The Characteristics of One Who Forgives by John MacArthur

Part 1: Four Things a Failure to Forgive Does...


For our study this morning I draw your attention back to the wonderful little book of Philemon. Turn in your Bible, if you will, to Philemon. It is sandwiched neatly in between Titus and Hebrews, the book of Philemon. This morning our text from Philemon is taken from verses 4 through 7. We are in a four-part series entitled "A lesson in forgiveness." And this morning is part two. Let me read you verses 4 through 7 as the setting for our message.

"I thank my God always making mention of you in my prayers because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints; and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake; for I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother."

We live obviously in a society that knows little about forgiveness. We live in a society that cares little about forgiveness. In fact I would think that one of the major contributors if not THE major contributor to the destruction of relationships in our culture is the absence of forgiveness. Our culture pushes us to be unforgiving. It celebrates and exalts people who are not willing to forgive. We make heroes out of the Dirty Harrys and the Rambos who murder people out of vengeance.

As a result of the sinfulness, the wickedness and the lack of any kind of Christian social restraint in our culture, we have a society filled with bitterness, filled with vengeance, filled with anger, filled with hate, filled with hostility toward others. This can be seen in the retaliatory kind of crimes that become so commonplace in our day. It can be seen in the suits, law suits against everyone for everything conceivable and inconceivable. In fact, it is frightening to think about the fact there are more people in law schools today than in all other professional graduate schools combined. We are going to proliferate an almost endless number of attorneys to take care of an endless number of law suits as people retaliate back and forth for every minuscule and major issue of life that has been foisted upon them.

Even counselors today are telling us it's not healthy to forgive. That's a new one. There is a new popular book written by Susan Forward and it is titled Toxic Parents. The thesis of the book is really the prevailing attitude of our present day culture and that is it has a negative attitude toward forgiveness. There's one chapter in the book entitled "You don't have to forgive." In other words, you are a victim of some toxic parents who poisoned you and until you put them blame on them where it belongs, you're not going to be a healthy person. We live in a retaliating vengeful hostile angry culture that wants to make everybody else the perpetrator of a crime against us and us frankly responsible for nothing except vengeance. Certainly ours is the most hostile, the most angry, the most unforgiving, the most vengeful culture that I have ever experienced in my brief life time.

Now for a Christian, a failure to forgive is unthinkable. I don't care what the issue is, I don't care what the offense is, a failure to forgive is a blatant open act of disobedience. We have been told as explicitly as we could possibly be told that if anybody offends us we are to forgive them. How many times? Seventy times seven, or that is an endless number of times. And that the reason we are to forgive is because our Father in heaven has forgiven us and will continue to forgive us as we are faithful to forgive others.

To look at this issue from the negative side for a moment. If we buy into this culture, a culture that says you don't have to forgive, you have a right to your pound of flesh, you can sue anybody and everybody for anything and everything, you ought to blame somebody else for your responsibility and make sure they pay painfully for what they've done to you, if we buy into that mentality here's what it will produce. I'll give you just four things that will happen in a life of a Christian. Number one, it will imprison you in your past. A failure to forgive will imprison you in your past. As long as you fail to forgive an offender, an offense committed against you, you are shackled to the past. Unforgiveness keeps that pain alive. Unforgiveness keeps that sore open. Unforgiveness never lets that wound heal. And you go through life reminding yourself of what was done to you and so you feed that open wound, you feed that open sore, you stir up that pain and you accumatively build up the larger and larger degree of anger. You go through life accumulating bad feelings.

Now think about it. What's the point of that? What virtue does that give or render? Unforgiveness just imprisons you in the past and for all the time that you go back to the past and regurgitate that unforgiving attitude you will accumulate in your life the tragedy of anger and hostility escalated, built on, accumulated, piled up which will rob you of the joy of living. You will go through life feeling just as bad as you do now or worse with no relief in sight. On the other hand, forgiveness opens the door and lets the prisoner out.Forgiveness sets you free from your past. As soon as you forgive it, it's gone, you're free. If you insist on remembering the offense and never forgiving it, then you allow the person to go on offending you the rest of your life and it's your fault, not theirs.

Secondly, unforgiveness not only makes you a prisoner to your own past but unforgiveness produces bitterness. It produces bitterness. The cumulative effect of remembering without forgiveness some offense done against you no matter how brief the time or long the time is that you become a bitter person. The longer you remember the offense the more data you accumulate on it, the more recited memory you have for it the more it occupies your thinking. And the more it occupies your thinking the more it basically shapes your person. Bitterness is not just a sin, it is an infection. And it will infect your whole life. And bitterness can be directly traced to the failure to forgive. It makes you become caustic, it makes you become sarcastic. It makes you condemning. It gives you a nasty disposition, harassed by the memories of what you can't forgive, your thoughts become malignant toward others, you get a distorted view of life and you have literally diseased your whole existence. Anger begins to rage in you and it can easily get out of control. Your emotions begin to run wild. Your mind becomes the victim of that. You entertain continuing thoughts of revenge. And what happens? Even casual conversation becomes a forum for slander, a forum for gossip, a forum for innuendo against the offender and your flesh, that horrible remnant of your old self, has gained control.

I suppose this happens most notably and most frequently in marriages. Two Christians married to one another should never be divorced. They should never be separated and they should enjoy a happy relationship. That's by God's design. Now when I got married I married a sinner. What is even more unthinkable is so did my wife. And the fact of the matter is that it is an utter impossibility for us not to offend each other. It doesn't just happen now and then through the year, it happens quite regularly. But where forgiveness operates an offense is one moment in time come and gone. Where there is no forgiveness for that there is the accumulated bitterness that begins to turn you against your own partner, that makes you caustic and sarcastic. You shut off your affection, you shut off your kindness. You look for ways to get back and the bitterness results in the devastation of the relationship. Forgiveness, on the other hand, dispels bitterness and replaces it with love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and self-control. Why would anybody want to live in the prison of their past? Why would anybody want to live with accumulated bitterness that makes them violate every relationship?

