Unbelief is disobedience.....

How is it possible for a man or a woman to obey God?  Have you ever thought about that?  I have, I still do, every single day of my life, ok maybe not every day, but often, maybe a little bit more than seldom.  In fact, not only do I think about it, I pray for it.  I really do; don't you?  I want to be obedient to God, don't you?  The apparent problem about obedience for me is solved by pondering about what God has done for me during the past 24 or so years; this is a true statement, if I have ever been obedient to Him at all, it is because He made it happen; I didn't really have anything to do with His work, except being at the receiving end of the equation.  If I was willing, is because He made me willing.

Obedience is a work of God.  I am talking about experiential, tangible, everyday obedience; obedience in thoughts, and in words and actions.  Obedience is very similar to faith, it actually comes with it, it works the same way as far as I can see it in the word of God, and in my experience, as subjective as that can be.

In reality, no one can obey God, the same way that no one can believe God without His sovereign grace working in the heart; disobedience is the fundamental problem of the human heart; it is worse when the heart has never been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, that is obvious; but for the ones who have been born from above, obedience is a matter of faith and trust; it has to be, since only those who have been regenerated and granted faith can be obedient to God.

So what comes first, the chicken or the egg?  God created chickens first, so the chicken comes first; in the same way I can ask, what comes first, faith or obedience?  Neither one; what comes first is regeneration, then faith, then obedience; and what makes regeneration possible?  Grace or mercy?  Both, since they are only possible to be granted because of the work of Jesus on His death and resurrection; it is through Jesus' body and blood being offered as a sacrifice that our redemption was accomplished; Jesus' sacrifice was the price He had to pay to get us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

That might sound weird to you but it is not weird, it actually makes sense; think about it, man in his natural state is dead in tresspassess and sins, he lives in the flesh all the time, and according to Paul, man cannot be subject to the law of God, it is impossible, he cannot please God; he needs to be given life first, or be born again, then he is given grace through faith so that he can believe; no one can believe without faith, no one can have faith and be obedient without grace, and no one can have either one without being made alive first.

But not only was His body and blood offered as a sacrifice, His whole life was offered at the same time; He lived a life of perfect obedience to God the Father; it was necessary that He would have to be tempted and tried in every way as we are, and suffered in a human body, yet without sin, so He could sympathize with us, the bible says; He is the Lamb of God, without blemish or spot or any such thing.

Thinking very carefully about what obedience is, I have to look at it from the negative side, disobedience is basically the opposite, duh, but disobedience is the very reason the human race is sunk in a state of depravity; our first parents disobeyed God, they were deceived by the cunningness of the serpent; they disobeyed because of deceit; their disobedience was originated by believing something that was not true about God, their disobedience was basically not believing what God said and acted accordingly; or in other words, their disobedience was the result of their lack of trust in God's word, God's commandments; and obviously, it all was based on their unbelief of what God said was true; I can say that Satan's deception caused them to not believe God and therefore to disobey God.

I wrote another post called "disobedience is idolatry", which I haven't posted yet because I keep on adding stuff to it and it is too long by now, and in it, I bring up king Saul as an example of it; you can find the story in 1 Samuel 15, I'm not going to rewrite what I said in that post because you don't have the time to read it and because I'm lazy, but there is one verse in the story where Saul says  "I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the LORD and your words (Samuel's), because I feared the people and listened to their voice"; sounds familiar?

The word of God is majestic, it is awesome, it is glorious, it is relevant for any circumstance, it never changes, and above all, it is truth, it is always true, every single word in the bible is trustworthy, do you agree?  I do agree with myself, it is true, the word is, and it is majestic and sharper than any two-edged sword, it is living and powerful, and it is perspicuous, it is clear, and lucid, and understandable; it is the light that pierces the darkness of our humanity, and as the apostle says, it discerns the thoughts and the intents of the heart, this heart that refuses to comply with its directives.

I have been searching, and researching this subject for many days, in fact it has been months, maybe even years, I don't really know how long it has been, I don't even know what day it is or the date, but it is a subject that fascinates me, to me, it is one of those mysteries of life that either drive you crazy or give you peace.

On one side we have some teachers and preachers that use obedience as a chastening rod, I have heard all kinds of aberrations coming from their mouths in regards to this topic, it is almost insane (like saying that the man with the withered hand was healed because he was obedient when he stretched out his hand, yeah really, that's what a pastor said, which is ridiculous, it is like saying that the light was obedient when God said let there be light); at the end of their messages you either think you are a piece of crap for being disobedient, or you think the guy is a total idiot, like in that case.  Oh my goodness!!  I just called that pastor a total idiot, what a blasphemy, how dare I?  I repent.

Then on the other side, there are those who don't even want to discuss it for fear of sounding legalistic, or even worse, antinomian; but the truth is that the bible calls God's children to be obedient, period.  It is a reality of this Christian walk, we must obey God's word or else it is useless, but a disobedient Christian is a contradiction, there cannot be disobedient Christians, it is impossible the way I see it displayed in that holy book.

You might be asking what am I talking about?  I say it is impossible to be disobedient if you are a real Christian, but that sounds too farfetched, it sounds 'out there', doesn't it?  It does but it is not out there, it is not farfetched, it is actually what the bible teaches as far as I can see (which might not be too far); of course there is no verse that says "it is impossible to be disobedient", but what I mean is that a true Christian cannot live a lifestyle of disobedience; it is the same as when John says in his letter: 1Jn 3:9-10  No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.  (10)  By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

Do you see what I mean?  The practice of sin is impossible for those who have been born of God, why?  Because His seed abides in him.  What is the seed John is talking about?  It is God's seed, namely the nature of God, who abides in believers through the Holy Spirit living in them, that is why he cannot sin, because he has been born of God, and since God is love, the believer loves his brother, with the same love with which God loves him (for some reason that doesn't read right, it must be my English, or maybe it is just my brain).  So, as John says, anyone who practices unrighteousness is not from God; and what is the practice of unrighteousness?  It is disobedience to what God commands, to His will, that is what it is; and who are those who are disobedient and practice unrighteousness?  According to John, they are the children of the devil.

But, what is this so seemingly elusive obedience?  It is keeping God's word.  John 14:14-21  "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.  (15)  "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.  (16)  "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;  (17)  that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.  (18)  "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  (19)  "After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.  (20)  "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  (21)  "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."

Here Jesus equates keeping His commandments with loving Him; this is a statement of fact, not a conditional statement, it is like saying 'if the sun burns it will give its light', it is a fact that the sun will give its light because it is burning; that is why He explains that He will ask the Father to give them a Helper to be in them, and us who believe, this is the assurance that they will keep His commandments, because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, love without which we could not love Him nor obey Him, or keep His commandments; and He says it again:  John 15:10  "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love."  How did Jesus keep His Father's commandments?  By being obedient, by practicing righteousness.  This is the very same obedience that has been imputed unto the one who believes in Jesus; that is why I said that obedience is related to faith in Jesus.  

Here are more verses to help me see it:

Eph 2:1-3  And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,  (2)  in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  (3)  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

We were children of disobedience because we were living according to the course of this world, we had another spirit working in us causing us to indulge in our flesh and the desires of our mind, the wrath of God was hanging over our heads since the moment we arrived in this planet, we were dead, we were walking corpses, but we are no longer sons of disobedience but sons of the Most High God, willingly desiring to obey Him, that is the longing of our hearts now.

Eph 5:5-9  For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.  (6)  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.  (7)  Therefore do not be partakers with them;  (8)  for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light  (9)  (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth).

You see that?  Again, we were in darkness, immoral, impure, covetous and idolaters, but we are now Light in the Lord; and the fruit of that light is goodness and righteousness and truth, we are sons of obedience now.

Col 3:5-8  Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  (6)  For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,  (7)  and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.  (8)  But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

Once more, Paul likes to use that term doesn't he?  Sons of disobedience, which amounts to the unregenerate, the unbelievers; the opposite is that we are children of obedience, and the children of obedience behave in such way, not in immorality, impurity, passion, anger, wrath, malice, slander, foul mouthed nor greedy and idolatrous; consider your mortal body as dead to these things he says, that is how obedience is demonstrated.

