All Things

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

We can't seem to help it.  The worst happens and we begin to pull our hair, wring our hands and cry out in despair, "God, why are you doing this to me?"  I have heard this cry on the lips of mature believers who have walked with the Lord for years, baby believers who just met the Lord, unbelievers and myself.  When we go through the trial, experience the loss, and feel the sting of pain we can hardly help but wonder what the Lord is all about in letting us go through something so difficult.  It takes a step of faith.  While we may not get to see what is going on, and may never understand in this lifetime what "good" this trial will be used for it will draw those who love God closer to Him.  The challenge to trust in those times seems the greatest, but the reward of trust at those times is also the greatest.

Don't Know Fear

The LORD is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

Media sells to us based, in large part, on fear. Commercials sell us things by trying to convince us that we will not be able to keep up without this, or we will fall behind our neighbors without that, even something you may want or need will be sold with the threat that "this price won't last!" Fear and anxiety have effects traversing the spiritual, psychological and physical realms of life. The negative effects of fear had been seen by medical science. The world can come up with solution after solution about this, but we find the Psalmist has found a solution outside of himself.

The Psalmist fears no one and no thing because he trusts in the character and nature of God. For light, salvation and protection, David chose to look to the Lord and trust in Him. Notice that there is a resolve throughout this psalm. While David's faith is based on the facts of God's Word and built by God's faithfulness to him in the past each instance is a new opportunity to trust the Lord, and be without fear. When David was again surrounded by His enemies the choice to trust the Lord and not fear had to be made again. That trust is a forceful act of will, choosing faith over fear. Trusting that God really is who He says He is, and loves as the Bible tells us He does. There is a dogged determination to this courage that is rooted in the character of God, making the last verse of this psalm poignant and appropriate:

Wait for the LORD;

Be strong and take heart

and wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:14

Jesus is your...

I have a Bible promise book that I treasure. Of course there are countless little volumes like this that aspire to give the reader a quick "at a glance" view of some applicable verses in any given situation. I have several volumes like this that I have received or collected over the years, but this one especially I appreciate. Most of the promise books I have seen jump right into the situations, verse prescriptions for every problem presented in a: "take two of these and call me in the morning" fashion. This promise book (God's Promises for Your Every Need, Word Publishing) starts with 16 chapters entitled "Jesus is your..." These are the 16 chapters that contain only Bible verses filled with Christ's character and care for us, along with a few of the verses referenced in each section:

Savior

Titus 3:5-6; 1 John 4:14; Ephesians 2:4-5

Lord

Philippians 2:9-11; Romans 12:1-2; Romans 14:8

Love

Romans 5:8; John 3:16; 1 John 4:7-12

Peace

Isaiah 26:3; Ephesians 2:13-14; Romans 5:1; John 14:27

Forgiveness

Ephesians 1:6-7; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Psalm 103:12; 1 John 1:9; 1 John 2:1

Righteousness

2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Philippians 3:9

Deliverer

Isaiah 61:1; John 8:32, 36; Romans 8:2; Romans 6:22

Fellowship

1 John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 1:9; Revelation 3:20

Example

1 Peter 2:21, 1 John 2:6; Ephesians 5:1-2

Companion

John 15:15-16; 1 John 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:9

Brother

Matthew 12:50; Hebrews 2:11; Romans 8:29

Guardian

Psalm 3:3; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Peter 3:12-13

Security

1 Peter 1:3-5; John 10:27-29; Romans 8:38-39

Sufficiency

2 Corinthians 9:8; Philippians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 3:5

Fulfillment

John 6:35; John 4:13-14; Romans 8:32

Everything

Romans 8:37; Ephesians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 1:21

This is only a small sampling of the verses. After reading these chapters (the first 50 or so pages of this little volume) I wondered what the need for the rest of the book could possibly be? Jesus Christ IS the answer. If I am struggling in life it is because I have taken my eyes off of Him. If I remain Christ centered there is nothing that I cannot endure. If I can be convinced to become self centered I am destined for a tumble. I would encourage you this week to roll these terms around in your mind. Look up the verses. Notice these statements are sure, not contingent. "Jesus IS your..." not "could be", "might be" or "will be". This is His grace gift to you as part and parcel to the Saving relationship that you entered into with Him when you placed faith in Christ for Salvation. Roll over these qualities and trust Christ to be all of these things to you, as you are in Him.

I never was terribly handy. In our first home I had to adhere one piece of wood to another. Having no drill I had to drive the screws in by hand. It took a great deal of time and sweat to get the screws in place. The saddest part of the story is that very soon after the job had to be redone...with a powerdrill. How often do we sweat, work, and exert ourselves to get some thing done while Jesus stands over us saying, "You know I am going to have to undo all that you are doing before I can fix it." Even our best intentions result only in loss. We need Jesus.

A Relaxed Mental Attitude

Dr. Troy Welch is president at the seminary I did my academic work through. He is a godly teacher and the Lord's love is evident through His life and ministry. One of my favorite phrases of his that I love to borrow is this phrase, "Relaxed Mental Attitude." It is Dr. Welch's contention that the mature believer should possess a "Relaxed Mental Attitude." Why does he believe this?

Our faith is built on Jesus Christ and all that He has done on our behalf. Once we understand this, we can begin to comprehend Grace. What it means that our salvation is totally of Him and not at all of us. Furthermore, our sanctification is totally by His work and our part is resting, relying on Jesus Christ and His finished work at the cross (John 15; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 1:3-14; Hebrews 2-3). Once we understand this reality we are able to trust Him with the major and minor details of our life. It does not mean we are inactive, we actively submit to Him. We actively pursue beholding Him through the Bible. It gives us a peaceful mindset and confidence that knows that there is no room for fear, worry or concern for us who are in Christ Jesus. And that is a great way to go into each and every day.

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel

Romans 1:16 is a powerful passage of Scripture. It is really the theme statement of the entire book of Romans. It reads: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." Pages and pages have been written on this simple verse, and pages and pages more will be written. Let's just focus on the first part. Paul tells us that he is not ashamed of the gospel. We may not understand what may have tempted Paul to temptation. Paul preached the gospel in a world where the popular religion of the day was works based. The sentiment being that if you weren't doing well (i.e. physically prospering) then your belief system must be flawed. We can imagine Paul trying to share the gospel with both Jews and Pagans alike and each saying, "How's that working out for you Paul? You've been stoned, imprisoned and impoverished for your faith. Why would I want that?"

We, also, are tempted to shame over the gospel. Our culture has painted Christians (particularly those of us who believe what the word has to say about the Creation) out to be fools and idiots. Additionally, because we believe that Christ is the only way a person can be saved (John 14:6, Acts 4:42) our world will try to make us ashamed of our "intolerance". Modern philosophers will mock us for relying on God to save us, and on and on. Each of these ways we may be tempted to feel ashamed of the gospel has a simple explanation. Each could be argued and shown to be ridiculous. But that isn't Paul's direction here. He doesn't argue with the specific reasons as to why one might feel ashamed.

The reason he is not ashamed of the misconceptions of others of his day is because the Gospel possesses the power of salvation. The Greek word for power here highlights potential energy. Much like an atomic bomb has the potential energy within it to destroy a whole city, or a good medicine has the power to eradicate bad germs, the Gospel of Christ Jesus has the power of salvation to everyone who believes. Share the good news this week! You have nothing to be ashamed of!