Christian Living

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God ' s love and kindness will shine upon us like the sun that rises in the sky. On us who live in the dark shadow of death this light will shine to guide us into a life of peace.
(Luke 1:78-79)

The Lord’s kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. The LORD can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. Deep in my heart I say, "The LORD is all I need; I can depend on him!"
(Lam 3:22-24)

Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son! For by the blood of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God, which he gave to us in such large measure! In all his wisdom and insight
(Eph 1:6-8)

Let us have confidence, then, and approach God ' s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.
(Heb 4:16)

There is an insurance saying that is somewhat misleading: “An Act of God”. It always pertains to calamity, as if God is the author of misfortune. I do not believe in that God. But, you may say, if He has the power to stop it and does nothing isn’t that the same as causing it to happen. I don’t believe it is.

In the Garden, our father Adam chose independence from God and all the chaos that decision invoked. God allowed us to make that choice because from the beginning, God’s plan was to build a family. To take away our choice would have been to change us from potential children to puppets, coming to God not by choice but by compulsion. The two most powerful entities in the universe are God and Satan. Man has been given the power to resist them both. The choice is ours.

But make no mistake; God was not at our mercy. Should we choose wrong (as we ultimately did) God had a plan: the sacrifice of His Son. Imagine, from the very beginning God knew we would reject His plan for our lives. From the very beginning He knew that the results of that rejection would allow evil to enter the world: murder, rape, abuse, war, disease and countless other woes. From the very beginning He knew that the only remedy was to allow His precious Son, the Holy Word, to become flesh. And then to allow that Word made flesh to be brutally murdered by the very people He came to save. He allowed His only begotten to endure the most brutal tortuous death ever devised by the cruel mind of men. And still He created us. And even as we continue to reject Him and His priceless gift...He continues to love. So great is this Love that it is beyond our capacity to cause it to cease. Why? Because He is the author of love...indeed, the very essence of it! And still we regard the evil that we brought into the world as His responsibility. And even as we show hatred toward our neighbor and judge our brother...we point our finger at God and demand: “Why do You allow it?”

Yet, even then we are blind to the love He shows us by allowing our tantrum instead of obliterating us like He should. We demand justice, ignorant to the fact that justice would condemn us as well. Justice is getting what we deserve...mercy is not getting what we deserve...grace is getting what we don’t deserve. Thank Heaven our God is a God of Grace. Instead of demanding justice from us, as was His right...He sent His Son to fulfill the demands of justice in our place...THE MERCY, LOVE AND GRACE OF GOD!

No, He is not the author of calamity and misfortune. But He has the power to take that which we invited into the world and transform it for our greater good and His glory. Our first father Adam’s choice allowed this chaos to enter God’s perfect world. As a result pain and adversity is now a daily reality for us. But God’s grace and mercy can change the worst adversity into something wonderful. Remember, every beautiful photograph has been developed in the dark. So too does God use the dark times in our lives to develop something beautiful. We need to let go of our fear of adversity, realizing that it is in reality a fear of change. Rejoice and fear not...God loves you too much to leave you as you are. He will take what Satan meant for evil and transform it into a good that will radically change you...that will, in fact, change you into the likeness of Christ.

O God, may my blind eyes be granted the ability to see Your good growing from seeds of adversity...may my accusing heart learn to love as You do...may my ignorance perceive Your wisdom, so that I too may become a bearer of mercy and grace. And a partner in Your redemption plan to the glory of God!

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