Learning about God’s Faithfulness in Spite of My Unfaithfulness

Today's blog is not so much a lesson from the lathe as a life lesson that God was kind enough to teach me. As the title says, it has to do with God’s faithfulness in spite of our unfaithfulness.

The last time that I had my laptop repaired, my computer guy told me that I was living on borrowed time. It had been losing speed, the fan was loud and always running, and it kept shutting down because it would overheat. Last week, I lost internet connectivity. I thought maybe it was just our home internet connection because even our home computer has been slowing down a lot lately. I took it to my daughter’s when I was babysitting the grandkids and ran a “reset” back to a set point past a date when I was sure that my internet had been working. (Do I sound techy or what?!) After that, I updated my anti-virus programs, ran a complete a complete scan and my computer seemed to be running much better. I took it home and it worked well, for about an hour. Then it lost connectivity once again! Needless to say, this did not make me happy. After trying to reset the set point again without success, I knew it was time to put it out to pasture.

This is my business computer so I will need to replace it. Also, with my beginning Centurions this is not a good time for me to be without a computer that connects to the internet. Almost everything that I do for this class will be done on-line. I am a firm believer that, when God calls you to do something, He will provide what you need to complete it. I also believe that God will not do for us what He wants us to do for ourselves. I began asking God to make it clear what He wanted me to do. I reminded Him of His promise to provide all of our needs. I told Him that it really was a need and that I wasn’t looking to replace just because I wanted something new. I asked Him to provide in such a way that I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was His will. Then I began asking for input from people whose opinion I respect. There are many options available and I won’t bore you with the details of my search.

After making five calls to the Apple store in three days, I decided on an iPad. (Brenda hates it when I get into research mode; that is the thing that scares her most about my taking classes. I tend to get tunnel-vision. But that is another article for another day!) The iPad is really an incredible machine. They can do everything that I need to do, plus they function as an e-reader. I can download my books, carry my files, do my word processing, develop presentations, research the internet, and only have to carry one small iPad. Amazing!

On Sunday, money started showing up. First I had an order for 10 personalized antler pens come in unexpectedly. In the morning I was telling a hunter friend about the newest pen I was making; a mock 30 caliber bullet, bolt action antler pen (they are really nice!) I took one for him to look at in the evening and he placed an order for a personalized pen. He showed it to another person, who also placed an order. I showed it to a third person, who bought one of my sample pens. A fourth person asked about placing an order and will let me know next Sunday. I had sung at a funeral earlier in the week and the family gave me some money. Almost all the money that I would need for the iPad was provided in one day. It became very evident to me that God was answering my prayer.

I decided on a new second generation iPad because it was about $100 less than the new third generation iPad. I placed an order and everything was set…

As I tend to do, even after placing an order, I continued to do research and found that Apple was offering a $50 gift card for apps and e-books with the purchase of a new third generation iPad. (This is where the real lesson comes; God’s faithfulness to provide for our needs, I have learned many times.)

Covetousness hit me hard! The second generation iPad met my need; the third generation was just a want. I called Apple again, first thing Monday morning, to see if I could upgrade my order to the newer iPad. The other order had already shipped but they could issue me a return approval. I asked about the “Back to School” deal; they didn’t recognize Centurions as an approved educational endeavor. (I should have realized that I was stepping out of God’s will at this point but temptation is a slippery slope.) Did I have a child in school? Of course; but high school doesn’t count. Do you have any kids in college? (Now, we’re getting to the meat of the story. When you yield to covetousness, it leads to other sins.) Yes, Justin has been taking classes at GRCC; so what if he dropped out last year and I wouldn’t be buying the computer for him either. I am embarrassed and ashamed to say that I lied! I took advantage of an offer for which I did not qualify. But what is the big deal? I really was continuing my education, shouldn’t that count. Wasn’t Apple just discriminating against religious education? And, who would know anyway?!

As I was shaving, looking into the mirror; I got the distinct impression, “Is this the face of a man of integrity?” I was so convicted that as soon as I finished shaving; I, once more, called the sales rep at Apple. I prayed so hard that he wouldn’t answer and that I could just leave a message.  God did allow me to get the answering machine. I left my apology and asked them not to send the gift card since I wasn’t really eligible for it and I hung up; relieved that I had obeyed God.

This is one of the hardest things I have ever done. I do remember that, as a child, my dad had made me take a ball that I had stolen back to the store and apologize to the owner. It is one thing for a three or four year old child to do this, but a 50 year old man?! God is good and His promise to forgive, when we confess, is true. I called a close friend, my “iron sharpens iron” buddy, and told him the story. He gave me grief just as I knew he would. He also encouraged me to keep making good choices and to confess and repent when I blew it. We had a good laugh as only brothers in Christ can have.