There's a third thing that unforgiveness does. Unforgiveness gives Satan an open door. Unforgiveness throws the welcome mat out and invites the demons in. Where you have unresolved anger, where you have unresolved bitterness, where you have an unforgiving spirit, you have given place to the devil. Ephesians 4:26 and 27 says, "In your anger do not sin, do not let the sun go down while you're still angry and do not give the devil a foothold." The point is if you go to bed at night and you haven't fully forgiven so that your anger is gone, you will give Satan a foothold. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2 there is a very direct statement made by the Apostle Paul. In chapter 2 verse 10 he says, "I forgive, I forgive...in verse 11...in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan for we are not ignorant of his schemes." The devil moves in to an unforgiving heart, to an unforgiving life. It is no exaggeration to say, listen carefully, it is no exaggeration to say that most...most of the ground that Satan gains in our lives is due to unforgiveness. We're not ignorant of his scheme to move in on an unforgiving attitude and destroy relationships. And frankly, you can evict all the demonic trespassers by an act of forgiveness. Why would anybody want to be in prison to their past? Why would anybody want to have the disease of bitterness to skew and discolor their life? And why would anybody want to throw the door and put out the welcome mat for demons?

Fourthly, unforgiveness hinders your fellowship with God. Unforgiveness hinders your fellowship with God. Jesus said if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. In the ongoing relationship with God if we don't forgive others He doesn't forgive us. So if I'm not right with you then I'm not right with Him. Why would I sentence myself to being anything less than in the place of maximum blessing from God? Right? What kind of foolishness is that? How idiotic can I be? Do I find some value in having God angry with me? Is there some virtue in cutting off the purity and the joy of my fellowship with God?

You see the idiocy, don't you, of an unforgiving attitude? It makes you a prisoner of your past. It gives you the all pervasive disease of bitterness. It opens the door for demons and it alienates you from the full rich fellowship that God desires to have with you. There is plenty of good reason then to be a forgiving person. If you refuse to forgive others, you forfeit fellowship with God. You open yourself to Satanic involvement. You pollute your life and steal its joy and you make yourself a victim of your own past.

This matter of forgiveness because of its significance and importance then is dealt with at great length in Scripture. There are, in fact, at least seventy-five different word pictures in the Bible about forgiveness. There are at least 75 word pictures about forgiveness in the Bible. And they're all there to help us grasp the importance or the character, the nature, the effect, something about forgiveness. Let me just give you a few of the biblical word pictures about forgiveness.

To forgive is to turn the key, open the cell door and let the prisoner out. To forgive is to write in large letters across a debt "nothing owed." To forgive is to pound the gavel in a courtroom and say "not guilty." To forgive is to shoot an arrow so high and so far that it can never be found again. To forgive is to bundle up all the garbage and all the trash and dispose of it, leaving the house clean and fresh. To forgive is to loose the moorings of a ship and release it to the open sea. To forgive is to grant a full pardon to a condemned criminal. To forgive is to relax a strangle hold on a wrestling opponent and give him his life. To forgive is to sandblast a wall of graffiti, leaving it looking like new. To forgive is to smash a clay pot into a thousand pieces so that it can never be put together again. This matter of forgiveness is very important and it's right at the very crux of your spiritual health and mine.

Begraced of God...

In studying Ephesians I have not been able to get beyond my God's grace, mercy, and unfathomable kindness in these words: "by which He made us accepted in the beloved." I AM ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED OF GOD...His Son. I love what John MacArthur says:

"From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry the Father declared Him to be “My beloved Son” (Matt. 3:17). And because we have believed in Him, “He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col. 1:13). Because we are now in the Beloved, we, too, are “beloved of God” (Rom. 1:7). Only Jesus Christ has the inherent right to all the goodness of God. But because we are identified with Him by faith, that goodness is now also our goodness. Because our Savior and Lord is the Beloved of the Father and possesses all the goodness of the Father, we are also the beloved of the Father and possess all His goodness. Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father” (John 14:21)."

The Father now loves us as He loves Christ and wants us to have everything that Christ has. That is why Paul could say He “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). Every Christian is God’s beloved child because the Lord Jesus Christ has become our Redeemer. The Old Testament concept of a kinsman-redeemer set forth three qualifications: he had to be related to the one needing redemption, able to pay the price, and willing to do so. The Lord Jesus perfectly met these requirements. A poet has expressed the magnificent reality of redemption in the words, Near, so very near to God, Nearer I could not be; For in the person of His Son, I’m just as near as He. Dear, so very dear to God, Dearer I could not be; For in the person of His Son, I’m just as dear as He.

I am as a believer, the begraced of God!

Given Over by Bill

God gives grace and mercy. He makes His sun rise on both the evil and the good. He loves the sinner (thank God), but hates sin. He gave His only begotten Son to propitiate His righteous anger over man's inveterate iniquity and unrighteousness. He is the giver of all good gifts, and His patience and long-suffering are integral to His being.

But God (the two most amazing and terrifying words in existence) will not strive with mankind forever. When His patience is ended, His giving is rescinded, supplanted by Hisgiving over to man what man apart from God desires the most - the illusion of God being out of man's frame of reality entirely.

This takes two major forms, each with many subcategories. The one is the denial of God's existence. The other is the remaking of God in man's own image.

Either path leads over a horrendous cliff, with a slow and excruciating descent downward.

God gives over individuals and nations. It is never pretty.

There are a significant predictions in Scripture about what will happen on the earth when God takes away His restraining influence.

That is not pretty either. In fact, it makes all the human degradation, depravity and destruction that has taken place throughout history pale in comparison.

There is hope for those not yet given over. This hope lies not in what they can become or in any action they can take, but in what He will do in them once they surrender their long war against Him. For there can be no truce as the battle field broadens and becomes increasingly deadly - only surrender or defeat.

Surrender, if done in time, will result in escape when He takes His protective hand away from the earth and allows the entire planet to be given over. 

For us, His children by faith, the signs of the times are prevalent. Keep your eyes peeled on the Middle East, and especially Israel.

And like beloved children on a long journey, sometimes we can't help but ask Him that proverbial and ancient question: "Are we there, yet?"

I'm pretty sure we're getting close.

Redeemed and Forgiven

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;--Ephesians 1:7-8

Paul begins this chapter praising His God for the spiritual blessings that we have in Christ.  Throughout the first 14 verses he lists some of these riches.  In verses 4-6 (and in previous studies) we saw that we, who are in Christ, are:

1. Chosen by God

2.  Predestined by God to be His adopted sons and daughters

3.  Accepted by God in His Son, Jesus.

Looking at the next two verses (7-8) we see that we have redemption through his blood and forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace which is made manifest in all wisdom and prudence.  That is quite a mouthful... so let's look an them separately.

