The Personal Sovereign God

God exists. However, some, like Deists would suggest God or a Divine Being created everything then sat back or walked away - a wind-up creation and let the chips fall where they may type of involvement.

This is NOT the portrait of God in Christian Scripture. Over the physical creation, God is sovereign (Genesis 1-3). Over the spiritual realm, God is sovereign (1 Chronicles 21:15, 27; Matthew 13:41;). Over humanity as nations and individuals, God is Sovereign (Acts 17:26-28; Deuteronomy 32:7-8). Over all the plethora of details that construct existence and meaning, God is Sovereign.

Throughout Scripture, there is no escaping the picture of God as personally involved in the affairs of humanity and all His creation. In the Old Testament we read in Psalm 37:23 - "The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him;". Personal involvement.

Then the ultimate, intimate involvement was Father God sending His one and only Son to pay the cost of humanity's redemption - death upon the cross. John 3:16 spells this out perfectly for us - "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Praise God, the Cross, death is not where the the story ends for Christ or any of us or else the world would have had just a great martyr for two thousand plus years. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead defeating death, Hell and the grave. Now Jesus, by His Holy Spirit continues to bless the believer with even more intimate involvement by empowering and counseling them with His Spirit.

Paul encourages and testifies to The Personal God by writing to the believers in Philippi, stating - "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6) 

This verse alone screams of a personal God, involved intimately on behalf of His believers to develop them into the man or woman of Christ He knows they can be and wants them to be.

Control is an illusion. According to Scripture, humanity never was, is or will be in control. God is the I Am. He is before time, before all. The acceptance of the lie that we can be Sovereign through disobedience was the beginning of the The End for humanity. Now, managing of anything is the best we can do.

The balance that is terribly lacking has progressively worsened since The Fall. The balance is not between good and evil, unlike Star Wars that promotes the belief that good and evil must coexist or the universe doesn't - the balance is about restoring the proper perspective and position on The Personal Sovereign God.

We are doomed to frustration if we do not surrender to God that which we do not understand, discern partially and even the concepts we seem to grasp. The writer of Hebrews injects boldness into the believer as he underlines the fact that the Christian has an approachable, personal, sovereign God. Hebrews 4:16 says -

"Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." 

Through Christ Jesus - Father God's presence, Father God's ear and hand are always present, through the power of the Holy Spirit. I encourage my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to believe more in, trust more in and know more of - The Personal Sovereign God.

The Hope-filled Promise Of Eternal Glory

After experiencing major challenges in my life like sickness, disease, a huge financial hardship, job concerns and so forth I cannot tell you how many times I have inquired of The Lord - What do I learn from all this? Teach me Holy Spirit.

Change has to occur for development to proceed. God initiates His formula of pressure over time for believers to be refined. If He supplied us with the answers to problems on the onset of every issue, there would be no progress in our development. God allows change through all kinds of friction so that in our relationship with Him we move from glory to glory. Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:18 says it like this -

"And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Notice the transformation, the challenge or molding that God has to perform on the believer's character  between the glories. Surrender and trust in God's work in the Christian's life are the instruments to use in order to travel from glory to glory.

This is a great beginning to every problem - inviting God into the situation. I don't have an issue with trusting God with my dilemmas, my difficulty is gaining understanding from Him before, during or after the ordeal about why.

Perhaps believers can lean on Scripture like 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 which states -

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

Paraphrased, this sentence says, Yes, we are vessels made of clay, but we have a treasure within that displays to others that our usefulness is dependent upon God's all-surpassing power that can work through us. How is "God's all surpassing power" displayed? By being "hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

Alone, our minds, bodies and soul are weak and would be destroyed. However, the Christian has Jesus and His Holy Spirit to prove His grace, His favor is enough. Paul would state later - 

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." (2 Cor. 12:9)

Therefore, when life is trying to convince you that you are defeated, to just give into the pressures, perplexities, persecutions and abandonment - just remember He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within the believer. (Ephesians 3:20) That is why Paul called it that "all-surpassing power".

Sometimes our weaknesses travail to the point of death and we wonder - where was your all-sufficient grace and your perfect power then God? Even to this point Christians must trust. Paul said it best to the believers in Rome when he said, 

"If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." (Romans 14:8)

But even more than belonging to the Lord, the idea is the Sovereignty of God.

