HE HAS OUR BACKS

“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on the one who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.”  Romans 14:1-3

In Romans 14 Paul addresses a variety of issues that deal with gray area issues made black and white in the first century church.  Ironically, the same kinds of problems plague the church and Christians today.  First century Christians would hang their hats on such issues as eating meat or sabbath days and it would cause dissension in the ranks. They would take things of little consequence and make them cornerstones of their beliefs.  They would even take things that were not specifically addressed in the Bible and make them doctrine.  We do the same kinds of things today.

Our main concern should be for others.  That is hard for us to grasp.  We are in a day that promotes looking out for Number One.  We are encouraged to look out for ourselves first and if along the way we can help someone else, so be it, but we should never sacrifice our own wants to meet the needs of another.  It is this kind of thinking that causes division in what should be unity in the Body of Christ.

It is said that when the British and French were fighting in Canada in the 1750s, Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet, was told to anchor outside Quebec. He was supposed to wait until the British army arrived and then support them from the sea.  Phipps arrived early and became irritated by the statues of saints that dotted the harbor’s shoreline.  He told his men to target practice on statues.  No one knows how many rounds were fired or how many statues were knocked out, but when the land forces arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral was of no help. He had used up all his ammunition shooting at the “saints.”   That is what we are in danger of doing in the church.  We fire so much upon each other, that we have nothing left to face the enemy with.  We get caught up in fighting one another on small battles and ignore the true war that is waging around us.

My uncle was one of the most well-known Apostolic Faith ministers in the country, maybe in the world.  Apostolics had some very specific ideas that kept my uncle and me from having the kind of relationship that Christians should have with each other.  Little things like the wearing of jewelry and modes of dress were essentials in their doctrine. They were very outspoken on all issues regardless of whether they were gray areas or not. What we would consider personal preference they would consider doctrinal truth.  Thus if someone wore rings (even though they could wear incredibly expensive watches), they were in disobedience to God.  If one was in disobedience to God, their salvation was in great jeopardy.  It was very legalistic.  The very unfortunate part was that my uncle’s church had little to do with any other churches.  After all, the others were all wrong.

We all have our list of “preferences” that we make bigger than they should be.  In Paul’s time the people argued over eating meat that was sacrificed to idols.  Some said it was sacrilegious and others said that since idols were non-gods, the meat was just meat.  Both had their points and neither was wrong.  But neither should have built their church on that rock and some tried!  Here was what they should have kept in mind according to Paul.  It might be fine to eat the meat, but examine whether eating would cause another to stumble.  So, in other words, it might be legal for us to eat the meat, but is it profitable?  Will it affect my walk or another’s walk negatively.  Before we do something, we should examine the possible consequences of our actions to us and to others.  So, let’s take it a step further.  We should watch our own actions for the sake of others, and should also avoid being too critical of the actions of others.  Our actions and how they affect others should be a priority rather than how others actions fit into our priorities.  We often get these two mixed up.

Moms are much better at pointing out possible consequences to their children than men are (oops, that might be sexist).  They might be heard saying something to their kids like, “Don’t run with that stick or you will poke both your eyes out.”  (I have often wondered how they could poke out both eyes unless they got up after they poked out one and fell again or were carrying a forked stick, but that is not for me to question.)  We need to scrutinize the situation as closely as moms do when they add up stick plus child plus ground plus running.  What will our actions possibly add up to?  What are the consequences of our behavior.  We too often scrutinize the behavior of others, while ignoring the consequences of our own.

I am not big on guys wearing ear rings.  Not sure exactly why that is, but I have never liked it for some reason.  Maybe my mom was insulted by a man wearing ear rings when I was in the womb, I don’t know, but it has never invoked a positive feeling in me.  I think I see it as juvenile.  But can I use ear rings to judge others by.  Is there scripture I can use for questioning someone’s spiritual maturity?  Can I doubt someone’s salvation because “no ear rings go to heaven.”  Of course not.  In some cultures that is the norm.  But unfortunately Christians too often use other peoples taste in dress, music, activity, food, etc. as a basis for judgement.  According to the Word, we are not to do that.

C.S. Lewis wrote about this in Mere Christianity.  He said, “One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting everyone else to give it up. That is not the Christian way. An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons—marriage, or meat, or beer, or the cinema; but the moment he starts looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning.”

