Is anyone smarter than God? Is anyone wiser? Is anyone more powerful? Do we know the future better than God? God alone is the one who knows the future. He alone is all powerful and all wise. Why then do we have difficulty believing and trusting in his word?
According to Ephesians 1: 15-23 “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
God is the one who by His mercy and grace loves, protects, and provides for us. Therefore James 1:22-25 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
It’s one thing to hear the word of God in its authority and power. The challenge is to do that which he commands. This is what it means to trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. The word of God is contrary to the word of man. To follow according to God’s command is to forsake the commands of man. Some of His commands may offend our sense of “human” rights. We’re commanded to turn the other cheek and to go the second mile. According to Ezekiel 33, the prophet was frustrated because the people would not heed the word of God. They hear your word but they do not follow them. Verse 31 says, “And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness.”
Many don’t call Jesus Lord because they want to be in control of their own lives. The diagnostic question is, “why should God let you into His heaven?” Is eternal life on your own terms, or on God’s terms? God’s terms say that you can’t make it on your own. Your own performance is not good enough to deserve eternal life. If we’re to come to Him, we must enter in according to His terms, not ours. The question Jesus has for his disciples is, “do you love me?” Jesus had said in John 14:6 if you love me, keep my commandments. The first love is that God initiated love (agape) by loving us first. Romans 5:8 says, “But God commended his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We received His gift of the Holy Spirit when we were born again. With His spirit we received the ability to love Him with spiritual “Agape love” in return. To know God is to love him.
Let's continue Michael's message on love in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment