God of Wrath

"Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground." Genesis 19:24-25

There's a lie that exists in the church today. Without ever admitting it, many of us, including myself, believe that the God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah has somehow changed into a different God who now loves and saves everyone. In the Bible, we are met with two seemingly irreconcilable characters of God. He is on the one hand the God of wrath who destroys entire cities--men, women, and children--because of their unrepentant disobedience. On the other hand, God is the God of love and forgiveness, who through His sacrifice has brought undeserving sinners into His kingdom. Many Christians when met with this problem will just ignore it. Others have even gone to such lengths as to say the God of the Old Testament is a different God than the one of the New Testament, or some variation of the two. However, the Bible makes it clear that God is wholly both. It is merely laziness on the part of the Church that perpetuates the lie that these two characters of God are irreconcilable. We live in a world of consequences and God's wrath is the only just response He has to sin. Because of this, the violence of the cross was the only possible propitiation to free God's love on all the world. The reconciliation between God's wrath and His love is the gospel. Sodom was an evil city. Just as it was then, those who live and die in unrepentant wickedness will meet the same fierce wrath of God met by Sodom. It is repentance, through the grace of God leading to faith, that satisfies God's wrath through Christ, and brings us into His kingdom.

Lord Jesus, let us not live in wickedness and kindle your wrath. We admit our sins and accept the offering of your Son as the payment for your wrath!

The God of Providence

"What a serene and quiet life might you lead if you would leave providing to the God of providence." -Charles Spurgeon

What a piercing and convicting observation! It seems no matter how much confidence I might put in God's power to save me from sin, I always wain in my confidence in His power to save me from starvation, sleeplessness, and want. His eye is on the sparrow. His care is for the lilies. Why am I convinced that His provision does not apply to my families physical needs? This last year, the theme of what God has done in our family is break down our comforts so we have to depend on him. He has either not given us the jobs we wanted and thought we needed or not given them when we wanted them. He has put a curse on both our vehicles (not really, but it sure has seemed like it). He has moved us away from our friends and put us in a position where we either have to run scared or rely on Him and Him alone for our provision, security, strength, and peace. It has in many ways been the hardest year either of us have experienced, but it has also been the best. We worship the God of providence and are wrapped up in his arms, like sheep in his pasture we are under the protection of his mighty staff. What a struggle faith can be and how quickly faithlessness can overcome me, in spite of God's perfect track record in faithfulness! His eye is on the sparrow. His care is for the lilies. His strength is for the weak. His kingdom is for the poor.

Lord Jesus let us never forget that you are the God of providence and our daily provision. Help us to put our trust in you!

Act Quickly on Faith

"That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised." Genesis 17:26

How long should I wait to act on something I know God is calling me to do? When God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, Abraham didn't wait a year to act up on it, he didn't put it on a to do list, he didn't make it next year's New Year's resolution. That very day, Abraham circumcised himself and his whole family. This challenges me because I know how frequently I put off things God has laid on my heart. Whether it be a kind word to a neighbor, a phone call to an old friend, confession, a discipline that needs to be developed, no matter what it may be the greatest enemy of action is always the phrase, "I'll do it tomorrow." God does not call us to act on his words later, he expects it to be done right away.

Lord Jesus, let us have the discipline to act on your words and prodding immediately. Give us victory over laziness and procrastination!

Arbitrarily Chosen

"Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.'" Genesis 12:1

It is foolish for me to ever think that God chose me to be saved because of any quality that I possess, but I still do it. How many times have I allowed the wicked lie to creep into my mind that says, "Look at all I have to offer God, no wonder He chose to save me?" When God chose Abram, there was no previous indication or reason given for God's choosing. Abram was a name in a long list of names, and God arbitrarily singled out his name to bless the whole world through. He chose Abram to be holy, to go from 'country', 'kindred', and his 'father's house', to some place separate. But God didn't do so because Abram asked him. The best explanation I can come up with after reading the text as to why God chooses Abram out of all the other names is that God is God, and He chooses whom He pleases. There is a problem in us talking of salvation so frequently as the choice we made to follow Him. Did I choose Him? Yes. But only because He first chose me, and He did so arbitrarily. I have nothing to give God that He doesn't already possess and there is no quality about me that could have swayed God in His choosing. It is by His grace and mysterious pleasure that He chose me, and by His grace that I was able to choose Him. Let us never forget that we live in Him by grace, and that we are His by His choosing.

Lord Jesus, You and You alone are the Author of our salvation. Give us the humility to live constantly at Your divine mercy!

The Subtle Deception of Pride

"Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.'" Genesis 11:4

At first glance, nothing strikes me as particularly wrong about what the settlers at Babel were doing. They all had one language and decided to use their unity and see just what they could accomplish with their own hands. They found they could burn bricks and use mortar and build a building. They discovered that with large amounts of people, buildings can be tall and grandiose. So they set out to do just that out of fear that if they didn't make their mark on the world, they would be dispersed and forgotten. In our American culture, this story sounds strikingly similar to a lot of our rags to riches, manifest destiny type tales of the day. To carve out a name for ourselves, to use the resources at hand to do something great, to be remembered in posterity are all noble ventures in the eyes of the meritocratic, success-driven American. When God looked down on Babel, however, he did not find a moving story of human ingenuity, he didn't see a beautiful display of man's capability, he saw a group of people usurping His glory. God, not man, is the builder of great things, the mover of unshakable forces, and the author of all things majestic. The pride of man is so often disguised by "honest" ambition and human powers. I find myself daily looking at the talents God gave me, the resources he put in my life, and scheming as to how I can use it all to make a name for myself. Even though I tell myself it is ambition, I'm afraid, unless the end of my actions are for the glory of God alone, my actions serve the demon inside all of us called pride.

Lord Jesus let us abandon our ambitions and desires for a name set apart in history, so that all our talents, gifts, and resources can be used to build your name and reputation over all the earth!

We All Fall

"Noah began to be a man of the soil and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent." Genesis 9:20-21

It always strikes me that after reading the four chapter account of Noah--hearing of the righteousness accredited to him by his faith in building the ark, the great patience of Noah, the covenant God makes with Noah concerning destruction of mankind--the last impression we are left with of Noah is him drunk and passed out naked in his tent. It is too often we idolize the great righteous men and women of our days as perfect and forget that even great men are far from perfect. Noah wasn't righteous because he did everything right all the time, he was righteous because of His faith. God's righteousness is different from man's righteousness, it is built by faith acting through works, not a strict adherence to social mores.

Let us praise God that righteousness comes by grace through faith and give us the grace to deal with each other in understanding and mercy!

The Primacy of Grace

"And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them." Genesis 3:21

Within the very same chapter in which man falls in the Bible, we also see the first example of God's grace. Despite the sorrow and pain God felt while walking through the garden and discovering His creation was ashamed, He also poured out his unmerited favor by clothing them to cover up their nakedness. God did not become a God of grace after Jesus, post New Testament, God has always been a God of grace. Oh what sweet and fulfilling truth to know that our God operates from a character of grace! Although His grace is not without His righteous judgment. The Lord is just and His wrath is poured out on all unrighteousness, but never in the Bible is His judgment not also coupled with His grace. As always, Adam and Eve were undeserving of God clothing them, but He did it anyways, not because of who they were, but because of who He is!

Lord Jesus, we are naked and ashamed because of our sin. Come clothe us with your grace and show your favor on us, so that we might walk in the garden with You again!