Thankful Even in the Midst of a Pandemic

Our purpose in life, the reason God created us, is to glorify Him. Isaiah 43:7 tells us why God created us, “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” 

One way we bring glory to God is to be thankful. God tells us that in Psalm 50:23, saying that “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

But maybe today we are finding it hard to be thankful because we are living in the strangest and most difficult circumstances many of us have ever seen. 

God has a response for us about that.1 Thessalonians 5:18 says we are to “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Let us all be thankful, not just today, but every day, in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for us. 

Authority - How Do We Deal With It

I love the Word of God. I look forward every morning to my time in Bible study. I try and make it the first priority of the day, for if God has chosen to bless me with another day, the least I can do is spend time with Him and make Him first in my heart. And I am committed to reading the Bible from beginning to end, in a complete cycle that goes on over and over.

But as much as I love God’s Word, I struggle to obey it. I agree it’s right. I believe it’s true. I believe I am supposed to obey it. But every now and then I come across things in it, that I really wish weren’t there.

I am rebellious by nature. I don’t like to be told what to do. It’s not that I mind God telling me what to do. I trust in Him being true and righteous. But when it comes to man? Not so much. I struggle with authority. I don’t trust politicians. I don’t trust police officers and the court system of America. My supervisors at work were often poor leaders who made really dumb decisions so I didn’t trust them. But today’s Bible reading smacks me down. Hard.

Take a look.

1 Peter 2:13-17  

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.  Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.  Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

This is God’s Word. It is to be obeyed.

God’s command here is simple. I am to be subject to every human institution. Doesn’t matter at what level. There is no “Yes, but he’s stupid” clause. There is no, “Yes, but I don’t like that” clause. There is no “Yes, but he is a tyrant” clause.

The command is to “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” And God made sure we understood the importance of this command as He repeats it three times in scripture. Romans 13 and Titus 3:1 echo this command.

And then we see in scripture, examples of how men obeyed this command, even at great peril to their lives. Stephan is an example of a life that followed this path. Read Acts 6 through to Acts 8:1. Rather than dispute the authorities that came after him, he used their attack as an opportunity to share the Gospel with those who were against him. This would culminate in his death by stoning. Yet, through it all, he stayed the course. He went to his death calling out to God for mercy and forgiveness to come to those who killed him.

Jesus did the same.

As Christians, this life is not meant to be lived for our comfort and our desires to be met. It is to be lived for Christ.

I don’t like what my government is telling me to do. But I need to humble myself before God and simply be obedient. Unless the authorities are directly telling me to not do what God tells me to do, I must obey. For God’s sake, not my own. Even if this leads up to my death, inflicted by an evil regime.

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

God’s words, not mine.

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.  Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

What is God's Will For My Life

One of the most often asked questions about life is this, “What is God’s will for my life?” As we grow and traverse through this life, as a follower of Christ, we want to make good and Godly decisions. Maybe it’s a choice of a college to attend, what career to pursue, where to live, and who to be in a relationship with. In some way or another, most of us have wondered what God’s will is for us personally.

It’s good to seek God’s will in all our life decisions. But the Bible, and by extension, God, has not written a personal, detailed list of steps we are to take as we live life. You cannot simply open your Bible and find a passage that says, “Go to the University of Kansas’, or “Marry Bob.”

Yet, God did not leave us to wander this earth without direction. No, He intentionally provided a book, a book written by men, yet inspired by His Holy Spirit, in which we can know His will. He has provided a way to make good, Godly decisions. He even sent His Holy Spirit to guide us unto all truth and to teach us what the scriptures mean. We can not only read His Word and understand it; we can learn how to apply it to every situation life presents.

The question, “What is God’s specific will for my life”, can only be truly answered by a different question first. That question is simple. “What is God’s will?” To rephrase, what is the general will of God for all of us? Why must that question be answered first? Because the answer to our personal questions as to what God wants us to do, is found in following the general will of God in our lives. There are Biblical principles that if we follow in their complete, yet simple callings, will guide us to be good decision makers.

Did you know that the Bible lists four specific “wills” of God? Certainly, there are treasures to be mined from all scripture. God’s general will can be seen in His commandments, but God has given us four foundational building blocks that if we start with, give us the foundation we need to stand firm as we build.

Here are the four wills God directly gives us all from His Word.

John 6:40
"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."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 2:13-15
 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.  For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-6
 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;  that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,  not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;  and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.

I’m just going to leave this here. Here are four passages of scripture upon which we can build upon. There are four passages of scripture that no one who lays claim to being a Christians can deny are God’s will. There can be no argument amongst ourselves or with God, for He is explicit in these four passages.

No matter who we are or where we are, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us commit ourselves to these four wills of God. We must study these principles and we must apply them in our lives. Every decision we make must be in line with at least, these four wills. They are clear and if we desire to do God’s will and yet do not submit to these, we are fooling ourselves if we think we want to know and do His will.