I am really making four points here and am trying to pull them together.  1) We make too big a thing about the insignificant things that those around us do.  2) We often ignore much more evil things that go on around us.  Things that we should probably get upset about.  3)  We don’t worry about how our own actions affect those around us and don’t keep that in mind as we should. 4) The only true way to judge ourselves and the world around us is by looking through the lenses of God’s Word.  Trying to cover this much in one devotion is way above my ability, so this is the…

…end of part one!

“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18.

We make decisions every day and we would like to make decisions that are compatible with God’s will. But how do we know God’s will? I believe that about 99.99%of God’s will can be found in the Bible. If we think we have found God’s will but our decision is contrary to the Word, we can be assured that it is not God’s will. But it is not that easy! What about things that are not spelled out for us. What if we are trying to decide what job to take, which house to buy, or even where to put our money? Can  we really find places in the Bible that can help us?

When making decisions like this, the first thing we should do is to see which of our decisions will be more compatible with God’s Word.  If the decision will result in compromising a Biblical truth, then it would probably not be a good decision.  Let’s say we were considering taking a new job, but that job would greatly interfere with our ability to spend any time at all with our kids.  Because there are many verses in the Bible that point to importance to family, we might see this as an indication that that job might not be God’s will and thus not to our advantage.

So where do we find these very helpful verses?  All through the Bible!  Let’s just take a look at five verses from 1 Thessalonians and look at how many valuable aids Paul has left us if we are trying to do God’s will.  If we are making a choice and that choice will violate one of the following instructions, we should think twice before making it.

Take a moment to think about these clear and powerful exhortations concerning the will of God for believers in our verses from Thessalonians. These exhortations express the specific will of God in relationships with others, with ourselves, and with the Lord. Packed into these short verses are patterns of life and behavior which will receive His blessing in these relationships.

“Warn them that are unruly…” When we know people who are idle, undisciplined, pleasure seeking, they need to know the danger they are in. Watching silently as people destroy their lives is not in the will of God. Other parts of God’s Word show us how to approach them; these words just tell us we should.

“Comfort the feebleminded…” We should comfort people who are disheartened, disoriented or confused.  We should come alongside them with brotherly affection, encouraging words, and prayer.

“Support the weak…” Our natural tendency is to despise and neglect weaker people, to stay away from them since they have nothing to offer us, can damage our reputation and often require a long-term time commitment. Jesus says find them and lift them up whenever we can.

“Be patient toward all men…” We must realize how patient God is with us, and that “patience” is the first thing that love is. See 1 Corinthians 13:4 for confirmtion!  Patience means waiting in love and hope, with prayer, for people to see what they need to see, do what they need to do, change how they need to change.

“See that none render evil for evil…”  We should not allow evil men in this world to corrupt our own behavior and character. This is a constant temptation throughout life because evil people are everywhere, including the church.  It is easy for us to compromise our own faith because others do it. We need to stay strong in light of worldly influences.

“Follow that which is good…”  Doing good of every kind is our lifelong mandate as believers; there are millions of ways to obey it. (unfortunately also as many ways to disobey it)  God’s will for us to do good toward all men – even those who don’t deserve it!

“Rejoice evermore…”  This is sometimes a tough one to get a handle on, but we know that Jesus has rescued us from an eternity unspeakable misery and pain to everlasting joy and pleasure. This constant reality in our lives can give a reason to rejoice even when the woes of this world attack us.

“Pray without ceasing…” Some of us might find the idea of praying constantly just a pipe dream. The Lord, however, is wide open to communication with Him 24/7, why not continually include Him in your words and thoughts?  He should never be far from our minds and we should continuously look for reasons to speak to Him.

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you…”;  Before we pray, before we work, before we travel, we should be do so in the spirit of thankfulness.  Gratitude can change our whole approach to everything.  Thankfulness to our Redeemer in all things lets Him know that we know who is in charge and what He has done for us.

Just think what the result would be if all Christians followed just these instructions from Thessalonians on a daily basis.  It is often said that if all believers looked like believers, it would cause the biggest evangelistic explosion the world has ever seen.  God’s Word shows us how to be the kind of people we should be.  If we will search for God’s will in the scripture and will act on the His will, we will be different.

