Jer 29:11NIV - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
As Christians, most of us are familiar with this scripture passage and from it we teach an important truth: God has a plan for each of our lives. As a result of that plan God promises to prosper us and give us hope and a future. Therefore we conclude this plan for our lives is a good plan because it is given to us by a good God. A holy God who cannot do anything but good. As the scripture says, "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:16-17 NIV).
Here is a thought: Does this plan of God for our lives automatically take place apart from anything that we do? Well, of course not - correct? In other words, the plan of God is the call of God on our lives to which we must seek and respond to it. For instance, it would do us no good to know that God called us to overseas missions where He planned to prosper us if we failed to respond to that call and become a missionary and go.
The point of God having a plan for your life and mine is the "call." The "call" is different for each person's life and one person may be "called" to do many different things in their lifetime. The point is that we must become aware of what God is "calling" each of us to do and then for us to adjust our lives to obey and follow that "call."
What is God calling you to do? Has He told you to do something like enter full time ministry? or has He called you to help a church grow by contributing your time, gifts, and resources? "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Col 3:23-24 NIV).
How will you recognize God's calling? Look for the opportunities to do good that God places in your life and respond to them. "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Gal 6:10 NIV). Like the story of the good Samaritan, we are responsible for those God places in our path not outside of it.
Father bless your children as they listen and respond to your call and bring about the good purpose and plan that you have for their lives, in Jesus name. amen.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Can God Create A Rock He Cannot Move?
“I have a question for you…,” one of the two obviously college students proceeded to ask me, “Can God create a rock that He cannot move?”
It was a few years ago that I was standing on a corner in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on a Saturday evening with a friend of mine from the church where I was attending at the time. We had a sidewalk sign that read, “Read the Bible, it’s for you and concerns you.” I had only come to receive God’s grace through Jesus Christ a year or so earlier and I was quite nervous to return to my home town to “street witness.”
The person that I was with was a much more experienced Christian who engaged passers by with ease while I secretly hoped that everyone would ignore me. While the person I was with from the church spoke to a man who had been walking down this busy street, suddenly two guys approached me.
I was nervous, I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, or how God could use me to “witness” about Him, but sure enough, one of them spoke to me. “I have a question for you…,” one of the two obviously college students proceeded to ask me, “Can God create a rock that He cannot move?”
I had known that this was a trick question used in philosophy classes to show the impossibility of an “all powerful creator God.” The idea is this: If God couldn’t create such a rock; it would be proven that there is something that God couldn’t do, who supposedly by definition, could do all things. As a result, you couldn’t answer, “No,” without disproving God. On the other hand, If someone would answer, “Yes,” then the result would be a God was not all-powerful because there is now something He cannot do. Either reply supposedly disproved God’s existence as being irrational to the logical mind.
As all of this flashed across my mind, I felt like I would soon become a failure as a witness for Jesus. Admittedly I replied, “I don’t know the answer,” but I continued, “Let me pray and ask God if He will give me an answer to your question.” So, I bowed my head to pray right there on the sidewalk in front of them. As I prayed silently suddenly I knew the answer.
I raised my head and looked the young man in the eyes and said, “The answer is: Yes and God did! The rock is the Word of God! The Bible says, Heaven and Earth will pass away but my Word will never pass away. Jesus said, upon this rock I will build my church. God has established His Word forever.”
At this, the young man’s friend slapped him on the back and shouted, “He got you!” In disbelief, the young men walked away.
There are some very important reasons why this answer is significant and why I believe this answer was in deed from God. In subsequent posts I will go on to explain the ramifications of this immoveable rock and the Scriptural reason for our God who willingly limits Himself so that He cannot do all things (e.g., it is impossible for God to lie). I will also explain the hidden agenda of philosophers who ask the question, “Can God create a rock that He cannot move.”
It was a few years ago that I was standing on a corner in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on a Saturday evening with a friend of mine from the church where I was attending at the time. We had a sidewalk sign that read, “Read the Bible, it’s for you and concerns you.” I had only come to receive God’s grace through Jesus Christ a year or so earlier and I was quite nervous to return to my home town to “street witness.”
The person that I was with was a much more experienced Christian who engaged passers by with ease while I secretly hoped that everyone would ignore me. While the person I was with from the church spoke to a man who had been walking down this busy street, suddenly two guys approached me.
I was nervous, I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, or how God could use me to “witness” about Him, but sure enough, one of them spoke to me. “I have a question for you…,” one of the two obviously college students proceeded to ask me, “Can God create a rock that He cannot move?”
I had known that this was a trick question used in philosophy classes to show the impossibility of an “all powerful creator God.” The idea is this: If God couldn’t create such a rock; it would be proven that there is something that God couldn’t do, who supposedly by definition, could do all things. As a result, you couldn’t answer, “No,” without disproving God. On the other hand, If someone would answer, “Yes,” then the result would be a God was not all-powerful because there is now something He cannot do. Either reply supposedly disproved God’s existence as being irrational to the logical mind.