I’ve got work to do. How about you?

For more info read your Bible, The 4 Wills of God by Dr. Emerson Eggrichs, and Found: God's Will by John MacArthur

Lessons From Jonah - Not Just A Fish Story

Our Will Vs God's Will

I love the Book of Jonah, for in it are many theological truths upon which the Christian faith rests. But what image pops into our heads, whenever we hear the name Jonah? The answer is obvious; we immediately think of a big fish. Long before I had ever picked up the Bible to study it, I knew the story of Jonah and the Great Whale, though the Bible never tells us it was a whale. Technically speaking a whale isn’t even a fish, but the story just looks good when we see the cartoon depictions of this great book of the Bible as represented by a whale. But if that is all we ever know of this story, then we are missing out in the lessons that are imbedded into the tale.

As a new Christian, the first reference to Jonah I recall as being important, was that Jesus used the story in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke to respond to the demand for miraculous signs to be given as to who He really is. While it is important to grasp the significance of the Old Testament types as used in the Bible, there is so much more to be gleaned from the story of Jonah as we read our Bibles today. Don’t stop at the old Sunday School lessons of Jonah you had as a child but dig deep into God’s Word, for in it is the knowledge of who God is and how we must respond to Him.

The first lesson we find in the great story of Jonah speaks about something that many of us debate in the church. The topic of free will vs the sovereignty of God is certainly one many of us simply do not agree on. It’s not considered an essential of the faith meaning that its not a theological point upon which we ought to break fellowship over. While I agree with that statement, I would offer that it dwells on the border of the essentials of salvation and thus we ought to grow in our faith to a point that we can dig deep into God’s Word to know the truth of the scriptures.

That said, let us look at the story and see what the Word of God has to say about Jonah and his exercise of his own will.

Jonah was a prophet of God and despite those who might suggest his story is merely some fairytale, the Bible presents him as a real man as seen in 2 Kings 14:25 and as one called to be a prophet. Jesus spoke of Him as well, lending further truth of his existence. As a prophet of God, Jonah was called by God. Romans 11:29 tells us that Romans 11:29 “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Whatever you believe about your own free will, it is God who calls us and in the story of Jonah, we find out what happens when we choose to follow our will, in rebellion to His. 

The first lesson Jonah’s story teaches us is that, yes, we do have free will. But the second lesson we will soon learn is that our free will, will not win out over the determinative will of God. It is important here to understand something about the will of God. There are two wills that the Bible speaks of when referring to God’s will. Though theologians and commentators may use different terms for them, they agree that there are two types.

The first will of God is often called His decretive will. Some may call it His sovereign will. These are things that God has decreed will happen and the free will of man will not nor cannot, stop them from occurring. The Bible is filled with stories of this truth. The death of Jesus on the cross is the greatest of these stories and as you read the Gospel accounts you see that His death was not only destined to be; it also could only happen in His precise time and place.

The other type of will God possesses is called His Preceptive will, sometimes called His eternal will or His revealed moral will. These are things God says should happen, but in His sovereign nature He has allowed man to exercise free will in. This is a complex theological discussion. It is not easily understood, but Peter gives us a good example in 2 Peter 3:9 where he tells us that “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” It is God’s preceptive will that all men come to repentance, but clearly, we can see that not all do. God has the power to save all men, yet He doesn’t. If we say He cannot do this then He wouldn’t be sovereign, nor would He be omnipotent. Thus, that all men would come to repentance is not God’s decretive will or it would come to pass. Instead, in His sovereignty and His grace, He has chosen some to salvation. This doctrine, which is offensive to a good many people, is reflected in the understanding of the will of God. I won’t go any further here with this because my goal of this writing is not to argue the doctrine of Election, but to shed some light on the topic of free will vs God’s will.  

Now let us take a glance at the story of Jonah.

Jonah 1:1-2
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,  “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

The calling to Jonah came from the Word of God, it was to go tell the people of Nineveh that they were sinners, sinning against the Holy God. Here we have God’s will for Jonah and notice that it is found in the Word of the Lord. Truthfully this calling of Jonah, is in essence, the same we have been called to in The Great Commission.

Watch the reaction of Jonah to God’s calling.

Jonah 1:3
But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So, he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

Jonah decides to exercise his free will and he attempts to flee from the presence of God. “What! Is he crazy”, we cry out. We all know you cannot escape the presence of God for He is God and thus is omnipresent. Yet can each of us honestly say we don’t do the exact same thing. One reason we do not read our Bibles is that we do not want to do God’s will. So, we think that we can simply ignore it as if God won’t notice.

Jonah found out that this idea of us exercising our free will and choosing to run from God is a bad idea. A real bad idea. Watch what happens next.

Jonah 1:4
But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.

Jonah’s response? He thought he’d just sleep through it. He’d just ignore God.

Jonah 1:5
Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.

