Monday, February 3, 2020


What Was Meant for Harm


What was meant for harm by the enemy

God meant it for good


The correlation between men’s evil intent and God’s sovereignty


Why doesn’t God intervene

In the face of evil

In times of injustice

In times of trouble and torment


Why does God seem to turn away from us

Why is He silent

In our times of most need


When


He is the Omnipotent God

Who can just speak things into existence

Speak and we would be healed

Speak and the mountain be removed before us

Speak and the valley be raised up

Speak and the crooked path becomes straight


But we don’t see Him take action


Neglected

Abandoned

We are left destitute

In the mock and mire of our troubles and struggles



He is the Omnipresent God

He was at the beginning

He will be at the very end of all things

He is present throughout all eternity


But we don’t sense His presence

We don’t hear His words of comfort or direction

When we are in most desperate need


Ignored

Rejected

Abandoned



He is the Omniscient God

Who knows the end from the beginning

Who knows our every thought before we think them

Who knows our every action

Our every decision

Our every feeling

Sees our every teardrop


But when we seek His wisdom and we don’t hear His voice

We seek His direction and He doesn’t speak

We ask for His wisdom and His will

We plead for wisdom and comfort


Crickets

Nothing

Zilch

Nada

Deafening silence



Why do You abandon us so

Why do You ignore us

Why do You turn a deaf ear to our cries



Those are our human perspective and experiences



While in Heaven

In the spiritual realm


God is working out all things

according to His good and perfect purpose


According to His timing


He has not abandoned us

A thousand days is like one day to God


Our sufferings are momentary from the perspective of eternity


Sometimes God allows us to stay in our suffering

Like the silversmith who heats up the caldron

So he could remove the crud that comes up to the surface


God allows our suffering

To surface our impurities


All the things that do not fully reflect God and His Kingdom

His Righteousness

His Peace

His Joy


Sometimes we have NOT done anything wrong

Sometimes it is not a generational stronghold or sin


Like the man born blind whom Jesus healed


Sometimes it is so God can be glorified


Like Joseph

Who was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery

Wrongly accused by Potiphar’s wife when he was acting righteously

Forgotten by the Chef Wine Bearer whom he interpreted the dream for


Like Christ

Who was born a helpless babe

Lived and taught and performed miracles

To demonstrate God’s Kingdom


Who was betrayed by His inner circle

Rejected by the very ones He came to save

Nailed on the cross

Suffered excruciating death on the cross


Satan thought he had won

Satan danced at the sight of Christ’s death on the cross

Satan thought he had put to death humanity’s only hope of salvation



Yet God was at work


All along


Joseph had to be betrayed

Suffer for injustices as he lived righteously


Christ had to be betrayed

To be crucified for us on the cross


For what Joseph’s brothers

For what Satan

Meant for harm


GOD MEANT THEM FOR GOOD


For the saving of lives

For the salvation of all mankind


He is The Sovereign God

Whose timing is different from ours


God’s powers are not too weak to accomplish His Will

God was present even when all we felt was His absence

God knows what we are going through every moment of our life


In the perspective of eternity

God is working all things out

For GOOD

For His PURPOSE

For those whom He LOVES


Who can separate us from the love of Christ

Shall trouble from within or without

or hardships of life

or persecution from others or from within

or famine or scarcity



No in all these things

We are more than conquerors through Him Who loves us



For the Spirit helps us


We do not know what we ought to pray for

But the Spirit Himself

Intercedes for us

With wordless groans


For He Who intervenes in our lives

Knows the Will of God

And intercedes for us

According to His Will


Who can separate us from the love of God

Shall our circumstances

Shall persecutions

Shall turmoil from within

Shall trouble from others

Shall our powerlessness over life

Shall the deafening silence

Shall our destitute life circumstances


Separate us from the love of God


Who is All Powerful

Who is ever-present

Who knows all things


For I am convinced that

Neither life nor death

Neither angels nor demons

Neither present nor future

Nor any powers

Neither height nor depth

Nor anything else in all creation

