Is God Far Off?

There are times (Brothers and Sisters-in-Christ) in our Christian life when we feel like God is far off.   We have prayers that aren't answered or we are impatient and think God does not care about our problems.  We may feel God is angry with us over some sin in our life.  We may feel loneliness and shame.   We may feel unbearable sadness and grief. We then ask ourselves, where is God?

Have you every felt like this at times, or am I the only one?  I would bet that I am not the only one.   

It is during these times that our theology (Biblical understanding) must be rock solid!   We must believe what the Bible teaches us about God.

Psalm 34 vs. 17 - 18 says, "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them: he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed." 

Proverbs 15 vs. 29 says, "The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous."

Ephesians 2 vs. 13 says, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

Hebrews 4 vs. 16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

John 14 vs. 18 Jesus said, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

John 16 vs. 33 Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." 

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The first issue we need to settle in our heart is that trouble is normal in this life. Our trial is not abnormal.  Jesus said we are going to have trouble.   Just because we are experiencing a trial does not nullify the truth of God's word.  We can trust God.   He is always faithful and is always good to us.  God loves us.

I know it is hard for us to believe that God loves us, but He truly does.  I love the following verse and it reminds me that God does not care just about the big things in my life, but also the small things.  

Psalm 37 vs. 23 says, "The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives."

Does this verse describe a God who doesn't care about what you are going through?  Of course not!  God cares for you.

We must trust him at his word when we are experiencing grief, loss, and various trials.

At my lowest points in life, God has never left me there.  He has always restored the JOY of my salvation.  He will do this for you as well.   

The peace that those of us who are born again experience is unlike the peace the world experiences.  We have true lasting peace in our hearts.  We are able (through Christ) to have joy in the midst of suffering.  

The Apostle James said (James 1 vs. 2-4) "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

Is God far off? 

The answer is an emphatic NO!

My prayer for you is that if you are currently experiencing a trial, I pray God restores the joy of your salvation.  I trust He will perform this work of grace in your heart, as He has for me many times.

God bless you!

 

Why Some Professing Christians Make Me Angry

The Bible teaches us that those who believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ are adopted into the family of God.  This means that those who are Born Again into God's family are our Brothers and Sisters in the Lord.

We are to love them and serve them.  We should want to be around our Brothers and Sisters in Christ all the time.  Right?

We should, yes!  But, in our flesh does it always work out that way?  No!

I will be very honest with you.  There are some professing Christians I do not like or desire to be around.  I have found that some professing Christians can be arrogant, unkind, unloving, legalistic, judgemental, boastful, and self-righteous.

They make me angry!!

Why would I want to spend time with them?

It has been a struggle in my life.

This is where God's grace has helped me be less angry and more forgiving to other brothers and sisters in the Lord.  The Holy Spirit works within me causing me to love, forgive, and show mercy to those professing Christians who hurt me.  Without the Holy Spirit working within me as an act of grace, I could not do it (Philippians 2 vs. 13).

It was self-righteous hypocrites who nailed Jesus to the cross.   

As Christians we must continually guard our hearts against self-righteousness and pride.  There is nothing God hates more than personal pride.    

Allowing anger to fester in us is sin.   The Apostle Paul warns us not to get involved in foolish arguments with others.

What should I do when another Christian hurts me or angers me?  Take it to the Lord and trust him to deal with them and help me forgive.   We can't change anyone, only God can change people.

With this said, we must abide by scripture when it teaches us that if we have a problem with a brother we must, (Matthew 18 vs. 15-17) "go and tell him their fault, between you and him alone.  If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.  And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as an unbeliever."

Let us obey scripture and not let anger fester in us.

God bless you!

 

How can I be sure I am going to heaven when I die?

One of the disciples of Jesus named Thomas asked this same question and it is recorded for us in the Gospel of John (Chapter 14 vs. 5 and 6). Thomas said to Him (Jesus), "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." From this statement, Jesus made a profound statement. He declared that He is the only way to the Father, which in this instance was referring to entering Heaven where the Father dwells. 

For centuries humankind has been in fear of death and what lies beyond. To try and conquer the fear of death people have created religions, gods, deity's, and some type of religious system that can give comfort over their fear of death. 