Psa 81:10-16  "I, the LORD, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.  (11)  "But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me. (they did not believe Him)  (12)  "So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices.  (13)  "Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways! (in faith, being obedient)  (14)  "I would quickly subdue their enemies And turn My hand against their adversaries.  (15)  "Those who hate the LORD would pretend obedience to Him, And their time of punishment would be forever.  (16)  "But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

John 3:36  "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

Acts 5:32  "And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him." 

2Thes. 1:8  dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 

Heb. 5:9  And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 

1Pet.1:2  according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. 

1Pet. 4:17  For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Rom 1:1-7  Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,  (2)  which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,  (3)  concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,  (4)  who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,  (5)  through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake,  (6)  among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;  (7)  to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 6:16  Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

Rom 6:17-18  But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,  (18)  and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (Having been regenerated you believed and were obedient).

Faith in Jesus results in righteousness, this faith enables obedience, it causes obedience; this is so awesome that Paul basically says that being obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which we were committed, we have become slaves of righteousness; and only those who have faith have become slaves of righteousness, or slaves of Jesus because there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Another place where this is very clear is Hebrews 11:1-2  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  (2)  For by it the men of old gained approval.  Whose approval?  God's approval; by faith Abraham obeyed God, etc.  Every single example of faith in those mentioned there by the apostle performed an act of faith and obedience to please God; so what was it that pleased God?  Their faith, and their obedience, look at Rahab and see how this is worded: Heb 11:31  By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

Is that a mistake? Not at all. "Those who were disobedient"; who are they?  The people who lived in Jericho, right?  And who were they? Pagans, unbelievers, people who had no faith in the God of Israel and among whom Rahab lived, even though she was a prostitute; her faith rendered her obedient to God.

Am I confusing you?  I hope not; it is very clear to me that faith is considered obedience; obedience is the external manifestation of the internal reality of faith, but they are the same thing, at least in those verses above; they are interchangeable terms as I see it.  I think this is the reason why Paul says this in Philippians 2:12-13  So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;  (13)  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Do you see what I have been talking about?  Paul says to work out your salvation, which means to demonstrate it in the exterior, with your behaviour, in the way we speak and act, to bring it out from the heart, with fear and trembling; why with fear and trembling?  What does that mean?  It means with awe, with faith, with humility, with meekness, and with a broken and contrite heart, always repenting, always humbling under His mighty hand, knowing the power of the Lord to kill body and soul in hell, and always abounding with more grace, and why is this so?  Because it is the work of God, He is the One who actually makes it happen, because He delights in making it happen, it is His pleasure; it brings Him glory; because He is all powerful and can make it happen, so we fear and tremble at the thought of displeasing Him.

Now, don't get me all wrong and think that I'm saying that to have faith is to be obedient, even though that is what I'm saying, but what I am also saying is that obedience is to believe, which is the same thing; actually I'm not the one who is saying that, the bible is saying that, as you can clearly read above.  But this faith is the real deal, James makes that explicit when he says that even the demons believe and they tremble; the kind of faith that is equivalent to obedience is the saving kind of faith that is the only kind possessed by those who in Romans 8 have been called, justified, sanctified and glorified.  The ones for whom all things are working together for their good.

Saying it in another way, this obedience is the manifestation of the faith that saves; as I said before, real believers are obedient because they cannot help themselves but to be obedient; regeneration changes the heart from a heart of stone into a heart of flesh, it changes our nature from being slaves to sin, to being slaves to righteousness; no matter how you look at it, we are still slaves, but we are now slaves to righteousness; and as slaves we have no option but to obey; but we obey willingly, because it is our nature to be obedient; this is the new creation of God in Christ (2Cor. 5:17), this is the miracle of regeneration leading to sanctification, and ultimately to glorification.

The problem, and it is just an apparent problem because it is expected to happen, the same way death is expected to happen, is that we are not obedient one hundred percent of the time of our lives in these bodies; and this is obviously what Paul is talking about in Romans 7; we don't do what we really want to do, and we do what we really don't want to do, furthermore, we also have doubts, sooner or later you will be attacked by doubt; this is the reality of the Christian life; the magnificent thing about it is that God sees us as obedient children, and the only reason He sees us like that is because we are in Christ. 

I can see all of the above as my situational, or positional perspective, as in 'being' in a position, or the permanent situation of my being; that is my present state in life from the heavenly perspective; so obviously this has to be present in my experience, and it is; this is the very reason I think and write about this; it is pure, unadulterated truth, and by its very nature has to be reflected in the way I think, speak and act.  

The reality of sanctification is where the rubber meets the road; either I am obedient most of the time, or not; and I say most of the time because no one can be obedient all the time, as illustrated by what Pauls says in his writings, and reflected in my personal experience, and in yours also.  There is only one person who has ever been or ever will be obedient in the history of this world; and that privilege is only enjoyed by our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

My Saviour, my Lord and my God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, the Ancient of Days, is the only person in whom I trust for my salvation, He is my only hope, He said it: 'I Am the way , the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me'.  I think about the wonder of it all, it is truly amazing, amazing love, amazing grace, I believe in the amazing God who found it the good pleasure of His will to set His favor on me; He has chosen the base and the foolish, and the weak things of this world to confound the exalted, the wise and the strong, and make them seem stupid and worthless, unworthy to even be compared to His wisdom.

This is the foolishness and the stumbling block to the Jews, and to the Greeks, but to us who are being saved, the power of God and the wisdom of God.  I see the work of God in my life all the time, but I haven't always seen it, mostly when I was more aware of the oven of affliction than His work.  Now I see that even in suffering He never stops His work in me, He always provides the comfort needed and the grace needed to keep on going, day by day; and I am very grateful for that.

Sometimes I am not obedient to God, I confess; but He knows that, there is nothing I can hide from God, we are all like open books in His eyes, that is where the fear and trembling comes from; from the awareness of our true wretchedness, the revelation of who Jesus is makes our condition obvious, and we hunger and thirst for His righteousness.

I know this post is too long, and I can't help that, it is what it is; but the main question in my mind is 'am I an obedient Christian?'; and the answer is yes I am; and so are you if you are a real Christian, a man or a woman who really believes that no amount of obedience on your part can gain you any approval with God, who is perfection and who will not accept anything but perfection from us.  

Do you run to Jesus when your obedience falters?  Do you trust in Him alone for your justification?  Do you live in a permanent state of repentance knowing that you cannot stop sinning?  Do you see your own righteousness as a filthy rag before Jesus?  Do you consider that if our righteousness is a filthy rag, how filthy would our unrighteousness be?  Do you see your impotence, your inability, your failure to comply with His commands?  Do you acknowledge that no one can save you from sin and hell but the One and Only Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ?  Do you believe the gospel of Christ, God in human form?  You do?  Then you are obedient to the gospel of God; and Jesus' own perfect obedience has been imputed unto you.

So stop tripping, and try a little harder.... I'm kidding.  I hope you see my point, but at the same time I hope we all see the vanity of trying to be something that we already are.  It is true, that we should strive to obey God in all things, the more when we realize that there is a spiritual battle going on; in the unseen world of the heavenly places, as Paul calls it, there is strife, and there is struggle, and there is fighting; but we need not despair because we not only have the Holy Spirit making intercession for us with groanings that cannot be put into words, but we also have the Saviour at the right hand of the Father also making intercession for us; we have two full time intercessors praying for us and defending us against all accusations, and they are none other than God Himself.

We can rightly say with Paul 2Co 10:3-6  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,  (4)  for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  (5)  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,  (6)  and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

Have a nice day.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

So that you may marvel...

There is no middle ground between believing and not believing in Jesus as God; no one can claim that He is not real either.  Jesus claimed He is God in human flesh, and He didn't give a large collection of choices to be made about Him; in fact He claimed to be the Great I AM, the God of the old testament, at least seven times in the gospel according to John; you can read them all there, but I'm going to list them here for you to read, but first let me show you where the name of God is revealed to Moses as the name by which not only the children of Israel would call Him, but also the whole world, and which Jesus is claiming to be:

Exo 3:13-14  Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"  (14)  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

This is whom Jesus is claiming to be, I AM; He uses the name of God which theologians call the tetragrammaton, YHWH; the creator of the universe, and the giver of life, the One who said "Let there be light", and there was light; John calls Him the Logos in chapter one of his gospel:  In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with I AM, and I AM was the Logos.