Will be able to separate us from the love of God

That is in Christ Jesus our Lord



"All Things" - Covenant Worship

Wednesday, December 25, 2019


Just For Me


Christmas

Christ born as a baby

Dependent

Vulnerable

Helpless


Born with a mission

Mission to die

To die for me


God the Creator

Jesus the Savior

Holy Spirit the Indweller


The Triune God

Was born on earth

Confined to the limits of humanity


The limitless God

Was confined in human form

In the form of a young baby


For the purpose of


Dying on the cross



Even if it is

Only

for

Just

One

of

Us



For me

A sinner who cannot save herself


For you



What a thought that


I am important enough


You are important enough


For God

To be born


In

Order

To

Die


We are worthy enough to

The Triune God


To be born as a babe

To die on the cross



Praise the Father

Praise the Son

Praise the Holy Spirit

Three in One




King of Kings by Hillsong


Monday, December 16, 2019



Gratitude


If it had not been for our God

We would have lost

Our steam

Our heart

Our hope

Our purpose

Our mind



For it was God

Who saw us

And carried us through our

Temptations

Trials

Struggles

Grappling

Valley of the Shadow of Death

Crashing waves

Impassible mountains

Sheer steep cliffs

Raging storms within and without

Desperation

Darkness

Despair

Hopelessness

Destitution


Dark night of our soul


It was Him

It is Him

It always will be Him


The Author and Perfecter of our soul



Who was there from the beginning

Is here in the present

And will always be there

For us

With us



For He is


Above us


Before us


Below us


Around us


Besides us



And inside us




Forevermore


For

 and

With

Us


The Key is Gratitude



When we are filled with doubt

Where is God

Who is this God


Who has not answered our prayers

Who has not even heard our cry

Who has not seen our desperation

Who appears to have fallen asleep on us


Fallen into a deep long sleep



For He has not answered our cry


In our deepest


Pitch black


Bottomless


Pit


He has left us in the pit

In our misery

Without lifting a finger


His presence wasn’t even there with us


We were

Left all alone

Abandoned

Rejected

Forgotten

Tossed out

Nonexistent


We have lost all hope


And He still did not show up


He did not help us

Nor save us

Nor was He even present with us

As He had promised He would


For our situation has not changed

Or has gotten even worse


Is He a deaf and dumb god

Have we put our hope in a non-living god

A non-existent god


Was He a figment of our imagination

An emotional crutch

Our “Coping Mechanism”




Darkness

Silence

Desolation




Until…


We recall


How He had been there for us in the past


We recall


What He has done for us in the past


How He has


Granted us salvation which we did not earn nor deserve


Changed us from the inside out

Saved us from our ourselves


Visited us in the pit we have dug for ourselves

Visited us when we were destitute



Even though they were in our distant past


We can’t help but recall


He once was there for us

He did show up

He did save us

He did change us

He actually did bless us



Albeit in distant past



He nonetheless

Was Real

Is Real



As we reach into the recesses of our minds


We can recall


We do recall


What He has done for us


If it hadn’t been His mercy

Or His love


We would have

Lost all hope

Given up

Walked away from Him


But for the grace and mercy of God

But by the grace and mercy of God


We were pressed on every side but not crushed

Perplexed but not in despair

Persecuted but not abandoned

Struck down but not destroyed



And now

As we recall

What He has done for us in our past


As we start to recount

His blessings


How He has met our needs

Physically

Bodily

Emotionally

Mentally

Financially

Relationally

Spiritually


How He has blessed us with things we have

Not earned

Nor deserved



As we recall

As we recount


What He has done for us


All that we do have in our lives


We start to recount in the present


And start to list each of


His provisions

His protections

His mercies

His blessings



His abundant goodness


As we fill our

Hearts with gratitude

The fog or our mind dissipates

Our misery lifts

Our bottomless pit is filled

Our despair dissipates

Our hope arises

Our soul swells up

Our spirit soars


Our mouths now filled with laughter



G          R          A          T          I           T          U          D          E



Recounting God’s blessings in the past

The provisions in the present which we have taken for granted


Enables us to be reassured of

His goodness


His reality


His existence