Saturday, April 28, 2007

The God Who "GAVE THEM UP..."!

God’s Word describes not only the love of God, but also the WRATH OF GOD!

We tend to focus on His love, but He is also capable of wrath (Romans 1:18).

In the Gospel, God is presented not only as the Loving God who saves, but also as the God who is Just and “He will PUNISH those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess. 1:8).

To the elect, God gave them repentance (2 Tim. 2:25; Rom. 2:4; Acts 5:31). While the rest, He “GAVE THEM UP…” (Rom 1:24, 26, 28, ESV.)

In the New International Version, we read:

“God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity…” “God gave them over to shameful lusts.” “God…gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.”

IF He did NOT give you up, or give you over to the sinful desire of your heart, to shameful lust, or to a depraved mind -- rather, “been justified through faith,” or He gave you His Spirit -– should you not really “REJOICE in the hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-5)!?

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Do You KNOW The GREATEST PLEASURE of God?

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matt. 17:5).

God’s Word tells us that God finds pleasure “in those who fear Him” (Ps. 147:10-11). He finds pleasure in those who fulfill their vows to God (Eccl. 5:4-7). He finds pleasure in revealing Himself to the elect (Matt 11:25-27).

God finds pleasure in adopting us as his children (Eph. 1:4-6). He finds pleasure in giving us the Kingdom (Luke 12:32). And He finds pleasure in those who have “broken and contrite heart” (Ps. 51:16-17).

We could discover other ways in the Bible wherein God finds pleasure, but His Greatest Pleasure is in His Son – “with whom… (He is...) WELL PLEASED”!!

Do we always seek for God’s Greatest Pleasure? Are we always listening to Him!

WHY Find Pleasure IN GOD?

God wants His children to enjoy the Greatest Pleasure. And we cannot find it apart from Him. So, we really need to pursue and seek Him -- not because of what He can give to us, but He Himself is our ultimate desire!

His Pleasure transcends all the pleasures we can enjoy in this world, or what are promoted in this world.

God's pleasure is eternal (Ps. 16:11). Other pleasures are just "for a short time" (Heb. 11:25).

God's pleasure makes us grow and abound. Other pleasures "choked" us (Luke 8:14).

God's pleasure exhorts us to "devote ourselves in doing what is good." Other pleasures "enslaved" us (Titus 3:3-8).

God's pleasure satisfies us overwhelmingly. Other pleasures frustrate or cause us to suffer disappointments (James 4:3).

God's pleasure brings salvation. Other pleasures will destroy us (2 Peter 2:9-14).

Should we not always seek God and rejoice in His Divine Presence -- savoring His Glorious Pleasure?

God Commanded Us To Enjoy The GREATEST PLEASURE!

"Delight yourself in the LORD..." (Ps. 37:4.)

God's Word wants us to be happy! That's why we are even commanded to have the kind of joy that is unspeakable -- not just the fleeting and false kind of joy.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Phil. 4:4.)-- is not just a suggestion.

But we are indeed like a child who is told to play and build sand castle in the beach, but we prefer to play and make mud pies in the mud!

Yes, the greatest commandment, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind..." (Luke 10:27) is meant to point us on how we can experience the greatest enjoyment. "Rejoice IN THE LORD ALWAYS..." Rejoice in Him with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind!

Did He give you the faith you can have all your desires in your heart be realized in Him?

Did He give you His Spirit, so you can obey the greatest commandment and thus enjoy the everlasting pleasure?

If you do, then, you are one of those who are "filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy" (1 Peter 1:8)!!

God Wants His Children To ENJOY PLEASURE

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim. 3:1-4).

Verse 4 states that there will be people who are “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

Does it mean if we love God, we will NOT enjoy pleasure?

Do we have to choose between God and pleasure? If we choose God, we’ll have NO pleasure? And if we have pleasure, we’ll have “no God”?

Of course, it does NOT mean that way! There is SUPREME and EVERLASTING pleasure in God.

Note what the Psalmist declared, “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with ETERNAL PLEASURES at your right hand” (Ps. 16:11).

What is NOT promoted in 2 Timothy 3:4 are those who “enjoy the pleasures of sin” as we read in Hebrews 11:25 – not only it is “of sin,” but is also “for a short time.”

