Focal Passage for 2010:
“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 (NKJV)
Weekly Passage:
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him…Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will HE brought forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creation” (James 1:1-5, 16-17).
Over the past several months, God has revealed to me that I have not had a Biblical view of who HE is. HE has been so gracious to me and has taught me and continues to teach me to search His Word thoroughly and to trust in His sovereignty. In the past, I have tried to define God based on my rationale, understanding, wisdom, and fleshly desires (world view); however, God is faithfully changing my world view into a Biblical view (understanding who God is through the truth of His Word).
Satan is the Master Manipulator. Scripture tells us that Satan is cunning (Gen. 3:1), a murderer (John 8:44), the father of lies (John 8:44), a roaring lion walking around seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), a thief (John 10:10), our adversary (1 Peter 5:8), and our accuser (Revelation 12:10). Satan’s tactics are designed to distract us from pure worship of the One True Living God. Satan will manifest his lies to fit our personality, circumstance, and vulnerabilities. That is why God’s Word warns us to “be sober, be viligant” (1 Peter 5:8) and to arm ourselves daily (moment by moment) with the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). We must guard ourselves with truth and stand firm on that truth no matter what our circumstances are, what our flesh desires, and/or what the world offers us.
Satan uses lies to distract us from God’s Truth:
THE LIE: “God is NOT who HE claims to be.”
THE TRUTH: “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer; the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and the Last; Besides Me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6)
THE LIE: “You are NOT who God says you are.”
THE TRUTH: “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father”…heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…” (Romans 8:15 & 16b)
THE LIE: “You are not sinning, you are just doing things a little differently than other people. You are an independent person.”
THE TRUTH: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…” (1 Samuel 15:22-23a)
God reveals who HE is through His Word and HE faithfully uses every circumstance in our lives to draw us to Him. Our focal passage tells us that even the trials in our lives are “good and perfect gifts” from God. How can this be true? Trials can be hard, frightening, disappointing, painful, and sometimes fatal. Our flesh cannot comprehend how something that we find so difficult can be a good and perfect gift from the Lord God. My Friend, the answer lies within our view of God. If we view God through the truth of His Word, we will begin to understand how a perfect and loving God can and does use trials in our lives to produce spiritual fruit in us and a more intimate relationship with Him. When we view trials through the eyes of Scripture, we will see God’s hand at work, know that HE is working all things for our good and His glory, and we HE will cultivate in us a solid faith in Him!!!
A beautiful example of this is found in the book of Job. In Job 1:6-12 & 2:1-10, God’s Word records the conversations between the LORD God and Satan. Each time, Satan asks permission to afflict Job and the LORD God allows this. If we fast-forward to chapters 38 and 39, we learn that Job has asked God for a reason that HE allowed him to suffer, and these two chapters record God’s response to Job. How does God answer Job? God’s Word says that:
• God laid the foundations of the earth
• God determined the earth’s measurements
• God alone fastened the earth to its foundations and laid its cornerstone
• God set the boundaries to the sea and determined where they would flow
• God made the clouds and gave them their purpose
• God gives the dawn its time and darkness its place
• God alone has power over life and death and has appointed each person’s days
• God created light
• God created the seasons and each element with a specific and unique purpose
• God has given a thunderbolt its path
• And causes the rain to fall
• God has power over all the elements of the universe and each obeys His voice
• God gives wisdom and allows man to have intellectual thought and reasoning
• God provides for each and every animal and knows when a new creature is born
• God guides the birds of the air and the beast of the fields
In Job 40:3-5, we see Job’s response to the LORD God. “Then Job answered the LORD and said: “Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth, Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.” God’s grace allowed Job to understand who God is, was, and always will be. God did not answer Job’s question about “why” HE allowed him to suffer but instead God answered the real question that Job needed answered. You see, it was better that Job understood “who” allowed his suffering. Why is this important for us today?
My Friend, God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). God desires to draw us to Himself, reveal to us who HE is through the truth of His Word, and establish in us a pure relationship with Him. EVERYTHING God does, EVERTHING God allows, and EVERYTHING God withholds from us is for our good and His glory!!! Some of us today may be facing a trial and we may be questioning why God is allowing such a thing in our lives. May each of us be encouraged through the power and truth of God’s Word! God loves us and His purposes are perfect. I love what one of our pastors said in a message a few weeks ago, “Trials are God’s blessings in disguise.”
My Friend, do you have a Biblical view of the Lord God? Can you trust that whatever God is allowing in your life is for a divine purpose? Are you willing to allow God to use that trail to shape you more into His image? Trials are truly tools in the Master’s hands that HE uses to shave away the parts of us that are not glorifying to Him and prunes us so that we will produce the fruit of the spirit so that others may see Christ in us and be drawn to Christ through us!!!! We love as Christ loves when we surrender ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to use us however HE chooses to minster to a dark and dying world. We may not even realize how our trials may touch the lives of other people as they watch us praise the Lord in the midst of difficult times.
