Category: Hardships shape us

How The Christian Faith Should Inform Our Response to School Shootings

Author: Lisa Groen

Category: Devotional and prayer

If we have looked on the news over the last year, we have seen more reports of yet all too numerous barbaric school shootings. To learn from the past, the intercessors, or stable men of prayer seen in the Old Testament such as Daniel, Moses, David or Jeremiah would most likely be in a process of grieving, mourning, or wailing to God, and possibly fasting, throwing dust on their heads and sitting in the oldest sackcloth, in similar kinds of bloody times of war in the Old Testament. Both in Biblical times as well as today, we who know who God is, know Him to be gracious, kind, loving hearted, patient, and redemptive. However, while we live on the earth, to keep our faith alive, we must place before our attention the many good things God has done for us which can be counted as things that range from numerous profound miracles, to everyday type provisions in times of God’s blessing on our nation to keep our perspective accurate. For an accurate perspective, we must count our blessings, and become familiar with the one who blesses nations and makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth, as the scripture says who also delivers people from death. Psalm 46:8-10 reads, “Come, see the works of the LORD, who brings devastation upon the earth. 9 He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire. 10 “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.” When we make the choice to lift our eyes up to heaven despite times of bloodshed or unexpected loss, recounting His power to make bloodshed and war to cease, we can benefit greatly as we truly look to the realities of God’s personality alone. This reality can inspire worship, and the worship can take on a purity when we go to God as people who worship Him in faith. What I mean is that when we who trust in Christ take God at his word and familiarize to ourselves the identity of God as is shown to us through the Bible, we hold true the belief that his personality is eternal and does not change. The reality of the stability of God and his power to cause evil to cease should give stability to our faith as long as we are in this dark world.

We can have the hope of safety with God alone, and in Him through faith in Him we have a solid place to stand. When we remember the dark world we live in is not the anchor for our hope, but believe that Christ overcame the world of sin and all temptation, we are inspired to bow before him as king, and we can believe it is He who is our anchor in the midst of tragedies that happen. This can result in a pure kind of worship. This dark world was never a satisfactory place for our hope to be settled in. We must know Christ came to rescue us out of the world laden by sin. he came to settle us in a place where sin and decay does not corrupt. Heaven is the one place God has set apart for himself and to bring to himself those who believe in him who also want to be done with doing acts of sin in their life.

The bloody school shootings we see are just one of a million different things that tell us this world of darkness cannot be, and will not be sustainable as a permanent home for anyone. The world is getting more and more full of sin, and the earth is grieving under the weight of the heaviness of it. As we painfully and clumsily “wake up” to the numbing injuries of these assaults on children and adults but mainly children, we have few words that seem fitting to bring before our God of salvation, except something perhaps like “Lord! Save the people in need! Rescue the dying, both spiritually and physically!”

As we go grieving for the reality that America the country that some of us have grown up in is sadly churning out murderous beasts like these unredeemed killers, it seems so surreal, yet we must process this along with the many other tragedies America has faced, if we aim to comfort the hurting or confused. Why God allows evil has never been fully answered by God or by man at any time but we must still hold the beautiful parallel reality that He allows good to happen to evil people. The Bible speaks of overcoming evil with good and encourages us to not be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good. One way this can happen is for us to get into the habit of crying out “Lord Jesus, bring people out of their sins! May your salvation change the lives of people in the United States!” “Lord, reveal your stable love to the lost, and woo the dark world to yourself even if it means through these times of bloodshed and broken exasperation.” “Come to us as we come to You in prayer! And grant that would-be murderers would instead be set upon a different road with changed lives, dispositions and plans. May people not lose their faith in times like this!” “Yet, for others that are shell shocked, and worn out with the gun violence in the US, save the broken people of our country out of the pressure they feel in the darkness and may it be redeemed as one of the many ways people can seek you and be led to your light!”

