Tag: culture

Snowy mountain peaks reflected in a calm alpine lake during a dramatic sunrise.
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The Unchanging God in a Changing World

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“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

A few years ago, my Bible Study Girls were asked to create a faith growth chart.  We were to mark where we thought our faith was at say 5-10 years ago and then where it was at the time of the study.  As we shared our charts it was great to see that all of us felt we had grown in our faith lives.  We also all showed times where we plateaued.  As Christians, we call this being sanctified by God.  We were justified with God when we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior.  We are currently being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.  And one day we will be glorified when we see Christ again.  That’s Christian growth.

Our lives, believers or not, are filled with changes.  Changes in our bodies, beliefs, relationships, financial situations and more.  We are reflections of all of God’s creations – we are born, we live and one day we die.  Returned to the dust.  In this way we are wholly divergent from our Creator.  A Creator who is immutable, never changing.

“Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.”  Psalm 102:25-27

Progressive Teaching vs Biblical Teaching

Liberal thinking, in politics, religion and society, is that everything changes.  Everything grows above and beyond yesteryear.  That thinking gives us “progressivism.”  Liberal pastors and bible teachers believe the Bible is a dusty book with old fashioned rules and ways of living.  They pick and choose what us “modern believers” should follow as we become more advanced.  But in holding to that interpretation they also have to believe that God is ever changing.  Which the Bible makes clear He is not.

God doesn’t change His mind.  Why?  Because He is omnipotent and therefore already had all the information needed to form His thoughts.  God doesn’t seek to improve because that implies He wasn’t perfect to begin with.  God doesn’t have a growth chart – He is beyond time.

“The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand forever.” Isaiah 40:10

So while King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3 accurately shows there’s a season for everything — life and death, joy and sadness, and a time to be born and a time to die — God does not exist by those constraints.  And for that we should be eternally grateful.

A Steady Hand

For much of my life I was waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop.  In other words, when things were good, I just knew they’d take a turn for the worse.  Unfortunately, when things were bad I just figured they’d also get worse.  As my faith chart has soared, I can rest in the truths of God’s Word.  He has a plan for us for all eternity, and it is good.  He won’t pull a rug out from under me.  He is the Rock I can count on.  His truth is something to which we can hold fast.  Let’s remember the words written about 3,000 years ago: “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Ps 100:5)

We look around us and can believe things seem so much worse than “before.”  We look in the mirror and see new lines and wrinkles.  The seasons outside our windows come and go.  Instead of despair we can look to the immutable God and see a steady hand guiding us to something better.  A hope that we should pray all those whom we love would have.  We build our life on His steady hill so as storms come and go, we are not rocked or defeated.

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  Hebrews 13:5

Friends, His Word is true, good and never changing.  While culture may have been different in biblical times, man’s propensity to sin carries on for thousands upon thousands of years.  There’s scripture that says something like, nothing has happened to you that hasn’t happened already to someone else.  It’s good to remember that because then we can look to God and see just how He has always wanted the situation resolved.  The answers were carved in stone, then papyrus, then on a printing press, and now in our hearts.  The same words of the Old Testament were read by Jesus.  And His words by believers almost 2,000 years ago.

We don’t need a “new word” or a shiny new god.  We need to rest in and believe the everlasting, unchanging God who rules the world with wisdom, grace and justice.

Everlasting (Psalm 90) by Sovereign Grace Music

O God, before the mountains were brought forth
Or days of spring and summer filled the earth
From everlasting, You are God

We dwell beneath the stars in ancient skies
A thousand years are nothing in Your sight
From everlasting, You are God

And all our days are held within Your hands
Your perfect love and favor have no end
We rest within the wisdom of Your plan
Everlasting God

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Day 4 Your Love

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This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

In God’s Big Book of Life He constantly demonstrates He has a plan, an order of all things. All one needs to do is picture the cosmos, see the structure of our solar system, recognize we have everything we need here on this Big Blue Ball to sustain and enjoy life. He loves His creation so much that He promises to never leave us, never forsake us. He sent His son to bring us back into a relationship, bringing order into our lives.

He created an order for marriage, for our sexuality, roles for both genders, for how we treat others and so much more. It’s all there in that big book called His Word or the Bible. Yet for 1,000s of years we humans take our gifts of a free will and a big brain and buck against His order of all things. We are the only created beings that do this.

A tree, as a tiny seed, doesn’t decide if it wants to become a tree. It doesn’t decide where it will grow, or even what type of tree it will be. No, its very essence is to live according to how it was made by God. The same for all plants and animals. A bird doesn’t stress and ponder how to make a nest or even if it wants to lay eggs. It seamlessly moves to God’s plan and rhythm.