Read through the first chapter of Jonah. Even the pagans aboard the ship knew who was in control of the storm and feared God. So, they acted to find the problem. Even in the throwing of lots the sovereignty of God is at play. Proverbs 16:33 is clear on this saying “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” Even more amazing is that as the pagan crew witnesses Jonah directly declare his opposition to God’s will, so they seek Him in prayer.

Then is response to Jonah’s confession they throw him into the sea. Then they worshiped God for even they saw the folly of chasing their own free will against the will of God.

Jonah 1:17
And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

There were no accidents or chance events happening here. God appointed Jonah to be swallowed by a fish. By now the lesson is right in front of us. Yes, we have free will, but when the exercise of our will comes up against God’s determined will, His sovereignty wins out.

I will close this discussion with a suggestion that we take a good hard look at our own lives in comparison to Jonah. We need to look inward at our hearts. Are we responding to the call of God for our Christian lives or are we instead determined to put forth our will instead of God’s? Is the storm we are in a storm that we may have brought upon ourselves because we are fleeing from God? We need not fear the answer for there are more lessons to come in the Book of Jonah. If you know the story, then you know God saved him from the belly of the fish. Next time we will continue to see the good news of the story. It is a story of hope. But as we are seeing, that hope is not found in our will, but in God’s.

Are you Hanging on to Your Free Will?

 Us Christians speak a lot about our free will. Free will is at the apex of one of our most contested theologies, the doctrine of election and how it relates to the sovereignty of God. I know that many of my closest brothers and sisters in Christ disagree with my stance on election. And while it is not considered a doctrine that should separate us a Christians, it is certainly a difficult one that can become emotional at times.

Personally, though I feel extremely confident in the position I hold from a strict Biblical view, I have found that to argue about it usually winds up fruitless and non-productive. Yet the topic of free will fascinates me and I wish more of us could discuss it without getting personal and without it bringing in any hard feelings. But lately as I study scripture I cannot help but be led to one question that I believe each of us should consider deeply.

Why would we want free will? I can promise you this; God has given us free will to sin if we so choose. And forgive me if this sounds judgmental, but after observing a great many people who claim Christ including myself, I sure see a lot of sin still going on even amongst us Christians, especially amongst us Christians. I am not going to speak on the sins of others here, nor will I even self-confess mine, that is not the goal of what I believe God has called me to point out. What I will do is suggest that we stop seeking our own free will and instead commit our lives to doing God’s will.

Jesus is pretty clear in the Gospel of John as to what His goal was while He walked this earth as the God-man. Let us look at a few scriptures.

John 4:34
 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”

John 5:30
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

John 6:38
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

Three chapters in a row we find Jesus declaring that He did not come to do His own will, but to do the will of the one who sent Him, who obviously is our Almighty Father in Heaven.

If Jesus came to this earth and took bodily form to do God’s will and not His own, then who are we to seek our own will?

Friends we can argue over free will until the cows come home. But the truth is each and every one of us must fall on our knees in humility and ask for forgiveness for all the times we sought our own will. We need to begin to pray for God’s will to be done in our lives because that is what Jesus modeled for us.

Sometimes praying for God’s will is going to be difficult. Why? Because though His will is perfect, our fallen nature often prevents us from having the faith to trust Him when we things do not go as we desire them to. Paul explains this in Romans 12:2 saying, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” God’s will is good, acceptable, and perfect. How does your free will stand up to that? It doesn’t. Our will gets messed up so much by the world that we need to transformed by renewing our minds and then by testing the will we desire to see if it is the will of God.

Prayer is the place to begin when we decide we must let God’s will become our will. In the model for prayer Jesus gives us, we see clearly that it is God’s will that we must pray for.

Matthew 6:10
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Then the night before He would go to the cross we find Jesus, in His humanity, praying for another way than the horrors of what He’s about to face. But then listen to what He finishes with.

Matthew 26:39
“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Three times Jesus prayed for another way but each time he finishes by praying for God’s will not His own. We must pray like Jesus. Yes it is okay to ask God for anything. But we must be sure that what we ask for in His answer is that His answer be based on His will.

Yes, we have free will. But I just don’t recall any Bible stories where the free will of man is the proper way. I know that my experience is that every time I exercise my free will things get messed up. Only when God’s will becomes our will can we be where we should be.

To pray for God’s will requires trust and faith in Him. So we must decide, do I trust God? Do I trust Him with every aspect of my life?

I have free will. I have freedom in Christ. Why not use my freedom in Christ to give up my will and say your will be done not my will?

I love the story of Saul. On his way to exercise his free will and kill more Christians, he suddenly gets his will captured by God and then Saul, master Christian persecutor, becomes Paul, Apostle of Jesus who would go on to write much of the New Testament.

So I leave you with a question? What will you do with your free will? Hang on to it? Or surrender your will to God and let His will guide your life?