One commonly hears other believers talk about being called by God to do something. This is most often used with regard to the call to be a pastor (sometimes referred to as the “call to the ministry”) or the call to be a missionary. (more…)
2 Comments » Nothing seems more harmless than grumbling about the weather. But…it is a terrible sin of unbelief. What is at stake when we complain about the weather? We are questioning the wisdom of our God. We are questioning the sovereignty of our God. We are questioning the love of our God. (more…)
There are times in my life when the busyness of life just seems to take over. When days blend together and I cannot differentiate one day to the next and without a calendar I could not tell you what I did the day before. I get so focused on what needs to get done that I forget the truly important, or, even worse, that the truly important things become a mere checklist in another day. There are times when reading the Scriptures becomes bland. I will read Scripture in the morning and be thinking that it is good stuff and that I should be excited about but I’m not. From there I usually just spiral down into a good melancholy state when almost everything seems negative. This is especially difficult for us extra introspective people. (more…)
James 1:13-15
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown , gives birth to death.
In this blog I want to explore the relationship between a temptation and a test in the life of the believer. In seeking to understand the relationship between these two concepts it must be pointed out that the same event can be for the believer both a temptation and a test. How can this be so?
In my previous blog on the problem of evil I pointed out that our God is the first cause of all things, even evil, yet when evil is done those who do the evil and they alone are to be blamed for the evil. God can never be blamed for the evil as he is a holy God (1 John 1:5). When a believer encounters a temptation he is being tempted to dishonor his God. The source of this temptation comes either from the remaining evil within the believer or from evil outside of the believer. So, from the point of view of responsibility God cannot be blamed for the temptation since temptation is only concerned with the enticement to do evil. But, from the point of view of God as the first cause of all things, the same event that has been described as a temptation is also a test brought into the life of the believer by a loving Father who would never bring anything into the life of the believer that was not motivated by his love and for their good (Romans 8:28). The test is brought into the life of the believer in order to build him up not tear him down.
A temptation is also a test and a test is also a temptation. It all depends on your point of view. When we are tempted to do evil we must resist this temptation for we are being enticed to do something that dishonors the God whom we love (Hebrews 12:4). But, from another point of view the temptation can be also viewed as a test that our Father in heaven has brought into our lives in order to cause us to become more Christ-like and to increase our love for Him (Romans 8:28).
When you study Scripture at some point you will encounter the problem with evil. By that I mean you recognize that the God of heaven and earth is absolutely sovereign and determines whatever happens (Ephesians 1:11). You also see that man is viewed as absolutely responsible for his sin (Romans 9:18, Acts 4:27-28). Finally, it is also quite clear that the our God is perfectly holy and cannot do anything evil (1 John 1:5, Isaiah 6:1-4). On the surface this seems to be an irresolvable difficulty. How can a holy sovereign God determine events that are evil in themselves? (more…)
In these days of economic uncertainty and suffering it is good for the believer to have a biblical perspective on what is happening to him. What we are talking about is having a biblical attitude about all of life. What does Scripture say about how we are to view what is happening to us? Well…. I am glad that you asked that question for Scripture is quite clear on this issue. In Romans 8:28 we are told that everything will work out for our good if we are a believer.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV)
The reason that everything works out for our good is because our Father in heaven is controlling everything that happens to us and he is motivated in what he does to us by this love for us and his perfect wisdom. (more…)
I was doing some reading in Scripture and I came across Numbers 28. This is the chapter that describes the various offerings that must be done in the nation of Israel. There are the daily offerings, the Sabbath offerings, the monthly offerings, etc. Now, to be honest I normally do not find this portion of Scripture very stimulating. I typically race through it to get to something that it is more interesting or relevant. The detailed descriptions of the various offerings that were to be done by Israelites seem not only to be tedious reading but also a tedious way to live. So… how do we make sense of this section of Scripture. It is the word of God and therefore it is profitable for us to study (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The challenge is to find out how we are to view this passage so that we can find a proper application for our lives. (more…)
At the end of the 6th day of creation God made the statement that Moses recorded, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31 NIV) The goodness of our God’s creation is under attack and it is necessary that we understand our Father’s creation from the point of view of the new covenant era and the law of Christ. (more…)
I am no spring chicken and as the grey hairs have multiplied I am becoming ever increasingly convinced that one of the greatest hindrances to true fellowship is the refusal to talk to another believer about something that is bothering you about them. In this matter Silence is NOT golden and this silence will fracture the body as it undermines true biblical fellowship. For silence is the cancer that destroys the relationship. (more…)
My premise is this: If you love your Lord then this will naturally work itself out in your love for those around you.
Dear Friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8
As I am well into the grey hair years one thing is becoming increasingly clear to me. Relationships are what it is all about and it is relationships that provide the richness in the Christian life. It is quite true that our life as a believer can be distilled down to the truth that we have a personal relationship with the living God. We are an incurable God-lover and this is the result of the work of the Spirit in our lives that every believer experiences (Romans 8:5-14, 1 Peter 1:8, Romans 6:17-18). This work of the Spirit will cause us to love those around us. Relationships in the Lord become for the believer that which makes life rich.
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