Why did I go into so much detail in this story? I wanted you to get a sense of the battle that I faced as I went through this. It is the same battle that we all face many times, every day!  I wanted you to know the shame and disappointment I felt in myself. We should feel embarrassed when we sin; it should prick our conscience. We need to mourn over our sin more often. But I also wanted you to know that God is faithful to His promise to forgive. He knew, even before I choose to sin, that I was going to and He still offered forgiveness. And when I confessed, He extended it and gave peace as well.

There is one last lesson that I want to share. No sooner had I hung up the phone, when the Apple rep called back. He had every right to be mad. I had wasted his time, I had lied to him, and I had taken advantage of an offer for which I did not qualify. He had every right to laugh at me. Who in their right mind calls to do admit to lying, when they have gotten away with it? Everyone takes advantage of the system when they get a chance; everyone stretches the truth. Why was I making such a big deal out of this? He did neither! He had been impressed by my apology. He even shared my message with his supervisory, who also was impressed. They deal with all kinds of people but seldom have someone demonstrate integrity in this manner. More often people are trying to get all they can for as little as they can; even if that means lying, like I had. They wanted me to accept the gift card for just being honest or, if I didn’t feel right about accepting it, to give it away.

I take no pride in this, nor do I present this as a way to manipulate God into giving you what you want. I want you to see how gracious our loving God is. He loves to give us things we do not deserve, simply because we are His children. There have many times that I have asked forgiveness and He has given it, but I still had to suffer the consequences for my actions. I was well prepared to accept any quiescence that He saw fit to give. At first, I wasn’t prepared to accept this response. I had sinned, shouldn’t I have had to pay for my sin. Then I remembered that Christ had already paid the price for all my sin, even this one! If He decided to offer me an undeserved blessing, would I have demonstrated lack of appreciation to refuse it? Isn’t that what many of us do? We tell Christ that we know He has done all that we need for our salvation but that there certainly must be something we have to do to make up for our sin. Why do we have such a hard time accepting God’s free gifts and feel like we have to do something to earn them? If you have to earn it, it is not a gift!

Another thing this story illustrates is how God works all things, even our sin, together for good. I do not understand how He can do this. I do know that I had the opportunity to share the love of Christ with an Apple rep and his manager; not because of my sin but because of my obedience to follow through with God’s prompting to not only confess it to Him but to Apple as well.

God is faithful and gracious even when we are not; especially when we are not!

God is good.
Scott

God can do what we can't do and won't do what we can

Lately God has really been challenging me in some very basic theology and Biblical doctrine. It seems the more that I learn about God through studying His Word; the more I realize how little I know about God. The more I learn about His opinion of sin the more I realize how sinful I am! The more I learn about my inability to do anything to gain favor with God the more thankful I am that He has done all that needs to be done so that I can be restored to the position to which He created me. The more I study God’s Word, the more I learn about Him; the deeper my hunger grows for Him.

Where has this been all my life? There have been times when I look back at my life and wonder, “When did I truly come to know God? When did Christianity stop being a religion that I practice and become a way of life?”  Recently as I taught Sunday school I have lamented, “I am so tire of ‘Christianity’ as we know it!” There is so much more that God has for us than what we have been fed by the modern American church. Please hear me correctly; I love the “Church of God, the Body of Christ.” We need the Church! The Church is Christ Bride; He loves it and gave His life for it. But it is time for Christians to start being more like the Bereans who “received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) The church is where we go to be edified and equipped so that we can go out and put to practice the things that we have learned. It is not a restaurant where we go to get our nourishment; we should be getting our nourishment daily as we chew on the Bread of life and abide in the Vine. The church has a role to play in our walk with Christ but church is not our walk with Christ.  

Whoa, I am starting to get a little wound up here and this is not even what I intended to share! Let me get to the issue that God laid on my heart this morning. Here is the opening paragraph from yesterday’s My Utmost for His Highest (I was a day behind in my reading…)

TAKE THE INITIATIVE

“. . . add to your faith virtue . . . .” 2 Peter 1:5

Add means that we have to do something. We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do. We cannot save nor sanctify ourselves—God does that. But God will not give us good habits or character, and He will not force us to walk correctly before Him. We have to do all that ourselves. We must “work out” our “own salvation” which God has worked in us (Philippians 2:12). Add means that we must get into the habit of doing things, and in the initial stages that is difficult. To take the initiative is to make a beginning—to instruct yourself in the way you must go.(Emphasis added)

Chambers, Oswald (2010-10-22). My Utmost for His Highest, Updated Edition (p. 131). Discovery House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

There are so many directions that I can take this devotional; God pointed me to a number of topics to meditate on. The most obvious is in what I choose to do with my life. This was my post from Face Book this morning: “I wonder; what am I waiting on God to do for me that He is waiting on me to do myself? There are many times when God tells us to be still and watch Him work; there are also many times God tells us to get busy! ‘Father, grant me your wisdom to know when to wait and when to work.’" My deepest meditation may surprise you though; it is a direction that is not so obvious.