As all of this flashed across my mind, I felt like I would soon become a failure as a witness for Jesus. Admittedly I replied, “I don’t know the answer,” but I continued, “Let me pray and ask God if He will give me an answer to your question.” So, I bowed my head to pray right there on the sidewalk in front of them. As I prayed silently suddenly I knew the answer.
I raised my head and looked the young man in the eyes and said, “The answer is: Yes and God did! The rock is the Word of God! The Bible says, Heaven and Earth will pass away but my Word will never pass away. Jesus said, upon this rock I will build my church. God has established His Word forever.”
At this, the young man’s friend slapped him on the back and shouted, “He got you!” In disbelief, the young men walked away.
There are some very important reasons why this answer is significant and why I believe this answer was in deed from God. In subsequent posts I will go on to explain the ramifications of this immoveable rock and the Scriptural reason for our God who willingly limits Himself so that He cannot do all things (e.g., it is impossible for God to lie). I will also explain the hidden agenda of philosophers who ask the question, “Can God create a rock that He cannot move.”
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Having an Eternal Hope that Springs up in You
There is a story from Our Daily Bread, December 19, 1996, that reads:
The English poet Alexander Pope wrote, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest.” But where does man turn when hope dries up?
The director of a medical clinic told of a terminally ill young man who came in for his usual treatment. A new doctor who was on duty said to him casually and cruelly, “You know, don’t you, that you won’t live out the year?”
As the young man left, he stopped by the director’s desk and wept. “That man took away my hope,” he blurted out.
“I guess he did,” replied the director. “Maybe it’s time to find a new one.”
Commenting on this incident, Lewis Smedes wrote, “Is there a hope when hope is taken away? Is there hope when the situation is hopeless? That question leads us to Christian hope, for in the Bible, hope is no longer a passion for the possible. It becomes a passion for the promise.”
The fact is that man’s hope does not spring up eternally. There are all sorts of times that we lose hope or feel hopeless. There is a reason why:
Hope for the future is based upon the faith that you have now. Thomas Aquinas said, “Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.” Until there is substance for your hope, whatever hope you have for the future is fleeting. The Bible says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for (Heb 11:1). In other words, the substance of our hope is our faith or, what you believe is the tangible reason for whatever hope that you possess.
WE NEED HOPE
Job rightly said, “If the only home I hope for is the grave … where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?” (Job 17:13-15).
Job had lost everything and he was extremely sick and in pain. He was saying that if we believe that this life is all there is then what hope for the future is there for him? Do you see how what we believe now affects what hope we have for the future?
When you come to hear a sermon, I believe you come to find that there is hope for your life and your circumstances from the Bible. A working definition of hope is - to desire with expectation of obtainment or to expect with confidence.
WHAT ARE WE HOPING FOR?
What is it that you expect to receive from God? The forgiveness of your sins? Help in time of your need? Healing for your body? Provision for your financial needs? Deliverance from your sinful or addictive behavior? A fresh start? A ministry? Eternal life? Spiritual gifts? Justice?
WHAT ARE YOU TRUSTING IN?
The fact is that there is hope, but for what reason do you have hope? Is it because I or someone else said that you should not feel hopeless? Is it because you have some warm fuzzy feeling of hope because you are an optimistic person? How can you hope against hope? How can you have hope when the circumstances of your life look hopeless?
We have hope that springs up in us and lasts, or is eternal, when it is not based upon merely our experiences (because not every circumstance works out the same way); when it is not based merely upon our feelings (because our feelings change and are too often subject to our circumstances); when it is not based upon what we see (because we walk by faith, not by sight).
The natural consequence of false beliefs will be false hopes.
BIBLICAL FAITH IS THE ONLY PROPER BASIS FOR OUR HOPES
Five different times in Psalms 119 David says, “I have put my hope in your word.”
Ps 119:49-50
Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.
Rom 15:4
Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
The basis for our hope and expectations is found in God’s Word, the Bible. Why?
Titus 1:2
A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, [i.e. cannot lie – most other translations] promised before the beginning of time.
Heb 6:17-19
Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
PASSION FOR THE PROMISES
You see; we can have great confidence for our hope when it is based upon God’s Word because He cannot lie and He has the power to bring about what He has promised. His Word is guaranteed.
Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matt 24:35).
Isaiah 55:11
My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Jeremiah 1:12
The LORD said to me, "…, I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled."
Rom 3:4
Let God be true, and every man a liar.
Isa 14:24
The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.”
If we have hope that is not based in God’s word when conflicting circumstances come to us we will fall into despair and lose hope.
Notice the story from Luke 24:13-27:
Now that same day two of them [referring to the disciples] were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things [what had happened that resurrection day] with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?" "What things?" he asked.
"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
Notice, because they believed the wrong thing their hope for the future was dashed.
He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! …And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Do you recognize that without Biblical faith that comes from the Word we will lose our hope? Some of us are only “hoping” for salvation because we have yet to find in the Bible faith that is unshakeable because it is based on God’s Word. We have no security that way. Some of us only hope for God to hear our prayers without understanding when God listens or why He refuses to answer our requests.