Allow me to provide you a second consideration for the why during the hard times of life.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 states -  

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Paul encourages the believer (Therefore we do not lose heart.), recognizes the problem (Though outwardly we are wasting away,), supplies hope (yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.), then gives a practical step to achieving our break-through during challenging times (So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.). 

Paul has given us the answer, to focus on the unseen, the eternal. And Jesus is the believer's ultimate unseen, eternal focus this side of Heaven, but Paul also mentions to look for eternal glories that our hardships achieved for the Christian - "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 

What a hope-filled promise! Fellow believer in Christ, the next time you are experiencing a light, hard, long or momentary trouble, keep your eyes fixed on Christ Jesus, trust in His Sovereignty and remember The Hope-filled Promise Of Eternal Glory.

The Unpardonable

From my research in Scripture, there is a sin among the plethora of sins that people, not God, declare as The Unpardonable sin - suicide. Taking one's life is an act of rebellion or disobedience against God. The Lord did not suggest, He commanded that we not murder in Exodus 20:13. Not murdering includes one's self. Suicide is murder of one's self in place of trusting in God's plan and providence for your life. 

Therefore, since suicide is a type of murder, it is one of many sins and not documented as an unpardonable sin that our culture has for whatever reason labeled it. This means suicide falls under God's grace through the cross of Christ. This does not by any stretch of the imagination give the green light or justification to suicide. Just because suicide is a forgivable sin does not mean we submit to the temptation to take our lives in our own hands.

If you are considering suicide, first call out to Jesus in prayer then immediately seek human help. Call 1-800-273-8255, the national hotline, get yourself to a hospital if you can, call 911, go alert someone in your home, apartment, or workplace, or wherever you are and do whatever it takes to get help.

So, according to Scripture, what is unpardonable by God? The two Biblical unpardonable sins by God are - 

1. Rejection of Christ Jesus as personal and cosmic Messiah and
2. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Concerning the rejection of Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ - 

"God has provided for our salvation in His Son as documented in John 3:16. Forgiveness is found exclusively in Jesus as cited in John 14:6. To reject the only Savior is to be left with no means of salvation; to reject the only pardon is, obviously, unpardonable."

(Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/unpardonable-sin.html)

The other unforgivable offense against God is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy is thought, word or action that attacks the character of God and has by design the desire to usurp God. Concerning someone who has rejected God by using blasphemy against the Holy Spirit - 

"According to Jesus, the unpardonable or unforgivable sin is unique. It is the one iniquity that will never be forgiven (“never” is the meaning of “either in this age or in the age to come” in Matthew 12:32. The unforgivable sin is blasphemy (“defiant irreverence”) of the Holy Spirit in the context of the Spirit’s work in the world through Christ. In other words, the particular case of blasphemy seen in Matthew 12 and Mark 3 is unique. The guilty party, a group of Pharisees, had witnessed irrefutable evidence that Jesus was working miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit, yet they claimed that He was possessed by the prince of demons, Beelzebul (Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:30).

The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day committed the unpardonable sin by accusing Jesus Christ (in person, on earth) of being demon-possessed. They had no excuse for such an action. They were not speaking out of ignorance or misunderstanding. The Pharisees knew that Jesus was the Messiah sent by God to save Israel. They knew the prophecies were being fulfilled. They saw Jesus’ wonderful works, and they heard His clear presentation of truth. Yet they deliberately chose to deny the truth and slander the Holy Spirit. Standing before the Light of the World, bathed in His glory, they defiantly closed their eyes and became willfully blind. Jesus pronounced that sin to be unforgivable."

(Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/unpardonable-sin.html)

Notice that these religious leaders and teachers of Judaism in the days of Jesus were the particular people needing to recognize the Holy Spirit's work and move in the life of Jesus. Christ even called them "hypocrites" (Matt. 23:27) and "a brood of vipers" (Matt. 22:33). These people of so called faith were certainly religious but Jesus and His grace were about relationship. These people were definitely not kindred Spirit with Jesus.

Therefore, the unforgivable sins, those who reject Christ Jesus as The Way and those that blaspheme the Holy Spirit, are a part of the lives of unbelievers. 