Believer or not, all humans seem to instinctively know when they aren’t in sync with God’s plan. Some of us may recognize we push to the limits of the natural order. While others may blame everyone else for not conforming to their plan for the world. But we all feel that friction when our marriages struggle, when we act sexually immoral, or when we are constantly unkind and ungenerous. That friction is God reminding us He is the creator; He is the keeper of the order of all things.

It’s taken me awhile but I finally decided I want to stay right in the middle of God’s love at all times.  I want my life to be ordered such that I never leave the comfort, joy and peace that He promises when we stay close to Him.  Because the thing about God is if you want to live outside His order, He will allow you.  And you will experience a friction that maybe you just can’t understand.

No, I want to be right in the middle of His love.  Not following my own will but His.  Not sitting on the fence straddling between two worlds.  Right in the middle.

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“Those” Seasons

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Hello friends!  It’s been a while since I’ve added to my blog.  For the last few months I’ve been in one of “those” seasons.  Loss, heartache, questioning, along with so many conversations with God and His Holy Spirit.  As James reminds us,

“Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”  

And ain’t that the truth.  

We have a few roads from which to choose when we go through our difficult seasons.  We can beg the Lord to go back to the familiar and comfortable.  We can rush our minds to the other side of the trial either imagining an outcome far worse or far better than we hope or fear.  Or we can learn a bit from Jesus’ brother and “let this perseverance finish its work so we can be mature and complete.”  In other words, we live in this God-given moment right now, seeking His blessings, seeking His voice, and seeking the lessons to be learned.  

The day I wrote this post my devotional reminded me to not work for food that perishes but for the food which endures eternal life. (Charles Stanley, Every Day in His Presence) I was admonished to change my point of view and not focus on the problems right in front of me but rather what God’s interest is in developing me for His eternal purpose.  And very importantly, asking for help in learning His lessons quickly so that His peace and strength would again be my resting place.

During these last few months I’ve also been deep dive into Priscilla Shirer’s study on Elijah with my BSGs.  As usual, God is using all of my life to teach me about standing firm in my faith and stepping forward in trust.  And as I have prayed to God to reveal to me my next blog series I kept hearing the phrase: “Lessons from Cherith.”  You see, Elijah had to spend a lot of time alone, facing his own trials before he was ready for the “big show.”  In that time, some of which was in the area called Cherith, he had to choose to either trust God’s eternal plan for him or not.  He had to remove so many well-honed cultural and religious thoughts of “the way things are supposed to be” and instead see how God works.  And he had to decide to stand out amongst the crowd.

And although my “Cherith” hasn’t lasted for as long as Elijah’s or even as long as Jesus was in the wilderness, I learned some valuable lessons while communing with the Holy Spirit.  In the next few weeks I’d like to share some of these with you.  To hopefully help us realign our lives to be Christian lives, lived out for all the world to see.  For our friends and neighbors and co-workers to be spurred to ask why we seem different.  

Friends, we can’t keep wandering through the wilderness of this earthly world living up to its standards.  It’s time to take our hard earned lessons from “those seasons” and put them to work for the glory of God.

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Bountiful Harvest

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Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. Genesis 2:8-9

As we approach the holidays, and especially Thanksgiving, one topic is on everyone’s lips – what will be served on our festive tables.  And while there are still many impoverished people in the world, through science, technology, and better understanding of growing crops and maintaining our herds, we have overall become much more richly blessed with food.  Not only is there more food to reach the ends of the earth there’s more variety. 

Where I live if I want to make any dish I can find the ingredients, no matter the season or even it’s ethnic origins.  We have Middle Eastern markets, Mexican shops, Asian groceries, German meat markets, Ethiopian restaurants, Italian delis and more.  You want to try it?  Just search for it on the Yelp app and you’ll find it nearby.  

I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. Deuteronomy 11:15

God promised us a very long time ago that He would provide for us.  And one short drive around just about any city in the world will show that promised fulfilled.  I need to remember this abundance is God’s gift to us.  He not only feeds us but gives us the opportunity to share our cultures and our traditions through food.

On our Thanksgiving table this year we will once again have my husband’s favorite fresh cranberry sauce along side my mom’s favorite canned jelly cranberry sauce (with the indentations from the can!).  We will enjoy a large turkey, stuffing, homemade rolls, pies and more.  A feast for sure.  A bountiful harvest lovingly given by God.