A Time of War

 Ecc 3:8
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Today we remember those who fought for our country and our freedom. Soldiers of war who gave their lives so that we may live our lives in freedom. It is sad that there has to be a time of war. A time when we have to stand up and fight for what is right. And in many cases, standing for what is right means giving up life. The fight between good over evil is seen in every society throughout history. Destroying life to save life seems contradictory, but we are surrounded by evil, and evil does not desire compromise. It seeks to destroy and oppress. It desires dominion and instills fear in others and the masses. This, unfortunately, is reality. Solomon recognized as long as evil was present in this world, that war would exist. Jesus some day will return to earth, set up His Kingdom, and all war will cease and peace will reign. But until then, kingdoms will rise above the kingdoms, and those who desire to rule and conquer will continue to force their will and threaten the freedoms of others. 
In our spiritual life, we also fight a war. This war is not against flesh and blood, but we wrestle (fight) “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”(Eph 6:12) We fight for our spiritual freedom in Christ. Satan desires to bring us back into bondage to sin. God has promised to fight our battles for us. In time of war, we can put our trust in the One who will lead us to victory. “Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before! Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; Forward into battle, see His banner go!“ Fight the good fight of faith!

The Eyes of the Lord

 Proverb 15:3
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

The omnipresence of God is one of His deity's attributes. He is everywhere, present in all situations, and sees not only what happens in the visual world, but sees what is in the heart of man. He sees the evil that is happening in the world today. The perversion of humanity, calling good evil and evil good. He saw evil in the days of Sodom and Gommorah and did not tolerate the sinfulness of that day. He sees the wokeness of our day and His eyes are heavy with sorrow. His heart breaks to see that many have become reprobates, turning away from the truth of His word to their own desires, fulfilling the lust of the flesh. Yes, God sees the heart, and His holiness will judge rightly. He is a God of grace and forgiveness. He will not turn away a heart that desires to turn toward that which is good and righteous. He beholds those who are seekers after righteousness and seek that which is good. There is nothing that is hidden from Him. “ If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea.” (Psalm 139:8-9) He not only sees us, but he is there with us. The eyes of the Lord are never deceived or tricked, they are perfect and can see things that man cannot see. We can be assured that His eyes are on us.  The songwriter penned this so accurately.  “For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” For the eyes of the Lord are in every place.

Evil Turned to Good

 Gen. 50:20
“..You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good..”

Turning something bad into good. That is what God is able to do. We look at circumstances in our lives and will often ask, why? What good will come from this? A life surrendered to God does not have to ever say, “If only.” The things that happen in our lives are for a purpose, and we just have to wait to see what God is going to do. Even if we miss the mark, and fail to do what is right, God can take our failures and do something good. This is not a reason not to walk and live carefully before God, but a reminder that God will not leave us hanging. The laws of sowing and reaping are not discarded, sin has its consequences, but we serve a merciful God who will show Himself to be full of grace. But, we can live like Joseph, and believe that God has a reason for the things that happen in our lives. At the moment, we probably will not see it. Joseph, sitting in the prison cell, no doubt, had his days when he wondered why his life was going to waste. His life was a sample of righteous living. He was a victim of other people's bad decisions. We don’t see God’s main plan. God is in control of the endgame. He makes the last move and knows how the story will end. We are clay in the master’s hand. He is shaping and molding us into the vessel that can be used for His glory. God used Joseph to save his family and the nation. God took the evil deeds of his brothers and turned them into a blessing for good. When bad things happen to God’s people, let us trust God to use them for good. 

Reward Evil With Good

 Prov 25:21,22

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,  and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

It should be the goal of every Christian to befriend everyone that they meet. It is not our goal to make enemies, but it is inevitable that there will be people who will consider you their enemy. Their heart is darkened with sin and the carnal nature is an enemy of God. “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4) Taking a stand against the sin of this present day is not a popular position. You will have enemies that will make you out to be evil and incentive. The action we take as Christian is critical to the work of the Kingdom of Christ. The teaching of Christ makes it clear that we are not to retaliate with animosity and hatred, yet we are not to compromise the teaching of God’s Word. The principle of “Turn the other cheek” is demonstrated in the words of Solomon. Return evil with good, do good to all men regardless how they may treat you. Let your life reflect Christ in such a way that their hearts are convicted with guilt of their deeds and believe God that they will come to know the truth and repent of their wicked ways. God rewards the faithful who not only are faithful to keep God’s word, but to demonstrate the love of God to a world who is blinded by the darkness of our day, and needs Jesus. Let us return evil with good.

Disobedience to God

 Gen. 2:17
​​ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The fall of Adam and Eve points to a tree placed in the garden. The tree was put there for a purpose. God does all things with a purpose. The tree of knowledge tested man’s obediences to God, the one who created them. The command was simple, “Don’t eat this fruit”. God’s commandments are given for man’s good.  A tree with fruit that God forbid them to eat. The fruit was no doubt a fruit to be desired. Eating of the forbidden fruit would open Adam and Eve to the dark evil ways of sin. It was not so much the fruit itself, but the disobedience of Adam and Eve that caused them to plunge into darkness, causing their hearts now to seek the pleasures of evil.  God made man a free moral agent, the ability to choose right, or wrong. God did not predestine Adam and Eve to make the wrong choice, they could have abstained from the temptations of Satan, but they choose to listen to the deceptive lies of Satan and disregard God's words. We all have choices to make each day. Sometimes choices are made without all the information, but such choices are not willful disobedience to God’s word. But, “Thus saith the Lord.” are made clear in His word. Our human judgment may falter, but we can have a heart perfect toward God. Draw close to God, and He will draw close to us. Follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and do what He saith. 