Our God has redeemed us!  In Him, the bible says, is plenteous redemption. The Greek word for redemption is apolutrosis.  It means "a releasing effected by payment of ransom."  "To let one go free on receiving the price."  "Deliverance as a result of the payment of a ransom." This redemption implies freedom from the guilt, the punishment and the power of sin.  My Jesus gave His life as a ransom for me! Paraphrasing Zechariah 9:11:  By the blood of His covenant he has brought me out of the pit where there was no water

John 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

Romans 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Galatians 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

It is in Christ that we find our true liberty.

John 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Our redemption is through His blood.  The book of First Peter tells me that I was not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb slain.  The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was the purchase price paid to redeem us from our helpless estate.  By His death Jesus paid the price to deliver us from the bondage of sin into the glorious liberty of children of God.


Revelation 5:9,12  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;....Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

Only through His Son can sinners like you and me be a people who are holy and without blame before Him in love.  Only through His Son can we be adopted as sons unto Him.  Truly we are not worthy, but He is!

We also have forgiveness in Christ.  My God has forgiven me ALL my past, present and future sins. I am justified before Him when I believe.  This is an amazing statement.  Let's look at the meaning of the word forgiveness in the Greek.  The Greek word is aphesis and it means to release from bondage or imprisonment, forgiveness or pardon of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed),
THAT is a pretty good deal!

What is sin? Again, here is the meaning in the Greek (paraptoma):  to fall beside or near something; a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness,  a sin, misdeed, or trespass...unintentional (error) or willful (transgression)  

All of us sin and fall short of the glory of God...there is no one good, the Bible says, not one.  It is only through Jesus that we can obtain pardon for our sins.  Blessed are we whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit is no guile!  My God is good, ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy to all that call on Him in truth!

Verse 7-8 tells us that the basis for both redemption and forgiveness is according to the riches of our God's grace which He made abound to toward us.  It is the riches of His goodness, forbearance and long-suffering that lead us to repentance.  It is by God's mercy and grace that we are justified.  This wonderful grace is made manifest in all wisdom and prudence.  God knows all things...He knows how to apply his knowledge to the best advantage and attain the highest goals.  His wisdom is unsearchable and His ways past finding out!  My God is prudent...He ponders, He considers carefully all that He does so...with much thought...He chose to show His grace toward us.  


But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.--Ephesians 2:4-7

For next study in Ephesians go here

Saved in Childbearing...1 Timothy 2:14-15

For Adam was formed first, then Eve.  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.  Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.--1 Timothy 2:14-15


This verse came up at a Bible study I attend at my church today. I have always loved and been encouraged by John MacArthur's explanation for 1 Timothy 2:15.  Of all the explanations I have read...this one makes the most sense in context.  


By John MacArthur...


That Paul does not have Eve in mind here is clear because the verb translated “will be saved” is future, and he also uses the plural pronoun they. He is talking about women after Eve. will be saved. This is better translated in this context, “will be preserved.” The Greek word can also mean “to rescue,”“to preserve safe and unharmed,” “to heal,” or “to deliver from.” It appears several times in the NT without reference to spiritual salvation (cf. Matt. 8:25; 9:21, 22; 24:22; 27:40, 42, 49; 2 Tim. 4:18).


Paul is not advocating that women are eternally saved from sin through childbearing or that they maintain their salvation by having babies, both of which would be clear contradictions of the NT teaching of salvation by grace alone through faith alone (Rom. 3:19, 20) sustained forever (Rom. 8:31–39). Paul is teaching that, even though a woman bears the stigma of being the initial instrument who led the race into sin, it is women through childbearing who may be preserved or freed from that stigma by raising a generation of godly children (cf. 5:10). in childbearing. 


Because mothers have a unique bond and intimacy with their children, and spend far more time with them than fathers do, they have far greater influence in their lives and thus a unique responsibility and opportunity for rearing godly children. While a woman may have led the human race into sin, women have the privilege of leading many out of sin to godliness. Paul is speaking in general terms; God does not want all women to be married (1 Cor. 7:25–40), let alone bear children. 


If they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control. The godly appearance, demeanor, and behavior commanded of believing women in the church (vv. 9–12) is motivated by the promise of deliverance from any inferior status and the joy of raising godly children.

E. M. Bounds on Prayer....

"Blessed are the poor in spirit." The word poor means a pauper, one who lives by begging. The real Christian lives on the bounties of another, whose bounties he gets by asking. Prayer then becomes the basis of Christian character, the Christian's business, his life and his living....From praying Christ eliminates all self-sufficiency, all pride, and all spiritual values. The poor in spirit are the praying ones. Beggars are God's princes. They are God's heirs....


Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill: and whosoever shall kill shall he in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall he in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall he in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar and there rememberest that thy brother has aught against thee: Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first, he reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 

He who essays to pray to God with an angry spirit, with loose and irreverent lips, with an irreconciled heart, and with unsettled neighborly scores, spends his labor for that which is worse than naught, violates the law of prayer, and adds to his sin. How rigidly exacting is Christ's law of prayer! It goes to the heart, and demands that love he enthroned there, love to the brotherhood. The sacrifice of prayer must he seasoned and perfumed with love, by love in the inward parts. The law of prayer, its creator and inspirer, is love...

Accepted in the Beloved

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.--Ephesians 1:6

I AM ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED!!!  What does that mean...who is the beloved? The beloved is Jesus, the Son of God.  The One whom the Father said this about in Matthew 3:17:


And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

I am accepted by God in Christ!! In myself, I am helpless and hopeless....BUT GOD...


But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.--Ephesians 2:4-7

The grace of our God is abundant in His Son, Jesus.  We are His chosen, His elect...we are to show forth the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.  We who are saved are accepted in the beloved, and are to show forth His praise for the unmatchless, unmerited favor and kindness that God showed us in His Son. This is our portion with God...it cannot change.  He who has the Son has life.  He who does not have the Son does not have life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved--John 3:16-17

We who are accepted are objects of divine delight and divine love!!!  We, who can bring nothing but empty hands to our God...we who have nothing good in ourselves....are in fact the joy that was set before Jesus at the cross.  To save us was His good pleasure!  There is nothing acceptable in me...but I am in Christ and there is everything acceptable in Him.  Here on this earth I battle daily with my flesh but I fight from a position of victory because my life is hidden in Christ who has already overcome the powers of evil.