The phrase “hope against hope” is defined as – having hope when there is no basis for that hope. But that is NOT what the Bible teaches about the subject.
Rom 4:18-25
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Just as much as our faith is not baseless but there exist tangible reasons for what we believe, so our hope is not baseless, it is based upon our faith in the promises of God. We have hope because God has given us hope in His Word.
Let me challenge you today to find some substance for your hopes by searching the Scriptures for the basis for your faith that your hope is built upon.
Gal 5:5
By faith we eagerly await -through the Spirit the righteousness - for which we hope.
The English poet Alexander Pope wrote, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest.” But where does man turn when hope dries up?
The director of a medical clinic told of a terminally ill young man who came in for his usual treatment. A new doctor who was on duty said to him casually and cruelly, “You know, don’t you, that you won’t live out the year?”
As the young man left, he stopped by the director’s desk and wept. “That man took away my hope,” he blurted out.
“I guess he did,” replied the director. “Maybe it’s time to find a new one.”
Commenting on this incident, Lewis Smedes wrote, “Is there a hope when hope is taken away? Is there hope when the situation is hopeless? That question leads us to Christian hope, for in the Bible, hope is no longer a passion for the possible. It becomes a passion for the promise.”
The fact is that man’s hope does not spring up eternally. There are all sorts of times that we lose hope or feel hopeless. There is a reason why:
Hope for the future is based upon the faith that you have now. Thomas Aquinas said, “Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.” Until there is substance for your hope, whatever hope you have for the future is fleeting. The Bible says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for (Heb 11:1). In other words, the substance of our hope is our faith or, what you believe is the tangible reason for whatever hope that you possess.
WE NEED HOPE
Job rightly said, “If the only home I hope for is the grave … where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?” (Job 17:13-15).
Job had lost everything and he was extremely sick and in pain. He was saying that if we believe that this life is all there is then what hope for the future is there for him? Do you see how what we believe now affects what hope we have for the future?
When you come to hear a sermon, I believe you come to find that there is hope for your life and your circumstances from the Bible. A working definition of hope is - to desire with expectation of obtainment or to expect with confidence.
WHAT ARE WE HOPING FOR?
What is it that you expect to receive from God? The forgiveness of your sins? Help in time of your need? Healing for your body? Provision for your financial needs? Deliverance from your sinful or addictive behavior? A fresh start? A ministry? Eternal life? Spiritual gifts? Justice?
WHAT ARE YOU TRUSTING IN?
The fact is that there is hope, but for what reason do you have hope? Is it because I or someone else said that you should not feel hopeless? Is it because you have some warm fuzzy feeling of hope because you are an optimistic person? How can you hope against hope? How can you have hope when the circumstances of your life look hopeless?
We have hope that springs up in us and lasts, or is eternal, when it is not based upon merely our experiences (because not every circumstance works out the same way); when it is not based merely upon our feelings (because our feelings change and are too often subject to our circumstances); when it is not based upon what we see (because we walk by faith, not by sight).
The natural consequence of false beliefs will be false hopes.
BIBLICAL FAITH IS THE ONLY PROPER BASIS FOR OUR HOPES
Five different times in Psalms 119 David says, “I have put my hope in your word.”
Ps 119:49-50
Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.
Rom 15:4
Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
The basis for our hope and expectations is found in God’s Word, the Bible. Why?
Titus 1:2
A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, [i.e. cannot lie – most other translations] promised before the beginning of time.
Heb 6:17-19
Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
PASSION FOR THE PROMISES
You see; we can have great confidence for our hope when it is based upon God’s Word because He cannot lie and He has the power to bring about what He has promised. His Word is guaranteed.
Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matt 24:35).
Isaiah 55:11
My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Jeremiah 1:12
The LORD said to me, "…, I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled."
Rom 3:4
Let God be true, and every man a liar.
Isa 14:24
The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.”
If we have hope that is not based in God’s word when conflicting circumstances come to us we will fall into despair and lose hope.
Notice the story from Luke 24:13-27:
Now that same day two of them [referring to the disciples] were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things [what had happened that resurrection day] with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?" "What things?" he asked.
"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
Notice, because they believed the wrong thing their hope for the future was dashed.
He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! …And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Do you recognize that without Biblical faith that comes from the Word we will lose our hope? Some of us are only “hoping” for salvation because we have yet to find in the Bible faith that is unshakeable because it is based on God’s Word. We have no security that way. Some of us only hope for God to hear our prayers without understanding when God listens or why He refuses to answer our requests.
The phrase “hope against hope” is defined as – having hope when there is no basis for that hope. But that is NOT what the Bible teaches about the subject.
Rom 4:18-25
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Just as much as our faith is not baseless but there exist tangible reasons for what we believe, so our hope is not baseless, it is based upon our faith in the promises of God. We have hope because God has given us hope in His Word.
Let me challenge you today to find some substance for your hopes by searching the Scriptures for the basis for your faith that your hope is built upon.
Gal 5:5
By faith we eagerly await -through the Spirit the righteousness - for which we hope.
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