The will of God is not so hard to figure out when we realize that these kinds of verses we see above are throughout the entire Bible. Just obeying these exhortations in these verses can give us direction in many, many decisions. Wherever the Lord calls us, He calls us to live out these things. God’s Holy Spirit inspired these words, and He alone gives us the power to carry them out. Our part is to believe and act, and He then will direct our paths.

“For I am the Lord, I change not.” Malachi 3:6

Changes in our lives are difficult.  There has been no time in recent memory that has had so many changes as we saw back  in 2020.  Covid, wildfires, riots, and unrest were all  crammed in a single year.  Now we are involved in a war and civil unrest that carries violence with it on a daily basis. We recently had a third assassination attempt on our president . How we handle these changes will say a lot about us. If the changing world around us controls what goes on inside us we need to look toward the Changeless One for strength. Some people don’t want to accept their need for change. The story is told about a doctor who told a man to give up red meat, so he stopped putting ketchup on his hamburgers.  That is not the way to handle change.

We get used to a certain routine and to suddenly have that altered is not without its accompanying stress.  The world is an ever-changing place that we have little control over.  It is a road full of potholes and obstacles between times of smooth driving.  People say that “The only thing you can predict about the weather in Oregon is that you can’t predict the weather in Oregon.”  Well, that is true about life.  Just when we think we have it figured out, along comes something new- it might not be particularly good or bad, painful or wonderful, or it might be one or all of these things.  What we do know is that it is different.  What we do know is that it is change- and that is something that can be difficult.

In our verse above God tells us that He does not change.  Isn’t that great to know.  In this ever fluctuating play called life, the playwright is unchanging.  The nature of God and His great love for us do not change. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.”   God loves us.  That does not change.  He willingly made history’s greatest sacrifice so that our lives would not have to be as up and down as the roller-coaster world we live in.  As unknowable as the world is, God’s love is knowable. The canvas on which our lives are painted is evil, but God owns the paints.  He can cover that evil with a life that is beautiful.

The word tells us, “So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence”   (Hebrews 6:18) .  That word confidence is a nice one to hear in this uncertain world.  God cannot lie.  He loves us and wants to do what is best for us. We can read books on philosophy or self help, but these can’t be read as “gospel” because there is only one gospel.  The scripture is the only perfectly reliable book that has been written.  If we want to feel confidence in change, we need to read the book authored by the only consistent author the world has ever known.

If we read something like, “For the Lord will not cast off His people, neither will He forsake His inheritance” (Psalm 94:14), we can get excited because amidst change God gives us a never-changing inheritance.  But what good does it do to hear this truth if we don’t know what the inheritance is?  How do we know what the inheritance is?  By searching the Word.  There was a story of a man that who had two little boys.  One little boy who was so pessimistic that he was miserable all the time and the other who was so optimistic that his father felt he was dangerously unrealistic.

The father felt he needed to bring them to some sort of middle ground by teaching them that things are not always good or always bad. He told them he had a surprise for them. For the pessimistic boy, he had filled a room full of toys that he knew would have to make him happy and with the other son he filled the room with manure so that the boy would at least be able to accept the reality that not all things are positive.

After a while the father checked the toy room and the boy was sitting in the middle of the toys crying.  “There are too many toys here.  I can’t figure out where to start.  Please let me out.”  The father was blown away, but knew that at least his other son will have learned a lesson.

He went into the manure room and was astounded to see his son digging through all the manure. “What are you doing!” he shouted.

His son looked up with a big grin and said, “With all this manure, I know there has to be a pony here somewhere, and I going to find him.”

Optimism is good, but optimism in God is better.  There is value to being realistic and that realism can be based on the unchanging promises of God.   In this time when loyalties are as fragile as crystal and today cannot be used to predict tomorrow, it is wonderful to realize that God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.  …“for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” Hebrews 13:5   So let the changes come because He is with us and we do not need to walk in fear because we can walk in faith! We can trust God with all the changes, and know that He is more than able to help us and that He even has plans to bless us.

With God as our anchor, the winds of change need not toss us to and fro.  So often what seems an awful change is remolded by God’s hand to be a change that changes our lives for the better.  Remember, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.”  It is God who can take changes and make them into something special.  The way for us to handle change is by leaning on Him Who does not change.  The more we let God control the changes in our lives, the less the changes in our lives will control us.