John 6:35  Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 8:12  Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 

John 8:58  Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." 

John 10:9  I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. John 10:11  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 

John 10:30  "I and the Father are one."

John 11:25  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

John 15:1  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 

John 18:6  When Jesus said to them, "I am", they drew back and fell to the ground.

That last time in John 18:6 counts because if you see your bible the word 'He' was added, that is why it is in italics; so it also points out to His divinity, and John purposefully writes that those who were seeking Him to arrest Him drew back and fell down to the ground, such is the power of His name.

One of the portions of scripture that clearly points out that Jesus claimed to be God is in John chapter 5, have you read it lately?  You should if you haven't, read it and be amazed.  The context is of course a sabbath day, Jesus' favorite day to heal people; He chose the sabbath to provoke the religious leaders, the Pharisees and the Saducees, and the scribes, and lawyers, etc.  They had created numerous additional laws and requirements and different ways to keep the sabbath, a day that was given to man by God to rest from labour, a day that was supposed to be a blessing, and they had turned it into the worst day of the week; they made it a day of bondage to the people.

In that particular day, 'after these things' as John says, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went to Jerusalem.  There were three feasts that all males in Israel were to attend; they call them compulsory feasts (Deut. 16:16  "Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.), so imagine, there are thousands of people in Jerusalem that live somewhere else, so the place is crowded as it was during those feasts; and He decides to go in by the sheep gate; this is the gate at the temple complex which was used to bring all the sheep in for slaughter and sacrifice; and there by the gate was a pool with all kinds of sick people, 'sick, lame, blind and withered' laying around it.

Can you imagine that?  Sure you can, go ahead and imagine it. John 5:2-5  Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes.  (3)  In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [waiting for the moving of the waters;  (4)  for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]  (5)  A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.

They had this belief that an angel from God came down to stir the water and whoever went into the water first would get healed; that portion of the chapter is not in some bibles, and some bibles have it between brackets, as you see above, indicating that earlier manuscripts did not have it, it is believed that a scribe added it to clarify why there were all those people around the pool, and even the words of the man whom Jesus heals that day, as you can clearly read his words when he answers Jesus' question.

But anyway, Jesus goes in through the gate and sees this man, whom He knew had been in that state for a long time, Jesus knows who this man is, and asks him  if he wants to be made well; some people think that is a redundant question, or that it is out of place, but nothing is out of place with the God-man; for Him there is a purpose for every single word He speaks, His words are life; as Peter says later on when some of the disciples walk away from Jesus: "to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life".   How would you engage the full attention of a man who has been in the prone position for 38 years, and focus it on his situation?  Hey man, good morning, what a beautiful day?  I don't think so.

The man answers, sir, I don't have anyone who would help me get in the pool after the water is stirred, and then with no fanfare, no drum rolls, no loud horns or any kind of excitement, Jesus gives three commands: John 5:8  Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk."   And that is exactly what happened, the man gets up, after 38 years of being prostrated on a pallet, his arms and legs like those of a youth, picks up his pallet and starts walking.  Just like that.  John 5:9  Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.

That was the purpose and the problem, it was the Sabbath on that day.  Now think about it, this miracle happens in the middle of a crowd (5:13  But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.), and the man has no idea who Jesus is at this point, in fact he didn't care who he was, it doesn't say he was grateful, or that he praised God as in other occasions when Jesus healed people, he doesn't ask questions, he just does what he was commanded to do, and obviously he went into the temple where the Jews saw him carrying his pallet around.

There are no references to the man's faith either, or anything like that, the man didn't use his "free will" or his obedience to be healed, he didn't jump through any hoops of any kind, he didn't help himself so God could help him; The Lord Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, and Lord of the universe, and does whatever He wants whenever He wants, to whomever He chooses; He has mercy upon whom He has mercy and hardens whom He wills, this is not about the man at all, it is all about Jesus doing a miracle on the Sabbath with the specific purpose to instigate a confrontation with the religious leaders; and to make the claim that He is God in a human body; The Great I AM in a veil of flesh.

The fact is that the Jews, the religious leaders, tell the man that it is not lawful to carry his bed on the Sabbath, and he says 'the man who healed me told me to do it', oh yeah?  And who is that?  I don't know.  He didn't know for sure, until Jesus looks for him and finds him and tells him to stop sinning or something worse will come his way; and by the way, Jesus knew exactly where to find the man.

The Jews, could care less about this man being healed and restored after 38 years of suffering, they could care less about praising God for His goodness, all they are concerned about is their stupid religion, their dos and don'ts, their lists of things to do to be approved before men; some of them are still walking around on this earth, pointing the finger, elevating themselves above you and I with their stupid rules; you better get up earlier and pray and read your bible tomorrow morning, oh, and don't forget to tithe and support the "ministry", and better be involved in the doughnut, diet, pilates, surfing, coffee, or pizza ministry so you can get blessed, bro.

It is until that point that the man finds out who Jesus is; and then he turns back and goes to the Pharisees to turn Jesus in; it's actually sad when I read it; here is a man that has just been healed from 38 years of suffering, and instead of following Christ, he goes back to the false religion he is in bondage with.  He is not interested in worship either, he just wants the approval of the Jews and getting out of the breaking of the Sabbath rules; at least that is the way it looks like to me.

If you know me, I think you know where I want to go from here, but I won't, at least not yet, and maybe I won't go there at all, or maybe I have been there already and you didn't notice it, but it doesn't matter, because what really matters is what Jesus says; John 5:16-19  For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.  (17)  But He answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working."  (18)  For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.  (19)  Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.

What He is saying is this, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working", I AM works non stop, He sustains the universe, He gives life to everything that has life and sustains that life without resting or making any pauses or taking any breaks; God never rests, He never gets tired or weary it says in Isaiah, and the point is that by saying this He is making Himself equal with God, for this reason they were seeking all the more to kill Him, John says, for breaking the Sabbath and making Himself equal with YHWH; in fact He expounds on this in the rest of the chapter, but I will leave you to read it on your own and come to your own conclusions.

Unregenerate people insist that Jesus never claimed to be God, I'm sure you have read or heard it said, but nothing could be farther from the truth; not only did Jesus claim to be God but He also demonstrated it non stop; miracle after miracle, after miracle, every day for three and a half years that is all He did, healed the sick, healed the lame, healed the blind, cast out demons, raised the dead, calmed storms and ferocious winds, made food for tens of thousands of people out of a few crackers, walked on water, read people's minds, knew their whole lives as with the woman at the well, etc, etc; He did so many miracles that John says at the end of his gospel that not even all the books in the world could contain all the words and miracles Jesus said and did; He said it Himself "the works, the very works testify of Me".

For the unbelieving, evidence is irrelevant, Jesus said it Himself, "even if one raises from the death they will not believe"; that is the problem of the human heart, it is deceitful above all things and totally depraved, no one can know it except God; but I know I'm preaching to the choir.  All I wanted to do is to point your attention to the One who deserves all your attention, and I hope I helped you marvel since that is what I am doing, marvelling at Jesus.

Have a nice day.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

Take up and read...

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (ESV)

John 1:1  ᾿Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος.  (GNT)
(Transliterated it sounds like this: en arche en ho Logos, kai ho Logos en pros ton Theon, kai Theos en ho Logos)

John 1:1  En el principio era el Verbo, y el Verbo era con Dios, y el Verbo era Dios.  (LBLH)

Those three versions of John 1:1 say basically the same thing, except in the last part of the verse where the affirmation that the Word was God is inverted from 'God was the Word' to 'the Word was God'.  The difference is in the two versions that are not Greek (the ESV and the Spanish), the Greek version is the most accurate obviously because it is in the original language, that is how the Spirit used John to write it, and because it retains the order of the words used to describe that the Word was God.

The original version says "and God was the Word" (kai Theos en ho Logos) , and not "and the Word was God"; so it reads "in the beginning was the Logos and the Logos was with God, and God was the Logos"; the Deity being in reciprocity with The Logos, or better yet, the reciprocity of being is between the Logos and God, meaning they have the same essence but different hypostasis or persons.

