodynamics, Entropy, is the curse of death God placed on all Creation because of Man's sin.

O my Father, I know I do not understand fully Your ways, for Your ways are so far above my ways. But I also know that everything You do is right and righteous, and brings glory to Your Name. And everything that glorifies You is also the best for us.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!