Have you ever noticed how an older generation seems to get stuck in something of a “time rut”?  With hearts filled with nostalgia, they really do believe that those of a younger generation should appreciate – perhaps, even relive – the same things they enjoyed during their youth … 30 years ago.

For instance, my parents actually thought that my sister and I would be interested in listening to Glenn Miller’s “A String of Pearls” (released in 1941) while we were trying to listen to our new album, “Meet the Beatles” (released in 1964).

And before I left for college in the early 1970’s, my father tried to convince me that I was going to need his white dinner jacket to wear to all the “college dances.”  Was he serious? … as if I were going to wear a white dinner jacket to a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert!

Well, as to be expected, this same longing for “the good ‘ol days” has now spread from the generation of the Depression to the generation of the Baby Boom.  More and more, postings appear on Facebook that go something like this:

• “If you know what this is, click ‘Like’ ” … followed by a picture of a telephone booth or an electric typewriter or a slide rule or a 33^1/3 vinyl album or an 8-track tape player or a cassette tape … all cutting-edge technology at the time.

• “If you can remember doing this, click “Like” … followed by a description of what it was like to wait for the television tube to warm up before the picture gradually appeared … or to catch lightning bugs outside after dark until called in … or to wear a Davy Crockett coonskin cap.

But, of course, the only ones who appreciate the nostalgia of an era gone by are those of that same generation.  Younger people are just too busy creating their own future “yesteryears” to care about ours.

There is a lot of truth to the saying, “The only thing that is permanent is change.”  But there is at least one Exception to that rule; and His Name is El Olam, the everlasting, unchanging God … the One Who remains the same from one generation to the next.

Do we realize what this means?  It means that the One to Whom Old Testament Israel looked to meet their every need is the same One to Whom the New Testament Church can look to meet our every need.

• It means that “the LORD” (Yahweh) – the self-existent Creator before Whom Moses stood – still knows exactly what we need … and what we do not need … to be His effective servants.

• It means that “the LORD” (Yahweh) – the God Who is faithful to the Covenant He made with Abraham and his descendants – will faithfully keep every single promise He has ever made to us as well.

• It means that “the LORD Who sanctifies you” (Yahweh Meqaddishkem) – the holy One of Israel – will set us apart from a sinful lifestyle to live righteously as well.

• it means that “the LORD is my Banner” (Yahweh Nissi) – Israel’s Banner of Truth – is the One around Whom we also can rally to overcome our three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil.

• It means that “the LORD (Who) provides” (Yahweh Yireh) – Abraham’s gracious Sustainer – will meet all our needs as well as we worship Him with hearts full of devotion.

• It means that “the LORD of hosts” (Yahweh Sabaoth) – Israel’s watchful Defender – will dispatch His massive army of angelic-warriors to defend and minister to us as well.

• It means that “the Lord” (Adonai) – Israel’s revered and loving Master – will seek our highest good as well, guiding us and sustaining us as we seek to do His will.

• It means that “God” (Elohim) – the all-powerful One – will also answer all of our prayers that conform to His will … and will transform our lives into the likeness of Christ … and will fulfill every promise He has ever made to us.

• It means that “God Almighty” (El Shaddai) – Abraham’s all-sufficient God – will also provide the nourishment we need to enable us to grow strong and fruitful.

• It means that “the God who sees” (El Roi) – Israel’s all-knowing and ever-present Help – will provide us with strength and encouragement when we, too, are forsaken by others.

• It means that “God Most High” (El Elyon) – Abraham’s supreme Sovereign – will also re-direct our hearts away from living for this world to focus on the eternal kingdom of the King of kings.

Yes, it is true:  all flesh, like grass, withers.  And like the flower, the glory of man fades.  Generations come and go, none of which being an exact duplicate of the others.  Kings and kingdoms rise and fall.  Even the present heavens and earth will one day give way to a new heaven and a new earth.  But there is at least one Exception to this rule of change.

His Name is El Olam.  He is the everlasting, unchanging God.

I, the LORD, do not change.  (Malachi 3:6)

Click here to view this course:  THE GOD OF OUR LIVES

Click here to view our website:  STEWARD OF TRUTH PUBLICATIONS

Click here to read the 1^ST chapter of The God of Our Lives: YAHWEH, OUR GOD IS OUR CREATOR

To the readers within the believing community:  My wife and I would greatly appreciate your prayers, that we would respond to adversity with grace and righteousness.

