Category: Grace

Nice Try, Sheldon

Posted on by Dorci

Every once in a while you hear someone say they don’t believe in God or the Bible because, they say, the Bible has contradictions.  Most people would probably be hard-pressed to actually name one, but as I watched an episode of Young Sheldon – the television show about a budding scientist and atheist who is forever exasperating his Christian mother by raising his hand in the middle of church to ask the pastor a question – he asked one particular question I thought was intriguing and I took it as a challenge.

 

In the middle of the service, Pastor Jeff quotes Jacob in Genesis 32:30, “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

Sheldon immediately turns to his mother and says in all his precociousness, “Is this an appropriate time to mention that John 1:18 says, ‘No man hath seen God at any time.’ Who’s right? Jacob or John?”

 

Hm.  Who is right?

So I started with Genesis, jumped to the beginning of chapter 32 and read to the end of it. There’s a lot going on in these verses, so I’ll keep my answer focused on the immediate action Pastor Jeff quoted.

Jacob is on his way to meet up with his brother Esau, and he’s a little freaked out. It’s nighttime and he’s alone, when suddenly a Man appears and wrestles with Jacob until dawn.  After refusing to let the Man go until He blesses him, which He does, “Jacob called the name of the place Peniel (meaning Face of God): ‘For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.'”

Then I flipped over to the book of John, chapter 1. John begins by describing the God/Man Jesus – the Word, the Logos, or expression of the Father – that He was in the beginning, that He was with God, and that He was God.  He goes on to describe the deity of the Man, Jesus Christ, that He is the Light born into this world by the will of God.

And then John goes on to say “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”

Of course Jacob and John are both right.

Jacob saw God in the form of a Man.  In fact he wrestled with Him all night.  (Ever wrestled with God in prayer?)  Jacob was able to handle seeing and dealing with God in this humbled form covered by flesh.

So when John says no one has seen God at any time, he is saying no one has seen the full glory of the Almighty God (but the Son has shown Him to us).

Even Moses was only allowed to see the back of God.

There have been many times I’ve casually read a portion of scripture that seemed to make no sense at all.  It didn’t line up with my preconceived idea of who God is, or it seemed to contradict another part of scripture.  By now though I know the Bible isn’t wrong. I am. 100% of the time.

Because I don’t understand it just means my mind is smaller than God’s. Any god whose mind is no bigger than mine is no God at all. And yet the grace of God has revealed Himself to us in His Son. 

Because our human understanding is limited, it takes the Spirit of God to interpret His Word and give us understanding.  I know that if I pray for wisdom, and really dig into God’s Word, study it and learn what it actually means, I’ll discover the Bible is never contradictory.  Not even between the Old Testament and the New. God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.  His Word is unerring and perfectly compatible with itself.

And by studying it my understanding of God grows, and so does my love for Him.

If you are reading this and you’ve kept your distance from God because you’ve heard the Bible has contradictions, maybe you even have something in particular in mind you believe is a contradiction, I encourage you to read it for yourself.  Seek out someone you believe might have the answer, or can dig into God’s Word with you to discover the truth.  There’s a website, Got Questions, that allows you to submit questions and also has a large archive of past articles.  And I’d be willing to give any questions you have a shot.

And for us who are believers, let’s keep studying God’s Word, or maybe we need to start.  There is a lot of teaching out there that is very unscriptural, even among some who seem to have authority, and we need to have a solid understanding of God’s Word, and discernment, so the enemy doesn’t deceive us, leading us to believe things about God that aren’t true, causing disillusionment and drawing us away from Him.

Let us emulate our Berean brothers and sisters, who were “of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”  Acts 17:10-11 

There are a lot of treasures in there to uncover.