As I said earlier in this post, God has been challenging me in basic theology and doctrine. One of the most basic doctrines is the teaching on salvation. How does a sinner truly become a child of God? Sovereignty of God, free will of man, predestination, election, choice; there is so much confusion.

I can’t say that I even begin to understand how, in the gospel of John, Jesus seems to contradict himself. In John 3:16, he makes salvation sound like it is our choice, “…Whosoever believes…shall have everlasting life.”  Does my choice to believe make me a “whosoever”? If so; it is my choice, my decision, my work; that brings me eternal life. Yet in John 6:44, Jesus says, “…no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me.” God draws them doesn’t sound like a choice to me; it sounds like something that God does. Verse 47 again says, “…anyone who believes has eternal life;” sounds like man’s choice.  And Jesus sums up this sermon in verse 63 saying, “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing.” It is God’s work, not mine, that gives eternal life.

Getting a head ache yet? I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of all that Scripture says on this one subject and it is the most foundational issue of our Christian life! Churches have argued for years over the controversy of election, predestination, and free will. So what is an average Christian, a “layperson” as they say, supposed to do if the “experts” can’t even agree?

This gets to the heart of what I believe that God has been chipping away at in my life; trying desperately to get me to understand. I believe He desires that I stop resting on what the church says, what Christian authors write, what my parents tell me, what my friends say, and the “we have always done it this way mentality;” and begin to go to Him and base my faith on what He tells me. God wants to personally speak to me, instruct me, teach me and train me. Why else has He indwelt me with His Spirit and given me His word? He has invited me to a personal relationship with Him.

 The church is the meeting of people who have a personal relationship with Christ, where they gather for encouragement and edification to deepen their personal walk with Christ. The church, its activities, its teaching, and even its fellowship cannot replace the personal walk without becoming simple “religion”.

Again as I said earlier, I am tired of “Christianity” as I have always known it. I am tired of trying to figure it all out. I tired of trying to get it just right. Pray this prayer, believe these facts, do these things, the list goes on. I’m tired of churches arguing with each other, sometimes over the silliest things. I’m tired of denominations and sects. I’m tired of militant Christians who are no more Christ like than militant Muslims, militant feminists, militant homosexual, and militant anyone I’ve missed. Christ has not called us to be militant but to be Christ like! “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…” Philippians 2:4-8. Read the passage, and for the matter the context, and it may surprise you what having the “mind of Christ” truly looks like!

So in childlike faith I choose to accept what God’s Word teaches, even though I don’t completely understand it. God says, “All have sinned;” I believe that. God says that “No one seeks after God,” I believe it. God says, “By faith you are save through grace;” I believe that. God says, “Whosoever believes shall have everlasting life;” I believe that as well. I can’t answer or explain the election, predestination, freewill argument; but I don’t get hung up on it anymore either. I have come to the place that I just accept there are some things that only God can do and has done for me and there are things that I can and must do that He won’t do for me. Salvation, Justification, Sanctification, Glorification those are all things that I can leave up to God because I can’t do anything about them. Choosing to believe when the Spirit cries within me “Abba Father,” is up to me. Choosing to believe the Spirit when He “bears witness with my spirit that I am a child of God” is my part. It is God’s role to conform me to the image of His Son; it is my role to put off the old man and put on the new! Christ is the vine which supplies all I need for life and fruit bearing.  My job is to abide in Him and allow Him to flow through me to produce the fruit He desires. I have spent too much of my life arguing, trying to figure it out, and working to make it real. I am ready to admit that I don’t know but God does. I accept that God has made me His child and I accept that I am responsible to live like it.

“We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do.”  I accept by faith God’s gift of Grace. I am thankful that He has made me His “Masterpiece” and I humbly submit to do the good things He planned for me long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

A Few Good Friday Lessons Learned Through Plumbing Repair

Today is Good Friday and I was enjoying the morning reading my Bible and contemplating God’s great love for us, displayed through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Suddenly Smokie, our cat, came flying up the stairs howling like a banshee. I thought she needed to go outside so I went to open the door for her; it was then that I heard the sound of water splashing on the floor. That is not a good sound; it means that there is a problem that needs immediate attention. I went to the basement to investigate and found that the sewer line had blown a cap and sewage was spilling onto the floor of my workshop! Talk about a nasty problem.