Prayer: Lord, save the lost! Save those trapped in the darkness! Lord, save those who have not yet heard of the God who sits in the heavens and laughs at the plans of the rulers of darkness. You are the God who wishes none to perish but all to come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are the God who does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked, and you are the God who rejoices not with evil, but you rejoice in the truth. We pray that truth would be upheld, as many children and adults are swooned with darkness and heaviness, and as many barely have the strength to look up. We ask for many to be given the grace to look up and to believe in the God who cares and has deep compassion. We ask for grace to be given to countless children and adults to believe in You Lord as the God who holds the way of salvation, who himself is The Way out of darkness. Lord Jesus as You have called yourself The Way, The Truth, and The Life, You are The Way out of sinfulness, and the way out of evil. You rescue many in this life, and promise a home in heaven with You, in a place separated from all evil.  We ask for the hope of salvation to be shed abroad in people’s hearts because one day Jesus, you will make all things new, and all knees shall bow to You. We ask Jesus for you to visit this hurting grieving world, and for you to bind up the brokenhearted and heal all the wounds, of these our neighbors, these in our community, these in America, in these dark days of evil. We lean on You Alone for salvation to reach countless people dear Lord of Mercy! Amen! 

Keep on growing in the Word! LG

Is It Our Weakness, Or God’s Opportunity?

Author: Lisa Groen

Category: Devotional and prayer

Jeremiah 9:23-25 “‘This is what the Lord says: The wise person should not boast in his wisdom; the strong should not boast in his strength; the wealthy should not boast in his wealth. 24 But the one who boasts should boast in this: that he understands and knows me—that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the Lord’s declaration. 25 “‘Look, the days are coming—this is the Lord’s declaration—when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised:

So having a circumcised heart goes right along with knowing the Lord who delights in faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth. The Lord shows that he overrides a person’s strength, money, and wisdom to put them level on the same playing field as the man or woman without these things that still knows the Lord. It is a true blessing to be able to come to God without wisdom necessarily, without strength per se, without wealth as a prerequisite, and to receive the benefit this scripture speaks of which is the privilege still of being able to understand and know God, and to be among those who have a circumcised heart.

Isaiah 40:28-29 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out. 29 He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. 

So, the Lord overrides the weak man’s weakness and faintness, and he blesses them with strength. It is a true blessing to be able to come to God being on the verge of fainting, and to receive the benefits this scripture speaks of which is the privilege still of having your power and strength to be increased.

Romans 9:16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

What else could it be but the mercy of God to override our lack of will and lack of taking action and grant us something good we don’t deserve? It is a true blessing to be able to come to God being on the verge of not having your own will set for action, and without your body set for performance and this scripture speaks of the privilege still of being a candidate for God’s mercy.

2 Chronicles 20:12 O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

So, Jehoshaphat had faith that God could override the power of his enemies and level the playing field and take the powerlessness of his own army, and “work something out on their behalf”

I am not one to promote lack of wisdom, poverty, lack of taking action, weakness, or a lack of battle strategy or to say we don’t need to apply ourselves in our faith-walks. But it is encouraging to know that in all these situations it was clear the messages God is showing us are  that when we feel like we have absolutely nothing to give out or draw from out of our personal reserves, we can lean upon our God, and his strength will be made perfect in our weaknesses.

2 Chronicles 20:3-4 Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord.

In Jeremiah 9:23-25, Isaiah 40: 28-29, and the Romans 9:16 scriptures, what we see highlighted are the wonderful transcendent virtue attributes of God, based on God’s initiative and willing action on his people’s behalf. But when a little bit of fasting gets involved, then this happens: In 2 Chronicles 20:3-4, Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord. Then later in vs. 21-23 When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, “Give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 22 When they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed. 23 For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. 25When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found much among them, including goods, garments and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were three days taking the spoil because there was so much. 30 So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God gave him rest on all sides.

When we aim to add fasting, praise and worship, to our seeking God out of our weaknesses, we can expect him to magnify his gracious attributes before us despite our weaknesses, however ugly they may seem to cling to us or cover us, and His glory is shown in spite of what we are not.

Let’s be encouraged in who our Gracious Heavenly Father Is— “the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things”, He says.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, as we meditate upon your Godly attributes which you possess in your reliable self-autonomous self-existence, you shed your grace upon us. How wonderful it is that you are so unchangeable, and your steadfast love and your loving-kind ways are often magnified before our very eyes. Your desire is towards your people Oh God, and you draw us with chords of compassion. May we meditate this week on the countless ways in which your strength is made perfect in our weaknesses, and may those who are led to do so fast, pray, and worship you Lord! For you are worthy above all else and above everyone else, Oh God our Gracious Rock and Redeemer! Amen!