Does it really matter?  No, I don't think so, I don't think it really makes a difference for our finite understanding, at least it doesn't for my puny brain; but I do think it matters in the sense that we don't need to invert the order of the words to make sense of what it says in the original language.  In fact I think it makes more sense to say "and God was the Word" based on the context of the subject, which in this case is the Word, because what we get as the translation of "Word" is "Logos", which the Spanish version reflects better since it uses the word "Verb" for the word "Word".  Did you get that?  I'm sure you did.

Of course in my brain it makes more sense to say car red, than red car; but that is just the way my brain has been programmed by my native language; I had to make a huge effort to reprogram the way my brain works regarding English, which by the way it's a language that is really hard to learn, at least for me; it is still confusing to me, not only the grammar, but the pronunciation of certain words; for example Jews and juice sound exactly the same to me, but there in an obvious difference in pronunciation for someone who knows nothing but English.  The same applies to 'in' and 'on'; in my brain they mean the same thing and I can use either one, but that is not true, I cannot use either one in any case, because if I say 'I'm on my way', it does not mean that 'I'm in my way", you see the paradox?  It is a curse for me; that is the very reason why God confused the language of the people after building the tower of Babel, and we all  babble now.

I say that "Verb" is more accurate than "Word" because "Verb" denotes action, which is the same thing that Logos denotes and conveys in the Greek; 'word' can be any word, but verb is a special word.  Is all this a Pulp Fiction "exercise in futility" kind of argument?  I don't think so.  Do I have to know Greek to understand the bible?  Or even Spanish? Not at all, God made sure that the idea the Spirit is giving us is expressed in English as well as in Spanish, and of course in the Greek; I'm just making a point, and the point is that knowing the original languages in which the bible was written helps, at least it does me, in unimaginable ways.

For example, in my "Basics of Biblical Greek" book (you can buy it from Amazon, it is written by Bill Mounce), in the chapter concerning the Genitive and Dative forms of the first and second declension nouns (yeah, whatever), there is an exegetical insight by Verlyn Verbrugge (I don't know who that is, by the way, maybe you can Google it for me,.... I'm kidding) referring to Luke 2:14:  In the KJV of Luke 2:14, it says "Peace on earth, good will toward men" where 'eudokia' is used for good will; and the more modern versions like the NIV use eudokias which is the genitive: "'on earth peace to men on whom his (God's) favor rests", or as the NRSV says ""on earth peace among those whom he (God) favors"; pointing to the fact that in the Greek manuscripts that were used to translate the KJV against the older manuscripts that were used to translate the more modern versions, the nominative is used in the KJV and the genitive in the modern versions; so basically and in other words, the peace that the angels are singing about as the result of the birth of Christ is not a generic peace to every one on earth, but a peace limited to those who obtain favor with God by believing in His Son, as in Romans 5:1.  And that is my point in saying all of the above.

Why am I making this point? It seems all irrelevant, but it is not.  All of the above points to the fact that scripture teaches that God has given His body some of the members to be teachers, and some pastors, etc. Here it is:
Ephesians 4:11-14
(11)  And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
(12)  to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
(13)  until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
(14)  so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

That is why He gave some to be teachers and shepherds, to build the body for the work of the ministry. God set it up that way, some of His children have been called, or will be called, to be pastors and teachers, and to do the hard work of studying Greek and Hebrew, and Theology, Exegesis, and...and all of what pastors and teachers are trained in when they go to seminary, for interpreting the scriptures in the right way so that the body is built up, and so that the body can do the work of the ministry, that is, the building up of the body so that the body preaches the gospel where they live and move and have their being, so that people are redeemed from the darkness of sin, the world, the flesh and the devil, all to the praise of the glory of God's grace.

I'm not a pastor, nor a teacher, but I am part of the body and I need to be built up to do the work of the ministry, which is to build the body, to build other believers by the strength which every member supplies, for the main goal which is the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God until we all reach maturity, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  It is all fascinating to me, and even more than that, it is genius; only God could have thought about something like that.

In a few words, I need to go to church, not only to get built up, but also to build up other believers; I could have said that to begin with, but as you know me, I like to pound on this keyboard and pretend I am spiritual so that you are impressed with all my abilities.  Not.  I'm just a worm wallowing in own vomit, and my walk is more a constant and desperate cry for Divine assistance than real walking, more like the lame born man at the porch of the temple.  I think I made my point, at least to myself I did.

There are no perfect churches, because the body is not perfect, if it were perfect we wouldn't need pastors and teachers, that's for sure; John says we have an anointing from the Holy Spirit and we don't need anyone to teach us, but he is referring to the basic truths of the gospel, in contrast to the Gnostic teachers of that day, otherwise the command to not forsake the gathering of ourselves together would be unnecessary.

But anyway, did you see what the main goal of these pastors and teachers is?  The building of the body for the work of the ministry; and what is the work of the ministry according to those verses above?  The building up of the body. Period.  Why?  So that we grow in faith and in knowledge of the Son of God; why is that?  So that we are no longer children tossed to and fro by the waves and with every wind of doctrine.  What is that?  Human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes.  Where do these come from?  From the father of lies, the prince of the power of the air, the god of this world, our archenemy Satan.

Eutychus and I often joke around about knowing Greek, we both turn sarcastic at the extremes that some people go to to demonstrate that they have some kind of knowledge that places them in a special category of saints; when the whole of their lives shows that it is just a hypocritical facade. Just as the Pharisees added tassels to their garments, and attached phylacteries to their hands and foreheads; their religion was all show and no substance; in fact The Lord Jesus gives them a blazing scolding in Matthew 23; these were people who claimed to know the word of God but didn't have it written in their hearts, they honored Him with their lips but their hearts were far from Him.

I like Greek, and I wish I could speak it and write it properly, but I don't; I try to find out the definition of certain words that I think are interesting, and others that are just common words, I have the time to do it, (and with technology nowadays it only takes a few seconds, that's why you need eSword, I'm just saying), and I like doing it, it helps me to understand the new testament better, it is because of this very thing, the desire to know the original words, that I started this blog, makarios came up while I was thinking about what it means to be blessed, as when Jesus describes the nature of the believer in Matthew 5; but not all people have the time, nor the inclination to study Greek, or any other language for that matter, some don't even want to know what blessed really means.

Yeah, who has the time or energy to study another language when you are caught in the middle of life itself, you already have enough burdens trying to provide for your family and walk with Jesus the best way you can, constantly bombarded by the weirdness and the demands of this fallen world; I feel the pain.  Besides, how can I miss the Monday night game to do a little study?  Who has time for that? Just kidding, my TV doesn't even work, I just have there for decoration, I'm serious.

On the other side, and sarcasm apart, is it not an amazing thing to know the precise meaning of certain words?  It is for me.  In God's time table, He chose that part of the world and those people, at that time, to write His message to us, in Greek, and the blessing is that we don't have to struggle with the translation because it has already been done for us; how good is He in making it happen?  Infinitely good; He created Gutenberg and gave him the idea to make the printing press, that was in God's total control, and I am grateful for it.

Whether you know Greek or not, and whether you have the desire to know it or not, is irrelevant; what is relevant and needful, is that we read and study the word of God, that is the point, the main point of all this; and it is the main point because it is truth, it is God's truth, and His word is what changes people; the gospel is all made up of words, and they need to be said, and understood, and studied, and meditated upon, and pondered, because it is they that testify about Christ, and it is in His words that we find eternal life.

The day of his conversion, Augustine heard a child singing 'take up and read, take up and read'; and he did, he took up and read Romans, and God gave him birth from above, so take up and read, and have a nice day.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

Still amazed....

The word of God is sacred to me.  I am amazed at the privilege I have to handle it and read it and study it, and think it, and think about it, and meditate upon it, and ingrain it in my brain, and write it in my heart.  I am amazed that God has preserved it for thousands of years; and it always will be the living and eternal and abiding word of the Almighty.  Archaeological discoveries are nice to know about, but for one who has faith they are all irrelevant, and we have so many of them to support the history of man as told by the bible, but they are not really why I believe these words of life; the words of God; and the revelation of who He is in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the amazing work of redemption displayed in it.
 
I was the subject of a divine miracle, and event so grand, that only the bible can describe it; I was regenerated by the power of God.  I was given faith to believe in Jesus, it is a total gift from God that I believe, it is an act of His grace that I believe.  Ephesians 2:1-10  And you were dead in your trespasses and sins (yes, I was),  (2)  in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world (yes I did), according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience (yes I was).  (3)  Among them we too (including Paul who writes this) all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest (yes by nature, born like that, and raised like that).