Praying that I will be filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by His Son, Jesus unto the glory and praise of my God and that my life will magnify His!

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.--John 16:33

for next study in Ephesians go here

Sorrow of Heart by Rebecca..

“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance,

But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” ~ Proverbs 15:13, NKJV

It's true that “attitude determines outlook” (Warren Wiersbe) and that believers are to “rejoice always,” knowing what the Lord has done for us, but this proverb is not one of those impotent platitudes that insist you “cheer up” but do not give you any means of doing so. Rather, Solomon is expressing a truth regarding the human state, and implicitly pointing to the goodness and power of God. Out of the heart spring all the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23), so if one's heart is merry, so is one's countenance and the rest of one's self. Likewise, if one's heart is sorrowful, that sorrow will inevitably affect the whole of your being. It may even go so far as to break your spirit, crushing your soul and sapping the very life from your body. In such a state you cannot “cheer up” - not alone. Just as the power of God can revive a desperately wicked heart that is dead in trespasses and sins, so the power and grace of God can heal a broken spirit and restore life to a dying soul. Believers do sorrow - Jesus Himself, knowing He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, still wept over His friend's death - but they do not sorrow as those who have no hope. Our spirits are sustained by God's own Spirit, a powerful, unfailing current of certain hope and everlasting joy that runs beneath the sorrow and pain of our hearts. We do indeed “rejoice always,” because all reason for despair has been taken away from us forever. And a day is coming when my God shall wipe every tear from my eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. The curse will be gone and the former things will have passed away. All things will be made new. Whatever my sorrows may be in this life, I know this - they will only last the night. Joy is coming in the morning!

Behold What Manner of Love!!!

Having predestined us unto adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.--Ephesians 1:5

We have been predestined according  according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His will.  God has predestined us to be His Sons and daughters and takes pleasure in our willing, faithful obedience as his adopted sons and daughters...just as He is well pleased with His Son, Jesus.  Our God takes delight in us, His sons and daughters in Christ, as we walk in humble obedience before Him.  Romans 8:29-30 says this:


For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.


The term predestinate, as used in God's word, refers to the purpose He has for those who are His children.  Nowhere does the Bible teach that God predestines anyone to hell.  God's predestined plan for our lives as His elect or chosen, is that we should be adopted as His children by Jesus Christ to Himself.  He has a plan for each one of us and works all things together for good in our lives according to His purposes and for His good pleasure. The book of Romans tells us that He conforms His sons and daughters to the image of His Son.  Our God, Ephesians says,  has prepared works ahead of time for us that we should walk in them.  As adopted children we have all the rights and privileges of sonship as well as the responsibilities therein.


But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.--John 1:12-13


For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.--Romans 8:14-17


But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.--Galatians 4:4-7


I am chosen in Him before the foundation of the world...before I could do anything...when I was yet His enemy...I was chosen.  I cried out to Him by the grace that God gave me and was saved and became a child...a daughter of God!!!  I am called after His name!!!   He gives me a new nature..a nature like His and sends His Spirit to dwell in my heart.  He is with me always guiding me and directing me into all truth.  Such grace is truly unfathomable and incomprehensible to my human mind.  Me, who was once by nature a child of wrath...He has adopted as His child...

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.--1 John 3:1-2

It was the good pleasure or delight of my God to choose me, to save me and to make me His child!!  Think about what it means to be someone's child.  This should not be too hard for any of us because all of us have earthly parents and many of us know what it is like to be a parent.

My children are my heirs...when I die everything I have will be theirs and what I have now I share with them.  My children know that I love them and trust me to do what is right by them even when they do not understand what might be happening in the moment.  They know my heart is one of love for them and that I desire only their good. I have compassion on my children and pity them when they are ill or are going through a difficult time.  I hear and am compassionate to all their sighs and groans.  My desire is to intercede for them and come to their aid. Even when I rebuke them it is because I love them and desire to keep them safe from all kinds of ills that befall us in this life.  My children are under my roof..they are under my protection and care.  As a mom I do what I can to keep them shielded, protected and safe from harm...even to the point of laying down my own life for them.  When they are in trouble or in need, they come to me knowing that what I have for them will be good, right and pure...as much as that is possible from a human perspective.  As a Mom I teach my children and guide them in the truth of God and His word.  I lead them down His right paths.  I encourage them as they grow, shower them with good gifts and by example, I teach them about loyalty, love, faithfulness, courage...etc.... Beloved, how much more does our Father in heaven do these things for us, His beloved children in His Son, Jesus?

To know the love of Christ is to be filled with all the fullness of God!  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?  Christ died for us when we were yet sinners...still his enemies...dead in trespasses and sins.  How wonderful it is that we, as His children, can put our trust under the shadow of His wings. His loving arms encircle me and His mercies surround me!  He hears all my sighs and my groanings and counts and bottles every tear that I shed.  How wonderful as His child to trust Him knowing that His purposes and plans for us are good and that they come from His heart of love.  My God is for me!!!  Who can stand against me???  What security and hope we have in Him...our sins forgiven in eternity past, the ability to come boldly before His throne of grace to find mercy and obtain grace to help in our time of need in the present and our future assured in heaven with Him.

 The Lord, my God and my Father is in my midst.  The mighty One has saved me!!! I am His chosen one...His adopted daughter. My Daddy is God!  I am blessed with all the riches of the heavenly places in his Son. My God loves me with an everlasting love.  He fights for me.   He shelters me under the shadow of His wings and places over me His banner of love.

My desire is to live for Him in grateful obedience to His word...to walk in His Spirit here on earth and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.  My God has shown me through His Son what is good and what He requires...I am do justly, to love mercy and walk humbly with Him.  My heart is to be wholly united toward Him.  My life is to reflect the beauty of my God and I am to shine His light  not only to bring those who are still in darkness to Him, but also to encourage other believers.  When I end my journey here on earth and go home to be with Him forever, the Lord my God will rejoice over me with joy and singing and will quiet me with His love.  In Him will I rest...

for next study in Ephesians go here

Chosen In Him...