Happy studying,

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Focus

Posted on by Dorci

“But no one who belonged to Christ’s churches in Judea
had ever seen me (Paul the apostle) in person.
They had only heard that the one who had been cruel
to them was now preaching the message that he had
once tried to destroy. And because of me,
they praised God.”
Galatians 1:22-24

 

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you.  We praise you for revealing yourself to us, for putting your Spirit in us and for giving us new hearts. You’ve replaced our hearts of stone and given us hearts of flesh, all for the sake of your holy name.  Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve let my heart get stony again. Please continually remind us to live in a way that reveals the new hearts of love you’ve given us so we might encourage, build up, and comfort our brothers and sisters, that they might praise your name, and so the world can see our hearts reflecting your love that they might turn, repent, believe in you, and praise your name.  Help us live lives worthy of your calling, to remember our purpose and stay focused on you so that through us you might bring peace to a broken and hurting world, and praise to your name.  In your name and for your glory, Lord Jesus, amen.

Saturday Song – Our God’s Alive

Posted on by Dorci

 

Our God is alive, and in Him, we too, are the light of the world…

The Day God’s Word Saved Me from Myself…Again

Posted on by Dorci

 

“For the Word of God is alive and active. ” Hebrews 4:12

It was a Thursday morning and I was in the middle of work when the phone rang.  It was my sister calling out of the blue. Our mother’s health had suddenly deteriorated and my sister wanted to know if I wanted to go see her.  I hadn’t talked to my mother in years.

Well, there was a brief and difficult conversation we’d had several months before.  The Holy Spirit had nudged me a number of times over the course of a couple of weeks to call my mother.  What if she didn’t want to hear from me?  What if she didn’t know who I was?  He kept nudging so I gathered up the courage one day and called her.  She knew who I was but didn’t understand everything I was saying. I was able to tell her I loved her, and she told me she loved me, too.  That was basically the extent of the conversation. But God knew I needed to both say it and hear it, and so did she.

I told my sister I’d think about it for a few minutes and call her back.

I grabbed my Bible, walked away from my desk, sat down, and prayed.

What if she didn’t want to see me?  What about work? What about the appointment I have scheduled this afternoon? And what about all those vacant years of not having her there, of not having a mother?  Do I go see her after all that?

I opened my Bible, to what I didn’t know. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. I didn’t have time and my thoughts were swirling. I just wanted to hear from the Lord. The pages fell and I started reading.  One column…and another…and another.  I looked up, asking the Lord again, “What do I do?”

And suddenly it came to me – this is not about me.  This is about her.  All she had in the world, besides the nurses and other residents, was my sister and me.  If I were dying I’d want my sons there, and I knew our mother would want both of us there, too.

I called my sister back and we went.  I sat with my mother for hours as we looked each other in the eyes in a way we never had. Because of Jesus, I was now able to look at her through eyes of grace. Her words were harder to understand now, but I smiled at her and she smiled back. We hugged goodbye and again said “I love you.”

I was able to visit her a few more times in the month after that.  The communication became less and less until that last time when she couldn’t open her eyes or speak at all.

They say the hearing is the last thing to go.

I’m thankful that one of the last things she heard were her two daughters, talking and reminiscing and laughing. I pray that brought her joy.

I know I wouldn’t have gone to see my mother had I not taken the time to sit with Jesus and read His Word. There was nothing specific in my Bible reading that morning that had to do with what He ministered to my heart – that the visit was not about me, but about being there for my mother.  Still, reading it somehow opened a conduit for me to hear what He wanted to say to me. I don’t fully understand it, but His Word really is active and alive.

My mother died exactly one month to the day after that first call from my sister.  Because I prayed and opened His Word, God gave me the gift of one month of good memories with my mother.  I know they were good memories for her, too, and she deserved that.

We don’t have much time these days.  We’re all so busy that finding quiet time seems impossible, and it may seem like there’s just not enough time to read. The thing is, we don’t have time not to read God’s living Word. 

Reading His Word is not just about reading another book.  As Christians, it is our breath, our life.  It is the primary way God’s chosen to let us hear His heart beating and to hear His whispers of love and wisdom. With it He will give us answers to questions that come out of the blue, and make sure we don’t miss something wonderful.  He will make us a light shining for a dark world, and for someone whose days are dimming. 

He will reveal Himself, come near, and our hearts will beat as one.  

 

A New Thing

Posted on by Dorci

 

 

God always seeks to do a new thing in our hearts.  Let’s be ready with open hearts!

Happy New Year!