God is Responsible
Let's make it crystal clear! God is responsible for everything that goes on in this world! The buck stops with Him. If Timmy dies, He has to OK it. If
Joe Blow sins, God has to allow it.
When we believe in a truly all-powerful God it puts an interesting perspective on just about everything. Jesus told Pilate, who thought he alone had
power to kill or release Christ,
"You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above." (John 19:11, NIV).
If one believes the Bible one if left with the profound conclusion that God is overseeing everything that goes down in His universe.
Man Out of Control?
Most religious leaders believe that man is out of control. In most of their messages they proclaim man is messing up everything. What does that
infer about the God who made man? Why, that God does not know what He is doing! It implies that God has lost control of man. According to many, God's plan is being thwarted by none
other than his ultimate creation, man, and God's arch enemy, Satan. If that were so, it would make God a second-rate power--overpowered and outfoxed by Satan and man.
I want to say something about our Creator. Who is as intelligent as God? Who could design a universe with all the laws to govern it from nothing
?
Buy a good anatomy book and look at the internal organs of a human being. The complexity and engineering that went into the design of the human body
is almost beyond belief. It works to accomplish the task God wanted--seventy or so years and then wears out and shuts down. Think about the brain and then try to imagine how to go about
creating it with consciousness! Only a supreme intelligence superior to man could design something so complicated. Nobody on this earth can outfox God!
God's Training Program
It's tiring to hear sermons and read articles by people trashing God's greatest creation, mankind. Beat, Beat, Beat! We endure a most
rigorous training program called "Life!" All (according to some) our Creator can do is whine about how we should do better. People we love die of cancer, accidents and thousands of
diseases. Our shadow passes over them but it does not heal them. We enter into relationships we hope will endure 'till death, only to end up hating each other and divorcing. We tenderly
raise a child from baby to adulthood only to have it rebel and possibly hate us. We crave certainty and get uncertainty. We easily become addicted to all sorts of substances or ideas--as
easily as falling of a greased log in a hurricane. Yet, trying to get over an addiction is worse than pulling teeth. Our best laid plans often go astray. Sometimes, no matter how hard we
try, we can not make things come out the way we want.
God lets some of us go through the hellish nightmare of war. Some of us were sawn in half or placed on the rack and tortured. Some of us had hot
molten lead poured in our ears. And yet, according to some who say they speak for Him, God is not the least bit appreciative of our struggles. At least they never tell us He is. God is
portrayed as a mean old auger that needs our adoration to feed a sick need for worship. We go through hell down here and all He can think about is us telling Him how wonderful He
is!
Brother's, that's not what God is about. In reality, He wants us to praise Him because it makes us "fall" in love with Him. Praising God produces
intense affection for Him along with trust. That helps give us the ability to endure His rigorous training program. It helps us to pursue the goal afar off. It helps encourage us to stay in
the race! God does not need our praise. He is self-contained. He wants us to like Him more than any movie star because of the wonderful feelings it produces in us for Him. He says He will
never leave us or forsake us! That's far more than any human can promise us! The God I know personally appreciates our struggle. He says He will reward us for it! It's not just eternal life
but a wonderful quality of life that He wants for us. He will give it to us because we overcame Satan's ways.
It is no stretch of the imagination to ask the same questions God and Elihu asked Job (Job 32-41)! Where were we (God and His critics) when He laid
the foundations of the world (Job 38:4)? God is God and there is none other. God says that man is made in His image. Man's creation is a process that is not finished yet. It is not wise to
criticize a project before it is finished.
The Bible says there are two categories into which man falls. None of them gives us a license to "trash" one another. God says that the whole world is
deceived! Since they are deceived they have to act the way they do. Since God is the Boss, God had to have it in His will to let them be deceived.
Garden of Eden Incident
Think about the Garden of Eden incident. According to the narrative there is no mention of God, as a friend of mine recently pointed out, warning Adam
and Eve that He (God) was going to let Satan attempt to deceive them. The Bible says that Satan was one of the most intelligent and craftiest being that God ever created. Adam and Eve were
obviously no match for him. God leaves the gate open--so to speak. In walks Satan. It was a setup. God wanted Adam and Eve to do what they did. He laid a trap for them and they walked right
into it. Now, some of you may foam at the mouth at the previous statement. That just proves that you are unaware of the fact that you take to yourself the knowledge of good and evil. I have
not said one negative thing about our Creator! I have simply exposed you to reality. It was all part of God's plan.
