DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Potter

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Potter
Romans 9:19-21
 
"You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?' But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'Why have you made me like this?' Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one a vessel for honor and another for dishonor?"
 
It is a mystery to me why some people have a desire to love and serve God while others could not care less about God. God has His purpose for every individual and He creates them to fulfill this purpose – some for honor and some for dishonor. Some He called for special ministry before they were born, as Isaiah and John the Baptist. It is a wonder to me that God has place in my heart a desire to love and honor Him. Even so, at times I cry out in frustration, "God, why have you made me like this?" It seems my brain works so differently than anyone else, plus I am such a klutz. But I accept that I am who I am by God's design. The Potter has made me according to His purpose. I do want to be a vessel of honor, even though it seems to my eye I have so many weaknesses. God's strength is made perfect through my weakness (II Corinthians 12:9). He reveals His power through man's frailty. May God be honored through my weakness.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God has created each person according to His design and plan.
 
Have a God-honoring day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Hardened Heart

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Hardened Heart
Romans 9:17-18
 
"For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.' Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens."
 
This has always been perplexing to me – that God would harden a person's heart. That's what the Bible says: "I will harden Pharaoh's heart" (Exodus. 4:21; 7:3; 14:4; see also 7:13 9:12, 34; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:8). But the Bible also says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 8:15, 32). "When Pharaoh saw the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more and hardened his heart" (Exodus 9:34). So it seems that even though God hardened Pharaoh's heart, Pharaoh himself was a part of the process by his own sin. Why would God harden a person's heart? To demonstrate His power and accomplish His purpose. It is like Judas, who was eye-witness to the glory and power of God in Christ's ministry, and yet his heart was hardened so that God's plan of salvation could be finished. "Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas" (Acts 1:16). And Peter declared that Jesus was "delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). God foreknew that the heart of Judas would be hard against Jesus. We are not just pawns in God's capricious chess game, with no part in the matter. If we had no choice, we would not be accountable. The admonition of the Psalmist is appropriate and needs to be heeded: "Do not harden your heart, as in the day of rebellion" (Psalm 95:8). I need to consciously keep a soft and pliable heart before my God.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God hardens the hearts of those who rebel against Him so that they sin even more in order to manifest His power, glory, and mercy.
 
Have a "soft-hearted" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Mercy and Compassion

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Mercy and Compassion
Romans 9:14-16
 
"What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.' So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy."
 
Mercy is completely God's gift. There is nothing I could ever do to earn or merit or force Him to extend His mercy. Mercy flows entirely from His great love and compassion. I deserve only judgment for my sin. "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us ... made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-6). I have nothing to brag about. Only His compassion stands between me and hell.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God's compassion is the fountain from which His mercy flows.
 
Have a mercy-filled day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Love and Hate

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Love and Hate
Romans 9:9-13
 
"For this is the word of promise: 'At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.' And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, 'The older shall serve the younger.' As it is written, 'Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.' "
 
Verse 13 can be a troubling verse because it seems to indicate that God arbitrarily chose to love Jacob and hate Esau. There is a continuum between love and hate. I can truly love something and truly hate, abhor, and detest another thing, but in between there are things that I love less. In this sense, if I love something less that true love, it is toward the hate end of the continuum. For example, I love to eat ice cream. I truly abhor liver. But there are many foods (like broccoli) that are in the middle. I don't like them as well as ice cream, but I don't abhor them like liver. This is the sense of what Jesus said in Luke 14:26 when he said we could not be His disciple if we do not hate our family. It simply means that we love them less than we love Jesus. Thayer, speaking of Romans 9:13, says the meaning of hate here is to "love less." In God's infinite wisdom and love chose Abram over Nahor and Haran (Genesis 11:26), Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, David over his brother, and Mary over thousands of other maidens to be the lineage of His Son, Jesus, and thus fulfill His promise. God's election is always right and just. I may not understand it all, but I am so glad that God loved my father and chose him out of a heathen family. I receive the blessings of that election.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God's righteous election to fulfill His plan is based on His love.
 
Have a loving day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Children of God, Reprise

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Children of God, Reprise
 
Paul states his thesis even more succinctly in his letter to the Galatians.
 
"Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, 'In you all the nations shall be blessed.' So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham .... For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ" (Galatians 3:7-9, 26).
 
Rejoice in your position in God's family as His child.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Children of Promise

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Children of Promise
Romans 9:6-8
 
"But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called.' That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed."
 
I am a child of God, not by natural birth or lineage, but by spiritual birth (John 3:5-7). I am born into God's family by the Holy Spirit. God said to Abraham, "In you all the families of the earths shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3), looking forward to Christ. This is the promise that makes room for me, a Gentile, to be a child of God. I am a child of the promise through Jesus.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: It is spiritual birth, not physical birth or lineage, that makes one a child of God.
 
