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Polling God
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What do you think God thinks of you? Is there not a more useless — and useful — question as you start your day?
What I believe about whether McCain, Clinton, Huckabee, Obama, or Romney will be President has some — but very little — bearing on my spirits as I go about my work. What I believe about God’s attitude toward me colors every transaction — like an eyedropper of food coloring in a cup of water that permeates completely.
Is He disappointed with me? Ticked off? Is He “a hot friend cooling” (Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar) because I am an underachiever? Do I believe he swept me off my feet in a whirlwind courtship in 1974 and then left me at the church after the wedding, to fend for myself as He moved on to the 20/40 window where all the spiritual action is nowadays?
Or do I believe that “the King is enthralled with your beauty” (Psalm 45:11)? Do I think that even when I have failed for the thousandth time, He says, “How can I give you up….How can I hand you over….? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused (Hosea 11:8).
I don’t settle the question of God’s attitude toward me by idle speculation; it’s far too important. I ransack His word. I want hard evidence. His voice silences my condemning voice: “Stop doubting and believe” (John
That’s a little bit of a scolding, but never was there a more joyful scolding.
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Less is more
Amen.
I don’t believe in the occult, but if there were an invisible supernatural being, he would like me.
Job 29
Job 29
And Job again took up his parable and said,
Oh that I were as in the months of old
As in the days when God watched over me;
When his lamp shined upon my head,
And by his light I walked through darkness;
As I was in the ripeness of my days,
When the friendship of God was upon my tent;
When the almighty was yet within me,
And my children were about me;
When my steps were washed with butter,
And the rock poured me out streams of oil!
When I went forth to the gate unto the city,
When I prepared my seat in the street,
The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the aged rose up and stood;
The princes refrained from talking,
And laid their hand on their mouth;
The voice of the nobles was hushed
And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
for when the ear heard me, then it blessed me;
And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me:
Because I deliverd the poor that cried,
The fatherless also, that had none to help him.
the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;
And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me:
My justice was as a robe and a diadem.
I was eyes to the blind,
And feet to the lame.
I was a father to the needy:
And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.
And i brake the jaws of the unrighteous,
And plucked the prey out of his teeth.
Then I said, I shall die in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand:
My root is spread out to the waters,
And the dew lieth all night upon my branch:
My glory is fresh in me,
And my bow is renewed in my hand.
Into me men give ear, and waited,
And kept silence for my counsel.
After my words they spake not again;
And my speech distilled upon them.
And they waited for me as for the rain.
I smiled on them, when they had no confidence;
And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
I chose out their way, and sat chief,
And dwelt as a king in the army,
As one that comforteth mourners.
The older I become and the longer I’ve been a believer and thus see my imperfections and failings and yes, sin in a clearer way, God’s perfect grace becomes more evident, more real to me every day.
Great is His faithfulness. His compassion fails not.
This is a very interesting question. Obviously he feels Agape for me because he sent his son to die on the cross for me. But does he feel Storge? Philia? One would like to think that the most important Person in one’s life feels affection for them? But is that even a question given our fallen and totally corrupt nature? I just don’t know.
I can’t look at God lest I die, so I can’t read His face. I’m the one standing behind Jesus . . . and being thankful, gloriously, pathetically thankful, for grace.
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
(Unbelief doesn’t separate you from His love either, RDean.)
Thanks for that passage from Job, Reg (#3)! That’s a beautiful description of why Job was considered righteous before God and also ties in with my Community Bible Study’s current study of Isaiah - where Israel is being warned of judgment for not obeying God’s commands to be righteous and just.
I’ve rarely seen a clearer example of “Jesus is my boyfriend” than this column. It’s disgusting when you think about it. Christians claim to believe that the Church is the Bride of Christ, but obviously many of them, such as Andre, believe that they themselves are the bride/girlfriend of Jesus, and they can’t understand why the romance fizzled, and Jesus no longer takes them out dancing.
Night Train - Was that really necessary?
Disregard him Klasko, his aim merely to disrupt rather than contribute. Very sad when you think about it.
While I don’t particularly favor some of the more introspective Christian writing myself, I think Andree’s writing is several cuts above most of it and truly presents worthwhile themes.
9–Night Train
I have to say that I admire your courage AND I know what you mean.
Psalm 37:4-6
Joy in the Lord; He’ll grant each gift for which thy heart may call. Commit they way unto the Lord, trust Him, He’ll do it all.
And like the morning light He shall the righteousness display;
And He they judgment shall bring forth like noontide of the day.
Andree is certainly provocative in her questioning the relationship we have with the Almighty Creator. If one reads her thoughts in this column, we are encouraged to ask these questions to ourselves and find the answers in God’s Word. I implore the reader of this article to earnestly “seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
Andree’s last bible verse in this article is something that everyone should truly understand, and obey….even those who claim God does not exist.