(4)  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  (5)  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)(yes, pure grace indeed, I had nothing to do with it),  (6)  and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (God The Father did that),  (7)  so that in the ages to come He might show (to the whole universe and created beings, in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth) the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  (8)  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  (9)  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (I will not boast, I can't, and neither can you)  (10)  For we are His workmanship (His work of art, the expression of His creative power), created (born from above) in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

As Paul had just said in Ephesians 1:3-6  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,  (4)  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love  (5)  He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,  (6)  to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  Yes, you have read that correctly, He chose us before He created time and space and anything that was to be created, with the purpose that we would be holy and without blame before Him, and we are; and predestined us to be His by adoption; and thus co-heirs with Christ.

Do you see His amazing and magnificent grace?  I hope you do.  Think about it, Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3 that in order for us to see the kingdom of God we must be born again, or from above ( G509 ἄνωθεν anōthen, an'-o-then:  From G507; from above; by analogy from the first; by implication anew: - from above, again, from the beginning (very first), the top.), and He chooses the analogy of physical birth to describe what must take place for us to be part of His kingdom; we did not participate in our physical birth, we didn't bring anything to the equation, it just happened to us; one day we were not here, and then one day we were born, created in the moment of conception inside of our mother's wombs; and there was nothing we could do to prevent or change that fact.  Jesus chooses the miracle of human life to describe the miracle of spiritual life.  He doesn't leave any wiggle room for any addition of any action on our part, not even believing.  Being born again, just happens to people, He says, just like the wind that blows and we can't see where it came from or where it is going, so are those who are born from above.  I have written about this so many times, that I think I sound like a scratched vinyl record; but I must write it again for my own sanity.

He puts it this way in Matthew 11:27  "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

And again in Luke 10:22  He says the same exact thing, and in John He puts it this way: John 6:44-45  "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him (yeah, that word means 'to drag', as I said the last time); and I will raise him up on the last day.  (45)  "It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.  And He also puts it in the negative in Matthew 15:13  But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.

This faith I have, Peter says, is much more precious than gold: 1Peter 1:1-9  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen  (2)  according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.  (3)  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  (4)  to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,  (5)  who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  (6)  In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,  (7)  so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;  (8)  and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,  (9)  obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

I guess Peter was a Calvinist too; and he still preached the gospel, and still thousands of people were born from above when they heard his words. I'm just saying.  God's power is at work to keep us through this faith He gave us, and it will soon be revealed.

I'm writing this because I want to bless you; I pray that you will start this coming week with the truth running inside your brain; that God will take His word and pierce your heart, and mine, and cause us to exalt and worship Him for His goodness toward us sinners saved by grace; and to rejoice as Peter says, with joy inexpressible and full of glory; yes my dear brothers, and sisters and daughters, rejoice and be thankful for His amazing grace; and bask in its glory, and delight in the mystery, Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Have a nice day.
http://makariotes.blogspot.com

My Great Shepherd....

Psalm 23:1-3  A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.  (2)  He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.  (3)  He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.

John 10:11-17  "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.  (12)  "He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.  (13)  "He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.  (14)  "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,  (15)  even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  (16)  "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.  (17)  "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.

The whole bible pictures God as a shepherd, and it does it with words and with word pictures, it is a beautiful thing to see.  To understand what that really means you have to learn what shepherds behaved like back then, thousands of years ago; according to ancient writers, the shepherds were the only protection for the sheep against predators, and against thieves and robbers; according to what I know, the shepherds brought their sheep to the fold at the end of the day, and inspected each one for damage before letting it pass across the shepherd's staff; then the fold would be guarded by one of them or by a hired hand, and this person in turn would watch the sheep overnight, sometimes even laying across the entrance of the fold.

The next day the shepherds would come and take their flocks out of the sheepfold, calling them by name sometimes; imagine that, some of these shepherds loved their animals so much that they gave the sheep names based on their looks or their behavior; and of course the shepherd would lead them out one by one, and since they spend all day together for months and even years, the sheep would know the shepherd's voice, so they would not follow a stranger, they would not listen to any one else but their owner.

Sheep tend to wander off by nature, as we all know, they are not like dogs, they don't even bark; sheep are gentle, and dumb.  They would often fall into ditches, or even ravines, so they would know the shepherd's touch and his voice; the good shepherd would lead them to green pastures, and make them lie down by still waters.  King David was a shepherd, he grew up taking care of his father's sheep: 1Sa 17:34-36  But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,  (35)  I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.  (36)  "Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God."

King David was a sheep himself, he knew who his shepherd was, The Lord is my shepherd, he says; the same way we know who our shepherd is, John 10:1-5  "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.  (2)  "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.  (3)  "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  (4)  "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.  (5)  "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."

Joh 10:25-30  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me.  (26)  "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.  (27)  "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;  (28)  and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.  (29)  "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.  (30)  "I and the Father are one."

I am a dumb sheep, I need to be led by my shepherd, and so are you if indeed you are one of His sheep; and if you are one of them, then you hear His voice and follow Him; you will not follow a stranger, and you will believe and have eternal life, and will never perish; you are eternally secure in the hand of the Great Shepherd.  Jesus did not say, you are not of my sheep because you don't believe, but you don't believe because you are not of my sheep; it is a totally different matter to believe because you are one of His sheep, than to be one of His sheep because you believe; He doesn't leave room for mistakes in what He says.

Who are those sheep He came to die for?  It is clear that The Great Shepherd came to lay down His life for His sheep, and not only were they in that fold of Israel, but also in the sheepfold of this world, across this globe of dirt there are millions upon millions of sheep that belong to His fold, and they have been gathered and will be gathered across the whole of human history to become one with The Shepherd; these sheep are those whom the Father gave to the Son as a love gift, they are His bride; and of all that have been given, and will be given to the Son, He shall lose none; no, not even one of them can be lost; they will always be unsnatchable from His hand.

John 6:35-40  Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.  (36)  "But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.  (37)  "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.  (38)  "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  (39)  "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.  (40)  "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

John 6:43-45  Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not grumble among yourselves.  (44)  "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws (ἑλκύω, ἕλκω helkuō  helkō, hel-koo'-o, hel'-ko

Probably akin to G138; to drag (literally or figuratively): - draw. Compare G1667.) him; and I will raise him up on the last day.  (45)  "It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.

Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, that is everyone who has been called, and who have heard the call, the irresistible call of God, His people will be made willing in the day of His power, they have been dragged by the Father to the Son; and they have learned that the Son is the Shepherd who will lead them, and protect them, and keep them secure forever; for His name sake.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow them all the days of their lives, and they shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Rejoice, be in awe of God with me; delight in inexpressible joy because of the gift that we have received from the Almighty; John 16:26-28  "In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf;  (27)  for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.  (28)  "I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father."

John 16:33  "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." 

Have a nice weekend.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

The surgery....

That photograph was taken by my youngest daughter, she delights in some the same things I delight in, like sunsets, dogs, the sky, clouds, trees, birds, the mountains; things that are not man made, things that only can be created by the God we believe in; I love her, I love both my daughters the same.  When I think about her, I often think about how God thinks about me, when I think about how God loves me, I think about how I love my daughters; but God's love could never be compared to my love, ever; mine looks like a filthy rag next to His.

Last Sunday she told me she had been experiencing pain in her lower abdomen for about three days, and she told me she had made an appointment to see her doctor this last Thursday; so I hugged her and prayed for her; we both prayed holding each other.  Wednesday morning she left for work, and she got back about an hour later, and with teary eyes asked me to take her to the emergency room, so we prayed again.

You know how the ER is usually like, there is seldom any place to park anywhere close, there are long lines of people waiting to be seen, kids crying in pain, people speaking in all kinds of languages except English, signs written in languages I cannot even pronounce, it makes you wonder if the noodle-like symbol at the beginning of the hieroglyphs is an actual letter; then we have the moody clerks that barely speak the tongue of the land, and then we have the smell, the human smell of emergencies mixed with alcohol and Lysol and cheap perfume, and used diapers, and empty tortilla chip bags on top of the overflowing garbage cans, etc, etc.  You know what I mean, it can be very irritating and stressful; no one goes to the ER just to pass the time or to try to feel accepted or to make friends, in fact, no one really wants to be there to begin with; but there we were.