Keep growing in the Word! LG

God is Creating Weakness in Your Life

Author: Lisa Groen

Category: Devotional and thoughts to ponder

One of the most encountered questions people face when doing evangelism is “Why does suffering and evil exist in a world that a good God created?” In fact, this question and others like it are questions Pastors also face much of the time when ministering one on one to congregants, and may be one of the questions that plague the minds of countless people contemplating the decision of whether or not they can trust in a God who created and manages our unique universe. Some go so far as to say –like screen writer and film director Jamie Uys,– “The Gods must be crazy” that the universe looks like it is being managed with a loose and crazy hand!

Due to the broad scope that the question brings, “Why does suffering and evil exist if God is good?” and all its inherent implications, it is in fact the root prompting for other questions that must be answered first, or alongside it, if this question is to be attempted to be answered by any person accurately. Some of those questions are, “If God knows everything, and is Omniscient, how is it that he knows about the pain and suffering I am going through, but allowed it to happen without seemingly doing anything about it?” Or “If God is all-powerful as in omnipotent, why is he able to do something to have prevented the evil in my life and can do anything needed to change it, but doesn’t seem interested in helping?”. “If God IS love, why is he acting in a way that seems contrary to the way an all-loving God should act if he were to care about my suffering?”. “If God is sovereign, and manages everything like a tight ship, why does he seem to be allowing a lot of sloppy problems to be unfolding in my life right now?”, and “if God wants me to have a soft heart, why is he allowing people to be rude, brash, and callous towards me?” Or “If God is righteous, why does he seem to be allowing me to suffer a lot of injustices and unrighteousness at the hands of people that don’t seem to care one whit about God?” We could extend the questions with scores of other questions like these! We think we are describing something that should be appropriate only for one kind of anomaly after another, but these are all sadly too plentiful—at least for our taste!

The utter irony of these questions, seem to have a common theme: “Why isn’t God living up to his full potential for me in my life?”, when we should be asking ourselves the question: “Why am I not living up to my full potential for God?”, and further the irony, when all that is done, Jesus speaks fittingly in Luke 17:7-10 “Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’?  Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded? (it is understood that the answer is “No!”) In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we’ve only done our duty.’”

For some in the body of Christ there is much confusion in what to believe about good and evil, in the way of what health and wealth teachers like Andrew Womack teach—“if it’s good, it’s from God, and if it’s bad it’s from the devil”. He has a whole series on YouTube entitled “How to Receive God’s Best”. Because of the plethora of ideas like this in the world today, ultimately, we must define what we call good, and see if it matches what God may be determining good by looking at God’s actions and preferences in scripture, and what he promotes. His will is “good, pleasing and perfect” as seen in Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Paul Washer has an eye-opening video to enlighten us on this theme entitled “God Is Creating Weakness In Your Life, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbOzYh9n4OA) and in his video he states:

“Always remember this one thing—there’s only one hero in this story, and that hero is Jesus Christ. There are no great men of God, there are no great men of prayer. There are only tiny, weak, faithless men of a great and merciful God who has granted them grace.”…You’re problem is not—it’s never—that you’re too weak. As a matter of fact God—what he does in our life, from the moment that we’re born again to the moment we die is he’s constantly working to create weakness in us. The problem is not that you’re weak, the problem is that we don’t know how weak we are, because that weakness would drive us to prayer, as being truly incarnate drove our Savior to prayer…..God spends decades seeking to do one thing to a man and a woman—cultivate weakness! Create weakness! Everything that’s put before us—that we can’t—Lord this time you gave me a mountain—I can’t, I -–everyone of those is to convince you of something, that you should’ve been convinced about with regard to the smallest mole hill you’ve ever had to deal with: You can’t, but He can! He can! Remember this, God always uses the runt of the litter…”

If you are facing hardship, weakness, difficulties, trials, inconveniences, pains, suffering, or a dilemma or two today, let us take in the scripture to put it all in perspective for us, that God may have ordained, or even planned your weaknesses and difficulties to shape you into the image of Christ. Do not look at it as punishment, because if you’re not in open rebellion to God you may just be undergoing the pinching, pulling, squishing, rolling, poking, cutting, shaping, molding and remaking of a clay pot shaped by the Master potter who is creating for Himself a vessel “fit for the Master’s use.” (2 Tim 2:21) Let’s end with this scripture James 1:2-12 “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. 5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, 8 being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.  9 Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation, 10 but let the rich boast in his humiliation because he will pass away like a flower of the field. 11 For the sun rises and, together with the scorching wind, dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance perishes. In the same way, the rich person will wither away while pursuing his activities. 12 Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that Godhas promised to those who love him.” Amen!

Keep growing in the Word! LG