The God Who Can Be Counted On For Justice

“Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.” (II Chronicles 19:7)

“It’s not fair!”  “This just isn’t right!” “That’s downright dishonest!” “They’re obviously discriminating!”

How is it that we all have a instinctual knowledge of what is right and wrong? Even if we don’t know the specifics to the rules of a game, we all have an inborn sense of fair play. Where do we get all these ideas? Who or what is the source ?

The answer: God.

In our passage King Jehoshaphat is appointing judges and telling them to remember that  in reality they are judging for God. He reminds them, “Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”

It’s God Himself who is the standard yardstick whereby we measure all of our thoughts of right conduct and just interaction. We really don’t need to make it up as we go. In our minds and in the minds of everyone, whether they chose to abide by them or not, there is a template of basic right and wrong.

Not only has the LORD given us an intuitive sense of justice but He goes way beyond that to give us principles, guides, insights and examples of His standards of justice . . .  in His Word. The writers of the Old and New Testament Scriptures faithfully record godly guidelines that transcend time and place. But wait, as the TV ads say, there’s more.

Yes, God does the almost unbelievable. He comes Himself in the flesh to walk among us! Jesus Christ models a life of loving righteousness right where we live. Outstanding Lord! Thank you!

And just when you’re thinking that’s it, there is yet still more. Ready? Here it is. God also gives us His Holy Spirit to take up residence in us and further guide us in steps of righteousness. How about that?

Now, with all of this on our side what do we do? Answer: We live it out!  Yes, with quite literally the help of God Himself, we begin to live out, in a world of bias, injustice and corruption  . . . we begin to live out what is right, honest  and fair. We begin to shine as witnesses of the goodness and rightness of God.

Hard? Yes, at times.  But remember Jesus “who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” God is for us. God is in us. And for many in this world, we are the first image of God’s fairness and unbiased love that they will see in the flesh. So, hang in there and do the right thing . . . somebody maybe watching.

Guided By God,

Dar

The God Who Searches and Strengthens

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. (II Chronicles 16:9)

Sometimes we refer to someone who is exploring Christianity as a seeker. But it turns out that it is God who is the real seeker. He is always on a search. He is  alert, ready to respond to those who are genuinely committed to him.

David echoes this thought in the Psalms where he writes: ” The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry.”  There is no problem that can arise for the followers of God that the LORD is not aware of, and from which he cannot rescue them. He knows our hearts. He knows our thoughts and intentions. He knows our troubles, sorrows, and afflictions.

Jesus tells us that the Father knows what we need even before we come to him in prayer. Our God  knows our every need; he loves us as his very own and wants to care for us just as parents want to provide  for their child.

As to the depth of the resources of God, ready to be dealt out to us, consider what Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also along with him, graciously give us all things?”  We should never take for granted the great privilege we have of being adopted into the family of God and being able to call God our Father.

There is one other thing about this passage in II Chronicles that we shouldn’t overlook. Who is it that God promises to strengthen? For those who haven’t peeked back above, the answer is: “those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” Hum, what does it mean to be committed to him, and even more – fully committed to him?

Maybe this will help. One definition of commitment is this: A pledge of personal loyalty to someone or something, which will result in actively promoting and working for their good and well-being.  When you think about it, commitment is something that starts off with a promise and ends up as devoted action. That’s what real commitment looks like to God who searches the hearts of man.

John Wilberforce describes the call to Christian commitment as “Being aware of the absolute importance and arduous nature of the service in which he is engaged, the true Christian sets about his task with vigor and diligence. He is prepared to meet difficulties and is not discouraged when they occur.”

I think most of us, when we honestly examine ourselves, know that we fall short of being fully committed to the LORD in all our ways, in all our thoughts, all the time. Thankfully, this where the grace of God comes in!

God really does know us and he knows what we would like to be for him, even when we fall painfully short. God strengthens us for the journey with strength we don’t have.  He wants us to succeed in our commitment to him. God now sees us through the lens of his Son Jesus Christ, who lived for us, died for us, rose again for us and now lives in us. It is now through Christ, that you and I are strengthened to live our lives to the glory and joy of God our Father.