To my surprise, I found a parking space almost in front of the main entrance; when we walked inside, there was only a woman in front of us, and after that I just kept being surprised by the grace of God, about an hour later we ended up in the waiting room, redundantly waiting for someone to come and take my daughter to have an ultra-sound test and see what was going on inside of her belly; she was in pain but it was bearable at that point so we didn't think much was wrong.  When the nurse showed up with a wheel chair to take her, she told me it was fine for me to wait outside, so I left to get my grand kids from school, we were confident there was not much going on.

Same thing happened at the school, I found a parking spot right away, are you kidding me?  This never happens, and the kids were already outside waiting for me, which never happens either; then I got in the on-ramp to the 125, and I got a green light as soon as we got there, in fact I got all green lights wherever there are lights.......  I spiritualize everything..... Hey guys, Sofi is in the hospital and we have to pray for her, so after all their questions were answered, my grand daughter says, 'so when are we going to pray?'  Right now (we are still in the freeway, which is wide open and flowing), I said, you start Travis, so he closes his eyes and starts praying for his aunt, then Jaz prays, then I pray, in Jesus name, amen.

That was amazing, I love the simplicity of children's prayers, their pure faith, their singleness of mind and confidence, their sincere words, they don't care about impressing anyone who hears them, their assurance that this Jesus, this amazing God-man, listens to them; they have no inhibitions at all, they prayed as if they were talking to their Father, they trust He will answer, they know He listens, they know He is God the Almighty, and they have no fear.

My daughter texts me saying the ultrasound test was done and she had a cyst, or a tumor, or a mass, (to me they are all the same thing), the size of a tennis ball in one of her ovaries, and she was waiting for the doctor to talk to her, so I went home thinking "I'm not taking these kids to the ER, they will be jumping off the walls", which is true, their mom was getting off at 5:00 and she would pick them up at 5:30, so we had another hour and a half to go, and I wouldn't be able to see her anyway.

10 minutes later, I get a text saying she has to have surgery right away, she is scared, the doctor said he is going to have to remove her ovary but he will try to save the tube, she is in room 225, so I text back, "God is in control of all things, just pray and trust Him, is there a bible there? Read Psalm 23, and 40, and 103".  The Gideons leave them everywhere right? I should be there with her, what am I doing home?  "No, but I have one in my phone"....  "They're here, I'm going into surgery right now, I'm scared"....  "Don't be, they will put you to sleep and you will not feel anything, you will see my face when you wake up, I'll be there soon, I love you"  "I love you too".

In a matter of minutes my tiny puny world has been turned upside down and there is nothing I can do to change it, in the blinking of an eye I have become a spectator sitting on the bleachers, nothing is within my reach, there is absolutely nothing I can do to make any difference in anything that is happening; all I could do has been done and now I'm hiding from the kids in the bathroom crying to God for His mercy, tears running down my face.

When I finally get to the hospital I go to the elevators to go to room 225, and I see this from Isaiah 40, I couldn't believe my eyes, so I took a picture with my phone
:

"O God raise me up" it says at the bottom, I need more than an elevator lift, I need God to raise me up from the land of the weary, from the valley of worry, the valley of the shadow of death; to raise me up where those eagles soar, above the storm.

But she is still in surgery, wow, it's taking more than I thought it would take, and I start to get anxious, they take me to the operating room's waiting room, there is no one there, and guess what, there are two bibles on a table with a flower vase, I knew there were bibles somewhere, but I don't touch them because I have one in my phone too.  About half an hour later my oldest daughter gets there, and then there is a nurse looking for me, "your daughter is asking for you, come I'll take you in".  It is freaking cold in there, she sees me and starts sobbing and I hold back the tears.

This is not a big deal right?  Thousands of women go through the same thing all the time, why is this such a big deal to me?  Because this woman is my daughter, that is why.  No one can understand the love of a father for his daughters, unless you are a father to yours.  Her hands are cold, she is in pain, she is confused, she is hurting, and I am also cold, confused and hurting.  But God is still very good, everything went well, there were no complications, no weird things happening, no strange bleeding, I'm praising God for hydromorphone, and for doctors, and for hospitals.

They wouldn't let me spend the night there so I came back early in the morning, I couldn't sleep so I prayed almost all night, I revisited her whole life in my mind; she was born in that very same hospital in which she was now, 26 years ago I was in total darkness but extremely happy for her arrival; now it was as if she had been given to me again but we are now walking in the light, I can see how good God is to all of us.  As I walked in the hallway I see a brother that used to go to the same church as I did, he works fixing and painting the walls in hospitals, so we greet each other and I tell him what is going on, and so he prays for my child; after I get to the room, the chaplain came over to her room to put oil on her head and pray for her, really?

The Lord has people every where, it reminded me of Paul when God tells him to not be afraid to preach because He has many people in this city, remember that?  It's somewhere in Acts.  Then the next morning, I see the same brother fixing a wall just outside my daughter's room. It was as if God was telling me the same thing, do not be afraid for I have many in this hospital praying for her; I felt encouraged, and very grateful.

I can usually see the hand of God in every single event, and in this it was very clear to me; some people spiritualize everything, like me, and some just see life is not fair and complain even for the most menial details of their existence; I confess, I grumble sometimes, I complain of the pain, the discomfort, this fallen world and so forth, and I repent every time, but this time I did not complain at all, nor did I hear my daughter complain except for the pain, which I understand; but how could I complain?

Since last Friday when she was released to go home, I have been playing the nurse, the cook and the homemaker all at the same time, and it is easy in comparison to what some people are going through; being in the hospital for those three days and seeing how messed up some people are made me value what I have in my children and my friends; the lady that was in the same room as my daughter was completely alone, no one came to visit her, at one point as I was talking to her I had to call the nurse because she was bleeding and she didn't even know it, it was very sad, it broke my heart; when her son came on Friday to get her out, he sat there playing with his phone; it made me angry.  This is the world we live in.

So I have my daughter with me, at home, for the next two weeks, and I wonder at God's awesomeness; I am so blessed to be able to serve her, and take care of her, I am blessed and grateful that God has kept me alive to be there for her when she needs me; I am grateful for all the people who prayed for her, my mom, my brothers, my daughter, my grand kids, my friends, the brother in the hallway, the chaplain; God is exceedingly good to me, to us, and I have nothing to complain about.

Please pray for me and for her, pray that God will be glorified in her life, in all of our lives;  Heb 4:14-16 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  (15)  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted (or tried) as we are, yet without sin.  (16)  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

And have a nice day.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

The Word...

God displays His glory in all of creation, and He has a way to remind me of who is really in charge of all things; this last Friday while I was trying to mow the lawn, there suddenly appeared two huge yellow and black butterflies playing with each other, flying at about two feet from my face and they moved forward as I was moving forward. That has never happened to me before, so I really enjoyed it, I automatically knew it was God who made it happen.  Some people would think it was just a coincidence, or a fortuitous event, but not me, I can't think like that; I spiritualize everything that happens, no matter how insignificant the event is. That is just the way it is, that is how He made me and I can't help it.

I see God's greatness in every single sunset, in every cloud in the sky, in every tree, in every bird and butterfly that flies above my backyard, in every hummingbird that delights my eyes, in every blade of grass, in every ant I see; why is that? It is a gift from God, it is not me for sure, that I know.  Then, I have His very word, and that is a mind blower to me, I have a copy, several copies I should say, of God's word in my house, I have them in my phone, in my computer, on my dining room table, on my nightstand, I even have scripture in the bathroom, I'm not kidding.

Psa 138:2  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

I understand why He has exalted His word that way; I understand that nature speaks of God's glory, as David said, the heavens declare it; but His word explains it; natural revelation is not enough so He gave me His word to delight in it, to exult in it, to know Him, to know the truth, to sanctify me, to set me apart, to change me from the inside out, and it is powerful, it is alive, sharper than a two edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of marrow and bone, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  His word is the scalpel used in every heart surgery in those who are regenerated, it is the same sharp knife that cuts away the remaining darkness of the flesh.