How can anyone that knows the real God not adore Him? God wants eternal friendships. It takes a little time to build that kind of a relationships
amongst all of us. It's easy to look at people and what they do and throw your hands up in disgust. However when God is through with us, He will get what He wants. We will be His sons and
daughters with His character! The essence of His character is love! God is creating in us beings that can't hate!
Adam & Eve were set up to take to themselves the knowledge of Good and Evil. God is in the business of teaching an important lesson--that
Satan's ways will not work. God wanted us to be wise as the serpent (Satan). Therefore why not let us learn from the serpent ?
To be smarter, wiser, and outfox the enemy it pays to know how the enemy thinks. God decided to let us learn that from His enemy--Satan. It is
perhaps a cliche to say that God is not finished with us yet. But it's true.
We were created by God and then given over to Satan for indoctrination. Then Jesus comes along to rescue us from our mutual enemy. God gave us the
ability to think and think about our thinking. Once God inoculates us with His way of thinking we can compare God's thinking with the way Satan thinks.
If you have a choice between God's way and Satan's which one would you choose? For me, I choose God's way. What do you choose? You see, God's plan is
working just as He knew it would.
God's Friends
God created us to be His friends (and each other's). God wants loyal friends--friends that He can trust with life. He wants friends that are so close
that nothing for all eternity could come between them.
Satan's ways are divisive. He wants you to look at people and despise them. He despises God and he wants you to do so also. Satan has tricked
people in to hating each other for some of the most stupid reasons there can be. He is the accuser of the brethren.
God is allowing us to see what he (Satan) is really like. Then we will know him (Satan) for whom he has made himself into (by his choice)--the
adversary. When I was a young lad I listened to a radio program that told me about a God that was different from the one that I worshipped. As I looked into my Bible I found a God that had
totally different days of worship than I had previously thought. It's been many years since I originally listened to those preachers on the radio.
I believe these individuals preached the Gospel as well as they knew how. Later they came into disfavor. They were called hypocrites because they did
not practice "perfectly" what they preached.
There seems to be an effort to trash these preachers. The problem I have with doing that is this: The buck stops with God!. He knew
these people were not perfect! Why didn't he help them live a "perfect life? Should these leaders be dammed and condemned because God did not remove several of their thorns in the
flesh? Realistically, did they arrogantly try to flaunt there weaknesses or did they try to cover them--because they were ashamed of their lack of perfect control over themselves. None of
us has perfect control over our lives. That is the point many of us seem to miss.
No Perfect Leaders
When we condemn the messenger, are we not condemning the one who sent him (in this case God)? Now, we are smart enough to know there are no perfect
human leaders. Too bad! It's time to grow up! Neither do we need to think we could have done a better job than they did because we haven't done a better job than they did. God
sent us imperfect leaders. Too bad! Handle it! If they were "good" enough for Him I guess they are "good" enough for us. God says no flesh will glory! None has. With all their failings, our
leaders did the best they could.. I would not be so quick to criticize them. I appreciate the part they played in my conversion!
It's hard not to condemn God when you damn and condemn those that He chose to work for Him.
God's Incredible Plan
It's time to understand God's plan. When we do, we will see an incredible Being behind it all! He is working out an incredible plan. His plan will
insure that throughout eternity no one will ever have to "watch" their back. It is a plan that will insure that no one will ever create Satan's way again. We will know that it doesn't work,
because we will have already tried it. Because we go through this current training program, we are going to be able to create an eternity of peace and joy!
"For I reckon the suffering of this life is not worthy to be compared to the joy that is ours..." (Romans 8:18).
God knows what He is doing. It's time we start loving the people with whom we are going to be spending eternity. God formulated a plan that will give
Him the exact results He wants. When we look at this world we would do well to remember that plan.
Puppets of Satan
Right now most people are puppets of Satan. They do his bidding. Wait till God opens their eyes. The Bible says that they will say of Satan, "Can this
be he that deceived the nations?" When it's all over, we will all be beings just like God--full of mercy and kindness--willing to forgive. Then it can be said of us "Our mercy never
fails!"
God is on Schedule
God's plan is on schedule. It is accomplishing the goals that He set out for it. God loves everyone. It only makes sense that the Creator of
everything would love His greatest creation.
I adore my Creator! You probably do also.
"Though He slay me yet will I love Him." (Job 13:15).
What a Being to create such a plan!! We had better start making every excuse there is to forgive men "for they know not what they do!" It's time
to quit trashing people! But that, of course, is your choice.
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