Those that accept Christ Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord of their lives automatically cancel out this unpardonable sin by executing Romans 10:9 - 

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

In addition, a true believer will never blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Once you become a true Christ follower, the Holy Spirit becomes activated in one's life. To say a believer has blasphemed the Holy Spirit is to say their initial conversion and faith-walk was and is a sham.

Between you and God, a prayer that aligns itself with Romans 10:9 is awesome. However, I do not believe that is the only step that must be taken. The authenticity of your decision that Jesus is Master of your life, that you believe in His plan of Salvation and that your eternity is secured in Him must be displayed in your lifestyle.

A new creature or creation has been born mentally and spiritually when you accept Christ as Lord and Savior. 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares this newness -

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

Now with this new beginning - new thoughts must form, new words must flow and new actions must occur in accordance with God's will, His Spirit and His Word. Your body, mind and soul is remodeled from the inside-out by the Great Designer - God. If we seek His counsel first in everything and desire to produce outcomes that further God's plans then there will not be a need to worry about The Unpardonable.

Wisdom And Understanding In God's Healing Process

All believers in Christ can trust God in the midst of a challenging sickness or disease even to the point of death. Christians may even learn a lesson during the ordeal or after the sickness has passed. God may even decide to heal the individual and that is a huge part in Understanding God's Healing Process.

The decision to heal or not to heal someone's condition is totally in God's court because I have witnessed God answer "yes" and heal quickly, "no" but walk with them through it, and even "no" and take them home to be with Him in Paradise.

I look at the beating that Christ took before His crucifixion and I recognize the payment upon the Cross and think - what am I missing that I cannot claim physical healing every time? There has got to be a satisfactory answer because God's will is not always for us to be healed physically. That is hard for me to write and admit at first, but totally understandable in light of Him not answering my prayers and the prayers of others for healing. In addition, there is the misunderstanding of a certain Scripture.

"Isaiah 53:5, which is then quoted in 1 Peter 2:24, is a key verse on healing, but it is often misunderstood and misapplied. 

'But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.' 

The word translated “healed” can mean either spiritual or physical healing. However, the contexts of Isaiah 53 and 1 Peter 2 make it clear that it is speaking of spiritual healing. 

'He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed' (1 Peter 2:24). 

The verse is talking about sin and righteousness, not sickness and disease. Therefore, being “healed” in both these verses is speaking of being forgiven and saved, not physically healed.

The Bible does not specifically link physical healing with spiritual healing. Sometimes people are physically healed when they place their faith in Christ, but this is not always the case. Sometimes it is God’s will to heal, but sometimes it is not. The apostle John gives us the proper perspective: 

'This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him' (1 John 5:14-15). 

God still performs miracles. God still heals people. Sickness, disease, pain, and death are still realities in this world. Unless the Lord returns, everyone who is alive today will die, and the vast majority of them (Christians included) will die as the result of a physical problem (disease, sickness, injury). It is not always God’s will to heal us physically.

Ultimately, our full physical healing awaits us in heaven. In heaven, there will be no more pain, sickness, disease, suffering, or death (Revelation 21). Whether or not God grants us physical healing in this world, we can trust His goodness and focus our hope on heaven where we will no longer have to deal with physical problems. Revelation 21:4 describes the true healing we all long for: 

'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'"

(https://www.gotquestions.org/healing-Bible.html)

So, where does that leave us? For me, there is not an issue of trust when approaching God about the challenging sickness or disease I am facing. When I surrendered my life, I surrendered my whole life and trust means I don't take any of the surrendered back. My struggle is with God withholding wisdom and understanding many times concerning the "why" of my experience.

I whole-heartedly believe if I had a grasp of this why part to the equation I could make sense of my suffering and accept it more. But I look at Job's life and am in awe at his response to all that happened to him. He lived before Christ and Christ's promises and yet said, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." (Job 1:21)

The matter boils down to acceptance of God's sovereignty despite what outcome you may be praying for. Some would say that is reverting back to a trust issue. It may be, but I am after more as I accept and trust in His total control - I am pursuing Wisdom And Understanding In God's Healing Process.