April 05, 2013
After the judge made some rulings last Friday some angst began to set in concerning what time consuming "process" might lie ahead. Then Monday God reminded me who we were waiting on. We aren't waiting on a judge—we are waiting on the Lord—and we returned to believing by faith His promises; even if there is more mire to wade through.
This week has been filled with praise and singing. Wednesday (two days ago) some new thoughts began to form in my mind, thoughts I had never considered before. I've been thinking about the amazing things God has already remarkably done for us throughout this long process. Facts and logical examples we can see with our own eyes, things which are now part of history and are logical and factual proof. As I've said before, we are walking this path God has set before us by faith alone, believing in our hearts what we cannot see and looking forward with anticipation to the fulfillment of His promises. But now, God is beginning to have me consider some of the logical and factual things that have already happened, things we have experienced firsthand and have seen with our own eyes.
Yesterday I listed a few of them. We have walked this path entirely by faith, but now we also have the benefit of hindsight and being able to recognize the reality of what has already happened. And it is clear. Past history of God's protection points to God protecting us in the future. For over three years I have written in my journals that we KNOW (by faith and believing alone) that God is going to protect us and fulfill His promises in Psalm 140 which He gave us through Jane. (Her Name Was Jane) But now for the first time, I realize that we don't just KNOW by faith that God is going to protect us, I now realize that God has SHOWN us what HE is going to do—protect us.
To KNOW something in your heart without seeing any proof of it—is faith. We are now able to look back and realize that God has SHOWN us His fulfillment of His promises through actual events—logical and actual proof. Thank you, LORD, for showing me that you have given us proof. through historical facts. Your promises are true. Blessed be the name of the LORD. We will continue to believe.
Throughout scripture God has a history of protecting and providing for His people. i.e. The Israelites, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, David, etc. to name just a few. He never provided for them most of the way and then abandoned them and/or allowed them to fail at the end. I cannot think of one time that happened in scripture as long as His people stayed true to following His commands. God did not protect the Israelites while they were in Egypt; provide protection during Passover; lead them while they were escaping; part the Red Sea so they could cross over on dry land, only to then drown them when they were almost to the other side. What we believed by faith (how many times did I tell people what we believed had NO logic behind it) now also makes logical sense and has been factually proven.
Why would God provide Jane; why would God provide in such a remarkable way a buyer for our joint project that would have provided a way out following biblical principle; why would God have orchestrated the bank to save us from a debt that my brother-in-law had us alone locked into (one year to the day of Jane saying to read Jeremiah 33); why would God bless our business and family so richly these last six plus years; why would God do ALL THAT and then say—Oh, never mind—I am going to allow your sister and brother-in-law's vile plans and false accusations to prevail; I am going to allow you to be found unworthy to carry on my message; I am going to allow you to be found guilty of what my Word calls evil even though you are innocent; and I am going to allow your sister and brother-in-law, by their deceitful practices, to take from you everything I have given you. How or why would that make any sense? I get it that God's ways are not our ways, but logically that makes no sense at all.
While all of this is interesting and a new thought, I am so grateful that our belief first came from faith and faith alone and had nothing to do with logic. We believe in our hearts that God has promised to protect us from my sister and brother-in-law's false accusations. We believe it with all our hearts, and now we also believe it through intellect. But first and foremost—our hearts.
God keeps revealing more and more to us because we are following HIS ways. The exact opposite is true for those who have not surrendered to His ways. II Corinthians 3:14 - "But their minds were closed... that covering is taken away only through Christ." Without Christ there is a covering over their minds. It is only "when a person changes and follows the Lord, that (the) covering is taken away." (II Corinthians 3:16) Then and only then can we be changed to be like Him. When you follow Christ there is no trickery, no manipulation of His Word, no secret or shameful ways. Only truth and honesty. Then all can KNOW who we are, and they can KNOW what kind of people we are in God's sight.
The only ones that cannot see it are those who are lost because "it is hidden only to those who are lost. The devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe." (II Corinthians 4:3–4) See writings and Life Lesson for Proverbs 2. God said, "Let the light shine out of the darkness." (II Corinthians 4:6) Jesus is that light. When we reject Him and His ways we reject the light and therefore are only left with darkness.
II Corinthians 4:7–9 - "We have this treasure from God, but we are like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that the great power is from God, not from us. We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not give up the hope of living. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed." (Emphasis mine) "We believe, and so we speak." God raised Jesus from the dead, and He will raise us as well. All of this is being done so that the grace of God will be given more and more and that it will bring "increasing thanks to God for his glory." (II Corinthians 4:13b–15)
We believe with our hearts—so we speak. Our prayer is that God will receive all the honor and glory for what HE has done and for what HE will do.
Addendum: 4/22/16 ~ As I was awakening this morning a song was playing in my mind. Finally the words came to me. Our God Saves It is in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit that there is hope. We come to YOU, Lord. We call on YOU. We fall on YOUR grace. Hear the joyful sound of our offering to YOU. We bow to YOU, Lord. We lift up YOUR name. We will rise with YOU on YOUR wings. And the world will see that OUR GOD SAVES! We give YOU songs of praise, Lord. Thank YOU, Lord. There is hope in YOUR name. Mourning will turn to songs of praise.
LORD, may ALL know that it was YOU who saved us from "the storm."
Next Entry: II Corinthians 4:16 – 6:13
"We can say this, because through Christ we feel certain before God. We are not saying that we can do this work ourselves. It is God who makes us able to do all that we do." II Corinthians 3:4-5It is God—and God alone—that has enabled us to do all we have done these past six plus years. And if He asks us to enter the slime and filth again He will give us the strength to do so. I hope God's plan does not include going back into the evil mire of "the storm." We believe God's promises so we believe the outcome is certain. II Corinthians 3:12 - "We have this hope so we are very bold." Throughout these six plus years we have not tried to strategize plans or manipulate things to create scenarios which would point to or prove an outcome that we want. We have simply chosen to believe and to have faith in what we believe God has revealed to us. It has been faith—alone.
