Hi, sorry it's been a little while, life got crazy. I worked 120+ hours in the last two weeks, and even without a class to work on I was beat. Life really isn't slowing down, I started Hebrew Monday, a language that is written right to left and composed of lines and dots, two letters for T, two letters for H, four letters for S, two silent letters, several letters that sound the same, and multiple forms of letters that look similar to other letters. I probably should have taken this class before I committed to a PhD on the portion of the Bible written in the language.
The last post I wrote focused on John 4.49-50:
The royal official said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.
The royal official had a problem, came to Jesus, and was sent away with nothing more than Jesus' word that his son would live. He responded in trust, took Jesus at His word, and went home.
Trusting Jesus is something that has been difficult for me. I believe in Him as the only source of eternal life, but most of my trust in Him has stopped at the work of salvation. The word of Jesus goes far beyond that. Jesus came not simply to forgive sins, but to give eternal life. This is not simply living forever, but a different quality of life. Jesus came not just to forgive, but to free.
The intention of God is not just to forgive me so that I can get into Heaven some day, but to bless my life so that I can glorify Him. This is in no way proclaiming a message of God wants you to be happy and wealthy, but God blesses us so that we can glorify Him. He is a loving Father, and He loves to bless His children.
In my life, this hasn't seemed to workout like I thought it would/should. As a result, I've fallen into periods of doubt and discouragement because of how life has turned out. It is so easy to look at the hardships, the disappointments, and begin to doubt the promises of God. This week I was reminded of a quote from A.W. Tozer, I'm guessing it's from The Pursuit of God, "It's doubtful that God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply."
Again this is not saying that God will make everything better, and give you anything you want; I don't believe that, and I'll never preach that. The reality of this life is that there will be hardships, there will be struggles, there will be pain and disappointments. But the reality of God is that He is loving a Father (1 John 3.1), He cares for us (1 Peter 5.7), He desires for us to have life (John 3.16-17; 10.10), and that He will never leave us, or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31.6).
The word of God is one of promised presence, provision, and blessing. Through the hard times, God is there. In the blessings, God is there. The word of God is His unfailing presence. This is the thing that I have to remember, whatever I face, God is with me, and whatever I go through, God can use it for His glory.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
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