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: --Ephesians 1:4

The word according points back to verse 3.  We have been blessed with all spiritual blessings because we have been chosen in Him.  These blessings would not be ours apart from our position, by His grace, in Him.  We, as believers, are a holy people set apart unto the Lord our God.  He has chosen us to be His and has set His love upon us.  

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,--John 15:16

But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:  Whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. --2nd Thessalonians 2:13-14

God chooses us, we do not choose Him and He has chosen us from before the foundation of the world.   I love that I have been chosen and that He has set His love upon me.  Meditating on that one thought can get me through much.

Let's look at what it means to be "chosen".

The word chosen in Greek means to choose out, make a choice, to pick out or choose out for one's self.  God in His wonderful grace did not leave us to perish in our sin and misery but instead according to the good pleasure of His will chose some to everlasting life and entered into a covenant of grace to deliver us and bring us into His kingdom of light.  This is the doctrine of election.

Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ--Romans 5:18-21

In Him before the foundation of the world:   Salvation begins with God and His sovereign will. 

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,--John 15:16

We love Him because He first loved us.--1 John 4:19

This is such a comforting thought for me.  God did not choose me after I decided to be a better person...or after I decided to choose Him...He chose me before the foundation of the world.   Left to ourselves the bible says that none of us would ever seek God. We would all go our own way....the way that might seem right to man but its end is death.  My God chose me, my God reached down to me and saved me not because of anything about me but for His good pleasure and purpose from all eternity.  The fact that he chose me before the foundation of the world assures me of His love and purpose for me.  It assures me that He will be faithful to complete the good work He began in me on the day of my salvation.  

Now did God choose us who are believers because in His foreknowledge He knew we would choose Him?  That is how I like to look at it but God's ways are not man's ways and His thoughts are higher than man's thoughts.  Much greater minds than mine have tried to reconcile God's sovereignty with man's free will and human responsibility.  On this side of heaven why God chose us and how he did it without violating our free will is beyond finding out. The bible teaches both. Divine sovereignty and human responsibility do not conflict.  Jesus himself said this in John 6:37:

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

When we don't understand it is good to fall back on what we know about God.  He is all good and all loving...My God is not capricious or whimsical.  His will is that none should perish but that all should come to eternal life in His Son. His free gift came to all men...His light of life stepped into the darkness of this world for all of us.  I really like what Chuck Smith has to say on the subject.

"You may say, "Well, that isn't fair that God can choose, because if He chooses who is going to be saved, then He has also chosen who is going to be lost." It doesn't say that, does it? You are adding to the scripture. Well, that is a natural assumption. Not necessarily.

The fact that God foreknows those that are going to be saved and chooses them does not preclude any man from coming, because the scripture says, "Whosoever will, may come and drink of the water of life freely" . And not one person has ever come to God and been turned back by God. God says, "Well, let Me see. I'm sorry, your name is not on the list. Too bad, you seem like a very nice fellow. I would like to save you, but there was a slip up in the records someplace. I guess you just can't make it." Predestination, divine election never precludes any man. 

You say, "But I don't think that I like that God can make these choices. Because, what if He didn't choose me?" Well, how do you know He didn't choose you? "Well, I am not a Christian." Well, why aren't you a Christian? "Well, I don't want to be." Well then, maybe He didn't choose you and it's sort of sad. But you can find out whether or not He chose you by just accepting Jesus Christ. And you will discover He chose you before the foundation of the world. You see, if there is any question in it, you can answer the question tonight. You can just say, "Lord, come into my life. I am going to be a Christian. I am going to follow Jesus Christ." And you will discover the minute that you do, that God chose you from the foundation of the world. He says, "I've been waiting for this. Great to have you on board; come on in." And then He'll show you, "I chose you, here you are. I knew exactly the time, and the whole situation. Here it is, you were chosen before the foundation of the world.

"Yea, but what if I don't want to come?" Well then again I say, it's tough, but you can't blame God. Because God has opened the door to you. And God has given you the opportunity, and God has called you to come. So though God has chosen those, still He has left the door open so that it becomes your choice also. Though God already knows the choice you are going to make. But you are the one that makes the choice, but God in all of His wisdom knows the choices each person is going to make. But He doesn't make the choice for you. He only knows in advance that which you are going to choose."

I am so glad for God's grace...I am so glad for His unmerited favor in choosing me...even my accepting his free gift was because His grace made me willing.  I love Him because He first loved me...I love Him because He sought me out when I was lost and a stranger.  Left to myself, He knew I would never seek Him...never find my way into His arms.  I love Him because before there was an earth...way before I was conceived...God set His eye on me!  He put over me His banner of love...He set His affection on me!! This is why I was willing and accepted His offer and did not reject His love and grace toward me in the free gift of His Son.  God's goodness led me to repentance.  

 that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  The purpose of my election is that I should be holy and without blame before Him in love.  I am to live a godly, separated life. empowered by His Spirit in my heart.  My life is to look different from the lives of those who do not know Him...the ones who are still living without His l hope in their hearts.   I am to shine as a light for Him, blameless and faultless, holding fast to His word so that many will see and place their trust in Him. The lost of this world are to see the glory of the knowledge of God shining in my heart.   My motivation for all should be my love for my God.  Anything else profits me nothing...but His love which is shed abroad in my hearts never fails. My labor in Him is never in vain.   Doing it without love...is doing it without Jesus who is love...and without Him we can do nothing. 

That is a pretty tall order..none of us can do that in and of ourselves.  I am so grateful that it is God who works in us...His grace is sufficient for it all.  Jude 24 says this: 

"Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy" 

When I stand before my God, Jesus, my Advocate, will come before the throne with me...cause I am one of His.  I am in Him.  The Father will see His Son.  Jesus will declare me innocent...holy and without blame before Him in love.  That is the way my Jesus is going to represent me to His Father.  My Jesus has taken all of my sin, and He has paid the price and the penalty, and He is going to present me in His righteousness.  For God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him.

For next study in Ephesians go here

Drawing on His Riches....

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:--Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: The third verse begins with praise to the One who has bestowed such marvelous gifts to His beloved children.  We praise the One who is truly good and who holds all good in His hands. Psalm 147 tells us it is good to "sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant and praise is comely.  We have only empty hands to bring to our Lord but we can offer Him the fruit of our lips from a heart that is steadfast for Him.