“For every house is built by someone, but he who built all things is God” (Hebrews 3:4)

Years ago I listened to a discussion between a creationist and an evolutionist and it has really stuck with me.  It was very interesting and although both men were very intelligent, my faith was bolstered by the great points made by the creationist.  One point that he mentioned really stuck with me.  I know that it is probably obvious to everyone else, but for me, well, it was eye opening..  Basically he said it is not logical that the eye could have evolved, and he supported his argument with statements from a variety of evolutionists who basically said the same thing. 
Here was his point: unless the eye is complete and functional, it does not work.  Why would something that is so detailed and complex but non-functioning continue to evolve? Why would anything continue evolving which has no use until completion?

The eye is so complex that even Darwin, the godfather of evolution, admitted that the chance it could have evolved was beyond belief.  In Darwin’s Origin of Species he wrote “To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest sense.”  Okay, Charles, if I get this right, it is logical for all parts of the body to evolve, except the eye because it is so complex.  We then, in theory, should be eyeless beings.  I just can’t see it (pardon the pun).  Psalms tells us should praise God because “(We) have been remarkably and wonderfully made. (His) works are wonderful, and I know this very well.”  (Psalm 139:14) That refers to every part of us, not just our eyes.  We are made in God’s image.  We are special.

Darwin is not the only evolutionist who struggled with “seeing” the eye as an evolutionary  problem.  There are mountains of quotes from those who believe in evolution who find the evolution of the eye an almost untenable propostition. The reason stems from its incredible design that defies any logical explanation other than a designer.  They, of course, do not admit a designer as a possibility, but just admit that it is a conundrum that they must ignore.  But we don’t have to ignore the wonderful design of the eye because we can be assured there is a designer.   “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”   Isaiah 64:8

John Blanchard, author and scientist has some interesting information about the eye.  It is one fourth-thousandth of our weight, yet we receive 80% of our information about the outside world through the eye.  Our retina contains about 130 million rod-shaped cells which detect the intensity of light then one million nerve fibers transmit impulses to brain, while at the same time six million cone-shaped nerves respond to color variations and send those impulses to the brain.  Our eyes can handle 500,000 messages simultaneously and are being constantly cleaned by just the right amount of fluid to keep both eyes clean in one five-thousandths of a second.  Wow, and guess what.  We are not the only ones that have eyes.  Thousands of  living creatures have eyes.   When did these eyes develop in the evolutionary process?  It boggles the mind that something so unbelievable just “happened” in thousands of different species, regardless of how many millions of years you add to it.  It is much harder to think eyes just developed, rather than came about in a completed fashion.

Some scientists readily accept evolution, even though it is scientific folly, because they refuse to accept any alternatives.   Dr. George Wald (co Nobel Prize winner in Biology and professor of Biology at Harvard) said: “There are only two possibilities as to how life arose: one is spontaneous generation arising to evolution, the other is a supernatural creative act of God; there is no third possibility.  Spontaneous generation, that life arose from non-living matter was scientifically disproved 120 years ago by Louis Pasteur and others.  That leaves us with only one possible conclusion- that life arose as a creative act of God.  I will not accept that philosophically because I to not want to believe in God, therefore I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible, spontaneous generation arising to evolution.”  At least Dr. Wald is honest.  He will believe anything, no matter how preposterous, so he will not have to believe in God.  What a  sad admission.  How many other scientists feel the same way but fail to admit it.

When I look at what is around us, I see evidence for God.  When I look at our bodies, I see evidence of God.  Paul tells us, “For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”  (Romans 1:20)  If we look at the wonder around us and examine the amazing design of our bodies, earth, and universe, we are without excuse.  There will be those who stand before God someday and say that our bodies are amazing and our universe is amazing, but then say they still weren’t sure that He actually existed.  I don’t believe that weak agrument will hold water.

GK Chesterson has a great quote that I really like, “It is absurd for the evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing, and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into anything.”  