God Makes Everything Good

 Gen. 1:31

And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good…

From the beginning, we were created in the image of God. In the likeness of his holiness. Not created to be a god, but to have a relationship with a holy God. We were made good and without sin. “Everything He made was very good”. Good turned to bad when Adam and Eve yielded to temptation. Satan deceived them, causing them to disobey what God forbidden them to do. God’s good creation fell from having a good heart to a sinful heart of unbelief. The sin was not in the fruit, but in their unbelief to trust God and obey his commandments. This is a sad story given to us in His word. But, the story does not end there. Christmas came, and Christ was born. Born to save us from our sins. Restoring the goodness that we lost when He died and paid the supreme sacrifice for our sins. Sin has been nailed to the cross. The blood of Christ has been shed that we may once again have pure fellowship with the God of creation. We who were born in sin, can be made good when we accept Christ as our Redeemer and Savior. God is so good, and He makes everything good.

Love Bears All Things

1 Corinth 13:7 (AMP)
Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].
“All things” Hard to wrap our minds around the concept that in all things we are to love, believe, hope, and endure. The Amplified Bible adds commentary to “all things”. Life happens and both good things and bad things happen, regardless of the circumstances or situation, love is to bear it and believe that God has something good in store. We hold on believing that “all things will work together for good to them that love and trust God in faith. He desires to make us into His image. Things come into our lives to allow Christ to live through us, and this is "good". The temptation is to doubt God’s love and His power to work it out. The human tendency is to give up and withdraw into depression or even blame God for “all things”.  The love that God puts in our heart when Jesus comes into our lives is super natural, a stranger to human love. This love is the Holy Spirit that comes into our lives and gives us the power to manifest the fruits of God’s love in our circumstances. Love, without it, we will miss the mark.

Culture Change

 Psalm 46:1.2

God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], A very present and well-proved help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains be shaken and slip into the heart of the seas.

Change is not always good, especially if that change leads us away from God’s presence. We live in a changing world, especially in the attitudes about what is right and wrong, what is good and evil. Evil is called good, and good, evil. The changes can cause us to fear. We certainly are seeing the earth change, the foundations of our Biblical morals shaken, and the heart of our nation slip into seas of wickedness.  We have lost our scruples following the wisdom of the world instead of the wisdom of God. During these difficult times, God has promised to be our refuge and strength. We don’t know about tomorrow, but we can know that whatever changes we face, He will be there to help us!

Taste of the Lord

Ps. 34:8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

You don’t know until you try it. I have never met anyone who gave their lives to Jesus and later in life regretted doing so. We often try things because others who have tried it have had a good experience. There are something in the world that we know by other’s experience that it is best not to even try. We know that doing so often ends bad. Smoking, drinking, drugs, and various forms of immoral behaviors. But, drinking at the fountain of living water, taking a bite from the bread of Life, feasting at the table of the Lord is always done with satisfaction. It never leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Come and dine and see that the Lord is good. Taste of Him and your life will be filled with joy and satisfaction.

God is Against Evil

1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

The character question, do I choose to do good or do I choose to do evil. This should be a no brainer. Choosing to do good or live righteous is given with promise that the Lord will watch over those who do good, and He listens to the prayers of those who choose to live a life that follows His commandments. Choosing to do that which is evil or forbidden in God’s word is to have the wrath of God to face. This is pretty harsh when we think that God is love, pours out His grace, and desires to show mercy. Hard to think that this kind of God is against those who refuse to follow His ways and choose to do evil. God is holy, and the very nature of God is against that which is unholy, or evil. He is also a God of forgiveness and will not turn anyone away that will humble themselves before Him and confess their wicked ways. He desires fellowship with His fallen creation and has provided a way to have fellowship with Him. The cross has bridged the gap between sinful man and a Holy God. To those that refuse to turn from their wicked ways and do what is right, will face the judgment of the Lord for their choices. As long as we have breathe, we have a choice to do right or do evil. God does not make that choice for us. We decide if we will walk with God and do good, or abide in sin and do evil. 

Doing Good.

Psalm 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.

“If you know what is good for you”… The world is full of good things and bad things. We are told what foods are good for us to eat, and what foods are not good for us, or bad for us. There are good places to go, and there are bad places to go. It is good when we treat others with love, respect and kindness, it is bad when we gossip and speak ill of others, and treat them harshly. It is good to come into the presence of God and bask in His presences. It is good to wholly depend on God for the things we need. Doing what is good brings pleasure to the heart of God. He delights in those who desire to do good. Good things come from God, from the Father of light, bad things come from Satan, the father of liars. Daily we make choices to do good or to do bad. Making the choice to draw near to God will help us to make other choices that will also be good. We do not earn our way to heaven, but doing good things, but those who draw near to God will manifest a life of good deeds. 

God is Good

Isaiah 25:1 “O Lord, Thou art my God. I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name, for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”- 

When things go wrong, we so quickly are asking God “Why?” We sometimes go days without facing a severe trail or misfortune and fail to recognize the goodness of God for His blessings. I praise Him because He is God and His mercy and goodness is ever present. I will lift His name on high in the good times and in the difficult times because God is good. His miracles of goodness are with us everyday. On purpose this Sunday morning, I will praise Him! Things may not be going exactly the way I would like them to go, but I serve a good God who has been with me in my journey of life. His faithfulness is true and He has never failed. God is good, all the time. He knows the way that I take, and I praise Him because He cares about me and knows what I need. He will not let me down, and it is my desire that I praise Him even in the storm and rough times. I will praise Him because He is good!