We can praise our God in all things...pain, grief, adversity, trials...He is good in the midst of it all for His mercy endures forever and His faithfulness rises above the heavens.  Our  hope is secure in Him.

And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.--Revelation 5:13

who hath blessed:  God is the blesser.  It is He who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Every good gift is from the Father of lights with whom there is no shadow or turning.  The nature of God is such that only good comes from Him. ONLY GOOD COMES FROM HIM.  His gifts are all good and perfect and come from the Father who never changes and is always light.  How beautiful is that! Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above. Anything that is good about me...any talent...any good thing...all comes from Him.  I can't boast about them or brag.  I can't take credit for them...I did nothing to earn or deserve them.  They are all just God's undeserved and unmerited kindness and favor toward me...His grace.

The word good, John MacArthur says, means just that good.  There is no comparative for it.  (no gooder and goodest) It is just good. It is complete and lacks nothing.  Sufficient. Comprehensive.  Beneficial.  Are you getting the picture? 

The Father of lights?  What does that mean.  God is the creator of the sun, the moon and the stars. Let's just take the sun...it is there in the morning and gone at night. It is dimmed by clouds. How about the stars...we can only see them during the day.  The moon....it waxes and wanes.   But NOT GOD.  In Him there is no variation or shadow of turning.  Isn't that a beautiful statement.  I will never look at the lights in the sky now without remembering that He never changes...His good and perfect gifts keep coming.  In Him there is no darkness at all.  Only good comes from God...

Us:  The blessed ones...us! (ME!) The us refers to..well...us...the believers, the saints in Christ Jesus.  God has chosen to bless us!  Those who are of the faith are blessed!  God blesses us with goodness continually...it is our God's nature to give.  He gives us every good gift and every blessing...He lavishes us with His love.  We lift up empty hands to Him and He fills them with all we need.


For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.--Jeremiah 29:11-12

with all spiritual blessings: The word spiritual in the NT is pneumatikos and is always used in relation to the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the source of the blessing.   The word spiritual then refers to both material and immaterial blessings with the origin of the blessing being the Holy Spirit.  We have been given it all in Christ.   We are in want for nothing.  His love poured out in our hearts, His grace that is sufficient, His strength to meet every challenge, His peace that passes all understanding, His fullness of joy....all are ours by God's grace.

in the heavenly places:  This is where our blessings are located...our citizenship is in heaven.  We are aliens here on earth...just passing through. Wherever we are, wherever we go we are always citizens of the heavenly realm with all its rights and privileges.  We live here in the physical world but our hearts and desires should be seated next to our God in the heavenlies.  Until that time we are (as the Word tells us we will be)  troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

We walk here on this earth with our eyes focused on things above and our hearts, minds and bodies surrendered to His Spirit.  Our power, wisdom and guidance come from above and our blessings are received as we live in His power and walk in His Spirit.  As we do this His fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control is produced in us.  Without Him we can do nothing...in Him we can do all things...and without faith it is impossible to please God.

in Christ:   I love this term...it speaks SAFETY AND ASSURANCE to my heart.  We possess every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places because we are in Christ.  We enter into a spiritual union with Jesus when we place our trust in Him.  All that our Father has, we who are in Christ. also possess. When we act in faith to believe and receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, God acts in grace and imputes Christ's perfect righteousness to our account.  Every believer has been set apart and made holy through the righteousness of Christ    It is all God and nothing of us.  Our position with God is now "in Christ." We may be physically in the world but have now been made alive spiritually and our true home is now in heaven with our God.  The Spirit of God now resides in our hearts and it is in Him that we live and move and have our being.  We are now identified with Christ and can draw on the riches we have in Him as we sojourn our way through this world toward our permanent home in heaven.


The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.--Romans 8:16-17

But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.--1 Corinthians 6:17


Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.--Romans 15:5-7

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me...And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.--John 17:20-23, 26


For next study in Ephesians go here

Note to a Friend...

A note to a friend written by my daughter, Rebecca.  I love reading her exposition of Scripture.  

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” ~ Proverbs 13:12, NKJV

I love this proverb because it is comfort for the longing heart. Really, whatever it is we think we're longing for, the truth is we only want the Lord. We were created with a desire for Him built into our souls. When Adam sinned, the fellowship we had with the Lord was broken, and our souls went hungry as a result. Cut off from the only One who can satisfy our longing hearts, we seek to fill that hole with anything and everything we think might assauge our heartache: beauty, success, food, activity, learning, relationships, etc. But because none of those things can take the place of God, we are always disappointed. Our hope of satisfaction is constantly deferred. The disappointment and disillusionment and the unrelenting spiritual hunger gnaws at our souls and leaves us sick at heart. BUT WHEN THE DESIRE COMES...when we accept what Christ has done to restore our fellowship with God at an even greater level of intimacy than we had in Eden...IT IS A TREE OF LIFE! (Literally!) In Christ we find the satisfaction for our souls. In Christ we have access to the fountain of living water that slakes our the desire of our hearts and never leaves us wanting. I need to be reminded of this so often! Even though I'm saved, I still battle with my flesh, and my flesh resists the Lord and persists in its futile efforts to find satisfaction elsewhere. I long for heaven...I long for the presence of God forever, and I can hardly wait for the day when He will come!

Hope this cleared up your question. I really do love that proverb. :D

God's Riches At Christ's Expense...It's All Grace!

Introduction: The book of Ephesians was written by the apostle Paul, between 60-62 A.D., while he was a prisoner, awaiting trial in Rome.  Ephesus was a capital of the Roman Empire in Asia, located in present day Turkey.  Many in Ephesus worshipped the goddess Diana...in fact the Temple of Diana, was located there and was one of the seven wonders of the world at that time.  Paul visited and ministered at Ephesus toward the end of his second missionary journey and during his third journey he stayed in the city and ministered for three years.  He writes this epistle to them...people who he loved and cared for and shared with them some very great truths.  This letter  has been given such titles as the Believer's Bank, the Christian's Checkbook and the Treasure House of the Bible.  I love these titles.  We so often forget how very rich we are as believers in Christ.  The riches we have are unfathomable...in Him we are filled with all the fullness of God.   We are fellow heirs with Christ and one Spirit with Him.  Jesus calls us His brothers and shares all He possesses with us...in Him we have an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for us.

