Scripture
“If you trust Me, you are trusting not only Me, but also God who sent Me.”
~John 12:44, NLT
Quote
Fear arises when we imagine that everything depends on us.
~Elisebeth Elliott
The Christian faith is filled with mystery and paradox. We say that God is love and then we say that He is a God of wrath: which is He? He is both. He is a God of love and hate: He hates sin and He loves sinners. If God did not hate sin, we would all be in deep trouble. No one can love the good without hating the evil. Paul spoke about these wonderful paradoxes of the faith in 2 Corinthians 6 when he said, “I am dead, yet alive; poor, yet rich; sorrowful, yet rejoicing; having nothing, yet having all things.” How in the world can a man be both dead and alive? By living dead to self and alive to Christ. How can a man be both poor and rich? Paul didn’t have any money but he had something better, something that would last much longer than money and something more satisfying. Paul had Jesus and in Christ he was an heir to all things. Vance Havner said the devil couldn’t do business with Paul. If the devil threatened to take something away from Paul, he would say, “I don’t have anything.” If the devil promised to give Paul something, Paul would say, “I don’t need anything, I already have all things.” In the Beatitudes, Jesus uses one paradox after the other beginning with “Blessed or happy are the poor.” What about “Happy are the sorrowful {those that mourn}.” What about the last one, “Happy are those who are persecuted and slandered.” All these are antimonies, paradoxes, oxymorons, they do not make sense. Not at first, but if you study them, the Holy Spirit will help you understand the wonderful truths that are hidden to the world in these paradoxical statements.
If we are honest, we will admit that much, maybe even the greater part of the Christian Faith is a mystery. Can you explain the Holy Trinity? Can you explain the virgin birth? What about the resurrection? What about free will and election? Trust me, these are just a few, there are many, many more questions that no one can answer. So what does it boil down to? TRUST in Jesus. Do you really trust Him? Have you trusted Him with your sins? Have you trusted Him with your finances and your everyday life? Some Baptist have two gods: they trust Jesus with their sins but trust themselves when it comes to their possessions. Why does God allow us to suffer? Why did God lead the Israelites into a wilderness where rattle snakes struggle to survive? He wanted to teach them something. What did He want to teach them? To TRUST HIM! A wife was looking over her husbands shoulder while he was making a piece of furniture in his wood working shop. She kept asking why he was doing this and why he was doing that until he erupted: “I want you to stop questioning everything I do. I don’t have time to explain and you would not understand if I did; go in the house and when I am done, you will know why I did this and why I did that.” God isn’t done so stop questioning His judgment and trust Him. Easier said than done, right!
Extra
Great weekend and I have nothing but praise the the LORD for last night, around 350 at the STRENGTH TO STAND rally with more than 30 decisions. I am amazed at God providence. We felt like we were in a straight just weeks ago, less than two months. Nothing was working out concerning our Rally then I guess the LORD put East Highland on my mind. It is the perfect location and they have the perfect set up. I think you could easily accommodate twice as many as we had last night. It went great. The Pizza bash was also a hit and they have the perfect place for the party. The good news is their people loved it and have already ask if they could host next year. It was an answer to prayer. We have got to get T-shirts for our Youth at the POINT. I saw a half dozen of our kids but it would be easier to spot them if we had shirts like some of the other groups. If you prayed for this rally I want to thank you.
Have an off day planned, LORD willing. If all goes well, I will be boarding a bus at 11:30 and headed to the BRAVES game in Atlanta. This has been the first year in recent history that I have not watched a single baseball game and it is the middle of August. Baseball is the only sport I had rather see in person. I prefer seeing all the others on the tube. I care nothing about hockey, tennis, or soccer. I had rather watch paint dry.
Have a great day and week.