Have you ever been abandoned by someone you loved or rejected by a group of people for whom you cared?  Do you know what it feels like to be discarded as one unworthy of respect?

• Perhaps it was a family member or a close friend who turned against you. The one you never dreamed would leave your side began to avoid you.  Perhaps he began to treat you with contempt.  Or slander you behind your back.  Or mock you to your face … in front of others.

• Perhaps you have been abandoned by your wife or husband. Your spouse decided that he or she does not want to be married to you anymore.

• Or perhaps it seems that God Himself has forsaken you. The painful circumstance you are going through has caused you to ask in despair, Where is God?  This lie is certainly the most painful of all wounds.

Have you ever been – or felt – forsaken by someone you would have sworn would “stick by you through thick ‘n thin”?  If so, be assured that Christ Jesus knows exactly how you feel.  What He went through as He walked toward – and hung on – the Cross, He went through alone.  He was completely forsaken.  Not one person was left standing by His side.

• Certainly none of His siblings were there for Him. (John 7:5)

• One of “the twelve” from his band of disciples betrayed Him. (John 13:21, 26)

• The remaining eleven – His most faithful followers and closest friends – abandoned Him. (Matthew 26:31)

• Even Peter, His most zealous follower, denied even knowing Him – not one time … not two times … but three times – while warming himself around the campfire of those who had just arrested his Friend. (John 13:37-38)

• The Jewish nation had followed Him enthusiastically … as long as He provided them with food and healthcare. They had cheered Him as He paraded triumphantly into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey’s colt.  But just a few days later, many of these same people demanded that the hands and feet of their Messiah-King be impaled to one of Rome’s crosses.  (Luke 17:25)

• And at the front of the line demanding His death was Israel’s religious establishment, her Bible scholars and spiritual leaders, the ones who could quote from memory the Messianic prophecies. Even they refused to submit to His rule.  More than anyone else, they should have recognized Him as being their long-awaited King.  But they turned Him over to Caesar’s soldiers to be executed.  (Matthew 20:18-19)

Earlier, as this sin-Bearer lay on the ground of a garden pleading with His Father, He knew that humiliation and torture and excruciating pain were only hours away.  He, Who had no sin, knew that He was about to be falsely accused, mocked, spit upon, beaten in the face, lashed over and over with a whip, and have three spikes driven through his hands and feet for lawless acts He did not commit.  He knew that He was about to be executed for my moral crimes … and yours … and the rest of the world’s, the Guiltless for the guilty.

And He knew that He was going to go through all of this by Himself.  How could He possibly feel more alone … more abandoned … more rejected than this?  And then, when the weight of all our sins was placed upon Him, the unthinkable happens:

“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”  (Matthew 27:46)

Do you know what it feels like to be forsaken by others?  If so, be assured that Christ Jesus knows exactly how you feel.

We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  (Hebrews 4:15)

And so, with Hebrews 4, verse 15, in mind, what should we do when we are rejected?  We should do Hebrews 4, verse 16:

let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  (Hebrews 4:16)

If we do this, we will be talking to One Who is not detached from our pain of rejection.  In fact, one of His Hebrew names is El Roi.  He is our all-seeing, ever-present Help in time of need.

Click here to view this course:  THE GOD OF OUR LIVES

Click here to view our website:  STEWARD OF TRUTH PUBLICATIONS

Click here to read the 1^ST chapter of The God of Our Lives:  YAHWEH, OUR GOD IS OUR CREATOR

To the readers within the believing community:  I would greatly appreciate your prayers, that the Master-Teacher would be the Author of these writings.

The setting of the 1965 film Shenandoah ¹ is a family farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War.  It is a story about a family’s struggle to maintain their isolation from a war that rages all around their property.

Within this family are eight children, all of whom are young adults:  six sons, one daughter, and one daughter-in-law.  And at the head of this clan is a strong, hardened, and fiercely independent father, Mr. Charlie Anderson (played by actor Jimmy Stewart).

In one scene the nine Andersons are seated around the dinner table … but there are ten places set.  And where the tenth plate is set, there stands an empty chair.  It soon becomes apparent that the mother of the family had died 16 years earlier while giving birth to the youngest of the sons.  Martha Anderson had been a religious woman.  And right before she died, she made her husband promise to give their children a Christian upbringing.  Although Charlie Anderson believed that acknowledging God was nothing but a waste of time, he agreed to do so as a way to honor the wife he still deeply loved and greatly missed.

