PCM 10-21-2011 Why? Why we cannot answer all the why questions yet....
The short version:
As any parent of a two year old can attest to... "WHY" is the dreaded question we all face because there is no end and no answer that satisfies....WHY???
"Why" is simply beyond our ability to comprehend. We just do not have the full picture. We do not have the knowledge of the future, past and present along with the intricate details of how things seen and unseen truly work and interact. We are unprepared, under informed as well as ill equipped to solve life's conundrums and fully answer even the simple question of why.
Of course this begs the question of why.....
The more detailed [yet equally inadequate] version:
We are here on earth for a really short period of time when compared to eternity. I am assuming if you have gotten this far into the article you are a believer in the eternal and logical enough to see that human life is brief when compared just to the recorded history we are aware of.
1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:12 MSG We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
Combine these with the following:Hebrews 11:1 MSG The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see.
Hebrews 11:1 NIV Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
By living a life of faith, we put our trust in our unseen God with the assumption of His love and His ability and willingness to fulfill all He has said. This is how I have chosen to live my life. Which brings us right back to what my friend Steve said the other day about faith. How we practice our faith comes down to belief and trust, not just a 'warm fuzzy' feeling when things are going our way but an implicit trust that He has our eternal best interest ultimately as His.
Trusting in God with my life, one day at a time with love for God the eternal Creator.
Bill Sullivan
Friday, October 21, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
PCM 10-16-2011 ...compassionate, caring God who changes not
PCM 10-16-2011 ...compassionate, caring God who changes not
From Steve of Tazmania.
The short version:
Because their faith was not some etherial, vapourous, intangeable dis-embodied substance focussed on the environment about them but in the personality, performance, power, purpose and providence of their compassionate, caring God who changes not.
The more detailed version:
Being raised within a Pentecostal environment, I'd regularly seen answered prayer and believed in an omnipotent God. Yet 16 years of suffering under a degenerative, in-cureable disease takes it's toll on one's battered, hemorrhaging faith. That is; until I discovered that my faith was focussed upon my deliverance rather than on my Deliverer.
God's promise to the exiled Israelites is applicable to us today (ingrafted, spiritual Israel); "for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future (Jer 29:11)" However, when the dark veil is drawn across our view of the future when the heavens are as brass, when what appeared to be our faith lies in shards at our feet...where's the promise, where's our faith, where are God's mighty deeds of old?
History reveals that God delivered Israel and reinstated her. God dwells in the eternal continium, Israel in the finite. God's purposes were fulfilled, but in time (seventy years), they were not thwarted neither was God deemed unreliable, unjust or a liar.
Israel's hope did not necessarily rest on their emancipation but rather was embodied in the One who could release them, God.
We read in Hebrews 11 of the great gallery of the faithful proudly offered for all to see on the walls of time. Wonderous deeds, exploits and daring adorn this display but so also is disaster, seeming defeat (sawn in two, imprisoned, chained, stoned) and privation (wandered in deserts lived in holes in the ground). Yet all were commended for their faith though none recieved what was promised (their heavenly promise)(Hebrews 11:39).
How can this be? Because their faith was not some etherial, vapourous, intangeable dis-embodied substance focussed on the environment about them but in the personality, performance, power, purpose and providence of their compassionate, caring God who changes not. Blessings Steve
From Steve of Tazmania.
The short version:
Because their faith was not some etherial, vapourous, intangeable dis-embodied substance focussed on the environment about them but in the personality, performance, power, purpose and providence of their compassionate, caring God who changes not.
The more detailed version:
Being raised within a Pentecostal environment, I'd regularly seen answered prayer and believed in an omnipotent God. Yet 16 years of suffering under a degenerative, in-cureable disease takes it's toll on one's battered, hemorrhaging faith. That is; until I discovered that my faith was focussed upon my deliverance rather than on my Deliverer.
God's promise to the exiled Israelites is applicable to us today (ingrafted, spiritual Israel); "for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future (Jer 29:11)" However, when the dark veil is drawn across our view of the future when the heavens are as brass, when what appeared to be our faith lies in shards at our feet...where's the promise, where's our faith, where are God's mighty deeds of old?
History reveals that God delivered Israel and reinstated her. God dwells in the eternal continium, Israel in the finite. God's purposes were fulfilled, but in time (seventy years), they were not thwarted neither was God deemed unreliable, unjust or a liar.
Israel's hope did not necessarily rest on their emancipation but rather was embodied in the One who could release them, God.
We read in Hebrews 11 of the great gallery of the faithful proudly offered for all to see on the walls of time. Wonderous deeds, exploits and daring adorn this display but so also is disaster, seeming defeat (sawn in two, imprisoned, chained, stoned) and privation (wandered in deserts lived in holes in the ground). Yet all were commended for their faith though none recieved what was promised (their heavenly promise)(Hebrews 11:39).
How can this be? Because their faith was not some etherial, vapourous, intangeable dis-embodied substance focussed on the environment about them but in the personality, performance, power, purpose and providence of their compassionate, caring God who changes not. Blessings Steve
Thursday, October 13, 2011
PCM 10-10-2010 deeply at peace through anything...
PCM 10-10-2010 deeply at peace through anything...
The short version: I love the videos winning teams make AFTER their successful championship season. As you watch through them remember the anxiety you felt along the way and the doubts you had....[you know what I am talking about].
I love winning, I am guessing so do you. If you know ahead of time who would win every contest it would be a sure bet, a no loose situation, money in the bank. Even if there are setbacks and problems along the way, knowing the end results will always put you at ease. [If you trust the results and stay away from doubt].
The more indepth version:
You can know the final final outcome and keep yourself unshakable and assured, deeply at peace along the way by trusting [believing]. The stakes are higher, last forever and it takes faith but that should be easy for such a seasoned, tested over-comer such as you.
In real life, this is a lot easier when addressing "other people's" crisis situations because we have the ability to step back and see the bigger picture. We know that they will not be in pain 'forever' but that it is temporary. When it is us however it is harder to see. That is why it is important for us to be there for each other and to be open with God and each other about how we are really doing.
John 16:33 MSG The Message
I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."
John 16:33 NIV New International Version
"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."
Take some time to 'hear' what this is saying.
Love, Bill Sullivan
The short version: I love the videos winning teams make AFTER their successful championship season. As you watch through them remember the anxiety you felt along the way and the doubts you had....[you know what I am talking about].
I love winning, I am guessing so do you. If you know ahead of time who would win every contest it would be a sure bet, a no loose situation, money in the bank. Even if there are setbacks and problems along the way, knowing the end results will always put you at ease. [If you trust the results and stay away from doubt].
The more indepth version:
You can know the final final outcome and keep yourself unshakable and assured, deeply at peace along the way by trusting [believing]. The stakes are higher, last forever and it takes faith but that should be easy for such a seasoned, tested over-comer such as you.
In real life, this is a lot easier when addressing "other people's" crisis situations because we have the ability to step back and see the bigger picture. We know that they will not be in pain 'forever' but that it is temporary. When it is us however it is harder to see. That is why it is important for us to be there for each other and to be open with God and each other about how we are really doing.
John 16:33 MSG The Message
I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."
John 16:33 NIV New International Version
"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."
Take some time to 'hear' what this is saying.
Love, Bill Sullivan
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