After the judge made some rulings last Friday some angst began to set in concerning what time consuming "process" might lie ahead. Then Monday God reminded me who we were waiting on. We aren't waiting on a judge—we are waiting on the Lord—and we returned to believing by faith His promises; even if there is more mire to wade through.
This week has been filled with praise and singing. Wednesday (two days ago) some new thoughts began to form in my mind, thoughts I had never considered before. I've been thinking about the amazing things God has already remarkably done for us throughout this long process. Facts and logical examples we can see with our own eyes, things which are now part of history and are logical and factual proof. As I've said before, we are walking this path God has set before us by faith alone, believing in our hearts what we cannot see and looking forward with anticipation to the fulfillment of His promises. But now, God is beginning to have me consider some of the logical and factual things that have already happened, things we have experienced firsthand and have seen with our own eyes.
Yesterday I listed a few of them. We have walked this path entirely by faith, but now we also have the benefit of hindsight and being able to recognize the reality of what has already happened. And it is clear. Past history of God's protection points to God protecting us in the future. For over three years I have written in my journals that we KNOW (by faith and believing alone) that God is going to protect us and fulfill His promises in Psalm 140 which He gave us through Jane. (Her Name Was Jane) But now for the first time, I realize that we don't just KNOW by faith that God is going to protect us, I now realize that God has SHOWN us what HE is going to do—protect us.
To KNOW something in your heart without seeing any proof of it—is faith. We are now able to look back and realize that God has SHOWN us His fulfillment of His promises through actual events—logical and actual proof. Thank you, LORD, for showing me that you have given us proof. through historical facts. Your promises are true. Blessed be the name of the LORD. We will continue to believe.
Throughout scripture God has a history of protecting and providing for His people. i.e. The Israelites, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, David, etc. to name just a few. He never provided for them most of the way and then abandoned them and/or allowed them to fail at the end. I cannot think of one time that happened in scripture as long as His people stayed true to following His commands. God did not protect the Israelites while they were in Egypt; provide protection during Passover; lead them while they were escaping; part the Red Sea so they could cross over on dry land, only to then drown them when they were almost to the other side. What we believed by faith (how many times did I tell people what we believed had NO logic behind it) now also makes logical sense and has been factually proven.
Why would God provide Jane; why would God provide in such a remarkable way a buyer for our joint project that would have provided a way out following biblical principle; why would God have orchestrated the bank to save us from a debt that my brother-in-law had us alone locked into (one year to the day of Jane saying to read Jeremiah 33); why would God bless our business and family so richly these last six plus years; why would God do ALL THAT and then say—Oh, never mind—I am going to allow your sister and brother-in-law's vile plans and false accusations to prevail; I am going to allow you to be found unworthy to carry on my message; I am going to allow you to be found guilty of what my Word calls evil even though you are innocent; and I am going to allow your sister and brother-in-law, by their deceitful practices, to take from you everything I have given you. How or why would that make any sense? I get it that God's ways are not our ways, but logically that makes no sense at all.
While all of this is interesting and a new thought, I am so grateful that our belief first came from faith and faith alone and had nothing to do with logic. We believe in our hearts that God has promised to protect us from my sister and brother-in-law's false accusations. We believe it with all our hearts, and now we also believe it through intellect. But first and foremost—our hearts.
God keeps revealing more and more to us because we are following HIS ways. The exact opposite is true for those who have not surrendered to His ways. II Corinthians 3:14 - "But their minds were closed... that covering is taken away only through Christ." Without Christ there is a covering over their minds. It is only "when a person changes and follows the Lord, that (the) covering is taken away." (II Corinthians 3:16) Then and only then can we be changed to be like Him. When you follow Christ there is no trickery, no manipulation of His Word, no secret or shameful ways. Only truth and honesty. Then all can KNOW who we are, and they can KNOW what kind of people we are in God's sight.
The only ones that cannot see it are those who are lost because "it is hidden only to those who are lost. The devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe." (II Corinthians 4:3–4) See writings and Life Lesson for Proverbs 2. God said, "Let the light shine out of the darkness." (II Corinthians 4:6) Jesus is that light. When we reject Him and His ways we reject the light and therefore are only left with darkness.
II Corinthians 4:7–9 - "We have this treasure from God, but we are like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that the great power is from God, not from us. We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not give up the hope of living. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed." (Emphasis mine) "We believe, and so we speak." God raised Jesus from the dead, and He will raise us as well. All of this is being done so that the grace of God will be given more and more and that it will bring "increasing thanks to God for his glory." (II Corinthians 4:13b–15)
We believe with our hearts—so we speak. Our prayer is that God will receive all the honor and glory for what HE has done and for what HE will do.
Addendum: 4/22/16 ~ As I was awakening this morning a song was playing in my mind. Finally the words came to me. Our God Saves It is in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit that there is hope. We come to YOU, Lord. We call on YOU. We fall on YOUR grace. Hear the joyful sound of our offering to YOU. We bow to YOU, Lord. We lift up YOUR name. We will rise with YOU on YOUR wings. And the world will see that OUR GOD SAVES! We give YOU songs of praise, Lord. Thank YOU, Lord. There is hope in YOUR name. Mourning will turn to songs of praise.
LORD, may ALL know that it was YOU who saved us from "the storm."
Next Entry: II Corinthians 4:16 – 6:13
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