Strengthened for the journey,

Dar

The God Who Can Lift You Up

Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. (I Chronicles 29:12)

This verse is part of a larger prayer that David prayed in praise of God. Here it is in its entirety:

David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. (I Chronicles 29:10-13)

David’s prayer is a beautiful petition of praise and thanksgiving to the God he clearly sees as majestic in His power and glory, and who rules and reigns over every aspect of His sovereign domain. (His realm of course, is His own creation, which includes all of us and everything you and I can think of plus all the other stuff  that exists that we are not aware of – it’s all God’s and He alone is the sovereign ruler over it all.)

While being duly in awe of the God that David is speaking of, we can miss an important point that impacts all of us. What is it? It’s just this. Our God has all the strength and power He needs to bestow wealth and honor and to lift up and strengthen anyone He wants to, at any time  He wants to.

Get it? Here it is again: God is fully able and capable of being able to exalt, promote, to make great, to build up or put in a place of honor, – anyone He chooses, at anytime, at any place. And He does this for His own infallible purposes and eternal glory.

So what are we to make of this statement? Two things come to mind:

First, we need to remember that God Himself can put any man or women in any place of leadership He wants to. It follows then, that we ought to be careful of quick or unfounded criticisms of people we disagree with. It’s just possible that it was God who put them where they are – even with all with all manner of irritating faults and shortcomings. Remember, God has a pretty long track record of using people who are, let’s just say – less than perfect.

Now secondly, and here’s the good part! No matter what kind of lowly circumstance you find yourself in, God is fully able to bring you to a higher place. He routinely rescues His people, elevates His people and puts His people in places of great responsibility. Soooo, if God wants you or me to be in a certain role or position – He can open the doors! We can count on it!

But I close with just this one further thought. What higher place is there than to have been adopted into the family of the King?  What greater privilege is there than to be numbered among the fold of God? What greater position could we ever want than to be called simply a follower of Jesus Christ? What more could you or I ever want? I know of nothing more valuable.

A Follower Of Jesus Christ,

Dar

 

The God Who Can Open Eyes

And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.(II Kings 6:17)

All that Elisha’s assistant could see with his natural eyesight was a detachment of the Syrian Army surrounding them, that is until Elisha prayed that God would open his eyes to the reality of the situation.  Then his assistant could see fully that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire. Elisha, on the other hand, had already been aware of the reality of the situation because he could see with spiritual eyes.

Elisha could see the Army of God surrounding the whole scene. Elisha knew that the might and presence of God himself was in that place and it gave him confidence to do what he knew he needed to do, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Elisha and his assistant ended up capturing the entire force of Syrian troops and gave them over to the King of Israel.

What do you think about this statement? Our God is still the same God that Elisha knew. and He can still open the eyes of those who ask to see. Do you believe that? I hope you do, because God can and will give us eyes to see if we ask.

But if we pray for our eyes to be spiritually opened, what is it that we would be asking to see with our new, more perfect vision?

Well, how about this:  first, we might ask to have eyes to see Him, the LORD God Almighty. Not so clearly mind you, that we would then be blinded by the light of His glory, but just enough to have a greater sense of awe and a greater sense of His presence in our lives. It just might give us a greater boldness and confidence in the midst of our daily trials, temptations and tasks. (Lord may we see You more clearly and fall in worshipful praise for who You are!)

Secondly, we might ask to have eyes to see our own sin more clearly. We are pretty good at spotting the short-comings of others. We can see vast areas of needed improvement and often, outright sin in their lives. It really doesn’t take a lot of work. But when it comes to ourselves, we are not quite as adapt at seeing our own self-centered, prideful and indulgent sins. (Lord, help us to see ourselves, to repent of our sinfulness and to know afresh, Your abounding mercy in our lives!)

And then, slightly more humbled, more thankful, we might ask God to show us the needs of the people around us. The needs that are going unmet. The needs of people that we could help – if we would. But we may think, there are so many needs, how could I possibly make any difference? Well, we might just start by taking spiritual steps to help one person. (Lord, open our eyes enough that we could see the needs of even one person that could use our help!)

I Once Was Blind, But Now I See,

Dar