To me, complexity spells out design. In a devotion a few weeks ago I mentioned a cartoon of two scientists saying to each other that if they could just create life in the lab, they could prove that it doesn’t take intelligence to create life.  Besides the irony of the statement, I am thinking that if anyone could ever create a telescope that could do what the eye can do, I guess that would prove that it doesn’t take intelligence to create the eye.  Ironic, huh?

”As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways.”  Ezekiel 33:11

I was pretty fortunate when it came to substitute teaching  because overall I have been treated great by the kids no matter what the school or subject.  Some subs, however, are not so fortunate.  Kids see a sub and mistreat them.  It as though the students think subs have no feelings, so it is okay to abuse them.  When the kids see the teacher as robotic and lacking emotions, it becomes all right to treat them any way kids  please.  That is often the process people use when they want to hurt others. They dehumanize them first, take away personal identity, remove the traits that would feel pain, and then go on to treat them anyway they want.

Unfortunately, that is what many do to God.  They see Him as a disconnected being overseeing the world with an uncaring eye and a cold heart.  Because they see Him that way it allows them to treat Him any way they like.  After all, if He has no feelings, He cannot be hurt so we can curse Him, mock Him, and reject Him at our own pleasure.  But that is not who God is.  On the contrary, God feels pain when we reject Him.  Not for Himself, but for us.  Peter tells us that, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward (us), not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”  2 Peter 3:9

When people misunderstand the sovereignty of God and assume that God is pleased with all that He allows to happen in the world they ignore God’s nature as revealed in His Word.  We mistakenly say that if God was really hurt by the bad things in the world He would stop all evil, pain, and suffering since He is all-powerful. If He does not stop it, He must not care, or at the least, not be hurt by what He sees.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  God cares so much that He gave His only Son to suffer and die on behalf of those who cursed, mocked, and rejected Him.  Who else would do such a thing?

Additionally, we sometimes justify a particular sin or sinful way of life by telling ourselves that if it really hurt God or if He was really upset, He would change us.  After all, if we don’t like something someone else is doing and we have the power to change it, we normally try to change it.  But God has tried to change things.  Over and over in his Word he says in many different ways,  “turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways.”  His Word gives us all the ingredients for a (joyful (Brynn) )contented life.  Our rejection of those ingredients does not say as much about God as it says about us.

We can try to rationalize our bad behavior, just like the kids do with the poor substitute teacher, by changing God into an unfeeling being, but the truth is He has more feeling for us than we can possibly have for ourselves.  When we hurt, He hurts more.  Our tears stream down his cheeks and our breaks from Him break His heart.  He takes no pleasure in our pain and, in fact, He feels our pain.  An atheist said, “If there is a God, may he prove himself by striking me dead right now.” Nothing happened. “You see, there is not God.” Another responded, “You’ve only proved that He is a gracious God.” God loves us and often saves us from ourselves because of His great mercy. When we rebel against Him because we think He has no feelings, He shows His feelings by showing us grace.

God delights when we turn to Him and sorrows when we turn away.  With His power He could grab us and turn us around, but He would much rather we turn responding to His love than to His heavy hand. When I was growing up, I did what my father ask of me, not because I was afraid of him (which I should have been, because he was one tough guy), but because I was afraid to disappoint him.  He loved me so much, that I had a hard time seeing him hurt.  If we could see how much our Father in heaven loves us, and how much our rebellion hurts Him, we would think twice about our tendency to rebel.

If we read the Word and open our hearts to it, we will see the nature of God.  We will also see our own nature.  Juxtaposing the two, we will see that it is us who should change, not God.  While visiting the U.S. after World War II, Winston Churchill was aboard a train bound for Missouri with President Harry Truman. They were in a special car which had the presidential seal hung up on a wall. Truman noticed Churchill studying the seal and he pointed out that he had changed it so that the eagle on the seal was turned toward the olive branch instead of the arrows. “Why not put the eagle’s head on a swivel,” suggested Churchill. “That way you could turn it to the right or the left, depending on what the occasion warranted.”   Unfortunately, that is what we tend to do in our own lives.  We put our behavior on a swivel and sometimes point it toward God and sometimes point it away depending on whether we want to war with Him or not.

We should not wait until we are forced to turn to God by our own self-destruction.  Some people seem to see the light, but others won’t turn to God until they feel the heat.  God has open arms, and to understand that fact we merely need to have open hearts.