In this letter Paul reminds us of those riches that are ours in Christ and our standing before God because of what Christ has done for us.  In the first three chapters, Paul teaches truths about the gospel and salvation, about the church and about the body of Christ.  In the last three chapters he gives practical teaching on church, family and work.  He also teaches us how to obtain spiritual victory by putting on the whole armor of God.

***

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.--Ephesians 1:1-2


Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God....Paul is an apostle, or one who is sent forth with orders, of Jesus Christ not by man's will, nor by any credentials or training but by the will of God.  His job as an apostle was to teach the Word of God and build up others in the faith. Paul was who he was by God's grace.  Our lives mean nothing and are for nothing until we can say along with Paul who and what we are by the will of our God.  It is then that we are who our Creator would have us be.  I think it is also important to note that Paul is not boasting here...he is simply stating what his qualifications for speaking on God's behalf.  He has been sent forth with orders...Paul knows who he was without God.  He was an unbeliever, a persecutor of God's people,  and considered himself the chief of sinners.  None of us  is anything until we act in faith and receive Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is then that we are justified before God and are established in our position with God as "in Christ."  Paul counted whatever he was and had before coming to faith in Jesus as dung:


Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:



to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:  As believers we are His saints!!! We are the faithful!! (sometimes that is hard to believe)  Every believer has been set apart and made holy through the righteousness of Christ that has been placed to his account.  When we act in faith to believe and receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, God acts in grace and imputes Christ's perfect righteousness to our account. It is all God and nothing of us.  Our position with God is now "in Christ." We may be physically in the world but have now been made alive spiritually and our true home is now in heaven with our God.  The Spirit of God now resides in our hearts and it is in Him that we live and move and have our being.  We are now identified with Christ and can draw on the riches we have in Him as we sojourn our way through this world toward our permanent home in heaven.

Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  This was a common but beautiful greeting used in the early church that acknowledged the divine grace that has made them members of Christ's body and God's family.   The word grace pictures God's great kindness to us who are undeserving of His favor but have placed our faith in His Son.   I have been grafted in as His child...a member of His body and God's family only by His unmerited and undeserved favor....His grace.  It is because of His grace that I can have peace with my God and can be accepted in His beloved Son as His child.  I am complete in Him and have all that I need for life and godliness.

For next study (Ephesians 1:3) go here

This Is My Infirmity...

And I said, this is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high.--Psalm 77:10

Asaph, the psalmist, is in great distress and rightly cries out to his God for comfort and deliverance.  He is so troubled that both speech and sleep fail him.  The psalmist makes diligent search for hope...there was no consolation for him in the present so he looks to the past...but the contrast depressed him more.  Even his song that always seemed to be with him in his darkest hours was not to be heard.

Asaph's faith flounders.  He begins to ask questions...questions that arise from his fear.   Will the Lord cast off forever?  Is His mercy clean gone forever?  Hath God forgotten to be gracious?   The answers to these questions are obvious...will the sun never rise again...will spring follow winter?  Speaking his fears aloud help the psalmist see how ridiculous and absurd his unbelief and fear are.  Take each question to its logical conclusion and his unbelief is seen for what it is...total and utter folly!   These questions helped Asaph gain perspective...something that I so often lose when going through a difficult season.  I grow weary and, like Asaph, forget who my God is.  I question his goodness and his grace.  I wonder if His mercy has ceased.   I forget that weeping may endure for the night but that joy does come in the morning.   God gives us manna just for the day and tells us that sufficient for the day is its own troubles.  For me to look further than the moment is foolish.  No one knows what will happen tomorrow, but our God's mercies are new every morning and His word tells us that we can go boldly to His throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.

God does not cast off forever.  Though he causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of his mercies for He does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.  God's mercy endures forever and his grace is seen in the gift of His Son.  If our God is for us, who can be against us.  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?

Asaph then says this in verse 10:  "This is my infirmity:" Asaph's infirmity is not his circumstances...his infirmity is his unbelief.  He acknowledges it here and confesses it. Spurgeon says it could also be understood to mean, this is my appointed sorrow, I will bear it without complaint.  Asaph has regained his perspective.  He sees his affliction now through the eyes of faith...He sees it as the cup the Lord has given him.   His desire now is to be reconciled to it. Asaph remembers who His God is!  In case any of us forget here are the names of God from the Blue Letter Bible:

• El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty)
• El Elyon (The Most High God)
• Adonai (Lord, Master)
• Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah)
• Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner)
• Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd)
• Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals)
• Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There)
• Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)
• Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You)
• El Olam (The Everlasting God)
• Elohim (God)
• Qanna (Jealous)
• Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)
• Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace)
• Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts)

 It is the Lord...let Him do as seems good to Him!

Father,

Help my unbelief! Give me eyes of faith in times of trial and grief.  You know me all together...you understand all my ways..and comprehend my path.  You hedge me behind and before...such knowledge is too wonderful for me...it is high, I cannot attain it.  All Your ways, Father, are good and Your right hand holds me continually.  My flesh and heart may fail, my faith may flounder...but Lord, help me to remember that You are the strength of my heart and portion forever.  I, like Asaph, have uttered things that I understood not...things too wonderful for me which I knew not.

All that I face, Lord, is from You, my God.  Help me to bear it without complaint...to be reconciled to it...to not rebel against it.  I want to be content with what You have for me.   You are good to those that wait upon You...You are my God of compassion and do not afflict me willingly.  To grieve right now is my portion...I accept it willingly.   Any change in my circumstances or condition belong to You, my God.  You are the ruler of all and over all and You love me with an everlasting love. Help me to see any problem as an opportunity to walk by faith...as an opportunity to see You!

Everyone Needs A Base...

Everyone Needs a Base by Anna

Everyone needs a base.

I've been seeing the above verse almost everyday now for a long time--my Bible almost always falls open at the same spot, however often I try to correct it--and I knew it would really come in handy someday. Looks like today's the day--I'm writing a study that's been stewing in my head for years now, and this verse is the perfect complement.