There were two things he did to give his children proper religious training:  he made sure they went to church every Sunday, and he offered a prayer before every meal.  But let’s listen in on one of his prayers:

“Lord, we cleared this land.  We plowed it, sowed it, and harvested it.  We cooked the harvest.  It wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t be eatin’ it if we hadn’t done it all ourselves.  We worked dog-boned hard for every crumb and morsel.  But we thank You just the same anyway Lord for this food we’re about to eat.  Amen.”

Charlie Anderson made no bones about it.  He saw no point in thanking God (sincerely) for the food on their table when it seemed to him that he, his sons, and his daughters had done all the work.  This father was convinced that his family did not need anyone to help them with their farm.  He did not need slaves.  (He was not a Confederate.)  He did not need the federal government.  (He was not a Unionist.)  And he most certainly did not need God.  (He was not wise.)  Charlie Anderson believed his family to be entirely self-sufficient.

But we should take note that he left out a few things in his prayer.  He makes no mention of the existence of seed … or the fertility of the soil … or the regularity of spring and autumn rainfall … or the sun’s light … or its warmth … or, for that matter, his and his wife’s ability to produce sons to work the land.

What Charlie Anderson was not … nor ever could be … is what God is.  God is the only One Who is truly self-sufficient.  And because He is self-sufficient, He is the only One Who can be our all-sufficient Help.  He provides us with everything we need … in every aspect of life … that we might live abundantly … in a way that pleases and honors Him.

Almighty God is our All … in all.

Do you believe that?  Do you believe that the God of the Bible can provide you with everything you need?  More than likely, those of us who are reborn followers of Christ would say “Yes, I believe that.”  And yet, how we live may contradict what we say.  So, let’s rephrase the question.

When we face a hard situation, what is the first thing we do about it?  Do we run to the God of peace?  Or do we retreat to some pain killer such as excessive work or excessive food or a chemical that dulls the sting?  Do we flee to God for strength … or do we escape to a sports bar or to a shopping mall to deaden the pain?  We, the true and living Church, claim to believe that God is our “All, in all” … at least while sitting in the pew.  But do we live out that belief at the workplace and at school and at home?

The all-sufficient One is going to spend a lot of time convincing us that we are completely dependent upon Him … in every area of life.  To do so, He will sometimes apply polish to our lives with a piece of velvet.  At other times He will apply fine sandpaper.  And sometimes He may even use a jackhammer.  But whatever the circumstance – favorable or painful – we are going to find ourselves in the position of learning two priceless truths:  that “apart from Christ Jesus, we can do nothing” … but with Christ Jesus “all things are possible.”

The all-sufficiency of God is a trait found embedded in His Hebrew Name, El Shaddai.  It is a Name that declares God to be our Everything … in everything.  He is our “All … in all.”

Click here to view this course:  THE GOD OF OUR LIVES

Click here to view our website:  STEWARD OF TRUTH PUBLICATIONS

Click here to read the 1^ST chapter of The God of Our Lives:  YAHWEH, OUR GOD IS OUR CREATOR

To the readers within the believing community:  My wife and I would greatly appreciate your prayers, that we would respond to adversity with grace and righteousness.

¹     Shenandoah, directed by Andrew V. M^cLaglen; produced by Robert Arthur; written by James Lee Barrett; music by Frank Skinner; Cinematography by William H. Clothier, edited by Otho Lovering, distributed by Universal; starring James Stewart, Doug M^cClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, Katharine Ross, and Rosemary Forsyth; release date June 3, 1965.

The Japanese soldier of World War Two was a formidable enemy.  He had been taught from childhood that it was an honor and, if necessary, his duty to die for the emperor, Hirohito.  If surrounded by his enemy, the Japanese soldier would fix his bayonet and come out charging or he would commit suicide.  But he would not surrender.  Even when defeated, he fought on.

Toward the end of the war, as the Americans drew closer and closer to the home islands of Japan, this resolve to fight on became increasingly fierce.  One problem the Americans had to deal with was a small island that lay southeast of Japan, Iwo Jima.  This island was used by the Japanese Air Force as a base from which to harass American bombing missions headed for the mainland.  So, it was an island that had to be taken.

