Tough Questions

Last week we watched the Revelation episode from Superbook.  This was the second time we have done so because it is one of our favorites.  In the story, the character Chris accidentally starts a fire.  The fire is put out, but his house is burned to the ground.  Chris feels angry and upset.  He feels like there is no hope, that his parents will never be able to forgive him. 

Superbook takes Chris, his friend Joy, and robot Gizmo on a journey to the end of times.  But Chris is left alone in a barren wasteland where Satan tries to convince him that God is to blame for all the suffering in the world, that he allows it to happen.  But Chris listens to the Holy Spirit and refutes Satan. 

It is an amazing episode.  My girls (age 6 and 9) love the ending where all the earth is made new and God is seated on the throne.  They love the golden angels and flying horses.

But the middle of the story brings up the big question, 'If God loves us and is all-powerful, why does he allow bad things to happen?'  The answer is not simple.  First of all, God did not want Earth to be this way.  He wanted it to stay a beautiful Eden where God walked with man.  But he gave/gives us free will.  He gives us a choice.  Otherwise we would just be soulless automaton (robots.)  He gives us a choice, and he wants us to choose him!  He wants us to willingly give over our lives to his plan, to give us love and joy forever.  As a loving Father, he gently guides us.  Sometimes he humbles us with trials, refining us in the fire, molding us as clay in his hands.  He wants so much more for us!

He is indeed, a Good, Good Father!

God's Promises

                        Justification

• Removing the guilt of sin, made righteous in the sight of the Lord
  

The words “it was credited to [Abraham]” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Romans 4:22-24

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:5-10

                               Sanctification

• Process of being made holy, becoming like Christ Jesus

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Romans 6:1-4

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:20-23

See "What Does Sanctification Mean? How Do We Sanctify?"--https://www.christianity.com/jesus/following-jesus/repentance-faith-and-salvation/what-does-sanctification-mean.html               

                               Glorification

• Raised up with Jesus, given a new body that cannot die
  

Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Revelations 22:12-15

Eden Restored

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and
his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Revelations 22:1-5

See https://www.compellingtruth.org/glorification.html

Co-heirs with Christ

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory....

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Romans 8: 14-17,29-30

Treasure in Heaven

Jesus said--

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21

****

Come Lord Jesus, Come.

Amen.

"We call out to dry bones, come alive, come alive!"

Ezekiel 37: 1-3

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

***
God spoke to Ezekiel.  Can you imagine God speaking directly to you?  Ezekiel was humbled and in awe, as we should be as we approach the Word of God and his Holy Spirit.  But what's with the 'dry bones?'  The dry bones were God's chosen people, Israel.  They were dead because they were far from God and without hope.  God also speaks to us today.  Dry bones are any who are dead without the hope of Christ's saving grace.

***

vs. 5-6

This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

***

Imagine God bringing the dead dry bones to life.  He is God, he can do anything.  He brings life where there is none, just as in the beginning he breathed life into the world.

***

vs. 11-14
Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

***

Is God speaking to us today?  Is our nation cut off without hope?  In a nation based on faith, so many have turned away.  They do not put their trust in God, and so are led astray.  What's right is now considered wrong and what is wrong is considered right.  We put our trust in our bank accounts, our jobs, our homes, even religious trappings.  We are proud. 

God please humble us.  Let us see that you love us.  Do not turn away.  We want you to renew us and make us your people again.  The Christian church needs to turn to you as our only hope of salvation; to remember that we are not in charge.  All things of the earth pass away.  We need to store up treasure in heaven where they will last always--obeying God, loving others, praying for guidance.  Send your Holy Spirit to guide us on the path eternal.

In Jesus' holy name, Amen.

Remove from me this heart of stone

         

                              https://www.kingmetalsandalloys.com/boulder-rock-stone.htm

>>>The first step in our commitment (or re-commitment) to prayer is to humble ourselves...

Isaiah 64:6

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

>>>Recognize that God wants more than an outward show of goodness...

1 Samuel 15:22-23

But Samuel replied: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams^. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”

Matthew 23:27-28

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."

>>>When we fall short, we know we need God to help us...

Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

>>>We must confess and ask for God's cleansing forgiveness...

Psalm 51: 10-12

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

>>>Ask him to completely change us.  Then we can claim his promises...

Ezekiel 36:26-29
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.  I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you.

***************************

Yes Lord, make us receptive to your Holy Spirit.  We want to be your people again.  Let 'Christian' mean something - a church set a part.  Let us be followers of Jesus Christ and let everyone see that there is something different about us.  Open our hearts to your Spirit.  Open our ears to your Word.  Open our eyes to those who need to know about you and your love.

Thank you Lord Jesus.

Amen