God wants His children to enjoy pleasure. And He wants them to enjoy it forevermore.

We can now start to enjoy it.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

When God Committed "SUICIDE"

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us... (John 1:14.)

When the "Word" -- who "was God" (verse 1) -- "became flesh," it was a suicidal act! For He could already suffer death. He could now absorb all the pains common to man.

We heard many stories both fact and fiction how an individual would be willing to suffer death to save someone close to him. Yet, God offered His Life for those who are "far distanced" from Him, because of their sins.

"Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:7-8).

He performed that suicidal act for the elect, so they could enjoy a close relationship with Him -- through His Spirit, right now, He could also dwell with them.

Are you one of those who believe that the Sovereign God could do it for you?

Monday, April 2, 2007

Just A TASTE Of God’s Sovereignty…

“The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases” (Prov. 21:1).

After I read the book FINDING GOD and CHOSEN BY GOD, I realized later that God was just introducing me to the glory of His Sovereignty! It was a “sweet taste” of one of His Divine Attributes.

God allowed me also to read the book OUR GOD IS AWESOME by Tony Evanns and many writings of John Piper, which continued to feed me with the precious truth of God’s absolute control over the smallest particle that exists in the material world – in fact, even the unseen thoughts or will of man (!) -- up to the raging storm and the course of human history!!

Indeed, God reigns Supreme not only over the material universe, but He has complete control even in the sovereign heart (will or thought) of a human king!

Now, I realize that God’s Word (the Bible) asserts, insists, emphasizes, promotes and declares the ABSOLUTE Sovereignty of God!

For example, Proverbs 16:9, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”

Another one, “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails” (Prov. 19:21).

Be fascinated with His Sovereignty... the Bible offers the main course.

Sunday, April 1, 2007

A Glimpse Of GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY

God made me aware of the Glory of His Sovereignty when I started to read the book TRUSTING GOD by Jerry Bridges.

It was really comforting to learn that He is in complete and total control of EVERYTHING!

And it's truly assuring to put our trust in Him.

But God's Sovereignty was manifested to me in its Greater Grandeur after I read CHOSEN BY GOD, written by R. C. Sproul!!! Not only three times I read the book to really grasp the gem of it.

Afterwards, I really bowed down before His Sovereignty and was able to entrust not only my whole physical life to Him, but also the eternity ahead of me.

Being Overwhelmed With GOD'S GOODNESS...

When I read the book FINDING GOD by Dr. Larry Crabb, I began to be overwhelmed with the Goodness of God.

My great desire to learn more about His Goodness and Greatness became like a fountain of water that bursted out!And my hunger to know Him grows... the more I become familiar with His Splendor and Excellence, the more I hunger to know His Goodness.

To know and become acquainted with the Goodness of God is more satisfying than to know the solution to our problems, to know how to make our life comfortable and easy, or to know whatever earthly knowledge we could boast...

The Supreme Goodness of God

When I first realized that God is good -- not just because He favored me with good things, or because of the good things He is doing, but He is good because of WHO HE IS -- that He remains to be good regardless of what He allows to happen to me, or what is happening in the world, His Goodness does not diminish or increase by what will happen to me -- I was overwhelmed with awe of Him.

From then on, I wanted to become more familiar with Him -- I desire to know Him more.

Just like His Love, His Goodness is truly incomprehensible by our human mind.

We limit His Goodness if we try to define or measure by the good thing that we ordinarily experience. We need to allow His Word (the Bible) -- through His Spirit -- to display His Divine Goodness to us.

Only then that we can truly begin to see and appreciate how good He is!

GOD DOES NOT GIVE ONLY COMMANDMENT; HE GIVES OBEDIENCE

God commanded us to repent but we read in my message at http://sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=88687, "...it is God who grants repentance (Acts. 5:31; 2 Tim. 2:25)."

There are those who pointed out that we need to endure to be saved, but "We fail to realize it is God who gives the endurance (Rom. 15:5)."

"We also struggle to be blameless, but we read in 1 Thess. 5:23-24, 'May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and HE WILL DO IT' (NIV, also Jude 24).

"Yes, we are directed by God to believe in His Son, to pray always, to know Him more, to forgive, etc. But He gives His Spirit to enable us to do them."

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Phil. 2:13).