Have a promise day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- God, Save My Family

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – God, Save My Family
Romans 9:1-3
 
"I tell you the truth in Christ .... that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen (margin: relatives; related by blood) according to the flesh."
 
What a tremendous heart Paul had for his own people Israel – his blood relatives. If he could have, he would have become anathema to Christ for them. It reminds me of Moses who volunteered to have his own name blotted out of God's book in order to atone for Israel's sin (Exodus 32:32). Jesus had sorrow for His own people who rejected Him (see Matthew 23:37 and John 1:11), and He indeed became accursed to make atonement for them. I confess that, even though I have great sorrow and grief because there are those in my family that have rejected Jesus, I do not have that same passion that I would be willing to be cursed by God for them. O God, work in my heart. Lord Jesus, save my family!!!!
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Unsaved family should cause great grief and sorrow.
 
Have a "passion for family" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- God's Unfailing Love

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – God's Unfailing Love
Romans 8:35, 37-39
 
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? .... Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created things, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
 
At times, I have gone through hard times when God didn't answer my prayers. It seemed that God was far removed from me, and in my pain I cried out, "God, where are You? Don't You love me?" The struggles I go through are not a barometer to measure God's love. His love never changes. Even in my desperate times when I seem to battle hell itself, God still loves me. I may not feel His love when I am being "accounted as sheep for slaughter" (vs. 8). But my feeling do not alter the fact of God's love. He demonstrated His love through Jesus on the cross, and that will never change.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Hard times in life do not change God's love.
 
Have an unfailing love day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Source Of Condemnation

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Source Of Condemnation
Romans 8:33-34
 
"Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us."
 
This chapter began with the grand declaration that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). So why do I sometimes feel condemned about the past? Where does that come from? I know that is it not from God because Jesus said that He did not come to condemn but to save (John 3:17). Condemnation comes from Satan, who is continually accusing me before God (Revelation 12:10). But Jesus is also there, interceding for me. I can imagine Him rebut Satan's charges, saying, "Father, I died for John's sins. He is no longer under judgment because they are covered by My blood." Praise God, I don't have to live under condemnation for past sins. Jesus is taking care of that.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Even though Satan condemns me, Jesus is interceding for me.
 
Have a guilt-free day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Great Investment

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Great Investment
Romans 8:32
 
"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?"
 
The more I have invested in something, the better I take care of it. If I have put my money, time, or emotional energy into something – whether material things, a project, or a relationship – I have some ownership, and I care if it is lost or damaged. Something that cost me $1.00 is not nearly as important to me as something that I paid $1,000.00 for. God has invested in me. He paid a great price to purchase me – His very own Son. I am valuable to Him and He will take care of me.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God has invested a great deal in His children and He will take care of them.
 
Have an "invested" day. Love you.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- God On My Side

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – God On My Side

Romans 8:31

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"

In a war, I would want to be backed up by the best Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine support there is. The Psalmist said, "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The LORD is for me ....." (Psalm 118:6-7a). But, as President Lincoln answered when asked if he thought God was on the side of the Union, he said, "The question is not if God is on my side but if I am on His."

TODAY'S THOUGHT: God is on the side of those who trust Him.

Have a good support day. Love you.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Predestined

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Predestination
Romans 8:30
 
"Morever whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."
 
The doctrine of predestination can be a prickly issue. I do not believe that a God Who has revealed Himself as just and loving arbitrarily picks and chooses those who would be saved. I don't think He says, "I choose you to go to heaven, but I choose you to go to hell." That would not be consistent with His divine nature. I believe His election to salvation is based on His omniscience – His foreknowledge (vs. 29). He knew from the very beginning those who would respond to His call. Those who choose to say "Yes" to His call are justified and glorified. God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9).  God  wants everyone -- "whosoever will" -- to go to heaven.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God's order of salvation includes our response to His call.
 
Have a "Yes" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Image Of God

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Image Of God
Romans 8:29
 
"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren."
 
In the beginning, Adam was created as a "son of God" (Luke 3:38) in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), with mind, emotion and will that reflected God's nature and character – His holiness, His creativity, and the ability to think and choose. That image was marred by sin. But God still desires to have children reflecting His image in the likeness of Christ – in His holiness, His humility, and with His thoughts and passions. We can only bear the image of God by being His children – "among many brethren." We were predestined to bear the family resemblance when we were born again into His family.
I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The person who is born again into God's family will bear the image of the Father.
 
Have an "imago dei" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Perfect Ending

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Perfect Ending
Romans 8:28
 
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
 
This is a precious promise. I can live in confidence that everything that happens in my life -- even the pain and groanings -- is accomplishing His will and His purpose  because I love God. I belong to Him, and my life is in His hands, so I can say with the Psalmist:
           "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
            You will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and
            Your right hand will save me.
            The LORD will perfect (complete) that which concerns me;
            Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever;
            Do not forsake the works of Your hands."
                                                                                      Psalm 138:7-8
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: For the God-lover, the end of the story is always good.
 
