The Sovereignty of God

“I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul” (Jeremiah 32:41).

There are so many times when we do not realize the sovereign hand of God at work behind the scenes, caring for His people.  Are we left at the mercy of stalled cars on a railroad track, or of a car that breaks down and costs us our income, or even at the mercy of people who are intent on doing us wrong and harm?  No, a thousand times no!  We are in the hands of a sovereign God who controls every circumstance of our lives and who rejoices in doing us good.

Many would say that God is in the miraculous, and He is, especially in the scenes we find in the Word of God.  We see it with Moses and Elijah, the miracles of God.  But is God also in the details of our life, of those details we can’t see?  Is God in the events of our lives for our good?  In other words is God in a car wreck?  Or is God with those involved in a Tsunami?  Must we conclude that God always orchestrates the events of our lives to fulfill His purpose?  According to Romans 8:28, the answer is a solid yes.  That verse says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose“.  That is why we are commanded to “give thanks in all circumstances” (I Thessalonians 5:18).

How can we give thanks to God for all that happens to us, the circumstances of our lives, if He were not at work in them for our good?  No circumstance is outside of God’s sovereign will.  And no plan of God’s can be thwarted.  God does as He pleases, and only as He pleases, and no one can frustrate His plans or hinder His purposes!  Look at Psalm 115:3, Job 42:2, Isaiah 14:27, and Isaiah 43:13.

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  • The Third Day

    Take God Seriously

    “And Joseph said unto them the third day, ‘This do, and live; for I fear God'” (Genesis 42: 18).

    Joseph’s brothers were standing in fear before this “strange man, Joseph” who was second in command over Egypt. The ten brothers stood in great fear because of their past sin against God by selling their child brother from a pit to traveling strangers. Guilt ridden and guilt driven caught up with them (Numbers 32:23).

    They lied to their father Jacob and lied to themselves, but their consciences would never allow them to go free. Now they were locked up for three days in Egypt’s prison and they knew God was behind it. On top of that the brothers heard a “pagan viceroy” who mentioned the name of Elohim (God) which troubled their swirling minds and souls.  This brought great dissonance to their whole being.

    What was this younger brother doing? Joseph was working it out for his brothers to be reconciled to one another and to confess their sin before God and their father. He was trying to get them to bow before the God of heaven. What a reunion when the boil was lanced.

    God has made it possible for you and me to be released from our sins and to be reconciled to Him and to one another. Do we want our sins to catch up with us and find us out? Or do we desire God more than our sins?

    The choice is ours. As Joseph said, “This do, and live, for I fear God.” Go to the mercy seat of God and the throne of grace and find help for your soul. Confess your sins before God and you will live. This is the great power of the third day.

  • A Worthful Church

    “Ye sent unto John, and he bore witness unto the truth” (John 5:33).

    The duty and delight of every Christian is to bear witness to the truth. Our behavior and our beliefs are to be saturated by the Spirit of God. When we are living by God’s Word in the keeping, drawing power of God, then we are bearing witness to God’s Son who lives! We choose to flesh out what has been worked in by dependence upon God’s Spirit.

    John bore witness to Christ. He bore testimony to the Son of God. There can be no shining if there is no burning. John burned for Christ and was passionate about the Spirit’s work in his own life. The flesh was burned away and the Spirit of God burned within.

    A.W. Tozer said, “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”

    Churches are only as powerful as their dependence upon the Holy Spirit. We can say that any man who is bored with church work and worship is not ready for Heaven. People of God are renewed daily by the inward pressure of the Spirit of God who leads. He does not drive. The external situation or climate dictates to the leader of a family, a Sunday School class, a work place, or a church, that God desires to move in! And to take over! And To change it! This is a man/woman who lives in God.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Repentence as Gentle Rain

    “Then she arose…that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard…how the Lord had visited his people in giving them food” (Ruth’s 1:6).