By the time the battle for Iwo Jima was over (March 26^th, 1945), 5,931 Marines had been killed and 17,773 had been wounded.  As it turned out, this battle was one of the bloodiest campaigns in the Pacific Theater during World War Two.

One of the Marines wounded during the battle for Iwo Jima was Charles W. Lindberg of North Dakota.  (This was not the Charles A. Lindbergh who was the first to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.)  During the early stages of this campaign, Lindberg was part of a patrol that climbed Mount Suribachi on the island.  He states, “We were the first combat patrol to hike up the mountain.  So we carried the [first] flag to the highest point and raised it.  It was really a proud moment.  The next day I was shot and shipped off the island.”

The sight of this banner was significant.  More than 71,000 Marines were on the island at the time this flag was raised, joined by thousands of sailors watching from offshore.  When these warriors saw it flying on top of the mountain, it boosted their morale during this fierce battle.  To be sure, they needed to be strengthened as they clashed with the Japanese soldier.

In the Bible there was another “banner” raised during another battle; and this banner made all the difference between victory and defeat (Exodus 17:8-16).  In fact, it was so important to the nation of Israel that it was considered one of the symbols of God Himself.  On that day of battle against the nation of Amalek, the LORD came to be known as Yahweh Nissi, “the LORD is my Banner.”

The New Testament Church can make that same claim.  The LORD is our “banner” – our “rallying Point” – from Whom we receive strength to fight our enemies.  Yet, unlike the Amalekite (and Japanese) soldiers, the Church’s war is not a flesh-and-blood fight.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  (Ephesians 6:12)

The moment an individual is born of the Spirit of God, he joins a war already in progress.  And it will not take him long to realize that this is not a minor skirmish.  What he faces is an enemy that has the ability to shake the very core of his being … “to sift him like wheat” (Luke 22:31).  And it will seize every opportunity it is given to do so.

Often (not always), the believer is confronted with a combative human being(s).  But in reality, the driving personalities behind the conflict are not flesh and blood but, rather, demonic in nature:

invisible … organized … highly intelligent … inconceivably evil … more powerful than any mere man … and consumed with an intense hatred toward those who submit their lives to the authority of the Son of God.

Over time, as the believer’s lifestyle becomes more and more righteous, he will notice that these assaults are not going away.  To the contrary, the opposition he experiences will become more intense … and, perhaps, more frequent … which brings us to a most important and fundamental truth:

• The reason Satan attacks the believer is because of his righteous standing in Christ and because of his righteous influence over others.

These spirit-based hostilities come from an enemy that loathes the Light of God (i.e., both the Living and written Word of God).  And their “bullets” are aimed at those who love that Light (a love proven by an increasingly obedient lifestyle).

It is most certainly true:  this demonic adversary has already been defeated at the Cross of Christ.  It is equally true that these spiritual bull dogs have no intention of waving the white flag.  Their bayonets are fixed; and their goal is to destroy not only the testimony of the Christ-follower but also, if permitted, his very life (saved only by the restraining hand of God).

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  (1^st Peter 5:8)

My beloved friends, this world is becoming more anti-Christ, more anti-Biblical by the day.  Those who take their stand for the Word of God are going to experience – firsthand – the power of the demonic realm.  It would be less than wise for the believing community to underestimate the supernatural strength of this enemy.  They are a most formidable foe.

That is why the saints must rally around Yahweh Nissi, “the LORD, our Banner.”  He is infinitely stronger than these evil spirit-beings; and He has provided His people with an offensive weapon needed to win each battle.  What is this weapon the Commander-King has placed into the hands of His true and living Church?  It is none other than

the Truth of God

How to use this spiritual weapon to fight this spiritual war is the subject of The God of Our Lives, chapter 4:  “Our God is Truth.”

Click here to view this course:  THE GOD OF OUR LIVES

Click here to view our website:  STEWARD OF TRUTH PUBLICATIONS

Click here to read the 1^ST chapter of The God of Our Lives:  YAHWEH, OUR GOD IS OUR CREATOR

To the readers within the believing community:  My wife and I would greatly appreciate your prayers, that we would respond to adversity with grace and righteousness.

Do you keep up with world news?  If so, does it seem to you that something worse-than-usual is taking place?  It’s getting meaner out there:  more violent … more wicked … more, perhaps, like the days of Noah.  The entire world seems to be rushing pell-mell into chaos.  It’s as if something evil – and intelligent – has been turned loose upon the world.