Anyway, everyone needs a base. A starting/reference point, a headquarters, a home--a foundation. Everyone. Even people who don't realize it--it's woven into the very fabric of our being. We don't even think about it--it's always there. Even in fiction (when you read something, you usually learn almost as much about the author as as you do the actual book, and I've read quite a few books) it's there. When characters go on the inevitable quests and journeys, all but a very few don't have something they want to get back to, a family, a home, a friend...a base. People who don't have bases naturally want them--want a reason to keep going, to keep living, to keep running on this giant, mudball version of a mouse's wheel that makes no sense--that's not worth it--without a base. 

Unfortunately, just like in baseball (I think, anyway...I've never been very...shall we say...interested in sports) you can lose most bases very easily. In an instant, without warning, all your reasons to keep going, all your bases, all your foundations can get ripped away from you and leave you with nothing. Nothing at all. Everything, everyone you love, you care for, what or who you've invested your very life in...all gone. Irreversibly, irrevocably gone. Car accidents. Falls. Cancer. Bad economy (if your base is money or depends on money, like most things). Fires. Suicides. Homicides. Drownings. There are so many ways people can die. So many ways you can lose everything. So many ways the rug can get yanked out from under you. Loved ones--family and friends--can so very easily die or abandon you. Homes can go up in smoke (literally or figuratively). Riches are a lovely, ever-so-slippery snake, with you today and gone tomorrow. People lose their bases every day. What makes you think you're safe? 

My base used to be my family, my home--where I feel safe. My security blanket. I didn't even think about it--not really--because I couldn't conceive of ever losing them. They are just there. Of course they always will be. I'd always have a starting point, a fall-back position, for life in the world. And if I'd kept thinking that, who knows what would have happened to me when I discovered--the hard way--that that wasn't quite true. (Because, sooner or later, everyone does.) 

Fortunately for me, my parents are thinkers. Realistic thinkers who see the world as it is, see all those horrible possibilities and knows that, from a purely physical, world-wise standpoint, there is absolutely nothing stopping them from happening to us. It's rather depressing. 

I inherited some of that. (Thankfully, only some.) So, after a year or so of hair-pulling and sobbing and yelling and burying my head in the sand, I learned to switch my base. I'm still learning--don't think I'll ever finish learning it, not in this life anyway--but at least now I know losing any/all of what (or those of whom) is now my secondary base wouldn't outright kill me. (However much I might want it to then.) 

I had it easy. I've grown up with God as a member of the family--grown up knowing that I had something no one and no thing could ever possibly take away. I do have a base. A primary base, One who won't die, won't leave me, and will, forever and always, take care of me and my loved ones. And--if He takes them--at least I know I'll see them again. (Though, if you think about it, that's not really a 'least'!) He's my everlasting foundation, my cornerstone, a base no one can take away from me. Someone who'll always love me, no matter what. I can go anywhere, do anything, without fear that when I get back, my base will be gone...because my Base was with me the whole time. Psalm 27:16 "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me." Psalm 56:3-4 "Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), in God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?" Psalm 48:14 "For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death."

The Tragedy of the Wicked...Psalm 73

Psalm 73 is a Psalm of Asaph wherein he wrestles with a question that all of us as believers struggle with from time to time.  Why do the wicked prosper?  Life very often just does not seem fair!  Often the wicked seem to have it so much easier than the righteous.  Here are some excerpts from the first 16 verses of Psalm 73:

Asaph starts off by telling us that he was near to stumbling as he looked upon the prosperity of the wicked and was envious, he says, of the boastful.  Pride serves as their necklace and violence covers them as a garment.  They have more than their hearts could wish...they scoff and speak loftily.  They set their mouths against the heavens and their tongue walks through the earth.  They increase in riches and are always at ease.  But as for Asaph...he says surely he has cleansed his heart in vain...he is plagued all day long and chastened every morning.  (God lets him get away with nothing)  Asaph's wages for doing good were affliction!  Rightly, Asaph was afraid to speak his thoughts...keeping them to himself they would hurt only him but speaking them aloud would hurt and grief so many others....Asaph does not want to grieve, offend or be the cause of discontentment among his brethren...he knew that his speech had consequences, but he wants an answer!

Asaph goes on to say this in verse 16:


When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;  Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

Asaph did not understand until he went into the sanctuary of God...until he got the eternal perspective on things.    Setting his mind on things above changed his viewpoint entirely.  It was then that he saw their end.  It was then that he saw how the wicked were brought to desolation in a moment and were utterly consumed in terror.  That in reality they were set in a very slippery place...they were rejectors of God and hung over the precipice of hell every moment of their unbelief.  As Jonathan Edwards wrote...they were sinners in the hands of an angry God.  Asaph's envy was now replaced with a holy horror not only of their impending doom but of the way God dealt with them here on earth.  This was not the way Asaph wanted God to deal with him!


Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.

Now Asaph gets it!  His original sorrow was not that the wicked prospered, but that God had arranged it so they would.  This is what had upset the psalmist...why would God favor them so....it just did not seem fair!  Here he finally sees that God had not placed them in these positions to bless them.  "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places....their positions were dangerous...God placed his enemies in these spots...not his children.  He chose a more difficult path for his beloved here on earth to keep them close to Him.    One where they would be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  Their blessings...which was His presence with them always....would come as they depended on Him in the storms and trials of this life.   As for the wicked who had been raised so high in this life...how great would be their fall.  How dark would hell be in comparison.  The joy they had in this life would make the horror of the next more awful....the contrast marked.  Their fall will be great...without warning, without escape, without hope.  They were like men living in a dream world that disappears upon awakening..coveting the wrong things, they have been fools living for riches that will vanish in a moment.

Asaph now understands and his heart is grieved by his own sin of acting so foolishly as to envy the wicked...even to desire to be like them!  He tells his God that he was like a beast before Him.  He had judged happiness the way men did..by outward appearances...by things attained in this life...how foolish!  His faith had not been his sight.   Asaph confesses his sin and clings to His God saying, "Nevertheless, I am continually with You."  His "old man" might have gotten the best of him but his God upheld him always...his God kept his feet from slipping.  He then goes on to affirm that God shall guide him...no more does he want his own way...he will be content with whatever his God has for him.  O, would I have this attitude, always!! Afterward Asaph knows he would be received up to his Father in glory.  The Lord's guidance would safely deliver him some day directly into the presence of His Father.  Asaph could survive the present knowing that THIS was his future!