I have never come in contact with family and friends at a funeral who did not sincerely hope their deceased loved one was in heaven. To them, it did not matter how their loved one lived, what religion they followed, or sins they may have committed in the family. To family and friends a good person (their love one) deserves to be in heaven. 

But, what did Jesus say? He (Jesus) is the only way! 

Why must humankind go through Jesus to enter heaven when they die? This is the question many are trying to understand. Using the Holy Bible as our guide I will answer the question why Jesus? 

To answer this question we must first understand how God describes the human race.

Romans 1 vs. 18 - 32 says.."But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. 

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 

That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned in lust for each other. (Homosexuality) Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God's justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too." 

Romans 3 vs. 10-12 says..."No one is righteous. Not even one! No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one." 

As we can clearly see from scripture, God describes humans as evil and corrupt. None of us are good!

Even when we think we are good people, in light of the righteousness of God, we are not. Every human deserves to be under the wrath of God because of sin. This is our natural standing before God. 

We are sinners, and undeserving of God's love and favor. We deserve his wrath and his just punishment for our rebellion against Him. The truth is, no one deserves to enter Heaven when they die. 

We all deserve Hell! 

Before we can understand our need for Jesus, we must tackle the elephant in the room. We must come to see ourselves as God sees us in our natural state. We are vile, wretched sinners! 

Yes, you and I are both evil and corrupted by sin. We deserve to spend an eternity subject to the wrath of God in Hell. Apart from Jesus, this is how God sees us and we are considered enemies of God.  His wrath is directly pointed at you and I, and He (God) is JUST in doing so. The perfect justice of God demands that we should die because of our sin.  

Ezekiel 18 vs. 20, God says,"The Soul that sins, it shall die!" 

But God, who is rich in love and mercy did something that is unspeakably profound.  He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent his son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.  There is no judgement (wrath of God) against anyone who believes in him.  But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing God's one and only Son (John 3 vs. 16-18).

It is by believing in God's Son and trusting in His finished works that you and I are declared right with God.  Through believing (Faith) we are made right with God and no longer under wrath.

What are Christ's finished works?

Jesus Christ accomplished many things while on Earth, but there are three specific works that needed to be accomplished in order to rescue sinners from Hell.

The first work that Jesus accomplished was he lived a sinless life.  From birth to death he never sinned.  He lived in perfect obedience to God's Holy law.   This is something that no human has been able to do or will ever be able to do.  Jesus met and kept all of God's law.  He did this for us!  Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because there was no sin  found within Him.  He was perfectly righteous in the sight of God.

The second work that Jesus accomplished was he suffered and died on the cross as an atonement for our sins.   1 Peter 2 vs. 24 says, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."

Jesus healed us by taking our sins and paying the full penalty due us.  He died under the wrath of God that we deserved.  Only God the Son could do this for us.  It was a wonderful act of love that Jesus would do this for us.  Oh, how I love Jesus!!!

Because of Christ's atoning work on the cross, my sins have been paid in full and as a result, I am able to boldly enter God's presence through Jesus Christ.

The third work that Jesus accomplished was he arose from the dead on the third day.  Jesus, after he died, was laid in a tomb for three days.  On the third day he arose thereby conquering death and guaranteeing that all who believe on him will have eternal life.  As Jesus was resurrected to life, so will all those who trust in Him be resurrected to eternal life.  

When we place our faith in Jesus and in his finished works, God's Holy Spirit immediately comes into our life and seals us for all eternity.  We now belong 100% to Jesus Christ our Lord, and there is no one, not even us can ever again separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus.  Our eternal home in heaven is secure because of what Christ has done for us.

We believe Jesus is the only way to heaven.  We believe Christ fulfilled the law of God for us.  We believe Christ died for our sins and paid the penalty that was meant for us in full.  We believe that Christ arose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God in heaven always interceding on  our behalf.  We believe that Christ is coming again in the future to gather his Church (Born Again), establish his kingdom and judge the world.

Jesus Christ truly is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

How can we be sure that we are going to heaven when we die?   By believing on his name!!

Acts 4 vs. 12 says, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Amen!

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If you have found this blog to be an encouragement to you or if you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ I would personally love to hear from you.  Please leave a comment on this blog or send me an email to carlcoffin@gmail.com.

God bless you!