Before me every knee will bow

[thecrucifiedlife]

Isaiah 45:22-24 (NIV)



[22] "Turn to me and be saved,

all you ends of the earth;

for I am God, and there is no other.

[23] By myself I have sworn,

my mouth has uttered in all integrity

a word that will not be revoked:

Before me every knee will bow;

by me every tongue will swear.

[24] They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone

are righteousness and strength.' "

All who have raged against him

will come to him and be put to shame.



Our God is a God who gives us cancer. He allows children to die. He causes depression and anxiety. We worship a God who will put us to shame trying to get us to repent. He does extremely painful things. He is supreme. In Him is righteousness and strength. He can do whatever he wants to do. This is the only true God and there is no other. But we don’t want a Jesus like this. We don’t want Jesus to be Lord. We want Him to answer all of our prayers, “get me a new job and a better house and the plasma TV and raise my kids and make my marriage better.” That is the God we want and the God we see preached on Sunday. But what happens when you preach this false message to a church and all the blessings don’t come? People are left sitting in church waiting for a God to bless them. And if you are blessed, is it really God who is blessing you or is God sending a delusion to test you and you are miserably failing. But the true God reacts contrary to your design. We are left to hang on a cross and put in a tomb. If you worship God you will be brought to your knees. :o

 

[nhzname]

Hmmm. it sure sounds like you're angry with God about something and you're believing the lies and deceptions of the enemy. Understood! Been there done that! I've yelled and screamed at the Lord, too, wondering why He allows me to hurt so much; wondering why He allows so much pain and suffering in the world. Not to mention, why He doesn't give me what I want in life, when I want it.

But you know what? Once I see past the circumstances and I choose to ask the Lord to let me see the lessons He wants me to learn from it all, a whole new light is shed on the subject. Slowly I come to realize that just getting to this point can be another step of growth in my faith, if I choose it to be...

Our God IS a God of love. HE doesn't give us cancer. HE doesn't cause depression and anxiety and HE definitely does not bring us to shame. As Romans 9:33 says: As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." What you are accusing God of is not His doing, it is the consequences of sin that ravages and creates turmoil in this world. Remember that Satan is the one who prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) Satan is the one who rules this world and yes, this suffering is just a slight depiction of who he is.

But you already know all this stuff, right?

Well then ... be encouraged. The God of all creation, who loves us and knows our needs has already claimed the victory over all the wiles and schemes of the enemy. This destruction that sin has created is exactly why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ. So, let's fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2) Christ has already defeated sin, and we are just waiting for Satan to finish running in circles, so we can get down to really living.

Yeah, its not a pretty sight. Yeah, its not always a pleasant experience here of earth, but we can be assured of this '... in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

So then, dear friend, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.' (2 Peter 3:13-14)

Friend, I hope you will not be upset with me expressing my opinion. I trust that the Lord is at work in you, and you are aware of His presence. Even now, I pray that you will draw near to Him so that He will draw near to you. I pray that He will give you clarity of thought and renew a right spirit within you. I pray that through this, He will build in you a deeper faith and trust in Him, in His righteousness.

Blessings to you, n hz name.

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

It's certainly true that God does allow hard circumstances, and He is definitely more concerned with our souls than with our temporal comfort, since that is what lasts. He also gives us life and life more abundantly, and He sends pain for a reason, even if we can't see it. To see only the blessing and not understand His soveregnty, or to see Him as harsh without seeing the end goal of our permanent good and comfort will lead us to the wrong conclusions about God.

True: every knee will bow and every tongue confess. And everyone will also be forced to acknowledge that God alone is true, and that everyone had every opportunity to repent and enjoy His richest mercies and grace.

Thank you for pointing out some imbalances that flow out of pulpits today. It's a very important thing to consider.

 

[thecrucifiedlife]

n hz name,

Sorry I couldn't get back to you earlier, I was out of town.

To answer your remark:
I am not angry at God, what I am addressing is letting God be God. Too many want to explain away who God really is. I am talking about how God works. Let me ask you, if I knew that tonight 3 members of your immediate family, who you love dearly, were going to be murdered and I had the power to stop that murder but I didn't, what would that make me, would that make me responsible? Well that is exactly the position that God is in, he knows terrible things are going to happen and has the power to stop them but does not. I am not here to explain why he does this, but just that this is what happens. I know that may be hard to believe and I know your mind may work overtime trying to "explain" this, but this is God.

 

[thecrucifiedlife]

Whitehorse,

Thanks for your reply. I was out of town and did not get a chance to read it until now.

 

[TheOriginalWhitehorse]

Welcome back! I'm glad you had a safe trip.

And now that I think about the Lord and His sovereignty, I'm seeing how He truly has a plan, even in the bad things. We all know that theologically, but to know it experientially...it's a blessing. It makes life so much easier.

 

[nhzname]

n hz name,

... what I am addressing is letting God be God. Too many want to explain away who God really is. I am talking about how God works. ... if I knew that tonight 3 members of your immediate family, who you love dearly, were going to be murdered and I had the power to stop that murder but I didn't, what would that make me? Well that is exactly the position that God is in, he knows terrible things are going to happen and has the power to stop them but does not.

Hey guy ... welcome back, and may the Lord God of peace guide your heart and mind. It's great to see that the Lord who reigns over all things, has allowed you to return safely from your trip, and has kept us both in His care.

I understand what you are saying about our Sovereign God. If He is Sovereign, if He reigns, and is all and knows all, how in the world could He possibly allow all this havoc that's going on is this world? How can the God of all creation watch any of His creation be murdered, assaulted, or mistreated? I understand what you're saying ...

I'm saying that what you see is the result and consequences of the sin that has reigned in this world and all mankind since the beginning of time. God sent His Son for just this reason. Even though we can't stop the result of the free will of mankind, we can trust that "God will work all things out for the good of those who love Him", even if we can't see the good at the time.

We have to remember that our ways are not His ways, and our thoughts are not His thoughts, so what we deem to be 'for good' may not include the 'long term picture' that the Lord sees as good for those who love Him.

Hey, I wonder about alot of things going on in this earth, but I remember that this is not my home. My home is in heaven, and although there are many things that I question, I trust and believe that God is in control, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against Him.

Go with God. Trust ... n hz name!