    Naomi left the Promise Land, the House of Bread, Bethlehem.  She, along with her husband and sons, only planned to stay for a little while in Moab, but she ended up dwelling there in the land that is half-washed.  She lost her husband and her sons to death.  She was a broken woman who was living in a barren and pagan land.

    Repentance can be dramatic, but most true repentance is like a gentle rain, slowly and surely softening the hardened soil of our hearts.  In Psalm 23, the Lord “restores my soul” (v. 3).  The Hebrew word for “restores” is shun, which means “turn” or “return.”  When Naomi returns to Israel, to the house of the Lord, her own soul is restored.

    If you a part of the group that is “weary and heavy laden“, return with your depression, anger, and withdrawal.  You can come back complaining, but “come back.”  Come to Jesus with your mess, grumpiness, loneliness, and your self-centered heart.  He will clean you up.  The point is to come back! He loves you with an everlasting love!

  • The Light of the World

    “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden”  (Matthew 5:14). 

     

    God has called us to make Him known to a dark world lost without direction and a dynamic. Without light there is darkness. We have been changed within so that we would light the world. This is God’s purpose that we would enjoy our God and share Him with others.
    You and I are here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. As we know Him we will make Him known. God is not a secret to keep Him stowed away on the inside of us. He wants to be known to all.
    So why not become public about this? This is what the early disciples did. They came out of the upper room and out into the streets and began to shine into the hearts of those before them. As a matter of fact they turned their world upside down.
    God does not want us to hide our light under a bucket or a bed. He is not desirous of us hiding under our business or our bed. Business or laziness is not good when it comes to shining. While others are in darkness in their world of acquiring more we are to shine. While others are asleep in their sin we are to be awakened.
    Keep an open house; be generous with your lives. Open up to others, for you will prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

     

  • Christ’s Return

    “Even so come Lord Jesus”   Revelation 22:20b

    The longing that so many in the early church had for Christ’s return seems to have burned itself out in many churches and breasts of believers today. The “yearning” and the “fainting” for the return of Christ that has distinguished the personal hope from the theological one in Christians of that day was real and very personal. They could taste it.

    We have spoke of the cross so much that I believe we have forgotten the beauty of the One who died upon that instrument of death. The saved person seems to be more about a contractual system than involved in a personal love. The “work” of Christ has been so stressed that we have eclipsed the person of Christ and His beauty.

    To stay awake and long to see someone involves love and anticipation, and that seems to be lacking immensely today. There is power and joy when we long and love to see someone coming down that aisle, or arriving at the house. It changes the whole atmosphere and endeavors to bring all the senses of mind, body, and soul together.  We have become too comfortable in this world today. The Lord Jesus pulls as a magnet that causes us to jump with joy when we think of Him and our seeing Him.

    May we get our eyes off of ourselves, our problems, and begin to worship Him who is coming in grace, glory, and grandeur. What it does today for you and me will eliminate so much that really does not matter. When the heart is right then the eyes will be looking upward.

  • Revival Means To Live in a New Way

    “The LORD is good unto those who wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him” (Lamentations 3:24).

    J.D. Grear in his book, “Jesus Continued”, said, “In an awakening, the Spirit of God does not typically do a “new” thing; he simply pours greater power upon the “normal” things faithful Christians are already doing. Prayers become more intense; worship becomes more joyous; repentance becomes more sorrowful; and the preached Word yields greater effect. The Spirit of God multiplies the effectiveness of our “normal” work of seed-planting, bringing a bountiful harvest. And he does more in a moment than we can accomplish in a lifetime.”

    This is what I dream of everyday that I awaken from my sleep. Looking, longing for this is a great desire that many have for their churches and for their land. This passion should drive each of us to our faces before a holy and righteous God. Yet the passion runs deep and the need arises paramount.

    Don’t you want to serve as a spiritual pyromaniac in igniting the heart of the church for Christ’s glory? Are you dreaming of this too? Could God do it here in Alamance County? Could you and I be used of God to help lead the way in a movement of unprecedented proportions to see the Gospel of God spread like wildfire and countless lives transformed?