• Unbridled sexual perversions are turning the world into a global Sodom and Gomorrah.
• Terrorism – often in the name of a false god – continues to gain momentum, leaving its swath of murder on every continent.
• Identity thieves and computer hackers threaten everything from an individual’s checking account to international security.
• Wars:  In July of 2014, there were ten “wars” (1,000⁺ battle-related deaths / year) and eight “serious armed conflicts” in progress throughout the world.

Certainly, not all of this instability is moral in nature.

• Financial markets are driven today by real-time news and digital transactions.  A downward swing in the economy of a single region can panic all the other markets around the world within a matter of minutes.
• Earthquakes:  Over the last 60 months (June, 2010 – June, 2015), there have been 124 earthquakes throughout the world measuring a magnitude of 6.0 or higher on the Richter Scale (89 of these registering 7.0 or higher).
• Global warming:  Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate predict that the average global temperatures could increase between 1.4⁰ – 5.8⁰ Celsius by 2100.

This turmoil of the nations is not only global, it is also out of control.  No human agency or government seems capable of restoring order from the chaos.  The issues are just too large … too complex … too intense to be solved by the cleverness of man.  If it were not for the restraining hand of our sovereign God, events would spiral completely out of control on every front.

But there is something about this encroaching darkness we should not overlook. With each news report, God’s many promises to the true and living Church grow brighter and brighter.  As the world continues its reckless race toward destruction, let those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb lock their attention on these assurances of God:

His promise of an eternal life

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  (John 3:16)

His promise of an eternal residence in the Father’s palace

In My Father’s house are many dwelling places.  If it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  (John 14:2)

His promise of the Savior’s return for us

If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.  (John 14:3)

His promise of a body changed from clay to glory

We will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.  (1^st Corinthians 15:51-53)

His promise of a new earth

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.  (Revelation 21:1)

This blueprint for our future is not some wishful, pie-in-the-sky dream.  It is a bedrock fact based upon the integrity of God’s Word and confirmed by the resurrection of His Son. Every one of these promises awaits the re-born follower of Jesus Christ.  Do you believe that?  We should.  Our God is faithful.  He keeps His Word.

So, while everyone else is wringing their hands in despair as they watch their world come apart at the seams, let those of us who cling to the living God walk through our days with confidence in Christ … and with courage in Christ … and with a sense of stability in Christ. Let those who reject the Cross of Jesus pace the floor at night.  But those who have fled to the saving grace of God … let us all get a good night’s sleep.

After all, the dazzling promises of a faithful God make for a soft pillow.

Your lovingkindness, O Yahweh, extends to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  (Psalm 36:5)

[Click over to the course, The God of Our Lives:  chapter 2, “Yahweh:  Our God is Faithful”].

Click here to view our website:  STEWARD OF TRUTH PUBLICATIONS

Click here to view this course:  THE GOD OF OUR LIVES

Click here to read the 1^st chapter of The God of Our Lives:  OUR GOD IS OUR CREATOR

To the readers within the believing community:  I would greatly appreciate your prayers, that the Master-Teacher would be the Author of these writings.

On October 3^rd, 1960 CBS television network aired the first episode of a series that has since been ranked by TV Guide magazine as the 9^th-best show in American television history.  The Andy Griffith Show is about a small rural town, populated by a host of lovable citizens, whose comical mishaps are kept in check by the watchful eye of a home-spun, but wise, sheriff.

If you have ever watched this show, you are aware of the special relationship Sheriff Andy Taylor has with his young son Opie.  This father has invested a lot of time in his son’s life to the point that Opie trusts his “Pa” almost without question.

In one episode there is a scene that demonstrates this trust.  Opie is in Sheriff Taylor’s jailhouse office.  He has just finished lunch and is about to return to school.  But before he leaves, he looks up at his father and says, “Catch me Pa?”  And Andy says, “Well, OK; but just once.”  So Opie climbs up on his father’s desk, Andy backs away from the desk about three feet, holds out his arms, and Opie jumps.

It is such a simple scene that, if we are not paying attention, we will miss a wonderful illustration of faith:

• First of all, when Opie positions himself on the edge of the desk, he does not look down at the floor and hesitate.  No, as soon as he climbs onto the desk, he immediately jumps.

• Nor does he ask his father, “You are going to catch me, right Pa?”  Opie knew that his father would keep his promise to catch him.

