I’ve Never Met Anyone Who Believes in Predestination Who Does Not Believe They Are One of the Elect

I have been to a multitude of conferences and I’ve never heard a minister who believes in election acknowledge that one of their children is not one of the elect, either! I have, however, met a few people who can name someone who has lost his or her salvation…

This topic has been stewing in my mind ever since the passage of legislation allowing post-birth “abortions” in some cases, otherwise known as murder. What happens to aborted babies who were among the ones not elected, not even taking into account when they were aborted ? According to some of my contemporaries, logically, they will go straight to their places in eternal torment. What a ridiculous ideation to have of the One who created them, the Almighty God.

It is true that God has allowed some abhorrent things to happen to innocent children such as when both Pharaoh and Herod ordered the killings of male children. But those outcomes were consequences of our living in a fallen world, not because God predestined those events. I hope my reformed brothers and sisters in Christ will think about the assumptions they are making about God whenever they purport pre-elected salvation. Such a viewpoint in no way reflects the God of the Bible, our loving Savior, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit which enables us to bear the Fruit of the Spirit.

The Fruit of Faithfulness

Faithfulness, or steadfastness, is rooted in perseverance. We are faithful when we are constant. We are faithful when we are truthful. We are faithful when we are dependable. Faithfulness may be the most important Fruit of the Spirit to our family and friends.

Faithfulness is an attribute of God on which we rely heavily. If not for God’s unwavering faith, we could not be sure that all of our sins would be forgiven. Not sure that eternity is forever. Not even sure if Heaven really exists.

But, as it is, God will forgive us for a multitude of sins. We don’t have to worry about how many or which ones. We are assured that when we enter into our final state, it will be an eternal existence. And we not only are sure that Heaven exists, we read in the fourth chapter of Revelation about John’s glimpse into the throne room of God. Yes, we count on God’s faithfulness for everything we have and for everything that is to come.

In what do you put your faith? Does it demonstrate steadfastness and perseverance, or is it fleeting and tenuous? Trust in the Lord. He will never forsake you.

Everyone have a blessed weekend.

Kindness

Driving around lately, I’ve noticed signs in people’s yards that read “Be Kind.” That sounds like a nice enough thing to suggest. After all, when we were children, most of us were taught to be kind by our parents and by our teachers at school.

Nowadays, though, it seems the goal of teaching kindness is to instill an attitude of “Expect Kindness” into young people rather than “Share Kindness.” Some are taught to react with violence when someone else disagrees with them or is unkind. The answer to the question, “Can we all just get along?” is an emphatic, “NO!”.

Biblical kindness does not require that other people treat us well. We cannot control the actions of others. We can only control our own actions and we are commanded by Scripture to love our enemies and to do good to those who wish us harm. That doesn’t seem fair, does it? Do you think Jesus thought it was fair that He had to die on the cross? Do you think it was fair that Jesus had to die on the cross to pay for your sins?

Jesus did not let the actions of others determine how He would treat people, even when they despised Him, spit on Him, cursed at Him, beat Him and eventually nailed Him to the cross. Rather, Jesus asked the Father to forgive the ones who crucified Him because they didn’t know what they were doing. That’s seriously biblical kindness. That’s the type of kindness you can only get from allowing the Holy Spirit to permeate your life and control the reins to your tongue. The type of kindness found as part of the Fruit of the Spirit is not the kindness we show others on our own. Rather, it is the kindness Jesus commanded when He said, “Love your enemies.”

Putting up a sing to encourage others to “Be Kind” without expecting to show kindness under all circumstances is tantamount to posting the Ten Commandments in your yard and only expecting to keep a couple of them yourself.

Patience II

There isn’t much to brag about in my golf game. But one advantage of not being a long driver of the ball is the tendency to hit more fairways. There are some who would argue that today’s game is more of a bomb-and-gouge pursuit where the players hit their drives as far as they can, no matter where they end up, and then do whatever it takes to extract their ball from the rough to get it onto the green. Hank Haney is a famous proponent of the importance of distance. To his credit, most of the highest paid professional golfers tend to hit the ball very far.

But for the average golfer, like me, hitting 300-yard drives isn’t in the realm of possibility. And most golf courses I could afford to play do not have the uniform rough and off-fairways lies the pros enjoy. Hence, the importance of the fairway.

The picture above shows my ball of the sixth tee of my local golf course. I hit that drive today, into the wind, about 225 yards. That’s not very far by today’s standards. The post in front of the ball is the 250-yard marker into the green. No chance that I’m going to be making it to the green in two shots. But, since I have a good lie in the middle of the fairway, there is an excellent chance that my second and third shots will result in my making par or better on the hole. And that’s the goal in my golf world.

You see, I could lose patience with my golf game and try to hit the ball much farther. The results would likely be that I would enjoy fewer shots from the fairway and more from undesirable places. That’s what happens when we deviate from God’s plans for our lives. We end up off the path he has groomed for us and into undesirable places. From those, we end up really making a mess of things.

In the game of golf, it’s easy for one bad shot to result in at least two more strokes on a hole. The same way in life, we have one bad day away from God’s plan and it can take two or more days for us to get back on the program. Even though we might not get all the attention for hitting the ball the farthest, we enjoy a lot more success when we are patient and value staying in God’s will for our lives.

If you don’t play golf or aren’t familiar with the game, you may not understood all I have written today. Be patient for one more day and I’ll post a different example tomorrow which may be more familiar to the majority of people. If you do play golf, adopt the 80% rule and keep your swing under control. You’ll enjoy hitting more fairways and playing from better lies. Stay in God’s will for your life and you will always be working from a preferred lie. Blessing to everyone for a wonderful weekend!

Joy and the Spirit

If you read the verses listed in yesterday’s post, you may have noticed some commonalities between them. Joy used with faith. Joy referenced with the Spirit. Joy as a way of life, not an emotion.

I fear that one of the greatest disservices we have done to the Christian faith is perpetuate an untruth that the life of a follower of Christ is a guaranteed happy life. We are not assured of “happiness” when we accept Christ. What we are assured is that we have a good God-given purpose. Embracing that purpose is the key to living our best lives, satisfaction and the joy that ensues from having served our Creator in the way He would have us serve.

Calvin Miller wrote, “Joy is our response to the creation of God.” (Joy: Cultivating Spirit-given Character, Thomas Nelson Pub. 2008). I get my greatest spiritual joy from contemplating the intricacies of God’s handiwork. Have you ever thought about how amazing the human ear is? It takes speakers of all shapes and sizes to accurately produce the sounds of music. Yet, the tiny membrane in our ear vibrates in such a way that our brain can interpret all the sounds we hear. Scientists have attempted to explain emotions through chemical reactions related to our sensory organs. But even happiness is a creation of Almighty God. We wouldn’t have the ability to feel excitement, infatuation or awe without them having been created by God and given to us in the makeup of our bodies.

During this week of fellowship and thanksgiving, I pray that you find yourself joyful that God has given you life, a good life with a good purpose. And I pray that you find joy in the simplest of God’s creation. Puppy breath, the need for hugs and love for family are given to us by the Lord so that we may find joy in His beautiful creation.