Can mortal man be more righteous than God? The short answer is, “No!” But we still try to overlay our opinions, feelings, and sentiments onto God’s divine judgment. And when that gets us nowhere, we get angry…or as Job 15:25 says, “He shakes his fist at God and vaunts (boasts) himself against the Almighty.” No man has any power or authority to judge God, that’s because justice is one of His attributes and rooted in His character. (Isaiah 30:18) And when we dishonor Him in order to rationalize our way of thinking…we’re headed for trouble.
Author: kezha1
A Christian mother, grandmother, and retired nurse living in Illinois. Called into a ministry of encouraging others to find their ultimate plan and purpose in life through Christ.
II Timothy 4:16-17 ” At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all Gentiles might hear it.”
Paul wasn’t looking for sympathy or pity when he wrote this to Timothy. He was just being very honest. People will forsake us, and leave when the going gets tough. But God will never leave, and His presence will give us strength when we have none left. (Philippians 4:13) Paul was God’s chosen instrument to carry His Name to the Gentiles. (Acts 9:15) He had been called and set apart for a specific work…equipped and enabled by the Holy Spirit…and fully assured that the Lord was by his side every step of the way. Paul had learned early on that people will abandon you, but God won’t.
James 4:1 ” What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? “
Every minute of every waking hour we have an internal battle raging within. It’s the real struggle between sinfulness and righteousness. And many times sin wins out because we simply want our own way. Paul addressed the issue to Titus when he wrote not to get involved in foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels over the corrupted message that was being preached by some in Crete. (Titus 3:9) Verbal disputes seldom win hearts for the Lord, and hitting people over the top of the head with your Bible will never get them to see your way of thinking. We are to rather submit ourselves to the Lord and watch Him contend for us.
II Chronicles 20:21 ” After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army…”
The enemy army was converging upon them…but what would they do? The Lord had spoken earlier in this Chapter, telling them that the battle was His not theirs, They were to take up position, stand firm, and watch as He fought for them. But would they put all their trust in Him alone? I can imagine as the people gathered together there were those who doubted and those who believed that God would deliver them from the hands of the enemy. I can also imagine that this particular Scripture was recited out loud by many, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the Name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7) And with that, King Jehoshaphat made the final decision to place unarmed singers in front of the troops…making it absolutely clear who their trust was in.
II Corinthians 1:20 ” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through Him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.”
They say there are over 7,000 promises of God for us in the Bible. Just think of it! And Psalm 145:13 assures us that the Lord is faithful to each and every one of them. So what’s our part in this? We are to simply say “Amen!”, for He is the God of Truth and what He says is sure and true…and not one of His good promises has failed. (Joshua 23:14)
Exodus 32:1 ” When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, ‘Come, make us gods who will go before us, as for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ “
It wasn’t like Moses was up on Mount Sinai for 40 years…he was up there for 40 days. But still the Israelites became impatient and turned away from God. Waiting on the Lord is not for the faint of heart. It takes a firm commitment, steadfast faith, and perseverance to look beyond the passing days, months, and sometimes years to that final promised prize. But it can also be a time of real personal growth. That’s because God’s plan and purpose has always been about the process and not about the end goal in your life.
I Chronicles 17:16 ” Then King David went in and sat before the Lord…”
Just before this verse, the prophet Nathan had given David the Lord’s message that it wouldn’t be him but one of his sons that would build the Temple. This all started earlier in the Chapter when King David had said to Nathan, “Here I am in a palace made of cedar, while the Ark of the Covenant is still under a tent.” So here sat David before the Lord…all his wonderful plans for a magnificent Temple dedicated to his Lord dashed. Have you ever been there? You think you know the direction God is sending you only to have Him change things completely? How did you react? But if you continue to read David’s prayer you’ll see that he wasn’t hurt but honoring God’s ultimate authority…he wasn’t resentful but resting in God’s Will for his life…he wasn’t discouraged but still very much dedicated…he wasn’t offended but instead offering up praise to his Heavenly Father…and finally, he wasn’t bitter but confident that something much better would come from it.
I Timothy 1:15-16 ” Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life.”
Paul’s message here was simple and sincere…I am a sinner saved by God’s grace and nothing else…and I readily accept the fact that without it I would be spiritually dead and separated from Him forever. It is through God’s kindness, tolerance, and patience that we are led towards repentance. (Romans 2:4) And because His mercy is showered on us, we are to show mercy to this present unredeemed world… that we may receive mercy in the life to come. (Matthew 5:7)
Jeremiah 7:9-10 ” Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are safe – safe to do all these detestable things?’ “
These verses are the true meaning of a “Sunday” Christian. They’re all pious and righteous sounding on Sunday, but live like the devil the rest of the week. They live a life completely contrary to God’s Laws, but think just because they darken the doors of a Church somehow all is forgiven. And like these verses, even go so far as to rationalize God’s got to be OK with it all. That wasn’t the truth back then, and it’s not the truth today. For anytime we do things that are considered destructive to family and society we can’t think God will somehow gloss over them.
Luke 10:2 ” He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field.’ “
When you look at the people that you come in contact with everyday, do you only see family, friends, co-workers, or acquaintances…or do you see them as a field of lost souls? Here Jesus is telling His disciples to pray for themselves and others to catch the vision of the harvest field before them. In John 4:35, He goes farther when He tells them, “Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” It’s kind of like not being able to see the forest for the trees…the lost are all around, but we choose to indifferently turn a blind eye. But Jesus says, “Open your eyes and look!” In other words, soberly contemplate the eternal destiny of the lost souls around you…recognize you may be the only person willing to speak to them about Jesus…and finally, pray for a heart for the lost.