We have not seen the many times this young boy had jumped into the arms of his father standing three feet away; but we can assume that this “jump and catch” routine has been repeated often.  (Andy has to set a limit on the number of times he will play this game just to get his son back to school on time.)  And every time Opie jumped, Andy caught him.  This father had proved his faithfulness to his son over and over and over.

The Bible reveals another Father’s faithfulness, One Who remains true to His Word over and over and over.  He is a Person Who keeps His promises.

The question is, Do we trust our Father to keep His Word?  We should.  If He says He is going to do something, He will do it.  Our God is faithful to His children … but not because His children are faithful to Him.

Why would God remain so faithful to us when we are so often unfaithful to Him?  It is to protect His reputation.  He has something to prove … to the nations.

[Click over to the course, The God of Our Lives:  chapter 2, “Yahweh:  Our God Is Faithful”].

Click here to view our website:  STEWARD OF TRUTH PUBLICATIONS

Click here to view this course:  THE GOD OF OUR LIVES

Click here to read the 1^ST chapter of The God of Our Lives:  OUR GOD IS OUR CREATOR

To the readers within the believing community:  I would greatly appreciate your prayers, that the Master-Teacher would be the Author of these writings.

When I was growing up, my family would always pray before a meal.  I cannot remember a time when we did not thank God for the food before us.  Even when I was quite young, I was given a “turn to pray.”  And this is what I would say:

“God is great.  God is good.  Let us thank Him for our food.  Amen.”

Do you believe that?  Do you believe that God is great … and good?

I don’t believe I have ever run across a person who said he believed in God … but thought that He was weak.  “God” and “great” just seem to go together.  These two words seem inseparable, whether in times of joy or (especially) in times of pain.  Indeed, one of the best places to observe a person’s belief in the power of God is in an Intensive Care waiting room.  There, even those who are not all that religious will often turn to God because they believe He is able to help them when no one else can.  For those who believe in Him, the greatness of God is a given.

The goodness of God, however, is a different matter.  “God” and “good” do not always go together, at least in the heart of the one who is suffering.  I have known more than a few people who were bitter toward the God they said was great.  And most of the time, the reason they resented Him is because they believed He had let them down in some way:

• He had “cheated” them from having something He should have given them … but didn’t.

• Or He had “robbed” them of something they used to have … and should still have … but no longer have … because He took it away from them.

The Bible knows nothing of a God that “cheats” and “robs.”  But the God of the Bible does withhold.  And He does remove.  The Father does allow the pain of loss and helplessness and brokenness to enter the lives of the children He dearly loves.

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the LORD.  (Job 1:21)

Why would He do that?  There is an answer to this question.  When God decides to crumble the self-reliant spirit of a self-assured person, His purpose in doing so is for this crippled life to become more dependent upon Him.  IF faith is the response of this weakened one, the gaping hole in his life can now be filled, not with the power of frail men but with the power of almighty God.

It becomes a life that can glorify more fully the God of his redemption.

It becomes a life that can represent the Savior more accurately to a spiritually-bankrupt world that is hopelessly groping in darkness and sentenced to an eternal death.

It becomes a life that – throughout all eternity – will share more fully in the radiant glory of the Son of God …

… all of which are infinitely more important than his own health, prosperity and well-being,

… and all of which are infinitely more important than the health, prosperity and well-being of those he loves,

… but none of which would have been possible apart from this painful – but priceless – gift of brokenness.

So, do you believe in the goodness of God in the good times … and the bad?  To truly appreciate the value of suffering, we must have the same perspective God has.  We are not weakened because God failed in His responsibility to keep us happy.  We are weakened because He loves us enough to share His glory with us … an eternal glory that demands that we first be emptied of ourselves so that, through faith, we might be filled with the power of a great God.

Dear friends, when we can truthfully say in the midst of pain,

God is great and God is good,

then – and only then – will we be able to say,

Let us thank Him for our weaknesses.

For when we are weak, then we are strong … in Christ Jesus.

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.  (2^nd Corinthians 12:9-10)

Click here to read the 1^ST chapter of The God of Our Lives:  YAHWEH (OUR GOD IS OUR CREATOR)

Click here to view more information about this course:  THE GOD OF OUR LIVES

Click here to view our website:  STEWARD OF TRUTH PUBLICATIONS

(To the readers in the believing community:  I would greatly appreciate your prayers, that the Master-Teacher would be the Author of these writings.)