The word of God is clear, it is perfect, and it is glorious, no wonder David wrote Psalm 119, oh how I love thy Law, Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.  Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.

David understood that it is God who inclines our hearts to delight in His word; make me to go in the path of your word, incline my heart, turn me away from vanity; I pray the same thing, make me to know you, incline my heart to you, keep my eyes from beholding vain things; oh God keep me, don't let me go, make me what you want me to be, cause me to walk in your truth, sanctify me by your truth, your word is truth. Revive me.

Only a real Christian can pray like that, so if you yearn for God's word and thirst for His holiness you can be sure that you are indeed saved from His wrath, if you delight in knowing Him, and in knowing Jesus, rest in peace because you belong to Him and He will never let you go; it is because His Spirit dwells in you that you long to see His face, and you long to know His word, and you actually understand it. That is my assurance, and yours.

Pro 30:5-6  Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Psa 119:140  Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it. 

2Sam. 22:31  As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him. 

Isa. 40:8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. 

Take up and read, and have a nice day.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

Pray a little...

Sometimes I write because it is the only way to speak that I find is better than speaking with my voice, unless I am praying.  Do you pray?  I know you do, it is an all day prayer, at least mine is, all the day long I am speaking to God with my voice and with my mind, most of the time my prayers are for help; help for me and for those whom I love, and the list of those whom I love is long so it takes a lot of time to go through it.

The end of each day is regularly the same for me; I get ready to go to bed and it is when I am laying down on my bed that I start reading the Institutes of the Christian Religion, by John Calvin; I used to read the bible before I went to bed but now I read it when I eat (at least for the last 8 years or so) which is three times per day, so I read the Institutes in bed instead.  Then after that, I turn the light off and start praying.  Every night I do the same thing, I read and pray.

Prayer time is a time of mind control and struggle, I am sure I'm not the only one who struggles when praying; this is the time when, as I start asking God for His help, my mind starts wandering away from the subject at hand; I have a rebellious mind, it always runs away from prayer.  This is when self-control gets exercised in my life; you probably know what I'm talking about, I start praying and giving thanks for all of God's blessings, and then I start thinking about the past, it just jumps into my field of view; sometimes I have to get up and go outside and breathe some fresh air, it really bothers me.

I used to fall asleep praying, and now that doesn't happen very often any more, I just lay there thinking and praying at the same time.  That is what it all has come to, thinking and praying at the same time.  It is because I cannot stop thinking that I decided I would just think and pray, which in a sense is the same thing because you have to think to be able to pray anyway, but the problem is when I can't get back to the prayer and my emotions are taking me off the subject. Wretched man that I am.

What has really helped me lately is to think about who I am talking to, I remember who God is, I remember that He is awesome, all knowing, all powerful, all holiness, omnipresent, dwelling in unapproachable light, I remember He is the only One who actually deserves my undivided attention; the only One who deserves to be worshiped and adored, and praised and loved with all of my heart, mind and strength.  I remember He is the One who chose to reveal Himself to me, the One who sought me out, the One who delighted in making me part of His family, the One who translated me from the darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son, the One who made me acceptable in the Beloved; my real Father, full of compassion and mercy, full of grace and truth; and the One who draws me to Him in the first place; I remember and realize again, that I am praying because He is working in me to will and to do of His good pleasure, and that I am praying because He caused me to pray through His Spirit to begin with, He is the One who gave me the faith to believe that He hears me, and He does. He is awesome in all of His ways.

So I am writing this tonight to remind you, and to remind myself, that God delights in the prayers of His people, in fact the bible says He inhabits them, that is how pleased He is to hear our prayers; and He does delight in them because we are in Christ; without our mediator our prayers would only be white noise to Him, and again, the fact is that the bible says that the prayers of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord.

You see how blessed we are?  What an incredible privilege, to have an audience with the King, a conference if you will, in which He already knows what we are going to say and ask of Him, and still He patiently listens, and lovingly comforts us with His love. This is a supernatural event in which even the angels of heaven are amazed at what they see, The King of Kings and Lord of Lords listens to His kids and delights in their cries for help and assistance.

My grand kids remind me of God and His goodness to me; when my grand kids are hungry, they are vocal about it, and they know I am going to feed them, it is guaranteed that their tummies will be filled, and if their hunger is real, they will not be picky about the food on the plate; that is how they remind me of my God; if I really hunger for His righteousness, He will satisfy me, if I really thirst for His holiness, I know He will quench my thirst; if I need wisdom, He will give it to me liberally, as James says, and without reproach; He blessed me with children to remind me of Him; oh taste and see that the Lord is good.

God knows your struggles, and He knows mine; He remembers that we are dust, David said; so bless the Lord oh my brother and my sister, and my daughter and my son, and here is Psalm 103 for your edification:

(1)  A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
(2)  Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;
(3)  Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;
(4)  Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
(5)  Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
(6)  The LORD performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed.
(7)  He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.
(8)  The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
(9)  He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
(10)  He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
(11)  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
(12)  As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
(13)  Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
(14)  For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.
(15)  As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
(16)  When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer.
(17)  But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children,
(18)  To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.
(19)  The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.
(20)  Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!
(21)  Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will.
(22)  Bless the LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!

Yeah, bless the LORD YHWH, and have a nice day.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

One of these days...

Sometimes I think that everything I write here in this blog is irrelevant to every one else but myself.  I am a very selfish person, we all are, I even have a Facebook account that I never look at, but I have one.  I have no idea what I was thinking when I opened it, but I did; I think I was thinking it would be cool to have all my family connected through there and share what happens with each other; but it ended up being a big mess.  I have friends in there that I have no idea how they ended up in my friends list, some of them I don't even like very much, so I'm closing it soon. Or so I think; I can't even think clearly lately, I'm all over the map.

Same thing with this blog, at first I just wanted to write something that I could read later and see if I had changed with time, then I thought I would write to leave behind my thoughts for my kids and grand kids; then it turned into a doctrinal thing to write about; mostly because God made me a Calvinist; and I know it was God who did it because I wasn't looking to become one, until someone at church said my teaching sounded like Calvinism (which is only a misnomer for authentic classical Christianity, in fact Spurgeon said that it is the gospel and nothing more), which I had no idea what it was back then 6 years ago, I heard about Calvin before but had no clue as to what he taught his Geneva congregation in the 16th century, he was a pastor as you know.

All I could see after studying the bible for two decades was the amazing grace of God, I mean it is all over the scriptures, every where I looked I found grace, which to me is God doing something that I cannot do, and I don't even deserve it; but I saw it, and still see it every where in the bible; and I delight and exult in it.

See?  I'm not even a good writer but I still write; I don't deserve to be alive, but I still am.  I have about 4 or 5 incomplete posts that are just waiting for me to finish and publish them, and every time I go back to try to complete them, I just end up adding stuff to them, so they become 'too long', as if 'too long' was a sinful thing.

I started writing many years ago in notebooks, then started this blog in 2009, and that year I published 184 posts, the following year I wrote 75, then 42, then 28, 27, and this year 51 not counting this one; it is as if I am running out of things to say, and time to live.

We all are running out of time indeed; and this all makes me think again about what is important in life.  If I had to choose a way to describe what really matters in life, I would have to quote Solomon's words at the end of Ecclesiastes:
Ecc. 12:8-14  Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.  (9)  And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.  (10)  The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.  (11)  The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.  (12)  And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.  (13)  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.  (14)  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

That's how the book ends.  That is what really matters in life, to fear God and keep His commandments, for this is our duty, Solomon says.  Then I would have to add that we only have one life to live, and I don't want to waste it doing things that are of no value for eternity, but I lose focus all the time and I do things that are not important; some of them are actually harmful.  I'm a mess sometimes, but I'm just a work in progress and God knows it since He is the one working.

I think that what makes this life worth living is knowing God, and having relationships with people, and then sharing that knowledge with those people and pouring my life into them, and drinking theirs into mine; that is what really matters to me today; but sometimes it is not possible for me to do it with people I would like to do it with, and then I see that even that is under God's providence and control.