Have a perfect day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Groaning (Part 2)

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Groaning (Part 2)
Romans 8:26-27
 
"Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
 
There are times in my weakness when my heart is heavy and I groan (see vs. 23) inside. Sometimes I don't even know why my soul is in turmoil. I don't know what the problem is. I just know something is wrong, but I don't know how to pray. But God knows, and the Holy Spirit steps into my weakness and He intercedes. Sometimes this intercession boils out of my own spirit in a prayer language. It is at these times that I know the Holy Spirit is interceding. And because He knows all things, I am confident that these Spirit-prayers are according to God's will.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: When my spirit is heavy and I don't know how to pray, God the Holy Spirit prays through me with perfect intercession.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- No More Groaning

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – No More Groaning
Romans 8:23-25
 
"Not only that, but we have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope, for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly await it with perseverance."
 
This is the hope of the Christian – a time when there will be no more pain and suffering. In the present time, my body groans – and the older I get the more it groans! The pain we suffer now will not last forever. We look for a resurrected body – the firstfruits of the Spirit – just as Jesus was the firstfruit from the dead in His resurrection (I Corinthians 15:20, 23). This body suffers pain, but it will not last forever. I look forward in hope to a new body with "eager perseverance."
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The pain we suffer in this moral body will not last forever.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- A New Creation

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – A New Creation
Romans 8:19-22
 
"For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God ... For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption [margin: decay] into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now."
 
When Adam sinned, God subjected the whole of creation (not just man) to futility – emptiness and decay. But even in the curse God gave hope for the future. Some day, the entire creation will be reborn and delivered from the bondage of corruption. The children of God will be resurrected to eternal life where there is no death. And all of creation will be made new – reborn. Peter foresaw this new heaven and new earth. The heavens will pass away and will melt with fervent heat. "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells" (II Peter 3:10-13). Even now the creation is in labor pains waiting for the new birth. And I live in hope of resurrection to a new body. My body groans under the curse of pain but there is a time coming when I will have a body like the resurrected Christ. "Beloved, now we are the children of God. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is" (I John 3:2). Hallelujah!
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Christians look forward to a new body and a new creation.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Looking To The Future

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Looking To The Future
Romans 8:15-18
 
"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit [spirit] of adoption by whom we cry out "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
 
When I was a kid and we moved from Independence to Lyons, I don't remember any sense of fear because I trusted my father. I only remember anticipation of the new life in Lyons. I do not fear the future after death because I know my Father has it all under control, and there is only glory that awaits the child of God. As an heir, I know that the riches of heaven will be mine, and I will live with anticipation of the glory of heaven. "Oh that will be glory for me. When by His grace I shall look on His face – that will be glory, glory for me."
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: As heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, the Christian looks forward with anticipation – not fear – to death.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Debtors

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Debtors
Romans 8:12-14
 
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit [spirit] you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. But as many as are lead by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God."
 
I am a debtor. I owe my life to Jesus. If it wasn't for Him, I would be consigned to a life of death in the flesh. But rather by the Spirit of God, I can put to death the dominating power of the flesh. I cannot do this in my own strength or power. The flesh is strong. The only way to handle it is to kill it. There are not peace treaties or peaceful co-existence. I can live victorious in Christ and I am in debt to Him.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: We are debtors to God because we cannot live righteous in our own strength – only by His power.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Spirit Life

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Spirit Life
Romans 8:9-11
 
"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit (spirit) if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Sprit (spirit) is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
 
My spirit is alive because the Spirit of God lives in me. My spirit was dead in trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1). But He has made my spirit alive to God. Not only that, but the Holy Spirit will also give life to this mortal body in resurrection. All because I am His – I belong to Him. I am His child by the work of the Spirit of Christ. Hallelujah!
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: A person's spirit lives because the Spirit of Christ dwells in him, and the body will also live because of the same Spirit of life.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Pleasing God

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Pleasing God
Romans 8:5
 
"So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
 
Pleasing God is not a priority of those who are carnal. In fact, it does not register on the scale They live to please themselves. For the Believer, pleasing God should be the prime motivator. If I love someone, I will want to please him or he. Jesus said, "I always do those things that please Him [the Father]" (John 8:29). When my heart is set on pleasing God, He works in me to do what is pleasing in His sight (Hebrews 13:21). The person who lives according to the spirit pleases God. The person who lives according to the flesh does not please God. I want my life to please Him. Lord, let me please You today.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Pleasing God is the goal of one living in the spirit.