I immediately went upstairs and told the kids not to us the toilets, sinks, or shower. Then it was back to the basement to begin a job that I really did not desire to do! It took two trips to the hardware before I had what I needed and the actual repair of the sewer line was fairly easy. What was nasty was the clean up after. I had to suck up all the filth, sludge, and water with my shop vac, and then clean my shop vac. I had to get some air freshener to help to reduce the stench. And after all that was finished I had to go take a good shower and wash my filthy clothes. It was not a fun job, I did not enjoy it one bit, but it had to be done. When all was finished there was a sense of satisfaction that my family could once again use the plumbing in the house without problems and return to the basement without having to bear the stench of the filth.

Now you may be wondering what all this has to do with Good Friday. How does repairing a sewer line and cleaning up a nasty basement compare in any way with Christ dying on the cross? I am a strong believer that God uses everything that happens in life to teach us something about Himself if we will just listen to His Spirit and allow Him to instruct us. Then I search God’s Word to see what God has specifically said regarding what the Spirit has impressed upon my mind. So here are a few lessons that I have learned from this situation:

1.       You need to know that you have a problem before you can do anything about it. If Smokie had not gone nuts, I would have known that there was a problem that needed my attention. The filth would have continued to accumulate where it was not supposed to go.

Scripture tells us that man has a sin problem, which we aren’t even aware of unless someone points it out to us.

·         Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”

·         Romans 3:10-12, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.”

·         Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

2.       Sin is like the filth that was spewing onto my basement floor. It stinks! I wanted desperately to just close the door and walk away. It made me want to wretch. Scripture tells God is holy; He cannot even look upon sin.  At noon, during Christ crucifixion,  it became dark as God actually turned His face away as Jesus took on Himself the sins of the world (Mark 15:33-34.)

3.       Someone has to do something about the problem. As soon as I was aware of the situation, I set about doing something to correct it. I stopped the kids from using the plumbing until I could make the necessary repairs, I went to the store and got the material I needed, I made the repairs, and then I cleaned up the mess. I didn’t ask the kids to do it because I knew that it was a job that they could not do. 

Scripture tells us that God did something about our sin because we were unable to do it ourselves.

·         John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

·         2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

·         Romans 5:8, “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!”

4.       The repair that I did this morning took care of the problem and, hopefully, we will be able to use the plumbing for years to come without any further problems. But at some point in time the old sewer line will need to be replaced.  

The work that Christ did on the cross to take care of our sin issue is a permanent, once for all solution. Scripture says that:

·         2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

·         1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.”

·         Hebrews 10:12-14, “But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.  He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool.  For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.” 

5.       All that the kids needed to do in order to enjoy the benefits of the repair to the plumbing was to take my word that it was taken care of and use it. The work was complete; there was nothing more needed to be done than to flush away.

The same is true of the work that Christ has done on the cross. He did everything that was necessary. All that we need to do is accept His finished work by faith.

·         Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

·         Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.”

·         Titus 3:4-5, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love
for mankind appeared, He saved us— not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

I am so thankful that Jesus took it upon Himself to do a work that I could not do for myself. I am thankful that He dealt with all the filth, stench, and total depravity of my sin. The very thing that made me unacceptable to a Holy God, Jesus Christ removed through His death, burial, and resurrection. I am so thankful that through faith in His finished work He has made me a new creation; not just fixed my problem, but made me completely new! I am so thankful that God gave me a vivid, yet totally unpleasant, illustration of the work which He has done for me. Happy Good Friday friends; God has done all that is necessary to remove the filth in our lives and make us completely new in Him!

October Baby

My wife,  Brenda and I had the opportunity to go on Family Life Ministries' "Love Like You Mean It" cruise. It is a cruise especially designed give married couple the opportunity to spend a week together; enriching their marriage with great sessions taught by leading Christian speakers, fantastic performances by top Christian artists, and all the excitement that comes with a week long cruise! It was fantastic.

One of the activities they offered was a preview of the movie "October Baby". It deals with the story of a survivor of a failed abortion. Here is the synopsis of the story, as found on the movies web site:

"You saw me before I was born." Psalm 139:16 (NLT)

As the curtain rises, Hannah hesitantly steps onto the stage for her theatrical debut in college. Yet before she can utter her first lines, Hannah—unscripted—collapses in front of the stunned audience.

After countless medical tests, all signs point to one underlying factor: Hannah's difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to what she then learns from her parents: she was actually adopted … after a failed abortion attempt.