I know that I am being tested, I have known this for years now; I broke my back in 2006 and I knew it was a trial of faith.  I lost everything I had, literally everything I had; my marriage was over two years before that, then I lost the house, the cars, one of the bikes, all the guns, all the furniture, half of my clothes, then the job, then the medical insurance, but I have never lost hope in God, and His grace.  I still have nothing of material value, all I have is God and His word, and I have His Spirit working in me to change me into what He wants.  I've been hurting for years, and sometimes I think it is only going to get worse, but I still believe; my faith is actually stronger now than before.

I am in a position where I live hanging by a thread from the grace of God, and the amazing thing is that He will never let me go, what looks like a thread is an unbreakable chain made of unbreakable promises, all of them based on His character and who He is, not on what I am and what I can do, now let me tell you, that is an incredible assurance for me; that is where the peace that surpasses all understanding comes from, because I know Him, and this is only because He chose to reveal Himself to me.

I don't want to have any more regrets, so when I have loved someone, I have said it and tried to demonstrate it, and that is all I can do; whenever possible I have made amends to those I have hurt, as far as I know; and that is what I can do and no more.  I have asked God for forgiveness for my past life of darkness (and of course He has forgiven me, He forgives me every day), and changed the things I have been empowered to change, and that is all I can do; the rest is in the hands of the Almighty, and I try to the best of my ability to be content with my lot in life and to be thankful for it.

God could heal all of my diseases in the blink of an eye, He could also kill me in the same lapse of time; He could make me rich the same way, or make me totally destitute; I am just a clay pot being made into a vessel of honor, and I rejoice in that; the result, or final work, will be paraded at the last day for all the universe to see, on that day there will be no shadow of a doubt that my life has been the work of God and so all the glory will go to Him, as it is fitting. There is nothing in me that could cause God to be merciful to me, it is all of His good pleasure that I am accepted in the Beloved, or as Paul says, according to the counsel of His will, and to the praise of the glory of His grace.

What makes you get up in the morning?  What is the reason you still believe?  Why don't I wake up in the morning not believing anymore?  It is God who keeps me, as Peter says, through faith unto salvation; that is the reason I still believe every morning, and I am very thankful for that.  We have an amazing God, He really is breath-taking.  I hope you agree with me, and if you don't, then you have more problems than I thought.

When things happen in life that I did not expect, and which are completely outside of my control, I know without a shadow of a doubt that God is the One who is actually allowing the events to happen; I believe in the total sovereignty of God over all things, in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth, and in all realms, physical and spiritual; this is an undeniable truth for me; and in fact, this is what the bible teaches, that is why I believe it to be true.

It matters not if it is human history, or personal history; I see God's hand in every thing that has happened over the centuries, and I see it in all events that are happening as I speak. Tonight I was looking at the stars again, and the bible came back into my attention, Pro 21:1-2  The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.  (2)  Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.  If He turns the hearts of kings like a stream of water and makes them go wherever He pleases, imagine what He actually does with every single human being; even more His children.

Is not that a fascinating thing to ponder upon?  Doesn't that fill your mind and heart with awe of who He is?  It  does mine.  What does that really mean?  Think about it. He is so in control that even when it appears that we act according to our wills, we are fulfilling His will, the wicked do the same but without even knowing God, or as I think it was a Reformer who said it, the wicked and, mostly the rich, are thrown a bone to be entertained so they don't give full vent to their lust and depravity, and to keep them from harming God's children or even to bring judgment upon those under His wrath.

The fact is that if it wasn't for Him to begin with, we wouldn't even know Him; Calvin is clear in that God is not playing with men and throwing them up like balls to amuse Himself; but uses all things to display His glory. Here it is, so I don't misquote him:

"Moreover, such is the proneness of the human mind to indulge in vain subtleties, that it becomes almost impossible for those who do not see the sound and proper use of this doctrine, to avoid entangling themselves in perplexing difficulties. It will, therefore, be proper here to advert to the end which Scripture has in view in teaching that all things are divinely ordained.

And it is to be observed, first, that the Providence of God is to be considered with reference both to the past and the future; and, secondly, that in overruling all things, it works at one time with means, at another without means, and at another against means. Lastly, the design of God is to show that He takes care of the whole human race, but is especially vigilant in governing the Church, which he favours with a closer inspection.

Moreover, we must add, that although the paternal favour and beneficence, as well as the judicial severity of God, is often conspicuous in the whole course of his Providence, yet occasionally as the causes of events are concealed, the thought is apt to rise, that human affairs are whirled about by the blind impulse of Fortune, or our carnal nature inclines us to speak as if God were amusing himself by tossing men up and down like balls.

It is true, indeed, that if with sedate and quiet minds we were disposed to learn, the issue would at length make it manifest, that the counsel of God was in accordance with the highest reason, that his purpose was either to train his people to patience, correct their depraved affections, tame their wantonness, inure them to self-denial, and arouse them from torpor; or, on the other hand, to cast down the proud, defeat the craftiness of the ungodly, and frustrate all their schemes. How much soever causes may escape our notice, we must feel assured that they are deposited with him, and accordingly exclaim with David, “Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered” (Psa. 40:5).

For while our adversities ought always to remind us of our sins, that the punishment may incline us to repentance, we see, moreover, how Christ declares there is something more in the secret counsel of his Father than to chastise every one as he deserves. For he says of the man who was born blind, “Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (Joh. 9:3). Here, where calamity takes precedence even of birth, our carnal sense murmurs as if God were unmerciful in thus afflicting those who have not offended. But Christ declares that, provided we had eyes clear enough, we should perceive that in this spectacle the glory of his Father is brightly displayed.

We must use modesty, not as it were compelling God to render an account, but so revering his hidden judgments as to account his will the best of all reasons. When the sky is overcast with dense clouds, and a violent tempest arises, the darkness which is presented to our eye, and the thunder which strikes our ears, and stupefies all our senses with terror, make us imagine that every thing is thrown into confusion, though in the firmament itself all continues quiet and serene. In the same way, when the tumultuous aspect of human affairs unfits us for judging, we should still hold, that God, in the pure light of his justice and wisdom, keeps all these commotions in due subordination, and conducts them to their proper end.

And certainly in this matter many display monstrous infatuation, presuming to subject the works of God to their calculation, and discuss his secret counsels, as well as to pass a precipitate judgement on things unknown, and that with greater license than on the doings of mortal men. What can be more preposterous than to show modesty toward our equals, and choose rather to suspend our judgement than incur the blame of rashness, while we petulantly insult the hidden judgements of God, judgements which it becomes us to look up to and revere." John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion.  Book 1, chapter 17, section 1.

It all leaves me speechless.  Why do I think about this and ponder it often?  Because if I don't I would be shaken to ruin.  When I think about my daughter discovering, once again, and for the third time, that her husband has been just playing with her, being unfaithful, and now after 11 years, is walking away from his family for the sake of having fun and living in sin; my only consolation is that God rules even over his wicked heart, and that He will be glorified through it all; the words of Paul from Romans run through my brain, 'do not seek to repay evil for evil but instead give place to wrath, for it is God who said 'vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the LORD'".  And He will surely do.

I gave place to wrath, and for his sake (my soon to be ex-son in law) I am grateful that God is not like me, otherwise he would be toast already.  At the same time, I am also grateful that the Lord didn't toast me when I sinned against Him, but has instead rescued me from the pit of destruction that this young man is jumping into. It all breaks my heart and I can't stop thinking about it, and about my grand kids; these poor children really deserve better than that, and I say that because they are my grand kids, but no child deserves to have a father like that; it is disgusting.

So after all of the words above, now I come to you with a request, yeah, you who are reading this: pray for my daughter and my grand kids, pray that God will shield their innocent hearts and not let them get bitter later on, pray that my daughter's broken heart will be healed and that she would be able to forgive him, and pray for me, that I also forgive him, because right now I don't feel very forgiving, you might be able to imagine what I feel like doing, I'm not going to say it because it would sound very unkind.

On that day during Passion week, in that upper room with His disciples, Jesus made a promise to them, and to me and you: "in this world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world"; later on Paul said that we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us, and John then asks "who is he that overcomes the world but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?  So we are over-comers of all trials and all tribulations, and the world itself, I just need a little reminder once in a while so I don't lose perspective.

So what matters?  One thing is clear, death is coming my way, and I don't know when that will happen, but I trust that I shall see my Savior when I awake in His likeness, one of these days.

Have a nice day, or night, just have a nice one.

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