10 - as far as the column goes, yes it was. I just wish a Christian man would say it instead of a non-Christian. That being said, I agree with Andree’s point in this article that God does think in a loving way about His children. She isn’t wrong about that, and it’s a good thing to remember, even through the syrupy sugarys.
Night Train - Was that really necessary?
No, of course it wasn’t. None of these comments are ncessary. Andree’s writings aren’t necessary. WoW isn’t necessary. But it’s here, and Andree writes for it every day, and every day they invite us to comment on her posts.
Was it necessary? No
Was it out of line? No
Was it true? Yes.
Well, the church is the bride of Christ.
Yes, Karen.
The Church.
Not Andree.
Night Train
every comment you have is so full on negativity.Can you ever look at the good in something? Is it possible for you to understand and comprehend you were made by a Sovereign God who has extended more grace to you than you could ever possibly imagine. And yet all you have to say is that we are envisioning ourselves as the “bride of Christ” ourselves. If you would pay attention, Andree never said “Jesus is my boyfriend” Its not like that. Read the Scriptures!
Andree’s writings may not be necessary to YOU—but they are to her. These blogs that she writes are about things which are on her heart, and which she is compelled to write about. If you dont like what she has to write, then why do you read it? No one is making you read it or even comment, so then what is your purpose in all the negative remarks about our personal beliefs. We believe in Jesus who has rescued our souls from hell, and has promised to NEVER let us out of his care. If you are not interested in that, why are you even reading this blog?
Train, Andree, myself, and all who trust Jesus as their personal savior ( ie, the Church) make up the bride of the Christ.
Let God do the labeling.
Just listen to what is being said.
Thanks, Justus and Gebo.
9–Night Train
I have to say that I admire your courage AND I know what you mean.
Psalm 37:4-6
Joy in the Lord; He’ll grant each gift for which thy heart may call. Commit they way unto the Lord, trust Him, He’ll do it all.
And like the morning light He shall THY (correction) righteousness display;
And He they judgment shall bring forth like noontide of the day.
GO GENEVA GRAD…. I AGREE WITH YOU!!
Train, Andree, myself, and all who trust Jesus as their personal savior ( ie, the Church) make up the bride of the Christ.
Yes, I know. That’s a far cry from just Andree.
I liken what Night Train said in 9–
“can’t understand why the romance fizzled, and Jesus no longer takes them out dancing.”
to the confusion that I see created by our religion. I mean laughed SO hard when I read the above statement because it rings so true to what I hear so often. And really, if you examine religious music, you find a dark side of God presented often. Just change one word. “Oh, that God Would Guide Me.” Sounds like such a spiritual hymn. But, there is no question in the Psalms. It is not stated without confidence in the Psalms.
32:8 says, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the say though shalt go: I will counsel thee with mine eye upon thee.”
Another example is how we “confess that by nature we are sinful and unclean” every week.
It is like getting saved all over again liturgically every week. If we are regenerate, we have a new nature and it is not sinful. (I am not saying that we don’t still sin and should not confess our sins.) I am saying that we should recognize our new nature and not pray a prayer that belongs to one just seeing the need for Christ.
It sounds like the state of being unregenerate. When our fundamentalist church split over Calvinism in 1982, we took GREAT pains to let the whole world know that there is no such thing as a CARNAL Christian. NO third category in the Bible. God doesn’t save us to let us live in sin as if we were never saved. That is all fine and dandy, but when do we apply what we claim to believe by acknowledging the language that God uses to identify His children? Righteous, godly, saints, wise vs. unrighteous and ungodly and wicked and fool. (The issue is not whether or not we continue to sin on this side of Heaven.) The point is that we find no practical use for the words God put in his word.
And so we miss the things that God says he does for the righteous because we keep identifying with the wicked. Hence, our confidence is gone.
This whole concept has frustrated me greatly since 1986 when I first heard it presented by Jay E. Adams at the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation’s 20th anniversary in Philadelphia.
Growing up reformed, I had never heard this presented. My understanding and relating to reformed theology had previously been based on reasoning, using preconceived ideas that must be upheld. Adams opened it up to a much more broad positive approach by examining the words in scripture.
I have to say that I don’t agree with everything Adams has come up with in the area of counseling, so am not promoting him that way.
I also do not understand the need for such frustration with NT. It is not our job to figure out why he is here or label him.
What about Song of Songs? That has some very romantic language. Even though it is about two young lovers, it is also about Christ & His bride - us!
Certainly as Christians we are all the Bride of Christ. I don’t believe for a moment Andree was attempting to be exclusive in the internal musings of her youthful courtship with King Jesus. I find it refreshing if not confirming that the common struggle of her ‘condemning voice’ was quieted most completely by a faith that took her to the Written Record for divine clarification and affirmation. In Him it is always ‘Yes and Amen’, unlike the friends of Job who stood by condemning their brother.