Bewildered, angered, and confused, Hannah turns for support to Jason, her oldest friend. Encouraged by his adventurous spirit, Hannah joins his group of friends on a Spring Break road trip, embarking on a journey to discover her hidden past … and find hope for her unknown future.

In the midst of her incredible journey, Hannah finds that life can be so much more than what you have planned.

You can check out the movie at their web site: http://www.octoberbabymovie.net/# or on their Face Book page: https://www.facebook.com/OctoberBabyMovie or on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/octoberbabymovie.

Spread the word and plan on attending the opening on March 23; better yet take a group or rent out the theater for the show. I will do all I can to make sure the people I know get a chance to see this movie.

You never know what God will do through you

Just heard from my good friend, Dave Santos. He is the missionary in Brazil that I worked with when I went on the mission trip this past summer. He wanted to relay a couple of stories from the men of the church who have received one of my pens and heard my presentation of "Lessons from the Lathe". I gave Dave a supply of pens; every time he gives one away he share the lesson of how God works to shapes us into what He desires us to be. The men who have received them, in turn tell the story to those who comment on their pen. The men use the story to encourage one another when things get hard. And he wanted me to know that the church there continues to pray for me.

It is so encouraging to know that God can use this simple illustration to bring comfort and encouragement to men across the world. Who would have known when I began this ministry that God would use it to reach people around the world? God did, that's who!

Most encouraging for me is that when I get discouraged because of my cancer and all the things I can't do; God shows me what He can do through this broken vessel when I am  willing to submit to His sovereignty. God is good!

But God Rememberd Noah

I have started my annual read through of the Bible. This has become the one “resolution” that I make every year. When I first began the practice it was so that I could say I had done it; one more check in my list of things that “good Christians” do. But each year that I do this, God’s Word becomes sweeter and more personal to me. I read it now because I love the Author and I know He desires to speak to me. I would encourage all my brothers and sisters in Christ to develop a daily hunger for God’s word.

I finished the story of Noah the other day and a phrase from Genesis 8:1 won’t let me go: “But God remembered Noah…” As I have allowed that phrase to roll around in my head I couldn’t help but consider the situation in which Noah found himself when God remembered him. As the story of Noah is played out we find that he faithfully obeyed each time that God asked him to do something. God said…and Noah did as the Lord commanded.” In chapter 8 we find Noah at about the halfway point in his cruise. I have never taken the time to add up the days before and hadn’t realized that they were on the boat for 400 days or more! I can only imagine what it must have been like on the ark. There was only family to talk to and I am sure that they were like any normal family and got under each other’s skin from time to time. There where the animals that needed to be tended to; fed, watered, cleaned up after…And I think there must have been some grieving over all the loss that they had experienced: friends, home, extended family, everything except what was on the ark had been washed away by the flood. I think that maybe Noah and his family may have been feeling a bit down at this point.

Then Scripture says those amazing words: “God remembered Noah.” In the midst of all that was going on in his life, when things looked their worst, God showed up and somehow reminded Noah that He was still with them. It didn’t end the struggle, there was probably close to another 10 months or more before God called them out of the ark! But I believe that God had given Noah and his family the encouragement they needed to continue on faithfully in the task to which He had called them.

Why this impacted my life so much this year is because I have been going through a period of depression. I know that I am exactly where God wants me to be, I know that He works all things together for good, I know that He who began the work in my life will be faithful to complete it. I know that I know these facts and I trust God to be faithful to His word. I am just tired of being sick, I am tired of losing my ability to remember things, I don’t like the fact the Brenda has to work so much but would much prefer to be home with the kids. I don’t know why the holidays bring on such depression. Statistics show it to be the time of year when more people experience depression.

As I meditated on this passage, I realized just how much I had let depression creep into my life again. I realized that the fruit of the Spirit was not what was being evidenced in my reactions. I was challenged in what I allowed myself to think about and the choices that I was making. God seemed to sit next to me and say, “Scott, I remember you. I am still with you. I have not forsaken you. Now, quit your moping and get back to work. I have a job for you to do in the circumstances in which you find yourself. Will you be faithful to do what I ask in spite of how you feel?”

I am still tired of the situation and would love for it to be done. But I will intentionally choose each day to remember that this is what God has called me to. I will remember that I alone can choose my attitude and response to circumstances. I will choose to be obedient to God’s word that tells us to “rejoice in the Lord always.” “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

I hope that you find encouragement in the fact that “God remembered Noah” and He remembers you too. Pray with me as I strive to allow God to have His perfect work in my life.

God is good.
Scott